Chapter 267: Seeking Help
As soon as Gu Lian's carriage stopped by the screen wall, Second Madam immediately went out to greet her.
Gu Lian was first helped down by her nurse, followed by her maids carrying bundles of belongings.
At the sight, Second Madam frowned, sensing something amiss. "What is all this?" she asked. Noticing Gu Lian's reddened eyes, her heart tightened. "Is it... is it that your father-in-law refuses to help?"
Gu Lian replied, "It's not about Father. I'm just angry..."
Second Madam pulled her inside, only to learn that Gu Lian had quarreled with Yao Wenxiu. It was over a trivial matter—Yao Wenxiu had brought back several boxes of bone-in abalone pastries, knowing she liked them, but gave one box to Gu Lan and kept the rest for her. Gu Lian couldn't let it go. "If Gu Lan hadn't seduced him behind my back, how could she have become a concubine in the Yao family? After all the humiliation I've endured, he still favors her!"
Taking a deep breath, Gu Lian continued, "I only scolded him a little, and he got angry. He slammed the door and went to sleep in his study. I didn’t even lose my temper—why should he? I ignored him for days, and he ignored me back. So I decided to come home for a while..."
Second Madam was so furious she felt her blood boil. "Your father is in trouble right now—this is when we need the Yao family's help the most! How can you be so childish? It's just a box of pastries. Throwing a tantrum—do you still think you're the Fourth Miss of the Gu family?"
Gu Lian was stunned by her mother's harsh words, momentarily forgetting her tears. After a pause, she muttered, "I... I just don’t like him being nice to Gu Lan. He never considers my feelings. And now even you’re scolding me..."
Second Madam waved over the nurse. "Didn’t you try to stop her from coming back?"
The nurse smiled bitterly. "The Third Madam insisted..."
She was merely a servant. Gu Lian listened to her when pleased but could just as easily cast her aside when displeased. With Gu Lian in such a temper, how could she have stopped her?
Second Madam sighed, realizing she had spoiled this daughter too much—always expecting others to indulge her. Setting aside the quarrel with Yao Wenxiu, she asked, "Did you ask about your father’s situation? Any progress?"
Gu Lian lowered her head. "I... I haven’t seen Yao Wenxiu for days. How could I ask him? But I did ask Mother-in-law. She said Father-in-law has been very busy lately and she hasn’t had a chance to speak with him. She said if they can help, they certainly will..."
The answer was clearly evasive.
Second Madam frowned deeply, lost in thought. Gu Lian, seeing her mother silent, grew uneasy.
"Mother—Father won’t really be in danger, will he? Didn’t you say Fourth Uncle went to see him? How is he?"
"I don’t know. Your fourth uncle only went this morning..."
As the two drank tea, Second Madam lectured Gu Lian for a while, urging her to return and apologize to Yao Wenxiu. Gu Lian nodded half-heartedly in agreement. Just then, Fuling from Madam Feng’s household arrived, summoning them over—Gu Dezhao had returned.
...
In the eastern courtyard, Madam Feng was questioning Gu Dezhao. "Was your second brother tortured? Has he lost weight?"
Before he could even catch his breath, Gu Dezhao took a sip of tea and replied, "He’s only under detention, not formally interrogated. How could he be tortured? Otherwise, he’s fine—just worried about being demoted..."
Gu Dexiu then asked, "Does Second Brother think the demotion is likely?"Gu Dezhao sighed, "What on earth is Second Brother thinking? To actually collude with that scoundrel Wang De. Wang De has committed numerous atrocities over the years. Didn’t he take bribes from the eldest son of the Luo family back then to cover up the murder of several commoners? It caused quite a scandal. Such collusion among officials is the most taboo. But Second Brother said fortunately, the Censorate and the Left Censor-in-Chief, who is on good terms with him, will protect him, so he won’t lose his position..."
Madam Feng’s face darkened like water, "At a time like this, don’t blame your Second Brother. Everything he does is for the sake of this family!"
Gu Dezhao felt awkward and didn’t know what to say, lowering his head to gulp down tea.
Madam Feng sighed again, "Now that your Second Brother is in trouble, the two of you are the only men left to handle things. We must come up with a plan to see if we can save your Second Brother’s official position. Over the years, he has done so much for the family—this is the least we can do." She then asked Gu Dexiu, "Have you met with the heir apparent? Did he say anything?"
Gu Dexiu replied, "You know his temperament! He only promised that within his jurisdiction, he would try to ensure Second Brother doesn’t suffer... He’s busy with his own wedding now, which is in half a month, and said he doesn’t have time to see me recently."
Madam Feng thought for a moment and turned her gaze to Gu Dezhao, "If all else fails, you should go and plead with Third Master Chen..."
Gu Dezhao felt uncomfortable upon hearing this and hesitated, "Mother, I am, after all, Third Master Chen’s father-in-law. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to beg him. Besides, Third Master Chen must already know about Second Brother’s situation, yet he hasn’t sent anyone to inform us—clearly, he doesn’t want to get involved..."
"Are you suggesting this old woman should go and beg him herself?" Madam Feng glared at Gu Dezhao.
Gu Dezhao had no choice but to remain silent.
