Fang Yue and Wanniang arrived in Nanchu months before Zhou Gu, soon after Su Rong entered the royal capital Daliang. They had long familiarized themselves with the power structure of the Nangong Family in Nanchu.
As soon as Zhou Gu and Zhang Yun set foot in Daliang and started to dismantle the Nangong family’s secret agents, Fang Yue and Wanniang discovered their actions. But they didn’t dare to rashly interfere, fearing it could disrupt Zhou Gu’s plans, so they just silently observed the changes.
This silent observation turned out to be a mistake. When they decided they could no longer just watch passively, they couldn’t find Zhou Gu anymore.
During the most difficult time, Zhou Gu only activated the Crown Prince’s secret agents located throughout Nanchu. He didn’t even think about Su Rong’s people, and moreover, he didn’t know how to contact them.
When he left the border of Daliang, he didn’t wait to meet Su Rong again, but left directly.
Before that, during the time Zhou Gu and Su Rong spent together while Zhou Gu was recovering from his injuries, both of them never mentioned their plans to deal with the Nangong family in Nanchu. The decision to eliminate the Nangong family’s secret agents was something Zhou Gu and Zhang Yun agreed upon later.
In Su Rong’s mind, helping Zhou Gu get control over the Crown Prince’s secret agents in Nanchu would ensure Zhou Gu’s safety. What Su Rong hadn’t accounted for was Nangong Zheng, a young, low-profile, but extremely deadly member of the Nangong family.
Zhou Gu was aware that Xie Yuan had come to Nanchu with his men, but he didn’t know where they were. As for what Xie Yuan was doing and why there was no news about him after such a long time, Zhou Gu was completely clueless.
One day, Zhou Gu ran into Fang Yue. Although he didn’t like Fang Yue and was reminded of the embarrassing incident at the Fengyue Building every time he saw him, Zhou Gu knew it wasn’t the time to settle the score. He asked Fang Yue, "Where is Master Xie? What is he doing?"
Due to Zhou Gu’s future secure position as the Prince Consort, Fang Yue was extremely respectful towards him. He wouldn’t dare to cause trouble or be disrespectful, lest Zhou Gu mention it to the princess, resulting in more troubles for him. Moreover, Zhou Gu was formidable in his own right, and Fang Yue certainly didn’t want to end up at the receiving end of his double-handed sword.
Previously, when Fang Yue dared to make trouble, it was because the princess wanted to test Zhou Gu. If Fang Yue had known Zhou Gu was so capable, he would have treated Zhou Gu like Wanniang and Yunniang, with great respect and caution.
After greeting Zhou Gu, Fang Yue wiped the blood stains on his sleeve and said, "Master Xie has taken his men to the royal capital to kill Nangong Yin."
"What?" Zhou Gu was shocked.
Zhang Yun was also shocked.
The Nanchu King was equally shocked, "You’re referring to... Xie Yuan?"
Xie Yuan, who raised Su Rong on behalf of Aunt Zhenmin, Xie Yuan, who used to be his romantic rival, Xie Yuan, who had been in Nanchu so quietly that even Zhou Gu didn’t know what he was up to, was that the same Xie Yuan?
"Yes, it’s Xie Yuan, Master Xie." Fang Yue confirmed.
The King of Nanchu fell silent, "Can he fight?"
Fang Yue chuckled, "Master Xie, although he was the number one scholar in Daliang, he has been practicing martial arts since he was a child. But because his literary achievements are so brilliant and he has never showed his martial skills in public, no one knows that he is also skilled in martial arts."
Nanchu King: "..."
After all these years, he realized he still knew too little about his old romantic rival.
So, the man was both a scholar and a warrior.
That’s probably why even after faking her death, Zhenmin didn’t dare to find him but chose to live in seclusion in Jiangning County with Xie Yuan, and even on her death bed, she didn’t ask Xie Yuan to send their child to be raised by him.
