Do You Know?: Rule the World.

Chapter 44: Gu Family's Fourth and Fifth Rooms
Upon hearing this, the servant secretly glanced at Xiao Qin's gentle yet sinister expression.

He glanced at Gu Tingye's sharp eyes again, hesitated for a moment, and then held the account book in front of Zhao Han.

"Sir, please take a look. I'm just an errand boy to collect debts. Please don't make things difficult for me." The servant's voice was a little weak.

Zhao Han took the account book very calmly, his eyes scanning between the lines.

Gu Yankai stood with his hands behind his back, his brows furrowed tighter and tighter. In his heart, he actually hoped that the person who owed money on credit was not Gu Tingye.

After all, as far as he knew, although his Erlang was unruly and dissolute, he was never a coward who dared to do something but not to admit it.

"Brother Zhao, have you figured out anything?"

"I dare to swear on my life that the debt owed by Qianchunlou is definitely not mine!"

Gu Tingye knew that most of the people who owed money were his uncles and cousins ​​from the fourth and fifth rooms, but he had to prove his innocence first.

After a moment, Zhao Han paused, a meaningful smile on his lips: "Interesting."

"On February 26th at 11:30 pm, Zhong Huai was clearly with me at Guangyun Terrace. Could it be that he's learned the art of splitting himself into two bodies and went to Qianchun Tower at the same hour?"

"On March 20th, after I passed the imperial examination and won the third place, I held a banquet at Fanlou to celebrate with Zhong Huai."

"But the account book shows that he bought fifty taels of silver on credit for wine at Qianchunlou that day."

Gu Tingye hurriedly stepped forward and looked at the account book carefully again. He suppressed his anger and said, "And on the first day of April, I was in the Marquis' Mansion all day and didn't even leave the house!"

"Do I have three heads and six arms? I'm still drinking in Qianchunlou?!"

Hearing this, the servant immediately panicked and his face turned pale.

"These... these are the account books given by the shopkeeper."

"I only came here to collect the debt under the name of the boss, and I don't know any of this..."

Zhao Han closed the account book, looked up at Gu Yankai, and said with a cupped hand, "Lord Gu, it seems that someone is indeed impersonating Zhong Huai to drink and visit prostitutes. I'm afraid it's far more than just Qianchunlou."

"If we don't investigate thoroughly, it will damage more than just Zhong Huai's reputation."

Gu Tingye immediately spoke up, "Father, today I'm going to tell you the truth from the bottom of my heart. In the past, I was a frequent visitor to brothels and prostitutes, and everyone in Bianjing City would call me a dandy scum."

"But this ridiculous reputation has never been just my son's!"

"Fourth Uncle, Fifth Uncle, Gu Tingbing, Gu Tingdi, Gu Tingyang, they all went out to drink and visit prostitutes, and they all mentioned my name."

"In the past, my son was reluctant to argue with them out of consideration for our blood relationship, but now I have reformed and decided to leave home and go to study at the academy."

"If this matter is not clarified, I'm afraid that even after my son is gone, his reputation will continue to be ruined by them!"

Gu Yankai's heart heaved slightly as he looked at Gu Tingye with a very complicated expression.

There was shock, heartache, and an indescribable sense of guilt.

The smile on Xiao Qin's face became a little stiff at this moment.

As early as a few days ago, she deliberately spread the rumor that Gu Tingye was leaving Beijing to study and would not come back for at least two or three years.

Then he secretly sent someone to instigate the people from Qianchunlou to come and collect the debt.

Based on her past understanding of Gu Tingye, she would definitely take responsibility for this mess today.

At that time, the little expectations that Gu Yankai had for him would be greatly reduced in an instant.

During these years, while she was cultivating Gu Tingwei, she quietly ordered the fourth and fifth rooms to continue to throw dirty water on Gu Tingye.

Even if Gu Tingye really passed the imperial examination and came back, no one in Bianjing City would look up to him.

