Chapter 412: Gu Family
Chapter 412: Chapter 412: Gu Family
Gu Baijiang asked, "You just marched into the city looking like this?"
He thought to himself, "What an utter fool. There are so many rivers outside the city; they could have easily freshened up a bit and saved themselves some dignity."
Gu Kaichen looked down at himself. "We are a bit filthy, but there was no helping it. We braved the elements the whole way, starving for days on end. Look at how much weight I’ve lost! Where would I find the energy to worry about trivial things like that?"
He knew he currently looked like a mess. Terrified of running into acquaintances on the journey, he had kept his hand over his face. "But don’t worry, Father. I covered my face the entire way back. No one knew it was me."
Gu Baijiang was so frustrated by his son’s stupidity that he could practically cry. "Then how did you find this place?"
"By asking the people on the street, of course..."
"You are beyond foolish! Did your teachers never teach you the concept of burying your head in the sand?
"Enough. Just looking at the state of you makes my blood boil. Go wash up first."
"Hold on," Xu Yulan interjected. Unlike the other reserved members of the clan, she clutched her stomach. "I can’t even remember the last time I had a proper meal. Get us something to eat first."
Saying that, she turned to look at dear Liu Yun. The woman was currently standing far away; if she hadn’t been trying to maintain her dignified image, she probably would have pinched her nose and walked off by now. "Liu Yun, I haven’t seen you in a while, and it seems you’ve put on some weight. Unlike me, of course—I’ve been starved down to skin and bones.
"I imagine the estate has plenty of delicious food. Hurry up and prepare some for us. I feel like we could eat an entire cow right now."
Looking at Kai Chen and his wife, Liu Yun felt a throbbing headache coming on. She thought to herself, "Our household is practically running out of food, yet these people had to show up and add to the chaos."
However, with her father-in-law watching from the courtyard, she couldn’t speak her mind. She could only force a smile. "You have terrible timing, Yu Lan. We just finished eating, and there’s nothing left in the kitchen right now. Why don’t you go wash up first while I arrange for someone to go out and buy groceries?"
"Why do you need to go out and buy groceries?" Xu Yulan’s voice pitched higher. "In the past, our kitchen had its own storeroom. Even if it didn’t have absolutely everything, it wouldn’t be completely devoid of ingredients to whip up a single meal!
"Liu Yun, don’t tell me you aren’t welcoming us back?"
Liu Yun cursed inwardly, knowing this couple would be a handful. They were throwing shade at her the very moment they arrived.
She forced another smile. "How could that be? It’s just that, as you know, our family’s current situation isn’t great. Both Father and my husband have yet to be reinstated to their official positions. Without a fixed income, we have no choice but to scrimp and save.
"You must have had a truly exhausting journey. Go wash up first. I’ll head to the kitchen right now and have them boil some porridge for you."
"You can’t be serious! Liu Yun, we just arrived, and you’re only giving us porridge? Are you really making us feel unwelcome here?" Xu Yulan was fully prepared to nurse her body back to health; she had suffered tremendously along the way.
"How is that possible?" Liu Yun was rendered speechless. They both clearly understood the situation, so why did she have to point it out?
She desperately wanted to yell at Xu Yulan that she was indeed unwelcome, and what of it? But upon seeing her father-in-law’s dark, gloomy eyes, she swallowed her words.
"Since you mentioned that you’ve been starving for a while, I thought I’d have the kitchen make some porridge to soothe your stomachs first. You can slowly nourish your bodies later."
Hearing the logic in her words, Xu Yulan scoffed coldly. "Then where are we staying?" She looked around at the waiting servants. "Mr. Kai Chen and I have returned, yet none of you even know to come over and pay your respects."
Gu Baijiang hadn’t wanted to pay her any mind, but seeing her act increasingly out of line, he finally barked, "What nonsense are you spouting? These are the people sent by the Third Prince. If you need anything, go straight to Liu Yun."
While these servants usually handled their duties flawlessly, if the Gu Family demanded anything unreasonable, they certainly wouldn’t give them any face. With their fellow clansmen present, Gu Baijiang didn’t want to lose face later, so he took the initiative to speak up first.
"Daughter of the Liu Family, you and Shuang Hong go get them settled in. We can talk about everything else later."
They had likely already lost all their face on the journey here anyway. Gu Baijiang didn’t want to say anything more. It would be best to hunker down at home for the next few days and wait for the storm to pass before going out.
When Gu Kaiping returned home, he immediately felt that the atmosphere in the estate was incredibly bizarre. The servants looked at him as if they were watching a good show. Furthermore, on his way back just now, he had vaguely sensed people pointing and whispering about him. But whenever he looked over, they would quickly pretend nothing was happening. All these signs indicated that something had happened at home.
"Where is my father?"
The butler immediately replied, "Mr. Gu is currently in the study."
Gu Kaiping shot him a glance but didn’t ask anything else. Even if he did, they wouldn’t necessarily tell him the truth. It was better to go straight to his father. However, before he could even reach the study, the person he least wanted to see appeared right in front of him.
"Oh, Kai Ping is back! Look at you in those common clothes. What’s the matter? Has your Prince son-in-law still not reinstated you to your official post?"
"What nonsense are you spewing? How could we possibly drag the Third Prince into our affairs?" What an idiot, daring to say just anything out loud. The Third Prince’s only true in-laws were the Third Prince Consort’s family.
Gu Kaichen suddenly recalled his father’s previous warning and hurriedly looked around. Seeing that the servants didn’t seem to have heard him, he let out a long sigh of relief. "That was just a slip of the tongue. I just wanted to ask, Kai Ping, how are things with your official position?"
"You don’t need to worry about that. When did you arrive?"
He knew they would be coming and had long prepared himself mentally, but they had arrived much slower than anticipated.
"We just got here this afternoon. But since you’re so busy, Kai Ping, we didn’t know where to send word.
"Our whole family is finally reunited! We absolutely must have a proper get-together today; it’s such a momentous occasion."
Gu Kaiping couldn’t be bothered to entertain him. He could now guess why he had received so many bizarre stares earlier. Sure enough, nothing good ever came from Kai Chen’s presence. Instead of staying obediently in Lingnan, he only knew how to come here and make a fool of himself. If he had known this was how he was going to act, he should have completely severed ties and split the family back in Lingnan.
While Gu Kaiping ignored him, Gu Kaichen only grew more spirited. "I see spending some time in the capital has really changed you, Kai Ping. You don’t even put others in your eyes anymore!
"No matter what, I’m still your blood brother. Aren’t you going to ask me how I’ve been doing these past few days? Ask me if I’ve suffered or been exhausted?"
Gu Kaiping looked him up and down disdainfully. "You seem to be doing perfectly fine. I’ve heard about your ’great deeds’ back in Lingnan. Don’t tell me Father hasn’t questioned you about them yet?"
Gu Kaichen’s heart tightened. How had he forgotten about that?
He figured it was definitely because of that woman, Xu Shuanghong! If they hadn’t run away first, he wouldn’t have ended up in such a miserable state. These women actually dared to play the victim and complain first! If he ever got the chance, he would definitely settle this score with them.
"You must be joking, Kai Ping. You shouldn’t take the gossip of outsiders seriously." Saying that, he looked at the study behind him. "You’re here to see Father, right, Kai Ping? Let’s go in together."