Chapter 394: Visiting the Bai Residence
Chapter 394: Chapter 394: Visiting the Bai Residence
On the way here, Xu Shuanghong had rehearsed this in her mind countless times, so her tears fell on cue. "I know I’m only a stepmother who came into your lives halfway. I don’t dare expect you brothers to show me filial piety, but you can’t just disregard human decency like this. Do you hate the three of us so much just because I married your father?
"I didn’t want this either. If it weren’t for that night..."
"Enough, you’re speaking nonsense," Gu Baijiang scolded in annoyance. "These are just your assumptions. Did you actually see my second son bring people to sell you?
"This is not some small town. Before you speak, you’d better use your brain."
"Sir, are you despising us?" Xu Shuanghong knew this family might even be blaming them in their hearts for not dying on the road. "But as long as we can live, who would choose to die?"
Seeing her becoming increasingly outrageous, Gu Baijiang frowned. Although they were family, he didn’t know if the servants were entirely loyal to them. If these words spread, how could his eldest son establish a foothold in officialdom?
He was now beginning to regret his moment of foolishness back then.
"You must be tired from the journey. Go back to your courtyard and rest." Having learned the whole story, Gu Baijiang didn’t want to argue with them anymore. He just wanted to send them away quickly so he could properly discuss with his eldest son how to handle the situation.
Once they left, Gu Kaiping also dismissed Liu Yun. He looked at Gu Baijiang with a heavy expression. "Father, if my second brother really got involved in gambling, how do you think we should handle this?"
The family was already teetering on the edge of ruin; they didn’t have the silver to fill that bottomless pit.
"What’s the rush?" Gu Baijiang also had a headache. Gu Kaiyuan was alienated from them, and Gu Kaichen now seemed utterly ruined. Of the three sons he had raised, he ultimately had to rely on his eldest. "Aren’t they in Lingnan right now? Then let’s hold off on sending anyone to pick them up."
Gu Kaiping felt a surge of joy. If they did that, it wouldn’t be a bad idea at all.
But then he realized something was wrong. "If those three—a mother and her daughters—could walk all the way from Lingnan to Capital City, then my second brother and his wife..."
He was starting to regret it now. If he had known his second brother was so useless, he would have brought them back together no matter what. At least with their father keeping an eye on him, he definitely wouldn’t have picked up those bad habits.
Ultimately, it was all to blame on the existence of Xu Shuanghong and her daughters. If it weren’t for them, and the need to placate them, their large family could have squeezed together and returned.
"Don’t you know your second brother’s character?" Gu Baijiang asked. "He is the least capable of enduring hardship. Making him suffer all the way from Lingnan to Capital City—he’d rather just hole up there."
"The road from Lingnan to Capital City is very easy to travel now," Gu Kaiping said. "I’ve heard a lot these past few days about many merchant caravans from Capital City heading that way. What if they return with a caravan?"
His second brother might lack other qualities, but he did possess some petty shrewdness. Those merchants were always trying every possible way to forge ties with officials. As long as Gu Kaichen wasn’t stupid, he could borrow the Third Prince’s prestige, and someone would surely escort him to Capital City with the best food and drink.
Mentioning merchants, Gu Kaiping’s eyes flickered. "There’s also the Bai family. A few days ago, they hired an escort agency to deliver another batch of goods to Lingnan."
"Let’s set aside your second brother’s matter for now," Gu Baijiang said. "Get yourself ready. We’ll pay a visit to the Bai family tomorrow."
Gu Kaiping looked pleasantly surprised; he had been wanting to visit the Bai family for a long time.
Despite living in such a large estate, there was barely any silver left in the accounting room. With money only flowing out and nothing coming in, it probably wouldn’t be long before they couldn’t even afford to maintain this courtyard.
Then there was Xu Shuanghong and her daughters. Seeing them arrive in rags, outfitting them from head to toe and feeding their extra mouths... the more he thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed.
The next day arrived quickly. Xu Shuanghong and her daughters were finally dressed in new clothes. The three of them already possessed some natural beauty, and dressed up like this, they completely outshone Liu Yun.
Even Gu Kaiping, who hadn’t been near a woman for many days, let his gaze linger on the two sisters for an extra moment.
"Are you heading out to visit relatives?" Xu Shuanghong hurriedly smoothed her clothes and followed them. "I’ll go with you."
"You’ve just arrived and don’t understand anything yet," Gu Baijiang said. "It’s better for you to properly learn the rules from my eldest daughter-in-law.
"This is Capital City, not some small place like Lingnan. If your etiquette is poor and you accidentally offend a noble when you go out, we won’t be able to protect you."
Gu Baijiang was a man who valued his face above all else. He was going to ask for money; how could he possibly bring them along?
The father and son packed their things and left. Halfway there, they still had the carriage stop to buy two packets of pastries. Although it was a bit shabby, it was better than showing up empty-handed.
Arriving outside the Bai family’s home, the porter immediately informed them as soon as he heard they were looking for the master. "You two have come at a bad time. Our master has gone out to inspect his properties and won’t be back for at least two or three months. If you need something, come back and ask in two months."
"How could he be gone?" Gu Kaiping asked, looking surprised. "I bumped into him on the street just the other day."
The porter looked displeased. "Do you know how to speak? What do you mean ’gone’? Our master went out to inspect his properties.
"Just because you bumped into him on the street before, does that mean our master can’t go anywhere? Should he just wait in the manor for you?"
The porter fired off a volley of words like firecrackers. He had finally found a good master to serve. These two idiots came up and started cursing him right away. Didn’t they know that if things went bad for the master, servants like them would also suffer?
Looking at the two cheap packets of pastries in their hands, the disdain in his eyes grew. This was the wealthy Bai family of Capital City. These two were showing up with just two packets of pastries—who were they trying to insult?
"This is absolutely insolent!" Gu Kaiping felt deeply insulted. Even a porter didn’t take him seriously, let alone a porter from a merchant’s household. "Hurry inside and inform your master. We are from the Gu family, the in-laws of your Bai family."
The porter sneered. "Putting on airs now, are we? If you’re in-laws, why didn’t you announce your identities earlier?
"Besides, our Bai family doesn’t have such shabby relatives. If people came every day carrying broken pastries to claim kinship, our threshold would probably be trampled flat.
"Alright, I won’t make things difficult for you. Leave your calling card. If there really is such a relative, we’ll definitely send you a reply when the time comes."
The porter looked at the two men with contempt. They dared to come and claim kinship, yet they didn’t even understand the rules of the capital.
Which family would just show up unannounced like this? Everyone submitted a calling card first to see if it was convenient for the host, and then arranged a mutual time to meet.
Did they really think this was some petty household where people could drop by at any time?
The porter’s words made the father and son flush with a mix of embarrassment and anger. Having lived a hard life for a while, they truly had forgotten this rule.
They had been without etiquette for so long; how could they remember all of that?
With sheepish expressions, the two of them grabbed their pastries and fled in humiliation.