Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 36 Sad Things

After a secret meeting with Magistrate Hong in the study for nearly half an hour, Master Gu finally left the county office with Magistrate Hong's escort.

Neither of them mentioned the calligraphy again, tacitly agreeing that it remained in the study.

Magistrate Hong was a young and promising official, and he naturally had principles. Because his ambitions lay not in the prefecture or county, but in the future, he wanted to climb to higher positions. Therefore, his main goal during his tenure as magistrate was never to make money.

On the contrary, he rarely accepted favors from others.

For an official like him, accepting gifts is a form of recognition, an invisible and intangible bond that is not written down but is real, and can even be described as a hidden alliance.

Master Gu was very willing to invest in such young and promising officials, and in recent years in Deqing, he had been doing his best to help Magistrate Hong do a good job as magistrate.

Therefore, the two of them have always had a good relationship.

After leaving the county government office, Master Gu, carrying the document issued to him by Magistrate Hong, arrived at the entrance of the county prison. At this time, Gu Shouye and Gu Shoucheng were already waiting at the entrance. Upon seeing Master Gu approaching, the two quickly stepped forward and bowed their heads in greeting.

"Uncle Three!"

Master Gu glanced at the two men without saying a word, but his gaze had become sharp.

Gu Shouye subconsciously shrank back, then lowered his head, his voice trembling slightly: "Third Uncle, when did you get back? My brothers and I were just about to talk to you about something. Something terrible has happened at home these past few days..."

He was about to complain when he looked up and saw Master Gu's sharp gaze. He lowered his head guiltily and his voice became softer: "In short, things haven't been peaceful at home lately, especially with Shouzhuo. If Shouzhuo really gets exiled..."

Gu Shouye choked up and said, "It's no different from being dead, Third Uncle. Shouzhuo is your own nephew, please save him!"

"save him?"

Master Gu squinted his eyes: "I just went to see Magistrate Hong. Magistrate Hong said that all the documents were sent to the provincial capital ten days ago and handed over to the judicial office for review. How can I save him?"

"Are you going to deliver money to the provincial judicial commissioner's office?"

Gu Shouye stammered a few words, but couldn't get the rest out.

Master Gu's face was ashen as he glared at the two brothers: "Weren't you supposed to be back in Deqing in the second half of the year? Why are you back now?"

"This matter!"

Old Master Gu's voice trembled as well: "It has nothing to do with you?"

Both brothers lowered their heads. Gu Shouye gritted his teeth and said, "Third Uncle, we rushed back to check on things after hearing that something had happened at home. This had already happened before we got back, so what does it have to do with us?"

Mr. Gu took several deep breaths before he calmed down.

He had no sons, and to him, his three nephews were no different from his own sons. If he hadn't doted on Gu Pan so much, the Gu family's assets would have almost all gone to these nephews.

In fact, Mr. Gu originally intended to give them a portion.

Now, less than a month after he left home, one thing after another has happened at home, even resulting in a death, which has left him feeling very disheartened.

"We're clearly family, we're clearly family..."

Master Gu sighed and said, "I have obtained a warrant from the county magistrate. You will come with me to see Shouzhuo."

"In a few more days, we may not see him again."

The two brothers exchanged a glance, bowed their heads in agreement, and followed behind Master Gu toward the county jail.

With the county magistrate's warrant in hand, and knowing that many people in Deqing recognized him, the constables, being quite perceptive, led the group inside.

When they arrived at the prison gate of Gu Shouzhuo, the jailer, who was nearly forty years old, opened the cell door and then smiled obsequiously at Master Gu: "Master Gu, you may look around, but you can't stay too long."

Mr. Gu nodded: "Thank you."

He then fumbled in his sleeve for a while but couldn't find any money. He turned to look at Gu Shoucheng, who quickly pulled out a piece of silver from his waist and handed it to the jailer.

"Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir."

Master Gu led his two nephews into the prison cell. Looking down, he saw that Gu Shouzhou, who had been dressed elegantly and in fine clothes, was now disheveled and unkempt.

Both eyes had lost their sparkle.

Seeing this, Master Gu felt uneasy. He stepped forward, patted Gu Shouzhuo on the shoulder, and called out, "Shouzhuo."

