Chapter 484 The Unruly Darling (Second Update)

Lingguan City was devastated after the war, with more soldiers than civilians on the streets, and innocent people could be seen being arrested without cause from time to time.

Despite repeatedly reminding himself that he was a notorious bandit and that the lives of ordinary people were none of his concern, Gu Chengfeng still felt his blood boil with rage when he actually witnessed these events unfolding before his eyes.

He clenched his fists tightly, and with great effort, he barely managed to suppress the urge to kill the Chen soldiers who were bullying the people with a single sword stroke.

He cannot be exposed.

It's not the right time... not yet...

"Let's find an inn!" He turned around, afraid that if he looked any longer, he would rush over.

"Okay." Gu Jiao nodded calmly.

She seemed indifferent to everything, and the lives and deaths of others seemed insignificant to her. Yet, for the sake of the fool she called him, she and her brother traveled thousands of miles to this perilous and bitterly cold place.

Gu Chengfeng suddenly felt that he couldn't understand her.

The two found an inn nearby.

The inn showed signs of being ransacked. The innkeeper had a shocking handprint on his face, and the inn's staff were injured, in pain, and had red and swollen eyes.

They were picking up the chair that had fallen to the ground. There were no other guests in the inn; it was unclear whether no one was staying there at all or if they had all been scared away.

Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng arrived at the counter.

The innkeeper roused himself and looked at the two men, his voice still trembling with emotion after a sob: "Are you two guests here for a meal or to stay overnight?"

Gu Chengfeng said to the innkeeper, "Give us a room. If you have food, bring it up. If not, that's fine."

"Please follow me, both of you." The innkeeper suppressed his grief and led Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng upstairs. He pointed to a room that was still relatively clean and tidy and said, "This is the best room in our inn. It costs one hundred coins a night and includes two meals."

"One hundred coins?" Gu Chengfeng wondered if he had misheard.

The shopkeeper hurriedly said, "Do you think it's too expensive, sir? Then we can give you a discount. Eighty coins will do."

Gu Chengfeng opened his mouth and said, "That's not what I meant."

One hundred coins is incredibly cheap. They've never stayed at such an inn on their journey, and it's even a superior room with two meals included.

"One hundred coins it is." Gu Chengfeng couldn't bear to overcharge the shopkeeper.

The innkeeper said gratefully, "Thank you, sir. I'll go and prepare some food for you, but you may have to wait a little while."

Gu Chengfeng understood what he meant. Those soldiers had looted the inn clean, and they probably hadn't even spared the good stuff in the kitchen. They would have to go buy vegetables again.

Gu Chengfeng felt a mix of emotions.

Gu Jiao ate and slept as usual, seemingly carefree, showing no sign of worry or pity whatsoever.

Gu Chengfeng's lips twitched as he looked at the person who was fast asleep on the bed, clutching a red-tasseled spear.

How can a little girl have a bigger heart than a man like him!

After dinner, the two prepared to set off.

The two changed into night clothes, put on masks, and prepared to set off.

Unexpectedly, Gu Chengfeng opened the door and immediately closed it again.

"Is someone here?" Gu Jiao asked.

Gu Chengfeng's Adam's apple bobbed as he composed himself and said, "They are soldiers from the Chen Kingdom, a large contingent."

A large group of people meant that dozens of them had arrived and filled the inn's lobby almost instantly.

For a moment, Gu Chengfeng suspected that it was his and Gu Jiao's whereabouts that had been exposed. Fortunately, the group sat down directly in the lobby, seemingly just there to freeload at the inn.

Gu Chengfeng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It wasn't that he was afraid of these soldiers; he could handle them all by himself if they really fought. But if a real battle broke out, it would be bad if it alerted the prefect's heavily armed forces.

The room had no windows, so they could only wait for the soldiers to leave.

The soldiers were unaware that other people were staying at the inn, and they thought everyone there was one of their own. They spoke without any restraint, and Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng overheard something quite remarkable.

It turns out that Tang Yueshan was behind the old Marquis's arrest!

The prince consort placed Princess Ning'an under house arrest. The old marquis asked Tang Yueshan to borrow a few archers to infiltrate the princess's residence and rescue her, but Tang Yueshan refused, citing the need to send troops to suppress the rebels.

The old Marquis had already sensed something was amiss and warned Tang Yueshan that things might not be so simple and that he should not act rashly.

Tang Yueshan believed that the old Marquis was preventing him from making meritorious contributions. He ignored the old Marquis's advice and insisted on launching a night attack on the remnants of the former dynasty, only to fall into their trap.

The remnants of the previous dynasty and the Chen army attacked from both sides, resulting in a crushing defeat for Tang Yueshan and the fall of Yecheng.

