12dz Chapter 380: The Wind Rises
Chapter 380: The Wind Rises
A scrap of manuscript, readers, please read it for fun. I will resume updating 4000 words per day after finishing my recent work.
The huge mansion and the beautiful pavilions all show the luxury of this place.
The plaque outside the gate clearly read the words "Jinchang Marquis Mansion".
Red silk was hung above the plaque, and Hu Sen, the steward of the Marquis's Mansion, was welcoming the guests from outside the mansion into the mansion one by one.
Today is Jinchang Gu Chengwei's 40th birthday, so many court officials and local wealthy people came to celebrate with expensive gifts.
There was no empty seat in the courtyard, and the performances of the actors and actresses on the stage were extremely exciting and lively.
In comparison, the small room in the north courtyard of the Marquis's Mansion seemed silent.
A petite girl was lying on the small wooden bed in the inner room. If the quilt covering her had not been slightly rising and falling, anyone would have thought she had died.
The dark linen bed curtains had become a little worn out from washing, and one could tell at a glance from the furniture in the room without even counting them.
The mahogany shelves were empty; the items originally placed on them had long been moved away.
No one would have thought that this place, which looked even more shabby than a servant's house, was actually the boudoir of Gu Qingkuang, the third daughter of the Marquis's Mansion.
"squeak--"
The wooden door of the room was gently pushed open, and a man dressed as a young scholar came to Wu Qingkuang's bed, carried her on his shoulders and left the room.
The man brought Gu Qingkuang to a rockery in the garden, laid her on the ground, pulled out the hairpin from her head, and fiercely stabbed the maid's body on the ground. He then placed the bloody hairpin in Gu Qingkuang's hand before getting up and quickly leaving the rockery...
At the birthday banquet, the golden cups and jade dishes were filled with the aroma of wine, and the decorations were colorful and the fruits were fragrant.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, a figure staggered in front of Feng Chengwei and said in panic: "Master, it's bad, the third young lady has killed someone!"
Although the maid's voice was not very loud, everyone at the table could hear it clearly.
Hearing this, Sun said hurriedly: "How dare you, Luzhu, do you know what it means to slander your own master?"
Lu Zhu seemed to be frightened and knelt down with a thud: "Auntie Sun, I dare not lie. I did see the Third Young Lady kill someone."
A trace of surprise flashed in the eyes of the Marquis' wife. She glanced at Sun in the audience and frowned slightly: "Sun, the master hasn't said anything yet, what are you doing?"
A concubine dared to act so unruly by relying on the master's favor. Before the master and herself said anything, she started talking first. She really didn't take her, the mistress of the house, seriously.
Aunt Sun hurriedly leaned on the Marquis's wife for support, and said in a slightly panicked voice, "Madam is right. It was I who overstepped my bounds. I was just afraid that this girl might have misunderstood, or that the Third Young Lady was just angry and scolding a servant, and she hit a little too hard, so this girl thought their young lady had killed someone."
Everyone says that the third daughter of the prime minister's family has no talent, no morals, and no looks. Now Aunt Sun's words sound like she is trying to exonerate Feng Qingkuang of the charges, but in fact she is telling everyone that Feng Qingkuang has a very bad temper. If a young lady from an ordinary family has such a reputation, she would probably not be able to marry into a good family, let alone a mute like her.
Many people hurriedly took their leave upon seeing this. After all, such a scandal had occurred on the birthday, and the birthday party might not be able to continue. After all, many of the people who came to celebrate Gu Chengwei's birthday wanted to curry favor with him. It didn't matter if they failed to curry favor with him, but if they knew too much and got into trouble, it would be a waste of time.
Gu Chengwei was dressed in his birthday clothes, his face was ashen, his eyes were cold and he said, "Lüzhu, where is Qingkuang? Take me there quickly!"
Gu Chengwei was about to leave when he saw a whisk blocking his way. The shrill voice made it easy to guess the person's identity.
