Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 30 Going Home
The inverted house on the west side of the front yard of Gu's house is close to the stables. You can always smell the faint smell of horse manure. It has always been used as a servant's residence. Gu Jingnian's house is also here, and the living environment is much worse than that of the guests who have independent courtyards.

He had been living in Chongjing Academy before, and he hadn't been back for a long time. Weeds had grown in the cracks of the stones outside the door.

The verdigris-patinated door lock was open. As I approached, I could hear a man and a woman breathing heavily in the room.

Gu Jingnian pushed open the door.

On his little couch, there were two naked bodies entangled together, and the clothes of servants were scattered on the ground.

Hearing the sound of the door being pushed open, the two people who were in high spirits turned their heads and looked, and were immediately shocked.

The man was the Gu family's martial arts master. He was not a master, but a sparring partner for the Gu family's children when they practiced martial arts. He was often used as a sandbag by Gu Jiye. His name was Liu Chuang.

The woman seemed to be a servant who was pouring water in the front yard. She didn't look very good, but her legs were very long. Judging from her screams just now, she was a very open-minded person.

"This, this, this... Sir, please forgive me!"

Gu Jingnian didn't say anything, just turned sideways and let the man and woman pick up their clothes on the ground and run out in a hurry.

Given his position in the Gu family, he could not punish these two servants.

The reason they dared to have sex in his room was, firstly, because they saw that he was away all year round, and secondly, they thought he would be unable to do anything if they found out.

The room became quiet, but there was still a lingering smell of body odor. Gu Jingnian took a look at the messy bedding and gave up the plan of staying at Gu's house for one night. He prepared to pack up a few old books and calligraphy on the shelf and return to Chongjing Academy.

"Son."

At this time, a maid came over. It was Xing'er, the maidservant beside Gu Caiwei. She said cheerfully, "Fourth Lady asked you to come over. She also asked the kitchen to make your favorite crab meat lion's head!"

Xing'er had been in the mansion since she was a child and was familiar with Gu Jingnian. She had already stepped over the threshold while talking and chattered non-stop.

"I heard that the young master and his son-in-law found the mastermind behind the general's murder. How amazing! The young master must have learned a lot of skills at Chongjing Academy. As expected, scholars are the most capable... Hey, what is that?"

Gu Jingnian turned around and looked in the direction of Xing'er's finger, and saw a hint of red under the bed.

It was a bellyband with a lotus pattern embroidered on it.

Xing'er's expression immediately turned strange, and she whispered, "Master, you and..."

"No." Gu Jingnian said, "I haven't been back for a long time. There was a man and a woman who came here to do some business."

"Oh."

Xing'er felt a little uncomfortable and whispered, "Don't worry, sir. Xing'er is very tight-lipped."

"Let's go."

Gu Jingnian packed his bags, left the house with Xing'er, and walked towards the side door of the diagonal alley.

Before he left the house, a maid came hurriedly and said that someone had come from the Marquis of Wuding's mansion. Madam Zong asked Gu Jingnian to go to the front hall to meet him.

--------

As soon as Wang Qinghe left, Zong Huan arranged for someone to report the incident to thank her family for helping the Gu family through the difficult times. While he was busy, Zheng Sanniang, the female steward of the Wuding Marquis's mansion, came, saying that she wanted to return the gift.

"Great."

Zong Huan was delighted when he heard this, and said to Gu Jiye, "It seems that the Shen family has a very good impression of you. They said it was a return gift, but in fact they came to test the waters because they learned that the Gu family was out of danger."

The mother and son then met Zheng Sanniang in the inner hall.

After greeting each other, they sat down as host and guest. Zheng Sanniang looked around and said, "Excuse me, is Master Gu Shiyi here?"

Zong Huan was very surprised to see her ask about Gu Jingnian first, but then he understood that the Marquis's Mansion was planning to first bring up the matter of Gu Jingnian's broken engagement, and then lead the topic to the marriage with his legitimate son.

