Gu Tingye slowly walked towards the house he bought for Mannia. As soon as he entered the house, he saw Mannia coaxing her son to sleep.
Zhu Manniang was originally an actress, but because of her talent and appearance, she was spotted by Gu Tingye and redeemed her body.
It was Zhu Manniang who made Gu Tingye change from a swinger to a motivated and responsible man.
Gu Tingye wanted to obtain fame because he wanted Mannia to live a better life.
After Zhu Manniang married Gu Tingye, she was very successful. She gave birth to a daughter, Sister Rong, and a son, Brother Chang, the year before last.
Because Mannia was an outsider, the children she gave birth to could only be considered illegitimate and could not be admitted to the Gu family ancestral hall, so they were kept outside.
Gu Tingye was rich and bought a small house in Bianjing to accommodate Mannia and her son.
It's not that Gu Tingye doesn't want to buy a big house, but Mannia doesn't agree. She said that it's good for her to have a tile to cover her head, and as long as Gu Tingye often visits her and her children in the future, she will be satisfied.
The less Mannia asked for, the more guilty Gu Tingye felt.
"Officer, you are back! Brother Chang just fell asleep." Mannia said happily when she saw Gu Tingye.
"Where did Sister Rong go?" Gu Tingye smiled and sat next to Mannia.
"She went to play at the neighbor's house next door." Mannia said, "Just call her back later during dinner."
Gu Tingye said: "Sister Rong is a girl after all, don't play outside all day long."
Mannia said: "This is not the Marquis Mansion. There are not so many rules. Sister Rong is at the age where she has fun, so just let her go."
Gu Tingye sighed and said, "Don't worry, Mannia, I will definitely take you into the Hou Mansion if I have the opportunity in the future."
Mannia lowered her head to comfort the child, and where Gu Tingye couldn't see, her eyes glowed with unknown meaning.
"It doesn't matter whether I enter the Marquis's mansion or not, as long as our children can grow up happily." Mannia suddenly burst into tears and said:
"The neighbor kids laughed at Sister Rong again yesterday for not having a father. She came back and cried for a long time."
Gu Tingye said distressedly: "Who dares to say that, I will bring people to smash his house immediately."
Mannia shook her head and said: "We are all neighbors, and children also say things without meaning, so please don't make a fuss out of a molehill."
Gu Tingye hugged Mannia and said distressedly: "If you give me some more time, I will definitely let you mother and son enter the Hou Mansion."
Mannia was lying on Gu Tingye's chest. Although she was crying, there was a smile in her eyes.
But before she could pretend for long, the door suddenly opened, and Gu Tingye's attendant Shitou ran in.
"Master, Master, it's not good." Shitou shouted.
"Your young master is very good." Gu Tingye shouted angrily at Shitou while letting go of Mannia.
"Master, something happened in the house!" Shitou said to Gu Tingye nervously.
Gu Tingye frowned and said, "What happened to make you so panicked?"
Shitou said in a panic: "A large group of imperial guards came to the mansion and surrounded the palace. No one was allowed to come out."
"The Hou Mansion is surrounded?" Gu Tingye stood up in surprise and said, "You read that right! Why are the guards surrounding the Hou Mansion?"
Shitou said: "I don't know either! If I hadn't gone out for something just now, I might have been arrested by the guards."
Before Shitou finished speaking, Qi Heng came over in a hurry. When he saw Gu Tingye, he said:
"Uncle Gu, I finally found you."
"Qi Heng?" Gu Tingye asked in confusion: "Why did you come here to find me?"
"Now is not the time to talk about this. My father asked me to inform you that Ningyuan Hou rushed to the official family and angered Long Yan. The official family has put Mr. Gu into a prison and sent people to raid the Hou Mansion."
"What!?" Gu Tingye's eyes widened and he wondered: "Why is this happening?"
Qi Heng explained: "I heard that someone was suing Mr. Gu for colluding with the rebel king Yong. Mr. Gu wanted to explain, but he didn't expect that he would offend the officials. The officials were furious and sent Mr. Gu to prison.
They also want to kill the nine clans of Lord Hou.
When my father heard the news, he asked me to come and let you know that you can run as far as you can."
Gu Tingye said in disbelief: "It's impossible. How could my father collude with King Yong? If he hadn't sent troops to help the king in time, King Yong would have succeeded in rebelling."
Qi Heng didn't know how to explain it. At this time, Wang Gang came on stage.
"Because the cunning rabbit is dead and the running dogs are cooked, your father holds military power and is feared by the officials, so the officials just find an excuse to capture the Marquis and take back the power of the Imperial Army."
