Chapter 93 [VIP]
Ji Shi gripped the embroidery hoop tightly, her fingertips turning slightly white.
Her voice trembled as she asked, "You mean, Ji Huacheng is here?"
How could this be!
There was no one else around. The old woman was sweeping in the distance, and the only sound in the small courtyard was the rustling of leaves in the wind.
“Yes,” Ji Nanke said worriedly, “Aunt, I don’t know what Seventh Uncle said to her, but I’m really worried. My cousin is living in the outer courtyard now, it’s like he’s under house arrest. I didn’t see him even when Xu Ge’er from the third branch of the family had his third-day celebration a few days ago.”
Ji Nanke squatted down beside her, slightly raised her eyelids, and said softly, "Have you seen your cousin recently?"
In her current situation, her status as a "cousin of the Duke of Zhenguo's family" is no longer helpful. However, if Gu Yan becomes Xie Yan, and her aunt can enter the palace, then her status will no longer be an obstacle. She cannot be a concubine, absolutely not! She has to fight for herself.
Ji pressed harder with his fingertips, causing more blood to flow.
"Aunt, your hand is bleeding."
"Please don't move."
Ji Nanke gently bandaged her finger with a handkerchief. Ji Shi remained motionless, her whole being filled with anxiety.
I've already admitted it, so why is Gu Zhizhuo still sending people to find Ji Huacheng?! How much does the Gu family actually know? Is Gu Zhizhuo trying to wipe me out?!
Her mind was in turmoil.
At that time, she really shouldn't have let Seventh Brother live; a living person can't keep secrets. She shouldn't have panicked and harbored any illusions because of her eldest brother's death.
Ji Nanke remained calm and composed. When she first discovered this, she thought that Ji Shi was very bold, or perhaps she was deeply in love with the emperor, which led him to forcibly take a subject's wife. Later, however, it seemed that wasn't the case. The emperor didn't treat her any particularly well, and even after the Duke of Zhenguo died, he had no intention of bringing her into the palace.
Perhaps it's for the thrill? The emperor seems to value Gu Yan quite a bit.
“Auntie, Seventh Master wouldn’t dare to say anything,” Granny Wan hurriedly advised, her words tumbling out incoherently. “You gave Seventh Master so much silver; he promised not to tell.”
"So what if I promised? I can go back on my word anytime." Ji Nanke blurted out, then immediately realized her mistake and pursed her lips.
"Ke'er, you..." Ji's heart pounded wildly, "Are you...?"
There were some things she didn't even have the courage to ask.
Although she never regretted what she had done, she was terrified of seeing contempt and disdain in her niece's eyes.
"aunt."
Ji Nanke tied the handkerchief neatly, rested her head on his lap, and said softly, "Although you are not my eldest aunt, in my heart, you are my only aunt."
Lady Ji lowered her eyes, and tied a small bow with the handkerchief tied around her finger.
“When I was most helpless, you were the only one who was willing to reach out to me. No matter what happens, I will always stand by your side. Even if you weren’t my aunt, it doesn’t matter to me at all.”
Ji's eyelashes trembled slightly, a tear slid down her cheek, and she raised her hand to stroke her long hair.
“You are my aunt, and Yan Ge’er is my cousin. That will never change.”
"No matter what happens, nothing will change."
Ji Nanke tilted her head back, her eyes as clear as autumn water, her eyes slightly red.
She mustered her courage and said in one breath, "This matter is no ordinary one. If Seventh Uncle tells us, he will lose his life. But if the Gu family promises not to pursue the matter, lets him go to Minzhou, and even helps his whole family go to sea, he will definitely tell us!"
"I'm afraid something will happen to you, I'm afraid you and your cousin will 'die suddenly'!"
Just as Ji was about to say that she would be fine, the words "sudden death" made her throat spasm.
Having served as the mistress of the household in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion for so many years, she had heard quite a bit about the shady dealings of some high-ranking families.
This year alone, first Gong Hai's second wife died suddenly from illness, then the eldest son of the Duke of Cheng'en and a concubine died suddenly from illness, and then a legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Anyang also died suddenly. In fact, everyone knows how they died.
The mansions were filled with blood and wandering ghosts.
Ke'er is right. If the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion were to discover this secret, she and Yan'er would definitely fall seriously ill and die.
Ji's delicate body trembled slightly; she was afraid.
