Chapter 132 A brutal beating (First update)
Gu Chenglin did want to teach the other party a lesson, but he didn't dare to actually kill him. He quickly told the coachman to drive the carriage back to the academy, and he sneaked into the woodshed through the back door to take a look.
The woodshed showed signs of a desperate struggle, with even a few drops of blood on the ground. The rope was broken, but it didn't look like it was cut by a sharp weapon; it looked like it was torn apart by someone.
Gu Chenglin held up the rope and said to Gu Chengfeng, "Second brother, look, that kid still has the strength to break the rope. I told you he was fine!"
Gu Chengfeng breathed a sigh of relief: "It's best that no one died. Regardless of whether he is that Gu Yan or not, don't cause trouble for others again. You're not a child anymore. Don't be as willful and reckless as before. If your older brother finds out, he'll punish you again!"
"I know, I know. If you don't tell and I don't tell, who dares to tell Big Brother? Does he dare?" Gu Chenglin glared at the coachman.
The driver quickly lowered his head: "I wouldn't dare!"
Gu Chenglin smiled smugly: "Alright, Second Brother, let's go back! Just don't let anything slip!"
Gu Chengfeng shook his head and sighed, then boarded the carriage back to the mansion with his younger brother.
The two thought the matter was over, but the next morning, Gu Chenglin felt a cool sensation on the back of his head. He choked on a glass of cold water and even tripped while walking.
He said angrily, "What bad luck!"
The two entered the academy together.
Gu Chengfeng was slightly more studious than Gu Chenglin, and he went to the teacher to hand in his homework first.
Gu Chenglin looked like he was idling around, and he couldn't sit still on the stool as if he had nails stuck to it.
He went to the outhouse.
Just as he reached the entrance of the outhouse, one of his cronies from yesterday came over. The man still had injuries on his face and his eyes were filled with fear: "Young Master Gu, someone is looking for you."
"Who's looking for me?" Gu Chenglin glanced at him. "Did you get into a fight?"
The man gave an awkward smile.
It's fine as long as there's a fight.
He was completely dominated and humiliated.
Gu Chenglin relied on his powerful older brother to act arrogantly in all the academies, and no one dared to provoke him. Naturally, he didn't think there was anything scary about fighting with others.
At worst, we can just call a few more people and give them a good beating.
Gu Chenglin wanted to see who was so arrogant that he had to go to his expense to meet him in person.
The man led Gu Chenglin to the woodshed where they had imprisoned Gu Yan the day before. Outside the woodshed, a whole group of Gu Chenglin's cronies, who had been at the scene of the crime the day before, were already kneeling on the ground.
Everyone stared at the messy hair, the bruised and swollen face, the crooked head and mouth, and the trembling body.
Gu Chenglin's first reaction was that he was a little confused.
My second reaction was anger. These were all his people. It didn't matter if he hit them, but if others hit them, it meant they weren't giving Gu Chenglin any face!
"Who did this?" he roared.
The crowd hesitated, glancing at him with pity before lowering their heads and remaining silent.
Although we usually call each other brothers and would go through fire and water for each other, that was only when our lives were not in danger. Now that our lives are about to end, Young Master Gu, you'd better pray for yourself!
Gu Chenglin rolled up his sleeves and said arrogantly, "Which coward has the guts to come out and see me?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a slender hand reached out from the woodshed, grabbed Gu Chenglin by the collar, and dragged him inside without any hesitation!
Before Gu Chenglin could even call out, the door slammed shut!
"You know who I am—ah—"
"You are—ah—"
"Hit me again—ah—I'll—ah—"
"ah--"
"ah--"
"Waaah..."
Gu Chenglin's initial shouts gradually turned into whimpering pleas for mercy, but no matter how much he begged, Gu Jiao did not let him go.
When Gu Yan was so helpless, did this guy let her go?
Gu Yan, who didn't cause any trouble, was bullied by him. There's no reason why he, who caused trouble, should be let off the hook.
Gu Chenglin was beaten until he let out a bloodcurdling scream like a pig being slaughtered.
The group of friends outside seemed to understand the pain firsthand. They initially thought they were the worst off, but after seeing Gu Chenglin's experience, they realized that the girl had been relatively lenient with them.
"Why aren't you calling for help?!"
Gu Chenglin roared.
Call someone?
Who dares?
This girl could smash their dog heads in one punch!
Gu Jiao beat Gu Chenglin so badly that even his own father wouldn't recognize him. Then, she used a cold stick to lift his chin, forcing him to look into her cold eyes in the darkness.
"Will you dare to touch my brother again?"
"What younger brother?" Gu Chenglin's mind was completely blank. It took him a while to realize who Gu Jiao was referring to. His hair stood on end. "You are... that guy's sister?"
