novelraw Chapter 232: Who is behind this?
Chapter 232: Who is behind this?
Chapter 229: Do you know who's behind this?
"Give it to your second sister for safekeeping?" Gu Lianshan glanced at him, quite surprised, and asked, "You don't manage the money? And what about your mother? Would she agree to that?"
“If I don’t have a clear plan in mind, I’m not good at managing money. My mother is the same; not only does she lack a clear plan, but she also listens to my father very much.”
This time, regardless of whether she agrees or not, I will personally accompany her to retrieve the silver. After we bring it back, I will personally hand the silver over to my second sister.
At this point, a complicated expression flashed across Gu Tianbao's face, and he added, "Although my mother listens to my father very much, if I really lose my temper, she will ultimately stand with me."
Besides, my father's actions after my mother's disappearance were truly heartless. Now he's even arranged a marriage and plans to marry her before the new year. Once my mother returns and hears about all this, I doubt she'll listen to my father anymore.
Gu Liansheng made no attempt to conceal his search for a wife through matchmakers, which even caused quite a stir.
Logically, since the Gu family held a funeral for Wei, Gu Liansheng should follow etiquette and observe a year of mourning for his deceased wife.
However, the Gu family has a saying that Gu Liansheng and his son Gu Tianbao need to study, and that after the New Year, Gu Liansheng will continue to take the imperial examination to become a scholar.
This time I'm sure I'll pass the exam!
What a magnificent sight it will be then!
In order not to affect the father and son's studies and to prevent Gu Liansheng from being distracted from the imperial examinations, a woman was needed to help manage the household, as the two young girls alone could not manage it properly.
Therefore, the mourning period for a deceased wife is usually observed for thirty or sixty days. Farmers don't have many formalities or rules.
As for the date of Wei's "death," the Gu family actually set the day Wei disappeared as her "death date."
It is said that when Wei entered the mountains that day, she must have encountered wild animals such as tigers and wolves, and subsequently died in the mountains.
Based on this calculation, Gu Liansheng has already passed the "mourning period," so it is only right for him to remarry.
As for Wei's maternal family, the entire Wei family raised their hands in agreement, saying that etiquette is etiquette, but no amount of etiquette can interfere with the father and son's studies.
They also said that although the Wei family was gone, the children were still alive. If the father passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, the children would never have to worry about finding a spouse again, and even the Wei family could benefit from it.
Therefore, they have to think about the children.
Whether it's the Gu family or the Wei family, they both put it very well.
But the truth is obvious to everyone in the village.
Many people passed on the message to their relatives: if a matchmaker were to propose marriage to a girl in the family or a young widow, they should ask clearly if it was Gu Tongsheng from Shanghe Village, and immediately reject the proposal.
The Gu family was more like a pit of fire than a true mountain of knives and a sea of fire; once you went in, you were dead!
The word got around and had a pretty good effect. In the surrounding villages, every single man of suitable age who was approached by a matchmaker and mentioned Gu Liansheng shook his head and refused.
Finally, having exhausted all other options, the matchmaker was forced to travel to San'an Town, a distance of fifty miles from Shanghe Village, and finally found a young widow for Gu Liansheng who was the right age, temperament, appearance, and family background.
The key point is that the person doesn't have children yet, so the dowry can be whatever it is, and she's even willing to bring her own dowry when she marries in.
The only problem is that they require a marriage certificate issued by the government office.
The Gu family, who were already overjoyed at this one condition, readily agreed without questioning the widow and the matchmaker, and never even considered asking someone else to inquire further.
Gu Lianshan also knew about this, but not in detail. He only knew that Gu Liansheng had arranged the marriage and would probably marry the woman in the twelfth lunar month.
As for the bride's background, the Gu family didn't tell anyone, and the matchmaker kept her mouth shut, not revealing a word. All that was known was that she was a widow from a neighboring town.
When the topic of marriage came up, Gu Lianshan was somewhat worried: "If we bring your mother back, given your father's temperament, he might secretly force her to leave."
Your grandmother has always wanted to find your father another wife, and now that they've finally gotten their wish, your mother probably won't have a good time when she comes back.
"I've thought about this." Gu Tianbao had indeed considered this point before.
He said, "I am now the only grandchild in the family. If my father kicks my mother out, I will go with her. My second sister will also go with us."
My grandfather and father doted on me the most. They might beat me, but they wouldn't let me leave. After much pleading, they would eventually agree to let my mother stay.
Gu Lianshan felt that his idea was too simplistic. Even without mentioning Gu Liansheng, his mother's methods alone would probably scare Gu Tianbao to death.
