Rebirth of the Excellent Daughter of the Marquis Household (REDMH) - Chapter 127

Gu Yu Qi looked deeply at Yun Ke, then loosened her grip and released Xia Shuang Cheng who she had pinned to the ground. She turned to Yun Ke and curtseyed.

“Rise,” Yun Ke said to Gu Yu Qi. He wanted to extend a hand to help her, but she subtly avoided him with a small sidestep.

Sensing Gu Yu Qi’s resistance, Yun Ke sighed inwardly.

He naturally recognised Xia Yan, the An Le Marquis, and his notorious son, Xia Shuang Cheng. In his previous life, it was Yun Ke himself who had sent Xia Shuang Cheng to the executioner’s block. How could he forget? It was because of Xia Shuang Cheng that his relationship with the Virtuous Consort and Yun Yi had broken completely. The Virtuous Consort even harboured murderous intent toward him.

Yun Ke smiled coldly in his heart. How absurd. The Virtuous Consort had raised him for so many years, enough time to form a bond, even if he was basically raised as a dog. Yet, she had torn their relationship apart for the sake of a worthless nephew.

Not that it mattered. They were destined to fall out eventually. Xia Shuang Cheng was merely a catalyst.

The break between them was inevitable, and it was only a matter of time.

However, he had never imagined that in this life, Gu Yu Qi would publicly thrash Xia Shuang Cheng in the street. Given Gu Yu Qi’s current demeanour, Xia Shuang Cheng must have provoked her.

This thought caused a flash of coldness to pass through Yun Ke’s eyes as a murderous intent arose in his heart.

Gu Yu Qi had only grown more beautiful. He knew exactly what kind of person Xia Shuang Cheng was. For him to have enraged Gu Yu Qi like this, he had certainly made rude remarks or even tried to lay hands on her.

Yun Ke stared icily at Xia Shuang Cheng. He did not know which hand he had dared to raise against Gu Yu Qi, but if he found out, that hand would not live to see another day.

Seeing that Gu Yu Qi had let his son go, the An Le Marquis ignored etiquette in his paternal concern and rushed forward to help his son up from the ground.

“Father!” Xia Shuang Cheng barely squeezed the word from his throat. His voice was hoarse and the pained sound of his plea filled the An Le Marquis’ heart with both rage and sorrow.

“Your Highness arrived just in time,” the An Le Marquis said, seeking to play the victim first. “I implore Your Highness to give justice. My dog son was beaten without cause in the middle of the street! This Marquis demands that these siblings be dragged to the authorities to face the law!”

“Hah! Truly a son of a dog! Marquis has quite the foresight,” Gu Yu Qi could not help but burst out laughing. Her laugh was dazzling, instantly brightening the atmosphere. When Gu Yu Qi laughed, Gu Si Yang followed suit. However, this was the An Le Marquis, so he did not dare to laugh as unscrupulously as Gu Yu Qi did. He could only hold it in, but his shoulders were shaking suspiciously.

“You!” How could the An Le Marquis not notice the sarcasm in Gu Yu Qi’s voice? He had said “dog son” as a humble expression, but in Gu Yu Qi’s mouth, it turned into an insult. She had insulted two people at once, dragging him into it too.

Even Yun Ke wanted to laugh a bit, though his face remained as calm and composed as ever.

In the past, he had overlooked Gu Yu Qi too much, never realising she could be so lively and cute.

In his previous life, he had found Gu Yu Qi’s boldness and flamboyance intolerable, but now, Gu Yu Qi’s smile was extremely pleasing to his eyes, filled with a touch of cleverness and charm.

“This prince will ensure justice is served,” Prince An Yun Ke said slowly, “What exactly happened here?”
His first sentence was directed at the An Le Marquis, but the second half was aimed at Gu Yu Qi.

Before Gu Yu Qi could respond, Gu Si Yang stepped forward, offering Yun Ke a polite bow, “Your Highness,” he began, recounting the entire incident in detail. Originally, he would have never told anyone he had been harassed, but Gu Yu Qi had made a point. If nobody reported and exposed evil people like Xia Shuang Cheng for the sake of their own reputations, it would only make things worse because he would have nothing to fear.

His eldest sister was right, he had nothing to lose. If the evildoer could be punished, it would be a great achievement.

The An Le Marquis’ face alternated between shades of red and white, when he listened. It was utterly mortifying.

These siblings were not ordinary people. One was the Ding Yuan Marquis’ eldest daughter, the other was his concubine’s son! What kind of ambition had gotten into this brat? Why mess with a marquisate when he could mess with someone else?! Even though the Ding Yuan Marquis had come from humble origins, he had saved the Emperor’s life twice. The Emperor certainly had not forgotten that debt, otherwise how could he have made him a marquis? Besides, of all people, why would he mess with Gu Yu Qi? Everyone in the capital knew Gu Yu Qi was notorious for her fierce temperament! She was the kind of girl who would not hesitate to hit her own father, beating him was nothing more than child’s play to her!

By the end, the An Le Marquis’ face had paled considerably. The news of Gu Yu Qi being betrothed to Yun Ke as a secondary consort had already spread like wildfire through the capital!

She was going to be the daughter-in-law of the imperial family soon. He had publicly provoked her younger brother. Was he not just asking for trouble?

Although the Virtuous Consort currently enjoyed the Emperor’s favour, Yun Ke had also recently gained the Emperor’s favour. Now, the An Le Marquis was just hoping that Yun Ke would consider the Virtuous Consort’s position and choose not to pursue the matter. After all, Yun Ke and Yun Yi were still aligned for now, and the Xia family was one of the Virtuous Consort’s allies.

