Chapter 679 Gu Qianhan is punished

The Imperial Palace.

Night had fallen, but Gu Qianhan remained kneeling on the stone steps.

Rain began to fall from the sky at some point, soaking him completely.

Two eunuchs held umbrellas, and four eunuchs carried a sedan chair, which slowly walked out of the rain.

As the sedan chair approached Gu Qianhan, it stopped. The person inside spoke slowly and deliberately: "Qianhan, why did you do this to yourself? Your father only asked you to kneel down and apologize to Qingyuan, but you refused. As a result, you've been kneeling here until dark. Was it worth it?"

Gu Qianhan slowly raised her head: "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness, but I will only kneel to heaven, earth, and my parents, not to Xiao Qingyuan!"

Xiao Qingxuan sighed: "You are just stubborn and proud, you won't turn back until you hit a wall. Do you know how heartbroken your mother is to see you kneeling here? You may not care about others, but you should care about your mother, right? She loves you the most, even more than she loves me, her son."

The icy rain washed over Gu Qianhan's face, and water droplets dripped from his chin, reminding him of the moment he died in his previous life.

Shen Wantang had asked him more than once who betrayed him when his rebellion failed, but he never said.

Because even he himself was unwilling to believe that the person who betrayed him was his aunt, the Empress, the one who loved him the most, and the one who had always tried her best to win glory and power for the Gu family.

What does the glory and prosperity of the family matter? What do brothers and nephews matter? Nothing can compare to her son.

Their efforts were in vain, and the Gu family was once again wiped out, with not a single member spared.

Gu Qianhan didn't blame her. As a mother, she chose her son, and there was nothing to say about that.

But similarly, he would no longer believe her, much less the Crown Prince's nonsense that his aunt loved him more than the Crown Prince.

If my aunt were to choose again, she would still choose to have him and the entire Gu family beheaded, rather than let the Crown Prince suffer even the slightest injury.

"If Your Highness has come specifically to persuade me to kneel down and apologize to Xiao Qingyuan, then there's no need to say anything more. Please leave!"

"Qianhan, I'm doing this for your own good. The rain is so heavy. If you keep kneeling like this, you'll definitely fall ill tomorrow. You just got married, and I heard your wife is already sick and needs your care. What will happen if you also fall ill?"

Gu Qianhan gave him a cold look: "Your Highness is quite well-informed, even knowing that my wife is ill."

"Oh, it's not that I'm just asking about your family affairs, but I heard from Qingyuan that your wife was seriously injured, and you're heartbroken!"

Gu Qianhan's tone grew even colder: "Since Your Highness has heard Xiao Qingyuan talk about my wife's injury, you must have also heard him explain why she was injured. Then I ask Your Highness to judge this matter. Xiao Qingyuan has repeatedly provoked me, and after failing to steal the bride, he tried to abduct her on her return visit. Such shameless and despicable behavior, and you expect me to kneel down and apologize to him? What kind of logic is that?"

Xiao Qingxuan shook his head: "Qianhan, you are a prodigy, wise and intelligent. Why are you arguing with someone as naive as Qingyuan over such a trivial matter? Doesn't that just make you look petty?"

"Does Your Highness consider this a trivial matter?"

"That's right! Qingyuan didn't even manage to steal the bride, did he? He didn't even manage to steal the bride! That's just his personality; he acts on a whim without thinking. If you get angry with him, aren't you just as stupid as him?"

"So, I should wait until he gets it before confronting him?"

"Qianhan, look at you, why do you always misunderstand me? Do you have some kind of prejudice against me?"

Gu Qianhan lowered her head, concealing the sharp, cold light in her eyes: "I wouldn't dare."

Xiao Qingxuan smiled kindly: "You said you wouldn't dare, not that you didn't. It seems you really do have a deep-seated prejudice against me, Qianhan!"

He smiled, but there was no smile in his eyes, and his tone grew colder and colder: "A-Ning hasn't come to the palace to see me lately, Qian Han, you didn't say anything to her, did you?"

Gu Qianhan said indifferently, "Do I need to say anything more? His Highness the Crown Prince is busy with many affairs of state. He is clearly of marriageable age, but he has no heart to care about this matter, let alone my sister."

"She's not stupid. She can sense when you're cold to her, and she understands Your Highness's intentions that you don't want to marry her as the Crown Princess."

"Since His Highness has no feelings for her, she won't bother trying to win him over. Our Duke's daughter has no trouble finding a husband. If the Crown Prince won't marry her, there are plenty of other men who will!"

“The family has already chosen a husband for her, so Your Highness, please do not mention my sister’s name again to avoid misunderstandings.”

The smile on Xiao Qingxuan's face gradually disappeared.

But when asked to refute Gu Qianhan, he had no way to refute her.

He loves Gu Qianning, but his Crown Princess, his future Empress, absolutely cannot be Gu Qianning, absolutely cannot have the surname Gu!

Even the entire Gu clan cannot be spared!

"It's late at night, and the rain is getting heavier. Don't kneel here, or you'll catch a cold."

Xiao Qingxuan's voice was as gentle as ever, but his words were like a sharp knife, piercing Gu Qianhan's heart: "Get up. Father has already sent someone to invite your wife to the palace. She will kneel in your place in the middle of the night."

Gu Qianhan's expression changed drastically: "What did Your Highness say?!"

Xiao Qingxuan's smile returned: "She's already here, in Father Emperor's Ganrui Palace. Didn't you know?"

Gu Qianhan immediately got up and rushed towards Ganrui Palace.

Xiao Qingxuan watched his retreating figure and instructed the eunuchs, "Hurry up, or I'll miss the excitement."

The eunuchs hurriedly quickened their pace, carrying him as they chased after Gu Qianhan.

Ganrui Palace.

Inside the gate, the emperor was drinking tea.

Outside the door, Shen Wantang knelt on the ground. The heavy rain had soaked her to the bone, and the wound on her head, which had not yet healed, began to ache faintly from the rain.

When she entered the palace, she could actually see Gu Qianhan kneeling in the rain from afar. However, she was surrounded by the emperor's guards and eunuchs, so she could not get close to Gu Qianhan or speak to him.

No wonder he didn't say where he went; it turns out he came to the palace to be punished.

Now, she's here to be punished along with him.

It's ridiculous! She's the victim, yet she's the one kneeling and being punished in the rain!

Damn Xiao Qingyuan!

Damn it... that dog emperor!

She heard hurried footsteps behind her and turned around to see Gu Qianhan, who was soaked to the bone just like her.

She smiled at him: "Husband, you've come."

Gu Qianhan almost burst into tears. He ran over, knelt in the rain, and hugged her: "A-Tang, I'm sorry. Marrying me has made you suffer."