Gu Tingyu, with redness flashing on his sallow face, suddenly laughed loudly, which also caused him to cough. Madam Shao stepped forward to pat on his back right away. It took a while for him to stop coughing. Then he panted while saying, “Have you heard any news from outside these days?”

Madam Shao thought about it, and then replied, “The imperial guards have come to our mansion to announce the imperial edict. They said that although our family did have close contact with the guilty prince, the men of our family would still be released because Second Brother has made contribution to the country, Fourth Uncle was an old man and Third Brother wasn"t deeply involved. However, there were lots of people testifyng against Brother Bing. Alas… He will be exiled to an icy cold land and has to stay there for three years. His wife hasn"t stopped crying these days.”

“That"s all?”

Madam Shao pondered again and shook her head.

“You!” Gu Tingyu gave a smile and said, “You are too innocent.” He straightened his back with difficulty and said in a low voice, “Haven"t you heard the rumors these days which claim that Old Madam is an evil step-mother? She forced Second Brother to leave on purpose, just in order to let Third Brother inherit my t.i.tle after I die?”

Madam Shao still shook her head, saying, “Why do we care about those groundless rumors anyway?”

Seeing the gaunt face of her husband in the candlelight, she couldn"t help but get grieved.

Gu Tingyu leaned on the bedside slowly and said in a lightly ironic tone, “I have just told Old Madam that Second Brother is already a full-fledged man now with powerful sources. Being a clever man, he wouldn"t trust my words so easily or wait for me to give the t.i.tle to him. Even if I go back on my word, he will surely have a way to deal with that. Now that he has already saved our family, he would never give up the t.i.tle. I told her to drop the idea of letting me adopt Xian.”

Madam Shao got dazed, saying, “You mean, those rumors were spread by Second Brother?”

“They are not all rumors.” Gu Tingyu chuckled as if he was sneering at himself, saying, “That might really be what Old Madam has been planning the whole time.”

After a while, Madam Shao suddenly shed tears from her eyes filled with tiredness and redness while saying, “Second Brother is so powerful now, the t.i.tle would definitely be his. Why does he push us so hard? We want you to adopt Third Brother"s son only because we want you to have someone pay respect to you after you die. Our son wouldn"t fight for the t.i.tle with Second Brother! Why, why… can"t he tolerate that?”

Gu Tingyu looked at his wife with sympathy and said tenderly, “Don"t cry, it"ll hurt your eyes. We can"t blame Second Brother for this. He has suffered grievances for more than twenty years. Now that he finally has his day, he would want to inherit the t.i.tle aboveboard for sure. If I leave a heir in this family, others will always have the excuse to question Second Brother and that will bring him endless trouble. Let alone that the boy Old Madam wanted me to adopt is Xian. Second Brother would never let Old Madam get what she wants.”

Madam Shao, knowing that there was no room for discussion, could only weep gently. Gu Tingyu raised his arms with difficulty and tried to wipe her tears, saying, “Don"t think of the adoption thing. I never believe one should have someone visit his grave after he dies. Now the only people I am concerned about are you and Xian. Alas, our marriage has ruined your life.”

“Don"t say that!” Madam Shao cried sadly and leaned on her husband"s legs while saying in a weeping tone, “I"m not talented or pretty and don"t have a powerful family background. I already feel very lucky to marry you.”

Gu Tingyu rubbed his wife"s hair and said weakly, “Now listen to the words I"m about to say and remember them.”

Madam Shao raised her head and nodded heavily.

The weak man who was like the deadwood tried his best to lower his voice and said in a serious tone, “First, after I die, you should never mention the adoption thing no matter who incites you to do so, considering this is for our daughter Xian. As long as I don"t have a son, Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law would treat you and Xian nicely. Even if Xian gets married, they would still protect her. This way is much better than adopting a boy whom we are not familiar with.”

Madam Shao, face covered with tears, could only nod constantly at his bedside.

“Second, if Second Sister-in-law and Old Madam have conflicts with each other, do not meddle in their affairs. Especially when Old Madam tells you to do anything, you have to think twice.” Gu Tingyu emphasized the last few words.

Madam Shao, with tears still coursing down on her face, showed a confused look right away. Gu Tingyu gave a wry smile and said, “I"ve seen through Old Madam over the past few years. She is good at using others as her shield. Before, she incited the members of the Fourth and Fifth family against Second Brother while she played the good guy in front of my father. Even I, huh, have walked into her trap before.”

Madam Shao wiped her tears in a daze and said, “That"s impossible. I think Old Madam is a nice woman.”

“My father might have seen through her too, that"s why he has written those letters to my uncles in Jin Ling and Qing City.”

Gu Tingyu snorted and continued, “Do you know why Fourth and Fifth uncle spared no efforts to grill my uncles in Jing Ling and Qing City? They have no right to share the property that my father left for Second Brother since they are not the members of the First family. However, Old Madam said to them that she was willing to divide the property into three parts to share with them. Huh, winning others over in order to defeat her enemy is the very thing she"s the best at in her entire life.”

Hearing him talking as if he was uttering his last words, Madam Shao felt cold all over and got extremely devastated. However, she stopped shedding tears and could only nod in a trance since she was already overwhelmed by sadness.

“Second Sister-in-law is not a bully. As long as you do the two things I have just mentioned and treat her politely, you"ll live a steady life… Wait, let me think. Maybe you should give her an expensive gift? No, you"ll offend Old Madam by doing that. All right… It"s good this way. You and Xian can live a better life and we don"t need to worry about Xian"s marriage anymore.”

Gu Tingyu was overly exhausted, so his voice got lighter and lighter and at last he was merely muttering to himself. As he was pondering something, he suddenly showed a weird smile while mumbling in a soft voice,

“Dad, mom, I"m about to come to you guys. Wait for me. Dad, you must be so happy that Tingye is a successful man now. His wife is very pretty. Mom, sorry that I have embarra.s.sed you, I can"t compete with Tingye in every way…”

…

On June 19th, In the Third Year of Chong De, Gu Tingyu, Marquis Ningyuan, pa.s.sed away.

In July that year, Gu Tingye was given the t.i.tle of Marquis Ningyuan with a upper second-cla.s.s rank of n.o.bility. His wife was enn.o.bled as the first-cla.s.s madam.