Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Gu Changyuan: "How about I call in the steward of the estate right now and ask?"

Xie Licheng: "No rush. Tell me everything you know first, and I'll help you figure out what's going on."

Xie Licheng saw things differently from Gu Changyuan. All he knew right now was that two people had gone missing from the estate; he didn't know anything else yet.

If the problem lay within the estate itself, talking to the steward now wouldn't do any good—the man certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to admit to anything.

Because Xie Licheng had covered for Gu Changyuan before, Gu Changyuan still trusted him quite a bit.

Gu Changyuan thought it over, then told Xie Licheng everything he knew.

The Gu family owned quite a few estates. Usually, when something went wrong, the steward would come and report it.

If the steward couldn't handle it, then it would go to the Gu family's head steward, or to Gu Changyuan himself.

Gu Changyuan had dealt with estate problems before, but the situations before were different from this one.

Whether it was a death on the estate, crops ruined by natural disaster, or someone deliberately stirring up trouble, Gu Changyuan had always handled things well.

But this time, it felt like someone was deliberately trying to lure him here to handle it.

Two people had gone missing from this estate one after another, both of them strong young laborers.

The estate's steward had reported it to the authorities, but after the officials came and took a look, they just dropped it.

Worried that more problems would arise, the steward took the matter to Gu Changyuan.

Then Gu Changyuan's second uncle—the Second Master of the Gu Family—suggested that Gu Changyuan come and see for himself.

There was something very strange about it. Neither the person who had come to report to the Gu family nor the Second Master had told Gu Changyuan beforehand that the missing laborers were connected to the northern bandits.

In other words, Gu Changyuan didn't find out that there might be bandits in the mountains here until he had already arrived at the estate.

Gu Changyuan had heard about the bandits a long time ago.

At the time, the rumors said that folks up in northern Lingzhou had spotted bandits.

Bandits were different from regular robbers—they mostly traveled in large groups.

They loved looting homes, stealing not just grain and silver but also pretty women and young gentlemen. In short, they were a pack of vicious, ruthless criminals.

The place Gu Changyuan was staying in now had been arranged by the estate's people.

If the person outside just now wasn't one of his own men, then the place he was staying was extremely dangerous.

Xie Licheng smiled after listening. "That second uncle of yours—I'd say he's got some ambition."

Gu Changyuan was a smart man. Honestly, when he'd seen that person outside earlier, a terrible thought had already begun to form in his mind.

But since it involved an elder—one who had been kind to him, at that—he instinctively didn't want to believe it.

Hearing Xie Licheng say this now, Gu Changyuan couldn't help asking, "What do you mean?"

Xie Licheng sat down beside him, reached out to stroke the long hair spread across the bed, and felt a sudden twinge of sympathy for the person before him.

"Your second uncle—he probably doesn't want you to be the head of the family."

"But if I'm not the head, who else in the main branch could step up?"

The main branch of the Gu family had only four children. Of the four, Gu Changyuan and Gu Tinghe were young gentlemen, and Gu Yangxue was a young woman.

The only male heir was Gu Changyuan's biological younger brother.

But his younger brother had been sickly since childhood, and their mother had spent years traveling with him to seek medical treatment.

Aside from Gu Changyuan, neither Gu Tinghe nor Gu Yangxue could uphold the family's reputation.

Xie Licheng: "The main branch has no one to step up, but the second branch—he has three sons."

In the novel, Gu Changyuan's second uncle didn't want Gu Changyuan to be head of the family either.

When Lingzhou City was about to descend into chaos, the second master's eldest son—the one who had run off with a lover—came back.

The second branch's eldest son was called Gu Qiheng.

Gu Qiheng returned with his lover, and his lover was extremely ambitious.

Before the two even arrived, the lover—who was pregnant—had already been urging Gu Qiheng to demand the position of head of the Gu family from the Second Master.

The Second Master was reluctant at first, but when he learned that his eldest son was willing to come back and would bring him a grandson, he hardened his heart and decided to make a move against Gu Changyuan.

But in the novel, he never succeeded—because before he could gather others against Gu Changyuan, Lingzhou City fell into chaos.

Now the Second Master had suddenly made his move early. Was it because of the time Gu Changyuan had publicly disciplined Gu Qiyue, or because Gu Qiheng had already contacted the Second Master?

Regardless of the reason, it was too dangerous for Gu Changyuan to remain here.

Gu Changyuan sat up from the bed, his face full of disbelief. "The second branch does have three sons, but... my eldest cousin ran away from home, my youngest cousin is currently in the military, and the only remaining second cousin is a good-for-nothing. My second uncle wouldn't do something like this to me over someone like that."

Xie Licheng: "But what if... one of the other two came home?"

Gu Changyuan turned his gaze toward him, a hint of sadness gradually creeping into his beautiful eyes.

He said, "If he wants this position, he could have discussed it with my father. Why does he have to treat me like this?"

Isn't my life a life too?

Did he have to die for that to be enough?

Xie Licheng sighed at this. "Because you're still pretty capable, you have a lot of prestige in the Gu family, and your temperament is kind and generous. On top of that, you're from the main branch, so he can't openly demand it—that would look bad for his son's reputation. If his son did worse than you, many people would inevitably compare the two. Outsiders would say, 'So what if the second branch's young master is a man? In the end, he's not even as good as a delicate young gentleman.' So..."

