Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 118 Breaking Dawn
When Gu Jie returned home, he knelt directly on the bluestone slab in front of his parents' courtyard.

The bluestone slabs were soaked with the summer heat, like burning charcoal.

His clothes were soaked with sweat and stuck to his body. His knees had long been numb. He felt hot all over and sad at the same time...

"If you want to kneel, go to the ancestral hall and kneel!"

The sound of bangzi at Yinshi floated into my ears, and the door suddenly opened.

Madam Chun stood in front of the steps wearing a plain flannel coat.

"Take that slave girl and kneel before the ancestral tablet to apologize!"

Gu Jie fell to the ground, "Mother, please..."

Mrs. Chun looked at him coldly and slammed the door.

Gu Jie cried bitterly, his knees ached excruciatingly, and that door was never opened again.

He knelt until noon the next day. When the sun was high, he heard Marquis Jingyuan coughing in the house.

"Let that beast get out of here!"

Madam Chun looked at her husband and finally softened her heart, so she asked the servant to help her son into the house.

Marquis Jingyuan leaned on the couch and coughed, the medicine bowl was placed on the table, and the brown medicine juice had solidified into a thin scab.

Mrs. Chun was holding a pair of silver scissors and trimming a pot of purple azalea by the window. She turned her head away, not wanting to see her son's miserable and embarrassed appearance.

"Father, mother..."

The blue veins on Gu Jie's forehead throbbed with the sound of his kowtow.

"I beg you two elders to have mercy on me and save Ying'er's life."

Jingyuan Hou threw the medicine bowl over.

"Rebellious son! If you continue to plead for that slave girl, don't blame me for punishing you according to my family rules. Ahem..."

Gu Jie wanted to help his father, but his steps staggered. Just as he was about to stand up, he knelt down again. His knees left several dents on the corner of his robe, and he knelt in front of the couch.

"I can't bear to see her and her child dead."

"Snapped!"

Mrs. Chun cut off a branch of flowers.

Purple and white petals fell to the ground.

Her face was livid and full of anger, and suddenly she laughed out loud.

"If you want to protect her, then don't acknowledge your parents!"

That child was what she and the Marquis had been longing for...

When Xue Yueying returned home, she insisted that he was the grandson of the Gu family. When the Marquis wanted to ask the imperial physician to take her pulse and diagnose her, she changed her words and said shamelessly in public, "Maybe it was because it was raining heavily and dark that night, so I didn't see him clearly."

In fact, the fact that there was no child made it a foregone conclusion that Xue Si and the King of Wei had an affair and they couldn't deny it.

Madam Chun couldn't understand what had possessed her son.

Why must you protect that shameless evil woman?

Is it really as the Marquis said, the deeper you fall, the deeper your obsession becomes?
Mrs. Chun slowly put down the silver scissors, looking angry at her for not fighting back.

"If you had placed half of your affection and kindness towards her on the Sixth Miss, how could you be here today?"

Gu Jie's Adam's apple rolled, and his face was bitter. "I know I was wrong. But she is the girl I liked before... I can't bear it. She has nowhere to turn to for help now, and the Xue family won't accept her. If I don't care anymore, she and the child will have no way out..."

Marquis Jingyuan was so angry that his eyes were wide open and he couldn't breathe.

"What an unfilial son! You are so deeply in love that you don't care about his dirty deeds. You are truly the only infatuated person in the Gu family in the past hundred years!"

Madam Chun smoothed the Marquis's back and shook her head at Gu Jie.

"You should also have a taste of the pain that gnaws at your heart and pierces your bones. The pain is all retribution, it is cause and effect, you should all bear it."

Gu Jie burst into tears.

After a while, Marquis Jingyuan suddenly turned around and stared at him with bloodshot eyes.

"There is only one way to save her and her child."

Gu Jie's face showed surprise, his eyes lit up, "Father, you said..."

Marquis Jingyuan waved at him, as if all his strength had been drained away.

Gu Jie knelt over anxiously, but heard Marquis Jingyuan speaking word by word with a cold face.

"Acknowledge publicly that the child in Xue Si's belly is the blood of the Gu family."

Gu Jie's shoulders stiffened, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses.

"Father, do you want your child to endure humiliation?"

"Wrong!" Marquis Jingyuan suddenly propped himself up, laughed in pain, and glared at him.

"It is the Gu family that will suffer the humiliation for your stupidity!"
-
After the morning court session the next day, Emperor Chongzhao went to Ningshou Palace to visit the empress dowager. From a distance, he saw Marquis Jingyuan kneeling in front of the palace, his back hunched like a shrimp, looking very undignified.

Emperor Chongzhao felt a swelling and pain in his scalp.

"what happened?"

The eunuch Wang Chengxi bowed and replied cautiously: "Your Majesty, the Marquis has come to apologize to the Queen Mother..."

Emperor Chongzhao knew exactly what Li Yan had done.