"Aunt, you need to make plans as soon as possible. If possible, you should leave yourself and your cousin a way out."
Ji Nanke's words were all for her sake: "Aunt, could he... could he take you away?"
"I...I don't know."
Ji looked dazed, as if he had returned to eight years ago.
At that time, the current emperor was only the second prince of the late emperor, Prince Rong. He personally came to Jiangnan to escort the bride, Duke Gu Taotao, who was acting as the heir apparent. Her elder sister had died, and she had finally gotten the good marriage she had always wanted. However, her parents disliked her and showed no reluctance when they sent her off to her wedding. She knew in her heart that they wished she were the one who died that day.
She embarked on her journey to marry far away all alone.
Prince Rong discovered her secret, but he kept it from her and sent her to the capital in good health. He let her know that she could be outstanding too, and that she was not inherently inferior to her elder sister.
She married into the Duke of Zhenguo's family, received an imperial decree, and became the Duke's wife. However, she could never forget the light that shone in her life during her darkest hour. She thought they would never see each other again, but unexpectedly, not long after Gu Taotao left the capital, she saw him again.
He gently asked her if she had been doing well these days.
He said he had always been thinking about her.
He said he regretted it and shouldn't have let go.
All the emotions she had suppressed inside her erupted at that moment, and she knew she was finished.
Later, she became pregnant with Yan Ge'er.
He was ambitious and exceptionally capable, but because he wasn't the eldest son of the legitimate wife, he was constantly suppressed by the late emperor to maintain the crown prince's prestige. She wanted to help him…
If it weren't for the fact that the Duke of Zhenguo's family wanted to marry her, she would definitely have married him. This was something the Duke of Zhenguo's family owed them!
After a long silence, Ji said, "Probably."
Gu Zhizhuo failed to force her to reveal herself because he was still protecting her. They had Yan'er, and if she and Yan'er were in dire straits, he would help them.
"Definitely!"
Granny Wan hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped herself.
She actually felt that things were already pretty good. What was wrong with being able to live a peaceful life and keep her alive? If she continued to cause trouble like this, she would die. But when she thought of the eldest daughter's phoenix eyes, which seemed to see through all demons and monsters, Granny Wan trembled with cold.
She glanced at the direction of the courtyard gate, hesitating for a long time.
Not long after, news came from the courtyard that Madam Ji had fallen ill. Gu Zhizhuo didn't even flinch when he heard this, and said, "Then go and call a doctor."
"Who's sick?"
It was the time for morning and evening greetings, and the old lady, who was talking to Gu Zhijiao, casually asked a question upon hearing this.
Gu Zhizhuo said slowly, "It was Aunt Ji. She said that she fainted after hearing that Ji Nanke had become a concubine. She lost her appetite."
The old lady sighed, "How did I end up as a concubine?"
Gu Zhinan asked curiously, "Didn't they say that the Third Prince loved her like a precious jewel?"
Madam: "Where did you hear that from?"
That's what everyone's saying.
"Not only that," Gu Zhiwei said angrily. "I went out for tea the other day and heard several storytellers saying that Ji Nanke is a blessed woman destined to be the empress, and that the Third Prince fell in love with her at first sight. It's just a pity..."
She pinched her throat and imitated a storyteller striking his gavel, slamming her hand on the tea table as she said, "There is a wicked woman who is obsessed with His Highness the Third Prince, trying to break them up. I'm afraid the blessings of our Great Qi will be ruined by such a wicked woman."
"A wicked woman?" Gu Zhizhuo chuckled.
"Big sister, you're still laughing!"
The old lady frowned deeply; even she could tell that someone was deliberately trying to ruin Zhuo's reputation.
Thankfully, the engagement was called off. Otherwise, if Zhuoya had married into the family, she would have had a concubine like Ji Nanke by her side, and people would always say that Zhuoya was a wicked woman who broke up lovers. It would have been so disgusting.
“Grandmother.” Gu Zhizhuo pretended to wipe away her tears. “I’m so wronged, and you still always side with Ji Nanke.”
"That's right, that's right!"
Ah Man is currently in the stage of mimicking others. She didn't actually understand what her older sisters were saying, but she repeated after them, "Big sister, don't feel wronged!"
The old lady blushed, and looking back, she realized that she had indeed gone too far by refusing to agree to Zhuo'er's request to break off the engagement.