But she never expected that Gu Tingye would not only have truly changed his nature, but also that Zhao Han would suddenly appear out of nowhere. "My lord, in the end, it's all a family matter. I'll just give him some money to send him away." As she spoke, Madam Qin raised her hand to pat Gu Yankai's arm, and then instructed her maid to fetch some money for the servant.

"Stop!" Gu Yankai shouted angrily, his mother's shoulders shook with fear, and he stopped immediately.

"Every wrong has its perpetrator and every debt has its owner. I will settle the accounts one by one after returning home."

"It's getting late, Erlang, you should get on board first. Your studies are more important. You don't need to worry about this matter." Gu Yankai patted Gu Tingye's shoulder meaningfully.

Gu Tingye nodded solemnly, then turned to look at Zhao Han, and said with a cupped hand: "Thanks to Brother Zhao for his keen observation, otherwise I would have been falsely accused again."

"When I return from my studies, I'll have a drink with Brother Zhao."

Zhao Han quickly returned the greeting, "Zhong Huai, you are so kind. The journey to Bai Lu Cave is long and arduous, so please take care."

The wind on the river suddenly rose. Gu Tingye glanced at everyone, turned around and strode onto the boat.

"Second brother, you must take care of yourself. I'll be waiting for you to come back home!" Gu Tingwei waved his arms vigorously and looked at Gu Tingye with reluctance.

Gu Yankai looked at the tall and straight back of his Erlang, tears flickering in his eyes.

-

Gonghou Lane.

After Gu Yankai returned home with a grim face, the first thing he did was to send a servant to call the people from the fourth and fifth rooms.

Not long after, Gu Yanming, the fourth uncle of the Gu family, came walking slowly, and Gu Yanzhi, the fifth uncle, followed closely behind him, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
"What's up, Lord? Why are you calling us here for no reason?"

After Gu Yanming glanced at Gu Yankai casually, he sat down directly on the chair on the left and picked up the tea brought by the maid.

"Yeah, I didn't even have time to eat breakfast." Gu Yanzhi complained with a yawn.

Gu Yankai clenched his fist, took a deep breath, and threw Qianchunlou's account book directly into their hands.

"See for yourselves!"

Gu Yanming narrowed his eyes and took a look, then burst out laughing. "I thought it was nothing, but it turns out that Erlang is out drinking and visiting prostitutes again!"

"If you ask me, big brother, you don't need to take this matter to heart."

"Everyone in Bianjing knows that Erlang loves to hang out in brothels and other places. We've all become accustomed to it."

Gu Yanzhi stroked his goatee and said, "Yes, Erlang has done all sorts of ridiculous things over the years, from drinking to running up debts and riding his horse through busy streets."

"This is a total of about one hundred taels of silver. Just give it to us. What do you want us to do?"

Listening to what the two of them said, Gu Yankai's face became worse and worse, and the blue veins on his forehead twitched.

"Asshole! Think carefully about who owes this debt!"

Xiao Qin cast a look of disapproval at them, fanning herself with a frown and sighing, "Erlang is still an ignorant child. Why did you two uncles charge him for all the wine? It's just tarnishing his reputation for nothing."

Upon hearing this, Gu Yanming and Gu Yanzhi looked at each other in confusion, recalling the past events in their minds.

The Ningyuan Marquisate had been divided since Gu Yankai inherited the title.

According to common sense, Gu Yanming and Gu Yanzhi should have moved out with their families and started their own business long ago. Even if they didn't move out, they should have sorted out the accounts of each family.

However, they relied on the fact that Gu Yankai was their elder brother and had been fighting on the battlefield in his early years. He rarely returned to Bian Jing and failed to fulfill his responsibilities as the eldest son. They were the ones who had been managing the family business.

In addition, before his death, the old marquis had always instructed Gu Yankai to take good care of his two younger brothers.

Over the years, she refused to move out of the Marquis' Mansion. Not only did she use public funds for all her food, clothing, and other expenses, but she also found ways to get the money she spent on prostitutes outside to be under the name of the Marquis' Mansion and Gu Tingye.

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(End of this chapter)