Chapter Ninety-One: The Proposal to Divide the Family Estate

On this earth, there is no shortage of parents who favor one child over another. Old Master Gu was only a country farmer, unable to read a single character and with little understanding of the world. Besides, Lady Li had been with him for so many years; the pillow talk of a wife was more powerful than anything else. In the old man’s heart, his sympathy had long since tilted toward the children born to Lady Li.

As the saying goes, where there is a stepmother, there is a stepfather as well. A man’s feelings for his children are never very deep to begin with, and once a wife spends all day whispering poison into his ear, it is already quite decent if the children from the first marriage are simply raised to adulthood and given homes of their own. Old Master Gu was still, by all accounts, a decent man. Though his heart leaned toward Lady Li and her children, he had not yet gone so far as to mistreat the three brothers of the eldest branch. Of course, when Lady Li beat and scolded those three, the old man regarded it as discipline.

Now the sons of the first wife were all grown, each with his own household and livelihood, while Lady Li still had two children with no proper arrangement. With how much the old man doted on Lady Li and her children, he would never agree to a division of the family at such a time. “Enough. I do not permit any division of the household. From now on, if anyone dares mention it again, get out.”

The three brothers looked at one another. In their hearts, they knew well enough that dividing the family today was impossible. But the matter had to be raised today; it was time for the old man and Lady Li to prepare themselves. They were not fools, not toiling day after day for others only to end up with nothing good in the end.

“Dividing the household is only a matter of time. Whether it is sooner or later, since it has been brought up today, why not settle it all at once? A division of the family only means we no longer muddle through life together. After that, we brothers will still honor you as before. Father, let us divide. Our home is noisy from morning to night; this life cannot go on like this.” Gu Chengyong deliberately pressed the issue without yielding.

“No. Absolutely not. Our fifth and Xiu Li still have no arrangement, so there can be no division. If you keep bringing this up, then you do not want me alive. Second Son, you only came back a month ago, and already you are forcing your old father to death?” The old man stared at Gu Chengyong and asked sharply.

“Father, that is not what I mean. A tree grows and sends out branches; division is inevitable, only a matter of sooner or later. Especially in our family, with one branch before and another after, separation is bound to come someday. Better to make it clear now. If you do not want to divide today, then give everyone a straight answer: when will we divide? At least let Eldest Brother and Third Brother have something to hope for. Their two households have been working themselves to the bone year after year, dutifully serving you both. That is as it should be, but must they also keep serving younger brothers and sisters?” Gu Chengyong looked at the old man calmly, his tone edged with mockery.

“That’s right, Father. Give us an exact answer. Tell us when we divide. Our two households rise before dawn and work past dark, toiling like servants for the whole family, and we have never gained a thing from it. We no longer want to live this way. We just want to know when this kind of life will finally end.” Gu Chengzhong spoke up as well.

“And me, Father. Please take pity on our household. Over all these years, what kind of life has been lived by my wife, and by Wenfang and Wenfei? Father, you have eyes; it is not as if you cannot see. Our family has lived worse than purchased servants.” As Gu Chengyi spoke, tears began to fall.

Among the five Gu brothers, four were present. Three of them were born of the same mother, and all three had been beaten and scolded by Lady Li since childhood. United in purpose, the three stood in the courtyard and questioned when, exactly, the family would be divided. Opposite them stood only Gu Chengxin, plainly outnumbered and alone.

At that moment, Gu Xiuli came out from the house. “What is this supposed to be? Eldest Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, are you trying to force Father and Mother to death? Father and Mother said no division, so there will be no division. You are their sons; you ought to obey your parents. What is the meaning of all this? Do you want to go to the magistrate and tell the officials you are unfilial and disobedient?”

Gu Xiuli had been made by Gu Chengren to learn a few things, and now she felt she had some ability, so she had come forward to admonish her brothers.

“Since when did the Gu family come under the rule of a young lady? What business is this of yours, a daughter who is about to be married off? You will soon belong to the Jiang family, not the Gu family. Who gave you leave to point your finger at the Gu family’s affairs?” Gu Chengyong shot her a glance and said coldly.

Gu Xiuli was the youngest daughter of the Gu family. Everyone in the household indulged her; her brothers loved their little sister and protected her dearly. This had led Gu Xiuli to believe that everyone feared her, which was why she had dared to rush out and speak as she had. She had not expected Gu Chengyong to cut her down so sharply, and at once her face burned with embarrassment.

“Father, Mother, look at this! Nothing has even happened yet, and Second Brother and the others are already bullying me like this.” Gu Xiuli cried, pointing at her three brothers across from her.

“Second Son, have you made up your mind to go against me today? What has the little girl done to offend you that you must speak to her like that? She is about to be married off, and you would shame her like this?” The old man was dissatisfied with Gu Chengyong’s attitude as well, and immediately asked in displeasure.

