After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 773 Debt

Wu Qiong had never thought about this kind of thing before.

She naturally knew about the group of "Wu's old students". Growing up in the Cining Palace, she had heard people in the palace say that her grandfather should not have stood idly by and watched these students and subordinates. They were framed by the Sun family because they worked for him. It was really unkind of her grandfather to implicate them and not care about their lives, and let their bright future be ruined in one day. Because her grandfather was unkind to his students, his reputation was greatly affected. After the Wu family got into trouble, there were not many people willing to speak up for them. When other relatives and friends were implicated, they were easily and quickly dealt with, and did not cause any big waves in the court at all - because the best talents under her grandfather had been purged one after another in the previous twenty years.

Before she died, my mother once said that my grandfather didn’t want to conflict with the emperor and the elder Sun, which would affect the status of the aunt and the queen, and the prince’s cousin’s succession, so he took everything as a priority. As long as the matter did not involve the Wu family, the queen, and the third prince, my grandfather would not stop the emperor and the elder Sun from exiling his disciples and subordinates. Obviously, everything was for the overall situation. As long as the cousin was named the crown prince and inherited the throne, everything would be worth it. My grandfather would naturally call back all the wronged people, continue to serve the court, and compensate them with high positions and generous salaries. Who would have thought that the Sun family would be so cruel and directly set fire to Kunning Palace and the Wu family? !
Madam Gui hated the Sun family for being ruthless, the Wu family for being inferior, the empress dowager for not ordering the emperor to deal with the Sun family, and the Zhou family for being too strict with her family, speaking and acting in a condescending manner, and not being respectful enough to her and her daughter... But she rarely mentioned her old friend from the Wu family.

She knew that the Wu family felt guilty towards these people, but she also felt that it was not her responsibility as a woman in the inner house, and it was not her turn to compensate. Besides, shouldn’t the disciples and subordinates of her father-in-law be polite and respectful to her and her daughter? Her father-in-law gave them a future, so they should give something back. What’s the big deal about sacrificing decades of future? The Wu family didn’t really intend to ignore them, but they were harmed by the Sun family before they could accomplish their goals, and failed halfway. If the old students of the Wu family want to blame someone, they should blame the emperor and the Sun family. How can they blame the Wu family?

Mrs. Gui had almost the same idea in her mind. After Xie Wenzai accepted Wu Ke as his student, she felt that it was natural for the Wu family to care for the descendants of the Wu family. Therefore, when she was placed under house arrest in the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion and had been undercover for many years, and no one in Chang'an City stood up for her, she hated these people and thought they were all ungrateful people who only favored Wu Ke, a male, and didn't care about her and her daughter's life...

In the last year of Madam Gui's life, Wu Qiong kept listening to her bad things about the old students of Wu family, which she found extremely irritating. After Madam Gui died, she didn't want to hear such things anymore. She knew that Xie Wenzai, Cao Gengyun and Lu Bainian were all very kind to her cousin Wu Ke and taught him his lessons carefully. As Wu Ke's family member, she should visit them every New Year and send some gifts to show her filial piety. But now, when she heard the words "old students of Wu family", her heart would tremble. How could she have the mood to worry about these etiquette and exchanges for her cousin? Every time, it was the housekeeper assigned to Wu Ke by the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion who did it for her, and she didn't even ask.

Now that her cousin mentioned it, she realized that Xie, Cao, and Lu were already polite. Although they were not close to the Wu family, they were willing to guide her cousin's studies. It can be seen that they had limited resentment towards the Wu family and were kind and grateful. However, among the "old students of the Wu family", there were people who suffered more misfortune than them. They died early in being framed or exiled, and their families and descendants hated the Wu family to the core...

In this world, not everyone thinks that the Wu family is a family of loyal officials who were innocently harmed by treacherous officials, and they should be respected and loved by the world. Some people think that the Wu family is immoral and deserves to suffer...

But as a member of the Wu family, do they have the confidence to refute these people's words? Do they really think that the Wu family has not made any mistakes? !

Regardless of whether Wu Ke really fell into the water accidentally, he is now too embarrassed to tell anyone about the two descendants of the Wu family who came to question him. After Wu Qiong knew the truth, he also did not have the courage to explain the truth to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.

There were dozens of Wu family members who died on the way to exile or in the place of exile. They were all in their prime, talented, and had a large family behind them. Some admired Wu Wen'an's talent and reputation and took the initiative to become his disciples; some happened to take the imperial examination in the year when Wu Wen'an was an examiner, or were assigned by the court to serve under him, and thus became one of the "Wu family members" in a daze, and were ordered around by him to do things, but offended the emperor and the Sun family, and thus got into trouble... This is the sin that the Wu family has borne, and it cannot be ignored just because the Wu family is in trouble now...

Wu Qiong and Wu Ke, the cousins, sat facing each other, both crying silently. They were still living under someone else's roof, unable to make decisions or accomplish anything. Apart from crying, they could only keep the two scholars a secret. Otherwise, if people knew about the existence of the two scholars, once they were blamed for it, it would seem that the debt owed by the Wu family would have increased a little bit...

Wu Qiong barely slept that night. She felt suffocated but had no one to talk to.

At home, only her cousin knew the truth and could exchange a few words with her and comfort each other. However, her cousin was seriously ill and had not recovered yet, so how could she disturb him? If he was unable to recover, the Wu family would have no future, and how could they repay the debt?

Wu Qiong leaned against the window and looked at the crescent moon. She sat there until dawn, then walked to the desk, lit a lamp, ground ink, and began to write a letter to her best friend.

Her best friends are Zhou Xuejun and Zhou Huajun. However, Zhou Xuejun is very smart. If she detects any clues from her letter, it will be bad. She can only choose to write to Haitang. She did not mention the truth about her cousin falling into the water in the letter, but just asked Haitang for news. It is said that those Wumen students who were exiled to the northwest were almost all secretly taken care of by the Hai family. How did they live in the border town? How are they doing now? What kind of life do their families and descendants live...

Wu Qiong knew that it was very strange for her to ask Haitang for this information without any help or reason. But she really wanted to know how heavy the debt was that her cousins ​​were carrying? How many people did the Wu family owe? In the future...will they ever be able to pay off all these debts?

Wu Qiong was writing the letter while crying silently.

At this moment, she no longer thought about her future marriage, and she also forgot what her biggest wish was. Living on her own was nothing more than this. She would continue to stay in this home, and did not want to move back to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion to live a life of luxury. It was not because she did not want to live under someone else's roof anymore, but... the Wu family owed too much debt, and it could not all be borne by her cousin Wu Ke. She was also of the Wu family's bloodline, and if there was to be atonement, she should be counted in. No matter how many people resented them, she would share the burden with her cousin.

(End of this chapter)