Why they couldn't separate the family? It was because...
"The patriarch refused. " Gu Yunshu lowered his head and as he was speaking about the patriarch, his eyes turned red from resentment.
The current patriarch of the Gu family had a personal feud with their father, Gu Dajiang, so he did everything in his power to suppress them harshly.
When Gu Dajiang was six years old, he was spotted by the only old scholar in the village.
The old scholar said that Gu Dajiang had a talent for reading, and as long as he cultivated it well, his future would be limitless.
Grandfather Gu was a little moved after hearing this, but Grandmother Zhao refused.
Gu Dajiang was promising, but why should her own son be suppressed to death? In the future, she would have to live her life depending on his whims.
She kept throwing tantrums, saying that her family was poor and had no money to buy paper and brushes.
Moreover, Gu Dajiang had to help the family with farm work, so he had no time to study.
Grandfather Gu quickly cowered, and later the previous patriarch, who was in his eighties at the time, came forward and severely reprimanded the two of them.
"If there is a promising scholar in the family, it's a matter of honoring our ancestors. The ancestors are watching from the sky, how can this be ruined by a woman? In the future, he will obtain fame, and become an official. This will also bless the other children of the family. Just think about how glorious the Gu family will be from now on."
The old patriarch acted forcefully, brush, ink, paper, and inkstone were bought by the family.
The old scholar who didn't want Gu Dajiang's money, accepted Gu Dajiang as a student and tutored him with all his heart.
But the good times didn't last long.
Gu Dajiang had been studying for five years, and the old Xiucai planned to let him take the Tongsheng examination, when the old patriarch died of old age.
He himself was not in good health, and for the last two months, he had been suffering from a cold.
The current patriarch was appointed through some unscrupulous means.
At that time, he also intended to ask the old Xiucai to accept his son as a student, but his son had no talent for studying so the old Xiucai politely refused.
But for some reason, this matter was spread as a joke, and the new patriarch's son was compared to Gu Dajiang and called a fool.
Because his son couldn't stand the ridicule, he lost his temper at home, and bumped into his newly pregnant wife, causing the child to die.
There was no way he would blame his son for this, and since he couldn't find the source of the rumors, he blamed all of this on Gu Dajiang and the old Xiucai.
As the old patriarch and the old scholar passed away one after another, Gu Dajiang was naturally unable to continue his studies.
The current patriarch did not even allow him to take the Tongsheng examination, and he was trapped at home by the Zhao family to work.
Later, by chance, he was spotted by the owner of a restaurant in town, and he became an accountant based on the knowledge he acquired during all those years.
Gu Dajiang's books were not read in vain. He knew that their family was not doing well at home, so he had been looking for opportunities to separate.
When Mother Yang gave birth to Gu Yundong, it was prematurely, because she was beaten by Old Madam Zhao, and she almost lost her life due to severe bleeding.
Since then, Mother Yang's health has been really bad, and she did not have a child for many years.
It was not until Gu Yundong was eight years old that Gu Yunshu was born.
It was also at that time, that Gu Dajiang obtained the family separation, after showing a strong will.
However, after two months, Old Man Gu, who had no one to do work at home, regretted it and refused to admit the separation.
The current patriarch and the village chief tore up the separation documents on the spot and brought Gu Dajiang and his family back.
If Gu Dajiang had disagreed, his family would have been expelled from the clan for being unfilial.
Expelled from the family!!!
Without the family, there would have been akin to rootless duckweeds, unable to even return to their roots after leaving.
This was a very serious matter. It was a stain that would have been registered to the government and would follow them for the rest of their life.
Not to mention Gu Dajiang himself, his children would always be looked down upon, criticized, deemed inferior to others, and having difficulties marrying.