Chapter 133
Gu Changqing hoped it wasn"t what he thought. He continued inquiring, "Did he not only beat you up, but also tied you up with a rope and locked you in the woodshed, shutting you inside for a long time?"
Gu Chenglin was stunned, "Eldest brother, how did you know?"
Gu Changqing clenched his fists, suppressed his surging anger and asked again, "Is it a little girl who beat you up?"
Gu Chenglin was even more astonished.
No way, had his eldest brother always been so G.o.dly?
He could even tell that the injuries on his body were from a beating by a girl?
At this point, what else did Gu Changqing not understand?
If he guessed correctly, it was this boy who bullied someone’s brother in the same way first, and then that someone responded with a tooth for a tooth.
And yet this boy still dared to brazenly say he was innocent!
"How did the Marquis Estate raise such a useless person like you?" Gu Changqing said and, while he was at it, straightened him out with a beating.
Gu Chenglin was dumbfounded.
What was going on?
Why was he getting beaten again?
After experiencing another round of beating, Gu Chenglin still didn"t realize that his lies were already exposed and kept on acting, "Eldest brother, what are you doing? I was beaten by others because I didn"t have the ability to fight back. Who told grandfather to always teach you martial arts, but not me and second brother?! Otherwise, I can beat the other party back myself. Why should I still call for your help?"
At the mention of this, Gu Changqing got even angrier.
Did grandfather not teach them martial arts? It was them who could not bear the hardship and gave up!
In the past, Gu Changqing also felt that their grandfather"s requirements were too strict. He was able to keep up because he had no choice. He was the eldest grandson of the Marquis Estate and was shouldering the fate of the Marquis Estate. On the other hand, his two younger brothers didn"t have to work so hard.
But today he saw the little kid in the yard training. He was only three or four years old, and yet he trained even harder than he did when he was a child, and that kid also never once grumbled!
No one even forced him to train!
After such a comparison, Gu Changqing thought he was indeed that girl’s younger brother.
Gu Changqing looked at Gu Chenglin as his last trace of sympathy was gone. He said, "Go to the study and kneel down."
Gu Chenglin simply suspected that he had misheard him, asking, "What did you say, eldest brother?"
Gu Changqing replied coldly, "I told you to go to the study and kneel!"
Gu Chenglin blew his top, "Why must I kneel? I"ve already been beaten like this, and you’re still going to punish me? Are you still my eldest brother or not?"
Gu Changqing looked at his younger brother who was not only unrepentant after doing something wrong, but also so unruly as to talk back to him wildly. For a moment, fury crept up from the bottom of his heart.
When their mother died, his two younger brothers were still very young, and because they felt very sorry for these two children, the whole estate pampered them greatly, especially Gu Chenglin.
Gu Chengfeng had gradually reined in himself in recent years, on the other hand, Gu Chenglin was still as stubborn and unruly as when he was a child; it was just that he was no longer a real child after all, so no one would easily forgive his mistakes.
"It’s precisely because I’m your eldest brother that I want to discipline you! Are you going to the study by yourself, or shall I drag you to the study!"
"You..."
Gu Chengfeng had been eavesdropping outside the door for a long time. Seeing that their eldest brother was being serious, he rushed inside and said, "Eldest brother, third brother, don"t argue!"
At the sight of Gu Chengfeng, Gu Chenglin felt a sudden burst of grievance. Obviously, of his two older brothers, his second brother was closer to him. All the time, if his eldest brother was not studying some book, he was practicing martial arts. Only his second brother was really by his side.
He said, "Second brother, go and reason it out with eldest brother! Eldest brother wants to punish me!"
Gu Chengfeng said in a low voice, "You should talk less!"
The moment his eldest brother began to give his third brother a beating, Gu Chengfeng had guessed that his eldest brother more or less already knew the truth. He had already felt that this method was unreliable. If his eldest brother was such an easy person to fool, he would not have been nicknamed as Iron-faced Yama in the military camp.
Gu Chengfeng tried desperately to give his third brother a hint, but in a temper, Gu Chenglin refused to see anything in his eyes.
"Eldest brother, you’re going to punish me for that wild boy?! You will regret this! Do you— Ommp—Mmph—?"
Do you know who he is?
Just as he was about to utter the last sentence, Gu Chengfeng timely covered his mouth, preventing him from speaking properly.
Gu Chengfeng was scared out of his wits and broke into a cold sweat.
Was his stupid third brother really going to expose Gu Yan"s ident.i.ty just now?
Telling their eldest brother that he recognized the boy as Gu Yan was tantamount to admitting that it was him who first started the trouble. And since the whole family knew about Gu Yan’s heart disease, wouldn’t locking him up in a small and dark room be the same as trying to kill him?
This was no longer bullying, but a deliberate attempt to kill people!
Although Gu Chenglin didn"t actually have the intention to kill anyone at that time, would Gu Chenglin be able to give a clear explanation?
Would their eldest brother believe it?
"It’s also for your own good that eldest brother is punishing you! Look at you, you got yourself into trouble and upon coming home, you speak rudely to your elder brother!" Gu Chengfeng kept staring at Gu Chenglin, giving him a meaningful look!
Gu Chenglin took the hint this time and said nothing more.
Gu Chengfeng breathed a sigh of relief and said to Gu Changqing, "Eldest brother, third brother indeed deserves to be punished for getting into trouble, but you can also see that he is already badly hurt and has received enough lesson. It would be too much to punish him further by kneeling. Let him get well first."
