Chapter 186: The Cold King Yan
Gu Shiliu hurriedly waved his hand to have the guards drag the man away.
As he was being dragged out, Doctor Liu didn’t struggle, just hung his head and chuckled darkly, "Marquis Gu is truly merciful."
Gu Jinghui’s eyes shot out cold light, he sneered softly and mocked, "Fool, you dare come to the Marquis Mansion to risk it must be that you’ve had smallpox. Do you think that once you cut off the information, those people over there will create a stir to find you? But this is the Marquis’s mansion, if the Marquis says you have smallpox, then you have smallpox, who would dare doubt it?"
Upon hearing this, Doctor Liu’s body stiffened, his eyes widened.
Not only were there drops of blood dripping onto the brick floor, but also the stench of urine.
The guards dragging him sneered in contempt, "Beast, weren’t you bold enough? Daring to plot against the Marquis, tonight you’ll be burned alive."
Those who died from smallpox must be cremated into ashes and buried deeply underground.
To the people of Daxing, who believe that only burial can ensure receiving blood offerings from descendants, this is undoubtedly a terrifying punishment.
The urine on the ground grew more, and the stench became stronger.
Doctor Liu couldn’t help but scream hoarsely, "Marquis, I’ll confess, I’ll confess to everything."
He used all his strength, in the end only to beg for a good death.
Above.
Sitting higher up, Marquis Gu’s face was stern, gaze indifferent, contrasted by his dark clothes making him look like King Yan, aloof and cold, holding the power to dictate his fate.
It seemed like a long time passed before he heard Marquis Gu’s cold voice, "Let him go."
...
Sixth Master Gu was once again despised by his third brother, just because of a trivial matter.
That night, he sat in the pavilion enjoying the breeze, pondering how to creatively use phrases from ancient poems, and he caught sight of his third brother returning from outside, walking through the flickering lights, with a look that was indescribably strange.
Like relief, yet also regret, with a sense of inexplicable sorrow...
In short, it was a kind of strangeness he couldn’t describe even if he racked his brains.
Boldly, Sixth Master Gu went up and asked, "Third brother, did you just come back from Wutong Garden?"
"You have time to worry about where I came back from but don’t care about your two daughters."
"What’s wrong with my daughters?" Sixth Master Gu’s warm demeanor was met with coldness, immediately angering him, "Mrs. Xu wouldn’t be so incompetent to not take care of a child, hasn’t the household management been entrusted to third sister-in-law? She just stays in the room looking after children, with a bunch of maids and nannies around, and yet they can’t manage?"
For a moment, Sixth Master Gu felt life was simply intolerable.
"Your two daughters were treated worse and worse by that Doctor Liu. The one born to Aunt Huang, is it Qin? Today she convulsed and fainted; if it weren’t for Doctor Li invited by your third sister-in-law coincidentally being present, Qin might not have been saved."
Though he didn’t like Sixth Madam either, Marquis Gu still treated the matter justly, unlike Sixth Master Gu who would draw broader conclusions.
Sixth Master Gu immediately understood and asked, "Is there something wrong with that Doctor Liu?!"
His third brother didn’t respond, implicitly agreeing.
Always realizing things late, Sixth Master Gu only felt the fear later, saying, "Third brother, that Doctor Liu tried several times to glance inside the outer courtyard, wanting to talk to me. Maybe he was afraid of being watched by the guards, so he didn’t come in."
If he had come in, wouldn’t they contract it too?
By then, wouldn’t the mansion be thrown into chaos?
"That Doctor Liu is very malicious; he even went to the main house several times, saying he wanted to check my mother and the two children for a peaceful pulse, but fortunately, our mother, with more experience, didn’t agree."
Hearing this, Sixth Master Gu shook his fan vigorously, the long hair left intentionally at his temple flying up.
"So malicious, so malicious," Sixth Master Gu had never truly experienced the world’s malice, utterly unable to accept it, could only keep repeating how malicious it was.
"You have to be careful in every way, Doctor Liu was a spy bought at a high price by the Yelv Family, Yelv Guza wanted him to take my life. He was sandwiched between King Jin and the Crown Prince, maneuvering between them. King Jin and the Crown Prince thought I had a close relationship with Prince Qi, worried I would help Prince Qi seize the throne. Taking advantage of his entry into the mansion, they wanted him to trip me up, to reclaim the military power."
As for what the Emperor thought, whether he also wanted to reclaim the military power, that was hard to say.
Sixth Master Gu stared blankly at his third brother.
The path of the Dingbei Marquis Mansion had always been glorious but covered in thorns; he knew this.
When he was very young, his birth mother Aunt Wen often held him and recited, fortunately, his health wasn’t good, so when he grew up, he wouldn’t have to risk his life for wealth and rank.
He always thought that the year his father and several elder brothers died in battle was the most difficult time for the Dingbei Marquis Mansion, and that once his third brother restored the Marquis Mansion, everything would get better.
Unexpectedly, the troubles kept coming like Tang Seng’s journey to the Western Heaven to obtain scriptures, one hardship after another.
Sixth Master Gu thoughtlessly said, "No wonder my mother always said to change the family line and turn scholarly. It’s my fault for letting down my mother’s expectation."
"If you really became a civil servant in court, with me holding military power, I’m afraid no one would sleep well, unless you were a small, unimportant official, in which case it might be better to live like you do now leisurely."
Sixth Master Gu was not consoled by this.
"Tomorrow, don’t just focus on writing poetry. Go check on the two children. I heard from my sixth sister-in-law that she’s overly worried, as their husband, you should think of ways to comfort her."
Gu Jinghui said disdainfully, "See, you should learn from me, look how well your third sister-in-law and I get along. Do I have to say it?"
After saying this, he walked away with his hands behind his back, ending the conversation unilaterally.
Sixth Master Gu, who for some reason always went to his third brother to suffer, thought, "..."
After a long time, he finally remembered to curse his third brother, "Isn’t all of this your doing?!"
...
When Qin Yuan got up, she heard Hong Ye scolding the little maids outside, "I told you to heat the water early, but you delayed it until this late, now the stove is occupied, and that duck soup won’t be cooked long enough."
"Pfft," Qin Yuan couldn’t hold back her laughter and said, "Cui Ming, have Hong Ye come in. Don’t let her trouble those little maids."
As Cui Ming was combing her hair, she said, "Miss, these little maids don’t have much to do usually, just taking turns on duty. If they can’t do even this small task, they indeed should be punished. They’ve gotten used to being lax, and won’t be able to handle anything in the future. Didn’t Miss hope for me and Hong Ye to train some useful ones for you?"
For the first time since entering the Marquis Mansion, this was the first time Cui Ming clearly opposed her.
Qin Yuan thought about it and said, "You’re right; everyone should take responsibility for their roles. The little maids should be managed by whoever is in charge. I shouldn’t meddle. If I always do so, it will be hard for Hong Ye to manage in the future."
Cui Ming smiled, "Miss is just soft-hearted and very kind to us. If you ask me, Hong Ye is stern with her words but soft-hearted inside. Punish them a few more months of their pay, and they’ll know the consequences."
Qin Yuan said nothing further.
She couldn’t help but mull over why she was feeling unnecessary when Hong Ye was working hard to make sure she stayed in Marquis Gu’s favor.