Destined

Wang Houchun rushed all the way to Wang Siyuan's residence, where Wang Siyuan was still teasing the birds in a cage in the courtyard. Wang Houchun anxiously pleaded, "Uncle, save me! Save your nephew!"

As he spoke, Wang Houchun knelt before Wang Siyuan, panicking, "Uncle, please save me!"

"Save you from what?" Wang Siyuan lazily lifted his eyelids. "In this place of Yingyang, who could possibly take your life?"

"Uncle," Wang Houchun said urgently, "Gu Jiusi has captured those constables."

Wang Siyuan paused his movements, his face turning cold as he raised his head. "Captured? How? Didn't I send people to find them?!"

"You did send people, but Gu Jiusi's men were faster. They caught them first."

"Impossible!" Wang Siyuan was shocked. "I specifically had someone adjust the constables' patrol schedule. How could they be faster than my men coming from the Eastern Capital?"

"They obtained the duty roster from the County Government Office."

Wang Houchun didn't elaborate directly. Wang Siyuan's voice deepened, and after a moment, he said hesitantly, "This matter needs further investigation. We must find out who tipped them off."

Wang Houchun remained silent. Wang Siyuan thought for a moment and asked, "Did you go to the constables yourself?"

"No." Wang Houchun shook his head. "But I provided the silver, and the person who delivered it was from my residence."

"Then why are you still kneeling here?!" Wang Siyuan immediately snapped. "Go deal with it!"

"It's already handled." Wang Houchun quickly replied. "The person who delivered the silver was taken care of the day he returned."

Wang Siyuan breathed a sigh of relief, then said, "In that case, what are you afraid of?"

"That silver..." Wang Houchun hesitated for a long time before finally admitting, "I gave him a house."

"What?!" Wang Siyuan was stunned. Wang Houchun gritted his teeth and finally confessed, "At the time, the head constable, Zhao Jiu, demanded a property under the Wang family's name. I gave it to him and signed a contract. The contract bears my name, and the constables are all Zhao Jiu's men. Now that they're under Gu Jiusi's control, if Zhao Jiu colludes with others to testify against me, along with that property deed transferring the house, I won't be able to escape, Uncle!"

Wang Siyuan fell silent. After a long while, he said, "This Zhao Jiu is forcing you to rescue him."

"Exactly." Wang Houchun nodded. "Uncle, no matter what, we must get Zhao Jiu out. If we can't rescue him, then we have to silence him."

Wang Siyuan closed his eyes, deep in thought. After a long time, he opened them and said, "We'll try. If it doesn't work..." Wang Siyuan looked at Wang Houchun, "Then it'll depend on your fate."

Shen Ming and Gu Jiusi interrogated the constables all night.

Everyone else confessed—only Zhao Jiu remained silent.

The person they implicated was a servant from Wang Houchun's residence. Upon hearing it was someone from Wang Houchun's household, Gu Jiusi fell silent for a moment before instructing Shen Ming, "Split into two groups. One goes to arrest the person from the Wang residence. The other, led by you, Shen Ming, goes directly to find Zhao Jiu's family. If you find them, bring every single one here—don't miss anyone. If you don't find them, locate where they are and seize them by force if necessary!"

Shen Ming acknowledged the order and immediately left to carry it out.

Gu Jiusi turned to Munan and said, "You go outside the city and stay on standby. If there's any unusual movement, immediately go to Sizhou and mobilize troops."After finishing his words, he looked up at Liu Yuru sitting nearby: "Yuru, how many people have you transferred from the Eastern Capital?"

"Three hundred skilled hands."

Liu Yuru responded, and Gu Jiusi nodded, saying: "That's enough."

"Surround the residence, especially around Zhao Jiu."

Liu Yuru acknowledged the order, then stood up and went out to instruct the people transferred from the Eastern Capital.

Shen Ming went out to make arrests, while Gu Jiusi rested briefly before returning to the prison cell and sitting down opposite Zhao Jiu.

Only Zhao Jiu and Gu Jiusi were in the room. The windows were closed, making it rather dark inside. Zhao Jiu remained silent with his head lowered, while Gu Jiusi watched him calmly and said: "You're very composed."

Zhao Jiu didn't respond. Gu Jiusi picked up a teacup from nearby, stirring the tea leaves floating on the surface: "Not afraid? For small fry like you, death means nothing. Everyone else has confessed. What's the point in stubbornly refusing to talk?"

Zhao Jiu still remained silent. Throughout the night, everyone else had confessed, but this leader refused to speak no matter what.

Gu Jiusi looked at him and said slowly: "Are you waiting for Wang Houchun?"

He observed Zhao Jiu's expression, but no matter what he said, Zhao Jiu remained expressionless, making it impossible to gauge his attitude. Gu Jiusi knew this was a tough character but remained unruffled, saying only: "You're holding leverage over Wang Houchun, confident he'll come to save you. After all, assisting in the murder of an imperial envoy—if sentenced severely—could mean extermination of nine generations."

This time, Zhao Jiu finally looked up. Gu Jiusi pulled over a register from nearby, flipping through the pages with his finger: "Oh, you have three younger sisters, a son and a daughter, and only one wife. Quite devoted, aren't you?"

As he spoke, Gu Jiusi looked up at Zhao Jiu with a smile. Zhao Jiu said coldly: "Couldn't afford more."

