Malicious Medical Princess of the Marquis House

Beating Ruthlessly

Translated by atsam
Edited by atsam

“Laoye!”

Xie shi looked at Gu daren anxiously.

Gu daren ignored her and immediately ordered, “Bring them in.”

Gu Quan obeyed. He looked outside the door and waved. The servants walked in with five or six pozi in their custody.

At the end was Li pozi, the manager of the medicinal storehouse.

In her memory, Li pozi had always been unbridled and arrogant, her eyes at the top of her head.

Only while facing Xie shi would she still remember her position as a servant. Facing Gu Jiu’s generation of small masters, there was a list of people serving for a long time who smiled while in a good mood and pulled a long face while in a bad mood.

They were a classic example of the servants bullying the master.

At this time, Li pozi didn’t have the overbearing attitude as in the past as she knelt, shivering with fear.

Xie shi’s hand tightened over the armrest. Her heart was beating like a drum, palpitating with fear. She stared at Li pozi unwaveringly, worried that the latter would say what shouldn’t be said.

Li pozi stealthily looked at Xie shi. Xie shi shook her head slightly. Li pozi immediately understood and hastily lowered her head.

Bang!

Gu daren slammed his palm on the desk, making everyone in the room jump with fright.

“Li pozi, what do you have to say for yourself?”

Li pozi was trembling from top to toe. When Gu Quan grabbed them all, she knew that the situation was bad. On the way here, her mind turned continuously about how to pass through this crisis.

And Xie shi also warned her just now not to speak nonsense.

But in the face of Gu daren’s prestige, Li pozi was nearly scared to death. Gu daren’s momentum was too magnificent, making her unable to resist.

Li pozi hung her head, her eyes spinning. She quickly made a decision.

She couldn’t take the blame for this matter if she wanted to survive. But she also couldn’t implicate Xie shi. If Xie shi survived, she survived. If Xie shi had an accident, she would also reach a dead end.

Gu daren glanced at Gu Quan meaningfully. Gu Quan revealed the mouldy medicinal ingredients and walked to Li pozi.

“Do you recognise this?”

Li pozi first nodded and then shook her head.

Gu Quan said coldly, “If you are smart, you should explain clearly about how you deceived your superiors and hid your misdeeds, substituted the good ingredients with the shoddy ones and took bribes. Then, laoye can still leave you an intact corpse. If not, your entire family will be put to death.”

Li pozi’s complexion became deathly pale.

“Laoye, have mercy, have mercy! The people around nubi urged nubi to deceive the masters, and nubi did such a matter which even pigs and dogs wouldn’t do! Nubi knows her mistake, knows her mistake…!”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Li pozi kowtowed, her forehead striking the ground repeatedly. Just listening to this sound made one’s head ache.

The few pozi kneeling behind Li pozi also followed her, simultaneously kowtowing and begging for forgiveness. Each and everyone was begging for their lives.

Gu daren had a grave expression on his face and didn’t make a sound.

Gu Ting looked satisfied. He wanted to seize this opportunity to throw stones at those who had fallen into the well and completely eliminate these pozi.

Gu Jiu pulled Gu Ting’s sleeve and shook her head slightly, indicating that he shouldn’t move.

Gu Ting was puzzled, unable to understand.

Gu Jiu hung her head and didn’t say anything.

This time, she relied on the father-daughter affection and used Gu daren to bring her out of her predicament. This didn’t mean that he would stand aside when she challenged Xie shi’s authority.

It was clear that Xie shi had a heavier weight in Gu daren’s eyes.

After all, they had been husband and wife for so many years. Xie shi was also not stupid. She had also given birth to two girls and two boys for Gu daren.

The Xie family was also in a good position. Each matter added more chips to Xie shi’s side so it was obvious that her importance was greater than Gu Jiu’s.

If she thought she could topple Xie shi based on some slaves’ wrongdoing, she would have to be delusional. That would also be underestimating Gu daren and Xie shi.

Gu daren was in a high government post. How could he not understand the principle of checks and balances?

When he didn’t give Xie shi face earlier, he was merely warning her to exercise restraint.

If she assumed that with this one incident, Xie shi had lost her importance and Gu daren’s favour, she was severely mistaken.

As long as the Xie family did not fall, Xie shi’s position was as stable as Mt Tai.

Even if the Xie family fell one day, as long as Xie shi’s two sons were promising, she could still retain her position and status.

Hu!

Gu Jiu exhaled. This time, to eliminate Tao Hong and the loyal and treacherous Doctor Xu, Gu Jiu had already achieved her purpose.

As for Li pozi, Gu Jiu didn’t want to cause too much trouble. She had left a good impression on Gu daren with great difficulty. She couldn’t destroy this good situation because of one Li pozi.

