Chapter 5: Rubbing the Scum Father's Face in the Dirt

Compared to the tearful wailing of the Li family, the Gu family was much quieter. Their gazes were resolute; not only did they harbor no complaints, but they also used their eyes to comfort the deeply guilty Gu Yuru, waiting patiently for a moment of rest to speak properly.

At the octagonal pavilion five miles outside the city gate stood a group of people. The officials had also paused their steps, easily persuaded by a bribe to grant some convenience.

Gu Yuru was the first to ask her eldest son, battered and bruised, “Yun Chao, how are you? It’s all my fault…”

Li Yun Chao shook his head, gritting his teeth. “I’m fine, Mother. How can this be your fault? Don’t worry about me. You should go see Grandfather and Grandmother. I’ll rest and be alright.”

He was puzzled himself. He had taken fifty lashes and had thought he would die, but after a night’s sleep, he already felt much better.

Gu Yuru truly worried about her parents. They were no longer young and should have been enjoying their twilight years, yet she had dragged them into this mess. She felt utterly unfilial.

“Husband, do you want to come with me to see my parents?” Gu Yuru looked at him with hopeful eyes. After all, this whole affair had begun because of him. Shouldn’t he go and apologize?

At that moment, Li Yuan was calming the crying Lin Siyen. “Didn’t you see how unwell Siyen is?”

It was the first sentence exchanged between the two today, yet his heart was fixed on a stranger. The hope in Gu Yuru’s eyes slowly faded.

“But you,” Li Yuan suddenly accused, “why didn’t you plead for Siyen just now? What kind of intentions do you have?”

“Brother Yuan, don’t be angry. In that situation, it was already difficult enough for the lady to protect herself. We don’t understand why only the lady escaped unharmed.”

The spiteful Lin Siyen, the epitome of a manipulative green tea, never missed a chance to stir trouble.

Li Mumu glared angrily at her treacherous father and the other woman. What was the point of arguing? In the end, they’d still have to swallow their pride and behave.

But Li Mumu was meticulous. “Aunt Lin, your belly is so white, your chest is big, and your bellyband is even more beautiful, with two mandarin ducks on it. Mumu doesn’t have any of those.”

Lin Siyen’s face flushed from pale to red and back to pale. “Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Mumu isn’t lying. Everyone saw it. So many uncles and elder brothers saw it,” Li Mumu deliberately mimicked scratching motions, then pointed to the officials sitting under the shade. “The uncles even touched it.”

“You—Brother Yuan, I might as well die; I have no face to live,” Lin Siyen cried. If she weren’t shackled, she would have thrown herself into Li Yuan’s arms and wept aloud.

“Li Mumu, be quiet. Don’t say such things.”

Li Mumu looked at her furious father in bewilderment. “Father, do you want to have a feel too?”

Amid Li Yuan’s roar, Li Mumu happily took her mother’s hand. “Mother, it smells so good here. Is there something delicious? Grandpa, Grandma, Mumu is here!”

Madam Gu wiped her tears and hurriedly waved to the mother and daughter. Faced with the exchange of handkerchiefs and the aid from old friends, she was deeply moved.

Upon learning that the Gu family was to be exiled to the northern lands, instead of kicking them when they were down, their relatives and friends offered help, worried the road ahead would be difficult.

Li Mumu glanced around—there were more than ten people.

“Mumu, come here, come to me, poor child. So young and already suffering such hardship,” said an elderly but kind woman, holding Madam Gu’s hand. Judging by her age, Li Mumu recognized her as Madam Qian, her maternal grandmother.

Lin Siyen noticed the numerous gifts arriving for the Gu family—clothes, valuables, and some twenty bulging bundles.

But the Gu family’s side was pitifully sparse, with only a concubine from the Ministry of Revenue’s official family, Madam Feng, who was also Li Rong’s fiancée’s birth mother.

Li Rong saw Madam Feng coming empty-handed and hurried over, thinking perhaps the gifts were too heavy to carry and silver notes would be more convenient.

With silver notes, the journey would be much more comfortable.

However, her expression soon changed. Madam Feng was not there to offer timely help but to break off the engagement.

“No, it’s impossible. Brother Jie would never do this to me. You’re lying! I am already his woman. He promised he would marry me.”

Her voice was loud. Even Old Madam Li came over.

Seeing this, Lin Siyen quickly gestured to Li Yuan. “Brother Yuan, the Gu family won’t lack food for the journey this time. It’s my fault for not having a capable maternal family to support us.”

Li Yuan gritted his teeth. “Don’t worry. As long as they have theirs, you have yours. I will never let you and the child suffer.”

Lin Siyen nodded. “Brother Yuan, with you here, there is nothing for us to fear. No matter what you are like, I will stand by you.”

In truth, she regretted it too, but she had no way out.

Suddenly, Li Yuan saw a man riding a horse toward them. It was a colleague he got along with well. The man carried two bundles and wore a joyful expression. “Wait for me, our things have arrived too.”

Li Yuan rose with a confident smile and walked forward, but the rider bypassed him as if he hadn’t seen him, stopping instead by the Gu family.

Unwilling to give up, Li Yuan thought perhaps the man hadn’t noticed him due to his disheveled state or that the crowd had confused him for someone else.

He strode toward the group and said to the man who had just dismounted, “Brother Ling, are you here to see me? What merit have I to deserve this…”

The man gave him a cold glance. “You, Li Yuan, have no merit at all. Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m here to see Uncle Gu and Aunt Gu.”

Li Yuan’s face flushed red with embarrassment as he froze, shooting a resentful glare at Gu Yuru.

The man handed over the bundles. “Sorry for the delay; military affairs have been hectic. Uncle Gu, Aunt Gu, take care on your journey. I, Yunhe, will do my best to clear your wrongful charges.”

Li Mumu looked at the handsome and upright man before her. So this was Ling Yunhe.

He was the son of her grandfather’s subordinate, raised in the Gu household from a young age, enlisting in the army as a teenager. Through hard work and without relying on the Gu family’s influence, he made a name for himself.

In the novel, he became the Great General of the Northern Garrison. If there was any imperfection, it was that he never married, and in the end, he was poisoned and killed by the heroine while avenging the Gu family.

But seeing the way he looked at her mother now, Li Mumu seemed to understand why he chose to remain alone.

“Sister Yu, take care of yourself,” Ling Yunhe said, his eyes moist. “Wait for me… wait for me…”

Gu Yuru nodded, her eyes wet as well. “Yunhe, you take care too.”

Ling Yunhe then fixed a sharp gaze on Li Yuan. “Li, your Li family deserves all this, but the Gu family suffers because of you. You must take good care of them on the road. If not… I won’t let you off.”

Li Yuan thought he had come to deliver supplies for him and eagerly approached, only to be met with a scolding. Annoyed, he retorted, “Hmph, Captain Ling, if you care so much about the Gu family, why don’t you go into exile with them?”

Is that even human speech?

Only a scoundrel like him would say such a thing.

Fearing a beating, Li Yuan quickly slunk away.

But Li Mumu would never miss such a perfect opportunity to teach her unworthy father a lesson.

She looked at Ling Yunhe, a gleam flashing in her eyes.