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Imperial study.
Princess Ning'an sat next to the Emperor, her expression dim.
The Emperor patted her hand and said, "Don't take it to heart. The truth will be revealed one day."
Princess Ning'an whispered, "Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't have come back. Back then, I was blind and didn't listen to the advice of my elder brother and imperial mother. I insisted on marrying to the borderlands, and as a result, entrusted matters to the wrong people, causing tens of thousands of people at the border to suffer in the flames of war. It also cost many soldiers their lives. When Your Majesty proposed to confer upon me the title of the Grand Princess Protector, I knew I wasn't qualified."
The Emperor looked at her, "Ning'an..."
Princess Ning'an met his gaze, "Imperial brother, hear me out."
The Emperor nodded reluctantly, "Alright, go ahead."
Princess Ning'an continued to say with self-blame, "For someone like me, bearing the guilt and being accepted by the imperial family again is already a great favor from imperial brother. Please don't mention bestowing rewards for me anymore."
The Emperor spoke earnestly, "This is not your fault. Whether you were there or not, the remnants of the previous dynasty would still cause trouble in the State of Zhao. You were just a pitiful person who had been used by them. It would have happened to someone else if not you. Stop blaming yourself. Your words remind Zhen, perhaps Zhen's favor towards you has stirred envy and jealousy on some people, leading to discontent and various troubles. Is that it?"
Princess Ning'an remained silent.
The Emperor comforted her, "Zhen has its own stance on this matter, and you definitely won't be wronged. Consider today as if you haven't heard anything. Zhen will find out the truth."
Princess Ning'an's eyes reddened a bit.
Seeing her like this, the Emperor couldn't help but think of when she was a lively and active child. Unlike ordinary girls, she wouldn't cry and make a scene when wronged. Instead, she would find a quiet place to sit and silently hold back her tears.
Every time, he would find her and cheer her up.
Thinking of the past, the Emperor felt even more heartache for Ning'an.
He wondered how many times she had hidden alone in a corner on the borderlands over the years, whether anyone had found her, and whether anyone had cared for her.
The Emperor called Eunuch Wei, "Go to the Ministry of Justice, instruct Minister Xing to keep silent and temporarily not disclose any information about this case."
"Yes."
Eunuch Wei went on his way.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
On Eunuch Wei's way to the Ministry of Justice, he overheard people discussing the matter.
"Little brothers, what were you talking about just now?" Eunuch Wei opened the curtain of the carriage and kindly called out to two young men by the roadside.
Since secrecy was necessary, his identity was made sure not to be revealed easily. At the moment, he was dressed as an ordinary lord.
Thinking he was a wealthy lord from the capital, the two young men shared the news they heard in the teahouse.
"I heard that Heavenly Music House colluded with the imperial family and killed the soldiers who returned from the border!"
"There’s such a thing?"
Old Chief understood very well that the speed at which rumors spread depended entirely on the melodramatic nature of the rumor itself. It didn't matter whether they were exaggerated or not, as long as they were widely spread!
"Who exactly was killed?"
"The Gu Family Army's young master! Gu Changqing!"
"Cough!" Eunuch Wei almost choked himself!
How did Gu Changqing get involved in all this?
Wasn't it said that the person attacked was Young Miss Gu?
And it was an unsuccessful assassination, too!
"Could you be mistaken? Young Master Gu was on his way to console the families of the dead soldiers."
"It happened on the way out of the capital! Not far from Feng County, someone came out from a nearby post station and saw corpses and bloodstains all over the snowy ground!"
Clearly, it was the aftermath of the confrontation between Young Miss Gu and the assassins from the Heavenly Music House, and the casualties were all from Heavenly Music House!
Who on earth spread such fabricated rumors?
"Oh, how tragic! Gu shizi fought bravely on the border but fell victim to a conspiracy by the imperial family upon his return. They fear his achievements overshadowing theirs, so they had to harm him!"
"He didn't die at the hands of the enemy but died at the hands of his own people. It's truly chilling."
"It seems he didn't die, he escaped."
"Doesn't that mean Gu shizi will have to hide from now on?"
This was the first version Eunuch Wei heard.
There was a second version.
The details were similar, with Gu Changqing being attacked outside the city, and Heavenly Music House colluding with the imperial family. However, it wasn't about the imperial family harming him for overshadowing their achievements but rather an imperial princess of the imperial family setting her eyes on Gu Changqing, wanting him as an Imperial Son-in-law.
Gu Changqing refused, which angered the princess, and as a result, he suffered her crazed revenge.
"What a mess!" Eunuch Wei felt a massive headache.
However, the third version was still the most headache-inducing for Eunuch Wei, where the victim was still Gu Changqing, not Gu Jiao.
"I heard it was the remnants of the previous dynasty!"
"Haven't the remnants of the previous dynasty already been wiped out?"
"It seems there's a straggler who infiltrated the capital and colluded with the Heavenly Music House to get back at Gu shizi and the Gu Family Army!"
"Poor Gu shizi is critically injured, and his life or death is uncertain."
"I also heard that there are spies within the imperial family; the remnants of the previous dynasty are still lurking in the palace."
"Ah, I heard something, too. When the Imperial Son-in-law was killed by Gu shizi, Princess Ning'an pleaded with Gu shizi to let the Imperial Son-in-law live or die on his own in the snowy mountains. But Gu shizi, ignoring Princess Ning'an's opposition, insisted on taking the Imperial Son-in-law's life."
"Ah, could it be..."
Eunuch Wei helplessly looked up at the sky.
This was it, everything was done for.
Once the news spread, it wouldn't be easy to retract. Moreover, as the saying went, trying to stop rumors was like trying to block a flood. The more the Emperor forbade discussion of this matter among the people, the more fervently they engaged in lively discussions.
If the Emperor were a tyrant who had killed hundreds of people, no one would dare to speak nonsense.
Unfortunately, he wasn't.
This led to the continued escalation of the incident. By the next evening, almost the entire capital had heard about the Heavenly Music House colluding with the imperial family to assassinate Gu Changqing.
With Gu Changqing not in the capital, even if the Emperor wanted to call him forward to clarify the truth, it wouldn't be possible.
The Emperor could choose to have Gu Jiao step forward, saying she was the one attacked, but that would mean confirming the Heavenly Music House's involvement in the assassination.
Besides, was there much difference between assassinating Gu Jiao and Gu Changqing?
The difference would only be in the speed of transmission. As the young master of the Gu Family Army, the heir to the Marquis Ding'an Estate, Gu Changqing had a greater reputation in the capital.
Gu Jiao, on the other hand, was too low-key.
Her name lacked sensationalism. contemporary romance
But the essence of the matter was the same.
Furthermore, the issue was not whether the victim was Gu Jiao or Gu Changqing, but rather which member of the imperial family was behind the scenes.
"Princess, the tea has spilled." In the warm pavilion of the Bixia Palace, Lian'er reminded Princess Ning’an.
Princess Ning'an looked at the spilled tea on the table, put down the teapot she didn't know how long she had been holding, and said, "Just wipe it."
"Yes."
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