Gu Heng picked up the letter, Gu Chen picked up the bronze medal, Gu Heng was about to open the letter, and the Qin clan spoke at this time.

"Get on your knees!"

Gu Heng and Gu Chen were stunned for a moment, Qin Shi repeated it again, the two of them turned their heads to look at their mother, Qin looked serious, and the two of them knelt down involuntarily.

"Mother, this, what is it, it's scary. Gu Chen reluctantly put on a smile and teased dryly.

"This letter was written by the master more than 30 years ago, you can read it, but you must swear that not a word will be leaked, if you leak a word, not only will you bring disaster to yourself, but also to the Gu family. ”

Gu Heng and Gu Chen were even more surprised, the two brothers looked at their mother, their mother's expression was blank, and even a little dazed, the trace of freedom just now was gone.

"Swear and swear, I'll see after I swear. ”

Gu Chen Gu Heng couldn't, he could only swear, and then got up, Gu Heng was about to open the letter, and handed it to Gu Chen with hesitation, Gu Chen was not polite, opened the cover, picked up the letter, just read a few lines, his face changed greatly, his hands couldn't help but tremble, Gu Heng saw this, and hurriedly leaned over.

"Chen'er, Heng'er, you see this letter, your father has suffered an accident, in your eyes, your father is a businessman in Yangzhou, running around every day for small profits, no lofty ambitions, no help to the Gu family, however, this is the surface, for the father is really the internal guard, controlling the internal guard of Yangzhou state, and the bronze tiger order in the box is the proof of identity.

Joining the internal guard is the choice of the father, the original purpose is to strengthen the lintel of my Gu family, but after stepping into this door, you know the danger, you see this letter, for the father should have been killed, do not take revenge, do not seek revenge, for the father to be killed, either the palace ordered, or someone else ordered, if the former, only the father died, it is already the palace grace; if the latter, the palace will naturally investigate, you do not need to investigate.

At that time, even if my family was in the Gu family, it was also a poor family, because my father had no talent for reading, his taste was not high, and no one was willing to recruit, so he had to find another way, and was accidentally introduced into the internal guard.

After joining the internal guard, I must be careful in everything, make some contributions, and gradually transfer the palace to the position of my father, and at the same time transfer silver two to help my father open the Defu Building and Buzhuang, and become the head of Yangzhou internal security for my father.

For more than 30 years, my father has seen all the cold-blooded cruelty, and I can't say anything to you, and the women and children of the internal guards who ordered and executed for my father are not less than dozens, so they are not hard-hearted and cannot be internal guards.

I said all this to tell you that joining the internal guard has an unpredictable future, but why do I tell you this?

Internal guard, it is not easy to enter, but after entering, if you want to come out, it is also more difficult, according to the rules of internal guard, the father dies and the son succeeds, if the father dies, if you are fine, then the death of the father, when it is not ordered by the palace, therefore, among your brothers, you must choose one to enter the internal guard.

.......”

After seeing it, the Gu Chen brothers were still shocked in their hearts, and the two brothers turned pale and didn't know what to do.

"Now I understand. Qin sighed, got up and walked over, let the two brothers sit down, and sighed again: "This secret, the master has been hiding it for decades, and it was discovered by me by chance, the master held it in his heart, it was very hard, and he quietly told me, two people are better than one person, and now the master is gone, who did it, and I will know in a few days, if the palace sends someone to come, it is someone else's doing, if not, the disaster of our family will come." ”

"That Qi Clan!" Gu Chen was a little flustered, and the Qin Clan nodded: "Do you know if the Qi Clan was sent from the palace?" Alas, this time, our family is going to pass the hurdle. ”

Gu Chen didn't understand: "Mother, if it wasn't sent by the palace, my father was killed,...."

"It's not sent by the palace, and the lord is also guilty of negligence. Qin interrupted him and said, Gu Heng calmed down: "Mother, in this way, our family is really in trouble this time, if... Does anyone in the family know about this?"

