The old master of the Gu family squinted his eyes and nodded in agreement. He told Gu Zhongxian to move a small stool beside him and said, "Liyue, come to grandfather."
Gu Liyue walked over nervously. She sat down beside her grandfather and pursed her lips. Then she said, "Grandfather, Uncle, there are many things I don't know, but I really want to know. I want to know what kind of person my father used to be."
The old master let out a long sigh. He reached out and squeezed his granddaughter's hand tightly. Seriously, he said, "Your father was my proudest son. He was smart, capable, diligent and upright. He was full of talent, a dazzling star. However, such brilliance doomed him not to be ordinary."
Gu Liyue listened attentively. Others said that she resembled her mother in appearance, but her temperament between the eyebrows was more like her father's. She couldn't imagine what her father looked like. She just looked at her two uncles and tried to picture him in her mind. Hearing what her grandfather said today, she knew that the father in her mind was probably not even one - tenth of the real him.
The old master thought of his beloved son. His mood was rather complicated. "There were many things I didn't tell you before because I was afraid you couldn't accept them. At that time... it was I who drove him away, but it was also his own will to leave."
Gu Hou quickly stood up and said, "Father, let me tell Liyue."
The old master's eyes were a bit blurred. He endured the pain and slowly nodded.
"Back then, Shuxian was both talented and good - looking. He was admired by many young ladies in the capital. But Shuxian had his own ideas since childhood. He loved the mountains and rivers but didn't like this corner of the capital. He always said that if he were born among the common people, he would travel all over the beautiful rivers and mountains of the country. He also did just that. At the age of sixteen, he showed great talent. At that time, there were many irregularities in the Censorate. The emperor cherished his talent and wanted him to gain experience in the Censorate. But he didn't want to become an official. He insisted on traveling around the Great Zhou."
"During those two years, he met a common woman named Liu Anyuan from Cangyun County, Quzhou."
Hearing her mother's name, Gu Liyue trembled in her heart.
"Liyue, you look six or seven parts like your mother. When she first came to the capital, even though she had made full preparations, she was still timid and afraid. When I first saw you, your nervousness was exactly the same as your mother's."
Gu Liyue lowered her eyes and asked softly, "What happened next?"
Gu Hou took a deep breath. "Later... your mother was very unhappy in the capital. Even though we were all nice to her, she was a sensitive person with a lot on her mind. She was sick in bed for most of the month. After two years like this, perhaps she got used to it and got a little better."
"Your grandmother had a cousin, who was the old mistress of the Shu family. Since they were both in the capital, they had a very good relationship and often visited each other. Your mother hadn't been pregnant for two years after getting married. So the old mistress of the Shu family recommended a gynecologist to your grandmother. That doctor was very famous and capable among the common people. It was he who asserted that your mother was born with a weak constitution and would never be pregnant."
Gu Liyue closed her eyes slightly. It was this assertion that made everyone in the Gu family unaware of her existence.
Gu Hou continued, "Just then, Shuxian met a master. The master said that he was destined not to have a son. If he wanted to change his fate, he needed to do many things, one of which was to divorce his wife and remarry. Even after two years of marriage, they were still deeply in love. How could they be stopped by such things? Shuxian was firm - minded and never had other thoughts. But your mother... She felt that she owed the family and begged her mother - in - law to take a concubine for Shuxian. For this, the couple had a big fight. Shuxian was so annoyed that he volunteered to go on a mission out of the capital to avoid the troubles at home."
"Later, something went wrong during this mission. In the heavy rain on the outskirts of the capital, Shuxian took shelter in the Shu family's estate. Since the Gu and Shu families were related, it wouldn't have been a problem. But just that day, Shu Hong, the eldest son of the Shu family, and his sister Shu Ying were in the estate. Shu Hong and Shuxian had always had a good relationship. They drank and talked until late at night..."
Gu Liyue was in a daze. Uncle didn't elaborate, but she knew what happened next. Probably after her father got drunk and passed out, when he woke up the next day, the person lying beside him was Shu Ying.
Gu Hou cleared his hoarse throat and continued, "Shuxian found out that there was sleeping incense in the wine and the bedroom. He believed that he was innocent. But at that time, the Shu family had spread the news of Shu Ying's loss of virginity. They wanted to send Shu Ying into the Gu family. Moreover, when the old mistress of the Shu family came, she implicitly and explicitly meant that Anyuan should be a concubine and Shu Ying should be the main wife. The reasons were, first, the Shu family had a high status while the Liu family was just ordinary farmers. Second, Anyuan couldn't have children. If Shuxian had children with Shu Ying in the future, they shouldn't be born out of wedlock."
Gu Liyue clenched her fists. Such an unexpected thing would have been hard for her to deal with, let alone her more delicate mother.
She was a daughter of the Gu family, so the Gu family would surely protect her. But what about her mother? Not to mention the selfish people in the Liu family. Even if they weren't selfish, how could the Liu family compete with the Gu and Shu families?
"Did you... agree?"
Gu Hou was silent for a long time and then shook his head. "Your mother was weak. She didn't want to make your father embarrassed, so she nodded in agreement. But it was your grandfather who firmly refused. If your father wanted to marry Shu Ying, he had to divorce his wife first!"
Gu Liyue opened her eyes wide and looked at her grandfather in disbelief. "Why? Did you want to drive my mother away?"
The old master's lips trembled. "Liyue, at that time..."
"Couldn't you tolerate my mother? Or did you always dislike my mother's humble background?"
Gu Hou quickly said, "Liyue, the situation was complicated at that time. You didn't know the whole story. This wasn't your grandfather's fault..."
The old master shook his head. "No, Liyue, if you want to blame someone, blame me. It's all my fault. If I could have come up with a better way - no, if I had been more tough at that time and forced the Shu family to send Shu Ying away, none of the following things would have happened."
Gu Liyue bit her lips and covered her face, crying softly. She didn't know if she was crying for her helpless mother, her father who was framed, or the fact that the Gu family failed to protect her mother's safety.
The old master felt extremely heart - broken. He reached out and gently touched Gu Liyue but didn't dare to disturb her. He just said hoarsely again and again, "Liyue, it's all grandfather's fault."
After crying for a while, Gu Liyue became a bit more sober. She looked up and asked, "Uncle, what happened next?"
Gu Hou pondered for a moment. "You may probably know what happened next. Your father refused to marry Shu Ying. But if he really left Shu Ying alone as your... grandfather said, the reputation of the Gu family would be damaged. How could your father allow that? Finally, your father had a dispute with your grandfather and insisted on leaving, cutting off his relationship with the Gu family. After that, I once went to find him. It wasn't that he didn't want to come back. He just didn't want the Gu family to have a stain. He would rather not be a member of the Gu family."