Gu Shouzhou turned around and saw Master Gu. Tears immediately streamed down his face. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Master Gu. He only managed to say two words before tears streamed down his face, and he could no longer speak.

"Third Uncle..."

With his hands behind his back, Master Gu said quietly, "There are only the four of us here. You all know how I've treated you all these years."

"Shouzhuo, I only have one question for you."

He looked at Gu Shouzhuo, his voice becoming sharp: "That boy from Shouyi's family, did you have Gu Yong kill him?!" Gu Shouzhuo wept and said, "Third Uncle, you watched me grow up. You used to say you treated me like a son. Do you think I would do such a thing?"

Gu Shouye and Gu Shoucheng were both sons of Master Gu's eldest brother, while Gu Shouzhuo was the son of his second brother.

Master Gu was very fond of this nephew. He almost considered adopting Gu Shouzhou into his own family back then, but unfortunately, his second brother only had this one son, so there was no way to adopt him.

As for the brothers Shouye and Shoucheng, they were willing to give one of them to Master Gu, but he didn't accept it.

"it is good."

Master Gu patted Gu Shouzhou's head and said, "Now that you've said that, your third uncle believes you, but you've done something wrong, so you deserve this hardship."

“After you leave Deqing, your third uncle will continue to give you money every month so that your wife and children can make a living.”

Upon hearing this, Gu Shouzhou was filled with despair. He knelt down and kowtowed, tears streaming down his face: "Third Uncle, I know I was wrong. Please save me, please save me!"

Master Gu ignored him and instead looked at his two other nephews, saying coldly, "Shouzhuo may have been a little clever since he was young, but he is not bold enough. You brothers must have been involved in this matter."

Master Gu took a deep breath and said quietly, "From now on, you should not work at Anrentang anymore. Go work at the cloth shop instead."

He closed his eyes and lamented, "Shouzhuo has come to this point because of his own stupidity. You brothers have schemed against your family, which chills my heart."

Chen Qing couldn't understand many things because he didn't know the Gu family well, but he could see the Gu family's children clearly because Old Master Gu had practically watched them grow up.

He could even recall some of the details.

Since he has always liked to keep a low profile, his two older brothers could certainly encourage him.

Look, the man surnamed Chen is here. All your property was originally yours, but he's going to take it all away.

In any case, we must drive that Chen family member out of Deqing! Or, we should just marry off Seventh Sister!

That's roughly what I wanted to say.

Gu Shouye and Gu Shoucheng were both over thirty years old, but Gu Shouzhou was still young. He was easily provoked and became headstrong, charging ahead into battle.

The Gu brothers knelt before their master, tears streaming down their faces, and said, "Third Uncle, we brothers have been working at Anrentang for over ten years."

"you…"

Master Gu was quite decisive and said quietly, "If you don't want to go to the grain store, I'll give each of you brothers a thousand taels of silver, and you can go out and do business yourselves."

"Whether it's medicinal herbs, grains, cloth, or any other trade, it's up to you."

Master Gu stood up, put his hands behind his back, and left, saying, "No matter what, I have done right by you and your father."

After taking a few steps, he turned back to look at his three nephews, especially the disheveled Gu Shouzhou, and couldn't help but tear up, saying, "You three brothers."

Mr. Gu clenched his fists, turned around and strode away, his tone very sad.

"They've all wronged me."

…………

Another day passed, and in the Chen residence in Huzhou Prefecture.

A woman in her forties was directing her servants to move things. When she saw that they had almost finished moving them, she turned around and looked at the young man who was fidgeting beside her. She frowned and said, "Why aren't you getting on the carriage yet?"

The boy was getting impatient: "What are we going to the countryside for? Why doesn't Mother let my second brother go?"

"Your second brother is preparing for next year's prefectural examination, how can he be distracted?"

The woman retorted, "How can Deqing be considered a rural area? You're talking nonsense!"

"Get in the car quickly, I'll take you to see your elder brother."

The young man reluctantly looked up and rolled his eyes: "Why would I want to see him?"

"Of course, we need to finalize his marriage."

The woman looked at her son, tidied her hair, and then said softly.

“Your father is going back to Huzhou for the Chinese New Year, before he comes back.”

Her voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable authority.

"Your elder brother's matter is about to be accomplished."

(End of this chapter)