Chapter 514 - 515: Going Out
Chapter 514: Chapter 515: Going Out
Bai Suihe and Gu Xingyang listened with great interest next door, occasionally offering their commentary.
"Father’s words were brilliant. He was right not to spare his dignity," Gu Xingyang said.
"Your father shouldn’t have wasted his breath on that kind of person. He should have just kicked him out. Listen to the nonsense he’s spouting—actually demanding our properties in Shao County," Bai Suihe replied.
"Wait, Mother. Are you saying he wants the properties over in Shao County?"
Bai Suihe stroked her head. "Your hearing is just as good as mine. How could you not understand?
"He has high standards but little ability, and his greed knows no bounds. He doesn’t even consider whether he has the capability to manage it."
Gu Xingyang tugged at Bai Suihe’s collar with her small hands, but Bai Suihe swatted them away. "Use your words properly. Where are those little hands wandering off to?"
"Mother, now isn’t the time to fuss over that. Do you remember that small courtyard we bought before?"
"Our family has bought quite a few courtyards. Be more specific."
"The one where we found the treasure. We could give that place to him..."
Bai Suihe lightly tapped her forehead. "This is why I tell you not to sleep all day; you don’t even have your locations straight.
"That courtyard isn’t in Shao County. It’s quite a distance away. Even if we gave it to him, he wouldn’t take it."
Gu Xingyang squirmed a little. "Mother, who would turn down something given for free?
"If he has no use for it, he can just sell it. Once it changes hands a few times, who can clearly trace it back to us?"
Bai Suihe blinked. Her daughter was quite useful after all; that little mind of hers spun just as fast as her own.
She cleared her throat. "I need to discuss this properly with your father.
"Besides, if we just hand him a remote courtyard out of nowhere, he’ll likely grow suspicious."
It was a viable plan, but how could they manipulate the situation? Giving it away for free was something she was unwilling to do. If they could think of a way to sneakily transfer the courtyard into his name, it would be a win-win situation.
At that moment, Gu Kaiping’s furious roars echoed from the next room again. It seemed he wouldn’t let the matter drop today until he got his hands on some silver.
The mother and daughter paused their conversation and pricked up their ears, eager to broaden their horizons and see just how shameless the man next door could be.
"I don’t care! If you don’t take out the silver today, I’m not leaving!
"Even if you kick me out, I’ll just invite Mr. He to come with me next time. I refuse to believe that a mere merchant like you would dare to fight against an official!"
Listen to him tossing out threats! However, Gu Kaiyuan was clearly not buying it. "Then as you wish. Lin Hua, Lin Wei, see Mr. Gu out of the estate."
"Yes, sir," Lin Hua and Lin Wei replied, stepping forward immediately to flank Gu Kaiping on either side.
Gu Kaiping raged, "You bastards! Don’t forget that you used to be servants in my estate!"
"That is ancient history. Our only masters now are the master and madam," Lin Hua said. Then, he and Lin Wei grabbed Gu Kaiping by the arms and dragged him outside, completely ignoring his frantic yelling.
"You are absolutely insolent—!"
Listening to the fading voice, Gu Kaiyuan finally stood up, looking in his direction with disgust. "He must be driven mad by poverty. He could have gone to anyone else but me."
With that kind of logic, Gu Kaiping still thought of Gu Kaiyuan as the easy-to-bully pushover from the past.
Gu Kaiping was unceremoniously tossed out the door. Faced with the sizing gazes of the onlookers, he, who still cared about his dignity, didn’t dare to continue yelling. Covering his face, he simply turned and ran.
He inwardly fumed over Gu Kaiyuan’s callousness, but he also knew this path was a dead end. His biggest problem now was figuring out where to get some money.
He had barely reached the entrance of the post station when he saw the men of the Gu Family already waiting for him. There weren’t just the few who had accompanied him earlier; a massive, surging crowd stood behind them, and all of their faces were very familiar!
Heavens! Those boys had actually gone back to the village and rallied the clansmen.
Gu Kaiping wanted to turn and flee, but his legs turned to jelly. Before he could even react, Gu Kaitian had already led the clansmen to "support" him, immediately surrounding him tightly in the middle of the crowd.
At the post station, Shao County’s new County Magistrate, He Guangtian, heard the news. The corners of his mouth curled into a mocking smirk as he ordered, "Pay them no mind. Let them make a fuss on their own."
The men he brought with him weren’t here to do Gu Kaiping’s bidding. As long as no one died, he would be able to give the Third Prince a satisfactory explanation.
He had originally wanted to bring his own trusted aides, but unexpectedly, this person was forced upon him. So what if Gu Kaiping used to work in the Hanlin Academy? How dare he try to put on airs in front of him? He should take a good look at his own current status.
"Gu Kaiping, what in the world is going on with your father? Not a single thing he promised the clan has been fulfilled!
"This time, Kai Shan and the others trekked over mountains and waded through waters to escort Gu Kaichen and his wife back to the capital. Are you really going to let them return empty-handed like this?"
The new Clan Leader, Gu Baimu, launched into a tirade the moment he stepped up. He had messed up his very first task since taking the position—how could he not be furious?
Moreover, the clan members had previously believed that Gu Baijiang wouldn’t just leave them be, so they had just been muddling through their farm work. Even when Gu Kaiyuan recruited workers for the mountain, only Gu Li’s branch of the family had been working hard every day to make a living, and their lives were visibly improving.
This only made his own lack of capability more glaring. Now that Gu Kaiping had brought these clansmen back, and with such bad news, his prestige within the clan sank even further. If he didn’t handle this properly, he feared he would have to step down and yield his barely-warmed seat as Clan Leader to someone more capable.
"Uncle Bai Mu," Gu Kaiping said, his voice trembling. This wasn’t the Gu Family in the capital. If so many clansmen flared up in anger—even if each of them only threw a single punch—he wouldn’t be able to withstand it.
"Uncle Bai Mu is the Clan Leader now," Gu Kaitian reminded him kindly. "Whatever solutions you told us about before, you’d better explain them clearly to the Clan Leader yourself."
Thinking back, their group had followed Gu Kaichen to the capital, only to be dumped in a secluded courtyard in the backyard. They were provided with three meals a day and absolutely nothing else. Even their requests to go out for a walk had been flatly rejected.
They had been confined like that the entire time, only managing to escape when Gu Kaiping had to leave to take up his new post. To put it nicely, they were told that Gu Kaiping would bring them back and settle them properly.
But on the journey, they were only given a few dry steamed buns every day. And they actually expected them to believe they would live good lives?
Therefore, when they arrived in Zhang County last night, they didn’t even have the heart to sleep. The moment the city gates opened early this morning, they hurried back to Tian Village. If Mr. He hadn’t still been at the post station, they would have assumed Gu Kaiping had already fled.
"Uncle Clan Leader," Gu Kaiping fawningly smiled. He cursed that damn Gu Kaiyuan in his heart. If only he had given him a few hundred taels of silver first, he could have at least sent these people packing.
"Cut the empty pleasantries. First, tell us exactly what your father is planning."
"Our family is truly facing difficulties right now," Gu Kaiping tried to plead poverty—and he really was genuinely poor at the moment. "Once our financial situation improves, we will definitely make proper arrangements for everyone."
"We heard that you all live in a massive estate in the capital, served by maids and servants, enjoying a life of luxury. How could you possibly not have the silver to settle everyone?"