Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 918: Beaten Up

In front of the house on Moxiang Street, because of the Old Gu Family’s affairs, the townsfolk of the prefecture city gathered here in groups of three or five to watch the spectacle. As Gu Chengli struck the copper gong and Ms. Zhang shouted, a crowd quickly gathered around.

Elder Gu, seeing everyone gathering around, immediately cried out with tears streaming down his face, "Dashan, my dear son, I was wrong~"

Even Gu Youfu cried beside him, "Big brother... we were wrong... please forgive us."

People often sympathize with the weak. Seeing the state of Elder Gu and Gu Youfu, someone immediately began to feel sorry for them: "Even though Elder Gu believed Granny Gu’s words, he is still Gu Dashan’s biological father. Now that he is sick like this, as a son, Gu Dashan should take Elder Gu back and support him."

Someone else, upon hearing this, angrily retorted, "Why don’t you take care of your father! Wei Ruandan, do you even realize what you’re saying? Do you know how Elder Gu used to torment the whole Gu Dashan family, almost driving them to death, and now you’re speaking for Elder Gu? Of course, he’s not your father, and he didn’t torment you, right? If you feel so sorry for Elder Gu, take him back and care for him yourself."

Another person sneered, "Someone like you who doesn’t even support your own mother, how dare you talk about taking care of Elder Gu? You’re just like Elder Gu, a fool who only listens to his wife!"

Wei Ruandan was notorious in the prefecture city for being afraid of his wife. Since marrying her, he had handed over the family shop to her and her family, and his brothers-in-law all relied on the family shop to make a living.

His wife was ruthless, despising his mother, and sent her to live in a half-collapsed old house, only giving her half a bowl of soybeans a day, starving her to the point she looked like a refugee.

Wei Ruandan didn’t even dare utter a word, letting his wife torment his own mother, while watching his wife feed her family with lavish meals.

Furious, Wei Ruandan pointed at the person who insulted him and said, "What right do you, a servant, have to insult me? If you dare say one more word, I’ll report you to the authorities immediately!"

"Bah! Even though I’m a slave, I’m more of a person than you. You don’t even take care of your own mother, letting your wife torment her. What right do you have to speak about the Gu Dashan family? Gu Dashan already severed ties with the Old Gu Family long ago!"

This servant was Shangzi, whose master was Ke Yuli, a storyteller at the Shenghe Building in the prefecture city. Having been influenced by storytelling for years, he was quite skilled at cursing people.

After scolding Wei Ruandan, Shangzi continued to address the onlooking crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen, you are all experienced in the ways of the world. Can’t you see Elder Gu’s intentions? He just sees the wealth of the Gu Dashan family and wants to latch onto them to live a life of luxury."

Upon hearing Shangzi’s words, the crowd began to believe that Elder Gu was indeed pretending to be pitiful.

However, some of the older scholars in the prefecture city were quite pedantic and valued filial piety highly. They believed that while Elder Gu made mistakes, at least he admitted them. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

They would say that if your father admits his mistakes, how dare you, as a son, not forgive him? Are you trying to go against heaven? Have you no sense of filial piety?

Niu the Old Scholar, who had repeatedly failed the examinations in the prefecture city and was now gray-haired, shouted angrily, "As a son, Gu Dashan is obliged to kneel and welcome his father home in times of trouble. To leave his father here, heaven shall not tolerate it!"

Ms. Zhang, hearing this, immediately knelt before Niu the Old Scholar, "Benefactor, you must help us. Two men in our family are paralyzed, and Cheng Li’s legs aren’t good. We really can’t manage on our own. If the elder brother doesn’t help us, our family of four will have no choice but to jump into a well!"

Niu the Old Scholar had been looked down upon all his life, and now, being called a benefactor by Ms. Zhang, he was overly excited and immediately said, "Don’t cry, our Great Chu is governed by the principle of filial piety. Even His Majesty the Emperor emphasizes filial piety. How dare Gu Dashan deny his father? Just wait, I will gather the scholars of the prefecture city and go to the government office to file a complaint against Gu Dashan, making sure he takes you home and supports you properly."

