186 Extravagant
The siblings’ eyes met in silence. There was a suffocating silence in the room, except for Granny Pang’s tense and heavy breathing, which echoed in the air.
The silence was like an invisible net slowly tightening.
Looking at the silent Gu Yuan, Gu Yanfei’s eyelashes lowered slightly, casting a shadow on her porcelain face.
She sighed inwardly, but she was not disappointed.
!!
It was normal for Gu Yuan not to suspect anything about what happened back then. At that time, Gu Yuan was only three years old. What did a three-year-old child know? Whatever illness he had, he would naturally do as Madam said.
Moreover, most people probably could not remember many things when they were three or four years old.
Just like her, after 200 years, she had also forgotten many people and many things… It was only recently that she slowly recalled some perhaps insignificant details.
Gu Yanfei raised her hand and rubbed the space between her eyebrows. A wave of fatigue surged up uncontrollably. Gu Yuan suddenly said, “By the way, Father seemed to have asked me about it back then…”
Granny Pang’s eyes widened and her body trembled violently. She did not even notice the handkerchief in her hand leave her hand.
Even Gu Yanfei was stunned for a moment. Her eyes were slightly open, and her heart trembled violently.
She asked in a low voice, “What happened next?”
Gu Yuan took a deep breath and tried his best to calm the dark tide in his heart. There seemed to be a ball of air in his chest, muffled and deep. He continued, “After that, Father brought Gu Yunrong and me to Yangzhou until…”
His voice grew slower and lower, until it stopped abruptly.
He didn’t continue, but everyone present understood his unfinished words—
Until Yangzhou fell!
Gu Yuan’s eyes became abnormally deep and he pursed his lips. Eight years had passed, but what had happened back then was still deeply engraved in his heart, leaving a scar that would never be erased.
He had lost his father in that battle. Everyone said that his father had betrayed his country and submitted to the enemy. Even his grandmother felt humiliated for his father…
His world suddenly collapsed!
Gu Yuan’s expression was still, and there was a faint sadness on his face.
Gu Yanfei looked at Gu Yuan’s cold side profile in a daze. Her gaze was a little dazed and cold, as if she was staring at the man she had only seen in her two lives.
Her father…
“Bang!”
The main door of the central room suddenly creaked as it was rudely kicked open from the outside. One of the doors flew to the ground and cracked in half.
Outside the central room, three people could be seen standing under the eaves outside the door.
Walking in the middle was Xia Houqing in red. Standing beside him were the old man and the young man.
Xia Houqing’s clothes were as red as fire, still as spotless as before.
The other two were dusty and battered, as if they had rolled in dust and gravel.
Xia Houqing glanced at the young man in disdain. He moved two fingers on his right hand slightly, and the silver-haired old man tactfully took a step back, then half a step.
“…” Steward Huang’s wife was left behind by Xia Houqing and the other two. She looked embarrassed and felt that this guest who was staying overnight was too rude. She had just said that the lady and the Eldest Young Master were busy, but the other party insisted on barging in!
Gu Yanfei’s gaze darted around Xia Houqing’s brand new red clothes, but she did not find any dust. She thought to herself, ‘What a pity.’
Xia Houqing did not say a word. He was as comfortable as if he was not here uninvited but the master of the place.
He expressionlessly crossed the threshold into the central room and walked straight ahead. Then, he casually lifted his robe and sat down arrogantly on the armchair at the head of the table.
“I’ll stay here today.” Xia Houqing shamelessly announced that he planned to take over the main courtyard.
The silver-haired elder did not enter the house immediately. Instead, he stood under the porch and clapped his hands gently.
Clap! Clap!
In the next moment, a group of men in black quickly walked into the main courtyard. Everyone was not empty-handed. Screens, incense burners, horsetail whisks, chair cushions, red clay stoves, tea sets, and other items were all moved in and arranged.
Dark red draperies were drawn from the rafters. On the east side were dazzlingly colorful three rosewood side seats with jade-flowered throne screens. A dark red Persian wool carpet was laid on the ground. A rosewood armchair was brought over again and a large red embroidered golden-threaded kirin pillow was placed.