Chapter 160: The Return of Chengyong

Gu Chengjia and Gu Chengde went their separate ways to look for people, while the Seventh Grandfather and the others waited inside the ancestral hall. After the better part of an hour, the sound of hurried footsteps was heard outside, and soon Elder Gu led his sons and grandsons into the hall.

They had simply gone to the villages nearby on the western side to collect land rents. The two villages were not particularly far away, but two households had been reluctant to hand over the rent smoothly, causing some delay in negotiations. Gu Chengjia had no idea which household they were at, which was why the search had taken some extra time.

On the way, Gu Chengming had already heard a general account of the matter from Chengjia, and anxiety filled his heart. Upon entering the ancestral hall, without uttering another word, Gu Chengming fell directly to his knees before the Seventh Grandfather. "Seventh Grandfather, it is this grandson's fault. I failed to properly discipline my own wife, allowing her to cause such a grave disaster. Seventh Grandfather, I beg you, for this grandson's sake, to spare her this once and let me take her back to properly discipline her."

After all, she was a wife of several decades; how could Gu Chengming bear to have her severely punished? Therefore, he knelt and pleaded bitterly, begging the Seventh Grandfather to forgive Lady Li's actions.

The Seventh Grandfather lowered his gaze and looked at the grand-nephew before him. "Ming诚, you are honest and dutiful, always sparing with your words. From inside the house to matters outside, that woman has always held the reins. For all these years, you've never been able to manage your wife; what makes you think you can start now?"

Hearing this, Gu Chengming was momentarily stunned. He only wanted to beg the Seventh Grandfather to spare his aging wife; he had no genuine intention of disciplining her back home. Yet, with the Seventh Grandfather putting it this way, if he admitted his inability to control her in front of so many people, he would completely lose face and have no way to hold his head high in the village ever again.

"Rest assured, Seventh Grandfather. This grandson will definitely discipline her properly this time," Gu Chengming hastily kowtowed and pleaded.

"Is that so? If that's the case, excellent. Right here in front of everyone, you shall strike this woman ten times. They say a beaten wife is like kneaded dough; if a wife disobeys, she must be struck. Mingcheng, go ahead and strike her now, so everyone can see whether you are truly sincere about disciplining this ruinous woman of yours."

What kind of person was the Seventh Grandfather? Having lived for over eighty years, experienced countless trials, and served as the clan head for so many years, his elderly eyes were discerning to the extreme. How could he possibly be fooled by a few mere words from Gu Chengming?

Upon hearing this, Gu Chengming found himself in a difficult spot. In all these years, he had never laid a single finger on his wife. Now that she had already taken a beating, how could he possibly bring himself to strike her again? Hesitantly, he said, "Seventh Grandfather, wasn't she just beaten a moment ago? If this grandson strikes her further, what if something serious happens to her? What should be done then?"

The Seventh Grandfather let out a cold snort. "I knew a spineless coward like you could never bring yourself to punish her. The beatings she took earlier were because that woman of yours ignored my warnings and insisted on making a scene—that was the clan's punishment. Asking you to strike her now is your duty as a husband to discipline your wife. A virtuous wife brings fewer misfortunes to her husband; a disloyal and unvirtuous woman like her is the very root of disaster brought upon your head. If you refuse to punish her, are you hoping to be implicated by her?"

The Seventh Grandfather's tone was less than amiable, and how could Gu Chengming fail to perceive it? He was instantly caught in an agonizing dilemma. "Seventh Grandfather, could this matter wait until this grandson takes her back home for punishment?"

As soon as those words left Gu Chengming's mouth, the onlookers burst into laughter. Indeed, there were hardly any men in the village as henpecked as Gu Chengming.

Unable to bear the shame of being laughed at, Gu Chengming flushed and turned to glare at Lady Li. Yet, upon catching sight of her miserable state, his heart softened once more.

Amidst the roaring laughter of the crowd, the hurried sound of footsteps rang out from outside once again. Then, Gu Chengyong and Lady Feng were seen parting the crowd and rushing in. "Jiaojior! Jiaojier!" Disregarding everything else, Gu Chengyong only called out his daughter's name as he searched about frantically.

The moment Jiaojiao laid eyes on her parents, she could no longer hold back her emotions. "Father, Mother, I am right here." With that, she let out Shaoyuan's hand and ran towards her parents. Reaching Gu Chengyong's side, Jiaojiao threw herself straight into her father's embrace. "Father, your daughter almost never got to see you and Mother again."

Thinking of it now sent lingering fear coursing through her. If Shaoyuan had truly left at that moment, her cries would have been entirely in vain. It was fast approaching lunchtime, and the Gu residence was situated far from other neighbors. Furthermore, she lacked Lady Li's extraordinary lung capacity; she had only managed a single cry for help at the time—who could possibly have heard her?

It was a blessing of the highest fortune that Shaoyuan had not left, and equally fortunate that Axi and Alu happened to be home today, which saved her life. Otherwise, given the circumstances of today, even if she survived, she would hardly have escaped the fate of becoming crippled.

At this thought, grief welled up within Jiaojiao, and she burst into loud, bitter sobs. Before seeing her family, though frightened, Jiaojiao had managed to keep her feelings suppressed; but upon meeting her parents, she could contain them no longer.

