Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

"You child, you don't even knock before coming in!" While scolding her, she didn't try to defend herself: "I was just worried that this thing would make my room smell bad, so I was just smelling it to see how strong the smell was."

[Born into good fortune but unaware of it; this is the fragrance of a precious medicine. A knowledgeable person would surely want to lick it a few times.]

Please don't turn this precious medicine into something like mine!

"Okay, okay, I didn't mean to come in just now, Aunt Gu, I understand, I understand!"

Gu Jungui's face turned even redder. She lightly punched him with her fists while scolding him coquettishly, "What do you know! Are you implying something to me?"

“This is a miracle drug, isn’t it normal to want to smell it? There are quite a few people who want to eat it too.” Chu Mingkong picked up his elder, sat on her bed, and said mysteriously, “I have something I want to ask Aunt Gu.”

When Gu Jun Gui saw him come in, she immediately closed the door and windows. Now he's acting all mysterious, so it must be something important. She also wanted to move on from the topic from before.

How embarrassing! How did this kid manage to see it?

"What is it?" She composed herself and looked at Chu Mingkong seriously.

Chu Mingkong looked at her solemnly:

"Does that medicinal herb smell good?"

"..."

Gu Jun Gui pursed her lips in anger and kept patting his head with her delicate hand.

"You still dare to talk! You still dare to talk! In a little while, I'll take this herb to make soup. First, I'll cut off the mushroom crown and boil it in water! As for the rest of the mushroom flesh, Auntie will let you eat it raw!"

Chu Mingkong felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this. He covered the beautiful woman's hands to stop her from hitting him.

"This time they're really serious. Has the Cui family head given Aunt Gu anything?"

"Yes, but I didn't take it. We're not close. He's from the East Mansion, and I'm from the West Mansion. What would I do with it? He offered it to me twice before, but I couldn't refuse him in person once."

"Huh? You accepted it?"

Chu Mingkong's sword had hardened; he was preparing to enter a state of madness and replace the Cui family's patriarch.

Gu Jun Gui shook his head slightly and said helplessly:

“I didn’t accept it. I said at the time that it was a gift to my elders, so I declined and gave it to an old lady who was also present.”

"..."

"After that, the clan leader stopped giving me gifts, but he did like to give small gifts to the maids. Occasionally, he would also give some things to your sister-in-law Huang Er next door, and also to Ke Qing."

That old man, he still has quite a long reach.

This Cui residence is truly unclean; I didn't even notice it the first time I came!

Chu Mingkong was filled with lingering fear, which only strengthened his resolve to take Aunt Gu away today!

Although his residence wasn't exactly clean—cough cough, I mean, it was filled with extremely yin energy—he possessed a strong sense of righteousness and dispelled the gloom for Aunt Gu!

"Mingkong, why are you suddenly asking this? Did the clan leader also give you a gift? You absolutely mustn't accept it. The clan leader and his son both have that kind of thing when it comes to young lovers. You're not allowed to learn from them, understand!"

"Absolutely. Even if all the women in this world are my elders, I will endure the pain of my Dao heart turning to demonic possession rather than lay a hand on a man!"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Why did you suddenly ask this? Or is there something else you want to say?"

"Yes, there are some, but they're just gossip and not suitable to talk about here. Aunt Gu, pack your things and come back to the mansion with me now."

He had barely finished speaking when he began opening the beautiful woman's wardrobe, dutifully and attentively helping her tidy her clothes.

"Let's pack the important clothes first, lest we leave something behind and it gets stolen by someone with malicious intent. I'll take care of these heavy tasks!"

Gu Jun Gui quickly got up and went over to him, hugging his arm, her full breasts squeezing and deforming:

"Mingkong! You child, what are you doing going through my undergarments while packing your things?!"

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Suffering of Keqing

In upper-class families, even the patriarch has to listen to the elders, especially those elders of high status and seniority.

Chu Mingkong didn't take Gu Jungui to the clan leader. Instead, he exchanged two thousand-year-old ginseng roots from the Filial Piety Mall and went directly to the old lady.

He didn't dare let the system package the gift, fearing that once it was packaged, the gift would enter Schrödinger's cat mode.

What goes in is ginseng, what comes out is oxen.

Chu Mingkong led Gu Jungui by the wrist to the tea room, where the old lady spent her days. The younger generation in the household had to come here to pay their respects.

The tea room was quite crowded. Zhong Feihuang, Feng Keqing, and several other Cui family wives, along with You Erniang whom they had just met, and a group of beautiful maids were all there chatting with the old lady.

The girls from the East Mansion of the neighboring clan chief all like to run to the West Mansion, especially to stay by the old lady's side, I wonder if it's for "seeking refuge".

"Grandma, this is a small token of my appreciation, two ginseng roots of average age, just in case."

Upon meeting Chu Mingkong, he first presented a gift. As soon as the box was opened, the aroma of herbs filled the tea room, even overpowering the original fragrance of tea.

These aged, life-extending medicinal herbs are very attractive to the elderly.

"Such a rich ginseng aroma, its age is not far from those thousand-year-old ginsengs in the warehouse, Mingkong has put in a lot of effort!"

The old lady nodded in satisfaction. She did not refuse and ordered a maid with very large breasts to come and accept the gift.

Chu Mingkong watched the very large maid leave, communicating with the system in his mind.

—System, I was ignorant before. Now that there are so many people here, I'll kowtow to you. Please don't turn those two ginseng roots into oxen!

What do you want to become?

—Bao...no, can't things just stay the same?

