As the sun set in the west, Gao Erfu finally saw off Gu Ting and Gu Jiu, the brother and sister pair.
Standing at the doorway, he watched the ox cart disappear into the distance, feeling an urge to cry.
Gu Jiu, that big demon, not only extorted a sum of silver from him but also made him transcribe the account books and even write a guarantee letter.
Within three days, he had to deliver Gui mama along with Da Zhuang and Er Zhuang to the city, and also bring their indenture contracts.
But the contracts were stored in the accounting office of the manor—what was he supposed to do?
To make matters worse, this whole affair had to be kept from Xie shi.
Alerting her would be equivalent to ruining his own prospects.
After much thought, Gao Erfu decided to return to the manor early the next morning and ask his younger brother, Gao Sanfu, for help.
No matter what, he had to get Gui mama and her sons’ indentured contracts.
Inside the ox cart, Gu Ting laughed heartily.
“Thinking of Gao Erfu’s pained expression makes my heart feel so satisfied.”
Gu Jiu chuckled along in agreement.
She had extorted five hundred taels of silver from Gao Erfu, leaving him so pained that his face contorted with anguish.
Gu Jiu couldn’t help but feel that she was terribly poor—so, so poor.
Money was needed for everything, yet she had no way of earning an income. The silver she had was dwindling with each expense, and seeing money flow away without any coming in hurt her deeply.
Since Gao Erfu had stumbled into her hands, she adhered to the principle of “never leaving a treasure mountain empty-handed” and naturally seized the chance to solve her immediate needs.
Once she had a steady source of income, she wouldn’t need to resort to such measures in the future.
Gu Ting asked, feeling curious, “Meimei, I originally thought you would directly take Gui mama and leave this place.”
Gu Jiu smiled and said, “We’re currently staying at Tianmen Temple. Bringing Gui mama and her two sons along would leave us without even a proper place to stay. Having Da Zhuang and Er Zhuang appear in front of the guards frequently wouldn’t be ideal either.
“It’s better to wait a few days until the house we’re renting in the city is ready. By then, Gui mama and her sons can move directly into the house outside the manor, avoiding unnecessary attention.”
Gu Ting nodded in agreement. “Meimei is thoughtful as always. But do you think Gao Erfu can actually get the indenture contracts for Gui mama and her sons?”
Gu Jiu smiled and replied, “If Gao Erfu can’t do it, Gao Sanfu certainly can. Don’t worry. In a few days, Gao Erfu will willingly deliver the contracts to us. At that time, I’ll need you gege to help settle Gui mama and her family.”
“Meimei shouldn’t worry. Leave it to me.”
The siblings, chatting happily, arrived back at Tianmen Temple in the ox cart.
As they disembarked, a guard approached to report, “Reporting to san shaoye, er guniang, Steward Zhang Gui has arrived.”
Zhang Gui was a steward under their father, Gu daren. Suddenly coming to Tianmen Temple must have been under their father’s orders.
Gu Jiu and Gu Ting exchanged a glance. Had something something happened again?
The siblings hurried to Jubo courtyard, where they found Steward Zhang standing under an osmanthus tree.
“Steward Zhang, please come inside and take a seat,” Gu Ting greeted, taking the lead. Gu Jiu stood behind him.
Zhang Gui bowed to them. “Greetings to san shaoye, er guniang. I heard you went to the zhuangzi?”
“Yes,” Gu Ting replied smoothly. “Since meimei rarely gets to go out, I decided to take her on a little outing.”
Zhang Gui glanced at Gu Jiu standing behind Gu Ting. Er guniang appeared thinner and more pale than before. Perhaps she was frightened.
But recalling how er guniang had the guts kill Xie Xian with her own hands, he quickly dismissed the idea.
Would someone brave enough to kill Xie Xian be so easily scared?
Yet looking at her frail and pallid state, what else could it be but fear?
Ah, Zhang Gui shook his head, feeling confused. Better not to overthink it. Er guniang was still er guniang. It was not his turn to worry about whether she was frightened.
“Er guniang must have been frightened.”
Gu Jiu smiled lightly. “ Many thanks for your concern, Steward Zhang. Were you ordered to come here? What instructions does Father have?”
Zhang Gui replied, “Indeed, xiaode is here under orders from to pay a visit to san shaoye and er guniang. Additionally, laoye instructed me to deliver some items to calm your nerves.”
With that, Zhang Gui produced a gift list from his robes.
“This is a token of the laoye’s care, prepared specially for san shaoye and er guniang.”
Gu Ting took the list and opened it, revealing a series of items ranging from fabrics to inkstones, gold and silver ingots—altogether worth over a thousand taels.
The siblings were pleasantly surprised. In all these years, this was the first time they received such valuable gifts fromt their father.