Wang Gang walked into the house, closed the door, and said to Gu Tingye with a serious face: "Lao Gu, you are now wanted by the whole city, find a way to escape!"
Gu Tingye sat down and said dejectedly: "My Gu family has been favored by the emperor for a long time and I am loyal to the official family. How can I end up confiscating my family and exterminating my clan?"
Zhu Manniang was completely panicked at this time. She squatted next to Gu Tingye and asked, "Officer, what should we do?"
Gu Tingye held Zhu Manniang's hand and said guiltily: "Manniang, I'm sorry, I wanted to take you into the Marquis' Mansion to enjoy wealth forever, but I didn't expect it would harm you."
Wang Gang said: "Lao Gu, you have forgotten that the outer family is not among the nine clans, and your two children are only considered illegitimate."
Gu Tingye seemed to remember something and said excitedly: "Yes, Mannia, take your two children and leave Bianjing as soon as possible. Run as far as you can."
"I won't leave, I want to live and die with you." Zhu Manniang cried.
Wang Gang raised his eyebrows. He didn't expect that Zhu Manniang, who was of a high rank, was still pretending at this time.
"Sister-in-law, you have to think about your two children at this time. They are still young. Do you want them to go to hell with you before they grow up?"
Zhu Manniang was even more panicked and confused.
Gu Tingye held Zhu Manniang's hand and said movedly: "Manniang, are you really willing to live and die with me?"
Zhu Manniang nodded subconsciously and said: "Official, I will go wherever you go, even if I just take a walk in the Palace of the King of Hell, so what."
Gu Tingye was so moved that he didn't want to continue acting, but Wang Gang signaled to Gu Tingye with his eyes that the test was not over yet.
"Chang Feng, I know you are going to take office in Hongzhou Mansion soon. I will leave my two children to you." Gu Tingye turned to Wang Gang and said.
"Second Uncle Gu, what do you want to do?" Qi Heng asked confused.
Gu Tingye took out a box from the secret cabinet in the room and handed it to Wang Gang.
"This is all my family property. When Sister Rong and Brother Chang grow up, you can give these to them."
Zhu Maniang's eyes widened when she saw the box. She had lived in the house for so long and didn't even know there was a hidden compartment.
"I'm going to meet the prince and ask the matter clearly. I, the Marquis of Ningyuan, cannot bear to be wronged unjustly." Gu Tingye turned to Zhu Manniang and said:
"Manniang, don't worry, my friend will definitely trust that the two children will be raised well by him."
Zhu Manniang's face froze and she glanced at the box from time to time.
Gu Tingye was not blind, and he also noticed that something was wrong with Zhu Manniang.
Qi Heng said at this time: "Second Uncle Gu, don't be impulsive. If you go to meet the officials now, you will definitely be thrown into a prison. I think you should go hide outside the city first. I will go back to the Duke's Mansion to inquire about the news.
"
Wang Gang picked up the box and returned it, and advised: "I have a village outside the city. Not many people know about it. You can stay there first. As for the future, we will discuss it later."
Zhu Manniang subconsciously reached out to take the box, but Gu Tingye pushed it back.
"You take these things first. If we don't escape and they can't be confiscated, it's safer to leave them where you are."
Zhu Manniang's heart trembled, but in order to maintain her character, she could not show it.
Gu Tingye still "obeyed" the advice of Qi Heng and Wang Gang and fled to the manor outside the city first. Wang Gang also took the family property box with him and temporarily placed it in the study room of the manor.
Sister Rong was picked up by Shitou from a neighbor's house and lived in the manor with her parents.
Qi Heng and Wang Gang left after making arrangements for Gu Tingye and his family.
At night, Gu Tingye put his children to bed, but he himself felt a little sleepy and couldn't help but fall asleep.
Zhu Manniang pretended to sleep at first. After Gu Tingye fell asleep, she suddenly opened her eyes and made sure that Gu Tingye and her children were asleep. She quietly left the room and walked towards the study.
In the manor, Wang Gang had sent all the servants away. Zhu Manniang came to the study smoothly and found the property box easily.
Zhu Manniang swallowed, carefully picked up the box, tried not to make any noise, opened the box under the moonlight in the room, and then saw stacks of land deeds and house deeds.
She carefully pulled out one and looked at it carefully, and she could no longer hold back the smile on her face.
Just one land deed in the box would be enough to last her a lifetime, and a stack full of land deeds would be worth hundreds of thousands of taels at least.
Zhu Manniang was so greedy that she stuffed the house deeds into her arms. After stuffing them for a long time, she realized that they couldn't hold much at all.
Finally, Zhu Manniang felt cruel, picked up the box and ran out.
Zhu Manniang did not return to Gu Tingye and the children, but ran outside Zhuangzi.