"That boy is so rude, let him apologize."

Zheng Sanniang said hurriedly, "I am a lowly servant, and I dare not accept the young master's apology. Since the young lady was saved by him, let me convey my gratitude."

Zong Huan didn't believe this talk, so he smiled and agreed, then sent someone to find Gu Jingnian.

While waiting, Zheng Sanniang didn't say much, and the atmosphere was a bit dull.

Finally, Gu Jingnian was brought in with a bag on his shoulder. He did not greet them when he entered, but just waited to see what they wanted to say.

Zong Huan had never heard him call her "mother" before, and she got angry the moment she saw him. She said indifferently, "Why? The Gu family treated you badly, and you want to run away right after you came back?"

Gu Jingnian knew that if he answered the old woman, she would never stop, so he just looked at Zheng Sanniang to see if Marquis Wu Ding had anything important to say.

"Mom is asking you a question!" Gu Jiye frowned.

Gu Jingnian still ignored it, as if the mother and son did not exist.

Last time, Gu Jiye was just a cold-eyed observer at the Lu residence. Today, seeing that Gu Caiwei was not there, and wanting to show his filial piety, he shouted to the servants in a deep voice, "My brother is rude, he needs to be disciplined."

"Madam Gu." Zheng Sanniang stood up and said, "Master Eleven has just done something important, he must be tired, why is he angry?"

Zong Huan had no choice but to give face to the Marquis' Mansion and stopped the servant who was about to step forward to teach Gu Jingnian a lesson.

Gu Jiye's words were fruitless, and he shouted in dissatisfaction: "Mother!"

Upon seeing this, Zheng Sanniang looked down on him even more in her heart, thinking that it was no wonder that the Marquis looked down on the legitimate son of the Gu family and would rather marry his daughter to an illegitimate son.

Then she turned her gaze to Gu Jingnian.

"I heard that you have cleared the name of your father. I, the old servant, congratulate you on behalf of the Marquis."

Gu Jingnian didn't react after hearing this, but Zong Huan and Gu Jiye's faces changed. They thought to themselves that only they knew their own business. That bastard had always been a waste, so how could he keep getting the respect of outsiders?
They could only comfort themselves by thinking that these outsiders must be jealous of the Gu family and deliberately said the opposite.

In this moment, Gu Jingnian had guessed what Shen Jichi was thinking and said, "Please tell Marquis Wu Ding that my father was not involved in the major case, so he can rest assured."

Zheng Sanniang sensed the deep meaning in these words and kept them in mind, and then said, "Now that the rain has passed and the sky is clear, I just hope that this storm will not ruin the friendship between our two families." Zong Huan smiled and said, "Of course."

Before Zheng Sanniang could finish her words, Mrs. Gu interrupted her. She felt a little embarrassed and continued to say to Gu Jingnian, "The Marquis invites Master Gu Shiyi to come to his house in three days for a chat."

Gu Jingnian was originally an illegitimate child picked up from a prisoner camp. He was treated as a bastard's son only because of his marriage with the Marquis's Mansion. In fact, Shen Jichi had done him a great favor and had not made things difficult for him when he had previously broken off the engagement without permission. So he nodded and agreed to this invitation from his elders.

"I will obey your orders."

After the matter was settled, Gu Jingnian did not stay any longer. He said goodbye to Zheng Sanniang and went to Lu's house.

After seeing the guests off, Zong Huan and Gu Jiye discussed today's events, and they became angrier and angrier as they talked.

"It's really strange." Gu Jiye asked in confusion: "Why did Marquis Wu Ding take a fancy to that bastard?"

"How could you be attracted to him? It was your father who proposed the marriage." Zong Huan said, "Because Marquis Wu Ding only has this one daughter, he wanted to find a live-in son-in-law. Although it was not mentioned in the marriage contract, it was decided privately. At that time, I thought that the boy was not qualified to share the family property, but he should have a way out, so I did not object."