Gu Jiu quickly expressed her gratitude. “It is unfilial of use to make Father worry. Not only does he not blame us, but he also sent Steward Zhang to pay us a visit and send us these gifts. We, we are truly moved. I always knew Father cared about gege and me deeply. Gege, when we return, we must kowtow to Father.”
“Um!” Gu Ting nodded earnestly. “Father’s kindness cannot be taken lightly. We must not let him down.”
Zhang Gui smiled. “It’s good to see san shaoye and er guniang thinking this way. Laoye’s kind intentions have not been in vain. Additionally, laoye asked xiaode to inform san shaoye and er guniang that Xie jia’s father and son have already left Jinzhou.”
“Really? That’s wonderful! Gege, let’s return to the fu tomorrow. We’ve been away for so long, I miss everything about it.”
Gu Ting glanced at his sister, puzzled, as if asking: Meimei, are you sure you miss everything about the fu and can’t wait to return? But you clearly said that you wanted to play for a few more days.
Gu Jiu lowered her head, pursing her lips. Silly gege. With Zhang Gui here, what excuse do we have to stay at Tianmen Temple any longer? Of course, we must return quickly.
Understanding dawned on Gu Ting. “I’ll listen to meimei, we’ll leave tomorrow for the fu.”
Zhang Gui said, “That’s excellent. Xiaode will stay at Tianmen Temple tonight and accompany san shaoye and er guniang back to the fu in the morning.”
“Steward Zhang has worked hard.”
“Not at all.”
Gu Jiu sent off Zhang Gui and returned to Puxian courtyard. As soon as she sat down, a few servants brought in two large chests.
“Er guniang, these are the gifts prepared for you by laoye. Please take a look.”
Gu Jiu smiled. “Thank you for your efforts.”
“Xiaode isn’t troubled.” The servants took their leave.
Qing Mei asked, “Guniang, should we open them and take a look?”
Gu Jiu nodded. “Yes, open it.”
Qing Mei and Qing Zhu opened the two chests. One contained fabrics, while the other held gold and silver ingots, pen, ink, paper and inkstones along with ancient texts.
Qing Mei meticulously counted the contents: four bolts of silk, four bolts of satin, four bolts of brocade, and eight bolts of cotton fabric.
Excitedly, she exclaimed, “Guniang, these gifts from laoye are truly practical. Guniang can have so many new clothes made!”
Gu Jiu’s brows bent and eyes crinkled as she smiled with delight.
Her luck wasn’t bad today, she made a quite a bit of money.
First, she extorted a sum from Gao Erfu, and now her father had sent her generous gifts. How great!
Gu Jiu looked like a little money-grubber, making Qing Mei and Qing Zhu laugh.
“Guniang is in a great mood.”
Gu Jiu nodded repeatedly. “Right now, I can barely call myself a rich person, so of course, I’m in a good mood. Qing Mei, hurry and count how much gold and silver we have. Is there at least a hundred taels?”
Qing Mei and Qing Zhu started counting together. “Reporting to guniang, the gold ingots amount to ten taels, and the silver ingots to twenty taels.”
Hearing this, Gu Jiu beamed with joy.
It was rare for Gu daren to be so generous. Nine times out of ten, it was because he had confiscated the assets of the Xie jia and his pockets were overflowing, so he decided to send a share of the spoils to her, the one responsible for the meritorious deed.
Qing Zhu remarked, “Tomorrow, we’ll have to take all these gifts back to the mansion. It’s such a hassle going back and forth.”
Qing Mei agreed. “It really is troublesome. Laoye could have simply waited until guniang returned to the mansion to send these gifts to Zhilan Yuan.”
Gu Jiu shook her head slightly and said, “Father probably did this to save taitai some face and avoid upsetting her too much.”
“Ah!” Qing Zhu exclaimed. “So, laoye sending gifts to guniang was done secretly behind taitai’s back?”
Gu Jiu nodded. “It must be hidden from taitai.”
“No wonder,” Qing Zhu said. “So all this back-and-forth with the gifts is just to keep it from taitai.”
“If the gifts were delivered directly to Zhilan Yuan, taitaiwould surely find out with her informants in the fu. If we bring them back ourselves, taitai won’t know,” Qing Mei added.
Gu Jiu smiled and nodded. That was precisely the case.
From Gu daren‘s perspective, it was necessary to keep this matter a secret from Xie shi.
Although he was furious with the Xie jia because of the father and son, going so far as to confiscate the Xie jia‘s properties in Jinzhou, Xie shi was still his wife, and Xie Mao still held a position as an official in the crown prince’s office.
Gu daren had already reaped a large reward, so at this point, it was only natural to consider taitai’s dignity and take her feelings into account.
That’s why he specifically sent Zhang Gui to Tianmen Temple to deliver the gifts.
Gu Jiu instructed, “Store away all the other gifts, but leave the books here with me.”
“Yes!”
Leave a Reply