Chapter 581: Bottom Line (3)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Madam Lei bit her pale lower lip. This time, she didn’t dare to look up at Chu You. Her tear-stained eyelashes trembled a few times, and her voice trembled even more.
“Ever since the previous dynasty, the Qi family has been attached to the Yu family. They’re a vassal of the Yu family.”
“All these years, the Qi family has been following the Yu family’s lead. The Yu family promised that if they could succeed one day, they would give the Qi family a conferred land and let the Qi family reach the heavens in a single step. Yu Si said that the Qi family should have his father’s letter as evidence.” “These things were told to me personally by Yu Si when he sent me away. I don’t know much…”
Madam Lei’s body trembled, and her lips trembled. She was like a remnant flower in the wind and rain, weak and innocent.
She clenched her skirt tightly with her hand. After a while, she calmed down a little and continued, “At first, I hid in a house arranged by Yu Si, but after waiting and waiting, no one from Yu Si came to look for me. Later, I heard that the Embroidered Uniform Guards were searching for the Yu family in the capital… I was extremely afraid. I really didn’t know what to do, so I could only bring the child to look for Old Madam Gu.”
“Old Madam Gu has been helping me recently. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to survive until now.”
With that, Madam Yu’s tear-stained face drooped again, and her eyelashes trembled violently.
Chu You pursed his lips in a straight line in frustration. His heart sank bit by bit until it reached the abyss.
Things were more troublesome than he had expected.
The Yu family was actually suspected of rebellion. The crime of rebellion was a serious crime that was enough to exterminate nine generations.
If Old Madam Gu knew that the Yu family had the intention to rebel and still hid Madam Lei and her son, this crime wouldn’t be small. To put it more seriously, it could even be considered a rebellion.
This was a huge crime to be exiled to the army!
This time, it would probably be as difficult for him to protect Gu Jian and the others as it was for the Yu family back then.
Chu You quickly thought about what to do. In just a blink of an eye, his mind was filled with thoughts.
At this point, if he wanted to protect the Gu family’s second branch, he could only cut off their tail and sacrifice the lesser for the greater good.
Chu You secretly gritted his teeth, and his thick eyebrows twitched. He made a decision in an extremely short period of time and looked up at the Emperor, who hadn’t spoken for a long time. “Brother!”
Chu You stared deeply into the Emperor’s eyes. He raised his chin and said in an imposing manner, “Even if the Gu family’s crime involves harboring the members of the Yu family, it’s Old Madam Gu’s fault alone. It has nothing to do with the rest of the Gu family.”
“One person’s fault?” Chu Yi’s gentle and elegant voice suddenly sounded from ahead.
The handsome young man, who had been looking down, raised his eyelids and looked accurately in Chu You’s direction. His eyes were as bright as the morning stars.
The refined young man said unhurriedly, “At the end of October in the fourth year of reign, General Hu Dingguo took a risk and killed Yongzhou’s political officer, Zhu Ye. He called himself the Grand Marshal of the Eastern Expedition and rose up in Yongzhou. He was captured in February in the fifth year of reign and the entire Hu family was executed.”
“In December of the 10th year of reign, Zhu Xianxi secretly contacted the ministers in the court. He failed to assassinate the late Emperor at the banquet of the imperial palace and was instead surrounded by the imperial guards. Zhu Xianxi risked his life and held the Seventh Imperial Uncle hostage to threaten the late Emperor. In the end, Zhu Xianxi was killed in the imperial garden. The late Emperor was furious because of this and ordered the extermination of Zhu Xianxi’s ten families. Later on, because this case had a wide range of implications, the Embroidered Uniform Guards launched a full-scale search, including the Cabinet Chief, Li Yong, and the others at that time. They were either raided or exiled.”
Chu Yi spoke tirelessly. He wasn’t angry or arrogant, but he had an admirable aura.
He was like a mountain, standing there majestically.
Chu You’s expression became darker and darker.
Back then, the previous Emperor had issued a decree to exterminate Zhu Xianxi’s ten families in a fit of anger. He had always been criticized by those self-important officials and scholars and felt that the previous Emperor was too ruthless.
However, Chu You knew that the late Emperor was like this because his heart ached for him. The late Emperor was using this to intimidate the world and make those rebellious ministers no longer dare to attack him.
Chu Yi looked at Chu You from afar and smiled gently. He asked, “Seventh Imperial Uncle, do you think the previous Emperor’s judgment was right?”
“…” Chu You was at a loss for words. His gaze was sinister, and he couldn’t say a word.
As his son, he naturally couldn’t question the previous Emperor’s benevolent fatherly heart.
Out of the uncle and nephew, one was filled with killing intent, and the other was smiling.
After a long silence, Chu You said word by word, “Gu Yunrong is my princess
consort..”