Xie Licheng trailed off, but Gu Changyuan understood exactly what he meant.

Gu Changyuan continued for him: "So... he wants me dead, or missing. As long as I can't return alive, and the main branch has no other child who can carry the Gu family, then he can justifiably have the second branch's young master take my place. Even if the second branch does badly later on, everyone will just miss me a little—they won't disparage him because of it."

Gu Changyuan had many flaws in his character, but his skill at business, managing shops, and running the household was genuinely impressive.

It was just that he was pretty young, and sometimes he trusted his family a little too much.

Someone like him wasn't easy for outsiders to scheme against—he was only vulnerable to his own family's scheming.

The tendency to trust family too easily wasn't entirely his own fault.

Even someone like Xie Licheng could be pretty gullible when it came to family.

Gu Zhangyuan's family background was quite good. Apart from his mother not being able to accompany him often, his father had always doted on him greatly.

For someone from a good family, it's only natural to trust your family—it can hardly be considered a fault.

Gu Zhangyuan: "Since all of this was set up against me, there's no point calling for the steward now, and it might even put me in danger."

Xie Licheng reached out and pulled him up, saying to him: "Let's go. We're leaving now."

He said it so suddenly that Gu Zhangyuan didn't even have time to react.

Gu Zhangyuan: "Now? But the city gates are already shut. Even if we leave, we won't be able to get into the city."

"We still have to go, because... I think there are bandits in this estate too."

The steward of the manor arranged where Gu Zhangyuan was staying.

To make sure he disappeared for good, and to keep anyone from finding out their plan.

The only ones who really wanted Gu Zhangyuan dead were the bandits from the mountains.

Xie Licheng figured that this Second Master of the Gu family must have been working with those bandits.

He had the bandits kill Gu Zhangyuan, and in exchange, they'd get the entire Gu family manor.

Only about half an hour had passed since Xie Licheng went out to find Gu Zhangyuan.

Too many weird things were happening—once outside Gu Zhangyuan's courtyard, and now again outside the bedroom window.

Too frequent, not like someone trying to stay hidden at all.

It was more like... they couldn't wait any longer and wanted to make their move right now.

With that in mind, before Gu Zhangyuan could even finish getting dressed, Xie Licheng grabbed an outer robe, threw it around him, and pulled him quickly toward the bedroom door.

The racket Xie Licheng made kicking the door open was loud enough to startle not just Yuan Qiao in the next room, but even the guards at the courtyard gate.

Yuan Qiao ran over and asked: "Young master, young master, wait—no, little horse slave, what are you doing dragging the young master off?"

Xie Licheng: "Go get Xuan Cui. Hurry, follow us!"

Yuan Qiao wanted to ask why, but then Gu Zhangyuan said to him: "Go get her, now!"

Seeing this, Yuan Qiao's heart started pounding. He rarely saw his young master look so serious.

He quickly said "okay" and hurried off to get her.

Just then, the guard from outside walked in.

He looked at Xie Licheng, then at his young master.

"Young master, this is...?"

Gu Zhangyuan wanted Xie Licheng to let go of his hand, but he struggled hard and couldn't break free, so he had to say to the guard: "Go get the carriage ready. We're leaving right now."

The guard was about to obey and leave when he heard Xie Licheng say: "No time. Let's just go!"

With that, he pulled Gu Zhangyuan quickly toward the courtyard gate.

The guard was completely confused, but he didn't want Xie Licheng to just take the young master away like that, so he hurried after them without a second thought.

Soon, he understood why the young master wanted to get out of there.

Because just as he reached the courtyard gate, a group of bandits dressed like farmers had surrounded the place, holding torches.

The two house guards who had been patrolling earlier rushed over. One of them drew his blade and shouted: "What are you doing? This is the Gu family's territory in Lingzhou. Back off now!"

A man who looked honest, with a mole on his face, weighed the big blade in his hand.

The Mole-faced Man said with a smile: "Don't blame us for being ruthless. Blame your young master—a mere gē'er who insists on running the household."

Just then, Xuan Cui and Yuan Qiao came out too.

Seeing so many people outside, holding torches and blades, Xuan Cui got scared and grabbed Gu Zhangyuan, trying to pull him back into the courtyard.

Xie Licheng stopped her: "We can't go back. Someone from outside just got into the courtyard too—there are probably more of them inside."

Hearing that there were also accomplices of these thugs in their own courtyard,

Yuan Qiao and Xuan Cui spun around in a panic, and sure enough, they saw a short middle-aged man holding a small dagger, walking toward them.

Originally, if Xie Licheng hadn't come over that night, Gu Zhangyuan would already be dead.

But who would've thought this Eldest Young Master was so lecherous and dissolute, demanding a male slave even late at night.

Seeing there was still another person in the room, and afraid he couldn't handle it alone, he had to send a signal to bring everyone over.

Suddenly spotting a stranger in the courtyard, Gu Zhangyuan's heart clenched.

He instinctively tugged at Xie Licheng's hand, signaling him to watch out for the man in the courtyard.

Xie Licheng felt the tug and looked down at him.

Xie Licheng: "Don't be scared. They're nothing but a bunch of scum."