“Faces are grown on one’s own skin, not handed out by others. She could not see the situation for what it was and came running out to lose face; how is anyone else supposed to preserve it for her?” Gu Chengyong said flatly. “If Xiuli had any regard for us brothers, she should not have come out to speak. Since she did, this embarrassment is of her own making. Enough. No more of this. Father, just tell us when the family will be divided.”

Gu Chengyong was truly disappointed in the old man’s conduct today. If, when Lady Li first began hurling insults, the old man had come out and said a few words, had he restrained her, they would never have raised the question of division. Unfortunately, the old man sided entirely with his wife and did nothing to stop her, allowing Lady Li to insult Gu Chengxin’s family as she pleased. Now the words had driven matters to the point of division, and he could not blame them for it.

“Divide what family? There will be no division. Absolutely none. If you want to divide, then strangle me first. Once I am dead, I will not see what you do.” The old man’s stubborn temper had also been provoked. He stiffened his neck, his face flushed red with strain, and shouted at Gu Chengyong and the others.

“What is all this? Why are you suddenly talking about death when things were fine just a moment ago? Brother Gu, you are no longer a young man, and yet your temper is still so fierce. Come now, come now, everyone calm down. What matter cannot be discussed properly, without making such a life-and-death scene?” At that moment, a man’s voice suddenly came from outside the gate, and then someone stepped into the courtyard.

It was none other than Qi Changwen, along with Gu Ershu, and beside them an old man of more than eighty, his hair entirely white. Two other men, both around sixty, carefully supported the old gentleman as they entered.

“Mingcheng, what is all this? How has it become such a scandal? A household should live in peace and stability; why is your home always in an uproar? Who lives like you do?” As soon as the old man entered the courtyard, he launched into Old Master Gu Gu Mingcheng.

This old gentleman was the highest in rank among the Gu clan in the village, and everyone called him Seventh Great-Uncle. He was Gu Mingcheng and Gu Mingda’s cousin-granduncle. Back in his generation, he had been the youngest, and he was the last one still alive from that line. The two men beside him were his sons, and thus the cousin-uncles of Gu Mingcheng and Gu Mingda.

The old Gu family in Green Mountain Village was not small in number, but their blood ties were no longer especially close, so their visits had grown sparse. After Gu Mingcheng married Lady Li, that miserly woman was even less willing to maintain contact with relatives, and so the family drifted farther apart.

Earlier, Gu Chengyong had told the children to go fetch people, though it had been said only in passing. Yet Wenfang and Wenfei had long been hoping for the family division. Now that such an opportunity had finally come, how could they not hurry? The two of them slipped away when no one was looking and truly brought the Gu family elder here.

When Gu Mingcheng saw his cousin-granduncle arrive, how could he dare continue glaring? He hurried forward and bowed. “Seventh Great-Uncle, why have you come? At your age, with your health not what it used to be, how could we dare trouble you?”

Seventh Great-Uncle glared at Gu Mingcheng. “If I had not come, would your family not have made such a scene that the whole village heard it? Go outside and listen for yourself. What are people saying about you? You muddled fool, always shielding that ruinous woman. Because of her, no one comes to visit you anymore, and your life has become a dead end, yet you are still pleased with yourself.”

Though advanced in years, Seventh Great-Uncle was still spirited, and his voice was loud and forceful. In his hand he held a cane made from some unknown wood; it was clearly very old, polished to a dark, glossy shine. In anger, he struck the cane hard against the ground. The Gu family courtyard was paved with stone slabs, and the slabs rang out with sharp knocking sounds.

“Seventh Great-Uncle, we did not wish to trouble you, truly, but the family has been in such turmoil these past days, with no peace at all. Third Brother’s wife and daughters were sent back to the Zhao family, and after much effort Third Brother finally brought them back. Then the trouble started again at home. We have truly had enough of this kind of life, and that is why we called for a division of the household. Seventh Great-Uncle, please come inside and sit. You are advanced in years; do not let anger ruin your health.” As Gu Chengzhong explained, he stepped forward to support Seventh Great-Uncle and carefully escorted the old man into the house.

Once Seventh Great-Uncle entered, Gu Mingda and Qi Changwen followed after him. Seeing this, Gu Mingcheng and Lady Li hurried in as well. Gu Chengyong and his brothers naturally followed too. The wives and children of the various households, however, did not dare to enter. They all remained standing in the courtyard, peering cautiously through the windows.

Gu Xiuli did not follow inside either. She glared at Mrs. Zhao. “You black-hearted woman. If you had not been stirring things up, I do not believe Third Brother would have dared speak to us like that. You cannot even bear a son, cutting off my Third Brother’s line, and still you dare act so arrogantly? Just wait. Sooner or later, your turn for hardship will come.”

Wenfei was also in the courtyard at the time. Hearing Gu Xiuli speak like that, she said angrily, “People should be careful with their mouths. Keep spouting off about others all day, and in the end you may not even measure up to them.”