Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Xie Licheng had expected this matter to cause quite a stir. After all, a perfectly healthy, living person had suddenly vanished, and Concubine Xu knew that the last person to see him was Gu Zhangyuan. No matter how you looked at it, there was no way this could be brushed aside so easily.

But soon Xie Licheng discovered that the nobles and officials of ancient times wielded tremendous power, and this whole affair ended in a way he never could have imagined.

...

When Concubine Xu was scheming against Gu Zhangyuan, she'd used the excuse of thieves breaking into the Gu residence to round up a bunch of people.

The situation that day had been extremely urgent, so Xie Licheng simply played along, pretending to be the thief himself, and lured away the people who'd come to catch him.

Then Concubine Xu, who was slow to realize something was off, discovered that her nephew had gone missing.

She was dead certain this had something to do with Gu Zhangyuan, and that the so-called thief was probably one of his people. Naturally, she'd do everything in her power to catch that thief.

So after watching the Gu family hunt for the thief for days without turning up a single trace, Concubine Xu concluded that Gu Zhangyuan was deliberately shielding the culprit. She quietly sent someone to report the matter to the authorities.

Once the authorities got involved, the whole nature of the matter changed.

This quickly reached the ears of the First Master of the Gu family, who was off visiting friends.

Before he even set foot back home, he already knew the whole story from start to finish.

It started with Concubine Xu, who was malicious to the core, trying to conspire with some outsider to scheme against a young lady of the Gu family.

Gu Zhangyuan, wanting to protect his little sister, had nearly been taken advantage of by that male guest.

But as it turned out, that male guest was a total waste of space. He was the one who'd done all the scheming, yet in the end, he was the one who fell and broke his neck.

The First Master had raised Gu Zhangyuan to be too good and too upright. It was his first time dealing with something like this, and when a male slave caught him, he panicked and agreed to let the slave get rid of the body.

Then came the part where Concubine Xu, using the excuse of catching thieves, led a bunch of people to catch Gu Zhangyuan in a compromising position, hoping to force the Gu family to marry Gu Zhangyuan off to her nephew.

When the First Master heard all this, he was so angry he laughed.

"Absolutely ridiculous! If I, Gu Zhenghan, could let my own son and daughter be pushed around by some lowly concubine right here on Gu family turf, then I don't deserve to be head of this household."

The First Master let out a cold snort, then said to the steward beside him, "Go. Do exactly as I tell you."

The steward quickly leaned in to hear the orders, then headed back to the Gu residence ahead of everyone else.

Less than half an hour after the steward got back, the yamen runners from the authorities showed up too.

When Concubine Xu got the news, she wanted to lead the runners straight to where her nephew had vanished.

She kept thinking that if something had happened to her nephew, it must have gone down at the rockery.

But before she could even get to the runners, the steward had already led them to the guest rooms in the outer courtyard.

Concubine Xu's nephew had been staying in the outer courtyard guest rooms. The steward said that a few days back, the Gu residence had been robbed, and while chasing the thieves, they'd discovered a good number of valuables missing.

And wouldn't you know it, around that same time, a male guest in the outer courtyard had gone missing. They figured it might be connected, so they wanted to bring the runners in to check it out first.

Sure enough, the moment they stepped into that male guest's room, they found two valuable items that had been stolen from the Gu residence.

Put that together with the earlier burglary and this male guest's disappearance, and it was clear the guy had been tempted by greed when he saw the valuables. After swiping a big haul from the Gu family, he'd taken off to avoid getting caught and hauled before the authorities.

Of course, this was just the Gu family's side of the story. Back in the day, even if the runners were unreliable, they couldn't be fobbed off with just a few words like that.

But lately, there were faint signs of unrest brewing in Lingzhou. The prefect was up to his ears in work and had no time for such trivial matters.

Besides, the government back then was nothing like it is in modern times. As the saying goes, "Courtroom doors face south; without money or connections, don't bother showing up."

This prefect of Lingzhou wasn't exactly known for being enlightened or upright. Unless something major happened—like a murder—he wouldn't bother investigating seriously.

A fish rots from the head down. Which meant the runners under him were cut from the same cloth.

As for today's business at the Gu residence, Concubine Xu had reported it as a burglary, so naturally they treated it as a burglary.

The steward had also made sure to avoid prying eyes and slipped them a hefty chunk of silver.

After that, whatever the steward said, they believed it, no questions asked.

And so, the thief who'd caused all that commotion over the past few days ended up being pinned on Concubine Xu's nephew.

Since Concubine Xu kept crying thief left and right, insisting the Gu residence had been robbed, well, now she really got what she asked for.

When she heard the authorities had closed the case—not only failing to find the thief behind her nephew's disappearance, but actually pinning the theft on her missing nephew—word had it that after the officials went back, they even hired a sketch artist to draw her nephew's portrait, declaring they'd search the whole city for this thief.

Her nephew was a scholar, and scholars care a hell of a lot about their reputation.

Now he was missing, fate unknown, and he'd been saddled with a reputation like that.

She couldn't even stand to think about how much her family back home would hate her once they found out.

The more Concubine Xu thought about it, the more scared she got. Figuring that staying any longer wouldn't end well, she packed up her valuables and planned to slip out of the Gu residence under cover of darkness.

