vrcanaries Chapter 772: The Hunter Lady is the Savior of the Powerful Official 33
Chapter 772: The Hunter Lady is the Savior of the Powerful Official 33
The raindrops of late spring hit the green tiles of the Gao family's main house, and the copper bells under the eaves made a dull sound in the wind.
Gao Shiqi, the head of the Gao family, was holding the emperor's edict of pardon, and the edges of the edict were slightly wrinkled by his grip.
Gao Shiqi, who was originally full of vigor and looked ten years younger than his peers, seemed to have entered old age after the changes in the Gao family over the past year. He should have been in his prime, and not only did he become hunched, but dark brown age spots began to appear on his body.
This year saw the Gao family fall from the clouds into the mire. Although they were not demoted to commoners, the Gao family acted in a domineering and unreasonable manner, and had offended many people over the years.
During this incident, there were too many families that took advantage of the Gao family's misfortune, and even the third prince kept targeting the Gao family and giving them a beating when they were down.
If it weren't for the Crown Princess's legitimate daughter and the Crown Prince's previous protection of their Gao family, perhaps the Gao family would have really fallen into the mud pit.
"Your Majesty is indeed mindful of our old friendship, and our daughter has truly tried her best."
The butler rubbed his hands and stood beside Gao Shiqi, with a rare sense of luck in his tone.
However, after everyone left, Gao Shiqi threw the imperial edict on the table. The word "pardon" written in thick ink was splashed with tea stains, which looked like the bloodstains that had not been wiped off on the execution ground.
"Don't mention that useless thing. He claimed to be smart, but he still couldn't win over the prince and give birth to a child.
Instead, the Crown Prince married the woman from the Su family as his concubine this year, and now the child is about to be born."
Gao Shiqi didn't dare to do anything about the imperial edict. He walked over, sneered, wiped the tea stains on the handkerchief handed to him by the butler, and continued to speak coldly.
"This time, the family's assets have been cut by half. If we don't do anything else and have no other source of income, relying solely on the money earned from being an official, the Gao family will be so poor that they will have to sell their ancestral graves by this time next year!"
Gao Shiqi was alert after all and did not say anything more aggravating in front of the butler.
There are about ten secret hiding places of the Gao family's money that only every head of the family knows about. To put it bluntly, even if the Gao family's property was confiscated, as long as they are still alive, they can still live well.
But in this short period of one year, he, the head of the Gao family, was imprisoned in the Gao Mansion. He could do nothing and not even a fly could fly in. When all the news finally came in, Gao Shiqi almost vomited blood.
The Crown Prince, who claimed that he would be with the daughter of the Gao family for life, actually married a concubine when the Gao family was in trouble, and now the child is about to be born.
As for the ten gold hiding places that the Gao family had placed throughout Dachen, when he sent his confidants to investigate again, he discovered that the gold in those hiding places that they had deliberately avoided in order to avoid being discovered had been replaced with dyed stones. Except for the boxes, everything else had been swapped!!!
Unfortunately, these were things that only the head of the family could know, so Gao Shiqi forced himself not to tell anyone.
Behind the sandalwood screen in the main hall, the second son Gao Rao also heard his father's words and crushed the teacup in his hand in anger.
Last year, his military achievements were stripped away and he was demoted to a minor official guarding the city. He was heartbroken and couldn't bear to be told to outsiders. His former friends all closed their doors to visitors, and even his concubine packed up her belongings and ran away...
Thinking of this, a gleam of resentment ignited in Gao Rao's eyes.
He said this with resentment as he looked at the cut on his palm.
"Dad, I guess who framed our family, it must be the Su family.
If nothing had happened to our Gao family, that woman from the Su family wouldn't have directly become the Crown Prince's concubine.
I heard that my younger sister is no longer favored. The woman surnamed Su is about to give birth to her child, and that child will be your Majesty's first grandchild. The emperor's favor is no small matter!"
Gao Shiqi also suspected the Su family, but he had no evidence, and the Gao family could not afford to have another incident.
He waved his hand to let the butler go out, then walked to his second son and sat down, frowning at him and asked.
"But is there any evidence?"
In the future, if the Gao family is around His Majesty, the Su family cannot be there. If the Su family is there, the Gao family will have less to eat. They are inherently hostile to each other.
"Of course."
Gao Rao took out a secret letter from his sleeve. The edge of the letter was printed with the Su family's coat of arms with sealing wax.
"This is what my confidant who was previously planted in the Su family found in the warehouse. It describes how to bribe the censors to impeach our Gao family."
Gao Rao lied to his father. His father always thought he was useless and unable to handle the responsibility. This time, his elder brother didn't find it, but he did.
Even though this letter was not found by the so-called confidant at all, and just suddenly "flew" into his study three days ago, he had already made up his mind.
It was like they were both legitimate sons, and he was the legitimate son of the Gao family, but because he was demoted to a minor city guard, he was ridiculed in person by the illegitimate son of the Su family.
He can't do it, but his entire Gao family can! !
"Since that's the case, our family will fight the Su family to the death. The child in this belly is not born by the Gao family, so it is a bastard..."
At the same time, in the small courtyard of Tong'an Town, Xiao Yunzhou was dripping the last drop of sealing wax on the secret letter.
My sister went to collect rent today, and Xiao Yunzhou didn't let the secret guards wear the masks that would kill people with the heat.
Ever since Xiao Yunzhou gained memories of his previous life, there are so many things he can do.
In addition to intercepting the Gao family's ten hidden gold storage locations and using all the gold where it should be used, he also secretly manipulated a lot of things.
"Master, I have placed the secret letter in Gao Rao's study as you instructed. The Gao family seems to have determined that the Su family was responsible and is preparing to contact their former subordinates to launch a counterattack."
Xiao Yunzhou lowered his eyes and took a sip of tea, thinking of the second son of the Gao family in his previous life, who was very jealous but as stupid as a pig.
As long as someone offends him, he will not care about whether it is right or wrong, and will fight to the death.
In the past, the Gao family and even his sister, the Crown Princess, might be able to support him, but things are different now. The Crown Princess has fallen out of favor and the Gao family is in its most difficult period. So, when he got something that was enough to prove that there was something wrong with the Su family, why would he care about the source of the thing?
He wanted to put all the pressure on the Su family to avenge himself for being looked down upon.
So, in the previous life, the Gao family was really wiped out. Apart from his efforts, it was also the second son of the Gao family who committed suicide.