On the way to the Marquis Ningyuan's Mansion, Minglan felt worried. This was like refusing to lend someone money for emergencies, but also going to the theater. Three people were arrested over there, and the couple were still so arrogant.
Go, otherwise you will be beaten violently; Minglan looked at her small body, and then slightly lifted the curtain to see Gu Tingye riding in front of the sedan. He was tall and like a crane and a beetle. ~[ ]
Minglan lowered the car curtain with peace of mind. This guy looked very safe.
The Xuanning Hall was filled with gloom and mist, and everyone in the Gu family was sitting together.
The pale-faced Gu Tingyu sat high up, and the worried Mrs. Shao was standing next to him holding a bowl of food. The next time, the sad-looking lady sat, men and women sitting on both sides, and everyone treated them with a bit of silence.
The meaning of the underworld's openness.
The fourth old lady was holding a bowl of tea in a low-key manner, lowering her head and wondering what she was thinking. Mrs. Bing's appearance was very scary, her eyes were red and swollen, she was biting her cheek and glaring with anger, her expression was full of resentment, and she glared fiercely at the third mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the fifth house beside her.
people.
Mrs. Yang was used to lying down, so she didn't notice anything. As long as she lowered her head, she could endure whatever others said. However, Mrs. Wu and Mrs. Di Er were looked at with a look as if it was being stabbed with a knife or a needle.
Uncomfortable. Mrs. Xuan was sitting with Mrs. Zhu, half-supporting her and softly comforting her. Mrs. Zhu looked sad and kept sobbing softly by her side.
Sitting across from them were the men of the Gu family. Gu Tingxuan was the only one in the fourth room, and the father and three others in the fifth room were all there. They all had dark faces and solemn expressions.
In the huge hall, there were so many people, but there was no sound, only a faint medicinal smell filled the air. Against the lonely courtyard coming all the way outside, the Ningyuan Hou Mansion, which used to be bustling with people in clothes and fragrant temples, seemed increasingly deserted, with an uneasy feeling.
The loneliness of the words gently seeped into the muscles and bones, and until Gu Tingye and Minglan sat down, there was still no one talking in the hall.
Everyone looked at Gu Tingyu, who was at the head, as if waiting for him to speak, but at this moment, Gu Tingyu was a little exhausted and kept coughing in a low voice. Mrs. Shao felt heartbroken and served him to drink the decoction slowly; no one else said anything.
, Gu Tingye did not speak first, he only looked at the pastel tea bowl made of March pottery and willow in his hand, the lid of the bowl turned over on the rim of the bowl, making a crisp sound.
After Minglan sat down, she looked at Mrs. Zhu next to her who looked haggard, her skin was sallow, her cheekbones on both sides were slightly raised, and her cheeks were a little swollen. Minglan still remembered her beauty and youth, and couldn't help but be surprised. She was determined
It wasn't enough, and I couldn't pretend not to see it, so I couldn't help but said: "You... don't be too anxious. You are so careless about your body and mind. What will happen if the third master comes back later?"
Mrs. Zhu's tears welled up and she choked with sobs: "I don't know if he can come back!"
After saying that, she threw herself on Mrs. Xuan and cried softly. While patting her, Mrs. Xuan whispered to Minglan: "You don't know, just the day before yesterday, the doctor just diagnosed that she has two
Months old."
Minglan was embarrassed for a while. In this situation, she didn't know whether she should say "congratulations" or something like "I'll send you some nourishing herbs later".
Before she could finish speaking, Mrs. Zhu had already lifted herself up from Mrs. Xuan's arms, struggled to get up, and was about to kneel down with tears in her eyes: "I beg my second brother, no matter what happened in the past, he, he... is...
Second brother's direct brother! How could you just watch and ignore him, not knowing what happened to him in the realm of the King of Hell these past two days?" As he spoke, he began to cry even harder.
Gu Tingye seemed to have expected this question. He leaned slightly and said, "Brothers and sisters, don't worry. As soon as I learned about this the day before yesterday, I immediately went to Dali Temple to find out the news."
"What should I say?" The lady raised her head at some point and asked anxiously.
