Chapter 120 - 121: Exposed
Gu Dashishi mumbled meekly, "But it didn’t hit him, did it? Besides, I was waiting for him for ages, and he’s only just arrived. Don’t I have a right to be upset?"
Li Cuicui planted her hands on her hips. "And what about you two? You lied and said you were going to work in the fields, telling me to go pick some wild vegetables on the back mountain. Shouldn’t I be the one exploding with rage?"
Li Cuicui then pointed at Gu Yuanlei. "And you, don’t you hide back there. I know you instigated all of this.
"If you were truly a filial son, you’d take your father and get the hell out of here. I’ve thought it through. I’d rather be a widow than keep waiting on this old master."
"You..." Gu Dashishi pointed a trembling finger at Li Cuicui. "You vicious woman..."
"What about it? I’m going to have the clansmen judge for themselves! We’ll see which of the sons is the most unfilial and which is the most filial!
"Let everyone decide whose marriage is going to bankrupt his brothers! Who’s delusional enough to scheme after his own sister-in-law’s dowry?"
"You..."
"What about me? Am I wrong? You sent me away just so you could use filial piety to pressure Seventh, didn’t you?" As Li Cuicui spoke, she trembled with rage. Each of her sons had their minor flaws, but none were as unscrupulous as the youngest.
Jin Qianqian walked over and gently rubbed her back. "Mother, don’t be angry. It’s bad for your health."
Seeing that his mother had vented enough, Gu Wenheng coldly stated an address. Gu Yuanlei’s face slowly drained of color, and he even began to tremble slightly.
"Yuanlei, are you going to be the one to say it, or should I?"
"How do you know?"
Gu Wenheng sneered. "If you don’t want people to know, you shouldn’t have done it. Even if I didn’t know now, did you really think you could hide this forever?"
"..." Gu Dashishi said, "What are you two talking about?"
Gu Wenheng replied, "You’ll have to ask our youngest brother about that."
"I don’t know what you’re talking about! If you won’t help, fine! I’ll go figure something out myself." With that, Gu Yuanlei tried to rush out the main door.
Gu Wenheng wasn’t about to give him that chance. He stuck out his foot, and the unprepared Gu Yuanlei fell flat on the ground. A moment later, a foot was pressing firmly on his back, pinning him down.
"Today, your big brother is going to teach you a lesson. There are some people you can’t afford to scheme against. Before you plot against others, you’d better make sure your own hands are clean."
"What is the meaning of this? Let your brother go, right now!" Gu Dashishi was about to pull him away when a commotion was heard from outside the door.
"What’s all this? Are the two brothers just roughhousing?" Gu Shulin walked in, supporting Gu Sanbu and followed by several other clan elders.
Gu Yuanlei looked up and glared fiercely at Gu Wenheng, knowing he was definitely behind this. He struggled to get up, but Gu Wenheng skillfully used his leverage to keep him pinned, giving him no chance to break free.
Gu Dashishi said, "Alright, Seventh, let your brother go. You’re grown men, still fooling around like this. Can’t you see the elders are here?"
Gu Wenheng let out a soft laugh. "Father, I hope you’ll still be so quick to defend your precious youngest son after you hear what I have to say."
Gu Dashishi was about to scold him, but Gu Sanbu raised a hand to stop him.
"Elders, I have invited you all here today because I have news concerning our clan that I must report."
Gu Sanbu’s brow furrowed as he looked at the man under Gu Wenheng’s foot. ’Did this Gu Yuanlei get into some trouble outside?’
"We should start by congratulating my father. He’s setting a new precedent for our clan—the first to send a son off to marry into his wife’s family."
Gu Yuanlei stopped struggling and just lay on the ground, covering his face with his hands.
Gu Dashishi asked, "Seventh, what are you talking about? Are you the one marrying into the Jin Family?"
Gu Wenheng scoffed. "Father, I can’t believe you haven’t figured it out yet. Look at the elders’ faces. It’s obviously your youngest son I’m talking about.
"If you don’t believe me, ask him yourself. He’s already accepted the severance gift for marrying out, yet he’s still pestering you to raise money for his betrothal gifts. Aren’t you the least bit curious?"
These words sent shockwaves through the room. Even the ever-strong Li Cuicui staggered, and Jin Qianqian had to quickly catch her.
Gu Dashishi muttered, "Impossible, impossible."
Gu Wenheng then crouched down, grabbed Gu Yuanlei, and hauled him to his feet. "Now, why don’t you explain what you mean by double-dipping like this?"
Under the pressure of so many stares, Gu Yuanlei wiped his face defiantly and said with red-rimmed eyes, "You think I want this? I’ve already wronged Yingying. Even if I have to marry into her family, it’s what I owe her.
"So isn’t it only right that I come back and ask you for some betrothal gifts? When my older brothers split from the family, didn’t you give them a share of the assets to start with?
"Besides, even if I am marrying out, am I worth less than my sixth sister?"
For a moment, no one understood what he meant by that last part, but Li Cuicui caught on. "You want a dowry, too?"
"Shouldn’t I? You all owe me this! If you had just agreed to my marriage with Yingying earlier, we might have already become a family while we were fleeing the famine. We wouldn’t be in this predicament now."
"Why don’t you ever look for the reason in yourself?" Seeing his mother clutch her chest, Gu Wenheng kicked Gu Yuanlei straight to the ground. "During those hard times, how many times did you steal water for her? To protect her, you even let Father’s arm get injured, and now he can’t even work the fields, just clutching his wound all day!"
Hearing this, everyone tried to suppress their laughter. Gu Dashishi could no longer crane his neck to watch his sons argue; he just lowered his head in shame.
"Look at Mother, supporting this family all by herself. When you came back, instead of showing her any consideration, you just gave her grief every day, forcing her to find a solution for you. Is all her kindness worth less than some woman you met on the road?"
Gu Yuanlei retorted, "I can’t worry about all that. Mother has you older brothers, but Yingying only has me."
"Yuanlei, has a woman so bewitched you that you’d abandon your own parents?" Gu Dashishi suddenly found the promises his son had made laughable. "Then all that talk about taking me to the Prefecture City... was that all a lie?"
Gu Yuanlei looked at the old man who had doted on him his entire life. "I wasn’t lying. As long as the family raises the money, I’ll buy a small courtyard house, and you can come live there with me, Father."
The elders finally understood the whole situation. They couldn’t help but cover their faces. If this affair became public, the entire clan would be utterly disgraced.
"Gu Yuanlei, we’re just ordinary folk. You should find a wife from around here and live a steady life. Don’t think it’s so easy to marry into a wealthy family. All that glitters is not gold," Gu Shulin said, his heart softening first. After all, he had watched the boy grow up.
"What do you people know? Toiling in the fields day in and day out... I’ve had enough of that life! I don’t want to spend the rest of my days just enduring, generation after generation, like all of you." As Gu Yuanlei spoke, he nodded with conviction. "That’s right. No one is going to stop me from living a better life."