The King of Nanchu felt a sense of melancholy. He was also skilled in martial arts. But because his skills were mediocre and he had neglected them for many years, he couldn’t pick them up again.
"Uncle Xie’s actions coincide with my intentions," Zhou Gu suddenly laughed. "When I was thousands of miles away, Brother Zhang Yun and I were lamenting. After we had mobilized all the forces of the Nangong family, bringing even Nangong Zheng out of the royal capital, we thought that there would be no one left around Nangong Yin. It should have been the best time to kill him, but unfortunately, we couldn’t."
Fang Yue said, "After arriving in Nanchu, Master Xie has been lying in wait for the right opportunity."
Zhou Gu spoke, "If Nangong Yin dies, the Nangong family will instantly become leaderless."
Zhang Yun reminded him, "Don’t forget about Nangong Zheng."
"Oh, right, there’s also that wretched kid," Zhou Gu replied. "Even though he’s powerful, he’s still young. The death of Nangong Yin will definitely hit him hard, and the morale of the Nangong family will decrease greatly as a result. That will be our chance for a counterattack."
Zhang Yun nodded in agreement. This was encouraging news and he felt that Xie Yuan was really impressive.
When Zhou Gu noticed that the Nanchu King had not spoken for a while, he turned his head and clapped him on the shoulder, "Father-in-law, you shouldn’t compare yourself to others. Don’t let it get you down. You have your strengths. Aunt Zhenmin thought of you fondly before she passed away."
The Nanchu King looked at him and asked, "How do you know?"
"Because if Aunt Zhenmin hadn’t fallen in love with you later, how could she have remained chaste for you? Why wouldn’t she and Uncle Xie have gotten together? Uncle Xie wouldn’t tolerate his beloved woman giving birth to another man’s child if he weren’t generous-hearted," Zhou Gu explained.
The Nanchu King felt a sense of peace in his heart. He had long appreciated Zhou Gu, and now felt even more fondness for him. He smiled and said, "That makes sense."
Indeed, he hadn’t realized that Zhenmin would come to love him. At that time, for his sake, she didn’t even want to go to Dawei for an arranged marriage and initially refused to do so. If the Emperor of Daliang hadn’t leveraged their childhood bond to beg her to go, she would never have agreed. She wanted to spend her life with him.
He remembered that in his youth, he had been full of determination. For her sake, he provided all of his power and the entire Nanchu to aid Daliang.
He also remembered how she had cried in his arms after deciding to go to Dawei for an arranged marriage. She begged him to let go, assured him that until death, she would still be his wife. Even though their marriage had been annulled in name, in reality, it hadn’t. She never asked for their marriage certificate back. After many years, even though the certificate had turned yellow, he still kept it in his private collection.
He had wanted to take it out when he left but was afraid of damaging, losing, or soiling it. If that happened, he wouldn’t be able to keep it anymore. So he left it in a secret passage, known only to himself.
Had he known then that Zhou Gu had also kept his marriage certificate in a condition as good as new, without any damage, deterioration or dirt, he would have taken his own out as well. At least now, when Zhou Gu was showing off, he could have thrown his own certificate in Zhou Gu’s face to show that he too possessed Wanniang’s marriage certificate.
After consoling his old father-in-law and filling the holes in his heart, Zhou Gu turned to Fang Yue again and asked, "Have there been any updates on Xiaoqi?"
Fang Yue nodded, "Yes, the Princess has crossed the border into Nanchu with an army of three hundred thousand soldiers."
Zhou Gu was stunned, "Three hundred thousand soldiers?"
"Yes, the Princess has borrowed three hundred thousand soldiers from the emperor and the Crown Prince of Daliang to bring to Nanchu," Fang Yue said. "So, Lord, if we can hold out for another half a month, we should be able to meet up with the Princess."
Zhou Gu was overjoyed, his excitement almost making him leap up. "Three hundred thousand soldiers, hahaha, why didn’t I think of this before? The Nangong family is done for."
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