Gu Tingye nodded to show respect and said: "It's not extremely important. I just found a few letters from elsewhere, and they were stamped with the imperial edict and the seal of Marquis Ningyuan."
This sentence shocked Mrs. Shao, who was concentrating on giving her husband medicine, and said tremblingly: "Seal? No, no, your eldest brother has been lingering on the sickbed in the past few years. It is not easy to even walk in the garden. How could it be...?"
"She stopped talking, her eyes turned to the Madam, and her lips couldn't help trembling. ~
Gu Tingyu suppressed his breath, raised his head, and met Gu Tingye's eyes. He was so calm, powerful, and full of vitality. He felt angry and coughed even more violently.
Gu Tingye withdrew his gaze and continued: "After careful interrogation by several adults in Dali Temple, they found out that the eldest brother has been recovering from illness in the past few years, and that the third brother was in charge of all the general affairs, so he called the third brother to ask.
Words."
Mrs. Zhu was stunned when she heard this, and said anxiously: "Then...your third brother..."
"There are a few criminals who can't keep up with their confessions, and a few others are dragging others into the water in order to get away with lighter crimes. But I have already gone to greet them. These adults are all seniors.
The name of the criminal, his eyes are as bright as a torch, and once the investigation is clear, everything will be fine. [ ]"
Gu Tingye said slowly, "Don't worry, brothers and sisters. As long as the third brother has not been deeply involved in this matter, it is just 'accidental' or 'clinging', and it is not considered forming a clique for personal gain; such a crime is not a serious concern."
Mrs. Zhu held back her tears and looked at a loss, but Mrs. Tai understood the meaning of her words and asked nervously: "What about being convicted? Will he be exiled? Consigned to the army?"
Gu Tingye frowned slightly: "This...it depends on how the investigation goes."
The madam stared hard at Gu Tingye, but she saw that his figure was so majestic and immovable; she slumped down on her seat, showing her old age, and was confused for a moment.
Mrs. Bing'er had been gritting her teeth and endured it. When she heard this, she stood up suddenly, took a few steps forward, pointed at the three fathers of the fifth house, and said sharply: "You! You! Brother Wei is in charge of some general affairs for his eldest brother.
Only our family knows, how could Dali Temple know? You must be greedy for life and afraid of death, so you kicked brother Wei out!"
She was so angry that her hair was disheveled and her eyes were fierce, as if she wanted to pounce on the fifth-fang's father and bite him a few times.
Minglan disagreed with her statement. Since Gu Tingwei worked for his eldest brother, he naturally had to deal with people from outside. Human exchanges were unavoidable. People outside probably knew a lot, and it may not have been the fifth-fang's father who told him.
The fifth old man was no longer as cheerful as before and had been unhappy. After hearing this, he only blew on his sparse beard and did not say anything for a while. However, the fifth old lady sternly reprimanded: "Niece-in-law, don't talk nonsense.
Are you talking to your uncles and elders like this?"
"What uncles and elders?! Humph, at this critical moment, everyone only knows how to protect themselves!" Mrs. Bing'er's eyes turned red with anger, and she became more and more fierce. She cried and cursed, "My family is just doing things secretly for King Ni.
I got two errands, both minor and minor. I don’t know how many generations ago they happened. How would outsiders know which one was from the Gu family? It’s because you were afraid of getting into trouble, so you all shrank your bastard necks and vomited everything in your mouth! Although
The one who handles the matter is my family, but when we were drinking and eating meat in the palace, why didn’t you go less often?!"
"You shrew! Confusing right and wrong!" Gu Tingyang slapped the table and finally shouted back.
He had maintained a perfect 45-degree profile since he came in. When he turned his head, Minglan saw three obvious blood stains on his cheek.
"Back then, the four kings... King Ni didn't take a fancy to him. It was him who was rushing to curry favor and fight for errands! Now that the evidence has been found, what does it have to do with us!"
Mrs. Bing'er's face turned purple with anger, and she said angrily: "Don't you have a hand in those errands? Didn't the two little goblins in your house now get them together at that time? Hum! If my man is good at anything, I will go and do it myself.
