"Second brother, I'm scared..."

In the dark house, Gu Qingyao spoke with a sob in her voice. A cold wind often blew through the house, making her feel panicked and uneasy.

Only the brother and sister lived in the huge courtyard. The servants who served them moved quietly, which made it even more eerie.

"Mo Wu, go and get the ocarina."

Gu Qingfeng comforted Gu Qingyao. Half an incense stick later, the sound of the xun (a type of ancient Chinese wind instrument) rang out. Gu Qingfeng played the xun with a rapid and powerful sound. Gu Qingyao hugged her knees and buried her head deeply.

As the song ended, Gu Qingyao spoke softly, "Second Brother, this song is 'The Lament of a Beauty'."

"The Lament of a Beauty?" Gu Qingfeng had only glanced at the score once; he had not previously delved into the meaning behind the piece.

"Once upon a time, there was a weak country that was gradually swallowed up by the surrounding countries." Gu Qingyao's eyes were somewhat confused. The story behind this piece of music was told to her by Consort An when her second brother played it in the palace.

"One day, this country will perish."

Gu Qingyao glanced at Gu Qingfeng, "The princess of this country jumped off the city wall of the capital. All enemy troops who want to enter the capital must step over her corpse."

Gu Qingfeng's expression suddenly changed.

"But she was just a woman, and in the end she could not avert the fate of the destruction of the country. On the day the country's name was erased, a torrential rain fell. The raindrops were urgent and fierce, and that's how this piece of music came about."

People have named this piece "The Lament of a Beauty".

"Yao'er, that day will never come." Gu Qingfeng swallowed nervously. "With Gu Qingyan ascending the throne, and with Mother and Uncle behind him, Daqing will definitely be even more powerful than it is now."

"Second brother, don't worry, I'm just telling you this story."

The drizzle fell drop by drop, the spring rain nourishing silently.

......

With the imperial examinations approaching, Gu Qingyan made all the necessary arrangements before he began to muster his troops to prepare for the expedition to Lingzhou. However, a piece of news prevented him from making his way there.

"Father, has Gu Qingling moved away from Lingzhou?"

Gu Qingyan's face was extremely pale, and his hands clenched tightly under his sleeves. Gu Qingling, that coward, actually moved away from Lingzhou at this time.

“Gu Qingling currently occupies ten cities and claims to have chosen Licheng, the central city, as her capital.” Gu Lin pondered for a moment, “Ayan, why not wait until after the imperial examinations to lead the troops out and fight all the way to Licheng?”

This is also a great opportunity to establish authority.

Seeing Gu Qingyan remain silent, Gu Lin stepped forward and patted Gu Qingyan on the shoulder. "Gu Qingling's fate is sealed. No matter how good the excuse is for him to leave Lingzhou this time, he is still a deserter."

"Let's teach him a lesson first."

Attacking Lingzhou and attacking Licheng are two completely different situations, requiring vastly different troop strength and time. In any case, a new plan must be devised.

Finally, Gu Qingyan nodded. "Qin Wei, spread the word that Gu Qingling was cowardly before the battle even began. Tell her that this traitor is a coward."

"This servant will take care of it immediately."

After leaving the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Qin Wei breathed a barely perceptible sigh of relief. Fortunately, the Emperor had already issued an edict to the world that he would personally lead the army into battle, which gave Gu Qingling a reasonable explanation for moving away from Lingzhou.

Otherwise, he might have been exposed.

Inside the hall, Gu Lin looked at Qin Wei's figure with a somewhat murky gaze. "Ayan, what do you think of Qin Wei these past few days?"

Last time, Ayan even wrote a letter to tell him that Qin Wei was shot by an arrow while protecting him.

But Gu Lin's innate intuition always made him suspicious of Qin Wei. The more innocent Qin Wei appeared, the more suspicious Gu Lin became.

"Qin Wei is very good."

Gu Qingyan spoke softly, "Father, he watches over me outside the palace every night."

Gu Lin twitched the corner of his mouth upon hearing this, "One should always be wary of others."

Soon, news of Gu Qingling's fear before the battle spread like wildfire, and even the common people turned the incident into a folk song. Under Gu Lin's arrangement, the folk song successfully reached the area south of the Mi River.

Licheng, the imperial capital.

"What?"

Enraged, Gu Qingling swept all the documents on the table to the ground. How dare these people use ballads to insult him!

“Your Majesty.” A hint of mockery flashed in Pei Lan’s eyes. This Gu Qingling was truly impetuous and useless. If he stayed in Lingzhou for the sake of saving face, he would probably lose his life before long.

"They're just looking for a moment of verbal gratification; we're the ones who actually get a chance to catch our breath."

"Look at these memorials, these people! They all seem to be subservient to Gu Qingyan." Gu Qingling trembled with anger. Only after becoming emperor did he realize that he was completely incapable of handling such a thorny matter.

"In that case, why not let He Yu share some of the burden with the Emperor?"

Pei Lan brewed Gu Qingling a cup of tea, subtly sidelining Gu Qingling.

"Take all the memorials to He Yu."

Gu Qingling felt a splitting headache and jumped up from her chair. "I'm going out for some fresh air."

late at night.

Inside the room, He Yu and Pei Lan's figures overlapped. Pei Lan hugged He Yu's neck and said, "That idiot Gu Qingling can't do anything. The master's idea is to sideline him."

He Yu curled the corners of his lips, completely belying his upright and resolute demeanor in front of outsiders.

“Gu Qingyan won’t give up so easily; he’ll probably keep fighting all the way to Licheng.” As he spoke, He Yu moved closer.

Sweat dripped down his face as Perrin struggled to stay alert.

“Even I sometimes can’t understand my master.” Pei Lan couldn’t help but groan. “Killing Gu Qingling would be as easy as turning my hand, and even Gu Qingfeng and Gu Qingyao in the capital wouldn’t be impossible to kill.”

Why go through all this trouble?

Was it just so that he could kill Gu Qingyan more easily?

However, since his master takes such good care of Gu Qingyan's daily life, there's no way he wouldn't have the opportunity to make a move.

“Our master has his own ideas, and we just need to listen to him.” He Yu continued what he was doing, and Pei Lan didn’t care about anything else. The room was filled with a romantic atmosphere.

Almost at the same time.

As usual, Qin Wei stood guard outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony. This time, Ling Hai appeared beside Qin Wei.

"The Lord said you keep watch here every night, and told me to come and keep you company when I have nothing else to do." Ling Hai looked at Qin Wei with a hint of concern and wariness in his eyes, which he cleverly concealed.

"His Majesty had been sleeping poorly before, but after His Majesty came over that night, he slept much better."

Even Qin Wei himself didn't realize that he had already taken everything about Gu Qingyan to heart.

"Back when I was in the Prince of Xiang's residence, I always guarded the young master like this, but at that time I was afraid that someone would harm the young master. Now I don't have to do that anymore."

Qin Wei twitched the corner of his mouth. His young master now had the ability to personally kill his enemies.