novelraw Chapter 604: Family Punishment
Chapter 604: Family Punishment
This Lantern Festival is likely one that the people of Qinghe Bay will not forget in recent years.
The gunpowder exploded, and the flames soared into the sky.
In the biting cold wind, the entire village desperately fought the fire.
While putting out the fire, they cursed Gu Ruinian.
Gu Ruinian felt completely numb. Rather than being numbed by the gunpowder explosion, it was as if fate had numbed him.
He watched the villagers scurrying to put out the fire, looked at Tong Huaqiong and Gu Jingzhe, and his heart felt colder than the icicles hanging from the eaves.
The desire to make a name for himself and stir up storms in this era had been shattered by the gunpowder.
He couldn’t understand why, as a transmigrator, he fared so poorly.
Even a mere girl like Gu Taohua was doing better than he was.
He was so close to turning his life around.
He understood the treacherous cold weather, but instead of helping the Zheng Family to make a fortune, he inexplicably caused them to lose money.
He created heavy firearms, which ended up causing a massive explosion on the day of the Lantern Festival.
Fate never seemed to be on his side.
Never before had he longed as much to return to the future as he did now.
In that household from the future, he was still the cherished Yaozu, pampered by his parents, cared for by his sisters, and praised by the whole village.
Tong Huaqiong felt someone watching him and turned to see Gu Ruinian standing under the corridor, this instigator not even rushing to fight the fire.
Tong Huaqiong stared at Gu Ruinian in the firelight.
Gu Ruinian felt unnerved by Tong Huaqiong’s gaze.
"Manager Tong." Fan Tong came out of the house to greet Tong Huaqiong.
Tong Huaqiong asked Fan Tong, "What brings you to Qinghe Bay?"
Fan Tong had agreed with Gu Honglian to watch the lanterns in town, but after waiting for a long time without seeing Gu Honglian, he boldly came to Qinghe Bay.
Just as he arrived at the old Gu Family house, the gunpowder exploded.
Fan Tong naturally didn’t dare tell the truth and evasively said, "I came to see Mr. Su."
"Oh." Tong Huaqiong’s face was expressionless.
Tong Huaqiong couldn’t care less why Fan Tong was in Qinghe Bay, as long as he wasn’t there to court Gu Taohua.
Fan Tong felt awkward seeing that Tong Huaqiong ignored him.
Seeing Gu Taohua leading the people from the Weaving Workshop to fight the fire, he felt uneasy.
Compared to being Gu Taohua’s brother-in-law, he much preferred being her husband.
The entire village was busy until dawn when the fire in the cellar was finally extinguished.
Between four and five in the morning was the coldest time of the day, and everyone was shivering in the cold, but Mrs. Wei managed to make ginger tea with the help of the other women in the village, serving it to everyone.
Mrs. Wei resented Gu Ruinian for privately making gunpowder and resented Mrs. Jia for staying inside crying as if it had nothing to do with her.
The entire village was busy, and there wasn’t even a bowl of hot soup. Tomorrow, even she and Fengnian would be ostracized.
Mrs. Wei withheld her emotions and brought out tea and snacks to thank everyone for their help.
Initially, everyone was upset that the Gu Family hadn’t even offered a bowl of hot tea, but seeing Mrs. Wei and Gu Fengnian’s conduct, their anger dissipated.
After finishing the ginger tea, everyone went back to rest.
Before leaving, the village chief sternly warned everyone to keep the gunpowder incident to themselves. Not a word should be mentioned outside, or the entire village would be punished if the matter were pursued from above.
Fortunately, everyone understood the dangers of making gunpowder privately and promised to keep it quiet.
Even Xu Dabao and Xu Erbao, who initially thought of reporting the incident, were too afraid to act rashly after hearing the village chief’s words, fearing that the Xu Family might also get involved.
"Clan Leader, Ruinian is too bold. If it weren’t for me stopping them, the villagers would have driven Ruinian out. Now that I’ve placated them, how do you plan to deal with Ruinian? I need to give the village an explanation, right?" The village chief spoke to the Second Uncle of the Gu Family and the Gujia Clan Leader.
The village chief’s stance was that Gu Ruinian’s private gunpowder manufacturing was unforgivable and must be severely punished.
