It's a cloudy day.
Early in the morning, the northwest wind blew.
The wind poured into the body from the collar, and the only bit of warmth on the body was taken away by the cold wind in a blink of an eye.
The servant pushed open the door and called Mr. Gu to get up.
"Old man, it's time to get up. I have an appointment with a doctor to come over to take my pulse today, so I can't just lie down all the time."
The servant called out, but there was no movement on the bed.
So he came to the bedside, reached out his hand, and planned to wake up Mr. Gu himself.
As soon as his hand touched Mr. Gu, the servant suddenly felt something was wrong.
Immediately after...
"what!"
A scream pierced the sky, breaking the tranquility above Gu's residence.
Old man Gu died. He died all night. His body was found stiff.
It was when it was dark that Gu Jiu welcomed the mourners from the Gu residence.
She wanted to cry, but couldn't cry.
I just felt uncomfortable, my heart was stuffy, and I didn't eat two bites for dinner.
Liu Zhao was worried about her, pushed everything away, and stayed by her side all the time.
Gu Jiu lay in bed until midnight before getting up from the bed.
"Do you feel better?" Liu Zhao asked.
Gu Jiu leaned on his shoulder, "I feel empty in my heart, I don't know if it's sad or something else. It's just uncomfortable."
"Dead people can't be resurrected, sorry. Tomorrow morning, I will accompany you back to the mansion."
Gu Jiu nodded, "Uncomfortable!"
Liu Zhao hugged her, "Would it be better this way?"
Maybe.
One night, Gu Jiu was half asleep and half awake. Not sleeping deeply enough, yet not staying awake.
The whole person is in a very strange state.
In the morning, when she was woken up, she was still groggy.
"Are you leaving?"
"If you feel uncomfortable, we will leave later."
Gu Jiu sat on the bed blankly and remained silent for a long time before saying: "When I first returned to the capital, I heard many rumors about the old man's bad taste.
On the day of returning to Beijing, the master made another scene. At that time, like everyone else, I had a bad impression of the old man.
Later, because my father offended the empress and was sentenced to prison, I realized that the old man was not what people said. "
Liu Zhao was a quiet listener.
Gu Jiu continued: "Later, I got in touch with the old man. I would tell him to drink less and take care of himself. He would take out his private money to congratulate me on my wedding and my birth. This is the first time in the mansion. , Other sisters and sisters don't have this treatment.
I am very happy every time I receive a gift. I also hope in my heart that he will live a long life. Unexpectedly, the person left in a blink of an eye. "
Liu Zhao silently hugged her tightly, giving her strength.
Gu Jiu took a deep breath, "I didn't expect that the last time we met would be the last. If I had known earlier, I would..."
Gu Jiu couldn't continue.
"Stop talking. We'll go to Gu's mansion later."
Gu Jiu nodded, she is indeed not in a good state now, she needs to calm down.
By the time the two of them set off and arrived at Gu's residence, it was already high in the sun.
White lanterns were hung at the gate of the Gu Mansion, and the servants were all dressed in mourning to welcome the guests at the gate.
The mourning hall is located in the side hall of the outer courtyard, Elder Master Gu and Lord Gu are not there, only the men of the two rooms kneel and kowtow in the mourning hall.
Together with Liu Zhao, Gu Jiu offered incense and kowtowed to pay respects, and offered a funeral ceremony.
All the men returned their salutes together, Gu Cheng stood up and said to Gu Jiu, "Second sister is going to drink tea in the flower hall, all the guests are there."
Gu Jiu asked him, "How did the old man die?"
Gu Teng lowered his head and sighed, "In life, birth, old age, sickness and death are inevitable."
"Brother Six refuses to tell the truth, so I'll ask Gu Gong. Gu Gong will speak out if he can't keep his mouth shut."
Gu Cheng frowned, "Why does the second sister think that the old man's death is strange? The first person to find out that the old man died was his constant follower. You also know that no one will enter or leave the old man's yard on weekdays."
Gu Jiu said: "Because the old man's body is not yet at the end of his life."
The old man is indeed addicted to alcohol, but he also listened to her and took medicine on time for recuperation.
With the old man's physical condition, it is no problem to live another three or four years.
Seeing Gu Jiu's resolute expression, Gu Cheng said, "Forget it, forget it. You go to your sister-in-law and ask her. Just say I asked for it, and she will tell you the truth. People come and go here, it's not a place to talk."
Gu Jiu stared at him, "So the old man's death really has something to do with it."
Gu Teng said: "The old man left a suicide note and arranged everything properly for the funeral. Even the separation of the family has been considered."
Gu Jiu frowned, "You mean, the old man has long wanted to die."
Gu Teng said: "I don't know, I only confirm that the suicide note is true. It has the old man's signature and seal on it. Even the old man's private house is put together with the suicide note. In this matter, the old Hou Ye and the old man in the Hou Mansion next door The old lady has confirmed everything is correct, there is no doubt."
At this time, another guest came to express their condolences. Gu Jiu couldn't stay longer, she said to Gu Teng, "I'll go to my sister-in-law to find out, thank you Sixth Brother."