Dali Temple has exposed your old background, and we will fight to the death, and no one will be able to get rid of it!"
Minglan lowered her head and rubbed the hem of her skirt. She understood: Although the Gu family brothers are all products of the same brand, they have different grades. Gu Tingyang and Gu Tingdi are direct children and can go to the palace to have banquets and socialize. Gu Tingbing is a concubine.
The palace was inevitably a bit disdainful, but it couldn't stop Gu Tingbing from being so enthusiastic that he rushed to do some secret errands.
Between light and darkness, the fifth-fang's father was arrested first, but it was the fourth-fang's father who was taken into custody later.
Mrs. Bing'er thought that her mother's family was just an ordinary wealthy family. If her husband was gone, their mother would have no support in the future. She was afraid that she would be sad every day. She cried even harder at that moment. She stamped her feet on the ground and beat her chest with all her strength.
, crying and screaming, "Oh God, I can't live anymore..."
Seeing her throwing a tantrum on the spot, the hall was in chaos for a while. Everyone tried to persuade her, scolded her, and helped her, and there was a lot of commotion.
"alright!"
The madam finally showed her strength and raised her voice to scold, "Are you here to make trouble today? We are all members of our own family. There is always an explanation for everything. Sit down!"
Gu Tingxuan's father and brother were all taken away, and he was the only one left in the fourth room. He was the most anxious in his heart: "What the aunt said is that everyone should talk properly! Brothers and sisters, please sit down first!"
After a while, the hall stopped. The fifth old man looked red and said in a deep voice: "Nephew, it was you who called us here today. What is the reason? Hurry up and tell us so that we can go back! Everyone is here.
,Are you so angry?!"
The calligraphy and painting were very rude. Mrs. Shao looked at her frail and skinny husband and felt unhappy. She turned her head and glared at the fifth old man. Gu Tingyu took a hard breath and finally spoke: "Yes, I have something to say.
"
A pair of bloodshot eyes looked straight at Gu Tingye.
"Brother, please speak." Gu Tingye turned sideways, his posture was very respectful and polite.
Gu Tingyu trembled his purple lips, supported his skinny body, and stared at Gu Tingye: "I just want to ask you, with your ability and power today, if you want to pull the Gu family out, you can do it.
?”
Minglan secretly sighed: Awesome! This is the right question to ask! After all, he was born to the same father, so it's not much different.
Gu Tingye stared at his elder brother and did not answer. The brothers came to look at each other for a while, and Gu Tingyu laughed, a bit sad, and still looked directly at him: "You can do it. It may be very difficult. You have to ask people everywhere, and you have to ask for help."
Selling favors everywhere, maybe even asking to go to the imperial court... But you can do it, right?"
Gu Tingye raised his eyebrows and remained silent.
When the wife and the fifth master saw this, they wanted to speak at that moment, but Gu Tingyu raised his hand to stop him. He stared at Gu Tingye and continued: "Why do you ask the emperor to entrust your colleagues? Just because of us, we treat you badly.
, the uncles and brothers who bullied you and even kicked you out of the house?"
As soon as he said this, the fifth old man smiled awkwardly: "Niece, what are you talking about? They are all from my own family..."
Gu Tingyu interrupted him impatiently, his laughter full of sarcasm: "I mean, Fifth Uncle, you should also think more clearly! Do you think that if you don't mention it and I don't mention it, you can just pretend it never happened?"
Why did the siblings start a quarrel with the second brother just three days after entering the house? Someone was diligently passing on the news; why did the quarrel get worse and worse? Someone was just supporting her."
The eyes of several female family members in the hall suddenly flickered and they lowered their heads.
Gu Tingyu smiled at his uncles and brothers: "Later, why did the second brother not stay in the capital until he traveled far away from home and did not return for several years? Also, my father passed away, who stopped me from calling him second brother?
Come into the mourning hall to worship?"
Gu Tingye's expression remained unchanged, but the hand on the armrest gradually became a fist.
