Triumph

On the third day of the sixth lunar month, General Gu Hanying, along with Gu Jin and the fifth prince Jing Zichen, led three thousand elite troops back to the capital to receive their titles and rewards.

Gu Yu had actually learned some information from other sources, such as that Emperor Shengyuan intended to confer the title of Duke on his father, which would surely elevate the Marquis of Wu'an's family to a higher level.

When they entered the city through Yongding Gate, the entire city cheered and thronged around them as they rode through Chang'an Street toward Zhengyang Gate.

Gu Yu found a high-rise building with a view of this magnificent scene and gazed out the window.

In early summer, a warm breeze gently blows by, and as the sun rises, the man rides his horse through the streets.

The pale sunlight shone on him, highlighting his handsome and resolute face. The young general, riding a chestnut horse, looked like a god.

They still won the battle, the people cheered, and everyone admired them.

At Zhengyang Gate, the emperor himself arrived, riding his imperial horse through the streets. He was bestowed with imperial favor; how fortunate he was!

This time, however, she didn't stop on the street and look up.

She looked down at her father and brothers calmly, with a hint of self-interest, her mind at peace, oblivious to the surrounding noise and commotion.

The slightly overweight man in plain clothes standing next to them must be the Fifth Prince. Gu Yu was standing high and far away, so she couldn't see his face clearly, but she could see that his skin was much whiter than the others.

She yawned lazily, told Qiuju that she was going home to wait for her father and brothers to return, and then took a carriage back to the mansion.

At noon, her adoptive father and brother returned.

"Ayu!"

Gu Hanying, a burly man, called out to Gu Yu, who was waiting for them at the door, with a strong voice.

"Father......"

Gu Yu called out to him, tears welling in her eyes, "Brother, you've finally returned safely."

"Why has Ayu lost weight again?"

When Gu Hanying saw his daughter whom he hadn't seen for years, how could he not be heartbroken? His only regret in this life was that his wife and daughter could only wait for his return in Shengjing.

Gu Yu was very thin and small when she was born, only about the size of two palms. She was frail and sickly from a young age and had to take medicine every day.

When she turned six, her mother passed away. He was worried that no one would take care of his two children, so he wanted to remarry. Gu Yu shook her head and said that she didn't want a new mother. She only had one mother, and she would take good care of herself.

He nodded in agreement to her request, and so the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion remained without a new mistress.

His mother raised his two children.

Gu Jin went to the battlefield with him when he was fifteen, but Gu Yu could only stay in Shengjing City. She was the hostage he left for the emperor.

She has been living with her grandmother since she was ten years old. She has no mother, and her father and brothers are often away from home.

He owes her so much, so very much.

Seeing Gu Yu sobbing uncontrollably, he patted her thin shoulders and sighed, "Let's eat first, A-Yu. You've been waiting for A-Jin and me for a long time, haven't you?"

The three of them had lunch together.

Gu Hanying returned from receiving his rewards at Zhengyang Gate. Emperor Shengyuan bestowed upon him land, money, and jewels, and also promoted his rank. Ten days later, a palace banquet would be held in the palace.

There will also be a three-day banquet in Shengjing City. The great victory over the Northern Di is truly a cause for celebration by the court and the people.

Emperor Shengyuan had bestowed upon him the utmost favor, yet he felt a profound emptiness within.

Because he was not in the city and had no mistress, neither of his children had married.

Emperor Shengyuan granted him a fiefdom in the north, which made it clear that he was to return to the north to guard the border and deter the remnants of the Northern Di tribes. His son, unsurprisingly, was to remain in Shengjing.

Last time he returned to the capital, he took over the three major military camps in the capital within a few months. This time, it will probably be much the same. It's good that Gu Jin stays in Shengjing. He can marry a noble lady from a prominent family and live a peaceful life.

But his Ayu... her marriage...

He originally agreed to the marriage alliance with the Shen family because the Shen family was clean and had no ties with the Sun faction or the eunuch faction. However, he did not expect that the Shen family would completely disappear from Shengjing in just a few months, and their reputation would become extremely bad.

He's probably going to be infamous for eternity.

Shen Changqing is still alive, but how could he let his daughter marry into such a family and suffer mistreatment?

Moreover, he is now forced into the struggle between the Fifth Prince and the Crown Prince, making A-Yu's marriage even more difficult, since the Fifth Prince is not yet married and the Crown Prince still has a concubine position.

It's too difficult...

"Does Ayu have someone she likes in Shengjing City?"

Gu Hanying still felt guilty and wanted to make it up to Gu Yu.

