Chapter 445: Chapter 445: Paths Diverged

The Gu family breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Zhou Gang backed down for now, they could slowly plan their next steps.

This time, several people escorted Zhou Gang away. Gu Antong didn’t dare to stay any longer. She had to go back and think things through carefully. She feared that as soon as she returned to the inner courtyard, those women would come knocking...

However, she hadn’t been idling away her time in the inner courtyard lately. She had secretly offered the Third Prince some ideas, and Rong Ruiyuan had grown increasingly fond of visiting her courtyard. She figured those women wouldn’t dare to go too far.

Surrounded by the crowd, Zhou Gang reached the door. Wordlessly, he cupped his hands at the Gu family and turned to leave without giving them a chance to speak.

Gu Kaiping said, "Dad, why do I feel like something isn’t right? Didn’t this go a bit too smoothly?"

Gu Baijiang replied, "Follow him and see."

"If we get discovered..." Liu Yun trailed off.

But no one paid her any attention. The Gu father and son had already quietly trailed after him.

Liu Yun gritted her teeth and turned to head back to the Gu family. She had never stalked anyone before, nor would she stoop to such a thing.

Zhou Gang didn’t stop once along the way, but the expressions of Gu Baijiang and his son following behind grew increasingly grim. The First Prince’s Mansion was right ahead. Zhou Gang said something to the guards and then stood to the side, waiting quietly. They didn’t dare to approach.

"So he belongs to the First Prince," Gu Kaiping realized belatedly. "Dad, what is he doing here?"

"What else? He finally got a hold of the Third Prince’s weakness. Since he can’t get any benefits from us, he’s obviously going to sell it to someone else," Gu Baijiang said coldly.

"Dad, aren’t we going to stop him?" Gu Kaiping was anxious, wishing he could drag the man back, yet he didn’t have the courage.

"We might be able to stop him for a moment, but can we stop him forever?" Gu Baijiang seemed confident. "Let’s head back first."

"Dad, we can’t go back." Gu Kaiping grabbed his arm tightly. "If this matter gets exposed, our debt will be the least of our worries. An Tong’s reputation will be ruined!"

"If we don’t go back, what can you do? Go over and stop him?" Gu Baijiang glanced at the guards by the door. "I’m afraid we’d be chased away before we even get close."

Having been in the capital for so long, Gu Baijiang had recognized the harsh reality. The Third Prince was a fickle and ungrateful man. Right now, the Gu family held little value to him. If it weren’t for keeping up outward appearances and wanting to win over more people in the future, the Third Prince would have abandoned them long ago.

Since that was the case, he wasn’t going to let anyone have an easy time either.

"But this will implicate An Tong..." She was the Gu family’s hope.

"Do you think we can hide this? Unless you go and finish off Zhou Gang right now, this matter can’t be covered up at all. When someone is out to get you, it’s impossible to defend against them."

"But..."

"Don’t tell me you still think the Third Prince will stand up for us?"

"But..."

"No buts," Gu Baijiang snapped. If this weren’t his only somewhat useful son, he wouldn’t even bother talking to him. "Even for the sake of his reputation, the Third Prince won’t do anything to An Tong. Besides, with a weakness like An Tong falling into his hands, he might feel more reassured using her."

When a woman’s reputation had a flaw, a man’s guard against her would lower.

The affairs of the front court and the inner courtyard were inextricably linked. Based on his understanding of Rong Ruiyuan, the man would definitely want control over his inner courtyard, which meant he needed someone he could trust. As long as An Tong secured a place in the inner courtyard and gave birth to the Imperial Grandson, they could slowly scheme for the future.

Gu Kaiping’s mind was reeling. Why couldn’t he make sense of all these words put together?

"If you can’t figure it out, then keep your opinions to yourself," Gu Baijiang lectured his son again. "Keep this matter in your heart and ponder over it carefully when we get back. Remember, no matter who it is, or whatever comes to mind, don’t talk to anyone about this easily. Use your heart to observe and think carefully."

He had already spelled it out so clearly. If this foolish son couldn’t distinguish what was important, then no matter how hard he tried for the Gu family, how long could he continue to support them?

Seeing Zhou Gang being invited inside, Gu Kaiping’s face turned pale. Without even having time to process his father’s previous words, he panicked, "Dad, what do we do? He went in."

Gu Baijiang directly pulled him away. "So he went in. What else can you do?"

"But this..."

"Let’s talk when we get back."

When the father and son returned to the mansion, Gu Baijiang threw him into the study, telling him not to come out until he had figured it out. If he couldn’t figure it out, he was to stay inside and copy those books properly to contribute to the family.

Seeing them return, Liu Yun hesitated several times, wanting to say something but not knowing where to begin. If she said they should help their daughter, their own lives were already impossible to sustain. But if they didn’t help, their daughter’s reputation couldn’t be saved, and she would have to bear this debt. How would she ever establish a foothold in the Third Prince’s inner courtyard?

"Liu Yun, what are you doing pacing back and forth?" Xu Yulan was curious. What had the three of them gone out to do today?

Earlier, she had been keeping an eye on Fan Meibao as the girl served Gu Kaichen in the inner courtyard. She didn’t know what kind of liquid courage that little wench had found, but she had been making snide, sarcastic remarks these past few days.

She had gone to reason with Xu Shuanghong, but Xu Shuanghong had retorted that if they were really going to follow the rules, she was their mother-in-law. Therefore, Xu Yulan and Liu Yun would have to serve her tea, pour water, and establish the proper hierarchy as well.

If she couldn’t even do it herself, what right did she have to demand it of others?

Those words left Xu Yulan speechless and made that little bitch even more arrogant. The girl had come to the second branch according to their demands, but she refused to lift a finger for anything and constantly found fault.

One moment, she would point at Gu Kaiping, calling him useless and saying he didn’t know his place for wanting to take a concubine when he couldn’t even earn a single copper coin.

The next moment, she would point at Xu Yulan herself, accusing her of being highly unfilial, claiming that a stepmother-in-law was still a mother-in-law and she should be paying her respects morning and night to fulfill her duties as a daughter-in-law.

Then, she would point at the furnishings in the room, mocking how such a poor family was still trying to put on airs.

She would point at her own clothes and demand that Xu Yulan order new ones for her. If she refused? She would throw a fit, bringing up the incident where Gu Baijiang pulled her in front of him to block a sword. She argued that she was, after all, Gu Baijiang’s lifesaver, and the mansion couldn’t mistreat her, no matter who else they mistreated. Otherwise, the entire Gu family would be ungrateful wretches.

Day after day, all this fuss gave her a headache. She wanted to send this living ancestor away, but the girl refused to leave, spouting nonsense about how it was easier to invite a spirit in than to send it away.

Bah! Didn’t she look at what kind of thing she was? Calling herself a spirit—she was nothing but a demoness! Xu Yulan really wanted to find a Taoist priest to exorcise her.

Left with no choice, Xu Yulan had to do things herself, having the girl help out on the side. She thought that by guiding her more, the girl would eventually be able to take charge and handle the affairs of their second branch, which would make things easier for her.

She hadn’t expected to miss out on a good show because of this. She heard that Zhou Gang had taken the matter all the way to the Third Prince. In her opinion, Gu Antong completely deserved it. She was so narrow-minded that she could even ruthlessly attack a passing little girl. Now, she was finally getting her retribution.

She was currently curious about how the Third Prince would handle this matter. Would he demote Gu Antong’s status or kick her back to her maiden home?

Since Gu Baijiang and Liu Yun had been back for so long and Gu Antong still hadn’t shown her face, they definitely wouldn’t be able to rely on her in the future.

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