Chapter 758: Gratitude and Favor

The soldier guarding the city gate frowned at hearing this, contemplating driving these impudent people away, yet judging by their clothing and manners, they didn’t seem like swindlers. If they were indeed telling the truth, these low-ranking soldiers couldn’t afford to provoke them.

"Fine, you wait here, I’ll go call for Section Leader Bi," said the city-guarding Military Officer to his four comrades before vanishing in front of the city tower, heading to a row of rooms underneath it to find Section Leader Bi.

Gu Youlu hunched over, his hands hidden inside his sleeves, and he lightly spat towards the city tower: "A bunch of brutes, they’ll have theirs soon enough."

Snowflakes began to drift from the sky, making Gu Youlu even more inclined to curse.

But his mother had instructed him not to swear in front of outsiders, especially not in front of Lord Lai, so Gu Youlu had to suppress the urge to swear and looked over the convoy instead. Spotting Gu Youfu standing beside a mule cart, he impatiently waved him over.

However, it was far too cold; the Gu Youfu family, being out of favor, had trudged all the way to He’an Prefecture with the servants, without the luxury of a mule cart to sit in— at best, they could ride in a canopy-less flatbed. At this moment, cold, tired, and hungry, squinting his eyes as he dozed off, Gu Youfu did not notice Gu Youlu’s beckoning.

Enraged, Gu Youlu strode over and kicked Gu Youfu in the knee.

Gu Youfu yelped in pain, finally opening his eyes and seeing Gu Youlu, he quickly said, "What is it, younger brother?"

"What is it? Why pretend you didn’t see me waving?" Gu Youlu said with a stern face: "Go get the hand warmer for me. All you ever do is eat, can’t even lend a hand, bringing you along is such a burden."

Although Gu Youlu was angry, he still remembered Granny Gu’s words and spoke very softly when scolding Gu Youfu, not daring to let Lord Lai hear.

Already accustomed to being beaten and bossed around by Gu Youlu, Gu Youfu dared not complain and immediately went to fetch the hand warmer from the mule cart for Gu Youlu.

Elder Gu, seeing this, asked: "Where’s Old Si? Why doesn’t he come to get it himself?"

Although Elder Gu favored Gu Youlu, Gu Youfu resembled him the most among the three sons, so he didn’t want Gu Youlu to order Gu Youfu around.

Gu Youfu replied: "The fourth brother is waiting for Master Yue and the Section Leader at the city gate. It’s so cold his hands are freezing, he asked me to come and get it."

Upon hearing this, Elder Gu looked towards the city gate; seeing Gu Youlu dressed in a thick satin jacket with a Jade Pendant hanging from his waist, standing alongside Master Yue, he looked every bit Master Yue’s equal, which eased some of Elder Gu’s dissatisfaction.

The old lady was right, Youlu was eloquent and capable, able to win Lord Lai’s favor. Youfu was too foolish, only fit for rough tasks. Although he’d be ordered around by his brothers, as long as Youlu and Youwen were successful, what did it matter if Youfu was bossed around?

"Take it," said Elder Gu as he carefully handed the hand warmer to Gu Youfu, then tucked the quilt around Gu Chengzhi.

After receiving the hand warmer, Gu Youfu handed it to Gu Youlu with a smile: "Younger brother, warm your hands; don’t catch a cold."

But Gu Youlu was not satisfied: "Just a hand warmer? Didn’t you know to bring some Floral Carving Wine and dried meat from the cart? In this freezing weather, one needs to eat and drink to stay warm."

Upon hearing this, Gu Youfu ran back to get wine and meat for Gu Youlu.

Yet after eating, Gu Youlu was still not content: "Where’s the cloak? Bring it over. It’s snowing, if I don’t wear a cloak, this fine fabric jacket will be ruined by the snow."

Gu Youfu hastily went to fetch a cloak and even brought along a conical bamboo hat.

