Chapter 61 Regaining Freedom
Today is such a good day for Madam Du’s wedding. Gu Xiyue doesn’t want to ruin the atmosphere, so she wants to add icing on the cake and make everyone happy.
Before she spoke, she deliberately glanced at Gu Xiyun. She saw that her hands were half-clenched to support her pretty face, and her eyes were shining, as if she was expecting something that would make her happy.
Gu Xiyue curled the corners of his mouth towards her and spoke with a smile.
"Fellow villagers, today is the auspicious day for Mr. Fang and Mrs. Du to get married. I have something to announce..."
Before he could finish his words, a large number of people who were sitting and eating stood up.
Someone led the group and shouted, "Madam Gu, you are our backbone. No matter what you did in the past, we don't take it to heart."
"Madam Gu, just treat those words on the white cloth behind you as bullshit. Don't take them to heart. We only recognize you."
"Madam Gu, although you are now the virtuous princess, in our eyes, you are our Lijun, and we will obey you."
“…”
One voice after another, all of them supported Gu Xiyue and didn't care about what happened in the past.
Gu Xiyue felt warm in her heart. She slowly looked at everyone and met Gu Xiyun. She found that she had a look of astonishment on her face, as if she had not expected it to be like this at all.
Before that, she
She was still a little delusional, but now her face was full of disillusionment.
Before, she didn't believe that Gu Xiyue had such a high prestige in the eyes of these people. Moreover, in the past few days, although the people around her were disturbed by Aunt Song, many of her maids and servants who worked with her had opinions about Gu Xiyue.
How come everything has become like this now?
There were about three hundred people in the arena, but not a single person stood up to oppose Gu Xiyue.
Gu Xiyue smiled at Gu Xiyun again, and waved to everyone to be quiet.
After a while, everyone finally quieted down. Gu Xiyue breathed a sigh of relief and continued with a smile, "Let's not talk about the past. I want to tell you that from today on, all of us in the Southern Wasteland are free people. We are no longer exiled criminals. From now on, we are all legitimate citizens of the Southern Wasteland, and the Ganzhou prefect is our father and mother."
As soon as the words fell, everyone was stunned.
What's the meaning?
Will they be free from now on?
Can you enter and exit the Southern Wilderness freely?
Then why didn’t the higher-ups send anyone to announce the decree, but instead Madam Gu came forward to speak?
Everyone was confused and couldn't understand it at once.
The old woman beside Gu Xiyun couldn't bear it anymore and jumped out hurriedly.
When the white cloth was put down just now, no one opposed Gu Xiyue. In her expectation, Gu Xiyue should be blamed by everyone, and her young lady should be immediately let to take Gu Xiyue's place.
As a result, when everyone saw the words on the white cloth, they were completely indifferent, and some even did the opposite of what she expected.
She stood behind the house, leaning against the wall, her fingers almost scratching her palms. When she heard Gu Xiyue say this, she couldn't help it.
These days, they could still tolerate doing rough work, but she was heartbroken to let her young lady wash salted fish. Every day when she came back to sleep, there was a smell on her body.
Their delicate young lady shouldn't suffer such a punishment.
She should be given a nice house here, and have the best food, clothing, and other necessities. She should have someone carefully take care of her in terms of food, clothing, housing, and transportation. She shouldn't suffer like this.
As a result, no one supported Gu Xiyun despite all the suffering he endured. No one stood up to speak a fair word.
Now Gu Xiyue is talking nonsense here again, saying that these exiles in the Southern Wilderness have been restored to freedom.
What a ridiculous thing! The emperor didn't even say anything, but Gu Xiyue said it herself, and even said that the people of Southern Wilderness would be the subjects of the governor of Ganzhou in the future!
How ridiculous!
He actually doesn't take the emperor seriously at all.
This is really an opportunity given to her by Gu Xiyue.
"Madam Gu, I have something to ask."
Considering her young lady's reputation, the old woman did not question directly, but was polite.
When the voice sounded, Gu Xiyue turned his gaze to the position where he had taken action, stared at her, and said with a smile: "Please feel free to ask if you have any questions."
"Madam Gu, you were once our eldest daughter, then the honorable Crown Princess, and now, you are the exiled Virtuous Princess. I want to ask, if the folks of the Southern Wilderness have been pardoned, then why didn't the Emperor send someone to announce the decree, but instead you just casually said it like that? Aren't you teasing us?"
The question hit everyone's mind at once, and Gu Xiyue's identity was emphasized once again before asking the question.
Gu Xiyue's expression did not change. He nodded and looked at everyone, "Are there many people who don't understand what's going on?"
"Don't worry, now that I've said it, I'll definitely explain it to everyone clearly."
Gu Xiyue comforted everyone, and when he talked about the specific reasons, his face gradually darkened.
"My fellow villagers probably don't know this, but for the past two years, the Hu people have been frequently harassing our Ganzhou border. The villagers along the border have been suffering terribly. The Ganzhou prefect petitioned the court, hoping that the court would send troops to suppress them. Guess what happened?"
Wang Hu said with a sullen face, "Doesn't the Emperor want to send troops?"
Zhao Yancheng nodded and said, "The imperial court values civil officials over military officials. The imperial army has shrunk significantly in recent years. Everyone is studying. How many of them are capable of fighting?"
Everyone agreed.
