Chapter 790 - 792: Mistaken
Chapter 790: Chapter 792: Mistaken
Wu Nanping naturally wouldn’t swallow this loss alone. After coming out of the Meng Family, he didn’t even bother going home, ordering the driver to head straight to Tianle Restaurant.
Wu Kun and Old Sir Wu were currently waiting there, having agreed beforehand that any news would be delivered straight to this location.
Seeing Wu Nanping’s carriage pull up, Old Sir Wu personally waited by its side, helping Wu Nanping step down.
"Uncle, you’ve really screwed us over this time," Wu Nanping complained the moment he opened his mouth.
For the past two days, Tianle Restaurant had no mind for business, turning away all customers. Right now, there were only the few of them in the entire establishment.
"Family Head, how is the situation now? Will Wu Hao be able to return?" Old Sir Wu’s first reaction was to show concern for his eldest son. As for screwing someone over? Things had already reached this point; saving the person was the immediate priority.
"Return? That boy is as audacious as a rabid dog! The disaster he’s caused this time is massive.
"I swallowed my pride for him, begging this person and that, yet he ended up costing the family such a tremendous loss.
"I came today to talk to you about this. The losses involved must be borne entirely by your branch."
Hearing the Family Head constantly bring up the losses, Grandmaster Wu grew anxious. "Spending silver doesn’t matter, but we must get him out at the very least."
"You sure talk big," Wu Nanping scoffed. Having been berated everywhere over the past two days and groveling to beg others, he had already pent up a belly full of anger. "Then you’d better keep your word. You will bear the responsibility this time.
"Did you really not know that Wu Hao was working with Marquis Wu’an?"
"Marquis Wu’an?" Wu Kun’s eyes lit up. "Is this true?"
"You don’t actually think this is a good thing, do you?" Wu Nanping shot him a sidelong glance. "I don’t know if he managed to latch onto a noble, but if he wants to get out of prison this time, he’ll have to be flayed of at least a layer of skin.
"Since both of you, father and son, are here, let’s talk about exactly what our families have lost this time because of Wu Hao."
Old Sir Wu replied, "Please speak."
After Wu Nanping departed, the Wu father and son slumped into their seats. The assets of their branch were about to shrink drastically.
They had to take responsibility for all the losses and also placate the other aristocratic families. Now, as long as they showed enough sincerity, Wu Hao would naturally be released.
The father and son calculated in the private room for a long time. Once this matter was settled, they would have very little left on hand. The businesses they had fought so hard to build over the years were gone; in the end, they could only remain as ordinary, wealthy old men.
"This..." A wave of panic washed over Wu Kun. He couldn’t even protect the few restaurants under his own name. "We hand over so much silver to the main family every year, yet when it counts, these people shirk all responsibility!
"They promised to shelter us, but when something actually happens, we still have to handle it ourselves..."
"Shut up. Don’t speak a word of this to outsiders," Old Sir Wu said, grabbing his arm. "The Family Head is already doing a decent job. He’s been running around for days because of this. The favors he owes implicitly will still have to be repaid by him in the future."
Old Sir Wu knew that this couldn’t be changed. Why bother uttering malicious words and end up offending more people?
"Call your other brothers back, and we’ll tally things up then. Since the Family Head has spoken, this matter cannot be delayed any further. We must deal with it as soon as possible."
Wu Kun sighed. "Dad, these are all things we built bit by bit over several generations. I’m just somewhat unwilling to accept this..."
His eldest brother had made the mistake himself. Why should their entire family have to shoulder the consequences?
"Don’t forget, I am still the one who calls the shots in this family." Old Sir Wu knew that his children would definitely be unhappy. After all, the eldest had truly ground down almost their entire estate this time.
"I also know that your eldest brother has let you down this time, but what else can we do? We are all a family. Did you think that if we abandoned him and ignored the situation, the clan would just let it slide?"
Wu Kun fell silent.
The actions of the aristocratic families were quite swift. After some picking and choosing, as if by tacit agreement, they all handed over their fabric and ready-to-wear clothing shops.
In their region, most people wove fabric and made clothes at home. The income from these two types of shops wasn’t significant, so giving them up wouldn’t cause them much of a loss.
Gu Wenheng had long guessed this outcome, but it didn’t matter. Matters like this could only be taken slowly.
「Shangjing.」
As soon as Bai Jinglie received the news, he locked himself in his study for an entire day. When he finally emerged, he was holding a memorial of apology.
Deng Meimei, who had been waiting outside, walked over with a worried expression. "Marquis, has something happened?"
"You don’t need to concern yourself with this matter. Just take good care of the children."
Deng Meimei bit her lip and said, "If you’re truly in a difficult position, why not write a letter to my father?"
As the person who shared his bed, Deng Meimei knew that Bai Jinglie had his own pride. For so many years, even when he encountered difficulties, he had never sought help from the Yue Family.
Bai Jinglie glanced at her. "If it’s for your father’s own good, you should correspond with him less."
Deng Meimei hesitated. "...Has the higher-up taken offense again?"
"Don’t inquire about these things. Just do a good job as the Marchioness.
"We are currently in a mourning period. Keep the servants in check and try to let them leave the manor as little as possible."
Deng Meimei happened to see the memorial of apology in his hand. She clenched her fists but ultimately didn’t voice her question. Bai Jinglie’s affairs were not for her to interfere with. She didn’t know the inner workings of many matters, so why ask and make a fool of herself?
Bai Jinglie ignored her, bringing the memorial to the front courtyard alone and instructing the butler to send it out.
He sat alone in the front hall, massaging his temples with both hands. He couldn’t understand how things had escalated to this point.
He shouldn’t have been greedy for that silver in the first place. But he had been unwilling to accept it; he had worked so hard, yet he was only given an empty title. He didn’t dare reach out to take from the Emperor, and since Gu Wenheng had also earned so much silver, what did it matter if he took a little? It could just be considered as his hard-earned compensation.
But Gu Wenheng was unreasonable, directly exposing the matter to the Holy Emperor.
His subordinates were also useless. He had only asked them to keep an eye on Gu Wenheng and his wife, never expecting that they would take matters into their own hands and bring such massive trouble upon him. He truly only wanted to monitor Gu Wenheng’s movements; he hadn’t ordered them to meddle.
If those self-proclaimed smart fools had actually succeeded, then everyone would have been happy. But they had poked such a huge hole in things, and in the end, he was the one who had to clean up the mess.
He could already foresee that three years from now, making a political comeback would be extremely difficult. Moreover, he had received the latest news: the Holy Emperor had already sent someone to take over all his responsibilities. Even the glass workshop, aside from retaining his share of the dividends, had been completely confiscated.
He had still made a mistake...
「Ten years later.」
Just as Gu Wenheng had guessed, Hua Shunming had long set his sights on him. Whenever he was in a place that just began to show some improvement, he would swiftly be transferred to another position.
Although he received promotions, every time he faced a challenge that was even more difficult than the last. In just over a decade, though he was now a high-ranking regional official, he truly hadn’t enjoyed many days of comfort.
Looking at the Holy Decree in his hand, Gu Wenheng smiled bitterly. In truth, he really didn’t want to return to the capital right now. The Princes were all grown up; wouldn’t going back at this time be like stepping into a wolf’s den?
"I thought that since I couldn’t be promoted any further, I would be able to enjoy a few more years of peace and quiet here. I didn’t expect that I still wouldn’t be able to escape it..."