Chapter 4 Zhou Gu
Jiangning County is thousands of miles away from the capital, and it can be reached in five days by riding a fast horse.
The housekeeper Li Fu's son Li Yan recommended by Wang Ma is very reliable. He works as a guard in the Jiangning prefect's mansion and often goes out. He is very experienced. Nothing happened to Li Yan along the way, and he entered the capital easily. He didn't go to the Duke Huguo's mansion immediately, but first found an inn, cleaned up, and went to the teahouse and wine shop.
This is also what the eldest lady confessed, and asked him to inquire about the young master of the Zhou family in the Duke Huguo's mansion first.
Actually, there is no need to ask too much. These days, there are rumors in the capital that Zhou Gu, the young son of the Zhou family, and Xie Lin, the young prince of the Ruian Palace, fought in the street for robbing women.
It is said that the woman is Qin Luan, the second daughter of the censor Zhongcheng Qin Yuan who committed the crime not long ago. After Qin Yuan was beheaded, the Qin family's female family members were made slaves. Qin Luan is beautiful, proficient in poetry and songs, and is a well-known talented woman in the capital. Zhou Gu and Xie Lin had their eyes on her for a long time, once the beauty was in trouble, the two of them got the news and immediately wanted to **** her into their home.
Thus, two groups of people collided in the street, and no one gave in, so they fought.
It is said that Zhou Gu single-handedly beat up a group of guards of the Rui'an Palace, and beat up the guards of the Rui'an Palace. Not only was he unscathed, but he also beat Xie Lin, and robbed people very arrogantly, and let him go.
Xie Lin was furious, but he had nothing to do with Zhou Gu, so he could only watch the beauty being snatched away unwillingly.
If the matter ends here, there is nothing to talk about. At most, it is a flirtatious incident made by two sons who rely on their good family background to increase the jokes of ordinary people.
But unfortunately, the matter is not over. Zhou Gu took his men home, and as soon as he arrived at the door, he saw the old Hu Guogong standing at the door waiting for him with a military stick. Seeing him coming back, he beat him up without saying a word.
After the beating, the old protector gave him a warning, saying that he had a marriage contract, and if he dared to bring other women in before the wedding, he would be beaten to death. Now it's only beaten half to death, because he hasn't brought anyone in yet.
The old Hu Guogong didn't give Zhou Gu a chance to struggle at all, so he was carried into the mansion, and with a big wave of his hand, he ordered people to send the pale Qin Luan into the palace, saying that His Majesty should make the decision to deal with her whereabouts. After all, because she caused such a big incident, it is impossible for His Majesty to ignore it.
His Majesty naturally heard about it, and wanted to reprimand the two for misbehaving, but one was severely beaten by the other, and the other didn't get well, and was also beaten to half his life. Your Majesty has nothing else to say, just let Prince Rui and Duke Protector raise their children and grandchildren, rob women in the street and fight, and make such a nonsense, what are you talking about?
Thus, His Majesty took this matter lightly, and did not punish Qin Luan's crimes. Instead, he used her as a court lady, saying that those who were not yet served by the Prince's side should be taught by the Empress and sent to the East Palace to serve the Prince!
What is the identity of the prince? In this way, neither of them will have to rob again!
After all, the capital and Jiangning are separated by thousands of miles, so it is inconvenient to spread the news. When it reached Jiangning, only the first half was passed on, and the second half was lost.
After learning about what happened, Li Yan quietly inquired about Zhou Gu's usual behavior and character.
Someone said: "Hey, the young master of the Zhou family, he is sixteen this year, and he looks very good-looking. When he goes out on the street, the girls and daughters-in-law love to stare at him. He hasn't grown up yet. If he grows up in two years, it will be great."
Someone said: "You said Zhou Gu, he is the youngest son of the Huguogong's mansion. He has three elder brothers. Not long after his wife gave birth to him, the Guogong died in battle, and he loved him very much. Fortunately, the old Huguogong taught him strictly. He is not too arrogant and does not bully the good people. We can't sleep well because of the noise."
Someone said: "It is said that Mr. Zhou wanted to join the army since he was a child. The old Huguogong refused to let him join the army. He forced him to read the Four Classics and Five Classics from elementary school and go to the study room with the princes. Hehe, Mr. Zhou is lucky. Every time he makes troubles in class, he either fights crickets with people, or folds rice paper to make paper kites for flying. The East Palace serves as a companion for the prince. The prince’s teachers are strict, and the prince is also a good-natured person. No one will accompany him to make troubles, so he behaves himself.”
Someone said: "I never heard that Young Master Zhou has a fiancée before. It was the old Duke Hu Guo who beat Zhou Gu that day, and everyone knew about it. I don't know which noble daughter is worthy of Young Master Zhou in the Duke Protector's mansion."
"The Mansion of the Protector of the Country is too strict, alas, we are all curious, which girl is the girl who has been engaged to Young Master Zhou since childhood?"
…
There are many opinions on the forum, Zhou Gu has done a lot of things that can be talked about, and he is quite famous in the capital, but there is nothing big and evil.
Thus, Li Yan had a clue in his mind, and on the day he found out that Duke Hu Guo was in the mansion, he went to the door of Duke Hu Guo's mansion.