"Can you call the third brother back? He is the eldest son of our second room. He should be present when the old man passed away."
"He's in the Northwest Army now, and it's too late to go back and forth."
Gu Cheng sighed, "I see. My sister will go to the flower hall to drink tea first."
Gu Jiu dragged Liu Zhao to the flower hall, and sure enough, all the guests were drinking tea in the flower hall.
Liu Zhao said to her, "You talk to your sister-in-law, and I'll talk to someone from the Hou Mansion."
The husband and wife act separately.
Mrs. Hu is receiving guests.
After Gu Jiu explained her intentions, she told the servant girl to greet the guests, and then dragged Gu Jiu to the wing to talk.
"Second sister wants to ask how the old man died, right?"
Gu Jiu nodded, "I'm pretty clear about the old man's body, he hasn't reached the end of his life yet."
"Who says it's not. Since my husband has spoken, I won't hide it from my second sister. The old man committed suicide by burning charcoal."
"what?"
Gu Jiu couldn't believe it.
At first she wondered if someone had murdered the old man.
Never thought it would be suicide.
The blood on her face faded, "There is no reason, why did the old man commit suicide? Father's case has been solved, and the mansion has calmed down. There is no reason for the old man to commit suicide."
"We all think so. But the old man definitely wrote so in his suicide note. He said that he had lived enough, so he decided to kill himself. All the arrangements for the funeral have been made, and there is even enough money left for the funeral."
Gu Jiu took a deep breath, "Where is the old man's suicide note? I want to see it myself."
"The suicide note is kept by the uncle."
Gu Jiu went directly to the eldest room to order Elder Gu to ask for a suicide note.
Mr. Gu seems to have been prepared for a long time, "I knew you would ask about this matter. Here is the suicide note. Take your time to read it."
Master Gu handed over the suicide note to Gu Jiu, and left the study.
The suicide note was very thick, with seven or eight pages.
First, I talked about the reasons for the suicide, and then I arranged for the funeral and my thoughts on the separation of the family. Even Gu Shan's marriage was considered.
Afraid of delaying Gu Shan's marriage, the old man specifically mentioned this matter in his suicide note, telling the second room Mrs. Gu to hurry up and marry Gu Shan to Duke Zhu's mansion before the filial piety was over.
After that, the mansion will talk about keeping filial piety.
In addition to the expenses for the funeral, Mr. Gu also left some money from his private house, all of which he decided to divide.
Even Gu Jiu was allocated two thousand taels of silver, plus a few servants.
After reading the thick suicide note, Gu Jiu became more and more sad.
This is indeed Mr. Gu's handwriting.
Gu Jiu is best at imitating handwriting, so she is very sensitive to handwriting.
The handwriting was confirmed to be correct, it was written by Mr. Gu himself. The choice of words and sentences are also old master Gu's idioms, showing a sense of arrogance.
Even if he was going to die, he would scold all the unfilial children and grandchildren in the suicide note, leaving a big shadow on the unfilial children and grandchildren.
But precisely because the suicide note was true, the doubts in Gu Jiu's mind became bigger and bigger.
Master Gu came in from the outside, "Have you finished watching?"
Holding the suicide note, Gu Jiu asked, "Why did the old man die?"
"The old man said in his suicide note..."
"Does uncle believe it?" She interrupted Mr. Gu.
Master Gu was a little confused, "What do you believe?"
"Uncle really believed in the reasons written in the suicide note. Did the old man commit suicide because he was tired of work?"
Mr. Gu was embarrassed for a moment, "So what if you don't believe it. The matter has come to this point, the most important thing is to let the dead rest in peace."
Gu Jiu shook his head, "There must be a reason for the old man's death. He may have been forced to death."
"Why do you think so? Who can kill the old man? Aren't you someone who doubts the mansion? Impossible. No one can kill the old man."
Mr. Gu flatly denied it.
Gu Jiu said: "I didn't say that the people from the Gu family forced the old man to death."
"Then who are you talking about? Who has such a great ability to drive the old man to death?"
Gu Jiu put down the suicide note, "This is just my guess, so don't take it to heart. You can do whatever you want with the funeral. The fourth sister's marriage must be arranged as soon as possible, so as not to delay the fourth sister's youth.
As for the separation, let's discuss it. If I need to come forward, I can send someone to the palace to speak. "
Mr. Gu felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure it out.
Gu Jiu didn't want to say more.
Everything is just her guess, and she has no evidence to prove her guess.
She was in a gloomy mood.
When I was in the atrium, I met Gu Yu, the fourth brother Gu.
Gu Yu's expression was a little pale. Recently, his life has not been easy.
"My condolences to the second sister."
"My condolences to Fourth Brother Gu."
After a pause, Gu Jiu suddenly asked: "Is my father really innocent in the case of ink corruption in the household department?"
Gu Yu frowned, "Why did the second sister suddenly ask about this?"
Gu Jiu said casually: "I'm just curious. I heard that Master Ma has not been found yet. It can be said that there is no one alive or dead. This is too weird."
Gu Yu frowned and thought for a moment, "It's not true to say that your lord is completely innocent."
Did Mr. Gu really participate in the ink corruption case