Gu Jun Gui nudged him with her elbow, her beautiful eyes widening slightly, and whispered, "What are you staring at that young girl for?"

Just now, Chu Mingkong was communicating with the system, which Gu Jungui naturally saw as him staring at the "big big" thing.

Chu Mingkong snapped out of his daze, and the beautiful women in the room were all smiling at him.

However, their smiles did not contain any mockery or ridicule for his loss of composure. Chu Mingkong's recent "victories" were quite astonishing, and the story of his anger for his master was widely circulated, especially among the girls, who held him in high regard.

His earlier behavior of staring at the plump maidservant was automatically romanticized in his mind as a "romantic tale" rather than a "lustful villain".

Before Chu Mingkong could explain, Gu Jungui spoke up in his defense:

"Don't take offense. Mingkong is of marriageable age, but he hasn't settled down yet. That's why he always takes a second look at girls when he sees them. It's all because of my urging."

Upon hearing this, the maids all wanted to show off their beauty to Chu Mingkong. The maids who had been "bumped" into Chu Mingkong's room that morning blushed when they remembered his "power".

Seeing the maids' flirtatious expressions, the fiery Zhong Feihuang laughed and said:

"Look at these sluts. If Mingkong stayed at our Cui residence, he might just send himself to bed tonight."

The tea room was filled with a pleasant atmosphere for a while.

Chu Mingkong was helpless; he couldn't even get a word in edgewise.

After they had been chatting for a long time, the old lady finally remembered that Chu Mingkong had been standing there for quite a while.

"Mingkong, have you come here for something?"

Chu Mingkong finally got a chance to speak, and gratefully bowed.

"When the old lady asked, I'll be frank. I plan to bring Aunt Gu to my residence to stay for a while. Her things are already packed."

"Because my injuries are in their final stages, I want to spend more time with Aunt Gu. Being from Xiling as well, it would help ease my homesickness."

The old lady was soft-hearted, both for his injuries and for the two thousand-year-old ginseng roots he had given her.

It wouldn't look good for the Cui family's daughter-in-law to live with someone else, but Gu Jungui is a widow who can't give birth to a son for the family, and Chu Mingkong probably doesn't have much time left. He's also a ruthless person with a fickle temperament, so selling him out might be a good thing.

Perhaps he'll remember this kindness in the future and send a few more medicinal herbs!

The old lady couldn't agree too readily; she had to appear "in a dilemma" and only relent when she finally "had no choice."

The daughters-in-law of the Cui family are not someone you can just take out whenever you want.

“Well… Jun Gui is already a daughter-in-law of the Cui family. It wouldn’t sound good if she stayed at your place for a long time. Ming Kong, it would be better for you to visit her at the Cui family more often. It would be the same.”

"I'm injured and can't move around much. I should rest since the attack has started. Besides, I had a mental breakdown this morning. Luckily, my master woke me up. What if I had an attack at the Cui residence?"

"Wouldn't it be very dangerous for Jun Gui to be with you?"

The old lady realized that Chu Mingkong had mentioned "Master," and was about to ask, "Didn't your Master pass away?" when Gu Jungui interrupted her thoughts.

“I’m willing,” Aunt Gu said to the old lady. “I’m Mingkong’s only family in the capital. If I don’t stay with him, who will?”

Seeing that it was about time, the old lady agreed.

"Alright then, Jun Gui, take good care of Ming Kong and find him a suitable girl. Ming Kong should start thinking about the important matter of carrying on the family line... No wonder you were staring at the maid just now. If you really like her, how about I give her to you?"

That's too kind of you! I'll take it away right away!

“I’ve already taken Aunt Gu away, how could I possibly take the maid as well? You’re too kind, Madam. It’s getting late, so I’ll take Aunt Gu back first. I still need to tidy up her room, so I won’t disturb you any longer.”

Chu Mingkong led Aunt Gu out of the tea room.

Behind her, Feng Keqing cast an envious glance at Sister-in-law Gu. She then made an excuse to go for a walk in the courtyard and bid farewell to the old lady.

Soon, Feng Keqing arrived at Gu Jungui's room, just as Chu Mingkong and she were about to leave.

Seeing this, Gu Jungui gently nudged Chu Mingkong, sending him away, saying, "Go, go, go find a maid to play with first. Don't come back to me unless you end up with a child."

If you've played this game so quickly, then you're just taking over someone else's business and becoming their father... Do you think I'm your father, that you woke up from a coma in the wild and took me back to raise as your own son?

Gu Jungui pulled the slender and graceful Keqing into the room.

"Qing, what brings you here?"

"Sister-in-law...could Mingkong also take me to stay with him for a while?" Feng Keqing looked distressed, truly troubled and helpless.

"Did the clan leader... force you?" Gu Jungui held Ke Qing's hand, his words filled with sympathy.

Seeing Feng Keqing shake her head, Gu Jungui breathed a sigh of relief.

“I think I’ve figured it out. My father-in-law… is really ruthless. The paintings he made me hang in my bedroom are all problematic. They always trigger those kinds of dreams. After Mingkong changed them for me last time, I finally got a good night’s sleep for a while. I also noticed that every time he called me to Tianxiang Tower to play the zither, there was an unsettling dampness in the tower.”

Yesterday, while I was out, he went into my room and found that the painting on the wall had been changed. He angrily demanded to know what had happened... I... I really had no choice. Cui Rong doesn't dare to breathe loudly in front of his father!

Feng Keqing's face was full of sorrow. As soon as she finished speaking, her deep, plain eyes became moist, and she was almost about to cry.

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Cui Family's Scandal