Otherwise, given the arrangement of their parents and the matchmaker, he could have easily assigned Gu Yu one of his lieutenants and taken her back to the north with him.

Gu Yu pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Father, I am in love with Xu Qiu."

“No.” Gu Jin frowned and refused before Gu Hanying could say no. “Ayu, I’ve told you before, he’s not a good person. I don’t know what has happened in the past few months, but he’s the only one I can’t have.”

"Xu Qiu, is he Xu Shanhai's adopted son? I've heard of him."

Gu Hanying had been away from the capital for a long time, but he still had channels to obtain intelligence. "He also won the top score in the imperial examination this year. He is a good student, but his family background is too poor, and his reputation for working in the Eastern Depot is not good either."

"Ayu, tell me, how did you meet him, and why do you like him?"

Gu Yu made up a story about Xu Qiu rescuing a damsel in distress several times, and Gu Hanying remained silent for a long time after hearing it.

He glanced at Gu Jin and told Gu Yu to go back to her room to rest first. "Ayu, you should take a nap. You don't need to stay with us. Your brother and I will discuss this matter. We need to investigate this person thoroughly."

After Gu Yu left, he said to Gu Jin, "This person has approached us repeatedly with impure motives. We need to investigate what Xu Shanhai is trying to do."

"I always felt that this matter was not simple."

When Gu Hanying received the news that the Fifth Prince was coming to the army for training, he didn't think much of it like the others.

Because vassal kings cannot have military power, but the Great Sheng Dynasty now has a crown prince.

The Great Sheng Dynasty has always had a rule that the crown prince cannot be deposed easily unless he commits a serious crime of treason. Otherwise, he is the undisputed next emperor.

Therefore, he only treated the Fifth Prince as a mascot, not daring to let him actually go to the front to fight the enemy, nor did he let him participate in the discussion of tactics.

The ever-smiling fifth prince didn't argue; he simply spent his days leisurely in the army, never interfering in matters of state or military affairs, as if he were merely there for training and learning.

When the final victory was achieved, the generals began vying for credit. After some discussion, they decided to give it to the Fifth Prince.

Gu Hanying then realized something was wrong. It was as if he hadn't done anything and had inexplicably ended up in the Fifth Prince's camp, as if he were going to be an enemy of the Crown Prince. But he dared not have such thoughts.

He already had enough merits; he didn't want to compete for the credit of supporting the emperor and bring misery upon his two children. He only hoped that his children could be safe and happy.

Xu Qiu's sudden appearance was something he hadn't expected at all. What did Xu Shanhai mean? Was this also the Emperor's will?

The more he thought about it, the more his head ached, so he simply stopped thinking about it and let his son investigate properly.

If Xu Qiu is truly sincere towards Gu Yu, he might consider it. But he fears that Xu Qiu's intentions are impure, and he wouldn't dare risk his own daughter.

When Gu Jin returned to the courtyard, dusk had already fallen. She sat quietly in the afterglow of the setting sun, detached from the mundane world, like a delicate jade doll.

“Brother…” she called to him gently, with a softness unique to girls.

Gu Jin knew at a glance that this woman wanted something from him. Of all the women in the world, his sister was the one he valued most.

She was different; they shared an unbreakable bloodline, and she was his younger sister, with whom he had grown up.

So he couldn't do anything about her; he could never refuse her requests.

"...I would like to see the Fifth Prince."

It was a bombshell.

Gu Jin felt as if a string in his mind had snapped; his usually ineffective mind on the battlefield went completely blank. "What?"

"I said I wanted to see the Fifth Prince."

"Why?"

He finally regained his senses.

"That bet, the one I made with you last time, the one I won, brother, you haven't honored it yet."

Gu Yu replied calmly, her expression so serene that it seemed as if what she said was a very ordinary matter.

"Okay, I can help you, but you have to tell me why."

Gu Jin agreed, deciding that he would definitely be there to watch over the two when they met.

Gu Yu thought for a moment and then told him about her idea of ​​bringing Dongfang Hongyao and Princess Yuning together. "Lord Dongfang has helped me several times. I saw that he was interested in the princess, so I thought I would help him out."

She closed the distance between them and tugged at his sleeve. "Brother, it's a good thing to help others find happiness. You haven't seen them, but I think they are a match made in heaven."

"How can you be so sure there's more to Consort Rong's story than meets the eye?"

“I’m not sure,” Gu Yu shook her head. “But why not investigate? Besides, Princess Yuning is the Fifth Prince’s sister, so he’ll definitely be willing to help.”

