I became the God Brother of the Regent King after Transmigration!-Chapter 228 - 158: Wei Liuyu and Wei Junzhuo

Among the three forms of unfilial conduct, having no descendants is the greatest.

Back then, Gu Chengzhao, although unruly, exhibited the Gu Family’s innate talent, whether in martial arts or leading troops. Thus, he was early on chosen by the former Emperor and the old Marquis as the heir of the Dingyuan Marquis.

However, despite being married for many years, Gu Chengzhao and Zhou Wanqing still had no children.

The Dingyuan Marquis Mansion has been passed down for a century, but has always been sparsely populated. The old Marquis’s siblings either died in battle or married far away, and both the old lady and the old Marquis hoped for the birth of a legitimate grandson.

The hundred-thousand-strong Dingyuan Army in the Northern Territory, due to the Marquis Mansion’s century-long leadership, have long since recognized only the Marquis, not the Emperor. They too wished for the Marquis Mansion to have a legitimate heir.

Madam Zhou, having suffered physical damage, could no longer bear children, and Gu Chengzhao absolutely refused to marry any concubines.

This was the desire of the people, and people’s hearts are the most difficult to control and fathom.

Given various conditions, Gu Lan could only be a boy.

Gu Lan, however, did not care about these things, though she had almost guessed the reasons early on. But she hadn’t anticipated the existence of that woman.

She clenched her teeth and asked coldly and emotionlessly, "Who is that woman, is she still alive?" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Gu Chengzhao said, "After learning of it, I placed her under house arrest, intending to first accompany Qing’er before taking action. Unexpectedly, that very night someone broke into the Marquis Mansion to assassinate the old lady, taking advantage of the chaos to escape. Later, I identified her."

His eyes were deep, seemingly burning with fiery intensity:

"She is Wei Liuyu, the sister of General of Wei, Wei Junzhuo. After fleeing back to Wei Country, she became a concubine of the Wei Emperor with the title of Jin."

Wei Liuyu, Wei Junzhuo.

These two names made Gu Lan’s eyes focus, recalling the plot from the book.

In the original book, Wei Liuyu was not the Wei Emperor’s concubine, but the Empress Dowager of Wei Country.

The Wei Emperor in the original book was not Yuan Lang’s father, but a Little Emperor.

The Little Emperor of Wei was still young, and thus governed from behind the curtains by Empress Dowager Wei Liuyu. Great General Wei Junzhuo, her brother, expanded territories for her and protected Wei Country.

The opening Chapter of the original book was a military report of Wei Junzhuo defeating Prince Rui’s army.

When Rong Heng first arrived at the Southern Border, he faced chaos from the Qiangrong Light Cavalry, a betrayal from his own family’s Empress Dowager, and the threatening presence of General of Wei, Wei Junzhuo, eager to annex territories.

Moreover, Wei Junzhuo...

Gu Lan looked at Gu Chengzhao’s face; time had left no mark on it, instead making him appear even more wild and striking, as if nothing could defeat this man.

However, he died at Wei Junzhuo’s hands.

Until the very end of the original book, Wei Junzhuo was Rong Heng’s greatest adversary.

Although recently there was a great victory at the Southern Border where Wei Junzhuo was defeated by Rong Shuo, and he was also defeated multiple times by Rong Heng in the book, he survived. As long as he lived, Wei Country would not be destroyed.

"I will remember Wei Liuyu’s name," Gu Lan said softly, "She is Princess Consort Jin, how old is her child?"

Gu Chengzhao replied, "Wei Liuyu has yet to bear offspring as of now."

Gu Lan’s eyes sharpened as she asked, "Then how old is the youngest Prince of the Wei Emperor this year?"

"Fourteen years old, the Wei Emperor has six sons, the Sixth Prince is fourteen years old, and Crown Prince Yuan Lang, if I recall, ranks third."

Gu Lan once again confirmed her supposition.

In the original book, Wei Liuyu governed from behind the curtains as Empress Dowager, though it wasn’t specified exactly how old the Little Emperor was, it was mentioned to be the age of literacy and learning, certainly younger than fourteen. This meant the new monarch she assists has yet to be born.

When the Wei Emperor dies someday and a new Emperor ascends, Wei Liuyu becomes Empress Dowager, marking the beginning of the storyline.

Now, she could infer plot commencement not only through Rong Jing’s change of era name but also through the changes in Wei Country.

"By the way, what would Wei Liuyu, a general’s sister, travel far across the nation to Yan Country’s capital for, did she fancy you? Did she not fear her identity being discovered?" Gu Lan asked again.

Gu Chengzhao: "Wei Liuyu’s escape led me to discover she had clandestinely set up a Wei Country spy network in the capital. The so-called family search or entanglement with me was merely an excuse. Wei Liuyu, deeply scheming, though a woman, was Wei Junzhuo’s greatest aid and currently heads Wei Country’s covert intelligence.

Moreover, her initial deliberate proximity to the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion, I suspect, was due to knowing Qing’er was pregnant.

Yet even though she moved into the Marquis Mansion, she couldn’t approach Qing’er’s quarters, hence her only causing Qing’er to give a premature birth. The doctor said if her medicine was given a bit earlier, it would have been two lives lost."