He stepped forward and lifted up Marquis Jingyuan, sighing, "I have heard about what happened at Prince Duan's villa. It was my son who behaved badly, and I am the one who should apologize."

After saying that, he sighed again.

"It is said that even an honest official cannot judge family affairs. Even I, the emperor, cannot judge matters within the inner chamber."

As he spoke, he asked someone to invite Marquis Jingyuan into the hall.

The empress dowager was half lying on the couch, looking listless, but her face was fair and rosy, and it was obvious that she was not seriously ill.

Emperor Chongzhao bowed and sat down at the top.

Marquis Jingyuan greeted him respectfully, then fell to the ground and sobbed as he apologized.

"Your Majesty is wise and wise, and the Queen Mother has shown great grace. I am guilty of not teaching my son well, bringing disgrace to our family, and even implicated His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei. I truly deserve death."

Emperor Chongzhao frowned and said nothing.

The Queen Mother glanced at her and Yu Ruyi tapped the edge of the couch gently. "The three generations of the Gu family have been loyal and righteous. Don't let the scandal caused by the women in the back house tarnish the reputation of the family."

Jingyuan Hou nodded repeatedly, "Thank you, Queen Mother, for your magnanimity..."

Before the voice fell, the fat man who looked like a guard brought by Marquis Jingyuan suddenly took off his hat and loose coat, knelt down with a thud, and when he looked up again, it was Xue Yueying with a bulging belly.

She kowtowed three times in a timid manner, with her forehead turning purple.

"I, a humble woman, risk my life to see you, and beg the Queen Mother to have mercy on me."

The Queen Mother's face turned pale and the jade ruyi in her hand was almost broken.

"You, why are you here? Who let you in? Come on, kick this immoral bitch out."

She hated Xue Yueying so much for bringing such misfortune to her good grandson.

I feel extremely disgusted when I see her.

Therefore, even though Emperor Chongzhao coughed repeatedly to signal her, she refused to pay any attention and did not give Marquis Jingyuan any face at all.

Xue Yueying knelt on the cold floor tiles, sweat dripping down her forehead.

"If the Queen Mother kills me, the King of Wei will be accused of patricide..."

"How brave! Beat him out for me..."

The Queen Mother was so angry that she stood up from the couch.

Seeing Emperor Chongzhao looking at him with a puzzled frown, he suddenly realized that he was pretending to be sick, and slowly lay down again, coughing a few times. "When did I ever say I wanted to kill you?"

Marquis Jingyuan looked at the expressions of the empress dowager and the emperor, then hurriedly stepped forward and rebuked Xue Yueying in a deep voice.

"You are not allowed to be rude in front of the emperor. If you continue to talk nonsense, don't even think about having a peaceful pregnancy."

Xue Yueying knelt on the ground, her bulging belly rising and falling slightly with her breathing. Under the dim light in the hall, she looked heavy and abrupt, "I beg Your Majesty and the Queen Mother to have mercy on me..."

Jingyuan Hou said, "Your Majesty is a kind and wise ruler, and the Queen Mother is a Buddhist, compassionate and kind, how could she want to kill a pregnant woman like you? Moreover, the innocent fetus will not be harmed, and you are carrying the blood of the Gu family in your belly, so please stop talking nonsense."

The people were brought by Marquis Jingyuan.

The emperor and the empress dowager naturally knew what Marquis Jingyuan's attitude was.

The emperor said, "Gu Aiqing, you and I have known each other since childhood, and I know your character best. But your son must be disciplined. If jade is not polished, it will not become a useful thing."

Jingyuan Hou quickly put his hands on the ground and said respectfully, "Thank you for your teachings, Your Majesty."
-
After returning home, Marquis Jingyuan drank a large bowl of tea and remained silent for a long time.

Mrs. Chun changed his clothes with a look of heartache, her eyes were red and her throat was choked with sobs.

"Master, why would you sacrifice the Gu family's good reputation for that fool? The old lady is so angry that she's sick."

Marquis Jingyuan looked solemn and sighed.

"I'll have to trouble you, Madam, to take care of and comfort our old mother. Alas, since ancient times, it has been difficult to be both loyal and filial. This time, what I chose as my husband is not loyalty or filial piety, but 'liveliness'——"

Madam Chun's hands trembled.

Jingyuan Hou went on to say, "Wulang was too involved in the affairs of the King of Wei. We suffered a loss on the surface, and took the blame for the royal family, leaving us with an ignominious reputation. But this will also reassure His Majesty, and the Gu family and Wulang will have a future..."

When Madam Chun heard this, her eyes turned red and she sobbed in his arms:
"Master, I am sorry for giving birth to a useless son who has brought trouble to the Marquis's Mansion. It's all my fault..."

Marquis Jingyuan slowly raised his hand, gently patted her back, and soothed her with a warm voice.

"How can a person live a lifetime and everything go smoothly? A family should work together to share the burden. Chunniang, you are a good person, but you are soft-hearted and too kind. You should learn to be more sharp in the future..."

