One death is enough

  It's snowing again, Gu Man lifted the curtain and looked outside, the snow in Shengjing was different from that in the south, like cotton flowers, the snowflakes fell to the ground, instantly piling up a thick layer of white blanket.

  "Why is the second grandma standing in the wind and snow without wearing any clothes? In such cold weather, if she gets frostbite, what's to be done?" Pei Yin hurriedly pushed her inside while scolding: "Where have all the servants in the house gone to die? We can't even order others around, is it also like this with our own people who don't care about their masters?"

  "What kind of master am I?" Gu Man heard the words but didn't react at all, she stretched out her still pale hand to pour herself a cup of tea, before turning her head to look at Pei Yin: "The current Dingyuan Marquis is not my brother."

  Pei Yin's eyes involuntarily dimmed a bit, she naturally knew that the former Dingyuan Marquis was Gu Man's father, but now the one who succeeded to the title was Gu Man's illegitimate older brother.

  It's no wonder that the people in this mansion are increasingly disrespectful to Gu Man, and even her natal family doesn't take her seriously anymore, so naturally everyone can bully her.

  What's more, she was just about to speak when suddenly a loud rumbling sound came from outside the courtyard, followed by the sound of a woman's laughter. Pei Yin naturally recognized whose laughter it was and couldn't help but steal a glance at Gu Man, seeing that she still had a calm expression, but for some reason, her heart suddenly became worried.

  Gu Man immediately stood up and personally went to the front door, lifted the curtain and welcomed the newcomer in. Only then did he coldly smile and say: "You should have come earlier, yet you made me wait for so long."

  Gu Man's head spun for a moment, and she saw that the golden inlaid jade pendant on Gu Yan's head was swaying with her movements, shining brightly. It was clearly her own dowry. And this thing, she had clearly given it to her husband Qiu Cangyu along with the dowry estate. She couldn't help but reach out to point at the jewelry, but she couldn't ask a single question.

  Gu Yan's personal maid, Yunxia, quietly stepped forward and separated Gu Man's hand, while also smiling wryly at her and saying: "Look what Ninth Young Mistress said, our young mistress is busy now, this time she managed to squeeze out some free time to see you. If you have anything to say, just speak directly."

  It seems that she is enjoying herself in front of Gu Man, putting on a gentle and elegant demeanor. Upon hearing Yunxia's words, Gu Yan's mouth curled up into a smile as he glanced at Gu Man and said: "Sister, you've called me here with such urgency, what is it that you want? Things are different now than they were in the past, I'm sure you're well aware of that. With my aunt managing the entire Hou estate on her own, I also need to lend a hand. If you don't have anything important to discuss, I should probably get going?"

  She gazed at Gu Man with a satisfied expression, her eyes transforming from pain to anger and finally to resignation, before lowering her head in submission. Only then did she feel a sense of satisfaction, this humble demeanor having been maintained for over a decade in front of Gu Man. In the past, Gu Man had been the cherished daughter of the Marquis's household, with all the love and pampering in the world; when had she ever displayed such humility? Now that the tables had finally turned, she was overjoyed, her eyes sparkling with delight.

  Gu Man seemed to be unaware of the mocking smile on Gu Yan's face, and suddenly knelt down in front of him, choking with sobs: "Eleventh sister! The thing I asked you to do last time..."

  Gu Yan slightly narrowed her eyes, smiled sarcastically, and reached out to lift Gu Man's small chin. She clicked her tongue in admiration a few times and gently patted Gu Man's face with the back of her hand.

  "Sister, how did you end up like this? You're still as naive as before." She took the silk handkerchief handed over by Cloud Fragrance and wiped her hands, then sneered: "Your mother always used to brag about being a legitimate child, didn't she? Such a cunning and ruthless person, yet she gave birth to a foolish daughter like you - it's really laughable. Good sister, I came this time to tell you some news."

  Even though he had mentally prepared himself, Gu Man still looked at Gu Yan with an incredulous gaze.

  Gu Yan slightly tilted her head to examine the furnishings in the room, and saw that those precious ornaments and decorations that had once dazzled her eyes were all gone. She couldn't help but snort: "How can sister's house as the mistress be so shabby? I'm afraid sister's dowry was all used to curry favor?"

  Before Gu Man could respond, she pretended to be embarrassed and apologetically said: "Cang Wu told me that the dowry estate and all the betrothal gifts had been entrusted to him by sister, so I forgot."

  Gu Man wasn't stupid, on the contrary, she seemed to have suddenly understood many things. So, she suppressed the fury in her heart and calmly looked at Gu Yan: "When did you start liking Qiu Cangyu?"

  "I was wrong." Seeing Gu Yan's astonished face, she coldly smiled and said: "No, let me put it another way. When did you start having designs on your sister-in-law? I don't know if Grandfather can be pardoned or not, but at this critical juncture, Qiu Cangyu wouldn't dare to take the risk of being shunned by all scholars for divorcing his legitimate wife and marrying my younger half-sister. Even if he wanted to, Qiu Shi'an doesn't have the guts!"

  As the eldest daughter of the Marquis's household, Gu Man had always been known for her haughty temperament. At this moment, seeing her speak without reserve, Gu Yan wasn't too surprised. However, what Gu Man said was surprisingly identical to what her elder brother Gu Chengyu, who had just succeeded to the title, had told her. This was somewhat beyond her expectations.

