Twenty-three fellow sufferers

  When the news of a major shake-up at Mingyuelou reached Gu Yan and Gu Qing, they were strolling in the garden with Yatou.

  The house structure of Dingyuan Marquis's mansion is different from most of the noble families in Shengjing, because this seven-entrance courtyard was left over from the previous dynasty. It is said that it was once the residence of a fallen emperor of the previous dynasty. Due to war, most officials and wealthy households of the previous dynasty took their family property and ran away. The entire Shengjing was devastated, but this mansion did not suffer much damage. The former emperor thought that Dingyuan Marquis had made great contributions in pacifying the rebellion, so he gave him this mansion as a reward at the beginning.

  This was still the time of their great-grandfathers, at least fifty or sixty years ago. Gu Yan and Gu Qing walked past the elegantly decorated Cang Chun Wan and saw a rolling shed behind the fake mountain.

  Because it was not built with the consent of the Ministry of Works, the Hou Mansion had some special structures, such as this garden, which had three separate ones in the Hou Mansion. One was a small garden in the northeast, and another was a backyard garden behind the mansion. At this moment, Gu Qing and Gu Yan were strolling in this backyard garden.

  After listening to Mo Qi's nervous response, Gu Qing's hand, which had just plucked a Xianzhi flower from the trellis, crushed it, and the purple-red flower juice flowed down her slender white wrist onto the snowy ground, particularly eye-catching.

  For a long time, Mo Qi almost thought that the master in front of her would not speak again. She gritted her teeth and said: "Just because she came to my Ruxue Pavilion once, she wants to replace all the people who have served her for so many years?"

  Gu Yan did not get angry like Gu Qing, she slightly lowered her eyes.

  A few days ago, Gu Chengdong burst into Mingyuelou to find trouble with Gu Man. She had already heard from Gu Chengyu and naturally guessed what Gu Man was up to. He must have discovered that not everyone around him was truly loyal, so he wanted to use this excuse to get rid of everyone, first to save face for Gu Qing, making people suspect that even the maids in Gu Qing's sister's room were being bought off. Second, he would eliminate all the thorns around himself and replace them with new people. As they say, ancient women's IQ should not be underestimated, she finally believed it.

  Gu Man felt a slight unease in her heart as she sensed the sudden change in Gu Man's attitude towards herself. Had he found out that Gu Chengyu had been instigating Gu Chengdang to cause trouble? She couldn't be certain, but she could clearly feel Gu Man's dislike for her.

  Before she could react, Gu Qing suddenly became angry and said: "She's being sincere! The maid just came to my room once and was driven out when she returned. If it gets spread around, who knows what people will think? I'll lose all face! I knew it, I knew she wasn't a good person!"

  Gu Qing's complexion turned pale, his face flushed with anger, and a few wisps of red cloud appeared on his forehead, which also broke out in sweat.

  She remembered what her mother told her last night, although Old Lady Gu spoiled the eldest master, and the eldest master himself was quite capable, but the title of this world would eventually be handed over to Second Master Gu Boqi. And although the eldest master's official position was not bad, he was still only a sixth-grade official, and it was unknown how many years of experience were needed to get promoted... In short, the second house could not be easily offended, at least on the surface.

  She bit her lip with some grievance, why did Gu Man Sheng come to be more noble than her from the start? Although the old lady didn't like her, she only cold-shouldered her and never scolded her in person. While appearing dignified on the surface, she actually dared not break half a rule in front of the old lady, because she was very clear that her own father wasn't born from this grandmother's womb after all, and no matter how much the old lady doted on the elder branch, there were limits.

  She was inwardly turbulent, feeling that if Gu Man were to replace her this time, she would be guilty of the crime of being unfaithful. Suddenly, she couldn't care about anything else, and with a red face, she grasped Mo Qi's hand and rushed off to find Fan Shi.

  Gu Yan did not expect her to leave so suddenly, and for a moment she was stunned. When she came back to herself, she felt a little embarrassed - Gu Qing didn't really treat her as a sister or friend, but rather just a concubine-born daughter who was only there to accompany her, and didn't need to greet her when coming or going.

  As she thought of these things, her heart felt inexplicably stifled. Just as she was about to instruct Yurou and Chuchen to return to their rooms, a figure clad in a dark green shirt came running towards them like the wind. She took a closer look and discovered that it was actually Chaolu, the third-class maid from Old Lady's quarters, who was in charge of tea cups and plates.

  She quietly stopped in her tracks, waiting for the morning dew to smile and enter the pavilion. She made an excuse that it was cold and snowy outside, wanting to borrow the pavilion to warm up a bit. Then she turned around and instructed Yurou and Chupin: "Take down those curtains and find a heater."

  The Hou Mansion was home to many people, and the masters would often ask after each other's well-being or take a stroll in the garden. Whenever they encountered bad weather, they would frequently seek shelter in the pavilions along the road. Over time, these pavilions, which were not too far from the path or the garden, all had thick curtains hung up, blocking out the wind and snow on all sides.

  Everyone had left, and Gu Yan finally put away the awkwardness on her face, smiling and waving for Chao Lu to sit down. At the same time, she casually said: "How come you rushed over so hastily, don't you need to be on duty in Old Lady's room?"

  It's harder to plant someone in Old Lady Gu's room than it is to reach the sky, she really didn't have that ability, so she could only occasionally get along with these maids and promise them things. After a long time, she actually got an informant named Chao Lu. This informant was not easy to come by, and she didn't want this informant to become a discarded child.

  Dawn lifted her head and looked at her face, although she saw that her face still had a warm smile, but somehow felt uneasy, so she didn't dare to sell Guanzi anymore, and lowered her voice to tell Gu Yan the news: "The old master and the old lady can't come back, it's not because the young master has a fever, actually, the old master has offended someone who is not easy to mess with, and doesn't dare to enter the capital city. The old lady took Xu Niang to her mother's house to ask for advice, and Xu Niang brought back the message that they still need to find help from Wang Taifu."

  Gu Yan's heart skipped a beat as she intentionally said, "Oh? Who exactly did you offend that even our Hou Manor can't help settle the score for you?"

  "The person who offended the old lady is not an ordinary person, I heard it's some kind of imperial attendant." Chao Lu's face showed a look of disdain: "Although attendants can walk in front of nobles, they don't have any real status. With our Hou Mansion's power, what can one attendant do?"

  A young girl with limited experience and knowledge, Gu Yan furrowed her brow and remained silent.

  In this era, the eunuchs were not as powerful as those in history during the Ming dynasty, but they still had some abilities - some brick kilns, forests, and even prefectures would have special eunuchs guarding them, offending them was not a trivial matter.

  She remembered last time Gu Zhenyu mentioned a classmate whose father was exiled, seemingly because he had offended a eunuch.

  And this time it's so serious that you need to ask for Wang family's help?

  She smiled slightly and burst into a bright smile.

  I am a divider line I am a divider line I am a divider line

  It's so sad, this week's results seem to be not very good...

  Recently, there has been a problem with the internet at home, so I haven't been able to come here often. Seeing such few collections is really depressing...

  Thank you everyone~~~~~