Gu Zhi was not only proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, but also managed to get close to the general's mansion without anyone noticing.
Whenever Liao thought of Gu Zhi, she felt disgusted with him.
In a fit of rage, she immediately asked someone to invite Shen Chengzhou to seek justice.
Soon, Lord Gu returned home first.
Liao and her friends were waiting in the hall. When she saw Lord Gu coming back, Liao immediately changed her attitude. Before Lord Gu even went up the stairs, she went to greet him.
"My son-in-law meets my uncle."
Ling Xiao bent down and saluted respectfully to Lord Gu.
When Lord Gu saw Ling Xiao lowering his posture very low, he immediately felt relieved.
"Hurry up and get up." Lord Gu helped Ling Xiao up. "It is my honor to have the young general come to my Grand Secretary's residence. Why should we be so formal?"
"I am now engaged to Miss Gu, and will be your son-in-law in the future. It is only natural for a son-in-law to respect his uncle." Ling Xiao spoke so sweetly that no one could find any flaws in his words.
With just a few words, Lord Gu was coaxed into feeling comfortable.
"But I just heard from the housekeeper that you guys had a conflict?"
"That's true." Ling Xiao admitted readily.
Liao wanted to interrupt, but Ling Xiao spoke too quickly and she could only stand by and worry.
"Uncle, it's like this. I went to the palace today, and the Seventh Prince brought back Miss Gu's jade pendant for me. I was thinking of giving it to Miss Gu, but the Madam wouldn't let me in. I had no choice but to climb over the wall." Ling Xiao explained.
"But the idea of climbing over the wall was also told to me by the Seventh Prince. I thought I would just give her something and not do anything, and then leave. But just as I was about to leave, the Madam rushed to Miss Gu's yard and accused me of being a thief."
"Uncle, although I don't have a close relationship with you, as the prince and the grandson of the general who guards the country, you should know whether I would be a thief and steal things from your house."
Ling Xiao's words were directed at the Liao family.
Liao was so anxious that she stamped her feet, but there was nothing she could do.
"Are you really not going to let Young Master Ling in and call him a thief?" Lord Gu was angry and accused Liao.
"this… "
"Dad." Gu Zhi suddenly spoke. "When you were away, there were only Madam and a few sisters in the house. It was inappropriate for Master Ling to come in. Madam was also thinking about our reputation."
"Master Ling came to see me for something serious."
After saying that, she took out the jade token from her sleeve.
"Look."
That jade plaque was enough to prove that Ling Xiao did not lie.
Seeing that Gu Zhi spoke for Liao, Lord Gu stopped criticizing Liao and talked with Ling Xiao for a while until Shen Chengzhou came and took Ling Xiao away.
And Gu Zhi also returned to the backyard.
"Master, he was the one who climbed over the wall first, why are you speaking for him?" Liao had accumulated a lot of resentment, and now that there were no outsiders around, she vented it all out.
"How could I not know that what that boy said was just flattery?" Lord Gu rolled his eyes at Liao. "But he is the grandson of the great general who guards the country. He also said that it was the Seventh Prince who taught him to climb over the courtyard wall. What can I do?"
Liao is just not very smart, can't get things done, and is too straightforward in what he says and does.
After being enlightened by Lord Gu, she seemed to understand something.
As he was speaking, the butler came over and presented a few jade tablets.
"Master, Madam, Miss Ling II specially sent the jade plaques of Miss II, Miss III, and Miss IV as a token of apology to you two."
When she saw her daughter's jade pendant was taken back, Liao immediately smiled happily.
"You, after living for decades, are still not as capable as Miss Ling Er in doing things."
After Ling Qingwan's performance, Lord Gu felt much more relieved. He also felt that Ling Qingwan was very smart, no wonder the Seventh Prince fell in love with her.
Ling Xiao felt uncomfortable when he returned to the general's mansion.
Shen Chengzhou was so angry that he whipped Ling Xiao and beat him.
"You little bastard, you're itching for trouble, aren't you? You actually climbed over someone's wall! Lord Gu didn't tell you about that, you don't know how much you embarrassed me today."
"I just wanted to deliver something to Miss Gu." Ling Xiao explained.
"It's just a jade plaque. Is it necessary for you to deliver it now? Madam Gu won't let you in. Don't you know to go there next time? Besides, who asked you to deliver it in person? You can just give it to the servants and ask them to deliver it to Miss Gu. Is it necessary for you to climb over the wall to deliver it?"
Shen Chengzhou said as he whipped Ling Xiao again.
Ling Xiao was almost dying of pain.
Qingfeng felt distressed watching from the side, but he knew that Shen Chengzhou was angry and no one could persuade him. Except for one person, of course.
That is Ling Qingwan.
So Qingfeng ran to the backyard without saying a word and called Ling Qingwan.
Ling Qingwan heard Ling Xiao's call from a distance.
"Grandfather."
Ling Qingwan quickened her pace and came to the hall.
"Forget it, brother knows he's wrong."
"You can't just let it go like this." Shen Chengzhou retorted. "You know this kid's temper. If you don't beat him up and let him suffer for ten days or half a month, he won't learn his lesson."
"Believe it or not, if he climbed over the wall today, he will dare to fly into the sky next time."
"This only works if I can fly." Ling Xiao muttered softly.
"You're still talking back, aren't you?"
After saying that, Shen Chengzhou whipped Ling Xiao again.
Ling Xiao cried out in pain.
Ling Qingwan felt very distressed when seeing this, she gritted her teeth and stood in front of Ling Xiao.
“Wanwan, you…!” Shen Chengzhou was so disappointed with her.
As a last resort, he put down the whip.
Ling Qingwan took Ling Xiao to the backyard and treated his wounds personally.
"Ouch! Be gentle! It hurts!"
Before Ling Qingwan's hand even touched the wound, Ling Xiao started screaming.
"Grandpa is not here, so you don't have to shout so hard." Ling Qingwan smiled helplessly.
“Yes.”
Ling Xiao slapped his head.
Shen Chengzhou had indeed used a lot of strength to hit Ling Xiao, Ling Qingwan could tell from the wound. But Ling Xiao had practiced martial arts since he was a child, so even if the enemy's knife stabbed him in the chest, Ling Xiao never cried out in pain, let alone a whip wound.
In comparison, a mere whip wound can only be considered a minor incident.
"But speaking of it, grandpa was right." Ling Qingwan lowered her head and said to Ling Xiao while applying medicine.
"Why do you say that to me too?" Ling Xiao felt a little aggrieved.
"Who told you to climb over someone else's wall for no reason?" Ling Qingwan muttered. "The point you made is that you broke into someone's house. Although Liao is not a good person, she said you were a thief today, and you really didn't have the nerve to refute her."
"It's all that fellow's fault. He took my silver ingot for nothing."
Speaking of this, Ling Xiao was filled with anger.
Ling Qingwan was confused, so Ling Xiao told her everything, how he climbed over the wall, how he asked the waiter, and how he knocked the waiter unconscious and left him a silver ingot.
"Have you ever seen a thief break into someone's house and give hush money?" Ling Xiao pouted.
That being said, he does have a point.