Of course, some things are useless to say; they have to experience and understand them for themselves.
Skipping over that topic, Gu Lianshan continued talking about Gu Lian managing the money.
"Your second sister is selfless and devoted to you. She is also very filial to your mother. If she were in charge of the money, she would be able to treat everyone fairly and there would be no bias."
That's right, Gu Tianbao thinks so too.
Neither the uncle nor the nephew mentioned Gu Qing.
Regarding what Gu Qing did this time, we will definitely ask the clan rules for clarification when we return to the village. If she survives, then we will consider her to be incredibly lucky!
After leaving the alley, the group headed straight for the city gate.
Gu Lianshan also went to the city gate. He had said before that after buying the goods, he would go to the city gate first to help the villagers load the goods onto the cart.
His daughter loves to join in the fun, and when people come back, she'll definitely go to the city gate to complain to him.
Gu Lianshan guessed correctly, but Gu Tang acted much faster than him.
She took shortcuts all the way and is now approaching the city gate.
There was a large open space on the west side of the city gate, specially marked out by the government office, for people who came to the winter market to park their oxcarts and donkey carts.
When Gu Tang arrived, there were oxcarts, donkey carts, and mule carts parked everywhere, not to mention the overcrowding of vehicles, and all kinds of livestock were crammed together.
But in a corner near the city wall, a group of people had inexplicably gathered, their dark heads making one dizzy.
Gu Tang was very curious and quickly ran over there.
As they got closer, they could vaguely hear two familiar voices shouting at each other, and many of the people huddled together were familiar faces.
Upon closer inspection, all of these familiar faces were villagers from Shanghe Village.
Gu Tang's heart sank, a bad feeling flashing through her mind. She thought her father was arguing with someone, so she quickly listened carefully to the two shouting voices.
Hmm... those are two girls' voices!
The tension she had been holding in suddenly eased; at least it wasn't her father.
Since he's not her father, I'll just squeeze in and join in the fun!
Gu Tang was completely unreasonable. Taking advantage of her slender figure, she found a gap and squeezed in with all her might!
Just as everyone was enjoying the lively conversation, someone suddenly nudged them, and they immediately looked down impatiently to see who it was.
When they saw Gu Tang's bright and cheerful face, everyone was taken aback at first, but they quickly came to their senses and turned to shout towards the innermost part of the crowd, "Lian Shan's daughter is back!"
These words were like a bomb, quickly opening up a path.
Everyone made way for Gu Tang, pushing her inside, while shouts echoed all around: "Lian Shan's daughter is back."
Upon entering the center of the crowd, Gu Tang immediately saw Gu Lian straddling Gu Qing, her arms outstretched like claws, scratching Gu Qing until his face was covered in welts. Not content with that, Gu Lian, with her swollen face, continued scratching and cursing, "And you call yourself the eldest sister! It's one thing if you don't protect us younger ones, but I never imagined you could be so vicious!"
First they refused to help us, then they deliberately led the people who were supposed to rescue us away! They were determined to have me and Siya kidnapped!
Gu Qing has been intentionally losing weight recently in preparation for matters at the Chengfu government office after the New Year.
Madam Li said that the young master of the Cheng family loved slender maids the most, and suggested that she lose some weight to make her body look more slender.
Because of this, Gu Qing has been eating only a bowl of thin porridge every day recently. Her body is weak from hunger, but the effect is good. She has indeed lost weight compared to before.
The price of being thin is losing strength.
She and Gu Lian were originally evenly matched, but not anymore.
The two sisters had barely exchanged blows when Gu Qing was thrown to the ground, and Gu Lian straddled her and beat her!
Although she couldn't win, Gu Qing refused to admit defeat. She was very sharp-tongued and could come up with a whole repertoire of insults.
"Siya disrespects her elders! That's her karma! She's destined to be kidnapped; that's her fate! If it's fate, she has to accept it!"
"You're the same! If you get involved with someone like Siya, then being kidnapped is your fate too! You both have to accept it!"
Fuck you!
WTF!
Gu Tang immediately flew into a rage, and before Yang Shi could speak, she suddenly kicked him—
"Bullshit! I'm born lucky! Even when kidnapped, I can escape unscathed! On the contrary, you're born with a face full of bad luck. Maybe it's because of your bad luck that your father always fails his exams!"
"what--"
Gu Tang kicked Gu Qing directly in the left eye, causing her to roll around in pain while covering her eye.