Mrs. Chun nodded repeatedly.

Marquis Jingyuan said again: "From what the third lady said, the young man from the Zhao family is quite good. You should go and see him more often when you have time, and settle the marriage when it's suitable..."

Madam Chun choked up and replied, "Yes."
-
That night, Gu Jie got drunk.

He staggered out of Zui Xiang Lou and bumped into Wei Wang Li Yan at the corner of the street.

Li Yan was accompanied by a few personal guards, looking relaxed, as if nothing had happened.

The anger in his heart suddenly rose up.

The entire Jingyuan Marquis's mansion was in chaos, but the culprit was unharmed.

Can you do whatever you want just because you are a prince?

Gu Jie, under the influence of alcohol, staggered forward.

"Your Majesty."

Li Yan heard the voice, turned around slowly, and saw that it was him, and raised his eyebrows.

"Master Gu Wu, do you have something to ask me?"

The wine jar exploded with a bang and shattered on the blue bricks.

Looking at the contemptuous smile on Li Yan's face, Gu Jie gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot and ferocious.

"You provoked her, why do you treat her like a worn out shoe?"

Li Yan looked at this reckless young man, who actually had deep feelings for a woman like Xue Yueying, and couldn't help but smile sarcastically.

"It is not your turn to ask about my affairs."

Gu Jie gritted his teeth and stared at him coldly.

"Your Majesty, aren't you afraid of being punished by God for doing this?"

"Divine punishment?" Li Yan whipped him.

"This king is the sky!"

Li Yan also knew what was happening in the palace.

For the idle prince who already had several children at a young age, he didn't care much about whether Xue Yueying gave birth to the baby in her belly or not, but he didn't want to take the lives of Xue Yueying and her child easily.

But after hearing what Gu Jie said, he became unhappy.

Li Yan jumped off his horse, handed the reins to the servant, walked up to Gu Jie, grabbed him by the collar, and punched him several times.

The drunk Gu Jie had no power to fight back.

Li Yan felt that the fight was boring, so he wiped his hands and whispered in his ear, chuckling threateningly.

"Go away, you coward, and take good care of the child for me. If anything happens to the child, I will make the whole Jingyuan Marquis's residence in turmoil..."

The King of Wei rode away.

Gu Jie collapsed on the street like a puddle of mud.

The sun was shining brightly during the day, but there were lightning, thunder and rain at night.

As the cold rain poured down on him, he vaguely recalled that rainy night ten years ago, when Xue Sui was curled up in the mud, covered in blood, and he, in order to please Princess Pingle, personally poured a basin of feces water on her.

And the "sizzling" sound when he used the soldering iron that he was forced to pick up on that snowy day and burned her lower back, and the nauseating smell of burning...

Who could have thought that the poisonous hatred in Xue Liu's eyes at that time would eventually turn into a sharp blade, piercing through his self-righteous life...

He laughed softly, and as he laughed tears began to flow. He shouted loudly, asking lightning to strike him to death.

Then, he fell unconscious on the wet street.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw Pingle's pretty yet somewhat cold face.

As far as he knew, Princess Pingle had been having a very difficult time recently.

It is rumored that she is seriously ill and is not under house arrest, but it is the same as being under house arrest.

The incident with Fan Bing also angered the prince consort.

Prince Consort Lu ignored her and never entered the princess' Qifeng Courtyard again after he returned home that day.

For the proud Princess Pingle, this was even more embarrassing and unbearable than a great humiliation.

Gu Jie was drunk and laughing.

"Greetings to the princess. My dear, my dear, I'm here to meet the princess..."

"Humph!"

Pingle didn't want to argue with a drunkard, but seeing Gu Jie's useless appearance, he felt annoyed.

"You Zhimu is dead, Yao Wei is disabled, and the Yao family has collapsed... The Guo brothers have been avoiding the princess's mansion recently, and the people I need to use now are not very useful..."

Pingle's scarlet nails scratched across his neck, and her voice was hinted at temptation.

"If you want to stand out, only I can give you the opportunity..."

The sound that suddenly came from the rainstorm sounded eerie. Gu Jie instinctively shuddered and wanted to dodge...

"Don't you hate Xue Liu? Coincidentally, I hate him too!"

Ping Le pinched his jaw, his nails almost digging into his flesh, "Don't you want revenge?"

Gu Jie's shoulders were staggered and he slowly stopped. It was as if a thunderclap sounded in his ears, splitting the chaos he had been in for many days.

Xue Liu's saying "Hit the snake at its most vulnerable part; bite the prince to cut off the dragon's vein" should also apply to the princess, right?

He stood up with difficulty, slowly raised his head and looked at Pingle, with a sinister look in his drunken eyes.

"Please give your orders, Princess."

Li Zhao: I heard that everyone has his or her own precise retribution. I wonder what mine is?
Xue Sui: Me.