Chapter 04 Rival Between Siblings

When his aunt brought him to the Gu Household in the middle of winter, Gu Yingjie was only seven years old. She asked him to stand outside the Gu's house and put a note in his hand. When the wind blew across Gu Yingjie's face, he felt pain on his face like he had been cut by corn's leaves.

An old man walked out the door and saw the fragile Gu Yingjie standing alone in the cold, with very few clothes on his body. The old man looked at him, and the young child reminded him of his youngest child.

The old man asked, "Child, who are you?"

Gu Yingji looked at the old man and said, "My relative said she took me to my father's place. She left me here." His tears began to flow.

The old man asked, "What's your name?"

Gu Yingjie replied, "Gu Yingjie."

The old man looked at the young crying boy and asked, "Is your last name Gu?"

Gu Yingjie nodded, and the old man took the piece of paper from Gu Yingjie's hand. The letter is for Gu Tingfuang. The letter was very short. The letter state: You bastard Gu Tingfuang here is your product. My sister has raised him for seven years, now it is your turn to raise him.

The old man smiled and said, "You look just like my youngest child when my child was still alive."

Gu Yingjie asked, "Who are you?"

The old man smiled and said, "Call me ye ye." He wiped Gu Yingjie's tears. He held Gu Yingjie's hand, and the old man and Gu Yingjie walked into the Gu Manor.

Gu Yingjie was raised by his grandfather. His grandfather's guards took very good care of him, which caused jealousy among his siblings. They saw him as an enemy and not as their brother. His grandfather wants to raise him, so his father has no objection. He is the apple in the eyes of his grandparents because he looks just like one of his deceased uncle.

Gu Yingjie is not very popular in Gu's family. His father had two wives and many children, but among all the children, his father loved him the most and announced publicly that Gu Yingjie is the next heir to the leader seat ever since Gu Yingjie was very young. Everyone inside the Gu household were very jealous of Gu Yingjie because Gu Yingjie is the only person that grandfather Gu liked.

Gu Tingfu and grandfather Gu specially trained Gu Yingjie and brought in the best teachers to teach him literacy. Gu Yingjie is well educated by his grandfather with both knowledge and martial arts skilled.

One evening, Gu Yingjie was sitting in the backyard playing chess with his grandfather and asked, "Grandfather, my father said about choosing guards."

Grandfather Gu, "It is the tradition of the Gu family to pick guards. Your guards are your shield. They will protect you from enemy attacks and will die in your place."

Gu Yingjie, "Grandfather, I don't want to force them to die in my place."

Grandfather Gu, "Those guards, they have sold their lives to us. They will listen to us." He pointed to an old guard standing next to him. "He has been with me since I was ten years old. We grew old together."

Gu Yingjie, "How do I know who to choose?"

Grandfather Gu, "When you look into the eyes of this person, you will see the determination in their eyes. This is the kind of guard you would choose." He smiled at the little boy. "One good guard is enough to last a lifetime."

Those were the happiest three years of Gu Yingjie's life living inside the Gu Household. Soon thereafter, his grandfather died of old age. In his grandfather's will, he is to accept everything his grandfather own, including his subordinates. After his grandfather died, his own siblings treated him badly. They called him bastard child.

Gu Yingjie is a child with a lot of properties, but lacks friendship. Until that day, he saw the little boy with hands and feet shackled, but his eyes were full of determination. This is the reason why he decided to choose Zhu Mingyang as his guard.

They trains together from morning to dawn, and when they became aware of themselves, they are inseparable. Gu Yingjie did not treat Zhu Mingyang as a guard or a private slave. He treated Zhu Mingyang as his equal.

Gu Xiaowen and Gu Gouliang were sitting in Gu Xiaowen's bedroom. Gu Xiaowen looked at Gu Gouliang and said, "Gouliang, we must do something regard of that bastard. Since I am the eldest son of the family, I should be the heir, but the bastard somehow caught the attention of grandfather and father."

Gu Gouliang, "We missed the opportunity to kill him, but now we can kill him again since grandfather is no longer here. If we can't kill him, we will drive him out of Gu residents."

Gu Xiaowen asked, "What are you trying to do?"

Gu Gouliang replied, "I have made some preparations." He smiled at Gu Xiaowen. "Da ge, to take him down, we must takeout Zhu Mingyang. That bastard treated Zhu Mingyang as a brother, not like a servant."

Gu Xiaowen said, "Zhu Mingyang has proven his loyalty to the bastard child." He frowned. "A person like him should not have a loyal guard like Zhu Mingyang."

Gu Gouliang said, "Zhu Mingyang is indeed a talented and loyal guard." He took a cup of tea and drank it. "Do you remember that time when we lie to the bastard child that the guard life in Gu's house was inhumane?" He smiled. "The bastard drove Zhu Mingyang away, but Zhu Mingyang returned three days later. "

Gu Xiaowen, "I remember. Zhu Mingyang's actions that day told me that except for that bastard, he will not be loyal to anyone, not even father."

Gu Gouliang, "What you mean is that he can ask Zhu Mingyang to kill father, and Zhu Mingyang will do that."

Gu Xiaowen, "Exactly."

Then the knock on the door stopped the conversation between the two brothers.

Gu Xiaowen asked, "Who is it?"

A guard said, "Master Gouliang, everything is ready. We are just waiting for you."

Gu Gouliang walked to the door and opened it. He saw his guard waiting for him outside the room. He said, "Attack without merci and don't let anyone see your face."