Gu Lian was so engrossed in scratching her head that she didn't notice the onlookers shouting, "Siya is back!"
Upon suddenly seeing Gu Tang appear and then decisively attacking Gu Qing, Gu Lian instinctively got up and moved away from the enraged Gu Tang.
She was afraid that Gu Tang would beat her up too.
Gu Lian got up and ran away, which gave Gu Tang an opportunity. She kicked Gu Qing, who was trying to get up, and then, imitating Gu Lian, she straddled Gu Qing and began to attack him fiercely from both sides.
"You ran away when you encountered a kidnapper, that's only natural, anyone would have run away! But not only did you run away, you also started making sarcastic remarks! If there really is such a thing as karma, then I'm afraid there won't be many survivors in the Gu family..."
Upon hearing this, Gu Lian knew that Gu Tang was still unaware that Gu Qing had deliberately sent the people Tianbao had brought away.
She dared not hide it from anyone and quickly recounted the incident.
Hearing this, Gu Tang was even angrier than before!
"Fine! I thought you were just ruthless, but I never imagined you were so vicious! I can understand that you dislike me and want me kidnapped, but Gu Lian is your own sister! It's normal for sisters to bicker, so why is it considered a matter of life and death in your eyes?!"
In her anger, Gu Tang slapped him repeatedly, very hard.
She was stronger than Gu Lian and used ruthlessness. Before long, Gu Qing's face was swollen and bleeding, with blood constantly flowing from the corner of her mouth.
Seeing Gu Qing's miserable state, Gu Lian swallowed hard a few times and moved further away from Gu Tang, not daring to say a word for fear of being caught in the crossfire.
Finally, Madam Yang couldn't stand it anymore and stepped forward to pat Gu Tang on the shoulder: "Your uncle and the others said that they will ask the clan rules to punish her when we get back. If you beat her too badly now, be careful that the elders won't take pity on her..."
"Soft-hearted?" Gu Tang stopped instantly. "I can't be soft-hearted! I'll get up now and stop hitting you." She had already vented her anger.
After getting off Gu Qing, she looked around but didn't see the clan elders or the patriarchs.
Where are Uncle and the others?
Madam Yang pointed behind her: "They're waiting over there. There's a bunch of women surrounding them. They'd be too embarrassed to squeeze in. Go see your uncle and the others. I've been worried about them."
"Sigh!" Gu Tang responded and followed the direction Yang pointed, squeezing through the crowd and walking out.
After everyone left, Madam Yang squatted down to check on Gu Qing's condition.
After being slapped dozens of times, Gu Qing's face had become numb from the pain. At this moment, she felt dizzy and her vision went black.
She lay on her back, unable to even sit up, and could only lie on the ground groaning.
Yang found two younger women and had them lift Gu Qing onto an oxcart.
As the show came to an end, the crowd around gradually dispersed.
Madam Yang instructed Gu Lian to keep an eye on Gu Qing and said, "Don't hit her anymore. If she really can't get up when it comes to the clan rules, she might have to recover from her injuries before being punished."
Heal first, then be punished?
Beautiful her!
"I've got it." Gu Lian nodded, promising not to do it again.
On Gu Tang's side, the clan elders were initially happy that she had returned safely, but then they said that her father had led a group of people to search for the kidnapper in the alley.
"I heard from Lian that the medicine powder you made yourself, when sprayed into those people's eyes, caused them to writhe on the ground in pain. So your father wanted to go and see if he could find those kidnappers..."
Medicine powder?
What kind of powder?
Gu Tang was stunned for a moment. When did she prepare the powder? And when did she spray it into the eyes of those kidnappers... No! She did spray something at the kidnappers.
But that wasn't medicine powder; it was pepper spray, a reward from the system!
Gu Tang blinked. This was a good excuse. She decided to put the pepper spray in the powder category.
"How many people did my dad bring?"
“Besides your father and Gu Tianbao who led the way, there were eleven other people going with you.”
"Eleven people?"
Gu Tang considered it in his mind for a moment, then nodded: "There are enough people. There are only five kidnappers."
They were all lying on the ground when I came back. I wonder if they'll get up and leave after I leave.
After all, they had failed to catch the two girls they were trying to capture, and now that they were running away, they would definitely call for help.
No one is stupid enough to stay put and wait for someone to come.
The clan elders understood this as well: "We have to go even if we can't find anyone, otherwise, not only will your father be worried, but all of us will be worried."
"On another note, what exactly happened? You faced those kidnappers face-to-face; did they say who ordered them?"
(End of this chapter)