Qi Yi came out of the tent and walked directly to Gu Dashan, saying to him, "Brother Gu, please bring your family with me, I have something to ask you."
Gu Dashan felt a panic in his heart, but he knew that today this matter had to be resolved, so he brought along his wife and children and followed Qi Yi into a small tent on the left side.
In the tent, there were a few small stools made of wooden stakes. Qi Yi pointed to the stools and said, "Sit."
After the Gu Dashan family sat down, Qi Yi opened the conversation candidly, "Brother Gu, forgive me for being blunt, your Granny is not a kind person. Today, your second daughter saved my son's life. If you are willing, I can help you leave the Old Gu Family and let you become the head of your own household."
Gu Dashan looked at his wife and children, his eyes filled with tears, holding deep guilt... He didn't care about being the head of the household. He only hated that the Old Gu Family wanted to sell his wife and children.
He and his family had already suffered enough in the Old Gu Family, doing all the hard and tiring work. He was the most filial son to his father in the entire Old Gu Family, but he couldn't understand why his father agreed to sell his wife and children.
In the past, he could endure, but the thought of selling his wife and children, he couldn't bear it!
In the end, Gu Dashan nodded, "I appreciate Young Master Qi's help."
Gu Jinli and Gu Jin'an both breathed a sigh of relief. They were really afraid that Gu Dashan would refuse. But today, the matter of severing ties with the Old Gu Family had to be accomplished!
The Old Gu Family were worse than animals. They could sell their family once, and they could sell them a second time. If there were a second time, they shouldn't bother selling. Gu Jinli would directly take a knife to chop them up.
Seeing Gu Dashan relent, Qi Yi immediately had Housekeeper Lin, who was guarding outside the tent, bring Elder Gu and Granny Gu inside. Also coming in were Third Grandpa, Third Grandma, Village Chief Gu, and Father Luo, who were invited to be witnesses.
Elder Gu and Granny Gu were untied, and the cloth covering their mouths was removed.
Qi Yi said to them, "I invited you in to talk about the indenture."
He made a snapping sound, gently placing the indenture on the table before him, saying, "Elder Gu, Old Mrs. Gu, according to the Great Chu Criminal Law, whoever placed their fingerprint on the contract must take responsibility. Now, do you want to keep Gu Youfu's family of five or find another solution?"
Qi Yi noticed that Granny Gu didn't care much about Gu Youfu's family, so he added a words full of threat, "You both should know very well why the Qi Mansion buys disaster victims, but think carefully before making a decision."
Elder Gu remembered Qian Guangzong's words, that wealthy families bought disaster victims to push them out to fend off bandits during critical times. His hand couldn't help but tremble.
Granny Gu knew Elder Gu was reluctant to sell Gu Youfu's family, so she pointed to Gu Dashan's family and said, "We can exchange them for Youfu's family. Gu Dashan's family has six people, one more than Youfu's family. Your Qi Mansion gets a good deal, this trade isn't a loss."
Qi Yi coldly laughed in his heart, shattering Granny Gu's dream, "Old lady, it seems you're not bound tightly enough."
That sentence scared Granny Gu, making her face pale. Elder Gu pulled her, warning her with his eyes. This was the Qi Mansion, an official family, not someone they could offend as mere peasants.
Elder Gu asked Qi Yi, "How does Young Master Qi want this resolved?"
Qi Yi smiled and looked at Housekeeper Lin. Housekeeper Lin handed a pre-written severance letter to Elder Gu, "As long as Elder Gu and Old Mrs. Gu press their fingerprints on it, this matter will be settled."
Granny Gu had served as a maid for a young master of a wealthy family when she was young, so she was literate. Seeing the contents on the paper, she immediately cursed angrily, "Don't even think about it, this old woman won't press her fingerprint."
The severance letter clearly stated that she and Elder Gu, because they did something unforgivable to Gu Dashan's family, felt too ashamed to face them after it was exposed. They willingly signed the severance letter, cutting off relations with Gu Dashan's family. From now on, regardless of poverty or wealth, they wouldn't look for them, nor did Gu Dashan's family need to support them, thus ending all relations, never to contact again.
This severance letter couldn't be signed, absolutely couldn't be signed. The idea of Gu Dashan's family escaping her control so easily was out of the question!
Granny Gu angrily pointed at Gu Dashan, cursing, "You little wolf cub, I knew from a young age that your heart was vicious, trying to kill your stepmother. Now that you have support, you've finally struck me. Do you have any conscience left? You and Gu Daya were both raised by me, yet now you repay kindness with enmity..."
"Bah!" Before Granny Gu could finish, Third Grandma stood up and cursed, "Gu Dashan and Daya were raised by you? Ms. Pan, do you have the face to say this? Gu Dashan was kicked out of the house at seven years old, sold off and sent to town as an apprentice. From the age of seven, he never had a mouthful of food from the Old Gu Family, and then there's Daya. How dare you bring up Daya."
Speaking of Gu Daya, Third Grandma felt heartbroken, "The one without a conscience is you. Daya was such a good girl, yet you wanted to sell her to that filthy place. Daya had no choice and ran away with a peddler, with you accusing her of eloping. For all these years, she hasn't been able to return to the Old Gu Family."
After scolding Granny Gu, Third Grandma pointed at Elder Gu and cursed, "And you, Sixth Son Gu, you have the heart of a wolf and lungs of a dog. Dashan's mother was such a good person, yet you didn't cherish her. You saw Ms. Pan's good looks, and you played around with her, angering Dashan's mother to death. Watching Ms. Pan harm your two children, you said nothing. You, you're not human!"
As Third Grandma cursed, she broke into tears, feeling it unfair for Dashan's mother.
Gu Dashan's face turned pale at Third Grandma's words. How could his mother have been angered to death by his father? Wasn't it after his mother's death that his father met Ms. Pan through a matchmaker?
And about Daya, wasn't it because Daya herself got involved with the peddler, and his father and Ms. Pan opposed it, leading her to elope with the peddler?
Gu Dashan's face turned white. He asked Elder Gu, "Father, is what Third Aunt said true? Before my mother died, were you, were you with... her? And about Daya, did you really try to sell Daya?"
Elder Gu remained silent, as was his habit, not answering Gu Dashan's questions.
But this time, Gu Dashan's eyes were red with anger as he roared and pursued questions: "Speak, was it you and this woman who killed my mother and wanted to sell Daya?!"
Gu Dashan's unwavering commitment to the Old Gu Family was partly for Elder Gu and partly because of his only sister, Gu Daya.
Daya eloped, and her life at her husband's household must be difficult. If he left the Old Gu Family, he'd be even less of a support for her, lacking power.
Now thinking about it, if being sold to such a filthy place meant enduring endless humiliation, eloping with a peddler was already considered the better path.
Facing Gu Dashan's questioning, Elder Gu acted as if he hadn't heard, pressing his thumb into the red ink, and first pressing his fingerprint on the severing relationship paper.