Gu Kaiyuan, "We shouldn’t bring this up ourselves. Let’s wait a bit more."

Bai Suihe thought the same. In ancient times, as children, they had no right to bring up the idea of splitting the family, otherwise, they might be charged with several crimes.

Gu Kaiyuan specifically went out to ask the waiter for a bowl of braised meat, two bowls of noodles, which were much more expensive. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

There was no room for negotiation here, and he certainly wouldn’t say much more, promptly paying for it, and even giving an extra ten copper coins, asking the waiter to bring a large basin of hot water later.

Though space wasn’t lacking, the necessary concealment must still be done.

Not seeing Gu Kaiyuan and his wife, Gu Kaiping immediately asked, "Where are the Third Brother and his wife? Weren’t they just following behind?"

"Yeah, where are they?" Gu Kaichen was also a bit puzzled, "We even saved two beds for him. Could they have gotten separated from us?"

"I just saw Third Uncle and Third Aunt talking with that head escort," Gu Antong whispered.

"Tong Er, are you sure you saw correctly?" Liu Yun was wondering, why would Gu Kaiyuan need to find the escort?

"I saw correctly, it was that man called Liu by the escort. I saw them all laughing."

Though Gu Antong didn’t think much of Gu Kaiyuan, she was curious about what relationship he had with the head escort. If they had a good relationship, the whole family might receive some care.

This damned road, she didn’t want to walk it for one more day, nor could she.

"Eldest, go find your Third Brother," Gu Baijiang was also pondering, if the third brother really knew these escorts, maybe they could make use of it.

"I’ll go right away," Gu Kaiping disregarded his sore feet and started looking back and forth between several big steps.

Of course, he didn’t find anything, returning with a dejected look, "Didn’t see Kaiyuan."

"Didn’t you think to ask?" Gu Kaichen urged impatiently, "Dad, Eldest Brother, do you think Third Brother and his family might have run away?

If they’ve run away, the whole family will certainly be questioned, that would be too much."

Xu Yulan, "Seriously? Are they so terrible as to want to get us killed?"

Escaping while on the road for exile would simply add to their crime. They wouldn’t even need exile; they could immediately be beheaded.

"Stop speaking nonsense," Gu Baijiang seeing them getting more and more outrageous said, "If they really ran away, would those escorts be so quiet?"

The Gu Family heard this and agreed, but in their hearts, they were all wondering where exactly he went.

"They might have used connections to get another room," Gu Baijiang, having spent so long in officialdom, understood the intricacies here.

Previously, he hadn’t thought of it, because Gu Kaiyuan and his family only had at most around 80 taels of silver, which surely wouldn’t be enough for such extravagance.

But now, not seeing him, he couldn’t help but suspect.

"Third Brother booked another room," Liu Yun’s eyes lit up, can it really be done this way?

She’d long had enough of these people’s snores and smelly feet. Gu Kaiyuan’s silver wasn’t much different than hers. If he could get a room, why couldn’t she?

"Then let’s just book two more rooms," Xu Huizhen also said, "And ask the waiter to bring in a bucket of water. I need a good wash."

The Chen Family, busy settling in, couldn’t help but click their tongues upon hearing this. How wealthy must the Gu Family be, to be thinking about enjoyment when they couldn’t even fill their bellies?

"Give me the silver, I’ll go myself. I’ll surely pick two of the best rooms." Gu Kaichen held his head high, confident about this matter.

Liu Yun glanced at him with disdain, her father-in-law always said Gu Kaichen would mature late, but as the head of the household, she secretly knew he never put much effort into his studies.

He managed to pass the elementary exam by luck, and hadn’t progressed a bit over the years, because he used studying as an excuse, constantly partying with his reckless friends.

Knowing this, she wouldn’t expose it either. As long as Kaiping succeeded, it would be enough for the whole Gu Mansion; too capable brothers could only be troublesome.

In fact, if it weren’t for this incident, their family would have been the rightful heir to inherit the whole Gu Family.

"No need to trouble Second Brother, we’ll go ourselves," Gu Kaiping had always known the importance of silver coins.

Liu Yun was pleased with his decision, promptly taking out a tael of silver from her bosom to hand to Gu Kaiping, "Just get a medium room, and then I’ll sleep on the bed with Tong Er, while you and Anliang make do on the floor."

Gu Kaiping had no objections; even sleeping on the floor would be more comfortable than in this big dormitory.

Without waiting for others to respond, Gu Kaiping hurriedly left with the silver. Seeing their eldest son act this way, Gu Baijiang and Xu Huizhen could hardly believe it; was this still the most filial and courteous eldest son they had in their minds?

"Give Second Brother a tael of silver, let him go book a room too." Gu Baijiang wanted to say forget it, but the Chen Family was watching and he couldn’t bring himself to lose face.

Plus, he knew the Third Prince would surely send someone soon, by then they wouldn’t worry about lack of silver.

"Go, go, go, stop making trouble here," the shopkeeper waved them away discontentedly, "You’re criminals now, having a piece of tile over your heads is already nice, dreaming of getting a private room, what are you thinking?"

"No, didn’t someone book a room earlier?"

"Who was it? Did you see it?" the shopkeeper retorted impatiently, "It’s not feasible here. Unless you can persuade the escort gentlemen, and they give us the word, we could not be unaccommodating."

Gu Kaiping and Gu Kaichen were dumbfounded, they needed the escort’s permission; they’d have to send out quite a gift again.

This way, the cost of one night’s stay was too high, and the two were hesitant.

Gu Kaichen’s eyes shifted, "Then, shopkeeper, do you know which room my friend is in? I have some business with him."

"What friend, what room, I don’t know," the shopkeeper still replied impatiently, "We have distinguished guests staying at this post station. You dare to barge in; you bear the consequences."

These exiled personnel were just settled in the corner of the courtyard, the post station also received passing officials.

Gu Kaiping and Gu Kaichen knew about this from previous stays but there was a big difference between them.

They didn’t have the guts to seek out like this, and even with lots of good words, the shopkeeper remained unmoved, so they could only return defeated.

"Is everything settled? Let’s head there." The Gu Family already packed up, and seeing them come back, they quickly approached.

"Sleep here, booking a room here requires escort’s consent."

"Then go ask!" Xu Huizhen, unaware of the situation, directly demanded.

Gu Baijiang, "Since it’s impossible, let’s not trouble others; we’ll just manage here for one night."

The Chen Family was surprised by such a quick turnaround, hearing what Gu Baijiang said; manage one night here? Not even considering the choices?

Oh, of course, there was a choice. If unwilling to sleep here, one could sleep outside in the courtyard.