"Don't worry," Gu Jiusi put down the register, propping his chin with one hand as he studied him, "extermination of nine generations won't happen. Usually in your situation, your wife and daughter would just be registered as prostitutes, and your son would be exiled into slavery."

Zhao Jiu stared at Gu Jiusi, his eyes full of icy fury, as if he wanted to tear Gu Jiusi apart. Gu Jiusi chuckled lightly: "Resentful? Thinking about why the assassins didn't kill me? Feeling like I'm targeting your family?"

"You're thinking about me targeting your family," Gu Jiusi leaned closer to Zhao Jiu, suddenly raising his voice, "but have you thought about my family?!"

"If I had died, what would have happened to my family?!"

Zhao Jiu gripped the armrests tightly. Gu Jiusi stared at him and said coldly: "I know you resent this. You're just a small fry—if you didn't do this, Wang Siyuan would cause you trouble; if you did, I'd cause you trouble. So I'll give you this assurance, Zhao Jiu: don't count on Wang Houchun. I will definitely execute him. If you're willing to testify against him, I'll spare your life."

"Spare my life?"

Hearing this, Zhao Jiu couldn't help but laugh: "Lord Gu, you dare say it, but I dare not believe it."

Gu Jiusi said nothing.

He knew Wang Siyuan's influence in Yingyang ran too deep. His word alone wasn't enough to convince Zhao Jiu. He didn't say more, only adding: "Wait a while, and you'll believe."

They waited until evening.Outside, chaos had long erupted. First, the person from Wang Houchun's residence vanished without a trace, prompting a city-wide search. Then Shen Ming discovered that Zhao Jiu's family had disappeared. Leading thirty shadow guards, he stormed Wang Houchun's residence and directly extracted them.

Shen Ming hurried back with the people. Inside, Gu Jiusi was still reading in his room, while Zhao Jiu sat opposite him, intently watching Gu Jiusi.

After a while, Zhao Jiu faintly heard crying outside and grew tense. "What's that sound?" he asked.

Gu Jiusi lazily lifted his eyelids and turned a page unhurriedly. "No matter. You'll find out soon enough."

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, Munan opened the door and said directly, "Young master, we failed to capture them. They've disappeared."

Gu Jiusi nodded, entirely unsurprised by this outcome.

Zhao Jiu laughed mockingly. "It seems Lord Gu can't protect anyone he wishes to."

Gu Jiusi remained silent, taking a sip of tea as if he hadn't heard anything. Just then, crying echoed from outside, followed by Shen Ming's voice urging, "Go in, hurry inside."

Hearing the cries, Zhao Jiu's body stiffened. Then he saw his wife, clutching one child with another following beside her, being forced in by Shen Ming.

At the sight of his wife entering, Zhao Jiu shot to his feet and roared, "Let her go!"

The child in the woman's arms burst into loud wails at the shout. Hearing the cries, Zhao Jiu restrained his emotions and turned to Gu Jiusi, feigning composure. "Please settle them properly. We can talk calmly."

Hearing this, Gu Jiusi smiled faintly, closed his book, and said to Shen Ming, "Haven't they eaten all day? Take them to get some food first."

The woman looked worriedly at Zhao Jiu, who controlled his emotions and said, "Take the children to eat. Take care of our three younger sisters. I'll be fine here."

After a moment's hesitation, the woman finally replied, "I understand. Don't worry."

With that, she led the children away.

After they left, Gu Jiusi waved his hand, dismissing everyone else. He then sat opposite Zhao Jiu, grabbed a piece of paper, picked up a brush, and said lazily, "Alright, speak."

Zhao Jiu remained silent, seemingly suppressing his emotions. After a pause, he took a deep breath and was about to speak when Gu Jiusi interjected, "Let me make this clear first: I went through great trouble to snatch your wife, children, and sisters from Wang Houchun—not to threaten you."

Zhao Jiu was stunned by these words. Gu Jiusi continued, "Don't mistake me for those corrupt officials. I'm nothing like them. I brought them here to prove something to you. Didn't you say I couldn't protect you?"

Raising his head, Gu Jiusi looked at Zhao Jiu with a lifted eyebrow, his expression bold and confident. "I'll show you—I can protect not only you but your entire family."

Zhao Jiu stared blankly at Gu Jiusi, who picked up tea from the side and began writing on the paper. As he wrote, he remarked, "I can see you're not rotten to the core. It's just that all of Yingyang is like this, and you had no choice. But when a person is sick, they must be treated. When a tree has pests, they must be dug out. Once the illness is cured, you won't have to fear it recurring and causing pain.""I will have your family sent to the Eastern Capital. Within the Eastern Capital's territory, the Wang family doesn't have the power to cause major trouble. You can speak freely about what you know. If you render meritorious service, you may even atone for your crimes. Who knows—you might even secure a minor official position in the Eastern Capital someday?"

Zhao Jiu listened to Gu Jiusi's words, seemingly weighing something in his mind as he remained deep in thought. Gu Jiusi waited quietly. After a long while, he finally heard Zhao Jiu say: "Are you truly determined to investigate the Yellow River matter?"

Before Gu Jiusi could respond, Zhao Jiu looked up at him, his eyes filled with warning: "Since you intend to handle this, you must see it through to the end. Don't let people risk their lives fighting alongside you, only to hear you say 'I'm sorry' to others when you fail to deliver."