Royal study.
Princess Ning An sat beside the emperor with a gloomy expression.
The emperor patted the back of her hand and said, "Don't take it to heart, there will always be a day when the truth of the case will be revealed."
Princess Ning'an whispered: "I occasionally wonder, should I not come back? Back then, I was blind and didn't listen to the advice of the emperor and the empress, and insisted on marrying far away from the frontier. Tens of thousands of people have suffered from war, and so many soldiers have lost their lives. When Your Majesty proposed to canonize me as Princess Protector, I actually understood that I was not qualified."
The emperor looked at her: "Ning'an..."
Princess Ning'an met his gaze: "Brother Huang, listen to me."
The emperor nodded helplessly: "Okay, you say."
Princess Ning'an said reproachfully: "It is already a great grace for the royal brother to accept my guilty body by the royal family. Please don't mention the matter of awarding me a reward."
The emperor said earnestly: "It's not your fault. With or without you, the remnants of the previous dynasty will make waves in Zhao Kingdom. You are just a poor person who was used by them. It's not you, there will be others, so don't blame yourself. Your words reminded me, did I dote on you too much, making some people jealous and jealous, so I was dissatisfied and caused a lot of trouble?"
Princess Ning'an remained silent.
The emperor comforted her and said: "I have my own opinion on this matter, and I will definitely not make you feel wronged. You should not hear anything today, and I will find out the truth."
Princess Ning'an's eyes were a little red.
When the emperor saw her like this, he couldn't help but think of when he was a child, Ning An was a lively and active child, and would not cry like an ordinary little girl. There, try to hold back your tears.
Every time he found Ning An and made Ning An happy.
Thinking of the past, the emperor felt more distressed for Ning An.
I don't know how many times she has been alone in the frontier in the past few years, hiding in a corner and feeling sad. Has anyone found her? Does anyone feel sorry for her
The emperor called Eunuch Wei: "You go to the Punishment Department and ask Xing Shangshu to keep his mouth shut, and don't reveal any information about this case for the time being."
"Yes."
Eunuch Wei took orders and went.
It's too late.
From Eunuch Wei's way to the Ministry of Punishment, he heard people discussing this matter.
"Two little brothers, what were you talking about just now?" Eunuch Wei lifted the curtain and called out to the two young men on the side of the road.
Since it is to be kept secret, his identity is not easily revealed, and he is wearing the clothes of an ordinary master.
The two thought he was a rich man in the capital, so they talked to him about the news they heard in the teahouse.
"I heard that Xianleju colluded with the royal family and killed the soldiers who returned from the frontier!"
"Yes, is there such a thing?"
Lao Jijiu is well aware that the speed at which rumors spread completely depends on the bloodliness of the rumors themselves.
"Who did you kill?"
"Young Master Gu Family Army! Gu Changqing!"
"Cough cough!" Eunuch Wei almost choked himself to death!
How did you get involved with Gu Changqing
Didn't it say that the person who was assassinated was Miss Gu
And it was an attempted assassination!
"Is it a mistake? Gu Shizi is here to console the family members of the soldiers."
"He was killed on the way out of the city! It's not far from Fengxian, someone came out of a nearby station and saw bodies and bloodstains on the snow!"
It was clearly that Miss Gu fought against Xianleju's killer, and all the people who died were Xianleju's people!
Who, this, this is all made up!
"Oh, it's so miserable! It's so miserable! Gu Shizi heroically killed the enemy at the frontier, but he was plotted by the royal family when he came back. This is to fear that Gu Shizi's merit is higher than the master, so he has to kill the donkey!"
"I didn't die in the hands of the enemy, but in the hands of my own people. It's really chilling."
"It seems that he didn't die, he ran away."
"Then Gu Shizi has to hide in the east from now on, right?"
This is the first version that Eunuch Wei heard.
There is a second one.
The previous content is similar. It was Gu Changqing who was assassinated when he was out of the city. It was Xianleju who colluded with the royal family, but it was not the saying that the royal family was killing the donkey, but the princess of the royal family took a fancy to Gu Changqing and wanted to recruit him as his consort.
Gu Changqing disagreed, angering the princess, and was met with frantic revenge from the other party.
"What a mess!" Eunuch Wei's head grew bigger.
The third version is the most troublesome for Eunuch Wei, and the victim is still Gu Changqing instead of Gu Jiao.
"I heard that it is a remnant of the previous dynasty!"
"Isn't the remnants of the previous dynasty all perished?"
"It seems that a fish that slipped through the net has sneaked into the capital and colluded with Xianleju to take revenge on Gu Shizi and the Gu family army!"
"Poor Gu Shizi was seriously injured, and his life and death are unknown."
"And I also heard that the royal family has elaborate works, and the remnants of the previous dynasty are lurking in the palace."
"Hey, I heard something here. When the concubine was killed by Gu Shizi, Princess Ning'an once interceded with Gu Shizi and let the concubine fend for itself in the snowy mountains, but Gu Shizi ignored Princess Ning'an's objection. The concubine's life was killed on the spot."