She was also called Gu Yan, and she had an older sister.
Surely he didn't make a mistake this time?
That boy is the illegitimate child of my father and Yao!
That wretched brat too!
“My brother almost died, you’d better experience it too.” Gu Jiao pressed the wooden stick against his throat.
He was being pressed down, making it hard for him to breathe: "I...I didn't mean to...kill him..."
Gu Chenglin swore he only wanted to teach Gu Yan a lesson, but who knew he would almost die!
Gu Jiao didn't care about any of that. Her brother had almost died, so she was going to have a go through hell herself.
...
Gu Chenglin didn't go to the classroom even though class was starting. Gu Chengfeng searched for him for a long time but couldn't find him. He thought of the small woodshed where Gu Chenglin had imprisoned Gu Yan, ran there, and sure enough, he found Gu Chenglin bound hand and foot and covered in bruises.
"Third brother! Third brother! Third brother!"
Gu Chenglin's dazed eyes finally focused, and he hugged Gu Chengfeng tightly: "Second brother! Second brother! Second brother..."
He was trembling violently, which frightened Gu Chengfeng: "You... what's wrong? Who dared to bully you?"
Consort Shu is their aunt, the Fifth Prince is their cousin, and they also have an older brother who is a tough guy who is a captain in the army. With these identities, no one in a small place like Qinghe Academy would dare to bully them.
But what I was seeing was all real.
Gu Chengfeng had never seen Gu Chenglin so frightened.
Gu Chenglin trembled for a long time before finding his voice: "It's that bastard... he's Gu Yan! He actually dared to send someone to beat me! I'm going back to tell my elder brother! I'll have him deal with him!"
Gu Chengfeng asked doubtfully, "Does he have the guts? But after all, you were the one who locked up the house first. Even if you tell your elder brother, he might not stand up for you."
Gu Chenglin said aggrievedly, "So what if I locked him up? He's that vixen's son! He deserves to be locked up! Besides, I only locked him up! I didn't beat him up! Look how his sister beat me up!"
Gu Chengfeng looked at his younger brother carefully, and sure enough, he looked quite pitiful: "His sister? That girl who grew up in the countryside?"
"Besides her, does he have any other sisters?" The small woodshed was too dark, and Gu Chenglin couldn't actually see Gu Jiao's face clearly, but Gu Jiao's voice sounded very young, about the same age as Gu Jinyu, so she should be Gu Yan's twin sister.
Gu Chengfeng was puzzled. Wasn't there a rumor in the manor that the girl grew up in the countryside, was timid and cowardly, and couldn't stand up to anyone, not even daring to return to the Marquis's mansion? How dare she beat Gu Chengfeng into a pig's head?
"Doesn't she know who you are?" Gu Chengfeng asked.
"How would I know if she knows or not?" Gu Chenglin was so badly beaten that he was completely oblivious to the questioning.
"What about your friends?" Gu Chengfeng asked again.
Gu Chenglin choked up and said, "Second Brother, please don't mention them! A bunch of useless good-for-nothings! They can't even beat a country girl!"
Gu Chengfeng gasped. He knew his brother's cronies; several of them knew some fighting skills. How could they possibly lose to a girl?
Regardless, the other party must have terrified Gu Chenglin, otherwise Gu Chenglin wouldn't have actually thought of asking his older brother to come out and back him up.
Gu Chengfeng also felt that the other party had gone too far. If he really wanted to get revenge, he could have just locked up Gu Chenglin as well. Why did he have to resort to violence?
Gu Chengfeng thought for a moment and said, "But if my elder brother finds out that you locked up someone else first, he will definitely punish you first."
Gu Chenglin clenched his fist: "Let me think about how to talk to my older brother."
He was terrified of that girl's beatings. If his older brother hadn't stood up for him, he probably wouldn't have dared to go to Qinghe Academy for the rest of his life.
Gu Changqing was unaware that his younger brother had decided to falsely accuse Gu Yan. During the day, he went to the Qishan camp and delivered the things that Gu Jiao had given him to Zhou Erzhuang.
He wasn't from the Qishan camp and had very little contact with this area, so everyone was puzzled as to why he had come. When they learned that he was delivering something to a junior squad leader, they were all quite surprised.
Deputy General Hu summoned Zhou Erzhuang to his tent: "How do you know Prince Gu?"
Zhou Erzhuang said he did not know him.
Deputy General Hu frowned: "Don't you recognize him? He personally gave you the item? Do you know how long it takes to get here from Tiger Mountain Camp?"
Zhou Erzhuang was completely bewildered: "I really don't know him!"