But what she hadn't counted on was that before she could even finish packing, the steward showed up at her door with a bunch of people.

Without even letting her get a word in, he declared, "How dare you, Xu, meet with an outsider man at night! You've violated all decency and have no shame! Men, seize her and give her ten lashes first. Tomorrow, send her to the farm out in the countryside beyond the city walls."

Concubine Xu let out a shrill scream at that, "You're lying! You're lying! I want to see the First Master! I want to see the First Master! I'm innocent! I didn't do anything! I didn't! First Master, you can't do this to me! Xue'er can't lose her mother! I am, I am Miss Xue's mother! You... you can't treat me like this..."

No one listened to a word she said. When she'd wanted to do that to Gu Yangxue, she hadn't stopped to think that she was the girl's own mother.

The First Master hadn't actually gotten some outsider man to do anything to her; he was just using that as an excuse to kick her out of the Gu residence.

But she'd wanted to find an outsider man to defile her own daughter, to defile the Gu family's Eldest Young Master.

Using their most precious chastity and reputation to force them into marrying someone who'd already wronged them.

Compared to what she'd done, the First Master figured he was already being pretty lenient out of consideration for old times' sake.

Of course, he didn't actually have any old feelings for her to speak of.

Any so-called old feelings were only on account of Gu Yangxue.

If it weren't for that daughter, given everything she'd done, and given that she was the lowest-ranking slave in the Gu household, the family could've just beaten her to death.

...

After cleaning up all the mess, the First Master summoned Gu Zhangyuan to his study.

Looking at his eldest, who had grown into a graceful and stunning young man, the First Master was very fond of him and doted on him deeply.

He was his first child. Even though he was only a son born to a concubine, he'd always been especially favored.

Almost one could say he was practically raised on a mountain of gold, silver, and jewels.

The Grand Lord looked at Gu Zhangyuan and said, "Do you know where you went wrong this time?"

Gu Zhangyuan bowed slightly, his demeanor respectful and obedient.

"Zhangyuan knows—he is still too timid and weak by nature."

The Grand Lord shook his head, gesturing for him to sit down beside him to speak.

"You're not timid or weak—you're just too soft-hearted. That man happened to be timid, or else you would have been in danger that time. You should not have risked yourself alone for your sister's sake, nor should you have been scared just because he died."

Gu Zhangyuan sat down beside him, speaking in a low, slightly hurt voice, "I... I was afraid my actions would tarnish the Gu family's reputation."

The Grand Lord said coldly, "Even so, you should not have trusted the words of a low-ranking slave and handed over such important leverage to him."

Gu Zhangyuan lowered his eyes and said, "Zhangyuan knows he was in the wrong."

"What is the situation with that low-ranking slave? You gave him so much silver—why didn't you send him far away?"

Gu Zhangyuan did not answer hastily. Instead, he first composed his emotions, then replied calmly, "Zhangyuan first wanted to send him off, but later thought about keeping him for his own use. Zhangyuan only has maidservants around him—the attendants and guards all belong to the Gu family—and he had no male slave of his own to use. So he thought he'd try to cultivate one himself."

Hearing this, the Grand Lord stared at him with a heavy look for a long while.

"I heard from the steward that he is quite handsome, brought out of the slave camp by the young master of the second branch. He is a descendant of a former dynasty's military officer, raised in the slave camp since he was a child, without even a proper name. Yuan'er is no longer young; ordinary young men your age would have been married with kids by now. If you fancy his looks, you may keep him. But you must heed your father's words—you can't have children with a criminal slave like him, nor can you..."

Before he could finish, Gu Zhangyuan stood up with a flushed face.

He said, red-faced, "There is no such thing! Father, how could you think of me that way? I would never set my sights on a criminal slave. Father, do not speak of such things again."

Seeing that he was unwilling to hear more, the Grand Lord fell silent. Such matters were not really for a father to discuss.

If it were not for the second son's poor health, requiring the lady to accompany him year-round in seeking medical treatment elsewhere,

The task of instructing the eldest young master should have been handled by his mother personally.

The Grand Lord said, "You are of age now. When employing people, you must exercise some discretion. Before you're sure of someone's character, don't let him get too close to you. I will be taking your grandfather to the capital soon. If you're home and can't make a decision, go ask your second uncle or the steward. As for Ting'er, that child—when he needs to be disciplined, do it properly. Do not always indulge his whims."

Gu Zhangyuan quickly responded, "Zhangyuan understands. Zhangyuan will definitely discipline his younger brother well."

After Gu Zhangyuan left the study, the steward, who had been hiding behind the screen, came out with a worried expression.

The steward asked in a low voice, "That horse slave—are we really not going to send him away? This old servant feels he's not someone to be taken lightly."

The Grand Lord smiled and glanced at him, "No matter. Are you not keeping an eye on him? If he acts against the Gu family or tries to bully Yuan'er, you can deal with him directly for me."

Seeing that the Grand Lord had entrusted him with full authority, meaning he did not need to seek the Eldest Young Master's opinion, the steward felt less uneasy and anxious.

The Eldest Young Master was too young and too soft-hearted.

If many matters had to go through his approval, the steward would find himself handling them with excessive caution and hesitation.