Chapter 74 Recognizing Relatives
Huang Zhong said, "Don't worry, I'm not a bad person. This might be a bit abrupt, but may I meet Jiao Niang?"
"No way." Gu Changlu refused without even thinking.
The other party wouldn't even let him see them, so how could he bring the person to town to see the Marquis? He couldn't very well knock out the whole family and kidnap the child, could he?
Besides, he doesn't even know who the child is yet!
Huang Zhong felt that there was a high probability that the other party was his young lady, so he couldn't afford to offend her adoptive parents.
He softened his tone and said, "Where are the child's parents? I have something to say to them."
Mrs. Wu said, "Her parents are dead. I'm her grandmother. I raised her! You have something to say to me!"
So he lost his parents at a young age? Huang Zhong's feelings suddenly became complicated. He thought for a moment and asked, "May I come inside to talk?"
Wu brought Huang Zhong into the house.
Huang Zhong then asked about the details of the birth back then, especially why Xu was pregnant when she went up the mountain.
It turns out that Xu was not from this village; she had married far away. A letter came from her family saying that her father was dying and that she should find a way to go home.
Since Ms. Xu was pregnant, her in-laws naturally wouldn't allow her to travel far. Helpless, she thought of going to the temple to pray to the Bodhisattva.
She went without telling her in-laws, saying she was going to pick some wild vegetables, and she was sure she could return before dark. Unexpectedly, a sudden thunderstorm trapped her in the temple, where she slipped and fell.
Lady Hou's premature birth was due to twins, but her premature birth was an accident.
At first, the Gu family didn't know she had gone to the temple. With such heavy rain and no sign of her returning, Gu Sanlang insisted on going to find his wife, but his two older brothers held him back.
Going into the woods during a thunderstorm? Are you out of your mind?!
Xu returned two days later. By then, the baby had already been born. It was a girl with a red spot on her face, so ugly that she didn't look like Gu Sanlang's biological daughter.
Gu Sanlang was famous for his good looks, and many women from the surrounding villages were eager to marry him. In the end, he chose Xu Shi, mainly because Xu Shi had a large dowry.
Wu once suspected that Xu might have dropped the child in the mountains and lost it, and that she picked up a child to bring back because she was afraid her family would blame her.
Ms. Xu is an honest woman. She said that she gave birth to the child in the temple, and if you don't believe her, you can ask the abbot of the temple.
Wu and her second daughter-in-law Liu went to ask and confirmed that Xu had given birth in the temple. The baby was born alive, and its cries could be heard throughout the temple.
"Didn't you find it?" Ms. Wu asked at the time.
The monk laughed: "Do you know who the other woman who gave birth here that night was? She was a noblewoman from the capital. Who could possibly find her child?"
Wu fell silent instantly.
The children of noble people are more precious than gold; you can't even steal one, let alone find it.
Hearing this, Huang Zhong was now completely certain that Xu's child was the one he was looking for.
However, it seems that Mrs. Xu was unaware that she had given birth to the wrong baby.
"They both have the surname Gu, what a coincidence." Huang Zhong suddenly had a sense of destiny, and he quickly asked, "Do Madam Xu and Sanlang dote on that child?"
What kind of nonsense is this? Madam Xu and Gu Sanlang practically tied that child to their waistbands!
This was also what Wu was dissatisfied with. Xu, that barren hen, had such a good husband like Sanlang, yet she couldn't produce a son.
She finally gave birth to a girl, but she's not only ugly, she's also mentally challenged.
It was only when she grew up that we realized how silly she was. While other children could jump and play, she couldn't even walk. She didn't call her mother until she was three years old.
The couple didn't mind at all; they doted on the child.
Gu Jiaoniang's hard times only began after her husband and husband passed away.
Of course, Wu didn't say this.
Huang Zhong had too many clues to process and didn't notice Wu's hesitation.
He looked at the Wu family and said, suppressing his excitement, "To be honest, the lady who gave birth at the temple back then was my wife, and the two children... may have been switched at birth."
The Wu family members were stunned.
"I...I didn't quite understand, please say it again," Wu stammered.
Huang Zhong smiled and said, "Sanlang's daughter is my young lady."
Mrs. Wu opened her mouth: "Your family is..."
Huang Zhong said gently, "The Marquis of Ding'an's residence."
boom!
Everyone in the room was completely stunned.
They didn't understand whether it was Ding'an or not, but they understood the last two words.
The Marquis's Residence!
That brat is actually from the Marquis's mansion?
"Is the Marquis's mansion a higher rank than the county magistrate's?" Liu asked cautiously.
The Marquis's residence is not an official residence, but a mansion. The Marquis is the official. But Huang Zhong understood what Liu meant. Huang Zhong smiled and said, "That's natural."
Huang Zhong didn't say exactly how much more, because they wouldn't understand anyway.
Anyone who dared to ask such a question in the capital would probably have been crushed to death by the Marquis.
Comparing him to some worthless county magistrate, who are they looking down on?
Huang Zhong was quite polite to the Gu family, after all, they had raised their young lady. He said in a friendly tone, "My lord is in town. May I take that child to meet him?"
These men were completely terrified and speechless. They were surprised, not expecting the girl's background to be so terrible; they were also frightened, as they had bullied the girl quite a bit over the years. If the Marquis found out how mean they were to his own daughter, would he send them all to jail?
Just as everyone in the room was at a loss, Gu Changhai arrived home.
He first noticed the carriage outside the door, and then he saw a room full of frightened birds.
He glanced at the imposing Huang Zhong, frowned, and asked Wu Shi, "Mother, what's wrong?"
"Where's your father?" Wu asked, looking behind him.
Gu Changhai said, "Father went to Uncle's place and told me to come back first."
“That…” Mrs. Wu didn’t know how to tell her son.
Huang Zhong smiled understandingly: "How about this, I'll send someone to inform the Marquis first, and you can discuss how to tell her. If it's absolutely inconvenient for you to say, then I will do it."
Such a big thing has happened, and people need time to process it, but it can't be delayed for too long. He has to see the child today no matter what.
After Huang Zhong left, the three women, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, nervously told Gu Jiao about her background.
Despite being a grown man, Gu Changhai's reaction was no better than that of the three women. His face turned pale and his legs went weak.
If they treated Gu Jiao well, they would naturally be happy to hear this news. The key point is that they... didn't treat Gu Jiao as a human being at all!
She never got to eat or drink well, but she did all the heavy and dirty work: cutting pig feed, feeding the pigs, carrying pig manure... It was only because she was a bit slow that she couldn't do it right, so they gradually stopped letting her do it.
She was often beaten and scolded, and before she was even fourteen, they forced her to marry a cripple they had picked up, and kicked them out to live alone.
If the Marquis finds out about this, will they still have a chance to survive?
(End of this chapter)
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