She made a mistake, so she should make amends.
"Granny Zhu, go and fetch my sandalwood box with the inscription of good fortune and longevity."
Wishing you a blessed life, Granny.
“Grandmother, Grandmother, everyone who sees this gets a share.” Gu Zhinan’s eyes were burning.
The old lady loved it when her granddaughters asked her for things, and she would say generously, "You all get a share, you all get a share."
Granny Zhu quickly brought the box over.
The old lady opened the box with a small brass key. Inside was a huge pile of contracts, packed full, with a few on top floating out and landing on the coffee table.
Gu Zhinan curiously leaned closer to look: "Grandmother, what is this?"
"The deeds to the shops and estates," the Dowager said cheerfully. "You're all grown up now, and your monthly allowances from the manor aren't enough, are they? I'll use the bonuses to buy you flowers."
The Dowager Lady had a very generous dowry, but she was not good at managing the business and had always entrusted it to the head stewards who came with her dowry. There were four head stewards in total.
Before she knew it, her businesses had multiplied to the point that she couldn't even remember them all.
Where is this photo from?
"It's from Yongzhou."
"It's too far." She put it back, picked up another one, and squinted at the words on it.
“This is from Qingzhou. You have a horse farm there. This is the deed for the horse farm.”
The old lady took another one.
Granny Zhu leaned closer to take a look and said with a smile, "That's right, that's right, this is the Tianxi Tower on Zhuque Street in the capital."
Wait a minute. Gu Zhizhuo was stunned. Tianxi Tower belonged to her grandmother? Why didn't she know that?
Seeing that Gu Zhizhuo was looking at her, the old lady casually handed her the contract: "You want it? Here you go."
Gu Zhizhuo: "..."
She silently took it, then couldn't help but ask, "Grandmother, did you own Tianxi Restaurant?"
The old lady went to see Granny Zhu.
Part of her dowry properties were in Lingnan, part in Minzhou, and the last part was shipped at sea. The properties in the capital were all acquired gradually later.
Granny Zhu had a good memory and remembered it immediately: "It was five years ago. The son of the former owner of Tianxi Tower was cheated out of a large sum of money and was nearly beaten to death outside the city. You happened to see it, sent the thugs away, and took the man to the clinic. Later, the former owner came to Manager Xiang and wanted to sell Tianxi Tower. You asked Manager Xiang to give a fair price."
At that time, many people took advantage of the situation and drove the price down to an extremely low level.
There seemed to be a vague recollection of it. The old lady nodded solemnly, "Yes, that's it. You can take it and play with it."
After saying that, she buried her head in her search again, and soon found another one. Granny Zhu smiled and said, "It's the teahouse on East Street."
"Give it to Jiaojiao."
Gu Zhizhuo was given a restaurant, so the Grand Madam specifically sought out teahouses, eateries, and similar properties for her other granddaughters. The Grand Madam was satisfied, then lowered her head to examine the land deeds for estates in the capital region.
When she picked up a deed for the villa, she paused for a moment. The villa included a hot spring, which she had originally planned to use as a dowry for Ji Nanke, but now, forget it.
"Grandmother, how much fertile land do you own in Qingzhou?"
"You want Qingzhou? Qingzhou is too far away. I'll pick one for you in the suburbs of Beijing. You can go there to ride horses, and it'll be convenient to stay overnight if you stay late."
"Tell me quickly."
When the old lady went to see Granny Zhu, Granny Zhu quickly smiled and said, "Most of our family's fertile land is in Yizhou and Yongzhou. There are probably only about a hundred hectares in Qingzhou."
"Grandmother, June and July are the summer harvest months, right?"
The answer was still given by Granny Zhu: "Yes."
"Granny Zhu, please pass on a message: keep all the grain harvested this summer and don't sell it. Transport it to Xuzhou first. Have all our managers and servants in Qingzhou leave by July and take the grain with them to Xuzhou to await orders."
The old lady asked in confusion, "The Thousand Machine Camp has no food supplies? Did Cancan have a falling out with that man surnamed Gong? Grandmother still has some silver here."
"No. There will be an earthquake in Qingzhou in August."
"You're going to hoard grain and resell it?" the old lady exclaimed in disapproval.
Grandmother's focus always exceeded my expectations. Shouldn't I have first asked her how she knew about the earthquake in Qingzhou? How did she jump straight to reselling?