After hearing Gu Si Yang’s explanation, Yun Ke felt relieved that Gu Yu Qi had not suffered. The dark storm in his eyes began to recede a little.

“So that’s what happened,” Yun Ke said, raising his eyes to glance at Xia Yan. In a calm tone, he asked, “Your heir allowed his servants to commit a crime. He also personally harassed and blackmailed the Ding Yuan Marquis’ family members first. If this prince is truly to serve justice, this prince would have to send your heir to the central judicial office.”

Damn it, this had put a great burden on him. Although the An Le Marquis believed that what his disappointing son had done was likely as Gu Si Yang described, Yun Ke’s one-sided favouritism was blatant. With just Gu Si Yang’s words, he placed three serious charges on his son. Such bias had gone far beyond anything expected. Forget it, that woman was soon to be married to Prince An as his secondary consort. They were a family living under different roofs.

“Your Highness Prince An is wise and discerning,” the An Le Marquis said. He knew there was no benefit to be gained here. He was a person who’s attitude changed according to the situation, so he bowed immediately, “It is this marquis’ fault for not disciplining him. This marquis shall strictly discipline his son in the future.” When he mentioned his son, Gu Yu Qi laughed lightly again, which caused the An Le Marquis to flush in humiliation and cast Gu Yu Qi a vicious glare.

“How Marquis decides to discipline his son is of no concern to this prince, but Gu Si Yang was harassed for no reason…” His Highness Prince An spoke coldly, “Does the Marquis have nothing to say?”

Moreover, my future wife had to dirty her hand, are you not going to say anything at all? My future wife’s hands and feet are so delicate… Your son’s filthy skin is so disgusting that just touching it is sickening.

Of course, Yun Ke did not say the latter part out loud.

“Young Master Gu, this marquis apologises on behalf of his son,” An Le Marquis said to Gu Si Yang immediately.

Gu Si Yang bit his lower lip and looked at his sister, clearly uncertain of how to proceed.

Gu Yu Qi sighed inwardly. This kid really has become foolish from just studying. Yun Ke had already made it clear he was supporting them. Since His Highness Prince An had spoken, then you can take advantage of this man and he would not dare protest.

“Your son demanded 100,000 taels of silver from my brother earlier,” Gu Yu Qi said, unable to stand her brother’s honest expression any longer. There is no need to talk about conscience when dealing with evil people, because their morals were inherently evil.

Gu Yu Qi could clearly see that Xia Shuang Cheng’s current personality was closely tied to his overprotective father.

She knew that she herself was neither a saint, she did not have Virgin Mary’s halo that glowed across the lands. She had no need to uphold these lofty ideals.

The An Le Marquis was naturally a perceptive man, and he understood immediately after hearing Gu Yu Qi’s words.

100,000 taels of silver! This wretched girl was so bold! Although his marquisate could afford to fork out such a sum, that was far too much!

“Everything is my son’s doing…” Xia Yan hesitated as he mentioned his son. He paused momentarily and when he saw that Gu Yu Qi did not laugh this time, he cleared his throat and continued, “This marquis will offer 20,000 taels of silver to calm the nerves of Young Master Gu.”

“Oh? What does this mean, Marquis?” Gu Yu Qi snorted coldly, “Do you truly think that our Ding Yuan Marquis’ residence is in need of your 20,000 taels? You should know that Si Yang once promised to donate 50,000 taels to the students of Lushan Academy in the suburbs of the capital. Marquis has the nerve to even mention a mere 20,000 taels.”

Eh? Gu Si Yang was a little confused at this, staring at his eldest sister in confusion. When had he promised to donate 50,000 taels to Lushan Academy?

He opened his mouth to speak, but after a sharp glare from Gu Yu Qi, he swallowed his words back down.

This wretched girl! An Le Marquis felt his vision go dark. 50,000 taels! That was her starting offer!

Seeing that the An Le Marquis did not respond, Gu Yu Qi slowly took out and unfolded the piece of paper she had put away earlier and waved it in front of the marquis. “An Le Marquis can read, right? This is something your son personally signed and sealed. The writing is perfectly clear in black and white. Ah, I must apologise, my memory is not particularly good. I tend to misplace things. Imagine if one day I entered the palace and happened to misplace this piece of paper right in front of His Majesty. Say, this problem… Would it not bring quite a bit of trouble to both you and your son?”

The An Le Marquis felt a lump in his throat as if it were on fire. What was this?! Gu Yu Qi’s movements were slow, so he could see the handwriting clearly.

He wanted to kick his son to the ground and give him a good beating! How stupid was he to write down such a thing in black and white! If something like this was ever presented to His Majesty, where would he even be able to hide his face?!

“An Le Marquis, this prince sees that you are sincerely apologising on behalf of your son. Why not do this instead? You can donate the 50,000 taels to Lushan Academy in place of Young Master Gu,” Yun Ke said smoothly, holding back a laugh.

“Yes, yes, yes, Your Highness is absolutely right.” An Le Marquis wanted to kick Gu Yu Qi away, but since Prince An had spoken, what else could he do? His foolish son had already given them something to hold over him. “But about that item in Miss Gu’s possession…”

“This matter, this prince will take care of it instead,” Yun Ke said, extending his hand towards Gu Yu Qi. “Unless, of course, Marquis does not trust this prince?”

“Of course, I trust you, Your Highness,” An Le Marquis said, nearly wiping his brow in relief.

Gu Yu Qi cast a deep look at Yun Ke, “As soon as the 50,000 taels have been donated in my brother’s name, this item will naturally be delivered to His Highness Prince An.” With that, she still tucked the paper away.