"Ah, could it be..."
Eunuch Wei looked at the sky helplessly.
It's over, it's over now.
Once the news is spread, it is not so easy to take it back, not to mention that there is a saying that it is better to block it.
If the emperor is a tyrant, he will pay it back. If he kills hundreds of people, no one will dare to speak nonsense again.
Luckily he wasn't.
This also led to the continuous fermentation of the incident. By the evening of the next day, almost the entire capital had heard that Xianleju colluded with the royal family to assassinate Gu Changqing.
Gu Changqing is not in the capital at the moment, even if the emperor wants to call him out to clarify the truth.
The emperor could choose to let Gu Jiao stand up and say that she was the one who was assassinated, but that would mean that Xianleju's assassination case was confirmed.
Besides, is there a big difference between assassinating Gu Jiao and assassinating Gu Changqing
The difference in the speed of dissemination is only. As the young master of the Gu family, the prince of the Ding'an Houfu, Gu Changqing has a greater reputation in the capital.
Gu Jiao is too low-key.
Her name is not gimmicky enough.
But the essence of things is the same.
Furthermore, this matter is not a question of whether the victim is Gu Jiao or Gu Changqing, but a question of which royal family member is behind the scenes.
"Princess, the tea is overflowing." Lian'er reminded in the warm pavilion of Bixia Hall.
Princess Ning An looked at the tea spilled on the table, put down the teapot that had been poured for some time, and said, "Wipe it."
"Yes." Lian'er brought the rag and wiped the water stains off the table little by little, "Princess, you have been restless for the past two days. Did something happen?"
"No, it's fine." Princess Ning'an said.
The Bixia Palace was very well protected by the emperor, and I didn't hear any messy rumors. Lian'er only thought that the master was because of Huangfuxian.
She persuaded: "Don't worry about the son, he will make a small temper. When he grows up, he will be sensible, and he will know how to honor you."
Princess Ning'an said, "Lian'er, if one day you are captured, will you betray me?"
Lian'er said solemnly: "Of course not! Lian'er's life was taken back by the princess. Without the princess, there would be no Lian'er, and Lian'er would not betray the princess!"
"Yeah, my life is mine, how could you betray me?" Princess Ning'an regained her normal look, she smiled, "Go to the small kitchen and see how the soup for the mother is going."
Lian'er went to the small kitchen and came back with a food box in her hand: "It's ready for you."
Princess Ning'an took the food box and went to Renshou Palace.
Never thought that Xiao Heng was actually there.
Princess Ning An looked at Xiao Heng in Empress Dowager Zhuang's study.
Empress Dowager Zhuang said: "He is the Liulang that Aijia mentioned to you. Ning'an has not met Liulang, right?"
Princess Ning An was stunned for a while, then smiled slightly: "Ah, yes, I haven't seen it before."
Xiao Heng stood up and bowed his hands in a salute, "Princess Ning'an."
Princess Ning An nodded as a return gift.
Empress Dowager Zhuang sighed to Princess Ning'an, "Didn't I tell you not to cook?"
Princess Ning'an smiled and put the food box on the table: "This is the soup cooked by the chef of Bixia Palace."
Empress Dowager Zhuang motioned for Eunuch Qin to take over.
"Come on, slave." Eunuch Qin opened the food box from Princess Ning'an's hand and took out the soup inside.
Princess Ning'an smiled: "Then I'll go first, and I'll come back tomorrow to greet my mother."
Princess Ning An went out of the study and heard Empress Dowager Zhuang say to Xiao Heng, "Go on."
Xiao Heng said: "No, there are only those rumors heard by the people."
Empress Dowager Zhuang said: "To quell the rumors, the only way is to let the witness speak, can the witness wake up?"
Xiao Heng: "She's awake."
Empress Dowager Zhuang: "Didn't you get drunk for seven days? You woke up so soon?"
Xiao Heng: "Jiaojiao has a hangover medicine in her hand. She wakes up in the morning and can only speak in the afternoon."
Empress Dowager Zhuang: "Did she confess the mastermind behind the scenes?"
Xiao Heng shook his head: "Not yet, she refuses to say."
"Have you been punished?"
"I've used it, I've used all the punishments that can be used, and my mouth is very tight."
Empress Dowager Zhuang snorted and said: "If you can't be hard, you will be soft, and if you can't be soft, you will be raped. I don't believe that Xianleju is all hard bones. You go and buy someone and let her visit Hua Xiyao. In the name of poisoning Hua Xiyao, it is said that it was a snack given to her by the young master. Hua Xiyao will not understand."
"Princess, your veil..." In the courtyard, a little palace maid said, looking at Princess Ning'an in a trance.
Princess Ning'an looked down at the torn handkerchief in her hand, and said with a warm smile, "I was scratched by a branch, what should I do?"
(End of this chapter)