Their eldest brother was strict, but he still loved his younger brothers very much.
Gu Chengfeng secretly made a rea.s.suring gesture at Gu Chenglin.
Unexpectedly, he had yet to finish his gesture when a sound of unrest could be heard outside the courtyard.
A servant boy rushed in with a look of haste and reported, "Third young master! Not good, not good! Madame is coming! She wants to see you! We’re unable to stop her!"
Gu Changqing"s impression of Yao shi had always been that of a fragile woman. However, at present, several rough old female servants in the courtyard were not even able to stop her. As though she had gone mad, she pushed her way forward shoving and b.u.mping everyone around her.
She walked up to Gu Chenglin"s bed, ignored Gu Chengfeng and Gu Changqing in the room, raised her hand and gave Gu Chenglin a resounding slap in the face!
Gu Chenglin was immediately stunned!
This was much more shocking than being beaten up by Gu Jiao. His knowledge of Gu Jiao was limited to the rumors from the people in the estate. In the final a.n.a.lysis, he had no idea who Gu Jiao was and what she was like.
But he knew Yao shi very well. Yao shi was just a weak woman who was easy to bully, otherwise he wouldn"t have taken Gu Yan to live in the countryside villa.
Not to mention hitting him, Yao shi didn’t even dare to scold him!
Therefore, Gu Chenglin stared at Yao shi with eyes full of disbelief.
The expression in Yao shi’s eyes as she looked at him was quite terrifying as though she wanted to swallow Gu Chenglin alive.
Gu Chenglin actually felt a little frightened.
Gu Changqing"s shock was no less than that of his two younger brothers. First, he had seen Yao shi laughing like a child, and now, he saw Yao shi just like a mad woman. Suddenly, he felt that he never really knew this stepmother of his.
"Why did you hit him?" Gu Changqing asked.
Yao shi sneered and said with tears in her eyes, "Why did I hit him? You’re their eldest brother, don"t you know? It doesn"t matter whatever you do against me, but why must you bully my Yan"er? It hadn’t been easy for him... It hadn’t been easy for him to live to this day..."
Yao shi went to her daughter"s house only to find out that her son had been bullied, and neither of them would tell her about it. She had to secretly ask and beg Gu Xiaoshun before Gu Xiaoshun told her about the matter.
Gu Xiaoshun didn"t know much either. He had no clue who saved Gu Yan and only knew that Gu Yan had been in danger and almost died. He told her that the one who did it was someone named Gu Chenglin.
Before that, Gu Jiao also asked him what Gu Chenglin looked like and what cla.s.s he was in.
Yao shi"s heart ached so much upon hearing it. She couldn"t imagine her son being tied up and locked up in the woodshed, struggling till blood was all over his hands, struggling till he had a heart attack.
She was a mother!
Of course her heart would be in pain!
Big drops of tears fell from Yao shi’s eyes one after another as she said, "You can deny him as your younger brother, you can treat him as an unrelated stranger... He has his twin sister now and won"t come back to argue with you for anything! He has already been staying far away... Why can"t you just leave him alone?!"
Yao shi spoke the latter sentence at the top of her voice, almost shouting herself hoa.r.s.e.
"When you bullied him when you were still young, I thought you were just children... But you"re not anymore! Why are you still treating him like in the past? Don’t you know he’s suffering from heart disease? Do you have to kill him before you stop?"
"Why? Because you hate me? What did I even do wrong?!”
"I never harmed your mother! I never wanted to take away your father! I have nothing to do with your mother"s death! Why are you trying to pin all these accusations on me?!"
Yao shi had never once defended herself against the gossip outside, silently bearing it all this time. However, today, when she learned that her son almost died at the hands of his half brother, Yao shi couldn"t control herself any longer.
More than ten years of emotion completely erupted at this moment. She lost her former demeanor and only resembled a crazy woman who desperately wanted to fight with others at any time.
After all, she was just a mother.
A mother who had been separated from her daughter for more than ten years, and had been trying to keep her seriously ill son alive till now.
Nothing could happen to her precious child.
That was no different from killing her...
If the only thing that could make the other party stop was death, then she would kill.
She would kill Gu Chenglin! And die with him!
"Madame!" Gu Changqing gripped Yao shi"s wrist and said to Yao shi, "If you’re tired, go back to your courtyard and take a rest first. As for my third brother, I will discipline him thoroughly. Somebody! Send the Madame back!"
His order wasn’t directed to the old female servants but the dark guards.
One dark guard grabbed Yao shi"s arm immediately.
"Don"t hurt her." Gu Changqing said.
"Yes." Answered the dark guard.
No matter how irrational she was just now, Yao shi still knew that she couldn’t beat a dark guard, so she turned around in a daze and allowed the dark guard to take her out soullessly.
Gu Changqing put away the dagger that came out of Yao shi"s sleeve on his own wide sleeve un.o.btrusively. Then he turned his head and looked coldly at Gu Chenglin.
Gu Chenglin"s heart thumped, saying, "Eldest brother! Let me explain! I... I recognized him... but I... I didn"t mean to... I... I didn"t mean to kill him... I thought it wasn"t him... I... "
Gu Chengfeng put his hand on his forehead. It’s over. The thing that he was most worried about still happened. He just knew his third brother wouldn’t be able to explain things properly.