In Gu Lan’s eyes flashed a hint of killing intent: "Unexpectedly, Wei Liuyu turned out to be a career-oriented person."

It’s no wonder she would later become the Empress Dowager wielding significant power in Wei Country.

"Career-oriented... what does that mean?" Gu Chengzhao asked puzzled.

"It means one obsessed with work, a person of senseless insanity," Gu Lan explained, then asked, "Marquis, does Wei Junzhuo have offspring?"

Gu Chengzhao replied, "Wei Junzhuo had no parents, no children, no spouse. Of similar age to me, he remains unmarried to this day, his heart only with Wei Country and his sister. This is also why the Wei Emperor greatly trusts him."

Gu Lan’s brow slightly twitched, and he said: "Who is in charge of the intelligence agency of the Marquis Mansion in Wei Country? Can you help me with something?"

Gu Chengzhao said to Gu Lan without any reservation:

"All the external intelligence is handled by Uncle Li... Your Uncle Li is very skilled in martial arts, even I can’t defeat him, but he is getting older now. What do you want to do?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Uncle Li, with his gray hair, appeared at the entrance of the Step Lotus Hall: "Marquis, what does the old servant have to do?"

He also gave Gu Lan a gentle smile: "Good morning, Young Master."

"Morning..."

Uncle Li is the Marquis Mansion’s steward, kind and amiable to everyone, and it is said that he was once a trusted aide of the late Marquis.

Gu Lan knew his identity was unusual but did not expect him to be so formidable.

"From now on, Gu Lan’s orders are my orders," Gu Chengzhao said to Uncle Li.

Uncle Li was momentarily stunned and quickly cupped his fists: "The old servant understands."

"Go ahead, what do you want to do?"

"I want to monitor Wei Liuyu," Gu Lan said.

"I know you’re definitely unwilling to have any more dealings with that woman, but since she harmed your mother, she should be punished. Wei Junzhuo only has this one sister. Have you ever thought, if Wei Liuyu has a Prince, what Wei Junzhuo would do, and what the Emperor of Wei would do?"

Gu Chengzhao’s expression changed, and he immediately understood Gu Lan’s meaning:

"Wei Liuyu is merely a concubine now, but once she has a child, with her brother’s status and power, that child is sure to stand out among the many Princes of Wei Country. Perhaps he will directly replace Yuan Lang as Crown Prince. By then, whether Yuan Lang is still a hostage in Yan... will not matter."

"Exactly, it is difficult to monitor Wei Junzhuo, but if Wei Liuyu becomes pregnant, it won’t be easy to hide, so once that happens, I want to know immediately."

"I understand, and Uncle Li will regularly report the news to you."

Uncle Li left quietly after responding.

At this moment, both stopped the conversation simultaneously.

The sound of someone walking in caught Gu Lan’s attention, and as he glanced over, he saw—

Duoji, wrapped in bandages and sitting in a wooden wheelchair Gu Lan had casually made for him, being pushed out of the room by Basang to bask in the sun.

Their distinctive red hair glowed strikingly under the sunshine.

Gu Chengzhao: "...Is this the Eldest Prince of the Qiangrong, Duoji?"

Gu Lan: "This is my good eldest nephew."

Duoji seemed disoriented for a moment upon seeing Gu Chengzhao.

It took him some time to realize that he was not on the snowy battlefield but in the backyard of Dingyuan Marquis Mansion.

"Greetings, Marquis..." His voice was hoarse.

Gu Chengzhao looked him up and down, clicking his tongue in wonder: "Suffered such severe injuries and still alive, how did a doctor even want to save you? Would you say you are lucky or unlucky?"

The fortunate part is, he is still alive. The unfortunate part is, for a martial artist, losing all inner strength and having crippled legs might be worse than death.

Duoji softly said: "Being saved by Uncle is Duoji’s good fortune."

Gu Chengzhao almost laughed till he was out of breath: "You actually call Lan, uncle, so should you call me grandpa now, am I suddenly a grandfather?"

Duoji weakly said: "I can call you..."

"Eldest Prince!" Basang couldn’t help shouting, his eyes brimming with tears.

Gu Chengzhao laughed heartily, waving his hand: "No need, I am too young, calling me grandpa would make me feel old."

Gu Lan then stepped forward: "Why outside today?"

This was the first time Duoji "walked" out of the room she had arranged for him.

As for Basang, he was a major criminal who once incited tensions between Yan Country and Qiangrong, willingly taking the blame to save Jiang Qu.

Now that the Qiangrong Royal Court had been defeated, to talk about everlasting peace with Yan Country felt rather awkward.

Gu Lan had brought Basang out from the Ministry of Justice’s prison a few days ago, claiming he was the main culprit in an assassination attempt on her, intending to take him back for slow torment.

Such is the privilege of a noble eunuch. Pulling strings is that easy.

In reality, the Young Master Gu was feeling a bit like his head was turning green seeing his maidservants labor tirelessly to care for a disabled savage man.

So, she had Basang look after Duoji, squeezing out free labor.