After a long while, Wang Hu finally remembered and raised his head to ask, "Madam Gu, what happened?"
"In the end, the Emperor not only refused to send troops, but also withdrew the troops from the border of Ganzhou and retreated directly to Longzhou, which borders Ganzhou. He closed the city gates and exposed Ganzhou to the eyes of the Hu people..."
Having said that, everyone was not only shocked this time, but also angry.
Has the emperor given up on the entire Ganzhou?
There are probably tens of thousands of people in the entire Ganzhou. So many lives are at stake. Just give up like that!
They even gave up on the entire Ganzhou. In the eyes of the emperor, they were no better than dead people.
Some people figured out what was going on, but some people didn't.
Once the entire Ganzhou is allowed to be ravaged by the Hu people, it is only a matter of time before they are bullied.
If that’s the case, then what’s the point of working so hard to make money!
Everyone was communicating with each other, and some people were like deflated balloons, completely drained of energy.
But when Gu Xiyun heard these words, his heart began to beat wildly.
She clearly remembered that Xiao Heng rebelled three years later, and it was said that the reason for the rebellion was also related to the harassment by the Hu people. Could it be that it started now?
Xiao Heng could no longer sit still due to the harassment from the Hu people, so he rose up to resist. In the end, his team grew larger and larger. After repelling the Hu people, they directly began to attack the capital, capturing cities and ponds along the way, and fought back to the capital. In one fell swoop, he defeated the second prince and seized the throne.
I haven't seen Xiao Heng these days. Could it be that he really went to form a team?
Everything starts early.
When Gu Xiyun thought of this, his breathing became hot, his heart beat faster, and he was at a loss.
Gu Xiyue knew that everyone was worried. Some people were worried about Ganzhou and their future, some people felt that there was no point in trying, and some people thought that Madam Gu was just telling them a story and didn't take the matter to heart at all.
"Don't worry, everyone. We are now part of Ganzhou. My husband and the governor of Ganzhou have already found a way to resist the Hu people. From now on, we will not be under the control of the court. We are the people of the southern wilderness of Ganzhou."
Many people breathed a sigh of relief, while some thought of their families in Beijing and were very worried about them.
"After two years, our lives will be much better. You can find a way to bring your family members from Beijing to live here. If they don't want to come and prefer to stay in Beijing, then you don't have to bring them over. In short, don't worry, we will only get better and better."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did they feel that they would become free men and were happy from the bottom of their hearts.
"Can we enter and leave the Southern Wilderness freely from now on?"
"Aren't we exiles?"
"Can you bring your family over later?"
“…”
In response to everyone's questions, Gu Xiyue nodded affirmatively over and over again. In the end, he even took out the prefect's handwriting to show everyone. After Zhao Yancheng finished reading it, he gave it to several respected elders in the village. The elders squinted their eyes and lay in front of it to read for a long time. Finally, they nodded to the villagers who were looking forward to it, and everyone felt relieved.
The old woman beside Gu Xiyun panicked at this time.
She carefully moved closer to Gu Xiyun and said anxiously, "Miss, what should we do? If the emperor really gives up Ganzhou, how can we go back?"
"What would you do if the Hu people captured Ganzhou?"
The old woman's eyes turned red as she spoke.
Her old man is still in the capital, and she thought he would be able to go back soon, but now it turns out to be like this. If things go wrong, she may even lose her life here.
Gu Xiyun's mind was full of Xiao Heng, and she didn't care about these things at all. She pushed her hand away impatiently and whispered, "Since I came to the Southern Wilderness, I have no intention of going back. Even if I want to go back, I will wait a few years and go back with the virtuous king. You just stay here and rest assured."
After saying this, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
The old woman's heart trembled when she saw it.
She was extremely anxious because her daughter was still thinking about that man. Now Madam Gu was recognized by everyone here. She thought she had a chance of winning before, but now it seemed that Xiao Heng might not necessarily be with her daughter.
Oh! She was really worried to death.
The maid also came over quietly. Everyone gathered around Gu Xiyue to talk about the future. Gu Xiyue's heart was also burning with excitement. He simply took the opportunity to slip out of the place with the help of the maid and returned to his room.
Gu Xiyue chatted with everyone for a while, then reminded everyone that today was the wedding of Madam Du and Fang Laoer, and asked everyone to go and play with them. As a result, when everyone turned around, they found that Fang Laoer and Madam Du were also squeezed in the crowd, listening to her with excitement.
It was such a scene that they almost forgot that today was their wedding day.
After being reminded by Gu Xiyue, Fang Laoer scratched the back of his head embarrassedly, and looked at Madam Du. They both smiled embarrassedly, and the next second, they were taken away by several young men and women.
The young and strong men stayed and began to help each household deliver tables, chairs and benches. The women helped to clean up the dishes. Gu Xiyue was also busy for a while. Meixiang ran over and whispered, "Just now, Lotus, who was next to the second young lady, came to me and said that their young lady wanted to see the young lady."
Gu Xiyue gently put down the stack of bowls in her hand and wiped her hands. "Let's go. I also want to talk to her alone."
As soon as the two left, Madam Liu discovered that Mr. Xiao appeared at the east end of the village. She was excited and waited for the person to come closer. She greeted him and saw him looking around. She knew that he was looking for Madam Gu, so she told him where Gu Xiyue was.
After listening to this, Xiao Heng said a few more words and then strode off to look for someone.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
