“Father-in-law.”
Mo An bowed and saluted.
“Sit down.”
Moan sat down.
Master Gu surveyed him, “Well, you’ve been nourishing yourself well these two days, when you go back, bring more tonic back.”
“Many thanks father-in-law.”
Master Gu waved his hand, “A family, why be polite.”
Seeing that he did not mention Gu Hui, Mo An was a little anxious in his heart, “Father-in-law, I wonder how Bao’er and Hui’er are doing.”
“They’re fine too, they’re in Hui’er’s courtyard.”
“Then I’ll go over to see them.”
“Go on.”
Mo An came out and hurried towards Gu Hui’s courtyard, where everything was as usual in the Gu household, with the servants and maids all saluting him as before.
Mo An’s heart was slightly at ease as he soon arrived at Gu Hui’s courtyard, two maids were guarding the door, and when they saw him they blessed him and bowed, “Aunt.”
“Where is Hui’er?”
The maid pushed open the door, “Eldest Miss is in the house, please come in, auntie.”
Mo An went in quickly and only after his second foot entered the door did he realise that something was wrong. If Gu Hui was alright, she would have shouted “Son-in-law” when she heard his voice.
He turned around and was about to leave when the door slammed shut.
Mo An was horrified, “Open the door.”
“Ooooooooo ……”
There was a sound coming from the bed, Mo An couldn’t be bothered to call the door at that moment, he quickly walked to the bed and saw Gu Hui lying on the bed.
“Hui’er.”
Seeing him, Gu Hui’s eyes burst into tears and shook her head, a whimpering sound escaping from her mouth.
Mo An was appalled, “What’s wrong with you?”
“She’s been fed drugs.”
Master Gu’s voice came from the doorway.
Mo An jerked back as the house was opened and Master Gu walked in.
“Father-in-law!”
Mo An’s voice trembled.
Master Gu sat down at the table, “The first time I saw you, I thought you were an upwardly mobile child, so I had the idea to betroth Hui’er to you, and later I sent people to snoop around, and the situation I found was the same as what I saw. But to my surprise, after only a few years, you have changed your mind, and you have even schemed against Yi’er with her.”
Mo An knelt down in a poof, “Father-in-law, we were wrong, we were possessed by a ghost, you forgive us this time, we will never dare to do it again.”
“There is no future, people like you who turn their backs on their own sons for money don’t deserve to live in this world.”
Mo An regretted, he shouldn’t have come, but he was still holding on to his lucky heart, thinking that the Gu family didn’t notice, and also thinking of taking this opportunity to cry poor in front of Master Gu and take the chance to ask for a sum of silver back.
He thumped his head, “Father-in-law, my son-in-law is really wrong, but Bao’er is still young, he needs his parents, you let us go, let us go.”
Master Gu waved his hand and two servants entered, one of them with a bowl of medicine in his hand.
Mo An backed away in fear, Gu Hui’s eyes were tearing up even faster, her mouth kept whimpering, but she couldn’t move her body, she could only watch as the boy held Mo An down and poured the medicine in, making sure he swallowed it all before letting go of his hand.
Mo An used his hand to pick at his throat in a vain attempt to spit out the medicine, but Master Gu didn’t even look at him and turned to go out.
……
At the same time
“Uncle.”
Bao’er, who was playing happily with Gu Yi, suddenly called out to him, “I miss my mother.”
Gu Yi stroked his head, “Didn’t uncle take you to see her yesterday? She is sick and needs to rest, so we won’t bother her, and when she gets well in a few days, she will naturally come back to see Bao’er.”
“I miss dad too.”
Bao’er’s voice was milky.
Gu Yi took him in his arms, “Let’s ride the big horse, okay.”
Bao’er immediately forgot about thinking about Moan and clapped his little hands happily, “Okay.”
……
Half an hour later, Mo An and Gu Hui were carried onto the Mo family’s carriage. The carriage driver had just been called in for a bowl of tea and came out standing straight by the carriage with the reins in his hands, his eyes unfocused.
“Let’s go.”
The Gu family’s boy tapped the carriage driver, who moved mechanically up and shook the reins with both hands, and the carriage slowly left the Gu family, going out for 30 or 40 miles before a frightened carriage came from the opposite direction, and the Mo family’s carriage dodged and was crashed into a deep ditch by the roadside.
By the time Master Mo and Madam Mo got the news and rushed over, Mo An and Gu Hui had both hit their heads and bled to death, while the coachman was also seriously injured and unconscious.
The Gu family also got the news and Master Gu and Madam Gu hurried over. Looking at the tragic state of the two men, Madam Gu fainted with heartache.
If she had known that Mo An would die like this, she would never have let him come.
“An’er said there was a business matter and he wanted to take Hui’er with him to deal with it, I wanted to stop it, but he said the business was very important, otherwise he wouldn’t have gone with Hui’er on the sixth day of the New Year to deal with it, so I let them go, to know ……”
Master Gu also regretted it.
“It’s all fate!”
He wanted to take advantage of the New Year’s gift delivery to talk about it again. When there was smallpox in the house he was glad that the two men were not in the house, if everyone in the house had been infected and died, his Mo family would at least have a future, but he never expected that the two men would go before him in just ten days before and after.
……
The death of Gu Hui and Mo An was not mentioned in the Gu family, Song Wan Yue naturally did not know, she was practicing martial arts and thinking about how to tell Master Chu that she wanted to go to the capital with her big brother in a few days.
A harsh sword qi came towards her face, Song Wan Yue hurriedly collected her mind and her body backed up sharply.
Master Chu withdrew his sword, “Practicing martial arts is most taboo to distract yourself, if you do it again, I will not be polite.”
“Disciple understands.”
Master Chu had returned late yesterday and had someone call her over early this morning to practise martial arts, and had been practising for over an hour by now.
Song Wan Yue wiped the sweat from her forehead and spoke sheepishly, “Master, I want to take leave.”
Master Chu frowned slightly, “Practicing martial arts is most taboo, even if you have talent.”
“My big brother is going to the capital to catch an exam, I don’t feel comfortable with her going alone and want to accompany her, Master, I give you my word, I won’t slack off.”
“Going to the capital?”
“Mm.”
“Is Young Master Gu going?”
“I guess I’ll go.”
Master Chu’s brow furrowed fiercely for a long time before he said, “Go and ask, and if he goes along, I’ll grant you leave.”
“Thank you, Master, thank you, Master.”
Song Wangyue inserted the sword in her hand into its sheath and put it aside, turning around to go to Gu Yi’s courtyard, which was silent and empty.
Song Wangyue paused in her steps and turned around to walk outside, walking outside just in time to see a boy, “Where is your young master?”