Chapter 565: Letter
Chapter 565 -566: Letter
Gu Antong sat quietly in her room; naturally, she heard the commotion outside. Although Cai Hua had remained by her side these days, her work had become increasingly perfunctory. It wasn’t a bad thing for those old women to teach her a lesson; it was an indirect way of venting Gu Antong’s own frustrations.
Glancing around at the room’s decor, she saw that everything had been completely refurbished. In the past, looking at these new things might have brought her joy and touched her heart. Now, however, she felt nothing but a desolate wasteland inside. A cold sneer followed. It seemed this pawn still had some use to them, but unfortunately, it was already too late. As for that girl Cai Hua, it was about time someone put her in her place. Given Gu Antong’s current state, how could she allow anyone else to live better than she did?
This train of thought suddenly brought Bai Suihe to mind. Just days ago, Gu Antong had been secretly smug, fantasizing about the day when she would hold some power. She had planned to summon Gu Kaiyuan and Bai Suihe back to the capital just to show them how shortsighted they had been. She imagined standing high above them, trampling those two underfoot for daring to defy her, forcing them to experience the bitter taste of belated regret. But such beautiful fantasies had been shattered. She heard that the Bai Family had already moved to Lingnan. Supported by the Bai Family’s wealth, Bai Suihe and her good Third Uncle were likely living an even more comfortable life now.
Her obese face twisted momentarily. On what grounds? She had clearly had a bright future ahead of her—who had destroyed it? She didn’t even know who her enemy was. If she had known that the capital would be such a dead end, she would have been better off staying in Lingnan. No, Gu Antong knew she would never resign herself to fate; she would never have settled peacefully in Lingnan. All of this could only be blamed on her own carelessness for falling into someone’s trap. However, time could not be turned back. In her final days, she had to vent this pent-up anger for herself.
If she could see her family, would they be willing to offend the Prince Ning Mansion for her sake? It was probably impossible. The Gu Family still had to rely on Rong Ruiyuan. Even if they were angry, they could only obediently swallow their grievances. As for that silver her grandfather had hidden away? That was something she could capitalize on. Rong Ruiyuan was in desperate need of a large sum of silver to fill his financial holes. That was why, as soon as this courtyard was tidied up, he had come over again.
“I will have the servants prepare the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. Write a letter to your grandfather now. As long as he is willing to help me through this crisis, I can grant you the position of secondary consort.”
Gu Antong struggled to raise her head and look at him. “Prince, you must be joking. Looking the way I do now, even if you gave me the position of Princess Consort, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be blessed enough to enjoy it.” Having enjoyed two days of attentive service, she no longer restricted her diet. She would get fat even if she didn’t eat, so why make things hard for herself? It was just a pity that days like these would probably not last, but so what?
“Then what do you want?” Rong Ruiyuan felt he had already done more than enough. Otherwise, given Gu Antong’s current appearance, the imperial family would never tolerate her.
“I want to see my mother. Sometimes, a few brief written words cannot compare to a face-to-face conversation.”
Rong Ruiyuan hesitated. “Your current appearance…”
“Rest assured, my mother won’t go around gossiping. If possible, I actually want to see my grandfather even more.”
Rong Ruiyuan, however, did not want to agree to this. If the Gu Family saw Gu Antong looking like this, they would likely be even less willing to help him, let alone fork over their silver.
“Let’s wait a little while. I have already sent people to invite renowned physicians. Once you recover, I will have no objections even if you return to your maiden home to stay for a period of time.” Rong Ruiyuan made an empty promise. After all, even the Princess Consort did not have such an honor.
“But my body…”
“Don’t sit here worrying over nothing all day. I asked the Imperial Physician; there is absolutely nothing wrong with your body, and you can live a long and healthy life to a hundred.” Rong Ruiyuan had felt terrible when he first heard this conclusion. Even healthy people like them couldn’t live to a hundred, yet Gu Antong had such luck despite her current state.
Gu Antong was speechless. To hell with living to a hundred! What was the point of living for a century looking like this? It was merely prolonging her final breaths.
“Do you actually believe that, Prince?” Gu Antong laughed mournfully. “It has been so long, and the mastermind behind the scenes still hasn’t been caught. If they could drug us once, they can drug us a second time, and they might even have other, deadlier poisons in their hands.
“Moreover, doesn’t it strike you as strange that out of the entire Prince Mansion, only the two of us were poisoned?
“I’m afraid their true target was you, Prince.”
Gu Antong decided to muddy the waters a bit more. “I haven’t been in the Prince Mansion for long, nor have I formed any life-or-death grudges with the sisters in the rear courtyard. There is absolutely no need for them to risk exposure just to target me.
“But in the period right before I started showing these abnormalities, you frequently visited my courtyard…”
Rong Ruiyuan had also guessed that Gu Antong was likely collateral damage meant for him, but so what? He had previously been rejoicing that he wasn’t the one hit by this fattening poison. Otherwise, he would truly have lost all hope. Now, he had someone taste-test every single thing before he consumed it. Yet, this still didn’t give him peace of mind. After all, they hadn’t noticed anything unusual when they ingested the poison previously, which was exactly what he feared the most.
“I have always had people investigating this matter. As for you wanting to see your mother, we can talk about that later.
“First, write a letter to Gu Baijiang and tell him to hand over the rest of the family’s assets to me.”
Rong Ruiyuan now just wanted a probing letter to see what choice Gu Baijiang would make. Having Gu Antong write the letter was an attempt to trick that old geezer. After all, they were a family, and it was perfectly normal for her to know a few secrets. Regardless, he wouldn’t leave today without getting that letter, nor would he easily let Gu Antong off the hook.
Gu Antong sighed and said with a helpless expression, “Since you are so insistent, Prince, I will do as you wish.”
She picked up the brush to write a letter home, with Rong Ruiyuan periodically offering guidance from the side. Gu Antong complied with all his instructions. Once the ink had dried, she personally folded it and placed it into an envelope. “I still hope the Prince can allow my mother to come and see me.”
Rong Ruiyuan said dismissively, “I will arrange it.”
Having obtained what he wanted, he didn’t linger and turned straight around to leave. Seeing his ruthless, two-faced demeanor, An Tong waited until he was out the door before a cold sneer curled the corners of her mouth. Her letter wasn’t going to be that easy to take.
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Rong Ruiyuan was eager to solve his current problem, so this letter was already placed on Gu Baijiang’s desk before nightfall.
Gu Baijiang glanced at the steward who had delivered the letter. “Did Prince Ning have any other orders?”
The steward respectfully replied, “He only ordered this letter to be delivered. I do not know of anything else.”
“All right. I will read it first. You may step down for now,” Gu Baijiang waved him off. This was a letter written by Gu Antong herself. Gu Baijiang thought he would never have the chance to see this granddaughter again in his lifetime, so receiving her letter left his expression somewhat unpredictable.
The steward retreated. Looking back at the closed study door, he shrugged and headed toward the rear courtyard.