After revealing his identity, the doorman looked him up and down in surprise, and hurried to report. It didn't take long for him to wait, the housekeeper of the Duke Protector's Mansion personally came out to welcome him into the Duke Protector's Mansion.
Li Yan secretly looked at the Duke Huguo's mansion, thinking that it is very impressive, it has caught up with ten Jiangning Taishou's mansions, and it really deserves to be a first-class Duke's mansion.
The old Huguogong met someone in the study, Li Yan presented the letter, the old Huguogong read it, and smiled, "Time flies so fast, so the little girl is almost reaching her age."
He said: "You rest in the mansion first, let the old man make some plans, and then write back to your wife."
The old Huguo ordered the housekeeper to arrange for Li Yan to stay, and then asked him to send someone to call Zhou Gu to the study.
Zhou Gu was severely beaten by the old Huguogong, and he lay on the bed for seven days. Fortunately, his body and bones were recovered. After seven days, he was able to walk around on the ground. Now half a month has passed, and the injury is almost healed.
He had been bored in the mansion for half a month. On this day, he finally couldn't hold it anymore and wanted to go out to play. As soon as he walked to the stables to take out his beloved horse, he heard someone call the old man to let him go to the study.
Zhou Gu put down the rein of the horse, "I haven't gone out to cause trouble for half a month, why does my grandfather want to ask me?" He muttered as he walked, "I'm so old and my hair is gray, why do you care about me so much?"
The servant wants to say who makes you the least worrying. The other sons are not as noisy as you. It stands to reason that the descendants of the generals' family are indeed more troublesome than the descendants of Wenchen's family, but you are too noisy. Since you were young, you have been more troublesome than others.
Zhou Gu came to the study of the old Huguogong, greeted lazily, "Grandfather!"
The old Huguogong became angry when he saw him, and pointed at him, "Look at you, you don't stand upright, you don't sit upright, you are lazy and boneless, and you have no shape. Your three brothers are more upright than the other. How about you? You are really getting taller and crooked. You are unworthy of your descendants, and you will fall into the lintel of my Huguogong's mansion."
Zhou Gu has a lot to say, "Grandfather, my three older brothers grew up in the army, and the military discipline is strict, so they are naturally well-educated. What about me? Now you don't like me, but at the beginning, you refused to let me grow up in the army like them, and now you are blaming me? What's the reason?"
The old Huguo Gong choked, his old face was a little uneasy, "What kind of place is the study room? You just don't study hard. What kind of place is the East Palace? The countless strict teachers around the prince can't control you. If I knew that you had grown up to this kind of virtue, I should have strangled you right after you were born."
Zhou Gu curled his lips, "You sound nice, if you strangle me to death, what can grandma and my mother do?"
The heart of the old Huguogong was aching, and he regretted it, "Hey, they spoiled you."
What is wrong with learning, you have to learn to rob women from others. He was not so angry when he disrupted his husband's class in the study.
He saw that Zhou Gu's nose was not a nose, and his eyes were not eyes, "Your Majesty has already given Qin Luan to the crown prince, so don't worry about it."
Zhou Gu snorted, but didn't speak.
The old Hu Guogong stared, "What expression do you have? Then Qin Luan just read a few collections of poetry and wrote a few poems about flowers and plants, and then he was praised by a bunch of boys in the capital as high as the sky. In my opinion, that's what happened. Don't be convinced, Qin Yuan, that flamboyant thing, was used as a gun by others, especially without knowing it. He is a fool, and he is responsible for ruining the whole family. What kind of good girl can he raise?"
"Grandfather, you once told me not to slander people behind your back, have you forgotten?" Zhou Gu rolled his eyes.
The old Hu Guogong coughed and stared, "What I said is the truth, you remember this clearly, why don't you remember what else I told you?"
He was angry, "I told you a long time ago that you have a marriage contract you made since you were a child, and you can't do anything wrong, and you ignore it? Let me tell you, the descendants of the Duke Protector's Mansion are not allowed to enter the house, take concubines, and have concubines. No descendant can violate this rule, and you are the same, have you heard?"
"I heard, so what?" Zhou Gu was also upset, he didn't think about taking a concubine, let alone Tong Fang.
"So, if you have a marriage contract, you can't mess around, and you can't provoke other women at will, and you can't **** a woman from outside. Otherwise, I will break your leg." The Duke Protector said forcefully.
Zhou Gu was furious, "It's fine if you made a marriage contract for me since you were a child, but you made a good one for me? Why am I so unlucky? I couldn't go to the army with my brothers since I was a child, and you didn't even make me happy with the marriage contract."
He asked with a dark face: "Am I a little cabbage picked up from the field? You can let me do it alone?"
The old Hu Guogong also turned dark, "What kind of **** are you talking about? You haven't seen her girl, why do you feel that you can't do anything?"
Zhou Gu snorted coldly, "A little concubine in Jiangning County, listen, what kind of status is this? As a concubine, how well-bred can she be, and how much can she get?"
The old Hu Guogong choked up, opened his mouth to refute, but was choked again.
Zhou Gu took the opportunity to show his attitude, "I won't marry her!"
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(end of this chapter)