Gu Siya grew anxious seeing Gu Changwei’s indifference.
“Father!”
Gu Changwei snapped back to attention and patted Gu Siya’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, you are my son. I will not abandon you no matter what.”
After speaking, he glanced at Xie Chen and turned to leave.
Xie Chen found it strange. Was this Gu Changwei?
He seemed like a completely different person.
“Young Master Gu, there’s no need to look so full of woe. If you knew this would happen, why did you do it in the first place?” Xie Chen added fuel to the fire.
Why get involved with Li An? Wouldn’t it have been better to be well-behaved?
Why speak ill of Gu Changwei, only to have him overhear? Truly unfortunate.
Gu Siya glared at Xie Chen with resentment. Xie Chen was unfazed, his fierce gaze merely a bluff from someone cornered.
It wouldn’t scare him.
He was used to being scared.
Gu Siya was led away.
Gu Changwei returned to the Duke’s mansion with a complex heart.
He hesitated for a moment before finally heading towards the Old Madam Gu’s courtyard.
He was lost and wanted guidance, but he didn’t know who else to turn to besides his mother.
Old Madam Gu appeared unwelcoming to Gu Changwei’s arrival, her expression impatient. “I already told you, you don’t need to come to pay your respects.”
“Mother, your son wishes for your guidance,” Gu Changwei said, frowning.
“No, how can I, an ignorant old woman, offer guidance to a distinguished Duke like you? I am unworthy. Leave.” Old Madam Gu’s expression was indifferent, her eyes holding a hint of mockery.
She might as well consider this son as never having been born.
Fortunately, she still had her daughter, grandson, and granddaughter.
Otherwise, she would be utterly stifled.
Gu Changwei looked extremely awkward. “Mother, I know I was terribly wrong before.”
Gu Changwei’s address to Old Madam Gu shifted to the more affectionate ‘Mother’.
Old Madam Gu couldn’t recall when their mother-son relationship had become so estranged.
“Did I hear that correctly?” Old Madam Gu turned to the attendant beside her. “What did the Duke just say? He said he was wrong? Oh dear, oh dear, as one gets older, their hearing fails. I must call for the imperial physician to examine me.”
Gu Changwei was mortified.
The attendants beside Old Madam Gu dared not respond. This was a mother and son, the masters, not people like them, servants, who could casually interject.
“Mother, I know you resent me, and I resent myself too,” Gu Changwei said with a somber expression. “In this life, I have made too many mistakes. I have wronged Mother, wronged A’nian, wronged Si Nian, and also wronged… Ting Xue.”
Old Madam Gu was genuinely taken aback.
A prodigal son returning, a sudden awakening.
Such things did happen.
But what was he saying? He even said he wronged Ting Xue.
How did that sound so chilling?
Old Madam Gu’s face grew stern. “What new scheme are you concocting now?”
“Mother, I’m not,” Gu Changwei explained earnestly.
“Let me tell you, although Ting Xue is no longer part of the Gu family, in my heart, I regard her as my daughter,” Old Madam Gu said, her eyes full of vigilance. “If you intend to do anything to harm her, don’t blame this old woman for being impolite to you.”
“Mother, I won’t. Regarding Ting Xue, I only feel guilt in my heart. How could I do anything to her? I only wish to compensate, merely compensate,” Gu Changwei said quickly.
Old Madam Gu eyed Gu Changwei suspiciously. “Did the door hit your head?”
Or perhaps a donkey kicked you?
Old Madam Gu truly thought this, otherwise, why would he be so abnormal?
The sun hadn’t risen from the west.
“Because of Si Ya, I misunderstood Ting Xue and A’nian so much. Now, thinking back, I regret it deeply,” Gu Changwei said. “I was blinded by my own foolishness. From now on, I want to make amends to them.”
“So your good son is only Gu Si Ya now?” Old Madam Gu asked. “Do you take me for a three-year-old child, trying to coax me with such words?”