Even if she got rid of Li pozi, she wouldn’t get the slightest benefit. Instead, it would make Gu daren feel that she couldn’t tolerate others at such a young age and couldn’t handle affairs well.

Besides, Tao Hong and Li pozi were two completely different matters.

Tao Hong was Gu Jiu’s servant in name. She had no good intentions and was always looking to secretly stab Gu Jiu in the back. If Gu Jiu wanted to deal with her, no one could interfere and criticise her.

Li pozi didn’t belong to Zhilanyuan and Gu Jiu couldn’t control her.

Strictly speaking, Gu Jiu had no qualifications to handle Li pozi’s matter.

Gu Ting was even less qualified.

He was a man and he didn’t even study well. If he worried about the matters of the rear-court all day like a married woman, it would only prove that he was narrow-minded and his prospects were very worrying.

Therefore, neither Gu Jiu nor Gu Ting could personally come forward in Li pozi’s matter.

Moreover, if there wasn’t Li pozi, there was still Wang pozi and Zhang pozi. As far as Xie shi was concerned, it was just a matter of changing personnel.

On the other hand, if she left Li pozi be, there would be a dirty stain left on both Li pozi and Xie shi.

Maybe Xie shi would remove her post of pozi out of anger. When the time was right, it would take only a little instigation for Li pozi to resent Xie shi.

“Laoye, everything is qieshen‘s fault. Qieshen has failed in carrying out her duties well. One moment of negligence almost brought calamity to er guniang. Qieshen prides herself on being an expert in housekeeping. But I didn’t expect such a conscienceless thing to happen right under my nose. Laoye, please punish qieshen. As for these pozi, they should be disposed of for doing things that even pigs and dogs wouldn’t do.”

Xie shi looked guilty, blaming herself as she bowed humbly, waiting for Gu daren to punish her.

“Taitai, spare me! Nubi was wrong! Nubi won’t dare to anymore! Taitai, please give nubi another chance…!”

Bang! Bang!

Li pozi ruthlessly slapped her face repeatedly. Her cheeks swelled up very quickly and the skin on her forehead split. It was a truly miserable sight.

Xie shi pointed at Li pozi. “Shut up! I trusted you in vain! You deceived your superiors and filled your own pockets, nearly killing er guniang! You should be damned!”

Li pozi was terrified. She kowtowed so fiercely that her head started to bleed, but she still didn’t dare to stop.

Gu Jiu bowed her head, raising her eyebrows slightly.

This Xie shi was quite clever. She knew that pleading for mercy was useless so she simply retreated in order to advance, took the initiative to take all responsibility and demanded that Li pozi be put to death.

Gu Jiu had no choice but to admit that Xie shi had taken this step correctly.

Whatever the case may be, Gu daren had to respect Xie shi on the surface. Xie shi was the mistress of the household. If she was embarrassed, how could she manage the household in the future? The servants in the house would no longer obey her.

Therefore, this matter would end here and would not implicate Xie shi.

She saw Gu daren muttering to himself for a few seconds before he said decisively, “Tao Hong has evil intentions and plots to kill her master, unacceptable! Take her down and beat her forty times, beat her ruthlessly. Let everyone see what end a betrayer will have.”

Forty times?

Everyone was alarmed. If she was hit forty times, Tao Hong wouldn’t live.

Gu Quan obeyed, “Yes.”

He waved his hand and two servants dragged the ashen-faced Tao Hong out. Soon, sounds of hitting could be heard inside the yard. The stick hit Tao Hong’s body again and again, as if beating everyone’s hearts.

In the beginning, they could still hear Tao Hong’s miserable yells. Later, they could only hear the beating. There was no sound from Tao Hong. The maids, manservants and pozi inside the yard trembled, feeling a sense of dread.

Gu daren spoke again, “Xiao Hong and Xiao Cui will be beaten severely ten times.”

Hu!

Being hit ten times, it was possible for them to survive. Xiao Cui and Xiao Hong looked like they had been just fished out of water. Sweating profusely, they kowtowed together.

Gu Jiu bowed. “Thank you, father, for giving justice to daughter.”

Gu daren hummed. “Nurse your body well.”

“Daughter sincerely obeys father’s orders.”

Gu daren once again looked at Li pozi and the other old women. “These servants, each one of them is worse than pigs and dogs. Take everyone down and beat them ten times. Li pozi will be beaten twenty times. Send someone to search and seize Li pozi’s house. I want to see how greedy she has been for the silver from medicinal ingredients. Furen, what do you think of this?”

Xie shi had begun to relax. When she heard the matter of seizing and searching Li pozi’s house, she tensed again.

She bowed her head, as if feeling remorseful. “Laoye has handled this appropriately.”

Gu daren nodded. “The remaining matters will be given to furen to handle.”

“Qieshen obeys.”

“Laoye, Doctor Chen has arrived.”

“Invite Doctor Chen inside.”