Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Oh, this is called not crossing the line?
Gu Zhizhuo smiled softly.
"Young lady..."
Qiongfang was anxious and angry. She clearly remembered that when playing pot-to-pot, Miss Qiu's arrow went towards Miss Ji. If the Third Prince hadn't waved the arrow away, how could the eldest lady have suffered such an unprovoked disaster? And now...
Qiongfang's eyes widened as she realized something: "Miss, the Third Prince's sweetheart, could it be Miss Ji Biao?"
"yes."
Gu Zhizhuo sneered in his heart.
Her biological mother was from the Wang family of Langya and died when she was less than six years old.
His father remarried his stepmother, Ji Nanke, according to imperial decree. Ji Nanke was Ji's niece. Because her parents had both passed away and she had no one to take care of her, she followed Ji into the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and was raised there. Gu Zhizhuo would usually call her "cousin".
After her father died in battle, she and her brother had to observe mourning for 27 months, and they just finished mourning at the beginning of the month.
She had not left the house for a long time, and actually at this time, she didn't know that Xie Jing was deeply in love with Ji Nan Ke and was pursuing her desperately.
Gu Zhizhuo glanced at the clepsydra and suddenly said, "It's almost time." After that, she stood up, walked straight to the door, and opened it with her own hands.
The moment the side hall door opened, dazzling sunlight poured down on her, bringing a new warmth.
As expected, Gu Zhizhuo met a pair of beautiful phoenix eyes.
The girl standing in front of the door had fair skin, black hair, bright eyes and white teeth. She was stunned for a moment, then pouted and snorted deliberately: "I'm not here to see you!"
Gu Zhizhuo's gaze moved slightly upwards, landing on her left hand that was about to knock on the door, and he raised his eyebrows.
The girl withdrew her hand as if nothing had happened, stroked the pearl flower on her temple, and her eyes were vague.
She insisted stubbornly, "I'm just passing by!"
She flicked her sleeves and made a gesture to leave.
Gu Zhizhuo quickly grabbed her sleeve, shook it gently, and called out softly, "Cousin Danling~"
Her tone was sweet, with a twist at the end. Xie Danling obviously fell for it, and the corners of her mouth curled up instantly.
The concubine in the palace was surnamed Wang, and she was a full sister of Gu Zhizhuo's biological mother.
Xie Danling is the only daughter of Concubine Shu and the emperor's fifth princess. She is only three days older than Gu Zhizhuo.
She remembered that Concubine Shu had privately told her not long ago that Xie Jing was not a good match. If she wanted, Concubine Shu would find a way to ruin the marriage. However, she was ignorant and, after being slightly misled by her stepmother, she suspected Concubine Shu of having ulterior motives, which greatly angered Concubine Shu and also caused Xie Danling to be angry with her.
In the previous life, Xie Danling also came and pulled her away.
Her face was in pain at the time and she didn't want to go out. As they were talking, they started arguing for a few more words. Xie Danling left in a huff.
It was on this day, after the palace banquet, that the palace servants found Xie Danling dying.
She fell from the octagonal glazed pavilion, and the back of her head hit a rock, bleeding all over the ground...
Xie Danling looked at her sideways, pouting her lips, her bright face shining in the sun. This lively appearance overlapped with the skinny girl lying on the bed in her previous life.
Gu Zhizhuo couldn't help but use force to pinch his sleeves until they were wrinkled.
Xie Danling's eyes flickered to her slightly swollen cheeks.
"It's okay." Gu Zhizhuo said quickly, "The swelling will go away soon."
Xie Danling snorted lightly, "I'm not worried about you." Then she took out a veil with a false tone.
"Here you go." She stuffed the veil into Gu Zhizhuo's hand and said dryly, "Let me make it clear first, I'm not here to make peace!" The expression on her face clearly said: If you don't come to coax me, I won't be friends with you anymore.
Gu Zhizhuo suppressed a smirk and obediently unfolded the veil and put it on. He said with some embarrassment, "Cousin Danling, can you help me tie it?"
Xie Danling said with a straight face, "You are such a nuisance."
Qiongfang moved her lips, she wanted to say that she could come, but seeing that the Fifth Princess looked very excited, she tactfully swallowed her words.
Xie Danling tied the veil for her and was in a good mood listening to her say, "Cousin Danling, you are the best."
Just as she was about to show mercy and forgive her, a little palace maid hurried in from outside and whispered a few words to Xie Danling.
Xie Danling suppressed her smile, waved the maid away, took her hand, and said without hesitation, "You, come with me."
"You can't say no! Do you hear me?!"
Gu Zhizhuo let her lead him and said obediently, "I'll go wherever you go today."
Xie Danling was satisfied and took her and walked out.
It was April, and flowers were in full bloom. A few kites were flying in the blue sky and white clouds. Roses were planted near the water pavilion, and many noble ladies were catching butterflies and playing, laughing and talking happily.
Xie Danling did not return to the water pavilion, but continued forward along the bluestone path.
She walked faster and faster, and Gu Zhizhuo followed without saying a word.
A melodious flute sound was heard in the distance.
Xie Danling suddenly stopped, and Gu Zhizhuo lost his balance and bumped into her.
Xie Danling quickly grabbed her, patted her chest to calm her down, and muttered, "Look at you, you're so irritable."
