Transmigration: Space-Aided Rise to Power and Prosperity-Chapter 614 - 450: Substituting Plum for Peach

Gu Chengyu knew that Mrs. Ning intended to keep them for gifting. Such valuable items had to be used where they were most needed.

Indeed, that was what Mrs. Ning thought. She felt a bit distressed by Gu Chengyu’s lavish spending of Silver.

This child was so filial, always bringing gifts for her and the old man on each visit.

Sometimes, they were such valuable gifts that they made her feel embarrassed.

In the past, when the old master was prominent, it wasn’t that nobody offered rare treasures, but he wouldn’t allow her to accept anything too precious.

However, her perspective wasn’t that shallow. It seemed this child would only restrain himself once he was married and had a wife to manage him.

"I still have some kept at my residence, don’t worry, Master’s Wife. It’s only natural to show respect to the teacher and the master’s wife. Surely it’s not because I often come here for meals, and that pains you?"

Gu Chengyu, touched by the master’s wife’s sincerity, quickly joked a little, coaxing Mrs. Ning into laughter.

"Look, could our household really be lacking the bit of food you eat? If you put it like that, next time you come, I’ll have the main kitchen serve pickled vegetables and radish, just to fulfill this stingy reputation of mine."

Mrs. Ning’s granddaughter had come over the past couple of days, and now another junior was here today. With more people around, the atmosphere turned lively, naturally lifting her spirits.

Therefore, she jested with Gu Chengyu, pointing at him while laughing heartily.

The room full of elderly women and maidens covered their mouths with handkerchiefs, joining in the laughter, even Yao Mengxian couldn’t help but chuckle.

Gu Chengyu stayed in the Liang Mansion until evening before heading back. As soon as he stepped into the inner courtyard, Ming Mo came to report that news from Yingnan Mansion had arrived.

"To the study!" Gu Chengyu said before heading straight into the inner study.

"Sir! According to your instructions, our people have gone to see the child’s corpse and even had it identified by the neighbors. It’s just that the body seemed to have developed some kind of illness before death, covered in pustules, even the face wasn’t spared, making it unrecognizable."

Ming Mo handed a slip of paper to Gu Chengyu to look over, which detailed the identification of the child.

Gu Chengyu waved his hand, "Just tell me about it! I don’t need to see it."

He was too impatient to read all that; he just needed to analyze the results.

"Your second uncle’s grandson has the nickname Xiao Yao. That body matches Xiao Yao’s build and even resembles him in weight. Neighbors said it looked very similar, but they weren’t sure since the face was unrecognizable. Later, we asked the shopkeeper of a nearby medical clinic and he said no such child had gone there for treatment."

Gu Chengyu nodded, "Was the illness inquired about? What kind of disease was it? Could it have been smallpox? But smallpox doesn’t progress that quickly. For it to happen so fast that no doctor could even be called, it must be some kind of poisoning."

"We asked the doctors, and they said smallpox was more likely, but they also mentioned that it shouldn’t progress so quickly."

Ming Mo knew that his master had some knowledge of medicine, so he wasn’t surprised.

Gu Chengyu frowned, then suddenly thought of something.

After a moment of contemplation, he inquired, "Did you have the doctors examine the body to confirm if it was smallpox?"

Ming Mo hesitated for a moment before replying, "We did ask, but the doctors refused to examine a dead body. Even after our people offered them Silver, no one agreed, fearing it might be contagious if it were indeed smallpox."

"We can’t be too open about this. After all, the child had been dead for several days and dug up from the ground. We shouldn’t be too aggressive with those doctors, or they might spread rumors outside."

Gu Chengyu understood that people in ancient times were superstitious and reluctant to examine a corpse, which was understandable and shouldn’t affect the overall matter significantly.

The most important thing now was to figure out if the child was indeed Xiao Yao.

"Does Xiao Yao have any birthmarks? Have you had neighbors carefully check for them?"

Gu Chengyu knew that the people behind all this had meticulously planned. The mastermind was highly meticulous, but there should always be a slip-up somewhere.

The flaw did not lie with the mysterious people, but with Gu Changbai.

It’s said there’s no fear of a god-like opponent, only a pig-like teammate.

Even if they find nothing in Yingnan Mansion, there must be something off with Gu Changbai and Gu Wanfang.

"Neighbors say they are not quite sure and haven’t noticed any birthmarks on Xiao Yao."

Ming Mo shook his head but then recalled something else.

"But there is some clue about the child trafficker."

"What is it?" Gu Chengyu knew there wouldn’t be much useful information concerning Xiao Yao, but he perked up upon hearing about the child trafficker.

"That child trafficker has always moved around committing crimes. It was shortly after arriving at Yingnan Mansion that the Magistrate of Yingnan Mansion caught him."

Thinking of Yingnan Mansion, Gu Chengyu previously wanted to ask Wu An to help introduce him and expand the Juxiang Building to Yingnan Mansion.

But later, Wu An said he wasn’t familiar with the new Magistrate of Yingnan Mansion, so he found someone connected with the Deputy of Yingnan Mansion instead.

If one investigated, they could check which faction that Magistrate belonged to and perhaps get some answers.

However, it wasn’t devoid of other factors, so it might be easier to just focus on Gu Changbai and his grandson.

"So, did they learn the news in advance? It seems this child trafficker was sent to Yingnan Mansion by someone. Have the people in Yingnan Mansion withdraw as they won’t find anything now."

Gu Chengyu recalled that he had asked Ming Mo to have people follow that grandfather and grandson duo these past days and wondered if anything was found.

"Sir, there’s one more thing. You had someone follow Second Old Master Gu and his grandson. They did find the two leaving the residence and heard them speak a few words. However, Second Old Master Gu was extremely cautious; our people only heard a few words in passing and almost got noticed."

"What did they say?" Gu Chengyu believed that Gu Changbai and company must have spoken about matters related to this incident once they left their residence, but Gu Changbai was quite alert.

Upon hearing this, Ming Mo felt somewhat embarrassed, "They only heard about Xiao Yao, and something about a purpose."

"That’s it? After returning, did they not converse?"

Gu Chengyu hadn’t expected to hear just this much, but based on those few words, he strongly believed that the deceased child wasn’t Xiao Yao. Perhaps Xiao Yao was still alive, just taken away by those people.

Those people might have swapped another kid for Xiao Yao.

The question remained whether the child was originally ill or if they had harmed an innocent child for this purpose.

"Once back, they went indoors. Their conversation was too low to overhear even if our people approached."

Ming Mo felt a bit disillusioned with the batch of people Gu Chengyu had recently acquired. Although they had undergone more extended training than the Ding Generation, they didn’t match the sharpness and steadiness of the latter.

Gu Chengyu rubbed the paperweight on the desk, lost in thought for a while.

"Find a chance, make sure not to alert Gu Changbai, and abduct Gu Wanfang. He surely knows some inside details."

Upon hearing this, Ming Mo felt a bit troubled. Gu Wanfang was uneducated and stayed at the inn all day.

Gu Changbai didn’t engage in any other business either; the two were always together. The difficulty lay in carrying this out without letting Gu Changbai find out.