Deputy General Hu saw that Zhou Erzhuang did not seem to be lying, but Prince Gu would not run errands for a mere squad leader for no reason. Either Zhou Erzhuang had a powerful background, or the person who asked Prince Gu to run errands had a powerful background.
Zhou Erzhuang suddenly said, "Oh, my neighbor in the countryside is quite good at studying. He passed the provincial examination with top honors this autumn and is now studying at the Imperial Academy. My sister-in-law asked them to bring these things to me."
So... it was that student from the Imperial Academy who got to know Prince Gu?
Don't be fooled by the fact that Deputy General Hu's rank is above that of Captain; he's already forty years old, while Gu Changqing is only a few years old. Besides, what's his background and what's Gu Changqing's?
Deputy General Hu cleared his throat and said to Zhou Erzhuang, "The selection of squad leaders will be in a few days, so do a good job."
This means they're going to promote Zhou Erzhuang.
Zhou Erzhuang's name sounds silly, but he's not stupid at all. He understood immediately and said, "General Hu, rest assured, I will do my best!"
"Okay, go down." That's one trip.
After leaving the military camp, Gu Changqing rushed back without stopping. When he passed Chang'an Avenue, he subconsciously slowed down. In the past, he would take another alley, but today he took Bishui Hutong.
It was already dark, the autumn wind was bleak, and every household had hung up lanterns.
Gu Jiao was busy in the kitchen, while Xiao Liulang was grading Xiao Jingkong's homework in the study.
Because of his setback in the exam, Xiao Jingkong's daily routine after school now includes not only practicing calligraphy, but also learning six languages.
Today we learned a nursery rhyme from the State of Chen. Xiao Liulang extracted the key words and phrases from the rhyme and had Xiao Jingkong write each one ten times from memory.
After finishing his writing, Xiao Jingkong went to practice his skills in the courtyard, leaving Master Xiao to correct his work alone.
Little Jingkong's small body was coiled on the tree, his hands reaching back to grab his feet. This action was quite strenuous, but Little Jingkong had clearly gotten used to the discomfort.
Gu Xiaoshun was carving wood on the side, while Gu Yan lay on a rattan chair recovering from his injuries. He was still very weak, and his face was pale with exhaustion.
In fact, Gu Changqing had already sensed something was wrong when he gave him the medicine. He might be suffering from some kind of hidden illness. He looked no different from a normal person, but once the illness flared up, he could die.
So if I had been a little later yesterday, the other party would have...
Gu Changqing frowned.
He couldn't understand who it was, or what deep-seated hatred they had that would lead someone to tie up a sickly boy who couldn't even kill a chicken and lock him in the woodshed.
Gu Changqing left quietly and returned to the Marquis's residence without disturbing anyone in the house.
Gu Chenglin's servant was waiting for him at the gate of his courtyard early in the morning. When he saw him return, the servant rushed over and said, "Young Master! Something terrible has happened! The Third Young Master has been bullied! You must go and see him right away!"
Gu Changqing went to Gu Chenglin and Gu Chengfeng's courtyard.
Gu Chenglin lay down on the bed, deliberately refusing to let the royal physician treat his injuries, wanting to present his miserable state to his elder brother in its entirety.
Gu Changqing looked at his brother, who was in a terrible state, and his face turned cold: "What trouble have you gotten into this time?"
Gu Chenglin cried, "This time it wasn't me who caused trouble! I've only been at this school for two days, what trouble could I possibly have caused, brother? Do you really think I'm that immature?"
Gu Changqing remained unmoved: "You didn't cause any trouble, so why would they beat you up?"
"How would I know?" Gu Chenglin had already made up his mind to insist that he was innocent and had not touched a single finger of the other party.
He wasn't afraid of his older brother investigating, because if his brother found out the other person was Gu Yan, he would say that Gu Yan must be holding a grudge about something that happened when they were children, which is why he hired someone to beat him up.
That reason is absolutely flawless!
"Where did he beat you up?" Gu Changqing asked.
That's something you can tell the truth about; a mix of truth and falsehood is more convincing!
Gu Chenglin choked up and said, "The academy's woodshed! If you don't believe me, brother, go and see for yourself! The floor is covered in marks from when I was beaten!"
Upon hearing the word "woodshed," Gu Changqing's eyes turned cold.
There was a bug in yesterday's update, so I'll sort out the details of the young masters in the Marquis's mansion.
Gu Changqing: Crown Prince, eldest son.
Gu Chengfeng: Second son.
Gu Chenglin: The third one, the one who bullied Yan Baobao.
*
Also, regarding the rating votes, I noticed some readers gave me three stars for two consecutive days. I'm not sure if it's because my writing is bad or if the system defaulted to three stars. If it's a system issue, please take a moment to vote and give me the full three stars next time.
Thank you so much! (bows)
(End of this chapter)
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