Chapter 399 Living on the Wall

When Chunzhi and Huo Zheng returned to the palace, they happened to meet Gu Yuanjia, Yuzhu and his party arriving.

The carriage stopped in front of the palace. The maid lifted the curtain and Yuzhu came out of the carriage holding Nian'er.

Gu Yuanjia was standing a few steps away talking to the housekeeper. When Yuzhu came down, he turned around and looked at her.

Yuzhu avoided his gaze somewhat unnaturally. The two of them didn't stand close to each other and didn't even say anything, but Chunzhi felt that something seemed to have changed between them.

"Sister!" Yuzhu's eyes lit up when she saw Chunzhi coming back. She quickly came up to her with Nian'er in her arms, "Nian'er, call someone quickly."

"Auntie."

Nian'er was not shy at all and called out sweetly to Chunzhi.

"Nian'er is also very good." Chunzhi reached out and touched Nian'er's head, then asked Yuzhu in a gentle voice, "You have been traveling for days, you must be exhausted. Don't stand at the door, go in and talk."

The two sisters entered the house hand in hand, talking as they walked in. They hadn't seen each other for so long that it seemed as if they had endless things to say.

Gu Yuanjia stepped forward and bowed to Huo Zheng, "Your Highness."

"I'm glad you're here." Huo Zheng returned with Xiaoxing in one hand and helped Gu Yuanjia up with the other, preventing him from bowing. "Is your injury healed?"

Gu Yuanjia said, "He's already 70% to 80% better. The imperial physician said there's nothing serious to worry about."

"It's better to take good care of it, so as not to cause any root disease."

Ever since Gu Yuanjia sacrificed himself to save him, Huo Zheng has always treated him differently.

The two of them talked and went to the study together.

Chunzhi took Yuzhu and her daughter to the flower hall. Cui'er was extremely happy to see Yuzhu and her daughter coming. Without the princess's instructions, she immediately started to make tea and serve snacks.

Chunzhi asked Yuzhu to sit down and rest, then took Nian'er and held her in his arms. "Did you have a smooth journey?"

Yuzhu said: "It's okay, nothing serious happened."

This means that you have encountered danger.

Chunzhi suddenly became serious and asked, "What happened?"

"He encountered two assassination attempts," Yuzhu said. "Gu Yuanjia said they were probably targeting him."

Prince Rui Huo Yang tried to recruit Gu Yuanjia many times but failed. He was probably angry and sent people to assassinate them on the way to Xizhou.

Fortunately, Gu Yuanjia was prepared.

He escaped unharmed both assassination attempts.

Chunzhi felt relieved when she heard Yuzhu say this, but then she thought again that the tone Yuzhu used when she talked about this matter seemed completely different from when she mentioned Mr. Gu before.

She raised her eyebrows slightly, "Gu Yuanjia?"

You should know that Yuzhu used to be a slave in the Gu Mansion. Even after she moved into the Chang'an Palace, Chunzhi told her many times that she and Gu Yuanjia were no longer master and servant, and she didn't need to be so afraid of him anymore.

Yuzhu never called Gu Yuanjia by his name. No matter what, she still called him "Mr. Gu".

But today.

Yuzhu's repeated words of "Gu Yuanjia" were not just fluent.

Chunzhi suddenly said this. After Yuzhu met her gaze, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty, "I..."

"If you don't want to talk about it, then don't talk about it." Chunzhi didn't want to embarrass Yuzhu, so she said immediately, "I'm just asking you, if you want to live here from now on, do you want to live closer to Master Gu, or farther away?"

Yuzhu understood Chunzhi's meaning and said with a slight bow, "I'll follow your instructions, sister."

Haruji understood.

Yuzhu no longer hides from Gu Yuanjia. It must be because she has taken care of Gu Yuanjia in the capital for so many days, and their relationship has improved, but it is hard to say to what extent.

Anyway, Yuzhu doesn't want to make their relationship clear now, so Chunzhi, as her elder sister, naturally supports her.