"Among all your brothers, we’ve always pinned our hopes on Deyuan, who rose to a fourth-rank official position. If he loses his post, how will our family maintain any influence in Daxing..." Madam Feng spent a long time persuading Gu Dezhao. "The second branch has always supported your fourth branch. Think about it—when you were in trouble, didn’t Second Brother go out of his way to help you? Your fourth branch has been well-provided for in the Gu family. You’ve seen how I’ve treated your children. When Chaojie got married, how much face did we give you? Now, we just need her to help out a little—is she unwilling even to do that?"
Gu Dezhao, never good with words, became even more tongue-tied after Madam Feng’s roundabout reasoning.
A maid came in to announce that Second Madam had arrived, so Madam Feng dismissed Gu Dezhao to think things over.
The two of them first withdrew from the western chamber.
Second Madam inquired about Gu Deyuan’s situation and breathed a slight sigh of relief. Then she brought up the quarrel between Gu Lian and Yao Wenxiu.
Madam Feng frowned deeply, "She’s just adding to the chaos... Forget it, let’s not bother with her now. I think we’ll have to approach Gu Jinzhao. The whole reason we hoped she’d marry into the Chen Family was so they could support us. Now it’s time for Gu Jinzhao to repay us. Tomorrow, you should take Madam Xu... No, never mind—Madam Xu would probably be unwilling and might even sabotage things. Since Lianjie’er is back, take her along to visit Gu Jinzhao, saying you’re delivering things for her pregnancy. Then have Lianjie’er plead with her and play the sympathy card. We must convince Gu Jinzhao!"
Second Madam nodded but hesitated, "Will Third Master Chen listen to Gu Jinzhao?" At this point, no one wanted to get involved.Madam Feng hesitated slightly: "I see Third Master Chen treats her extremely well. You should go and try. If Second Master gets demoted, the Gu family will soon be under the fourth branch's control. Not only will the second branch be suppressed by them, but Lian jie er will also have a hard time in the Yao family."
Second Madam agreed and went back to discuss the matter with Gu Lian.
Gu Lian was genuinely curious to see what the Chen Family was like and how Gu Jinzhao was living. Hearing her mother tell her to humble herself, she was somewhat unwilling: "She's just from a concubine-born branch. Just because she married well, she thinks she's something special. When she married, our family prepared so much dowry for her to ensure a grand and dignified wedding. Isn't it only right that she helps us now..."
Second Madam sighed: "If you want your father reinstated, you must humble yourself and apologize for past matters... Everyone likes to hear pleasant words. What you truly think doesn't matter—just say what sounds nice. Understand?"
"Third Master Chen might not even listen to her. Who knows what the Chen Family is really like? We might just be wasting our efforts..." Gu Lian said, but when her mother glared at her, she quickly lowered her voice. "Don't worry, I'll say all the right things when the time comes. I know what's important."
Hearing her daughter say this, Second Madam finally relaxed.
She immediately ordered preparations for many gifts, planning to set off for Wanping the next day.
Gu Dezhao returned and discussed the matter with Madam Xu. Xu Jingyi shared his view. "Even Yao Daren refused to help with this matter, so it must be quite troublesome. Pleading might put Third Master Chen in a difficult position and make Jinzhao lose face in her marital family. Mother also called me earlier and said to let Second Sister-in-law test the waters first. Why don't you claim official duties keep you busy and wait until she returns before deciding..."
Gu Dezhao also felt it best not to go and told Xu Jingyi, "Second Brother committed a grave mistake—demotion is already lenient. Yet Mother insists on him retaining his position. Isn't that asking the impossible..."
Xu Jingyi nodded in agreement and comforted him, "I understand. You should eat something first. I've prepared blackfish soup for you. You must not have eaten yet after traveling back and forth to the Court of Judicial Review?"
Only then did Gu Dezhao show signs of weariness and nod at Xu Jingyi.
...
The next day, Jinchao rose early to accompany Third Master Chen to pay respects to Madam Chen.
Third Master had already returned from his morning exercises and was waiting for her while reading a book.
Not wanting him to grow bored, Jinchao styled her hair into a simple Round Bun and wore minimal accessories.
Third Master Chen set down his book and gazed at her for a while, lost in thought.
Gu Jinzhao asked, "What is it? Is something amiss?"
She wore a water-blue jacket with white embroidered edges and a plain ginger-yellow satin skirt. Though natural beauty had its charm, it was too plain. Third Master Chen walked straight to her dressing table, studied it for a moment, and picked out two gold hairpins inlaid with white jade and carved with orchid designs. He had her sit down and pinned them into her hair himself.
"How does this look?"
Gu Jinzhao examined herself and found the hairpins perfectly chosen, nodding in approval.
Third Master Chen was also pleased and kissed her forehead with a smile.
Soon, Granny Sun entered with a letter for Gu Jinzhao: "...It was sent from the Gu family in Daxing."
Gu Jinzhao opened and read it—it was from Second Madam Zhou Shi, who, along with Gu Lian, had heard of her pregnancy and wished to visit.If someone was coming to see her, wouldn't Xu Jingyi be more appropriate... Gu Jinzhao quickly guessed that Second Madam was coming regarding Gu Deyuan's matter.
Third Master Chen wasn't in a position to interfere with her family affairs, but he still told her, "Jinchao, if there's anything you need my help with, you must tell me." He looked at her and said seriously, "Don't keep it all bottled up inside, understand?"
Gu Jinzhao smiled and nodded in acknowledgment.
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