Princess Qingping, along with Duanhua, went to the palace after hearing that the Emperor was in Xianfei Palace and went directly to find him.
The Emperor was having a meal in Xianfei Palace. Upon being informed that Qingping mother and daughter had entered the palace, he was surprised and chuckled to Xianfei, "I haven’t seen Duanhua make a fuss in front of me for some time. Even Qingping hasn’t come to bother me in the palace because Duanhua has stopped. Why are they here when it’s already late?"
Xianfei smiled back, "Your Majesty might not know this. Duanhua had been following Zhou Gu to Jiangning County and not in Beijing for quite some time. Isn’t she not bothering you anymore? It seems she is back now."
The Emperor paused, "Really? What was Zhou Gu doing in Jiangning County?"
Xianfei answered with a smile, "The Duke Residence has a marriage alliance with the Governor’s residence of Jiangning. Zhou Gu’s fiancée is in Jiangning County. I heard that this year she had her Coming-of-age Ceremony, and Zhou Gu personally went to Jiangning County to congratulate her on her Coming-of-age Ceremony."
The Emperor suddenly realized, "I remember it now. Li Quan had mentioned it once."
He gave an order, "Li Quan, please invite them in!"
Princess Qingping and Duanhua entered Xianfei Palace. After paying respects to the Emperor and Xianfei, Qingping burst into tears, "Imperial Brother, Zhou Gu bullied Duanhua. You have to stand up for her."
Duanhua also cried, "Imperial Uncle..."
The Emperor, who had always doted on his only sister and niece, put down his chopsticks and asked Duanhua with a frown, "Stop crying, your uncle will stand up for you. Tell me, how did Zhou Gu bully you?"
Whenever Duanhua had come to complain to the court, it was always about Zhou Gu ignoring her. But this was the first time she cried uncontrollably.
Duanhua tearfully told them about how she heard Zhou Gu and Xie Lin had gone to Jiangning and she also wanted to visit there, but on the way she was stopped by Zhou Gu’s men, who forcefully didn’t allow her to go to Jiangning and eventually forced her to return to Beijing.
She didn’t vilify Zhou Gu, neither did she exaggerate, she just stated the facts. After all, she knew that slandering would be of no use, as many people had witnessed it, and there was also the witness, Xie Lin.
After hearing her, the Emperor looked at Duanhua’s wrist, his brows tightened, showing a bit of anger, "That Zhou Gu, how could he allow people to tie you up?"
Xianfei, feeling empathetic, said, "Yes, indeed. A girl should be cherished. How can she be tied up with a rope? Look at her delicate skin, it has been bruised, and it hasn’t faded even after several days. Zhou Gu is not cherishing her at all."
Qingping cried, "Imperial Brother, Jiangning County isn’t Zhou Gu’s territory. Why is it that Zhou Gu can go there, Xie Lin can go there, but Duanhua can’t?"
Duanhua nodded and cried too, "Imperial Uncle, I just wanted to have some fun."
On the carriage ride over, the mother and daughter had already discussed that they must not mention that Duanhua had gone to Jiangning County to cause trouble for Zhou Gu’s little fiancée. Otherwise, she would have no grounds, even if she was in the right.
Upon hearing ’Jiangning County is not Zhou Gu’s territory," the Emperor’s face changed, but he asked Duanhua anyway, "Did you really go there for fun?"
The Emperor, despite having a lot of power, was not confused. He also suspected whether Duanhua had gone there for fun, or was following Zhou Gu.
Duanhua kept on crying, looking miserable and pitiful, "Imperial Uncle, I really just wanted to have some fun. I heard that Jiangning is a fun place..."
She paused for a moment, afraid that the Emperor might not believe her. She continued crying, "Zhou Gu was afraid that I would bully his fiancée and wouldn’t let me go. But I didn’t want to bully his fiancée. I just wanted to have fun and take a look at his fiancée. Is that wrong too? Wuu wuu wuu..."
Qingping, crying next to her, said, "Imperial Brother, even if Duanhua had some intentions, she didn’t act on them, right? Why did Zhou Gu restrict Duanhua’s freedom? Why did he confine her from going to Jiangning County? What is his commoner fiancée trying to hide? Why can’t she be seen by others?"
The Emperor nodded in response to this, "Hmm, Qingping does make a good point. Zhou Gu indeed went too far."
He asked, "Has Zhou Gu returned yet?"
"He has returned!" Duanhua continued crying.
The Empress ordered, "Li Quan, send someone to the Duke Residence to bring Zhou Gu to me. I want to ask him why he could go to Jiangning County, and Duanhua could not."
Li Quan agreed and immediately sent someone.
Zhou Gu was still out for a stroll when Chen Bo came to inform him that the Emperor had summoned him to the palace. Instantly, he knew he couldn’t evade it today. He asked, "Is it about Duanhua?"
Chen Bo confirmed it was, and sighed, "The old servant asked, Princess Qingping brought Duanhua Princess into the palace to file a complaint. The mother and daughter are crying in front of His Majesty right now."
Zhou Gu felt a wave of irritation in his heart. When the Emperor summoned him, he knew he couldn’t refuse. He could only return to his room to change his clothes quickly, tidying himself up before heading out.
As he reached the gate of the Duke Residence, Sheng An, the eldest princess, walked out from the inner courtyard with assistance. She said to Zhou Gu, "Grandmother will accompany you to the palace."