More than half of the onlookers were bewildered. Was this Niu the Old Scholar out of his mind? Was he really going to support the Old Gu Family?

Zhang Sanjin was also dumbfounded. He didn’t expect the Old Gu Family to pull such a stunt, and in his anger, he came over to drive them away, "Mrs. Gu Zhang, what are you doing? This is a house sealed by the prefecture government office. Are you putting on a show here? Get out of here, and if you dare spread rumors in the city again, beware that the government takes action against you."

But Ms. Zhang, relying on the help of Niu the Old Scholar, ignored Zhang Sanjin and just knelt on the ground crying, refusing to leave.

Zhang Sanjin had no choice but to have his men watch them, to prevent them from causing trouble. He then went to the government office to meet Magistrate Gu and tell him about the situation.

"Sir, it is clear that they are using filial piety to pressure the Gu Dashan family into continuing to bleed them dry. They cannot be allowed to do so."

Magistrate Gu said, "I am well aware that Elder Gu is doing this on purpose, but sooner or later, this matter would have come up. There’s nothing we can do about it. It will have to be resolved by the Gu Dashan family themselves."

Given Elder Gu’s character, as long as he is alive, he will latch on to the Gu Dashan family and continue to bleed them. We can’t help with that.

Also, I want to see how Gu Jin’an will handle this situation.

If Gu Jin’an can resolve this matter well, his future will be promising; if not, then he’s not worthy of my support.

"You go back and keep an eye on things, just make sure they don’t cause too much trouble." With that, Magistrate Gu dismissed Zhang Sanjin.

Zhang Sanjin was resigned and could only return for now.

In front of the house on Moxiang Street, Ms. Zhang and the others continued their weeping and wailing, and more and more people gathered to watch the commotion, though not many citizens, aside from a few pedantic scholars, were sympathetic to Elder Gu.

The townspeople didn’t sympathize with Elder Gu largely because Gu Jinli had supported some storytellers.

The storytellers in the prefecture city had already started narrating again, recounting the evil deeds committed by the Old Gu Family.

Even though the storytellers managed to steer the narrative in the city, Elder Gu and Ms. Zhang’s display of feigned suffering and protest was still a tricky issue. If it wasn’t dealt with quickly, the reputation of Gu Jinli’s family would continue to be affected, especially Gu Jin’an.

He had to take the imperial exam, and his reputation couldn’t be tarnished.

His reputation as the county top scorer had already spread to the prefecture city, and some proud scholars in the prefecture city were quite jealous of him, hoping to see him humiliated, and thus they were also taking action, encouraging Niu the Old Scholar to go to the government office to file a complaint.

Niu the Old Scholar, in a moment of impulse, rolled up his sleeves, ready to go accuse the Gu Dashan family. Then someone shouted, "Elder Niu, you are a scholar. Before you go to the government office, shouldn’t you change into a new robe? How can you go wearing old clothes? It’s not dignified."

The person speaking was Sanxi in disguise.

Niu the Old Scholar, being concerned about appearances, listened to these words, looked at his old robe, and felt embarrassed. He said to the scholars urging him, "You go to the government office first, I’ll go home to change into new clothes."

In fact, Niu the Old Scholar didn’t have any new clothes; he planned to rent them from a shop. Therefore, he insisted that the other scholars not follow him.

However, shortly after he left, he encountered several beggars who beat him up severely. They not only stole his more than a hundred copper coins but even stripped him of his clothes and shoes.

After robbing Niu the Old Scholar, the beggars were still dissatisfied with the small amount of silver he carried and cursed him, "You can’t even manage your own life, and you still have the nerve to talk about others. What a disgrace as a scholar!"

After saying this, they kicked Niu the Old Scholar a few more times before running off swiftly. Judging by their running style, each had martial arts skills, and these people were under Daqing’s command.