Chapter 12: Summoning the Physician

Seeing her son break down in loud sobs, Lady Wei also knelt down: "Mother! Siya is telling the truth! Even if you are furious beyond measure, I beg you, for Tianbao's sake, please listen to Siya! She'll do whatever she's told..."

"Nonsense!" Feng's suppressed rage surged once again. "Even if everyone in this house died out, there are still the near-branch relatives. Even if Heaven itself were to decide, it wouldn't be up to a little wench like her!"

The Wei mother and son felt their hearts sink halfway, and they immediately burst into loud, wailing cries.

Gu Tang picked at her ear; this crying was truly noisy.

She didn't want to argue with Feng; the woman was simply unreasonable.

She raised her hand and gave Gu Tianbao another smack, signaling the mother and son to shut up.

Then, she turned her head and shouted toward her father: "Dad! What are you standing there for? If I hit Gu Tianbao, you hit Eldest Uncle!"

Gu Lianshan had a sudden epiphany.

That's right! He couldn't direct the anger his parents gave him toward his parents, but he could direct it toward his eldest brother!

The eldest brother was his parents' precious heart and soul. If he hit him, not only would the brother himself be in pain, but those biased parents would likely feel the pain too!

Gu Tang's words were like opening a door to a new world for Gu Lianshan. With an excited expression, he rushed forward and delivered two kicks to Gu Liansheng, who was lying on the ground unconscious.

"You bastard!" Realizing what was happening, Old Master Gu barked an angry reprimand and stepped forward to shield his eldest son.

"You animal! If you dare touch your eldest brother again, I will kick you out of this house today!"

Gu Lianshan curled his lip: "Hurry up then! I'd love nothing more than to sever ties with this family!"

Old Master Gu's heart constricted. A wave of pain struck him, and clutching his chest, he collapsed onto Gu Liansheng.

"Husband!"

Seeing her partner collapse, Feng felt as if the sky were falling!

She trembled like a sieve, her legs turning as weak as noodles, and she slumped onto the ground.

She then scrambled toward him, her voice trembling: "Husband! Don't you dare scare me!"

With a shaking finger, she tested the area under her husband's nose. Sensing that he was breathing normally, her heart instantly eased, and she collapsed onto him, wailing loudly.

Gu Lianshan looked on suspiciously. Was this another act to appease people, or was it real this time?

Over the years, he had been fooled and cheated countless times.

The most severe instance was when his father had fainted from anger, which subsequently ruined his eldest son's education.

However, he only learned shortly after that his father had been faking it.

Not far away, Gu Tang felt something was amiss.

She had Gu Ping'an keep an eye on the Wei mother and son while she ran over to check on Old Master Gu.

Seeing his daughter approach, Gu Lianshan complained to her: "Look at that, your grandfather is faking it again! As long as he's in the wrong, he immediately pulls this stunt!"

"You damned beast! Your father is truly being worked to death by you this time! How dare you slander him!" Feng cried heartrendingly, cursing even as she wept.

Gu Lianshan refused to take the blame. "As for Father faking illness, I've caught him 'red-handed' several times! You're just trying to lie through your teeth!"

"You..." Feng was so angry she nearly lost her breath, then grief overtook her again, feeling as though she had raised a debt-collector!

Gu Tang suppressed her impatience and observed Old Master Gu closely. She saw that his fingers were pressing hard against his chest, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

His face was exceptionally pale, his lips were turning purple, and a layer of sweat had broken out on his forehead!

Based on Old Master Gu's age, the most common condition for an elderly person in this state was coronary heart disease.

If it truly was this disease, once the episode passed after calming the emotions, it would gradually subside; however, one could also simply kick the bucket on the spot!

Looking at Old Master Gu's appearance, while it wasn't good, he didn't look like he was about to die just yet.

Gu Tang secretly tugged at her father's hem, and father and daughter's eyes met.

Gu Tang blinked at him twice.

This was a signal she had established: one blink was normal, anything else was arbitrary; two blinks meant it was abnormal and he must follow her lead.

Receiving the message from his daughter, Gu Lianshan's heart sank.

What did this mean? Why two blinks?

Could it be... the old man wasn't necessarily faking it this time?

Gu Tang ignored him and turned back to call the Wei mother and son over: "Carry my eldest uncle back to the room. I don't know if my grandfather was injured by that cane, but he's distressed and has fainted. In a little while, invite a doctor to the house to check on everyone..."

With Gu Tang's explanation, the entire situation changed flavor.

The matter of Old Master Gu fainting from anger was no longer attributed to his son's temper, but rather to the fact that he had injured his eldest son and was now overcome with heartache!

The Wei mother and son were not fools and naturally understood the implication.

But at this moment, they could only pretend to be deaf.

The three of them approached while wailing miserably, working together to half-carry and half-drag Gu Liansheng back to the east wing.

Feng was displeased to see this. Now that they were gone, who would help her deal with this little wench?

Did she think he couldn't hear the implication in her words?

Feng wiped her tears, her gaze sweeping over as she prepared to curse.

Unfortunately, just as the words reached her lips, under Gu Tang's wolf-like stare, Feng's heart skipped a beat and she swallowed the words back down.

"Grandmother, the house is in chaos right now and people are irritable. You should watch your mouth. If you happen to provoke me, you can go fetch the doctor yourself!"

Feng gasped for breath in fury.

Asking a little foot-bound old lady like her to go to the neighboring village alone to fetch a doctor?

Was she trying to vent her anger on her? Or did she not want to save him?!

Gu Tang ignored her rage and told her father to simply move Old Master Gu to the main hall and ignore Feng's shouting.

Seeing the father and daughter treat her this way, Feng felt a flicker of panic and stood up to follow them.

Not long after entering the room, muffled cursing could be heard from within.

Gu Tang listened carefully for a moment; it was Feng cursing her father in a low voice.

Her father did not indulge her and soon emerged from the main hall, saying he had to go out.

"I'm going to fetch a doctor. You go back to the room with Sanlang. Don't open the door for anyone."

Gu Lianshan was worried about Gu Tang, so he simply told her to hide in the room first.

Gu Tang nodded obediently, telling him to just go and not worry about her.

After he left, the east wing and the main hall were filled with the sounds of weeping, interspersed with the occasional string of profanities.

As for who was being cursed at, there was no need to guess.

Gu Tang went to the kitchen, brought out a clay pot, and smashed it in the courtyard with a loud *bang*—

"Gu Tianbao, have I given you too much face?! Haven't you been beaten enough? Get out here right now and take more!"

The courtyard fell silent instantly; the crying stopped.

"You're just a shameless brat! You feel uncomfortable if you aren't cursed at or beaten!" Gu Tang shouted with her hands on her hips, acting incredibly fierce.

Gu Ping'an stood behind her, his face full of admiration!

After completely intimidating the Gu family, Gu Tang quietly assigned Gu Ping'an a task: to wander around the village.

"Just say you were looking for Gu Mei and Gu Lai'an. Tell everyone you met that Eldest Uncle was out drinking, and to trick him into coming back, Gu Tianbao cursed Grandmother, saying she was dying. After being exposed, Grandfather and Grandmother were furious and beat the eldest branch's family, and now Grandfather has fainted from the stress himself..."

Gu Ping'an scratched his head, not understanding why they had to air their dirty laundry.

"What do you mean 'dirty laundry'? Whether this family is good or bad, can you enjoy it, or can you even be a part of it?" Gu Tang countered.

(End of Chapter)