Qin Shi rushed outside and ordered, "You come out." ”

Gu Jian pushed the door in, Gu Chen and Gu Heng looked at each other and smiled bitterly, no wonder. It has been almost ten years since Gu Jian arrived in the Gu Mansion, he was originally a Jianghu man rescued by Gu Shuo, he was chased and killed, rescued by Gu Shuo, and then worked in the Gu Mansion, seven or eight years ago, Gu Shuo went out and was assassinated, fortunately Gu Jian fought hard to protect Gu Shuo and rushed out, and later in several times to protect the Gu family's goods, he fought but the enemy was the enemy, and won Gu Shuo's trust.

But seeing Gu Jian tonight, Brother Gu Chen almost thought at the same time that this kind of trust was probably due to another reason, and it was not all because of those few battles.

"I've seen two sons. Gu Jian bowed, looked up at the letter on the table, and sighed deeply.

"You are also a member of the internal guard?" Gu Chen asked cautiously, Gu Jian nodded: "Yes, the eldest prince, the younger one was brought by the master to join." ”

Gu Heng sighed softly, Gu Chen was silent, Gu Jian saw this, and explained softly: "According to the rules of the internal guard, the identity of the internal guard is secret, and it can only be known if you join the internal guard, but the old man was suddenly killed, and the lady had to invite the two sons to discuss, alas, according to the way of the internal guard, the old man should have personally selected, but the old man was killed, and the old man is the head of the internal guard in Yangzhou, close to the center, so the old man has always been very cautious." ”

"I heard that the internal guard can't be separated?" Gu Heng asked in a low voice.

Gu Jian nodded: "The second prince is right, over the years, some of the master's subordinates have also died of internal guards, and those who died in the line of duty generally don't care, but if they die of illness or other accidents, the master will personally select their descendants and introduce internal guards." ”

"There is one more thing, you must be clear," Qin interjected: "If you choose to join the internal guard, don't think about becoming a leader, you can only run Defu Lou and Buzhuang." ”

Gu Heng and Gu Chen nodded, and Gu Jian further explained: "The master is the head of the internal guard in Yangzhou, if the prince joins the internal guard, but whether he can take over the position of the chief manager, still needs the consent of the palace." Secondly, Defu Lou and Buzhuang are actually silver from the palace, and they are also identity covers, so these two properties must be in the hands of the general manager. ”

Gu Heng and Gu Chen both understood that whoever joined the internal guard would have Defu Lou and Buzhuang, the two most important industries of the Gu family.

The brothers glanced at each other again, the room fell silent, and Qin sighed softly: "The master expected it before, so he bought three hundred acres of paddy fields and eighty acres of mulberry fields. These fields do not belong to the internal guard. .... You are all my sons, choose for yourselves. ”

The brothers fell silent again, and after a while, Gu Chen looked up at the Qin clan and said cautiously, "The child wants to hear his mother's thoughts." ”

Gu Heng looked at Gu Jian and asked, "What if that woman was sent from the palace?"

Gu Jian shook his head: "The prince doesn't know, if it is sent by the palace, the little life will not be guaranteed, secondly, the master has a lot of confidential documents in his hands, and it is impossible for the palace not to take these documents, these documents include the list of Yangzhou internal guards, contact information, etc., these extremely confidential documents are still there, from this point of view, the woman is not from the palace." ”

Gu Heng nodded, expressing his agreement with his judgment, Gu Jian's judgment was very important, he didn't want to participate in the autumn product, but he was very eager for power, it turned out that he wanted to do business, because he thought that it was impossible to get power through the autumn product, so he had to retreat to the second, now there is a road to power in front of him, how to make him not eager to try.

However, there is a big brother in front of him, what will this big brother think? Gu Heng is not sure, according to tradition, the eldest son is preferred, and Gu Chen has the right to choose.

Gu Chen was in a dilemma, Defulou and Buzhuang were the two pillars of the Gu family, the three hundred acres of paddy fields and eighty acres of mulberry fields sounded a lot, but they only maintained a well-off life, compared to Defulou and Buzhuang, it was far worse, but the problem was that if he had to join the internal guard, then he would not want to do it from the bottom of his heart.

The internal guard is notorious in Shilin, and the scholars all hate it so much, and Gu Chen is deeply affected.

