According to the feudal code of ethics from the Zhou Dynasty, if a man"s elder brother pa.s.sed away, he should observe mourning for nine months. However, Gu Tingyu was not only Gu Tingye"s elder brother, but also the formal inheritor of the Gu"s family who had been enn.o.bled. Therefore, Gu Tingyu was considered to be the head of the Gu family, and his brothers should observe deep mourning during the first three months after he deceased, which forbade them to sleep with women, hold banquets and entertain themselves.

As a result, Gu Tingye could see his gorgeous wife every day but couldn"t touch or kiss her. On the other side, Zhu shi"s baby b.u.mp looked more obvious day by day. Gu Tingye, with a gloomy look on his face, felt that he and the Qin family were born to be enemies.

One day, the people from Marquis Dongchang"s family came to invite Gu Tingye and Minglan to have tea and taste the plums together, but were rejected flatly.

Old Madam Qin, eyes red, then went to persuade Minglan.

“Master is so sad.” Minglan explained that, “The grievance in his heart is too hard to vent, and he even couldn"t bear to see the white lantern. That object would remind him of his Eldest Brother… He always gets sad when thinking of Eldest Brother.”

Old Madam Qin, choked with words, remembered what had happened lately. Indignant, she almost fainted again.

After Minglan comforted her "weak" mother-in-law, she went back to the Cheng Manor leisurely. Then, she received a message from the Sheng family: Changbai will be sent to the local offices at the end of this month. Master and Madam Gu, please come back to the Sheng"s mansion to join the family reunion.

Minglan had all sorts of doubts. Then she turned around and said, “I thought my dad is going to be sent to the local offices. Why my brother is going now?”

Gu Tingye leaned against the window with a book in his hand while chuckling, “My father-in-law truly is a wise man. Shen Shiqi is not the only old fox in the government.”

Actually, Shen Shiqi, who was known as the evergreen in the political arena, truly was an outstanding man. He never offended anyone and was valued by the emperor a lot since Official Shen was able to read the emperor"s mind and had an insight into the conflicts among the other officials.

However, lately the situation in the political circle was getting more complicated. Official Shen found that sometimes he had to take sides and by doing that he would either offend the emperor or the officials. Therefore, in order to maintain his good reputation in his later years, Shen Shiqi had submitted letters of resignation to the emperor since the beginning of this year. Of course, the emperor disagreed with that. As a result, Shen Shiqi then stayed at home on the pretext of illness for half a year(managed to escape two unprecedentedly fierce disputes on the imperial court), which could be regarded as being absent from work openly.

The emperor lost the “tug-of-war” and at last permitted Shen Shiqi"s resignation.

The emperor had thought that it was better to let this old fox continue working as the Prime Minister than appointing a person he didn"t like. When the opportunity came up, he would a.s.sign his trusted subordinate to that post. Right now, Official Yao whom the emperor trusted a lot had just entered the Cabinet and wasn"t experienced enough. Now that Shen Shiqi had resigned, the perfect candidate to replace him in the emperor"s mind was not qualified yet, and the ones who were qualified were not fully trusted by the emperor.

Shen Shiqi, the old fox, was so sensible that after he had been permitted to resign, he recommended a person to the emperor at once, who was Official Lu who always seemed drowsy among the officials on the imperial court.– "All right, then Official Lu it is." The emperor thought.

“That old man…” Every time Gu Tingye mentioned Official Lu, he couldn"t help but grit his teeth.

In fact, Official Lu was even older than Official Shen and also calmer. He often did everything he should do and said everything he should say. As long as the emperor didn"t get sick of him, he would be able to make contributions to this country until the last day of his life.

Before Shen Shiqi resigned, he sent a nephew and a grandson-in-law of him whom he thought highly of to the local offices, leaving another nephew of him and his disciples on the imperial court. After he had finished dealing with those things in high spirits, he got on the coach to go back to his hometown like a man who had dedicated his whole life to the country.

Perhaps Sheng Hong had heard something from Official Lu or sensed something by himself. He suddenly felt that it was better to let Changbai who had just got into the political circle stay away from the trouble on the imperial court and observe the situation first, in case Changbai"s promising future would be ruined.

Gu Tingye agreed with Sheng Hong"s idea a lot. As a man in a high position who was favored by the emperor, Gu Tingye had still been set up a few times even though he, as a general(he still dealt mostly with the military affairs), didn"t join the discussions on the imperial court so often, not to mention Changbai.

When the couple arrived at the Sheng"s mansion, they realized that Sheng Hong actually wanted to ask Gu Tingye for help.

“County Ze is in a remote area where the mountains are high and paths are rugged. I"m not afraid that your Eldest Brother-in-Law will have to endure hardship. It"s good for the young man to have a tough time for a while. It"s just, he might have to pa.s.s the wilderness, I"m afraid of the danger on the road…”

Gu Tingye understood what Sheng Hong wanted to say at once, “Father-in-Law, your consideration is reasonable. I"ll find a few capable guards for my Eldest Brother-in-Law at once to guarantee his safety.” He paused to think for a while and then added, “A few old acquaintances of mine happen to work in the Center of Prefecture Chen which is close to County Ze. I"ll write them a letter to let them take care of Eldest Brother-in-law, in case he would be bothered by the thieves or robbers.”

Sheng Hong let out a sigh of relief and beamed, “The guards in my family are not strong enough and I can not trust them. The guards you entrust for us, as long as they are honest men with good character, we won"t treat them unfairly. If they can work for us for a long time, we can take care of them until the last day of their life.”

Gu Tingye nodded, saying, “That"s great.”

“Thank you so much, brother-in-law.” Changbai gave an obeisance to Gu Tingye.

In the inner room, w.a.n.g shi was shedding tears constantly while pulling Minglan"s sleeves, wailing, “What was you dad thinking?! It"s not like our family is not powerful enough. Even if Changbai has to be sent to the local offices, why couldn"t your father find a nice place for him? The unruly people all come from the remote and backward area. That county… I"m afraid, afraid that…”

Old Madam Sheng sat on the seat with a sullen face, not willing to utter a single word.

Minglan stroked her wrist which hurt badly due to w.a.n.g shi"s pinch and kept comforting the woman, “Madam, don"t worry. Dad is always a wise person. He only did that for Eldest Brother"s own good.”

“For your brother"s own good? I think your father is just getting muddleheaded!” w.a.n.g shi cried in pain, “Your brother has grown up in a wealthy family since his childhood and never endures any hardships! What can we do now!”

Minglan had no idea what to do and tried to comfort w.a.n.g shi for a long time. Still, it didn"t stop w.a.n.g shi from crying louder and louder.

Old Madam Sheng finally couldn"t tolerate it anymore. She thumped on the table and growled, “Have you finished yet? Minglan"s husband is still sitting out there. Stop humiliating yourself! Why do you make the same mistake over and over again? Do not interfere with the men"s business! You"ll only bring more trouble!”