Clouds and Moon Shadow

Chapter 389 The Best Candidate to Hold the Ink Pendant

Gu Qingyue touched her nose as she looked at the old Duke's meaningful gaze.

She only saved some poor boys who couldn't afford to eat; compared to her great-grandfather, she was far inferior.

"And then?" Gu Yuanjin couldn't help but ask.

"Later, many people from the Moge who were willing to join the army entered the Gu Family Army and became the backbone of the Gu Family Army. The Gu Family Army's reputation for being invincible spread from that time."

The old Duke's eyes were distant, a fleeting look of nostalgia passing through them.

"My grandfather retired from the army and returned to the capital due to old age. The brothers of the Moge wanted to follow him, but my grandfather left them at the border. He also had his own selfish reasons. The war between several countries was still raging, and he hoped that the Moge could become the Gu family's support and retreat when necessary."

Upon hearing this, Gu Qingyue narrowed her eyes. After more than thirty years, was Mo Pei's power still effective?

She suddenly remembered a name: Jin Weizhou! Did he say that his uncle harmed their family for his grandfather's sake?

Is that ink pendant related to this ink pendant?

"So, the Gu family can command them just by holding the ink pendant?"

Gu Changqing had remained silent until now, but his interest was piqued. He wasn't interested in Mo Pei, but rather in the fact that the Gu family truly had such a powerful backer!

He didn't care at all when Liu mentioned it, and he didn't believe that the Gu family really had such a thing. But it turns out they really did.

The old Duke waved his hand, "More than thirty years have passed, and I am not very clear about the current situation in the Ink Pavilion, but the deputy head of the Ink Pavilion said back then that as long as the descendants of the Gu family take the Ink Pendant to them, they will do everything they can to provide all kinds of help."

After a pause, the old Duke continued, "But the people of the Mo Pavilion are extremely unruly. They only submit to those who are strong in martial arts and have outstanding intelligence. Therefore, if we want to conquer them again, we must be strong in both physical strength and wisdom."

Therefore, my grandfather once said that this inkstone pendant would only be passed down to his descendants who were capable of galloping across battlefields and riding across the land, because it would be difficult for others to earn their respect.

"I see! So... Grandfather, you intended to pass the ink pendant to Father back then?" Gu Qingyue glanced at Gu Changqing and asked.

"Yes, Ling'er is highly skilled in martial arts and intelligent, making him the best candidate to wield the Ink Pendant in this generation," the old Duke said without hesitation.

"Will Qing'er feel that her father is biased?" After the old Duke finished speaking, he turned to Gu Changqing and asked.

Upon hearing this, Gu Changqing quickly waved his hand, saying that he had no ability to subdue those martial arts practitioners!

As long as the Gu family's Mo Pei is there, he still has a way out and is safe. He doesn't want that Mo Pei. If they don't recognize him, why should he humiliate himself?

It must be said that Gu Changqing is not a particularly smart person, but he is pragmatic.

He was timid, selfish, and unambitious. His greatest wish was to live peacefully, have a decent job, and eventually inherit the Duke's mansion and become the Duke himself.

Why take the risk? And why deal with those powerful and unruly江湖人 (jianghu people)?

He doesn't want to go!

"I don't have that ability, I know I don't have it. My second brother is the perfect candidate!" Gu Changqing said this with heartfelt sincerity.

Gu Qingyue breathed a long sigh of relief. So, back then, Liu Shi caused such a terrible fate to the second branch of the family because of something they obtained that was useless.

hateful! !

But considering that in the end, the first thing Liu did after regaining consciousness was to commit suicide by hitting her head against a wall, Gu Qingyue felt relieved.

Although letting her die like this is too good for her, it's still a way to vent my anger!

Of course, when Liu finally rammed her head against the wall, everyone watched coldly, and no one tried to stop her. This was Liu's retribution!

The family returned to the Duke's mansion at dawn.

In the following days, the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion was undoubtedly thrust into the spotlight.

The wife of the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion died suddenly from an illness!

Since the imperial physicians had visited the household several times before, not many people in the mansion suspected anything.

Apart from the three sons of the eldest son's wife who were slightly saddened, the rest of the family remained largely unchanged.

Gu Qingyue had heard her fourth brother say that because Liu had often beaten and scolded her three sons since they were young, perhaps because she was eager for them to succeed, it had obviously alienated the mother and sons. The sons were indeed not close to her, so it was quite sad that the three sons did not seem to be very sad when Liu left.

After Lady Liu passed away, the old Duke summoned Gu Changqing and his three sons to his study for a private talk that lasted an afternoon. When they came out, the three brothers of the eldest son had different expressions, but in the end, they had nothing to say to each other.

Their mother did such a vicious thing, so they had no right to cause trouble for the second wife.

But after all, a rift had developed between her and the second wife, which was inevitable, and Gu Qingyue was not surprised.

As long as they don't do anything to harm the second branch of the family again, Gu Qingyue won't go so far as to kill them all, after all, they are all family.

When the Duke's mansion suddenly hung up white robes, it naturally caused a stir among the other mansions in the capital!

Liu was perfectly fine a while ago, how could she just suddenly be gone?

Immediately, everyone speculated about what major event had occurred within the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. The most common guess was that the eldest and third branches of the family had clashed over the position of heir apparent.

It's possible that Lady Liu was killed by Lady Hu using some unknown method.

Gu Changling was already dead in everyone's eyes, so the second wife was not considered.

Rumors, some true and some false, have spread quite widely, but ultimately no one dares to openly confront them.

Even Liu's own sister, Liu Yingying's mother—the woman who was almost defiled by Liu San—only came to cry once, implying that she had abandoned her younger sister and disregarded her niece's future, just leaving like that, sob sob...

Gu Qingyue was also amazed.

This fake sisterhood!

Liu's parents had long since retired and left the capital, so Liu only had this one younger sister in her maternal family.

However, the death of the wife of the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion naturally warranted a very grand funeral, which lasted for half a month.

As a result, Gu Qingyue's Wenxianglou opening was forced to be postponed.

That's fine, we can just choose a more auspicious time to open.

What Gu Qingyue regretted most was that she couldn't watch the Six Arts Competition of the Gentlemen at Linfeng Academy, which made her feel regretful for a long time.

Gu Yuanen promised that he would invite more classmates to attend the official opening of Wenxianglou before he was satisfied.

During this time, Qin claimed to be ill and did not come out. She only burned a few pieces of paper in front of Liu's spirit tablet, cursing her in her heart to be condemned to the eighteenth level of hell for all eternity, and that was it.

With the dead gone, all is well, and Yue'er's revenge has been achieved.

But I still can't get over it; it's so hateful!

The most dramatic part was that Hu, the third wife, took the initiative to go to the old Duke and revealed everything about how she had instructed Granny Wang and instigated Liu to harm Qin, including the successful use of witchcraft.

They were probably terrified by the death of Lady Liu and the suicide of Granny Wang.

That's right. After Liu Shi died, Gu Qingyue asked Wang Mama to choose a way to die in order to atone for her sins. She was Liu Shi's personal maid, and she also had a niece working in the mansion.

Unexpectedly, for the sake of her niece, she went to the third branch of the family to find Madam Hu and directly banged her head against a pillar. Madam Hu was so frightened that she fell ill that day and talked incoherently for several days.

To protect herself, she was clever enough to go and confess to the old Duke.