26 Punishing Gu Xin

Page (1/3)

“Gu Xin, I have always taught you to conduct yourself with integrity. I never imagined that in the short time I was away, you would do something so absurd. You have utterly disgraced the Pingning Marquis Residence.”

Trembling, Gu Xin begged again. “Father, I know I was wrong. I won’t do it again.”

“If you have done wrong, then you must accept the punishment.” Gu Yunting showed no mercy.

Gu Xin crawled to Old Madam Gu’s side. “Grandmother, please plead with Father for me. I truly know I was wrong.”

Seeing Gu Xin weeping and sniveling—her only grandson—Old Madam Gu’s heart softened. She stepped forward and said, “Yunting, look at him. Xin’er knows he was wrong. Forgive him this once.”

Gu Yunting frowned deeply as he looked at her and said in a low voice, “Mother, as the old saying goes, a kind mother often spoils her son. You are his grandmother, but since he has done wrong, you must not shield him. If he is not punished, who knows what trouble he may cause in the future?”

Thinking of everything Gu Xin had done lately, Old Madam Gu felt that Gu Yunting was right. Gu Xin truly needed to be disciplined properly. Otherwise, once the Pingning Marquis Residence was entrusted to him, he would bring the entire household to ruin.

“Everything will be done as you say, Yunting.”

When Gu Xin saw that even Old Madam Gu had taken Gu Yunting’s side, he was utterly devastated.

“Guards, bring out the household rod. Twenty strokes!” Gu Yunting shouted.

Gu Xin’s face turned deathly pale. He collapsed onto the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

Before long, a servant brought over a cudgel as thick as an arm.

Gu Yunting took it directly, raised it high, and swung it down at Gu Xin. Gu Xin, terrified, dodged to the side, and the blow struck empty air.

“Hold him down.” Gu Yunting’s face was dark as he gave the order.

“Yes.”

The servants stepped forward. Each seized one of Gu Xin’s arms and pinned him to the ground. Gu Xin struggled desperately, but no matter how hard he fought, he could not break free.

He could only turn toward Old Madam Gu and cry out in anguish, “Grandmother, save me!”

The moment his words fell, Gu Yunting’s cudgel came down upon his backside. Gu Xin howled in agony.

Unable to bear the sight, Old Madam Gu turned her head aside. What the eyes did not see, the heart would not grieve over.

Gu Xin was utterly desperate.

As blow after blow rained down, the pain finally drove him into unconsciousness.

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

But before he passed out, he came to hate Jiang Shuwan with all his heart.

Everything had happened because of Jiang Shuwan. Otherwise, he would never have been beaten so severely.

“Yunting, stop! He’s already unconscious.” Heartbroken, Old Madam Gu hurried forward and seized Gu Yunting’s raised arm.

Gu Yunting cast a glance at Gu Xin. The flesh beneath him was already battered and bloody. He stopped, then handed the cudgel to a servant nearby.

“Carry the heir back to his courtyard and have the household physician examine him,” Gu Yunting ordered coldly.

Several servants hurried forward and carried Gu Xin back to his courtyard.

Old Madam Gu gazed sorrowfully at Gu Xin’s retreating figure, then looked at Gu Yunting with disapproval. “Yunting, Xin’er was certainly in the wrong, but you should not have beaten him so viciously.”

“Mother, after what Xin’er did, if I had not punished him, who knows what disaster he might have brought upon himself and the Pingning Marquis Residence?” Gu Yunting said with a deep frown.

Old Madam Gu knew he was right, but Gu Xin was her only grandson, and she still could not bear it. “Even so, you should not have beaten him half to death!”

When she recalled Gu Xin’s bloodied and mangled state, tears slipped from her eyes.

Gu Yunting softened slightly and gentled his tone. “Mother, do not worry. Although he looked badly injured, I did not use much force. After resting for two or three days, he will be able to get out of bed.”

Old Madam Gu let out a breath of relief, though she remained somewhat uncertain. “Really?”

Gu Yunting nodded. “Yes.”

“That’s good. That’s good.” Old Madam Gu patted her chest.

Then, as though she had suddenly thought of something, she came before Gu Yunting and took his hand, pacing around him while examining him from head to toe. Seeing that he was completely unharmed, she finally voiced the question that had been troubling her.

“Yunting, His Majesty said you were dead. What exactly happened?”

Gu Yunting sat down on a low stool nearby, poured himself a cup of tea, and took a sip before slowly speaking.

“When I fell from the cliff, I suffered only minor injuries. I had intended to return to the capital, but I heard that Nanping had been struck by severe flooding, so I went there to investigate. That delayed my return.”

Old Madam Gu immediately understood. So that was what had happened. No wonder His Majesty had sent so many people to search for him without finding him. He had already gone south.

But then another question occurred to her. She frowned slightly and said, “That cannot be right. If you went south, it would take a month to travel from the capital to Nanping. Why are you still in the capital now?”

The hand holding Gu Yunting’s teacup came to a halt.

Old Madam Gu stared at him suspiciously. Gu Yunting felt somewhat awkward beneath her gaze, so he set down the cup and lifted his eyes to her.

“You will have to ask Mother about that.”

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

Old Madam Gu pointed at herself. “Me?”

Gu Yunting nodded. “Yes.”

She was puzzled. “What does that have to do with me?”

“Mother suddenly arranged a marriage for me, so of course I had to come back and see what sort of woman I was supposed to marry.” Gu Yunting awkwardly picked up his teacup and took another sip.

Only then did Old Madam Gu understand. She was momentarily amused and exasperated at once.

“If you put it that way, it was indeed a fortunate thing. Because you came back, Mother learned that you were alive and no longer had to worry about you every day. Come to think of it, the eldest Miss of the Jiang family truly is a lucky star for our Gu family.”

At first, Gu Yunting had thought his mother had arranged the marriage with Jiang Shuwan merely to bring him good fortune and dispel the gloom surrounding his supposed death. But judging from her expression now, she did not seem to dislike Jiang Shuwan. In fact, she even appeared rather fond of her.

“Mother likes the eldest Miss of the Jiang family?” Gu Yunting asked mildly.

Old Madam Gu answered without hesitation, “Of course I do. That young girl is not only beautiful, but also sweet and well-behaved. You have no idea—she was the one who took the initiative to say that she wanted to marry you…”

Old Madam Gu proceeded to recount in great detail how Jiang Shuwan had proposed marrying Gu Yunting and everything that had led up to it.

Gu Yunting had heard some of it from Maple Leaf, but not the full story. Listening now as his mother described what had happened, he was somewhat surprised.

He had never expected that fierce little girl to possess such courage.

For some reason, an image suddenly surfaced in his mind: Jiang Shuwan beneath the magnolia tree at Ci’en Temple, smiling with radiant brightness. A smile unconsciously touched the corners of his eyes.

“Yunting, were you just smiling?” Old Madam Gu stared at him in shock.

Gu Yunting immediately restrained his expression, returning to his usual icy demeanor.

“No.” He denied it outright.

After all, Old Madam Gu knew exactly what kind of person her son was.

She had not been mistaken just now, but since he refused to admit it, she would not expose him. Smiling slyly, she asked, “Yunting, what do you think of the young lady from the Jiang family?”

Page (3/3)