"My Lord, this is your family affair, and we shouldn't interfere. However, we are here to celebrate the Prime Minister's birthday on behalf of the King. Now that something like this has happened, the King will inevitably question us. Fortunately, the Junior Justice Ji Suiyu is here with us. How about you have him quickly investigate the case so that we can have an explanation when we return to the palace? What do you think, my Lord?"
Gu Chengwei pressed his lips into a line, then nodded and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Eunuch Su and Master Ji to accompany me. Please."
This time he was valued by the king, which undoubtedly meant that his official career would go further. Now that such a thing happened, it would definitely make the king have concerns. If those censors gossiped at this time, then his promotion would be far away again. Thinking of this, Gu Chengwei couldn't help but become even more angry.
After that, a group of people came to the rockery in the garden. Among them were many officials who were eager to get involved.
Many people gasped when they saw Gu Qingkuang lying on the ground and the corpse.
Gu Chengwei pointed at Gu Qingkuang lying on the ground and said to Butler Hu beside him, "Butler, go and take a look."
Gu Qingkuang only felt dizzy and heavy, but she heard the sound of many people whispering in her ears, which made her, who was always alert, suddenly open her eyes.
Although her slightly long bangs almost covered the coldness in her eyes, it still made the butler's outstretched hand pause and stand there in a daze.
Gu Qingkuang subconsciously looked around, quickly taking in the surrounding situation, and instinctively clenched the "weapon" in her hand, trying to support her body with one hand, but she lost her strength as soon as she supported herself and fell down.
Upon seeing this, Butler Hu immediately squatted down and grabbed Gu Qingkuang's falling body.
Ji Suiyou, who was following behind Eunuch Su, darkened his eyes, then looked at Gu Qingkuang with interest and was not in a hurry to check the body.
Gu Qingkuang paused, her pupils constricted, and many memories flooded into her mind.
She, Gu Qingkuang, was the least favored third daughter of the Marquis of Jinchang's mansion, a well-known fool among the people of Donglin, and she was also a mute.
Her mother, Yun Zheng, has been in poor health since she gave birth to her, and her mother did not allow her to show off her talent. Everyone knew that Gu Qingkuang was born a mute, but in fact, it was not true. It was because her mother used a secret technique to seal her voice. Ever since she could remember, her mother did not allow her to speak.
Gu Chengwei clearly didn't love his mother, but he still brought her into the family. Later, when his mother gave birth to a "mute" like him, Gu Chengwei regarded himself as a shame, so he disliked his mother and himself even more.
This led to the maids and servants bullying her later on.
She couldn't resist, because that would not only bring about a beating but would also implicate her sick mother, so she couldn't resist...
For many years, she allowed others to abuse and bully her. For many days and nights, the young girl curled up in the corner of the bed, and even bit the quilt when she cried, for fear that she would cry out loudly and be heard by others.
She felt so wronged and helpless, but she had to endure it for her mother.
But I didn't expect that even though she lived such a humble life, there were still people who were unwilling to let her and her daughter go.
Today is Gu Chengwei's birthday, and his second aunt Sun sent her maid Juan'er to bring him a new red dress.
She said that it was Gu Chengwei's birthday and she had to dress decently. Her mother couldn't go to celebrate Gu Chengwei's birthday, so she, as his daughter, had to go. She asked her to wear this dress, otherwise she would have to ask her bedridden mother to come with her.
You know, only the head of the family and the mistress of the house can wear bright red. What's more, today is Gu Chengwei's birthday. Wearing bright red is disrespectful to the head of the family. Now Sun has sent someone to give her this red dress, which is clearly intended to put her to death.
If she didn't wear it, her mother would be the one who would suffer. Even if she was unwilling, she had to wear this dress...
Indeed, when she put on her clothes to pay her birthday greetings to Gu Chengwei early this morning, Gu Chengwei was furious when he saw her in red. Not only did he throw the birthday gift she had prepared at her, he also prepared to beat her. However, the housekeeper Hu said that it was not appropriate to see blood on the birthday. Gu Chengwei had no choice but to punish her by making her kneel in the ancestral hall for two hours and told her that she did not need to appear at the banquet. Only then did he give up.