Legend of Concubine’s Daughter Minglan - Chapter 263
263. Gu Tingye, Your Ancestor Calls You for a Chat (2)
Translator: Iris
As the candle was lit up, the hall turned much more brighter. Everywhere was tidy and clean, which meant that this place was cleaned very often. There was also a tea tray on the table. Also, the candles in this hall were of the finest quality. Under the light of the candle, the air was suffused with the scent of the sandalwood. As Gu Tingye looked around, he saw the memorial tablets of all the Gu’s ancestors on the incense table which was six Zhang(Unit of length, equal to 3 1/3meter) long and three Zhang high. The hall was so spacious as to accommodate hundreds of the people of the Gu’s family.
Right now, there were only the two brothers in the large hall.
Gu Tingye stared the newest tablet on the table, on which were written: Gu Yankai’s Tablet.
The three simple words on the memorial tablet ended all of Gu Tingye’s rage, grievance and doubt. From now on, he could never question his father. It was all over.
On each of the two tall and straight pillars by both sides hung a Nan Wooden board, on which were carved eight words, ‘Inheriting the good virtue, forever thriving and prospering’ — the calligraphy was of the Yan Zhenqing style which was mellow and neat.
Gu Youshan, the first Marquis Ningyuan, loved the cursive style most. When he was drunk, he was able to write the poem ‘Bring the Wine’ in four cursive styles. Someone had asked him, “Why are the words on the board in the prudent Yan Zhenqing style ?”
He then answered, “All my life, I love to drink alcohol and do everything I want to do. Before I die, I only hope that my descendants could be safe forever.”
Gu Tingye chuckled.
He remembered when he was forced to practice calligraphy, his father always encouraged him, the disobedient boy, with the example of Gu Youshan becoming a calligrapher through self-study. As time went by, Gu Tingye was gradually fed up with that story. At that time, he bit his brush pen and muttered, “Learning calligraphy of cursive style? Perhaps he only learned that because no one would recognize his handwriting even if he wrote something wrong.”
When Gu Yankai heard those words, he opened his eyes wide and raised his hand right away. However, although he had already made the posture to slap Gu Tingye, his hands finally didn’t fall down and the look on his face seemed a bit weird as if he wanted to criticize Gu Tingye but also tried to hold back his laughter. The little boy was not afraid at all and even said something that surprised his father again, “Father, have you thought of the same thing as me when you were a child?”
As a result, the boy was required to transcribe ‘To Encourage Learning’ twenty times as punishment.
Gu Tingyu stood on one side with the help of the walking stick while staring at Gu Tingye. Actually, among the three brothers of the First family of the Gu’s, Gu Tingyu and Gu Tingwei were more like their mothers but Gu Tingye was more similar to their father in every movement he made and every look on his face. What was more, the older Gu Tingye got, the more he was like his father.
‘Perhaps father noticed that long ago, that’s why he paid so much attention to Tingye.” Gu Tingyu thought.
“… If our ancestors and father were able to see how successful you are now, they would be very happy.” Gu Tingyu said that in a sad tone, not knowing why he had uttered those words.
Gu Tingye, with the corner of his mouth raised up, said in a seemingly sarcastic tone, “Brother, if you were healthy, our father would be happier.”
Gu Tingyu stared at his brother and said, “Ever since I was able to understand things, some people have told me that my mother was killed by your mother. Not only that, they also told me that it was your mother’s fault that I got a sick body.”
Gu Tingye said in a flat tone, “Every time something bad happened in our family, everyone would blame my mother and me. I’ve already known about that, you don’t need to remind me.”
“Later I learned that I had been born before the national treasury incident happened. So I shouldn’t blame anyone for my illness.” Gu Tingyu said calmly, “My mother’s condition was not so good at that time, she shouldn’t have given birth to me.”
First Madam Qin loved her husband too much, so she had risked her life to give birth to a child for him. As a result, her body was damaged and her child wasn’t very healthy either.
Gu Tingye raised his eyebrows with an ironic look on his face and said, “Thanks for being so sensible.”
“You and your wife are in a close relationship.” Gu Tingyu ignored Gu Tingye’s sarcastic words directly and suddenly mentioned that, “If our family meet a huge disaster and you have to marry another woman to save our family, what would you do?”
“That’s a funny question.” Abandoning Minglan for the Gu’s people? Gu Tingye couldn’t help but laugh out as he thought of that crazy idea.
“Ah-hem, ah-hem, of course, ah-hem, you would never do it for those people who are staying in the Quiet Hall now.” Gu Tingyu coughed lightly and said that. Then he took out his handkerchief to wipe his mouth and raised his head to look at Gu Tingye, saying, “What if it’s for our father? If today it requires you to divorce your wife and marry another woman to save our father, what will you do?!” He suddenly raised his voice when saying that last four words, as if he wanted to stab Gu Tingye’s heart with those blade-like words.
Hearing that, Gu Tingye felt his heart trembling and took a step back all of a sudden. Then he stood steadily right away. He knew that his eldest brother was an extremely intelligent man who could see though people easily and find others’ weakness very quickly. As a matter of fact, Gu Tingyu was a very meticulous man. If his body condition wasn’t that bad, he would become a very powerful official.
When Gu Tingyu was a little boy, he was already able to let his father get mad at Gu Tingye and punish the latter fiercely by saying some seemingly casual words. In a word, Gu Tingye truly had suffered a lot because of his eldest brother.
With Gu Tingye’s eyes squinted, he asked, “What are you trying to say, brother?”
Gu Tingyu approached the pillar slowly in gasps and tried to find a chair to sit on, “That’s right. You think everyone in the Gu’s family treated you and your mother unfairly, but that’s not entirely true. How many times has Brother Xuan gone to the ancestral temple secretly to send you food? When you were stopped in front of the mourning hall, who was the one that put in a good word for you despite his father’s beating and reproach? Also… Father knew that you and your mother have been wronged. He also felt bad for you two…”
It might be better if he hadn’t said those words, because Gu Tingye flew into a rage right away when hearing that. He straightened his back and thumped on the pillar beside him violently and snorted with an arrogant look, saying, “He knew everything, and then what happened? Over the past twenty years, those people slandered my mother and bullied me because of my mother, and he just stood by and did nothing! If he felt sorry for me and my mother even a little bit, why did he never stand up for us?! Brother, you really think you can change my mind by saying those words?”
Gu Tingyu looked right into Gu Tingye’s eyes without moving a bit, saying, “I know everything. Based on your own conscience, how has father treated you over these years? He was busy with the military affairs all the time, but he still spent two hours every day to teach you literature and martial arts, and that’s all the free time he had! The time he spent with you were two times longer than he spent on me and our third brother!”
Gu Tingyu suddenly remembered that his father had always asked ‘How’s Tingye doing today’ after getting off a whole day’s work. Every time their father learned that Gu Tingye had made trouble, he would roar and chase Gu Tingye to teach the latter a lesson.
Thinking of that, Gu Tingyu couldn’t help but feel painful, ‘Although father treated me well, he didn’t like to stay with me. Sometimes when he saw my face and my sick body, he would get upset and leave right away.’