Moreover, with the Gu family involved, the Fifth Prince would definitely be willing to help.

"Furthermore, I only want to know the specifics of what happened back then; I have no intention of interfering in palace affairs, nor will I make a big fuss..."

Gu Yu shook his arm and said coquettishly, "Brother... please help me. If we can't find anything, no one will know. But if we can find something, Princess Yuning will definitely thank us."

"When the time comes, let Dongfang Hongyao be the good guy. If Princess Yuning is moved, it might just be a match made in heaven."

After thinking it over, Gu Jin realized that there was indeed no danger involved, and the Fifth Prince was easy to talk to and had a good temperament. Asking him for a favor and not making a fuss about it was nothing.

"Okay, I'll arrange the meeting for you, but I need to be by your side so you can talk to him."

"Of course, of course."

Gu Yu got the answer she wanted and happily walked out of the courtyard, but she felt like she had forgotten something important.

But how could something that can be forgotten be considered important? She shook her head and quietly waited for her meeting with the Fifth Prince.

She had wanted to meet this person for a while, and this was a good opportunity.

The next day at Chenshi (7-9 AM), the Fifth Prince Jing Zichen paid a visit to Gu Jin.

He always felt that the Gu family, father and brother, were as smelly and hard as rocks in a latrine.

Gu Jin handed him a letter inviting him to a gathering. He was so startled that he dropped the jade Buddha in his hand, chipping off a corner. He was heartbroken.

He was quite tall, and after spending some time in the military, his loose muscles had become much firmer.

However, compared to men of normal build, he was still slightly rounder.

He has a round face, thick eyebrows, big eyes, large ears, and slightly fair skin. He always smiles like Maitreya Buddha, and everyone who sees him will praise him for having a blessed appearance.

He strode into the front hall and saw Gu Jin sitting upright and a gentle and quiet young lady.

She sat there quietly, dressed simply and with simple hair accessories, but her skin was like jade, smooth and lustrous white.

Her eyebrows and eyes were gentle and kind, with a small nose and mouth, and a red mole between her eyebrows, making her look like Guanyin, detached from the mundane world and untouched by worldly affairs.

He had seen all sorts of women, but this was the first time he had seen a lady with such a divine air. It was as if his soul had found its home, and he stood there dumbfounded.

He had long heard that Gu Jin had a sickly younger sister who was also lamenting that her poor health made it difficult for her to have children, and that his mother would certainly not consider making her the principal wife. Thus, he lost an opportunity to win over the Gu family.

But at this moment, he was thinking that he wanted to marry her and treat her like a goddess, to see her every day, and to keep himself healthy.

Could it be that Gu Jin wants to introduce his sister to him?

He straightened his clothes. It wasn't that he couldn't meet her first, but he should try to build a relationship with her.

The two bowed to the Fifth Prince, but seeing that he was still standing there in a daze, Gu Jin called out to him, "Your Highness, Fifth Prince."

"Ah?" Jing Zichen snapped out of his daze. "This must be my little sister, Ayu. It's better to meet her in person than to hear about her. She's truly a precious and beloved sister..."

"Ah Jin, why didn't you make it clear that you wanted me to meet your sister? I could have prepared some gifts. It's so embarrassing to come empty-handed."

Gu Yu covered her lips and smiled faintly, "Your Highness is really good at praising people."

Gu Jin's face was ashen as he sensed the Fifth Prince's thoughts. "Your Highness, my sister and I have something to ask of you."

"What is it? Tell me."

He looked at the person in front of him with a smile, and Gu Yu personally stepped forward to pour him tea.

"It's like this..." She briefly explained why she wanted to know the reason for Consort Rong's death.

"Mingyu's mother..."

He recalled a distant memory, took a sip of tea, and slowly recounted, "The death of Consort Rong back then was not a secret, nor was there anything suspicious. Sister Ayu is mistaken."

“I was six years old then, and Mingyu was only three. She was tiny and white, and very cute. Consort Rong was also very kind, and I often went to her palace to see Mingyu.”

"Her health deteriorated after giving birth to Mingyu, growing weaker day by day until finally, medicine failed her, and she had no choice but to pass away. Imperial Physician Zhang from the Imperial Hospital examined her repeatedly; it wasn't poisoning or anything else, it was simply fate..."

"As for why this matter became a secret, it's because Father Emperor loved Consort Rong dearly. After her death, he ordered all the people who served around her to be executed and buried with her. Consort Rong's people hadn't actually done anything wrong. It wouldn't sound good if word got out that Father Emperor had ordered so many people to be executed for no reason, so it was kept quiet."