The fifth old man was sarcastic and turned his head without saying a word. Gu Tingxuan had a look of shame on his face. Gu Tingdi glanced at Gu Tingye uneasily. Gu Tingyang gritted his teeth and said loudly: "Don't you say it as if it doesn't matter? Don't you have no share? You...
"
"That's right!" Gu Tingyu sneered, and the tall cheekbones on his skinny face looked a bit scary, "I have a share! A big share! I didn't want to tell it all!"
Seeing the tense atmosphere, Mrs. Tai quickly said: "Hey...Brother Yu, what are you talking about? Even the tongue and teeth are fighting. After all, it's my own family..."
"Sister-in-law is right." The fourth old lady also came to be the peacemaker, "What happened is over. From now on, we can close the door and still be a family!"
"Fourth Aunt thinks that all these things can be passed one by one with just a few laughs and a few vague words?" Gu Tingyu said this, but his eyes were looking at the Fifth Old Master, his eyes full of ridicule.
The fourth old lady was already lacking in confidence and immediately stopped talking.
The fifth old man was about to open his mouth, but he had no choice but to close it. Gu Tingyu took a deep breath: "Fifth uncle, two aunts, do you think that the Erlang of today is still the Erlang of the past? Could it be that you think that you are trying to scare me?
, or say a few nice words to coax him, and he will submit obediently?" His eyes scanned everyone in the hall, and finally fell on Gu Tingye.
Gu Tingye smiled slightly, released his palms, slowly and elegantly picked up the tea cup on the table, and took a slow sip, still without saying a word, resting his hands on his knees, sitting quietly and waiting.
Gu Tingyu smiled bitterly in his heart - he is so determined, he is no longer Wu Xia Amen
He turned his gaze back to everyone in the hall and said word by word: "If you want the people you have wronged to come back and help, be tougher! Don't think you can fool them, just tell them what you need to tell them, and everyone will understand.
!”
Minglan looked at Gu Tingyu in confusion. In view of the law of 'the ultimate boss always appears last', Gu Tingyu should not just confess or cry. He must have a trump card. What exactly is it?
Gu Tingyu's fingers were as skinny as wood, as if he wanted to take something from his sleeve, but his wrist was shaking violently. Mrs. Shao held back her tears and helped her husband take out several burnt envelopes from his sleeve. There were three envelopes in total, and the seals had been peeled off.
, there is a faint white letter paper inside.
Probably because he had spent too much energy speaking just now, Gu Tingyu sat back out of breath and motioned for his wife to hand the letter to Gu Tingye. Mrs. Shao took a few steps forward and handed the letter in her hand to Gu Tingye.
Several elderly people in the hall were shocked when they saw it. The fifth old lady lost her voice and said: "This letter? Why haven't you..." She immediately realized that she had made a mistake and quickly stopped talking.
Gu Tingye glanced at her slowly, bowed slightly towards Mrs. Shao, then simply took out the letter paper, unfolded it and read it hastily. Naturally, from Minglan's perspective, he couldn't see the content of the letter, but suddenly, Gu Tingye's expression
There was a big change, and his fingers started to tremble slightly. After reading one letter, he quickly picked up the other two letters and read them. It seemed that the more he read, the more shocked he became.
Minglan was surprised and turned to look at Mrs. Xuan. She also had a puzzled look on her face.
Seeing this scene, Gu Tingyu said slowly in a low voice: "This letter was written by my father before he died. There are three letters in total, exactly the same, and they were sent to three uncles in Jinling and our hometown. Who is he in this matter?"
I didn’t say anything, I hid it from everyone.”
He took a breath and finished speaking: "It says in it that the biological mother of the second brother, Mrs. Bai, was given a dowry when she married into the Gu family. There are 930 acres of high-quality paddy fields in the south, five shops in Yuhang, and another road.
There were 53,000 taels of silver in the Huipu account. After his father died, regardless of whether the family was divided or not, these taels of silver, land and shop were first given to Gu Tingye. The father also said in the letter that he wanted three uncles to come to Gu Tingye in front of the clan, relatives and friends.
In the face of old friends, we read it together in the mourning hall."
