Chapter 496: Beyond Saving

Chapter 496: Chapter 496: Beyond Saving

Gu Kaiping didn’t understand why Gu Baijiang would bring this up. "Father, why did you think of this? Did Xu Shuanghong say something to you?"

He thought indignantly, "Great, now she’s resorting to pillow talk. She even wants to meddle in our brothers’ bedroom affairs. What exactly is Xu Shuanghong trying to do?"

"No, I just feel that since you are traveling a long distance alone, I won’t have peace of mind without someone to serve you.

"The people you find outside have unknown backgrounds. But with Xu Shuanghong in the manor, her two daughters will only serve you with all their hearts."

To Gu Baijiang, women were all the same.

He didn’t want to bear the reputation of being manipulated by a woman, so he explained further.

"Father, you are truly confused. No matter what, she is nominally our sister. If word gets out about this, I will be too ashamed to face anyone."

If the three father and sons got together with the three mother and daughters, it would become an absolute joke should it ever come to fruition.

Ever since the three of them—mother and daughters—returned to the capital, the family had not even officially acknowledged Fan Meibao as Gu Kaichen’s concubine, keeping the matter strictly within the household.

However, Xu Yulan was foolish and insisted on having an extra person serve Gu Kaichen, which was how the servants in the manor found out.

Fortunately, he had the steward warn everyone in advance, preventing the scandal from spreading.

"Fine, if you’re not willing, let’s drop it. Time is tight right now, and I have no way to find someone to serve you. When you get there, you can find a girl with a clean background from the Liang Family and expand the family line for our Gu Family."

He had three sons but only two grandsons. In the future, Gu Kaiyuan would definitely not be contributing to this count. Having only two grandsons was simply too thin of a lineage.

He had already given up on Gu Kaichen, fearing that even if he had more sons, he wouldn’t be able to afford to raise them. Therefore, his eyes were firmly set on Gu Kaiping.

Xu Yun was getting older and was no longer suitable for bearing children. Coincidentally, the rule he had previously established had already been broken, providing a perfect solution.

"Yes," Gu Kaiping replied, the corners of his mouth curling up. When the time came, he would definitely find someone to his liking.

This was also the first time Gu Kaiping would be traveling so far away from his father, and his heart was filled with both nervousness and anticipation.

But more than that, he felt uncertain. So that night, the father and son stayed in the study for the entire night.

The moment the sky brightened, Gu Antong sent Cai Li back.

She said she wanted Cai Li to help out at home for a while to prepare for her father’s journey.

Gu Kaiping’s expression slipped for a moment, thinking that his daughter was sending him a woman. But upon further thought, he realized that was impossible. As a daughter, how could she manage her father’s bedroom affairs? He was truly being affected by his father’s words from yesterday.

After sending the maid to Liu Yun, he hurriedly left the manor. He still had to make some preparations and buy some necessities.

When Liu Yun read the letter Cai Li brought over, her gaze turned somewhat unfriendly. "What is wrong with you? Letting you accompany Her Highness into the Three Emperors Mansion is a tremendous blessing, yet you still managed to mess things up.

"Look at what you’ve done! I thought you were quite clever before, so how could you be so foolish?

"You’re like a puppet on a string! You only take action when your master explicitly orders you to. How can there be such a stupid person?"

Liu Yun scolded her for a while, but seeing Cai Li still standing there blankly, she felt a wave of helplessness. No wonder her daughter despised this maid.

She blamed herself for being temporarily misled at the time. She had thought that since these maids were trained by the household’s main wife, they were worth the high price she paid. But was this it?

She didn’t want to keep a person like this by her side either; otherwise, being a master would be far too tiring.

Once she found a suitable replacement, she would sell this maid off to spare herself the eyesore. Coincidentally, the Silver from selling her could also make up for some of the losses.

"Go work in the kitchen for a while. I will see how to arrange things for you later," Liu Yun said with a dismissive wave of her hand. Seeing Cai Li turn around and leave immediately only made the stifled anger in her chest worse.

Cai Li still had a wooden expression on her face, but she knew in her heart that it wouldn’t be long before the people her master arranged would come to pick her up.

Ever since Gu Kaichen went out last time and ended up in the casino again, he had been locked in his room for days. Now, hearing that Gu Kaiping had secured a position, he felt extremely unwilling to accept it.

If his eldest brother were becoming an official, no matter how envious he felt, he wouldn’t have any objections. After all, there was a clear gap in their abilities.

But this was just a position for a lowly clerk. He believed he was fully capable of the job, yet neither his father nor his eldest brother had thought of him.

Actually, in his opinion, it was much more suitable for him to go. Since the starting point was low and the requirements were minimal, his eldest brother could have completely stayed in the capital and waited to be reinstated to his original official position.

"What is wrong with you?" he vented his anger on Xu Yulan, who had brought back the news. "Don’t you know how to put in a good word for me in front of the old man?"

"How am I supposed to help you? Why don’t you think about what you’ve done yourself?

"You’ve already scammed me out of so much before, yet you still dared to go gamble.

"Anyway, if we let you out, you’ll just end up right back at the casino. You’re better off staying obediently in the backyard—at least I won’t have to be on tenterhooks."

"How dare you!" Gu Kaichen wanted to strike her, but he also knew that without anyone to help him, he couldn’t beat Xu Yulan in a fight. Especially with her sharply manicured nails; the scars from where she had scratched him last time were still there.

"You only know how to throw these incompetent fits of rage." Xu Yulan had now pinned all her hopes on her son. As for Gu Kaichen, who was despised by the family, she no longer paid him any regard. "You’d better stay in your room and reflect on why you’ve ended up in this state."

"You think I want this?" Gu Kaichen retorted. "If I don’t gamble, I won’t even have my last shred of hope.

"Believe me, someone really won a lot..."

"You are truly insane." After Xu Yulan said this, she turned and left.

She had thought that Gu Kaiping securing a job would make him reflect on himself, but it seemed he was truly beyond saving.

She didn’t hide anything and immediately went to tell Gu Baijiang what Gu Kaichen had just said.

Gu Baijiang was furious. He ordered the steward to reduce Kaichen’s food rations, stating they would only return to normal once he showed genuine remorse.

No one said anything about Xu Yulan’s actions; instead, they felt she had finally been smart for once.

While the Gu Family was in complete turmoil, Gu Kaiyuan took the Silver from selling the shops and estates and began investing it into the shipyard.

However, the project was too massive, and there were too few artisans. Gu Kaiyuan had no choice but to ask the Bai Family for help in figuring out a solution.

Since this also concerned their future development, Bai Jingwen was quite supportive. He quickly sent over dozens of artisans, along with their deeds of sale.

Looking at this generous gift, Bai Suihe knew that this was likely all Mrs. Bai’s doing. Bai Jingwen actually didn’t have much affection for her as a daughter.

"Accept it," Gu Kaiyuan said. "In the future, we’ll give your two younger brothers a larger share."

Since the Bai Family had already split up, no one else would be able to take advantage besides Bai Suihe’s two blood brothers.

"It seems my father still kept some things in his hands." Bai Suihe placed these deeds of sale into a chest, then stored them in her space.

Gu Kaiyuan didn’t say anything, but he thought to himself, "As the Family Head of the Bai Family, how could Bai Jingwen not hold a trump card in reserve?"