After seeing Gu Yaoniang off, Gu Xingzhi left mysteriously.
Ta Yu circled around the city a few times before stopping at the back gate of the Wang family's residence.
Gu Xingzhi stepped down from the jade platform and, without asking anyone else, knocked on the door knocker. The doorman was somewhat surprised to see him, but did not ask any questions and led him straight inside.
Wang Chengxian, dressed in official robes, sat upright in the hall. Upon seeing Gu Xingzhi arrive, he merely smiled faintly and said, "You've come?"
Just like old friends, today's meeting is just one of many ordinary meetings between the two.
Gu Xingzhi smiled, but his heart was filled with complex emotions.
They hadn't seen each other for twenty years.
Wang Chengxian, also known as Wang Sheng, has been away from Qingyun County for twenty-three years.
Wang Chengxian dusted off non-existent dust from his official robe, smoothed out unseen wrinkles, looked at Gu Xingzhi with a gaze that seemed to pass through him, and said with a wistful tone, "Look, we've all become old men."
Gu Xingzhi said expressionlessly, "You're old, I'm still young."
Wang Chengxian was taken aback by these words, and sighed, feeling a sense of familiarity that seemed like a distant memory. Back in the Gu family, they had spoken in the same way.
So many years have passed in the blink of an eye.
He looked at Gu Xingzhi in front of him with a mixture of relief and melancholy.
Gu Xingzhi felt somewhat uncomfortable under his gaze, but his heart was filled with anxiety. Wang Chengxian had wronged Gu Huiniang, which he resented and despised, hence the long-standing estrangement. But this time, he had come to ask for a favor.
He felt a little disgusted with himself—if he didn't want to greet people with a smile, why did he have to come here in the first place?
Wang Chengxian seemed to see through his thoughts: "Is it about the flying silver?"
Gu Xing nodded subconsciously. But as soon as he moved, he snapped back to reality. Now that the issue was out in the open, he no longer hesitated. In such an important matter, hesitation was the most useless emotion.
"The Gu family contributed a lot to the promotion of Flying Silver. Now that things have gone wrong, the Gu family will definitely be implicated. I want to ask you for help..."
Before Gu Xingzhi could finish speaking, Wang Chengxian waved his hand. Upon seeing this gesture, Gu Xingzhi's expression suddenly turned somewhat unpleasant.
Wang Chengxian pretended not to see him: "Between you and me, why is there any need to use the word 'ask'? Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you."
A warm feeling welled up in Gu Xingzhi's eyes, but he shook his head: "I'm not doing this for myself, but for my two children. If the Gu family is destined to be involved, I would like to ask you to protect my two children."
He'd met both children. They were both very intelligent.
He agreed: "I'll try my best."
Then he chuckled softly: "Do you think Brother Gu would be unhappy if he knew you came to me for his child?"
Gu Xingzhi, however, did not laugh.
-
An envoy arrived from the palace, summoning Wang Chengxian. Wang Chengxian had made preparations early on, and upon hearing the news, he said to Gu Xingzhi, "You may return. I know everything."
He seemed somewhat excited; his eyes were a little red, yet exceptionally bright.
Gu Xingzhi agreed and left the Wang family through the back door as before.
-
Princess Ruining walked to the outside of Mingde Hall, and before she even got close, she heard Emperor Zhenlong's furious voice.
She sighed inwardly. Her father's temper had become increasingly volatile lately, and he could only control his emotions slightly when she was around.
She stepped forward, but heard Zhao Yang crying and pleading inside the hall, "Father! It wasn't me! I don't know! It was my sister, Father! It was my sister who wanted to submit a memorial to you at first. It was I who thought that flying silver was a good thing for the country and the people, and that you would surely be pleased, so I intercepted her and submitted the memorial before her. Is it because of this that my sister harbors resentment towards me and deliberately stirred up trouble?"
My sister has always been close to my cousin and that person from the Gu family, and she knows more about commercial drafts than I do. She knows best how things could go wrong! Father! I know nothing!
Princess Ruining stopped abruptly, her eyes filled with disbelief.
She suspected that Zhao Yang had done it on purpose, reporting to his father before she could sort things out, thus securing the lucrative position of supervising the production of silver.
He never expected that now that something had happened, his younger brother would so readily pin the baseless suspicions on him, even going so far as to admit to his previous scheming and plotting.
Is this his younger brother?
A wave of sorrow washed over her.
Those standing outside the hall also heard Prince Qing's cries and pleas, and their expressions varied, but they tried their best to suppress their emotions.
Suddenly, there was silence inside the hall.
Princess Ruining waited a few moments, and seeing no further movement, she ordered a palace servant to report.
Prince Qing looked somewhat embarrassed as Princess Ruining entered. After all, he had been attacked from behind, so he was understandably uncomfortable.
-
Not long after, news from the palace spread.
Prince Qing failed to supervise the matter effectively, and Princess Ruining failed to admonish them in time; as a result, both of them were confined to their residences.
The news that the Gu family received was brought back by Qiao Niang. News travels fast in Wu Fan Pavilion, and as soon as she received the news, she returned to the Gu family.
But he had just returned to the Gu family home and hadn't even sat down for a cup of tea when the officials arrived.
Before the Gu family could react, all of them except for Gu Pingsheng, who had already achieved academic success, were imprisoned.
Although Gu Pingsheng was not imprisoned, the front and back gates of the Gu family were guarded day and night, so even if he wanted to move around, he could not.
Although the Emperor had not explicitly charged the Gu family with any crime, he knew that Gu Yaoniang had a close relationship with Princess Ruining, so the jailers were relatively polite to the Gu family members. Gu Yaoniang was filled with anxiety. She was locked up with Qiaoniang and several maids. Although they did not intentionally make things difficult for her, the prison cell was dark all day long, and the air was filled with a musty, damp smell.
Gu Yaoniang was very clean, but nowadays, where could she find such a place? She accidentally bumped into the wall, and felt a slippery sensation on the surface, which gave her goosebumps.
She stopped moving and simply sat down on the straw.
"I wonder how things are going with my second uncle."
Men and women were separated in the prison, and Gu Xingzhi was not with them. Qiao Niang was also worried, but she knew more than Gu Yao Niang, so she appeared calmer at this moment.
She comforted him, saying, "Since we haven't been troubled here, I suppose Second Master will be fine too."
Gu Yaoniang nodded. At this point, that was the only way to think about it.
I wonder what's going on with the Lu family now, whether they've been imprisoned like the Gu family. But the Lu family is, after all, the Empress's maternal family, and thus considered imperial relatives, so their situation should be better than the Gu family's.
The entire city of Shuojing seemed to be on the verge of a storm.
The next day, just as Gu Yaoniang and Qiaoniang had predicted, Gu Yaoniang received a summons from the palace.
Gu Yaoniang entered the palace alone, feeling somewhat uneasy. She met Emperor Zhenlong in Yong'an Hall.
Emperor Zhenlong looked at the woman kneeling before him without uttering a sound, simply observing her silently. Gu Yaoniang knelt quietly on the ground, offering no words of pleading.
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