The Chen army won its first battle and its morale soared. In contrast, the local Zhao army, seeing that the Grand Marshal of all the armies had been defeated, naturally had little morale and put up a stubborn resistance. Lingguan City and Beiyang City were easily captured by the Chen army.

Gu Chengfeng said indignantly, "If Tang Yueshan had listened to my grandfather, my grandfather wouldn't have been arrested, and the border cities wouldn't have fallen so easily!"

If his grandfather had not been captured, whether his grandfather had joined forces with Tang Yueshan to fight the enemy, or his grandfather had led the army to fight the enemy after Tang Yueshan's defeat, the border would not have fallen so quickly.

Gu Chengfeng frowned suspiciously: "Do you think Tang Yueshan might have done this on purpose?"

"What did you mean by 'deliberately'?" Gu Jiao asked.

Gu Chengfeng said coldly, "He deliberately suffered a defeat, causing my grandfather to be arrested! As the saying goes, like father, like son. The fact that he could raise such a vicious and perverted son as Tang Ming shows that he himself is no good either! Who knows where he got the truth about Tang Ming's murder and now hates our Gu family!"

Tang Ming bullied Gu Yan, which led to Gu Jiao's violent retaliation. Gu Chengfeng was also involved. If Tang Yueshan learns the truth, he will indeed have reason to retaliate against the Gu family.

Gu Jiao paused, then remained silent.

According to the information revealed by those soldiers, Tang Yueshan disappeared after his defeat, and now they are searching everywhere for him, whether he is alive or dead.

Gu Chengfeng found Tang Yueshan increasingly suspicious, even the defeat in his army was likely a scheme by Tang Yueshan: "He is ambitious and eager for glory. If he loses the city first and then takes it back, showing His Majesty how hard he fought, he will receive double the reward and the Emperor's favor when he returns to the capital."

Gu Jiao tapped his shoulder.

Gu Chengfeng was engrossed in analyzing Tang Yueshan when he was suddenly interrupted. He paused for a moment, then asked, "What's wrong?"

Gu Jiao pointed downstairs: "They're gone."

Gu Chengfeng opened his mouth: "Alright then, let's set off too."

Gu Jiao glanced at him and said, "You can come back and continue."

Gu Chengfeng choked: "I didn't really want to say that! I'm a man! Why do I have so many things to say!"

The man, who wasn't much of a talker, chatted with Gu Jiao all the way to the prefect's mansion.

Gu Jiao: "..."

The prefect's mansion was heavily guarded, but it wasn't too difficult for Gu Chengfeng, who could come and go freely under the noses of the Dragon Shadow Guards.

He led Gu Jiao to sneak into the mansion.

Gu Jiao took out a flamboyant peacock feather mask and put it on.

Gu Chengfeng: No, is there any point in covering your face now?

The two had no idea where the old Marquis was being held. Gu Chengfeng promptly grabbed a soldier, and Gu Jiao gave him a dose of sleeping pills, which put the soldier to sleep.

Gu Chengfeng looked at her syringe: "..."

Your medicine doesn't always work...

Gu Jiao put away the syringe and said without changing her expression, "Find it yourself."

Gu Chengfeng snorted: "How are we supposed to find such a big mansion? Are you going to search until dawn?"

Gu Jiao clapped her hands lightly: "We've already searched the Prince Ning's mansion, so what's there to be afraid of in a mere prefect's mansion?"

Gu Chengfeng scoffed, "How can that be the same? The Ning Prince's mansion only has a few storerooms, all located in his and the Ning Princess's courtyard. The Prefect's mansion has the government office in the front and a private residence in the back; they have no idea where they've imprisoned my grandfather. It could be the woodshed, the dungeon, or some secret room..."

Before he could finish speaking, Gu Jiao pushed open the door beside her.

That was a wine cellar, used to store fine wines.

Gu Chengfeng rubbed his forehead and shook his head. There was no need to even look for a place like this; it was definitely not a good place to hold hostages.

His gaze swept over the area casually, and then he froze.

"Grandfather?"

Who else could that old man, with his hands and feet in shackles, covered in wounds and unconscious on the ground, be but his grandfather!

Gu Chengfeng was instantly stunned: "You... how did you know my grandfather was imprisoned here?"

Gu Jiao shrugged: "I don't know, I just picked one randomly."

Gu Chengfeng's lips twitched so hard it seemed like she was going to run into something like this!

What happened to finding them until dawn?

And what about the hundred ways he thought of to evade the Chen soldiers' reconnaissance? Huh? Useless now?!

Happy New Year.

May we all ride the waves like Jiaojiao in 2021!

(End of this chapter)