Qin sighed softly and said warmly: "Chen'er, your knowledge is good, and you are also praised by the academy, so it's a pity to give up like this." ”

"Mother is right," Gu Chen replied bitterly, "My son is hesitating." ”

"Big brother," Gu Heng sighed: "This way of internal guard, dangerous, father is a lesson from the past, mother, son thinks, eldest brother has a lot of contacts with Shilin, there is a possibility of becoming a leader, on the contrary, the son is far inferior to the eldest brother in this regard, if the son enters the internal guard, it will also help the eldest brother's career, this is a little idea of the son, and please ask the mother to decide." ”

The Qin family bowed slightly, raised his eyes to look at Gu Jian, Gu Jian bowed and said: "What the second prince said is very true, tonight's matter must be kept secret, otherwise, the eldest prince is worried about his life." ”

The expressions of the two brothers had already fallen in Qin's eyes, and after listening to Gu Jian's words, Qin's heart had an idea: "The palm of the hand is meat, and the back of the hand is also meat, the Gu family will rely on your brothers in the future, Heng'er, the internal guard is dangerous, and your father is trembling every day, walking on thin ice."

Alas, if there is a way, I will not let any of your brothers go to the internal guard, your father also thinks so, your father repeatedly asked you to study, originally wanted you to be born and become a court official, you can avoid the rules of the internal guard, alas, I didn't expect it. ”

Qin's heart was sad, his eyes were red again, tears slid down his cheeks, Gu Chen took a heavy step forward, Qin's wept for a while, wiped away his tears, Gu Heng comforted: "Mother don't worry, my son will deal with it carefully." ”

"It's already like this," Qin sobbed: "Heng'er, your father's affairs, let you take over, Chen'er, you have to study hard and find a career, as long as you enter the office, the palace will have no way to take you, in order to completely get rid of the threat of internal guards." ”

Gu Chen nodded, although he felt sorry in his heart, he could barely accept it.

"After seventy-seven, I will invite the old patriarch to come and preside over the division of the family, and divide the family for your two brothers. Qin said and cried again, Gu Chen and the two brothers were stunned for a moment, and then they understood that this was the only means that their mother could think of to protect Gu Chen.

Brother Gu Chen didn't speak, and Gu Jian sighed: "Madam is very good like this, no matter what happens in the future, it will not involve the eldest son." ”

"Okay, that's it, after Qiqi, split up. Qin choked up, she had already lost her husband and now had to risk losing a son, Gu Jian sighed softly.

Gu Chen was silent for a moment, got up to give a salute to the Qin family, and then turned around and went out, Gu Heng was also about to leave, the Qin family stopped him, and Gu Jian also retreated when he saw this.

Qin Shi motioned for Gu Heng to sit down, and then sighed: "Don't blame your mother, your mother can't help it, your brother," shook his head slightly: "If he enters this tiger and wolf's den, or his bones will be gone in a few days, I can only let you go." ”

Gu Heng reluctantly put on a smile, got up and knelt down in front of the Qin family: "Please rest assured, child, even if you can't be aggressive, at least you can protect yourself, if the eldest brother can come out, I can also help him, Neiwei, hehe, wouldn't it be a pity not to use such a good tool." ”

The Qin clan was a little nervous when he heard this, and looked at him seriously: "You can't come nonsense, things are so easy, if it is so easy, wouldn't your uncles have already come out." ”

Gu Heng didn't argue, he naturally knew that this matter was difficult, and this was just to comfort his mother.

"You have to remember that in the future, it's all up to you," Qin said in a low voice: "You have to find an opportunity to break with your brother, if you can turn against each other, it is the best, so that your brother can be completely safe." ”

Gu Heng felt a chill in his heart, and then looked at his mother bitterly, Qin stared at him, Gu Heng nodded hesitantly: "Mother rest assured, my son obeys, but if I fall out with my eldest brother, what will my mother do?"

"I'll go with your eldest brother. ”

"What about the other aunts, how many younger brothers and sisters are there?" Gu Heng asked again.

"Hmph, these sassy hooves," Qin sighed, "Sanglinzhuang is small and hard, so they should stay in the city." ”

In addition to their brothers, Gu Shuo also has two sons and five daughters, all of whom are not very old, the eldest of the five daughters is fourteen years old, the eldest of the two younger brothers is six years old, and the youngest one is only three years old.