Such punishment could only come from the Gu Family itself.
Gu’s Second Uncle understood the village chief’s meaning.
He bid farewell to the villagers who helped with the firefight and asked all the Gu Family members to stay behind.
Previously, the family’s approach towards Gu Ruinian’s actions was to turn a blind eye.
Now, with the gunpowder exploding right before their eyes, the family was both terrified and furious.
The crime of privately making gunpowder was serious, and now that the village had kept it under wraps, the Gu Family couldn’t ignore it.
Gu Ruinian wanted to drag the entire clan down with him.
Gu’s Second Uncle’s chest rose and fell with anger, and Gu Jingzhe stepped forward to steady him.
Gu’s Second Uncle became even more agitated when Gu Jingzhe helped him.
The Gu Family’s ancestral tombs were finally favoring them as they produced Gu Jingzhe, who had achieved first place in the exams, and was expected to become a scholar this year and take the imperial exams in the capital next year.
This hard-earned streak of good fortune was almost obliterated by Gu Ruinian. How could Gu’s Second Uncle not be angry?
Now, since his elder brother, Mr. Gu, was bedridden, he had to take on the responsibility of dealing with Gu Ruinian, this disgrace.
The Clan Leader had turned from favoring to denouncing Gu Ruinian.
He had originally supported Gu Ruinian to compete against Gu Jingzhe and Tong Huaqiong but now wished to gouge his own eyes out. Due to this scandal, his prestige within the clan had been diminishing.
Before Gu’s Second Uncle could speak, the Clan Leader stepped forward to interrogate Gu Ruinian.
"Ruinian, do you understand your crime?"
Gu Ruinian bit down hard.
He had already decided not to fight against fate.
"I understand my crime," Gu Ruinian said as he fell to his knees with a thud.
With the gunpowder exploded, he would become an outcast of the Zheng Family’s second son.
Now, with Mr. Gu no longer supporting him, he knew he would be doomed if he didn’t kneel.
Once expelled by the clan, he would have nothing to fall back on.
"Clan Leader, Second Grandpa, I didn’t know making gunpowder was illegal. If I had known, I wouldn’t have dared even if it meant death. I was deceived by others. Think about it, where would I get the money to buy all those gunpowder materials?" Gu Ruinian, kneeling in the snow, shivered as he tried to defend himself.
This explanation was useless.
The Clan Leader felt that if he didn’t severely punish Gu Ruinian, he wouldn’t be able to continue as Clan Leader after today.
Facing the angry stares from the clan, the Clan Leader waved his hand, and Gu Dahu, along with two young men from the clan, brought a wooden bench before Gu Ruinian.
Gu Ruinian stared blankly at the bench, unable to react.
With another wave from the Clan Leader, Gu Dahu lifted Gu Ruinian and pressed him onto the bench, and someone handed a whip to the Clan Leader.
Before Gu Ruinian could understand what was happening, he was held down and had his thick clothes removed. The Clan Leader’s whip soon came down on him.
Gu Ruinian let out a howl, realizing this was the legendary clan punishment.
The Clan Leader, determined, whipped Gu Ruinian on the back, buttocks, and thighs. When he got tired, he called upon a strong clan member from the crowd to take over.
The Clan Leader initially wanted Gu Dahuan to whip for him, but Gu Dahuan refused to acknowledge him.
The clan member, angry at how Gu Ruinian had almost implicated everyone, showed no mercy in his blows.
Quickly, Gu Ruinian’s back and thighs were whipped to a bloody mess.
In the freezing cold, wearing just a thin layer of clothing and beaten with a whip, Gu Ruinian felt as if he had rolled through hell.
At first, he screamed like a pig being slaughtered, but eventually, he went silent.
Mrs. Jia cried out to intervene but was stopped by Gu Youtian.
Everyone from the Gu Family stood under the corridor watching Gu Ruinian being punished by clan law. Mr. Gu lay in his bed listening to the commotion outside without expression.
Mrs. Gu clenched her teeth, thinking to herself not to beat him too severely, as she still intended to use Gu Ruinian to secure a sum from the Xu Family to furnish Gu Honglian’s dowry.