Two, the cruel slave should be punished

  Yu Gou'er was extremely pleased with his task today. As the eldest son of the Yu family, Fourth Master had promised him a bright future as the head of the estate, which would be secured once they got their hands on the more than 80 mu of good land from the Third House. The only child left in the Fourth House was just over ten years old and spent his days idling about, not bothering to study much. The masters of the First and Second Houses also turned a blind eye to Fourth Master's plans, so in Yu Gou'er's shallow eyes, it seemed like a certainty that the more than 80 mu of good land would be transferred to the management of the Fourth House.

  The shallowness of a great man is hidden in his smile, while the shallowness of a small man is always exposed in his gaze. Therefore, Yu Gou'er's eyes on Yu Guozhen's gaze carried obvious contempt.

  Yu Guozhen had a smile at the corner of his mouth and bowed to him: "Gege."

  Yu Gou'er was suddenly delighted in his heart, he was only a low-ranking servant in the fourth house, but Yu Guozhen treated him with such courtesy that he felt his status had instantly risen. He puffed out his chest and stood up straight, also pretending to be dignified as he clasped his fists: "Brother Zhen, why did you come out so late, making me wait!"

  Yu Guozhen nodded slightly and made a gesture to ask them to leave. Yu Gou'er walked ahead, with him following behind, heading towards the town.

  He lived in a place not far from Xiang'an Town, just over three miles away. Yu Guozhen had been training every day for the past three years, so he was in good physical condition. Yu Gou'er walked quickly for about half a mile and found that Yu Guozhen didn't seem tired at all. As a result, he slowed down instead.

  It's already late anyway, so it doesn't matter if we're a bit later still. We can just blame it on Brother Zhen.

  "Has Brother Zhen been able to catch clams and eat them these days?"

  Yu Gou'er was a chatterbox, it was impossible for him to walk with his mouth shut. He turned around and glanced at Yu Guozhen, saying in a pretentious tone.

  Yu Guozhen shook his head and said seriously: "No need to pick it up, I'm raising it."

  Yu Gou'er burst out laughing, his laughter was so wild that it made Gao Dazhu's face turn bright red. If Yu Guo Zhen hadn't stopped him with a stern look, Gao Dazhu would have pounced on Yu Gou'er and slapped him in the face.

  It can be said that Yu Guozhen's eating of clams is a big joke in Xiang'an Town. From three years ago, when Yu Guozhen was mourning and used the excuse that he couldn't eat meat during the mourning period to start eating fish, he had a deep feud with the snails, turtles, and other aquatic animals. Until now, these seafood are still the mainstay of the Yu family's meals. There were rumors behind his back that Yu Guozhen must have been an aquatic creature in his past life, but not only did Yu Guozhen not take it seriously, he even went to extremes and raised fish and clams himself.

  In recent years, Yu Guozhen has been making the townspeople laugh. He cooks three meals for his family, takes the two Gao brothers out for runs, raises fish and shrimp, and quietly gave up the large courtyard to the second house and moved himself to the outskirts of town... All this earned him the nickname "Dumb Zhen". Da Zhuang and Er Zhuang have both heard people call him that, and they've even fought with others over it.

  Yu Gou'er laughed all the way, finally entering Xiang'an Town. This Xiang'an Town is also an ancient town, which can be considered prosperous in Wuwei Prefecture. The Yu family is located in the southwest of the town, and the entire alley is lined with the Yu family's residences. Among them, the newest one was left by Yu Guozhen's father, Yu Yiping. Yu Yiping managed the clan's shops in Nanjing, he was shrewd and capable, and had acquired some properties for both the clan and himself. However, he did not expect to suffer a disaster, nor did he expect that the properties he had acquired would bring great trouble to his only son, Yu Guozhen.

  As soon as he entered the courtyard of the fourth house, Yu Guofu came over with a sullen face. He was Yu Guozhen's cousin and of the same age. Yu Gou'er immediately bowed his head and waist: "Brother Fu."

  Yu Guofu ignored him, and as for Yu Guozhen who was following behind Yu Gou'er, he coldly snorted. As the eldest son of the fourth house, he was deeply favored by Yu Yigou, and family matters were not kept from him. Therefore, he understood that his own father had set his sights on the fields and houses of his uncle's family.

  "Seventh brother." Yu Guozhen didn't let him leave, calling out to him instead.

  Yu Guofu forced himself to stop in his tracks and glared at Yu Guozhen: "What's going on?"

  "The rules of the seventh brother's household, I'm afraid need to be managed." Yu Guozhen's face was calm, he was ranked fifth among his peers and could put on a show in front of Yu Guofu who was ranked seventh: "This Yu dog has no discipline at my place."

  As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Gou'er suddenly jumped up: "Nonsense, nonsense, Zhen Ge you dare to spout such rubbish..."

  Yu Guozhen sneered coldly: "Seventh brother, did you see that? In front of you, he dares to scold me like this. When your back is turned, he will dare to do even more."

  "What's the big deal!" Yu Guofu felt that something was not quite right, but he didn't think much of it. He was just a fifteen-year-old boy, and his mind was preoccupied with either thinking about good food and fun or how to sneak a peek at the maidservants bathing at home.

  When he heard the young master backing him up, Yu Gou became even more arrogant. He was determined to follow the Fourth House and become the head of the household, so he had to take the lead in making a move.

  "Zhen Ge'er, you're spitting dog's blood at me! Where have I been unorthodox? It's clearly you who are being overbearing and unreasonable..."