Gu Zhizhuo: “…”
The next moment, Xie Danling's pretty face turned stern. She stared at her veil, which became more and more annoying. She said angrily, "My mother has already said that the Third Prince is not a good match."
"He can now hurt your face for the sake of the surname Ji."
"One day, he will try to murder you for the sake of the Ji family."
Gu Zhizhuo nodded silently. This was absolutely right.
Xie Danling put her hands on her hips and said, "Why, you're still not convinced?"
Gu Zhizhuo held her arm and leaned his head on her shoulder affectionately: "I was wrong."
Xie Danling's anger instantly subsided.
She said awkwardly, "It's good that you know you're wrong."
"I'm telling you, Ji Nan Ke is just playing hard to get! Go out and ask around, everyone in the capital knows that the Third Prince is obsessed with her and deeply in love with her. The whole capital can see it, is she the only one who's blind?"
Xie Danling sneered, "But what did she say outside? She said that the Gu family had raised her and she would never overstep the line."
"Humph, this kind of petty-mindedness, I have seen it many times in the palace."
"You're just stupid. You're being sold and still have to pay money."
Xie Danling tapped her forehead with her finger and snorted, "You are not allowed to be with her in the future, do you understand?"
Gu Zhizhuo half-raised his head, his distinct black and white eyes shimmering with a thin mist as he declared, "From now on, I'll only be with Cousin Danling!"
That's right! Xie Danling's eyes curved, and her tone softened: "It's not your fault. You're in mourning and don't go out much. And with your stepmother as the housekeeper, keeping an eye on them, how could she know about their affair?"
She felt they had reconciled, so she affectionately called out Gu Zhizhuo's childhood name, "Yaoyao, the emperor just rewarded Third Brother with a pair of three-foot swords inlaid with gold and gems. Zhou Liulang was there, urging Third Brother to try out the swords. Third Brother agreed, saying that the swords were so fine that just testing them would be too boring, so he invited Ji Nan Ke to join him in a sword dance."
Having said that, Xie Danling snorted.
When Xie Danling heard the little palace maid coming to report the news, she was furious.
Xie Jing was still so ostentatious on the Qianqiu Festival, as if he was afraid that others didn't know that he had a lover. He was simply trampling on his little cousin's face.
How could Xie Danling tolerate this!
"It's just ahead, I'll take you there!"
Xie Danling took her hand and continued walking forward.
Soon, we saw an octagonal pavilion with a flying rafter inlaid with gems.
Each of these gems was polished to the size of soybeans, and was spread out in a dense layer, sparkling with colorful light under the sun, and also reflected on Ji Nan Ke who was dancing with a sword in the pavilion.
She has a graceful figure and dances lightly.
The tip of the sword trembled gently, and the gem on the hilt shone brightly, making her look stunning, delicate and charming. The charm that came from her bones made her slightly cold facial features bright and dazzling.
The long swords intersected with each other, making a crisp sound. Ji Nanke and Xie Jing's figures crossed each other, and their eyes were entangled with each other, as if full of affection.
Xie Jing's mind and eyes were completely on Ji Nanke, and he didn't even notice Gu Zhizhuo and the others coming in.
"Heh," Xie Danling crossed her arms over her chest and whispered to her little cousin, "So this is what they call not crossing the line?"
Her voice was neither light nor heavy, and the sound of the flute paused. Zhou Liulang hesitated, put down the flute, and stood up to greet the others.
"Meet the Fifth Princess."
Zhou Liulang was only sixteen or seventeen years old, and his aunt was Concubine Zhen in the palace.
It's not just him. Most of the people here are the sons and nephews of the concubines in the palace, who are dependent on the queen.
In the previous life, Xie Danling barely managed to survive after an accident, but never regained consciousness.
Later, because the pavilion was not repaired in time, the princess fell and was injured. The emperor was furious and several eunuchs from top to bottom were beaten to death.
That's the end of the matter.
Gu Zhizhuo didn't believe it. Even if Xie Danling had fallen herself, why didn't anyone in the palace find out? It wasn't until the evening that they found her.
Even though it was the Qianqiu Festival and the palace was busy, the palace maids all performed their duties. Not to mention the palace, even in ordinary people's houses, a birthday banquet wouldn't cause such chaos that someone would fall and be injured and not be discovered for a long time.
At that time, she was in a difficult situation and had no way to investigate.
Many years later, Gu Zhizhuo found Zhou Liulang and forced him to tell him what happened...
In order to vent her anger, her little cousin provoked Ji Nan Ke and was pushed off the pavilion by Xie Jing.
Zhou Liulang told her that Xie Danling was crying out in pain when she fell, but Xie Jing coldly said that she was pretending and wanted to teach her a lesson. He forbade anyone to call the imperial physician and sent away all the palace servants serving nearby, ordering them not to get close.
Gu Zhizhuo's fingertips were cold.
Even now, she still clearly remembered Zhou Liulang's words: "...The next day, we heard that the Fifth Princess was seriously injured and could not wake up. His Royal Highness the Third Prince sent someone to warn us that no one was allowed to tell anyone about the Qianqiu Festival. The Third Prince said that the Fifth Princess had fallen and it was her own bad luck that brought her death."
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