Chapter 48 Drink with me until we're completely drunk.

Gu Nanxiao naturally wouldn't obey the Prince Yong's order to punish Yunxi. But seeing his father's furious expression, he wondered if something had really happened to his two half-brothers.

Actually, he caught a glimpse of Yunxi attacking them from afar, so they shouldn't have been seriously injured.

Yunxi is a frail woman with no internal energy, and each person only took one hit. Could Gu Nanwen and Gu Nanwu not even withstand such attacks?

But if his injuries weren't serious, why was his father so angry? So he felt he should ask first: "Father, how are Gu Nanwen and Gu Nanwu now?"

Yong Wang first looked Gu Nanxiao up and down with his eyes, and then said in a sarcastic tone, "Now you finally remember your two younger brothers. Waiting for you, the eldest brother, to care about them is probably too late."

Gu Nanxiao was now only worried about whether Yunxi would be implicated. He suppressed his anger and, after listening to Yong Wang's sarcastic remarks, asked again, "So, how are your two half-brothers doing now?"

Prince Yong gave a nonchalant snort and said, "After the acupuncture treatment by the imperial physician, the person has now woken up."

After hearing this, Gu Nanxiao finally felt relieved. In other words, those two good-for-nothings were actually fine, so what reason did his father have to punish Yunxi?

At this point, the Prince Yong angrily ordered, "Hand over your concubine. If I don't punish her severely today, I will be disgracing the order of this household."

Gu Nanxiao naturally wouldn't hand Yunxi over. He waved to Qianyu behind him, signaling him to tell Yongwang the whole story.

Qianyu recounted the entire incident and the conversation between the two parties in detail, but after listening, King Yong waved his hand in complete disbelief, saying:

"You've been good at sophistry since you were a child, and you've never honestly admitted your mistakes after hurting your two younger brothers. Now, you're even dragging your bodyguards along to lie for the sake of a concubine."

"I'm in a terrible mood right now and have no time for your nonsense. Hand over the person immediately, or else..."

The Prince's words shattered Gu Nanxiao's last shred of trust in his father. He retorted sharply without hesitation, "Otherwise, what will Father do?"

King Yong was even more enraged that Gu Nanxiao dared to speak to him in such an attitude. He pointed his finger at Gu Nanxiao's nose and cursed:

"You unfilial son, how dare you speak to your father like that? Do you think that just because you got a job under the emperor, I can't do anything to you?"

Because of a mere maid, you first made your mother sick with anger, and now you want to anger your father too? You are utterly disloyal and unfilial!

Mo Yu, who had been listening to this for a while, stepped forward and cupped his hands, saying, "Your Highness, please don't accuse our master of being unfilial and disrespectful."

King Yong was already in a bad mood, and just as Mo Yu rushed up, he raised his hand and slapped Mo Yu, angrily shouting, "When did it become your place to interrupt when I'm disciplining my son?"

After beating Mo Yu, King Yong turned his gaze to Gu Nanxiao and continued to berate him: "You yourself are a person who violates the principles of morality and etiquette, and the servants you have raised are all more and more unruly than the last."

"I refuse to believe I can't deal with you all today! Tell me! Are you going to hand over that maid or not?"

Gu Nanxiao saw that his father not only did not listen to reason at all, but also indulged his two illegitimate sons, without caring about his feelings or face, and even disregarding Yunxi's life and death.

His immense disappointment in his father extinguished the last remaining vestige of affection between father and son.

Gu Nanxiao's heart turned completely cold, and he no longer wanted to solve the problem by explaining the facts and reasoning. Wasn't his father unreasonable? It wasn't that he couldn't be unreasonable.

When Gu Nanxiao spoke again, his voice was as cold as ice, carrying a chilling aura honed on the brink of life and death, and he said with unwavering authority:

"Yunxi is my maid, and I will not allow anyone to slander or harm her. I'm making this clear today: if Yunxi suffers any harm in the Yong Prince's mansion, I will repay Consort Xu and her son tenfold!"