The sorrowful, heartbreaking cries of the little girl made everyone present in the ancestral hall feel a pang of sympathy. Empathizing with the situation, they wondered: what would they do if their own child encountered such a calamity? The mere thought of it stirred anger among the crowd.

"Dayong, send that Daoist hag straight to the official yamen! She spreads heterodox doctrines and harms innocent people. An old wretch like that must not be spared," Zhang Deming shouted from the crowd. Lady Li was a member of the Gu family, so how she should be dealt with was up to the Gus to decide, but the crowd had no intention of letting that Daoist woman off.

"That's right, Dayong, you must send that Daoist hag to the yamen. The people of our village cannot allow her to go around wreaking such havoc," Qi Changwen chimed in. Earlier, he had remained silent because the Seventh Grandfather was handling family matters of the Gu clan. But this so-called Daoist woman concerned not just the Gu family, but the entire Green Mountain Village as well; she was utterly unforgivable.

Seeing his son return, Gu Chengming hastily turned and pleaded, "Dayong, your mother was simply bewitched by that Daoist hag; she didn't genuinely want to harm Jiaojiao. That Daoist must have used some kind of sorcery to hoodwink your mother, leading her to harbor improper thoughts. Dayong, won't you put in a good word for your mother? Can you truly bear to watch her get thrown into a prison cell?"

By this point, Gu Chengyong no longer felt a single shred of guilt towards Elder Gu. Ever since returning to the village, Gu Chengyong had constantly persuaded himself to endure everything for the sake of his aging father. His old father had not had an easy life, painstakingly raising his children all these years; for his father's sake, he should not bicker with a woman like Lady Li.

Yet, unfortunately, through these repeated incidents, Elder Gu had clearly shown his bias towards his wife. Gradually, the respect and filial affection Gu Chengyong held for his father were worn away to almost nothing. After all, he was his biological father; no matter what, Gu Chengyong had no wish to fall out with him completely. He had simply planned to wait until his fifth younger brother's wedding was concluded, then calmly negotiate a division of the household property so that everyone could live their separate lives thereafter.

Never had he imagined that his forbearance would ultimately almost cost him his beloved daughter. Upon hearing Chengde's report earlier, Gu Chengyong had driven the carriage back like a madman. At that moment, a genuine urge to kill had surged within his heart. His daughter—such a well-behaved, adorable, and clever daughter—had nearly been taken from him. How could he possibly endure this?

"Father, is that woman the only one who matters in your heart? When have you ever cared about us brothers? Jiaojiao is your own flesh and blood! And that woman—how vicious must her heart be to want to murder Jiaojiao? Father, why won't you stop to think: if someone wanted to murder Xiuli, or wanted to murder the fifth brother, how would you feel inside?" Grief-stricken, Gu Chengyong looked at his father and hurled question after question.

Gu Chengming was left momentarily speechless. If anyone dared to harm his own children, he would risk his very life and never let that person go. "Dayong, she is your mother! She has spent the better part of her life with your father, after all. If something happens to her, how do you expect your father to live out the rest of his days?" Although he understood the gravity of the situation in his heart, his fondness for his wife had long since surpassed his paternal affection for his son. No matter what, he had to protect Lady Li. Thus, he pleaded bitterly with Gu Chengming.

Gu Chengyong handed Jiaojiao into Lady Feng's embrace, then raised his head to look at the Seventh Grandfather. "Seventh Grandfather, let today's matter be entirely at your discretion. That Daoist hag must by no means be spared; sending her to the yamen will suffice. As for Lady Li, a grandmother who not only fails to cherish and protect her descendants but maliciously plots to harm them—the Gu family harbors no such woman. If such a person is allowed to remain in the Gu family, how will the future wives of the Gu household ever be able to hold their heads up in society?"

Gu Chengyong was truly enraged. Lady Li's mistreatment of him in the past was already water under the bridge. It was rare for a stepmother not to mistreat her stepchildren, and Gu Chengyong had been willing to let the past go for the sake of his father. Yet Lady Li constantly beat and scolded the children of the household, and this time she had even attempted to take Jiaojiao's life—something Gu Chengyong absolutely could not tolerate. Therefore, no matter how Elder Gu pleaded, Gu Chengyong refused to relent.

"Second Brother, I beg you, won't you keep Mother out of the yamen? Second Brother, if Mother goes to the yamen, even if she manages to keep her life, the rest of her days will be utterly ruined. Second Brother, I beg you, for the sake of our brotherhood, spare her this once!" Suddenly, a figure darted out from the crowd and fell directly to his knees before Gu Chengyong, pleading desperately.

The newcomer was naturally Gu Chengren. Having suffered a severe illness and remained deeply depressed over failing the imperial examination, his spirits had been perpetually gloomy. Early this morning, Lady Li had urged him to go out for a walk and get some fresh air. Taking two books, Gu Chengren had gone to a scenic spot on the front mountain to clear his mind. Near noon, thinking of returning home for a meal, he arrived back at the Gu residence only to find the courtyard in utter chaos. Afterward, hearing villagers talk about an incident and the Gu clan convening an ancestral hall meeting, he had rushed straight to the ancestral hall.

Upon arriving and making inquiries, he discovered that his own mother had caused such a catastrophic disaster. Seeing his father plead so desperately while his second brother refused to spare their mother, he had rushed forward to intercede on her behalf.

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My husband's birthday was yesterday, so I came back late and didn't manage to check the comments or tips. The bonus chapter will be posted this afternoon, haha.