Zhou Gu felt a pang of guilt, "It’s late, I’m sorry for troubling you, Grandmother."
The sky was already dark, he felt guilty for bothering his grandmother at such an hour, but if he didn’t stop Duanhua, that lunatic, who knew what she might do. Though considering Su Rong’s temperament, even if Duanhua reached Jiangning County, Su Rong might not necessarily be at a disadvantage. However, considering Duanhua’s status, even if she wasn’t slighted in Jiangning County, if Duanhua returned to the capital to lodge a complaint, like she was doing now, Su Rong would indeed be at a disadvantage.
No matter what, there would be some loss. He would rather bear that loss himself.
Sheng An, the eldest princess, patted Zhou Gu’s arm, "That girl Qingping is unruly and unreasoning. She gave birth to a daughter, and raised her to be just as shrewish. You did nothing wrong. Keep your back straight, don’t feel you are in debt. Grandmother will support you."
Zhou Gu nodded.
The two of them, grandmother and grandson, got into the carriage and went to the palace together.
Upon hearing that the Emperor was in Xianfei Palace, Zhou Gu hesitated. Xianfei’s son, the Crown Prince, had married a girl from the Marquis Nanping Residence to be his Crown Princess. The Crown Prince was trying to win over Jiangzhou Inspector Jiang Sheng through the marriage alliance with Marquis Nanping. But not long ago, Zhou Gu had heard about it and reported it to the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince had acted decisively and had Jiang Sheng executed, cutting off the Crown Prince’s plot.
If it were not for Su Rong, he would not have met Ning Chi, the son of Marquis Nanping Residence. Thus, he wouldn’t have found out about the Crown Prince trying to win over Jiang Sheng and wouldn’t have reported it to the Crown Prince, which in turn led to Jiang Sheng’s downfall. The Crown Prince made the move so swiftly that the Crown Prince was taken by surprise and couldn’t save Jiang Sheng in time. Yet afterwards, the Crown Prince must have figured out that the reason Jiang Sheng was targeted by the Crown Prince was because he had severed his allegiance toward the Crown Prince. As his trip to Jiangning County wasn’t a secret, the Crown Prince would have suspected his involvement in all of this.
Having suffered such a big loss, Xianfei must hate him to the core right now.
Zhou Gu leaned into Sheng An, the eldest princess, and whispered, "Grandmother, I have offended the Crown Prince, which indirectly means I have offended Xianfei the Empress."
Sheng An, the eldest princess, paused for a moment and turned to look at Zhou Gu.
Zhou Gu whispered, "The former Jiangzhou Inspector, Jiang Sheng, wanted to rely on the Marquis Nanping Residence through marriage to join the Crown Prince’s camp."
With just one simple sentence, Sheng An, the eldest princess, understood, nodding, "Grandmother gets it."
Since they were in Xianfei Palace, it seemed unlikely that things would end well today. Xianfei would definitely add fuel to the fire.
However, Sheng An, the eldest princess, was not scared. The squabble among the youngsters wouldn’t escalate to a state of serious concern. She maintained her composure, allowing the person in the front to guide her into Xianfei Palace.
Princess Qingping and Duanhua were no longer crying. After all, having cried for so long, both of them were exhausted. They were waiting for Zhou Gu to arrive. Qingping was extremely annoyed, determined to make Zhou Gu suffer a bit. Her daughter’s affection for Zhou Gu was supposed to be his blessing. How dare he look down on her and instead, fawn over some low born girl? While Duanhua was angry at Zhou Gu, at the moment, all she wanted was to get her revenge by beheading Ziye and torturing Su Rong whenever she got the chance.
The Emperor wanted to strike at the Duke Residence using Zhou Gu, and Xianfei was also scheming, figuring out how to take advantage of the situation, adding fuel to the fire in order to remove Zhou Gu from the Crown Prince’s camp.
Almost everyone in Xianfei Palace had their own agendas. When they heard that Sheng An, the eldest princess, had also arrived, the Emperor and Xianfei both visibly tensed up. There was a brief stiffening on Princess Qingping’s face, and Duanhua instinctively pouted, realizing her chance of getting justice today was slim. Afterall, everyone knew how much Sheng An, the eldest princess, doted on Zhou Gu.
After Sheng An, the eldest princess entered, she paid her respects to the Emperor.
The Emperor quickly stood up, "Auntie, spare the formalities. How come you are here? I only summoned Zhou Gu to see me. How did I disturb you?"
Sheng An, the eldest princess smiled, "I haven’t seen you for a few days, I’ve been missing you. I decided to accompany Gu in seeing you."
"Auntie, please have a seat." The Emperor personally helped Sheng An, the eldest princess sit down, then took a seat next to her.
After exchanging a few casual words with the Emperor, Sheng An, the eldest princess turned her attention to Xianfei. She smiled and said, "A few days ago, the Old Mrs at the Duke’s Residence had her birthday celebration. During the event, I met the Duchess from the Duke’s Residence. Both her son and daughter are extremely delightful. She told me she has been missing Your Highness but didn’t get a chance to visit the palace because of her son’s hurried trip back to the capital. She was at ease upon learning that Your Highness is doing well. I was thinking, you and she were of similar age, but you appear more radiant and youthful. The Duchess, being busy managing the household and taking care of her children, seems to be less radiant in comparison."
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