bookmarkrole Chapter 553 - 545: Discussion
Chapter 553 - 545: Discussion
Gu Yifeng followed Zhao Housheng to the academy, and Gu Yifeng didn’t speak along the way. Originally he was a silent person, but in recent years, being with Sister Ning made him seem more talkative. Due to this matter, he became even more silent than before.
After the two sat down, Zhao Housheng first advised, "This matter is not your fault. No one expected Sister Yue to be so bold. Sister Yue’s aftermath hasn’t been handled yet, and her body is just left in the second house. Although they were wrong, even the biggest mistake is over when a person dies. What’s important now is Sister Ning and Brother Zong. As for Sister Yue, if we keep pursuing it and don’t even let the corpse go, people will criticize us for being too heartless."
Gu Yifeng showed no emotion, as if he hadn’t heard anything.
Zhao Housheng continued, "I know you’re angry. Anyone in your position would wish to chop the other side down. But you have to look at things from both sides. You care about Sister Ning and Brother Zong. Now your concern is how to find Brother Zong and make Sister Ning better."
"It’s the Heir of Prince Xian who is behind this. I’m sure he has hidden Brother Zong away." Gu Yifeng suddenly said, "The coachman clearly wanted Sister Yue dead. Sister Yue is dead, but Brother Zong is missing. The Heir of Prince Xian likely had people watching the carriage, and when he confirmed Sister Yue was dead, he then took Brother Zong away."
"The Heir of Prince Xian hasn’t said anything, which means he still has Brother Zong in his grasp, using him to threaten you. The Marquis understands this clearly, so he should think even more about what to do." Zhao Housheng said.
Gu Yifeng leaned further back into the chair. Not sleeping the whole night didn’t make him feel tired. His mind was still thinking of Sister Ning, "So I brought people to the mansion, preventing them from contacting outside. This way, Brother Zong is safe. We’ll secretly send the Hidden Guard to find out where the Heir of Prince Xian has been these days, who he’s been in contact with, and how many estates he has outside the Capital."
Hearing this, Zhao Housheng’s eyes lit up, and he truly felt relieved, "Hearing you say this, I truly can let go of my worries. I was always concerned you’d be so provoked by this matter that you’d disregard everything. Now hearing you have a plan, that’s good. I also wanted to discuss something with you. Over there, we’ve discussed it with Father and Grandfather."
Then Zhao Housheng shared their plan, "..... What do you think of this? Just now, you mentioned, I feel this plan is even more feasible. We’ll say publicly that the child is found. By then, even if Brother Zong is with them, it won’t matter. They won’t be able to use Brother Zong for anything, or this might even pressure them to return Brother Zong. What does the Marquis think? Moreover, seeing Sister Ning’s current state, it’s obviously untenable. Bringing back a child to deceive her will help Sister Ning recover, which is the most important thing right now."
"Then let’s do it. We just need to find a suitable child." Gu Yifeng agreed without hesitation for Sister Ning’s sake.
Zhao Housheng felt somewhat uncomfortable seeing how straightforward Gu Yifeng was. He had worked under Gu Yifeng for many years and understood what kind of person he was, always knowing he cared about Sister Ning. But it wasn’t until this moment that he realized how hard Sister Ning’s incident had hit someone as stoic ordinarily showing no more expressions than necessary.
"I’ll handle the child’s matter. What should we say to Sister Ning?"
"Just say we found him with a rural hunter," Gu Yifeng thought simply. "If we say more, there will be more loopholes. This simple explanation will make Sister Ning think less about it. The incident happened in the woods, and it’s normal to encounter a hunter there."
Zhao Housheng nodded, "Then it’s settled. I’ll secretly look for a suitable child right now."
Gu Yifeng hesitated for a moment, "Find a child that no one wants. After all, Sister Ning is a mother, too. This feeling of separating a child from their mother, we understand it too. If other mother-child pairs are broken, once Brother Zong is found, Sister Ning will feel guilty knowing the truth."
"I’ve thought of that. I’ll search the nearby nunnery. Some families abandon their children there. If we bring such a child back, we at least provide a stable home. Once Brother Zong is found, our family won’t mind raising another child." Zhao Housheng wasn’t brought up in noble ways, so his heart remained kind.
Unlike those from noble families who always focus on face and profit, affection means little to them, let alone blood unrelated children.
Gu Yifeng nodded, "Prince Xian should be arriving soon. I’ll meet with him. Hold him back, then tell him that only when Brother Zong is returned will he see his son again, as well as the one in Mrs. Kong’s belly."
Zhao Housheng showed disdain at the mention of Prince Xian, "I’m afraid Prince Xian won’t care about a useless son or an unborn child of unknown gender. Besides, people like him might bring in more concubines for self-preservation, not worrying about not having sons."
"If he has such thoughts, we can’t stop him. But we can certainly prevent his concubines from bearing sons." Gu Yifeng pinched the Jade Pendant by his waist, "When I left last night, I had someone put something in the tea Prince Xian drank. He won’t have to hope for sons ever again."
Zhao Housheng felt great satisfaction, "That’s excellent, I’ll deal with Prince Xian now."
Zhao Housheng left with large strides, leaving Gu Yifeng alone in the hall.
Gu Yifeng sighed deeply, supported his head with his hand, and looked lonely out at the courtyard window. He used to dislike noisy courtyards, but since when did such silence start to scare him?
Everything seemed to change from the moment Sister Ning entered his life.
Gu Yifeng sat alone for a while, then heard Zhao Wu’s voice asking for an audience; only then did he call someone in. Zhao Wu was holding a bowl of porridge, "Master, you haven’t eaten for two days. Have some porridge first. If Madam knew you were like this, she would worry too."
Zhao Wu had no other choice but to use Madam as a persuasion, hoping his master would listen. Otherwise, even if one is mentally strong, the body would still eventually give out.