King Yong had never seen his son show him such a fierce expression. He was so shocked that he couldn't recover for a moment, and something in his heart seemed to shatter with a bang.

Even after Gu Nanxiao turned and left, the Prince of Yong did not utter another word.

When Yunxi saw Gu Nanxiao stride into the study, he slumped heavily behind the desk, his chest heaving violently, and his face turning an unnatural bluish-black, clearly furious.

However, Yunxi couldn't say much about the matter between the father and son. She couldn't talk about his father's mistakes in front of Gu Nanxiao, nor could she use the old-fashioned idea of ​​filial piety to persuade Gu Nanxiao to accept his fate and be tolerant. Anyone in modern times knows that's called emotional blackmail.

After a long while, Gu Nanxiao finally calmed down and turned to look at Yunxi, who was sitting at the small desk writing and drawing. Even though she was the one who was wronged, Yunxi didn't utter a single complaint.

Furthermore, she didn't even bother to inquire after he failed to get justice for her, thus saving face for himself. Thinking about all this, Gu Nanxiao felt somewhat annoyed.

The other party was his father, so he couldn't hit him or scold him. He wanted to reason with him, but the man wouldn't listen. He didn't want to do that, so Yunxi was wronged.

Gu Nanxiao knew that Yunxi was vengeful and wouldn't let things go easily after suffering a loss today. He also knew he wouldn't plead for his two half-brothers. With a long sigh, he said to Yunxi:

“Girl, you’ve been wronged today. If you want revenge, go ahead and do it. Even if things get out of hand, I’ll cover for you.”

Gu Nanxiao made up his mind that since his father would not stand up for him, his two half-brothers would not be able to get justice from him either if they were punished in the future.

Yunxi nodded with satisfaction. Rather than having others stand up for her, Yunxi preferred to take revenge herself. However, she was somewhat touched by Gu Nanxiao's promise to cover for her.

She decided to turn her emotions into action and continued to write and draw at her desk.

In Gu Nanxiao's eyes, her behavior was simply that of a well-behaved and sensible person. Remembering that Yunxi had almost been bullied earlier, Gu Nanxiao wanted to comfort her. Therefore, he softened his voice and beckoned to her, saying, "Yunxi, come here."

Just then, Yunxi finished her work. After drying the weapon blueprints she had drawn, she took them and came to Gu Nanxiao's side.

She habitually sat on the man's lap, spread the blueprints on the desk, and explained to Gu Nanxiao: "This long weapon is called a ge (戈). Its main purpose is to target cavalry."

The spearhead-like part at the front was used to stab the rider on horseback, while the sickle-like blade below was used to cut the horse's leg and to drag the rider off the horse.

If you encounter a large cavalry force, you can first use several tripwires to slow down the cavalry, and then have the infantry use halberds to encircle and annihilate the cavalry from both sides..."

Yunxi's calm and composed voice seemed to have a magical power, gradually soothing the anger in Gu Nanxiao's heart.

When he was with Yunxi, they mostly discussed military strategy, weapon making, and opening shops to make money.

Yunxi always seemed to have endless important matters to attend to, and her vision didn't stop at the trivialities of the inner quarters. This was precisely what resonated with Gu Nanxiao.

Because Gu Nanxiao had been living in the army since he was twelve years old, his daily focus was on honing his skills and improving his martial arts and strategic abilities.

Although military campaigns often posed a threat to his life and resulted in frequent injuries, he believed that these matters were far simpler than those concerning the inner quarters of the home.

After all, anything can be dealt with directly, relying entirely on the clash of strength, so there's no need for so much scheming and intrigue.

Just like two years ago, after he returned to the Yongwang Mansion, he never had a moment of peace, whether in the court or at home. This kind of trouble continued until Yunxi came.

Gu Nanxiao gently stroked Yunxi's cheek with his large, calloused hand, his thumb lightly caressing her rosy lips. After a long while, he spoke with a hint of melancholy in his voice:

"Have a drink with me, the kind that lasts until we're completely drunk."