The old lady advised her, "This is not good. We cannot earn money through dishonest means. If you don't have enough money, you can sell a few estates."
"No reselling!"
If he doesn't explain things clearly in one go, Gu Zhizhuo will soon be seen as an unfilial son who sells off his family property.
"Keep the food; it might save many lives in the future."
The treasury of the Great Qi Kingdom was severely depleted. In the previous life, only about ten thousand people actually died during the earthquake. The majority died from starvation, being killed in turmoil, or from epidemics. All in all, hundreds of thousands of people died.
The Duke of Zhenguo's large-scale purchase and hoarding of grain is too taboo. In the eyes of those with ulterior motives, it will only seem that the Duke of Zhenguo's family is recruiting soldiers with ill intentions. However, if they just temporarily hoard the newly harvested summer grain, they will not attract attention.
As long as it's not reselling, it's fine. The old lady said to Granny Zhu, "Go and tell Steward Wei that if there's anything you don't understand, he can ask the eldest young lady himself. If the summer grain from other prefectures has been harvested, keep it for the eldest young lady's use."
Granny Zhu readily agreed.
Steward Wei was in charge of managing the estates and fertile fields included in the dowry of the Dowager Lady.
"Come on, let's take another look. Do you want a mountain villa or a Jiangnan-style garden?"
The old lady generously spread out the contracts and let them choose for themselves.
"garden!"
Ah Man raised her hands and said crisply.
"There are birds. Ah Man, I like it!"
"Very well, very well," the old lady said happily. "The garden will be given to little Aman."
"Madam."
After receiving the announcement, Xu's head maid lifted the curtain and entered, curtsying as she said, "The Second Madam says that the Jingzhao Prefecture will hold a court session tomorrow."
Gu Zhijiao lowered her eyes and clenched her fists at her sides.
Because Gu Baibai was keeping a close eye on things, the Jingzhao Prefecture held a court session soon after taking the person into custody. They had already been tried twice, and this was the third time. After this trial, the person would be convicted.
The old lady loosened her grip on the contract slightly, and the contract fell from her fingertips.
"Should!"
She asked, "Jiaojiao, shouldn't you not go?" She was afraid she would be upset.
Gu Zhijiao said gently, "Grandmother, I want to go."
She hadn't attended the first two court hearings, but she wanted to attend the final sentencing hearing. When she said she wanted to go, the Dowager Madam didn't stop her, and Madam Xu, who now indulged her in everything, immediately agreed.
They didn't need to attend church, so they didn't arrive early.
While still standing outside the courtroom, Gu Zhijiao could hear shouts and curses coming from inside. It was Mrs. Xu yelling, "I'm innocent!"
“I didn’t sell her. I raised her like a daughter, provided her with the best food, and even found her a good marriage.”
“We adopted a child from a relative’s family; how can this be considered selling him off?”
Being locked up in jail, Mrs. Xu was both panicked and afraid, and as soon as she entered the courtroom, she desperately tried to defend herself.
A mix of emotions swirled in Gu Zhijiao's eyes as she stared intently at Mrs. Xu's retreating figure. The bright summer sun offered her no warmth. Even though she had been recognized by her ancestors, the thought of being stolen from and forced to endure thirteen years of a life that shouldn't have been hers still fueled the resentment in Gu Zhijiao's heart.
This resentment continued to grow, and even when she was with her sisters and her family doted on her, her heart could not feel warm. It was as if there was an invisible barrier between them, making her unwilling to give her heart.
Gu Zhijiao didn't want to become someone who was always resentful and incapable of kindness.
She hates herself like this.
She wanted to come here to put an end to the past thirteen years.
"Go."
Madam Xu smiled encouragingly, and Gu Zhijiao walked into the courtroom.
When Mrs. Xu saw her, she was stunned for a moment, and then, in a shrill voice, she hysterically accused her: "You ungrateful wretch!"
"Xu Ying'er, that heartless little slut, will go to hell when she dies."
You'll die a horrible death!
"I raised you with so much care and effort, and I should have just drowned you in a latrine back then. You..."
Gu Zhijiao stood in front of her, his gaze gradually focusing, as all sorts of insults and curses echoed in his mind from childhood to adulthood.
She raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face, the sound echoing throughout the courtroom.
A note from the author:
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