Mrs. Zhu, Mrs. Xuan and other female family members had never heard of this and were dumbfounded for a moment. Mrs. Bing'er seemed to know it and quietly stepped aside. Minglan was also surprised and could not speak. She quickly turned to look at Gu Tingye.
But I saw him as if he had turned to stone, sitting there silently, only the fingers holding the letter were trembling slightly.
The hall was silent for a moment, and you could hear a needle drop.
The fourth old lady and his wife looked ashamed, while the fifth old lady and his wife avoided everyone's eyes and turned their heads away.
"Then, what happened next?" After a long time, Gu Tingye asked, his voice as deep as the echo of a mountain stream.
Gu Tingyu sneered: "Before my father passed away, the hall uncle of the ninth house fell down and injured his leg when he went out. He couldn't recover for a while, so he couldn't come to the funeral, so he sent his two sons. They were young, and they talked about it while drinking.
Then we found out that there were three letters. That night, we used hard and soft tactics to get these three letters, and the matter was over."
There was no bullying in his voice. I don't know if he was laughing at others or at himself.
The madam sobbed softly: "I said at that time that this couldn't be done. After all, it was the old Marquis's dying wish. How could you violate it? You insist on...sigh..."
The fifth old lady glared at her angrily, and the fourth old lady sighed softly.
Gu Tingye lowered his head, lost in thought, looking straight at the carved pole of Duobaoge, with overlapping carvings and green emeralds, and a row of majestic milky white marble animals as presser feet underneath. It was almost dusk.
The light shines into the room through the thin bamboo curtains, and all the tables and chairs are covered with a layer of bright gold.
There are many stone beasts like this in the Hou Mansion, and they are found in every room and hall. He remembers that when he was four or five years old, he wanted to go outside every day. His father angrily scolded him several times, but it didn't work, so he had to coax him.
When it was time to count the little stone beasts at home so that he could go out and play, he would really squat down and count them one by one.
Counting day after day, he couldn't finish the count, but he didn't believe in evil and insisted on finishing the count. His uncles, aunts, and brothers all laughed at him for being "stupid and stupid", but the old father looked at him and sighed slightly, saying nothing.
She didn't say anything, just touched his head gently, and the calloused tiger's mouth rubbed his skin, and he twisted around to avoid it.
The memory was blurry. He vaguely remembered his father's eyes at that time, which seemed happy and sad at the same time.
"This..." Mrs. Shao never knew about this. She was only worried about her husband's health. Seeing that Gu Tingyu was smiling uglier than crying, and kept coughing and wheezing, she couldn't help but come out to help, "Second brother, don't get me wrong, I was thinking
, it’s probably because the elders are keeping an eye on this property for you, lest you spend it carelessly..."
Gu Tingye suddenly woke up from his memories, his eyes were as clear as a cold spring, and Mrs. Shao could not continue talking.
"That's really a lot of uncles, aunts, and everyone."
He smiled proudly, and his tone could not hide his arrogance. Even Mrs. Shao could hear the angry sarcasm in Gu Tingye's voice.
Everyone in the hall was uneasy and frightened. The female relatives looked at each other. The fifth old man was sullen and silent. Gu Tingyang glared at Gu Tingyu angrily, secretly cursing this consumptive man for saying all this. Isn't this adding fuel to the fire?
Don't ask for help this time, just don't step down.
Minglan felt angry rising up in her heart. She no longer wanted to maintain a friendly attitude with a smile, and just sat aside with a sullen face - these bastards! Oh, no, if they were bastards, then her husband was too.
"Have you finished what you want to say, brother?" Gu Tingye was furious. He no longer wanted to look at the faces of these people, and didn't care about Mrs. Bing'er and Mrs. Tai. He stood up proudly with an expressionless face, "If it's over, I'll resign.
"
"Wait a minute."
Gu Tingyu gasped and said loudly, his pale face turned blue. He struggled to stand up, and Mrs. Shao rushed to help him.
"I haven't finished talking yet. Now, you go somewhere with me. After you go there, it's up to you to do whatever you want."
The author has something to say:
One breath, one breath! Hold on, there are still two chapters left, I’ll finish them in one breath!