Chapter 679: Silencing

Gu Shijie never imagined he would spend all his savings, and then in a small town in the southwest he persuaded a rich merchant to give him a large sum of silver for his travel expenses to the capital.

He initially saw, on the wall of the southwest town, the imperial notices posted by officials announcing the appearance of the new emperor of Southern Qi.

It was Xiao Yin?

And the daughter who made him hate her so much his teeth itched suddenly became the Empress Mother of Southern Qi.

Initially Xiao Yin conferred the title of empress on Gu Jiu Ling and announced this to the world.

Gu Shijie never expected his daughter to actually become empress, which also stirred his thoughts.

After all, no matter what, he is still her biological father.

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became; if he came to the capital and found his daughter, he would be a duke, Xiao Yin's father-in-law, and his days of prosperity would arrive.

Only later did he gradually realize that Gu Kang, that rascal, had schemed against him.

He initially took the silver Gu Kang gave him for buying the Gu family residence and went to the southwest to take up his post, not expecting to be robbed blind by bandits as soon as he entered the southwest region.

Only then did he understand why his son gave him silver not as banknotes but as many silver ingots.

Even those silver ingots could only be exchanged for banknotes in the southwest; that boy did it on purpose.

He was left with nothing after the robbery, with only a faithful servant beside him.

But the hardest thing to fathom in this world is the human heart; even that faithful servant could not endure such a life of poverty and showed some negligence in serving him.

Later he stole a few valuable jade items he carried with him, fled his side, and went off to enjoy himself somewhere unknown.

Gu Shijie became utterly a lonely wanderer; when he was on the brink of destitution begging in the street, two servants appeared out of nowhere, saying they were sent by Gu Kang, Lord Gu, to look after him.

In fact, the so-called care merely kept him alive, and he still had to do farm work himself.

When he left, he swore to the rich merchant that he absolutely had not lied.

The empress is indeed his daughter, and the current power‑holder Lord Gu is also his son.

The rich merchant thought he was talking nonsense, yet seeing him lay out the details of the empress and Lord Gu so clearly, he suddenly felt a hint of suspicion.

It was nothing more than losing that sum of silver in a gamble, so he handed the silver over to him.

Moreover, he detained the two servants Gu Kang had brought and assigned one of his own confidants to follow him all the way.

If he were to go back like this now, the rich merchant would not be a pushover; he'd likely not let him off.

After all, from the start he thought he was lying; this time he gained nothing, and returning would surely leave him without a burial place.

Gu Shijie saw he was about to be dragged out of the courtyard gate, then suddenly hardened his heart and shouted loudly: "Enough, enough, you lot of little beasts won't let me have peace—I'll just tear everything apart."

"Xiao Yin, I tell you, do you really think the two Gu siblings are good people? If you don't kill them both, you'll invite endless trouble!"

"Do you know what status their mother is? Their mother is——"【28】 Suddenly his voice cut off; incredulously he slowly turned his head to look at his son Gu Kang standing behind him.

Suddenly his voice cut off abruptly, and in disbelief he slowly turned his head to look at his son Gu Kang standing behind him.

Gu Kang's sword blade slowly withdrew from his chest a little at a time, his face calm and silent.

The feeling was as if he had not just personally killed his father, but merely slaughtered pigs and sheep.

The situation changed abruptly; Gu Jiu Ling looked at her brother in disbelief.

Although she felt no familial affection for Gu Shijie, she still had to give Gu Kang face and let Gu Shijie have a way out.

After all, Gu Kang had been raised in pampered luxury in the Gu family, and he still retained a last shred of affection for Gu Shijie.

Yet who would have thought that Gu Kang, just because of Gu Shijie's earlier ravings, would personally kill his own father?

Gu Shijie's lips twitched; he stared in terror at his son, struggling to say something, but his body had already been weak, and now after taking Gu Kang's piercing sword to the heart he could no longer speak.

He collapsed with a thud, blood pouring from his chest.

Xiao Yin's brows knitted tightly as he stared fixedly at Gu Kang before him.

Gu Kang turned, dropped to his knees with a thud before Xiao Yin, and flung his sword far to the side.

He kowtowed to Xiao Yin and Gu Jiu Ling: "Your Majesty, Her Majesty, I beg your pardon. b."

"I really cannot tolerate this wicked person; he once almost got me killed, but I have already let go of the grudge and gave him a way to live."

"I never expected him to spout such madness; saying bad things about me is one thing, but he dared to speak against the empress—I cannot bear it, and I'm sure Your Majesty cannot either."

"It was my rashness that startled Her Majesty and Your Majesty; please, Your Majesty, forgive me."

A flicker of depth passed through Xiao Yin's eyes.

If his ears weren't deaf, he would have heard every word clearly just now.

What Gu Shijie said seemed to have more to follow; I didn't expect Gu Kang to stab him—could there be something else hidden on his person?

This matter involves not only Gu Kang but also Gu Jiu Ling; a mystery seems to have arisen suddenly.

Xiao Yin coldly sneered: "Lord Gu, you're quite mighty—killing to silence witnesses right before me?"

Gu Kang's body tensed slightly as he kowtowed: "Just now Gu Shijie spared neither the empress; the empress and Your Majesty have endured countless hardships to get where they are—do you really think that just listening to one sentence from Gu Shijie would plant another thorn in the empress's and your heart?"

"Gu Shijie has always hated my elder sister; he least wants to see her happy."

"Those words were deliberately sown to seed doubt between the emperor and the empress; thus the harm still falls on the empress—I ask the emperor to understand."

Gu Kang's words made Xiao Yin instantly lose his vigor; clearly Gu Shijie's words hid something, but now that Gu Kang has said this he cannot investigate further.

If he pursued it, he would truly distrust Gu Jiu Ling; but if Gu Shijie really spoke out of malice, then he would be wronging his own empress.

At this point Xiao Yin's heart suddenly panicked; last time, because of a misunderstanding about Gu Jiu Ling, she drifted further away and he almost failed to win her back.

If now, because of this dead man's words, he lets his mind run wild, wouldn't he be failing Gu Jiu Ling's sincere devotion to him?

He even resents himself a little—why did doubts rise in his heart just then?

He looked at Gu Shijie's corpse by the door, coldly smirking: "Come, drag him out and bury him casually."

Not throwing him into the mass grave to feed the dogs is already Xiao Yin's greatest kindness toward him.

"Jiu Ling, let's return to the palace."

Gu Jiu Ling's heart was already churning with stormy waves; the three of them are all sharp‑sighted, so nothing escapes their notice.

Clearly what Gu Shijie said just now was true, yet Gu Kang's saying this makes Xiao Yin embarrassed to investigate further.

Xiao Yin felt embarrassed to investigate her background, but that doesn't mean she has none.

Gu Shijie died, and we can no longer get his words out of him.

But why did Gu Kang act so ruthlessly? Could he know something?