In the past, Chunzhi would not have blindly tried to match Yuzhu and Gu Yuanjia, because she knew that a woman must first establish herself and have some respect before she can find love.

It is not good to lose yourself for love.

Yuzhu is now much brighter and more confident than before, and Chunzhi is sincerely happy for her sister's transformation.

"Then I'll see to the arrangements."

Chunzhi called the housekeeper over and arranged Master Gu in the courtyard closest to the inner courtyard in the outer courtyard, and arranged Yuzhu in the courtyard closest to the inner courtyard.

The two courtyards are separated by only a wall.

But there is a hanging flower gate separating the inner and outer courtyards.

From the outside, there is no clue.

Only the two people living on the other side of the wall knew how close they were.

They shut themselves in and no one knows what they are doing.

Chunzhi looked at Yuzhu with a look that said, "Sister can only help you this far."

Yuzhu couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, and quickly changed the subject and talked about how Song Wan'er asked her to bring a carriage of things to her sister and asked someone to move them in quickly for her sister to see.

Chunzhi asked Yuzhu and her daughter to go to the new yard first to take a look and rest, while she went to see the things that Song Wan'er had asked someone to bring.

And at this moment, in the study.

Huo Zheng put Xiaoxing back on the chair, let him sit and play, and then asked Gu Yuanjia to sit with him.

The servant made tea and then retreated outside.

The study was very quiet. Xiao Xinghui didn't make any noise and licked the Monkey King until he lost his monkey look.

Gu Yuanjia pulled out a confession from his sleeve and handed it to Huo Zheng. "On my way to Xizhou, I encountered two groups of assassins. After capturing them alive and interrogating them, I found out they were Prince Rui's men."

Huo Zheng looked at the confession with bloody fingerprints and asked, "Are you injured?"

"Given the previous assassinations of the princess and prince, I took precautions this time in Xizhou and didn't let the assassin get close." Gu Yuanjia said, "The assassin we captured this time, under interrogation, revealed that the previous assassinations of the prince and princess were ordered by Prince Rui. However, those assassins are all dead, so it's hard for the emperor to believe this assassin's one-sided statement alone."

Huo Zheng naturally knew that his father was suspicious and would not easily believe these evidences.

He said in a deep voice: "Huo, Yang."

Both were princes, Huo Yang was the eldest, while Huo Zheng was raised by Queen Wang and was the legitimate. Even though there were many debates in the court about who would be the crown prince, he never thought of taking action against his brother.

Even when a rebellion broke out in Xizhou, Huo Yang, who was supposed to lead the troops to suppress the rebellion, suddenly broke his leg and had to be replaced by Huo Zheng. However, Huo Zheng never blamed his brother for being selfish and cowardly.

But Huo Yang attacked him and Chunzhi again and again.

It's really hateful.

There was murderous intent in Huo Zheng's eyes, and he was unwilling to maintain even the superficial brotherly friendship. Then I live and you die.

Seeing Huo Zheng's murderous intent, Gu Yuanjia quickly advised, "Now is not the time to settle accounts. Your Highness should first strengthen Xizhou so that you can suppress Prince Rui in the future."

He said: "It is never too late for a gentleman to take revenge."

The princes who stayed in the capital always had the advantage of time and place. Once the emperor fell ill or passed away, the princes who were nearby could respond in time, and even if they wanted to usurp the throne, they would be one step ahead.

Huo Zheng closed his eyes, suppressed the murderous intent in his heart, and turned to talk to Gu Yuanjia about the fact that the trade with Beili was about to begin.

Although Gu Yuanjia was far away in the capital before, he had constant correspondence with Xizhou, participated in this matter a lot, and put forward many useful suggestions.

At this point, Master Gu raised the most important question, "Your Highness has submitted several memorials in support of opening up trade between the two countries, but the Emperor has yet to respond. With the trade opening imminent, if the capital doesn't give the nod, I'm afraid Xizhou will be blamed for acting on its own initiative."

"I already have a plan for this matter," Huo Zheng said. "Beili has sent Mu Xu to deliver a letter to the capital of Daxing. Whether it will succeed depends on this."