Extra 4: Don't tell me? I'll kill you.
Sheng Jiang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Miss Gu is really... um, tough?
Shen Xu remained silent.
Bang!
There was a series of crisp sounds of dishes falling and breaking from next door, followed by something heavy falling to the ground.
"Hey, my Lord, did you fall? Let me help you up."
"My Lord, please take a seat."
"Mr. An, I'm not drunk."
Mr. An advised, "My Lord, the Emperor's treatment of you is truly unbearable. You are his own uncle, yet he doesn't even grant you a title of nobility. It's clear that he doesn't consider you his uncle."
The emperor's uncle was usually given a title such as "Cheng'en Gong" or "Feng'en Gong," which was not hereditary. For a noble title like the Marquis of Qingyuan, the second-born son would be given an additional title of "Meng'en." This was a customary practice throughout the dynasties.
The alcohol intoxicated Marquis Qingyuan, making him even more resentful. He spoke without restraint, "Ever since he ascended the throne, he's left me alone. He didn't even consider that his mother's last name is Rong! Just because I have no dignity, does that mean he has any dignity?"
"No conscience..."
"My Lord!" Someone in his group, who was afraid of death, interrupted him loudly before he could finish his words.
Marquis Qingyuan was mumbling something incoherently, and no one knew what he was saying.
Gu Zhizhuo sneered repeatedly.
"Master, that's not a good thing. You don't have to show mercy for the sake of the young master."
At that time, the young master's parents had just died, and he was isolated and helpless in the capital.
This so-called uncle was the first to come.
The young master said that he originally thought that the Marquis of Qingyuan came to offer condolences, but who would have thought that his purpose in coming was to persuade the young master to commit suicide. He even put it in a nice way, saying that it was to appease the late emperor and asked the young master not to worry about his own life and death and to be filial.
In the final analysis, they were just afraid of bringing trouble to their Qingyuan Marquis Mansion.
In her previous life, after the young master brought her back to the capital, during the most difficult period, the Qingyuan Marquis's Mansion not only did not lend a hand, but also avoided the young master like the plague. Even if they met face to face, they pretended not to know him.
The same is true in this life.
When the young master just came back, they cut ties with him.
Later, when Xie Rong fell ill and the young master came to power, the Rong family came over again.
The Rong family feared death and being implicated, which was natural, so they stayed away. Gu Zhizhuo was angry because they shouldn't have pushed the young master when he was most trapped and helpless, and they almost put the white silk silk they had used to commit suicide around his neck.
"I am the emperor's uncle, how can I not side with him?!" Qingyuan Hou shouted, "The Rong family and he are blood relatives."
He drunkenly said, "To serve the emperor's needs is the duty of a minister. I am not like that Duke of Wei, who only knows how to flatter."
Mr. An said hurriedly: "You are right."
His breathing paused slightly, but Qingyuan Hou did not notice.
"My Lord, this is a good idea. The Emperor will surely appreciate your good intentions. My Lord, I offer you a toast."
"Of course."
After downing a glass of wine, the Marquis of Qingyuan said triumphantly, "My nephew prides himself on being righteous and righteous, as if he wants to be a benevolent ruler like his father. What he fears most is that others will accuse him of abandoning his father, like the deposed emperor. As his uncle, I certainly can't sit idly by and watch. Hiccup."
Gu Zhizhuo chuckled and pointed at Chen Xu: "Soft persimmon?"
Shen Xu glanced at her sideways: "Hehe."
She shook her head: "Not like that."
The person next door slammed the table.
Marquis Qingyuan rambled on, his voice filled with resentment: "Chen Xu controls the government, forms cliques for personal gain, and is a treacherous official in power. How can I serve in the same court with such a villain? The Rong family has been loyal and brave for generations... Loyal, loyal and brave!"
"My Lord, my Lord." Mr. An's voice was shaking violently.
"Who can sit in that position to accommodate him..."
Chen Xu held the wine cup, taking small sips, his eyelids drooping, hiding the emotions in his eyes.
Gu Zhizhuo slapped the Eight Immortals Table.
Some people are like this, they like to use their own thoughts to speculate about others.
Chen Xu has never been in opposition to the Young Master, so why does the Young Master have to suppress him?