Gu Youlu only took the cloak, refusing to wear the conical hat. The hat was unbearably ugly; he was now the young master of a wealthy family, how could he wear something so embarrassing?

Gu Youfu had no choice but to take the conical hat away.

Steward Yue frowned upon seeing this; where could you find a younger brother ordering an older brother around like this? Were these two really blood brothers? Granny Gu’s heart was far too biased.

Granny Gu had three sons and two daughters, and she treated all her other children exceptionally well, as if she couldn’t pamper them enough to reach the sky. Yet, she was very harsh on Gu Youfu’s family, resorting to beating and scolding them; when particularly aggravated, she would even curse: "Had I known you would turn out like this, I would have wished I aborted you back then, or better yet, sold you, so I wouldn’t have to be annoyed by the sight of your family."

After hearing these words, Steward Yue relayed them exactly as they were to Lord Lai, adding, "That Granny Gu does not seem to have a kind heart; my lord should be careful."

How could the heart of someone who doesn’t care about her own son and even talks about selling her son’s family be good? It must be a heart of poison.

Yet, Lord Lai said, "Gu Family’s eldest daughter has always been sharp-tongued. Her scolding Gu Youfu like that is out of frustration that he hasn’t achieved anything. She’s not bad at heart, and the Old Gu Family has shown me great kindness. Now that I’ve come across them again, I should repay that kindness."

Indeed, Lord Lai was sustaining the Old Gu Family, providing them with gold, silver, estates, securing government positions for Granny Gu’s sons, and arranging good marriages for her daughters and granddaughters, all in the name of repaying a debt of gratitude.

Steward Yue felt that this gratitude was being repaid far too extravagantly. To a servant family like the Gu Family, a mere hundred taels of silver would suffice to repay such a debt; there was no need to carry the burden of this entire family—it was truly cumbersome.

However, Lord Lai was Steward Yue’s patron, and he relied on Lord Lai to support his family. After reminding Lord Lai a few times and seeing that he wouldn’t listen, Steward Yue decided to let it be.

"Steward Yue, would you like a sip? This is the Floral Carving Wine that Lord Lai sent to my family; it’s very warming to drink." Although Gu Youlu treated Gu Youfu poorly, he was very adept at ingratiating himself with those close to Lord Lai, knowing that Steward Yue was Lord Lai’s confidant, and often sought to curry favor with him.

A flash of disgust flickered in Steward Yue’s eyes, but his face wore a smile when he looked at Gu Youlu: "No need, Steward Yue has matters to attend to, and I cannot enter the city until those are settled."

In such freezing weather, with snow falling, standing at the city gates waiting to be let in—who would be in the mood for drinking and eating meat? This Gu Youlu truly had no understanding of propriety.

Seeing that he refused to drink, Gu Youlu did not press further and simply held the wine jug, slowly drinking by himself, while complaining, "How has the Section Leader in charge of guarding the city not arrived yet? Daring to treat Lord Lai with such negligence—once Lord Lai enters the city, he should immediately be ordered to be stripped of his post and given ten beatings to teach him a lesson!"

Steward Yue could not be bothered to pay attention to Gu Youlu anymore, sneering inwardly: Heh, the city gate soldiers belong to the Prefecture garrison; they have their own main general in command. When did it become the Vice Magistrate’s duty to intervene?

This is called overstepping authority, does he not understand?

Gu Youlu didn’t really understand. His family had followed Lord Lai for nearly three years, and Lord Lai had even hired a teacher to educate them, but he was only interested in throwing his weight around and had no desire to study.

On the other hand, the eldest has studied quite well, and has now achieved the title of Scholar and acquired an official position, working as an Instructor at the Prefecture School.

Gu Youlu felt quite bitter about Gu Youwen becoming an Instructor at the Prefecture School—that was a seventh-rank official position, after all.

But his mother had told him not to hurry, that Lord Lai would not ignore him and, once settled, would surely help him obtain a position not lower than seventh rank.