  This was originally the entrance to the fourth house, and although there were not many people coming and going, they were all relatives or family members of the Yu family. When they heard that a fight had broken out, someone naturally came over to watch. Seeing that things were almost settled, Yu Guozhen nodded at Gao Dazhu, who had been waiting for this moment, and immediately pounced on Yu Gou'er, silencing his shouting with one punch.

  Yu Gou'er felt like he had been struck by an iron hammer, dazed and dizzy, and sat down on the ground with a thud.

  "Just now at my home, because you claimed to be here on the orders of Fourth Uncle to summon me, I respected Fourth Elder, so I called you 'doggy elder brother', but you didn't even give me a courtesy, and instead responded in a haughty manner... What kind of thing are you? Born into a good family, yet daring to act as my elder brother? If you were indeed my elder brother, wouldn't that also make you the elder brother of Seventh Younger Brother?"

  As soon as the words came out, Yu Gou'er, who had just spat out two bloody teeth, was stunned. Although he was a stubborn fellow, he hadn't expected that Yu Guozhen's initial address would have such implications!

  His eyes rolled around, he wanted to deny it, but Gao Dazhu grabbed his collar and pulled him up, another slap in the face. The words of denial didn't come out, instead, he saw stars, and his head was filled with buzzing sounds.

  "You're not only being rude to me, but also dragging your feet on the way. I said let's hurry up since Fourth Uncle has urgent business, but you, a lazy servant, are not only slow but also mocking me along the way, asking if I'm collecting clams. Do you think I don't know that you people with foul mouths have been saying behind my back that I'm a fish spirit reincarnated because of my surname Yu and love for seafood? And now you're even daring to gossip about our family's name?"

  Yu Guozhen's words left Yu Gou'er, who was already dizzy and disoriented, unable to think of a way to defend himself. With a sob in his voice, he said: "I only asked Brother Zhen if he was going to pick clams, I didn't gossip about him behind his back..."

  Gao Da Zhu slapped another ear slap, stuffing the second half of his self-defense words back in, and the first half was enough to confirm Yu Gou Er's crime of disrespecting the host family!

  A burst of gasps, and some people began to mutter to themselves. This Yu dog really doesn't know how to live or die. It's one thing to gossip about the master behind his back, but to mock him to his face, even if it's just a joke, is not something he should be doing. If he encountered a more ruthless master, he could be beaten half to death and sold off just for this behavior!

  "It was just now that I told Seventh Brother about the matter, and you, this servant girl, rushed over shouting and saying that I had a bloody mouth...Seventh Brother, didn't you hear it with your own ears? Isn't that right?"

  When he said this, Yu Guozhen turned to Yu Guofu, his eyebrows raised and his eyes rolled up, naturally with a fierce momentum. At this time, Yu Guofu also realized that something was wrong, but the previous move had been seen by many people, and he couldn't deny it!

  This is also the reason why the four houses looked down on Yu Guozhen, and gave Yu Guozhen an opportunity. Yu Guozhen saw Yu Guofu silent, and coldly smiled: "The fifth uncle is particular about etiquette, the seventh brother is young and doesn't understand things, you can cheat him, but you can't cheat the fifth uncle, today I must ask the fifth uncle to punish this unreasonable slave - Seventh Brother, be my witness!"

  Yu Gou'er finally thoroughly understood that if he couldn't come up with a solution, he would be finished. Yu Guozhen's fifth uncle, Yu Yixuan, was a scholar and hated it when the family members above and below him were disordered. Although he usually didn't speak or interfere, once he opened his mouth, even Yu Yiqin, as the head of the clan, had to give in three points, let alone the fourth house!

  In no case can this be brought before Master Wu!

  At this time, Yu Gou'er was in a panic, he was originally a shallow and narrow-minded person with no capacity. Taking advantage of Gao Daizhu's loosening his grip, he hugged Yu Guofu's leg: "Brother Fu, I'm really wronged, I just followed the order of Fourth Master to call Zhen Ge, he resented Fourth Master for wanting to occupy his family's land, so he found an excuse to vent on me, I'm really... really..."

  As he spoke, his voice suddenly became hoarse, because he heard that the whispers and discussions around him had completely stopped.

  He thought and thought, finally realizing where he was wrong, his face suddenly turned pale. He was about to take it back, but was kicked in the chin by someone, almost dumbfounding him for half a second.

  "You're just a dog, talking nonsense, you must have gone mad!"

  The one who kicked was not Yu Guofu, but Li Jinbao, the manager of the fourth house. He came over after hearing the noise outside, but he was half a step late and still let Yu Gouer say out the plan of the fourth house.

  The four houses are good water fields on the more than 80 mu of land that Sanfang calculated, but this thing can be known in one's heart, and whispered behind one's back, but it cannot be openly said. The Yu family is a farming and reading family, emphasizing loyalty, filial piety, integrity, and righteousness, calculating the property of their own brother's orphaned children, what kind of loyalty, filial piety, integrity, and righteousness is that?

  Li Jinbao cursed Yu Gou'er in his heart, but with a smile on his face, he turned to Yu Guozhen and bowed deeply: "The little man has seen Brother Zhen."

  Looking at him, Yu Guozhen slowly smiled, and Yu Gou'er, who was lying on the ground, looked over with tears in his eyes. Seeing Yu Guozhen's smile, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

  He vaguely remembered that when Yu Guozhen came to see him, he had such a smile on his face. At that time, he looked down on Yu Guozhen and only thought that the third house's Zhen Ge was a famous "foolish Zhen" far and near, so he didn't take it seriously. But now, he realized that this smile hid deep meaning.