  At this moment, she didn't get angry because Gu Man had guessed her thoughts, but instead, she burst out laughing and squatted down to look at Gu Man with a smug face: "You're right, now is not the time for us to take the risk of offending all the scholars in the world. But what about one or two years later? By then, you'll be dead from depression, will Brother Cang Yu still remain unmarried for your sake? Gu Man, you really misjudged the current situation. Your mother is dead, and your grandfather has retired long ago, where did you get the confidence to think we won't touch you?"

  Gu Man's maternal grandfather Wang Boyong was once the emperor's teacher, and he survived four dynasties without falling.

  Someone once sighed and said: "Wang Bo's gate has countless students, he is the teacher of all scholars under heaven."

  It's not always a good thing to be too outspoken, especially for someone in Wang Boyu's position. Wang Boyu also deeply understood this principle, and therefore had always been humble and restrained, with a strict official demeanor.

  At that time, when his legitimate daughter Wang Xiuying married the son of Dingyuan Hou, there were only 16 dowry carts, which can prove his integrity.

  But no matter how careful he was, if someone deliberately wanted to find fault, then he would definitely be wrong. Therefore, under the impeachment of the 14 memorials by Censor Zhang Jiazhi, Wang Boyong finally took the initiative to resign.

  One day an emperor, one day a minister, Wang Boyu was already old, and his retirement was only a matter of time. However, Emperor Xian of Han could not wait any longer, and hastily drove this four-dynasty heavy minister out of the capital.

  When the wall collapses, everyone pushes it. Wang Boyu was an honest official, and naturally many people were offended by him in his daily life. As a result, when he retired and left Beijing on that day, surprisingly, not one of his former colleagues came to see him off.

  Wang Xiuying had passed away a few years before Gu Man married, and Dingyuan Hou Gu Boqi was not a sentimental person, so her status in the Dingyuan Hou Mansion relied entirely on her maternal grandfather. As her maternal grandfather retired and lost power, coupled with the lack of support from any brothers, Gu Man's status in the mansion did not plummet, but it didn't improve either.

  She was still immersed in her own thoughts when she heard Gu Yan say softly beside her ear: "Sister probably doesn't know, because the road is rugged and difficult to walk, and coincidentally this winter's heavy snow blocked the road, your paternal grandparents' family were unfortunately all killed on their way to Shu."

  After saying this, Gu Yan looked at Gu Man with a pleased expression again, and when she turned to leave, she reminded him: "By the way, Brother Cangwu may not be able to give you your dowry as the Northern An Princess. I just heard my brother say that the Northern An Princess has been unable to sleep or eat since hearing about her maternal grandfather's family's death, and under her depression, she has developed a heart disease. It's likely that it will only take one or two more days for her to pass away. Ninth Sister, if you add another one to your mother's natal family, it can be said that they are truly extinct."

  Pei Yin's hands were too full to put down the package, and it fell to the ground with a loud crash. She stared blankly at Gu Man, who seemed completely stunned, before suddenly rushing towards Gu Yan.

  "You did it on purpose, you deliberately made our young lady believe that the young master would run errands for us, and deliberately said that Princess Beinan is now unable to see our young lady, deceiving us into handing over all our valuables. In fact, you already knew about these things, didn't you?"

  The two maidservants, Yun Cai and Yun Xia, who had been quietly standing behind Gu Yan, suddenly became extremely alert and quickly pushed Pei Yin forward.

  Gu Yan's expression seemed unintentional, but he stepped forward and trod on Pei Yin's hand with one foot. With a cold smile, he rushed at Gu Man and said: "At this point, you still have such obedient dogs by your side, which makes me admire you somewhat. If I were you, what would be the point of struggling? It would be better to take a rope and strangle yourself, rather than staying in the world and suffering. Good sister, perhaps you don't know that Madam Qiu was saying in front of us yesterday that you are heartless and ungrateful, without any sense of shame!"

  Gu Man seemed to have just come back to her senses at this moment, she tried her best to digest these consecutive bad news, but found that her hands could no longer bear the trembling.

  It's really ridiculous, she still fantasizes that Qiu Cangyu will rely on the husband and wife relationship of these two years to run for her maternal grandfather, but it turns out that others have already climbed high.

  And this younger sister in front of me, who has always been timid and obedient, is actually a wolf disguised as a sheep.

  What's even more ridiculous is that it wasn't until now that I finally saw the true face of this wolf.

  "There's something else I want to ask you, I don't know if you'll answer me?" She used all her strength to hold back from pouncing on and strangling the smiling face of Gu Yan in front of her.

  Gu Yan naturally wouldn't miss the hatred in her eyes, but she didn't immediately leave. For someone who had been suppressed by others for over a decade, the best pastime was watching the once-noble now-dejected person become disheartened. She thought for a moment and then smiled: "Are you going to ask me about what happened when your mother gave birth to your younger brother?"

  After Wang Xiuying married Gu Boqi, she first gave birth to her eldest daughter Gu Zhao, the current Princess of Beian. Then there is the current Ninth Miss Gu Man. When Gu Man was six years old, Wang Xiuying became pregnant with a third child. However, during childbirth, Wang Xiuying died due to difficult labor, and the young master who survived by luck did not even wait for his naming ceremony before passing away.

  Gu Man nodded: "Although I was young at the time, I still vaguely remember the doctor saying that my mother's pregnancy was well taken care of. Before, I didn't think much of it, but now thinking about it, I have to suspect that you were able to consider things so thoroughly and cut off my mother's root."