Even if they didn't understand this relationship, the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were in charge of Daqi's spies. They wouldn't easily entrust them with such an important task unless they were trustworthy.
"Young Master is right." Gu Zhizhuo sneered, "There are always people in the court who love to guess the emperor's intentions."
opinionated!
Marquis Qingyuan severed ties with the young master early on and they parted ways.
Of course, the young master would not show any leniency to them just because of blood relationship, nor would he deprive them of their titles and imprison them for personal revenge.
After being left idle for more than two years, Marquis Qingyuan began to feel unwilling to give up. Perhaps it was because there were more and more memorials impeaching Shen Xu in the past six months. He thought he had figured out the emperor's intentions and wanted to make a contribution.
"I'm so angry." Gu Zhizhuo stood up and said, "Look, I'm going to beat him up."
She said this with a faint smile on her face.
After saying that, she went out without waiting for his response, and Qingmei followed quickly behind.
There were only four private rooms on the third floor, all soundproofed and quiet. But once outside, she could hear the singing and cheering in the hall, a bustling scene. She glanced around, determined that the Marquis of Qingyuan was in the private room on the right, and walked straight over.
Bang.
She kicked the door open, and it hit the wall hard, shaking back and forth.
Qingyuan Hou leaned against the Eight Immortals Table, his eyes blurred with drunkenness: "...his parents are both gone, and there's no one to talk to. As his uncle, I have to worry about him more..."
His voice stopped abruptly and he looked up.
Two red lanterns hung at the entrance to the elegant room. The dim candlelight fell on Gu Zhizhuo's face, casting a mottled shadow. For a moment, Qingyuan Hou didn't recognize who he was. Seeing that the other person was wearing a skirt, he said impatiently, "If this marquis wanted to hear music, I would call you."
"go out."
He suddenly grabbed the wine cup on the table and threw it over. He was drunk and his arms were weak, so the cup didn't fly far before it fell to the ground with a crisp sound and the wine splashed everywhere.
"How boring! A nice place like Yanzhilou, but all I can do is listen to music! Why would I come to your Yanzhilou if I only wanted to listen to music?"
Gu Zhizhuo walked in quickly, went straight to the drunk Qingyuan Hou, and grabbed his collar.
She could now easily draw a stone bow, and with her arm strength, she could easily lift a drunken Qingyuan Marquis.
Without saying a word, she swung her fist, hitting Qingyuan Hou's face so hard that it tilted to the side and caused blood to flow from his nose.
Then he threw him to the ground with two more punches. Qingyuan Hou uttered a muffled sound in pain: "You, you..."
Sheng Jiang, who hurriedly followed, was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped.
This... He thought Miss Gu was just talking casually, but she actually hit him! Pah, he was led astray. What Miss Gu? She's the Empress!
There was silence in the private room for a moment.
The chief attendant rushed over in a hurry to support his master. The Marquis of Qingping was beaten black and blue, and the smell of alcohol had dissipated a little.
The attendant fiercely questioned, "How dare you, do you know who our master is?"
Gu Zhizhuo picked up the wine pot on the Eight Immortals Table, raised his hand, and poured it towards Qingping Hou.
The cold wine poured down, covering Qingping Hou's head and face.
Qingping Hou shuddered, his drunkenness instantly dissipating by 80%. He whimpered in pain and frantically wiped the wine from his face, his hair sticking wetly to his forehead. He squinted his eyes and finally saw the person standing in front of him clearly.
The next moment, he exclaimed: "That jealous woman surnamed Gu..."
Gu Zhizhuo: "Hmm?"
Qing Pingyuan sucked in a breath of cold air, and the unfinished words rolled between his teeth: "Empress."
Queen?
Jiang Xuezi recognized her. After all, it wasn't common to find someone so gullible as to carry around ten thousand taels of silver. Jiang Xuezi was still thinking about getting the balance after the exam, so of course he remembered it well.
His voice was trembling: "Empress... Her Majesty?"
If she is the queen, then the one with her, could it be...
Jiang Xuezi's heart suddenly turned cold.
He stepped back cautiously, hoping to take the opportunity to escape.