Gu Jiye then asked, "What does mother mean by asking me to marry the daughter of the Marquis's mansion? Can I still marry into the family?"

"Silly child, if you can inherit the title of the Marquis' Mansion, will the Gu family's assets fall into the hands of others?"

"Mom is saying that my brothers are..."

Zong Huan glared at his son. Gu Jiye kept silent, but he understood in his heart.

Over the years, his brothers have died or become disabled, leaving behind orphans and widows. Who can compete with him in the future? He could just marry the daughter of the Marquis's Mansion first, and when Shen Jichi dies, the Gu family will still belong to him.

As for that bastard, he was favored by the Marquis's Mansion, but he insisted on breaking off the engagement and had an affair with the female detective of the Kaiping Division. He must have set his eyes on the Gu family's property.

It's a stumbling block.

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At Lu's house, several steaming dishes were placed on the table.

Gu Jingnian waited for a while, and when he saw Gu Caiwei slowly sitting down while holding her belly, he asked, "Where's my brother-in-law?"

"He's on duty. He's busy right now."

The commander of the Imperial Left Army died, and it was involved in a major case, so Lu Yanning was naturally busy.

Gu Jingnian understood the inside story and said, "Yes, my brother-in-law may be promoted."

A lion's head fell into his bowl.

Gu Caiwei said: "It's not important whether you get promoted or not. But you have great abilities now. I am happy for you, but also worried about you."

"Nothing to worry about."

"I want to write a letter to my father to get you an official position in the court." Seeing that Gu Jingnian was about to speak, Gu Caiwei stopped him and continued, "I know you don't like these, but the mother and son of the Zong family obviously can't support such a large family. I am a daughter who married out, and you need to have status so that your words carry weight."

Gu Jingnian said: "I don't care whether the Gu family can support it or not, as long as they don't commit a serious crime and implicate my sister's married daughter."

He was determined and said, "I want to go back to Chongjing Academy tomorrow, and after I find out about my mother's clan, I will travel around the Yihai Sea."

"So, you threw away the marriage with the Marquis's Mansion on purpose?"

Gu Jingnian did not respond, but just ate the lion's head in the bowl and said, "This dish is well cooked."

It's not that he particularly likes this dish, but he always enjoys eating it when he goes to Gu Caiwei's house.

That night, Gu Jingnian still stayed at Lu's house and got up at four o'clock in the morning.

He had to walk for half an hour to get to the city gate to go to Chongjing Academy, so he had to set off early to avoid queuing at the city gate and waiting for others to check his documents.

It was the darkest time of the day, and he walked through the alley without a lantern in the dim moonlight.

There was a man standing at the entrance of the alley. He looked over here, saw Gu Jingnian coming, and immediately stepped forward to greet him.

"Eleventh Young Master?"

Hearing the voice, Gu Jingnian recognized the other person as Liu Chuang, who had committed adultery with the maid in his room during the day.

"What's the matter?"

"I have come here specially to apologize to you, sir." Liu Chuang stepped forward and knelt down, saying, "Cui Er and I are in love..."

Before he could finish his words, he fell to his knees and stabbed the dagger in his hand into Gu Jingnian's heart.

"puff."

He stabbed the knife in and turned it to make sure the blood came out, then Liu Chuang stabbed again.

His movements were very agile. After making two slashes, he stepped back, letting Gu Jingnian fall to the ground, and then he turned and left.

It was still dark, and the ginkgo leaves were floating in the night breeze.

Liu Chuang threw away the dagger, took out a handkerchief to wipe his hands, and thought that the large sum of money he had received today was enough for him and Cui'er to run away and live together for the rest of their lives.

Suddenly, someone called him from behind.

"Liu Chuang."

"Who?!"

Liu Chuang turned around.

A dagger instantly pierced his heart.

(End of this chapter)