Three Corpses

  Qiu Cangwu didn't care about Shen Qiao's past relationship with Wang Boyu, nor did he catch the meaning behind Gu Man's words. He thought that since Shen Qiao was now a prominent commander, whether it was for the new emperor's trust or his own power, it was impossible for him to plead on behalf of Wang Boyu - Wang Boyu's death was inevitable, the new emperor wouldn't allow anyone else to sleep by his side, and Shen Qiao, being the new emperor's confidant, shouldn't be so foolish.

  However, being exposed by Gu Man about his own father's and Gu Chengyu's scheme, he still felt some embarrassment and anger in his heart. Although he had long forgotten what shame was, the person in front of him was his wife and a pawn he had used, and being exposed by a pawn made him unable to resist standing up and angrily saying: "What nonsense are you talking about?!"

  Gu Man stood up straight, his body relaxed, and casually picked up the wine cup on the kang table: "This cup is to congratulate you in advance for your upcoming promotion to Wuxuan County Magistrate."

  If Qiu Cangyu was surprised just now, after hearing Gu Man's words, he only felt his head buzzing and almost fainting. He had long moved Gu Man to this most remote and desolate backyard, and the Gu family, which relied on the Wang family, was almost destroyed. Who could have leaked these messages to her?

  Gu Man seemed to have not seen Qiu Cangwu's ugly face, she slowly drained the wine in her cup, and then coldly sneered: "Your family has indeed made great contributions, your father is also clear that you are a useless person, can't do anything else. This idle and profitable Wu Xuan Bureau is most suitable for you."

  "Is your father dreaming of being enfeoffed and becoming a noble recently?" The eyes of Gu Man were filled with disdain: "But what a pity, do you remember who your father relied on back then? Wasn't it my great-uncle?"

  Qiu Cangwu was not stupid, on the contrary, soon someone praised him for his quick wit, in a flash of inspiration, he actually heard something from Gu Man's seemingly illogical sentence.

  Qiu Shi'an was originally able to rely on Wang Boyong's recommendation, and he directly promoted from the sixth-grade touring inspector to the Ministry of War, and became the right servant of the Ministry of War. Now, in front of the emperor, it is his father who applies eye medicine for him. Forgetting gratitude and betraying righteousness, disregarding the teacher's grace, this is simply unfilial and unrighteous in the great Zhou dynasty which attaches importance to the relationship between teachers and apprentices.

  He finally realized that something was wrong, even if Qiu Shi'an and Qiu Jia Sheng were high-ranking officials, they had already become infamous among the scholars of the world, and would be despised by people for the rest of their lives!

  But with a suspicious mind and firmly believing in Confucius' teachings, how long can the new emperor tolerate the ungrateful and treacherous Qiu family?

  His face turned pale, his hands couldn't help but tremble, and he didn't even care if Gu Man had drunk the poisoned wine or not. He simply lifted his leg to leave.

  "Where are you going?" Gu Man seemed to have anticipated his action, dodged and blocked his way, sneering: "I didn't say anything, why are you so flustered? Don't be like this, I still have more important things to tell you."

  What's the point of stabbing to death? A dull knife cuts flesh and it hurts, doesn't it? Isn't the Qiu family and Gu Chengyu trying to drive her to death with one bad news after another? Fine, she'll let them taste the same flavor.

  Before Qiu Cangwu could react, Gu Man took two steps forward and handed the hairpin stained with sparrow's blood to his neck: "Isn't it strange? I'm in the inner courtyard, but I can still find out about your situation so clearly. So I'll be kind and tell you, Shen Qiao has already planted people in your mansion, do you really think that no one knows about the ugly things you've done? You should know that although the new emperor has just ascended to the throne, he already controls all twenty-six imperial guards. Can you guess whether Shen Qiao, who is as close to my grandfather as a father and is good at hiding his true intentions, will let you off?"

  She said, the hairpin in her hand, which had been deliberately sharpened to be extremely sharp, lightly and nimbly slashed a wound on Qiu Cang's neck, with blood dripping continuously onto the ground, soon staining a patch of ground red.

  "You wicked woman, how dare you murder your husband?!" Qiu Cangwu was shocked and furious, but was restrained by the sharp hairpin and didn't dare to act rashly.

  "Regicide? How ridiculous! What was it that you just hid in your fingernail? Wasn't it poison?" Gu Man had already lost interest in listening to this man's words: "Am I supposed to just stick out my neck and wait for death, without even putting up a fight?"

  Qiu Cangwu unconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and no longer dared to show off his eloquence. He could only humbly and insincerely say: "I was just momentarily confused, Ah Man, we've been husband and wife for so many years, can you really bear to do this? Quickly put down the hairpin, I guarantee that as long as you put down the hairpin, you will still be my legitimate wife, Qiu Cangwu's, and no one will be able to humiliate you in the future."

  "Qiu Cangwu, it's come to this and you still want to deceive me!" Gu Man stretched out her hand and thrust the hairpin into his throat with force, watching with satisfaction as blood splattered everywhere. She looked at Qiu Cangwu, whose eyes were filled with shock, and said word by word: "Don't panic, I just drank that cup of poisoned wine, my whole family is dead, what's the point of me living on? Why not follow Shen Shu's words and use my life to pave the way for him, and get rid of you all in one go!"

  Qiu Cangwu covered his neck and slowly fell to the ground, using all his strength to stretch out his hand and grab Gu Man's leg, moaning: "Save me, Ah Man, save me."

  He obviously misjudged Gu Man's hatred, Gu Man squatted down and pried open his fingers one by one, laughing cruelly and with relish: "Save you? Don't joke, Qiu Cangwu, I think it's cheap for you to die like this! Soon, Pei Yin will go invite Gu Yan over in your name. Two people died in the house, one of whom was the eldest daughter of Wang Taifu, and the death was particularly tragic. Do you think the imperial historians will not take action? Most importantly, Dinggaohou's own sister is unscathed in this place where two lives were lost. Who do you think others will suspect did it? Haven't you been showing off with Gu Yan these days? Look, retribution has come!"

  You've been making progress inch by inch, pressing in step by step. I've been retreating step by step, yielding again and again. However, you might not know one thing - if there's a cliff behind me, I'm not a kind person either. Let's die together then! See who should go to hell.

  Unconsciously, the sky had gradually darkened, and the sound of wind blowing through the leaves outside the window came continuously.

  Qiu Cangwu finally died, although he didn't close his wide-open eyes even in death. Gu Man's head grew heavier and she struggled to stand up with the support of Pei Yin.

  "Pei Yin, if there is a next life, I will definitely repay you with a grass ring."

  Pei Yin's footsteps didn't pause because of this sentence, she knew that Gu Man had already died, and now the only thing she could do was to go and call Gu Yan. Moreover, when Jin Yiwei came to the door, they insisted that it was Gu Yan who poisoned her sister, and Gu Man, not noticing at first, mistakenly killed Qiu Cangyu in a panic.

  In the second month of the first year of Dazhou, the son-in-law of Qiu Shi'an, the Right Vice Minister of War, died suddenly. The incident was complicated and involved many people, causing a great stir. Soon after, he was accused of being too lenient with his subordinates, framing the former Grand Tutor Wang Boyong, and other crimes, and was imprisoned by imperial decree. His family property was confiscated and entered into the national treasury.

  In the same year, in April, Dingyuan Marquis Gu Chengyu and border general Liang Xi had close exchanges, intending to commit treason. He was impeached by Shen Qiao, commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Ministry of Punishment confirmed that he was guilty. The new emperor was furious, stripped him of his title, but spared his life due to Dingyuan Marquis's past achievements, and exiled him three thousand miles away.