Before he could even reach the door, he was kicked back. Sheng Jiang retracted his leg and stepped aside respectfully.
Chen Xu walked in and saw Gu Zhizhuo kicking Qingyuan Hou in frustration.
There were no other guests on the third floor.
Sheng Jiang closed the door and brought in two chairs - the chairs were moved from the private room where they had just sat, and he wiped them again and again with a piece of silk.
"What do you want to do?"
Marquis Qingyuan stared at Gu Zhizhuo in disbelief, almost unable to believe his eyes.
Why, why is she here?!
He first looked at Gu Zhizhuo, then at Chen Xu who was sitting upright in the chair.
Why are the two of them standing together?
The alcohol slowed down his brain and he began to try hard to recall whether he had said anything wrong.
In fact, this Queen Gu was his nephew's wife and should have been the closest to the Rong family. However, his wife had handed over a card several times, wanting to take her daughter to ask for an audience, but this man never took the card.
Apart from the New Year's celebration, she has never even made a private announcement.
No matter how confused Qingyuan Hou was, he would not think that she was close to his family.
Seeing she had come with ill intentions, the Marquis of Qingyuan took the initiative, stiffening his neck and demanding, "Empress, how could you come to such a place of entertainment? You are so ignorant of etiquette that I will impeach you."
Gu Zhizhuo stepped on him and interrupted him: "Where did the test questions come from?"
The Marquis of Qingping was now a mere noble, living off his ancestral inheritance. It was impossible for him to have access to the test questions from the Imperial Examination. In other words, he had obtained these questions from somewhere else.
"you……"
He wanted to say, "How did you know that?", but then quickly shut up.
Did I mention the exam questions just now? Not sure, let me think about it.
His mind was a mess: "Mr. An..." He looked at Mr. An and asked him with his eyes what he had just said.
Mr. An lowered his head, his legs shaking like sieves, and he fell to his knees.
The private rooms were filled with people kneeling on the floor.
The East Depot was known for its efficiency. Upon discovering the incident's connection to the Marquis of Qingyuan, Wu Shang immediately apprehended Mr. An, the Marquis's aide, and interrogated him thoroughly. He then instructed Mr. An to summon the Marquis and extract his personal confession. Of course, if the Marquis of Qingyuan hadn't been Xie Yingchen's biological uncle, and Shen Xu hadn't harbored doubts, the East Depot wouldn't have resorted to such circuitous tactics.
Gu Zhizhuo: "Don't tell?"
He shouted in a stern voice, "Empress, I am the Emperor's uncle. You treat me like this, aren't you afraid of the Emperor's blame?"
The next moment, Gu Zhizhuo put down his foot.
Qingyuan Hou breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he had frightened him with his words and was still trying to act like an uncle. Then he saw Gu Zhizhuo turn around and say, "Superintendent, it's yours. If necessary, investigate, interrogate, and confiscate the property..."
She chuckled and continued, "He should be beaten to death."
Gu Zhizhuo brushed his sleeves and said as a matter of course, "The Governor is in charge of the capital and has the responsibility to supervise all officials. Cheating in the imperial examinations and framing others is a crime punishable by death."
Every word he heard made Qingyuan Hou's scalp tingle. He shouted in exasperation, "The hen crows at dawn, and the evil queen is in power. This is not the behavior of a wise ruler."
Gu Zhizhuo smiled lightly and sat back in his chair.
She rested her elbows on the armrest, supported her chin with one hand, and said with a smile, "Go on."
"You want to recruit now."
"Let's go to the Imperial Prison of the East Factory and recruit again."
"However, Marquis Qingyuan, you framed the Eastern Depot. When you enter this imperial prison, will you lose an arm, a leg, or even your tongue?"
Chen Xu leaned on the armchair with a faint smile on his lips, his peach blossom eyes a little blurry under the candlelight of the lantern.
The Eastern Depot's punishment was appalling. The Marquis of Qingyuan was terrified and screamed, "Your Majesty, Chen'er! Chen'er!"
He stumbled to his feet and rushed towards the door.
"beat."
Gu Zhizhuo spoke coldly.
Sheng Jiang raised the hilt of the sword, used it as a stick, and hit him on the back with a "bang".
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