Firmament Stone, "…"
Gu Xijiu seemed to have recalled something, "Has the case of Count Le Hua been closed?"
Rong Jialuo nodded, "It’s considered to be closed. Though the evidence isn't good for them, there isn’t any evidence directly proving that they did kill Count Le Hua. Furthermore, both twelfth brother and Gu Tianqing didn't confess it in prison at all. Therefore, no matter how many times the judge interrogated, they can only confirm that they wanted to plot against you. Also, General Gu has been begging my father frequently so that my father would let your sister off based on his past achievements in the army and also your status as The Lord’s disciple. Therefore, my father decided to let them off after considering the case again and again. Of course, he doesn’t want just to release them but to banish them as an exile to the wilderness of frontier fortress for three years and can only come back if they don’t make any mistakes again. However, twelfth brother cannot be made duke anymore while Gu Tianqing cannot be married to an officer but is to be a commoner forever. My father would declare it in a few days."
Gu Xijiu kept quiet but to looked down and drank a mouthful of water.
She knew that the emperor was not punishing them mildly because of Gu Xietian but rather because the emperor himself wanted to release them too. After all, Rong Yan was a prince and his son. The result was the same as what Gu Xijiu had predicted, but she still felt uncomfortable when she heard it herself.
"Little Cang, have I helped the original owner of this body to get her revenge? Or have I not done it nicely yet?" Gu Xijiu secretly asked the Firmament Stone.
The Firmament Stone was feeling rather unhappy while replying, "I think you’ve done enough! But it doesn’t matter anyway, the original soul was a very kind little girl, even if she felt that it was unfair, she’ll neither blame it on you nor hurt you."
Gu Xijiu drank another mouthful of water and said indifferently, "I feel a stronger urge to help her take her revenge the kinder she is. Frankly, after I took over this body for a longer period, I do feel empathy for her…" Could Gu Xijiu be her in her past life? Not similar! Her character was not similar! Should not be. Gu Xijiu shook her head as she wanted to shake off the impossible idea.
...
It was a sunny and warm March.
The spring had already dyed the tree branches green, and the water at the imperial garden had already defrosted. The stream was flowing down through the bluestones and became a fall because of the five-meter vertical distance from the bluestone to the ground. The creek was not big, but it sounded unbelievably melodious like the [1] Guqin when it was pouring down on the white stone before it bickered its way away.
Not far away from this fall, there was a palace which looked like a water pavilion. It was the most famous place in the imperial garden – the Musical Stream Hall. It was where the emperor organized the farewell dinner for Gu Xijiu. It was a grand event where almost all the officials and their families went.
Regardless of men or women, everyone was dressed up, and the dinner was bustling with joy and excitement. Unlike the usual table arrangements where each family was assigned a table, it was now a layout where each table only accommodated three persons.
The officials were sitting together in a row while the madams in another. Meanwhile, those young men and young ladies of the officials were allowed to choose their seats, and thus, they sat together with whom they knew.
The tables were arranged according to what the imperial concubine empress requested so that the young people could sit together to create a lively atmosphere.
As they arrived earlier, they started getting familiar with the rest before the dinner began. Therefore, the chattering and laughing of girls heated up the atmosphere.
[1] Guqin is one of the traditional Chinese musical instruments.
Because everyone sat according to their preferences, the table compositions were different. Some tables had two women and one man; others had two men and one woman or even three of the same gender.
Some people like the emperor was sitting alone. However, those arranged tables were still empty because the guest of honor had yet to arrive.
As the farewell dinner was specially organized for Gu Xijiu, so she had naturally become the focal point.
Correspondingly, Gu Xijiu's father, Gu Xietian, had also become the focal point. Gu Xietian was severely battered and troubled these two days too. Two days ago, he angrily killed Leng Xiangyu with his sword. Though he felt good at that moment, he was distraught.
Firstly, he had to settle the issue of Leng Xiangyu by publicly announcing that she died because of her sudden illness, embalmed and buried her in a simple coffin. She could not be buried in the graveyard of the Gu family but somewhere in the wild.
The status of women during this generation was meager. As long as she violated one of the seven reasons of divorce, she would be divorced if the case was not serious, else she would be executed, and nobody including the officials would care even if she was drowned in a pig basket immersed in water.
Furthermore, Leng Xiangyu originated from a small size family, and she usually treated her family members harshly and ungenerously. Hence, none of her family members wanted to help her even if she died an unnatural death. Therefore, they neither said nor did anything as soon as Gu Xietian gave them some money.
What a pity for Leng Xiangyu who had to live a life of plotting evil plans to secure her gain through a series of improper and crafty means. She harmed Luo Xinglan, cruelly treated Gu Tiannuo and defrauded Gu Xijiu. What goes around comes around, she finally had such an ending.
After he settled the issue of Leng Xiangyu, he found out that Gu Xijiu had indeed left when he went to look for her.
Not only had she left, but her attendants had also gone too. Meanwhile, all thing he gave her were left on the table. Apparently, she intended to renounce their relationship.
Gu Xietian was feeling angry and helpless at the same time. After all, his children with Luo Xinglan were born haughty and wanted to renounce their relationship with their father. However, according to the Feixing Kingdom’s laws, it was official if parents renounce their children but not if children renounce their parents. What they said would be considered as words to vent their anger.
As he had a vast network and also spies, he quickly got to know where Gu Xijiu had gone to. Therefore, he went to look for her yesterday evening to talk to her, but he was stopped by her four attendants by saying that they were ordered not to let anyone in.
As Gu Xietian was in hot water with his daughter, he did not want to enter by force to prevent their relationship from getting worse. Therefore, he left after he said that he would come the next evening again to pick her up for dinner.
As expected, he went to pick Gu Xijiu just now, but Gu Xijiu was not around at all. He could not even manage to ask for his daughter's whereabouts.
As the dinner was organized by the emperor, nobody, including Gu Xietian, dared to arrive late. Therefore, everyone got to the venue earlier.
While getting someone to look for Gu Xijiu secretly, he went to the dinner alone.
As the guests were imperial officers and their families, how would any officials not to be crafty and cunning? As they were also good in networking, the news of incidents that happened at the general’s mansion had somehow spread out no matter how Gu Xietian tried to hide them. Though they did not believe them completely, they started to inquire ambiguously when they saw him came alone and noted the subtle difference in his eyes. These annoyed Gu Xietian, and thus, he kept quiet most of the time while sitting.
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