After leaving Ji's residence, Gu Tingchen gazed at the pitch-black night sky and suddenly gave an order: "Send someone to retrieve the peace delegation immediately, and send them another 800 miles with haste. Instruct the Yuezhou army to pass through Huizhou and march north within three days. If Prince Yongning dares to make any unauthorized moves, Huizhou City will be his grave."
Watching the deputy general leave, Liu Zhang thought about what had just happened in the room and felt something was amiss: "Your Highness, Prime Minister Ji's behavior is quite interesting this time. She actually betrayed her own father."
"What's so surprising about this? Ji Yuan refused to arrange a marriage between that concubine's daughter and Prince Qi, so she must be resentful."
Gu Tingchen shook his head disapprovingly, a proud smile appearing on his face. "Besides, Prince Qi is not a fool. Now that the Queen Mother is in power, he has to be even more humble."
Seeing His Highness underestimate Prince Qi, Liu Zhang suddenly felt anxious: "Your Highness, Prince Qi has always harbored ambitions. I am worried that he will take advantage of this opportunity to rebel."
"He's plotting a rebellion?" Gu Tingchen sneered, "If he had that kind of ability, I'd really have to look up to him."
"Although Prince Qi has no one to rely on right now, I'm afraid there are some restless people around him who might instigate him to make a desperate move."
Liu Zhang said, "Your Highness, think carefully. Since your cousin returned to Lin'an, everything has seemed so unusual. Just as Ji Yunze said, the emperor abdicated without reason, and Prince Yongning suddenly requested permission to go to the northern border to fight the enemy. If there is no conspiracy, I find it hard to believe."
Gu Tingchen frowned unhappily: "What exactly do you want to say?"
"It's not that I want to sow discord between Your Highness and my cousin. I just suspect that something is amiss with my cousin's return to Lin'an this time."
Liu Zhang said suspiciously, "That day on the wall of the Pacification Commissioner's Office, my cousin was so determined, willing to jump off the tower to be with Prince Yongning. Now she is willing to let Prince Yongning go so easily. This is not like my cousin's behavior."
Hearing this, Gu Tingchen was very unhappy: "Of course it's because she cares about me and doesn't want to see me and the Ye family mother and son become enemies, so she chose to come back."
"Even so, Prince Yongning is willing to go to the northern border to fight the enemy for his cousin. We must be on guard against this determination," Liu Zhang reminded.
This sentence directly broke down Gu Tingchen's psychological defenses, and he was stunned.
Tonight at the Duke's Mansion, Wanwan mentioned the matter of leading the army north. If she knew that Fu Mingchi was leading the army north, she would probably admire him even more.
Seeing His Highness lost in thought, Liu Zhang immediately advised, "I do have a plan. Whether Prince Yongning truly entered the northern border or had other motives, I can definitely make him completely give up on my cousin."
Gu Tingchen looked at him fiercely: "Why are you beating around in circles? Hurry up and tell me."
"Whether the emperor gave Prime Minister Ji a secret decree before abdicating is something that will be difficult to ascertain in the short term. Since this has become a hidden danger, it's best to cut it off directly."
Liu Zhang smiled sinisterly and said, "After all, your cousin is your highness's future princess consort. If her heart is not with your highness, how can we be together as husband and wife in the future? If your cousin is allowed to personally enter the palace and kill the emperor, and accept this pledge of allegiance..."
Before he could finish his words, Gu Tingchen interrupted him: "What kind of rotten idea did you come up with? How could you let a girl like Wanwan kill someone?"
"Your Highness, although this plan is a bit sinister, it is the best way to keep my cousin."
Liu Zhang advised earnestly, "If my cousin can kill the emperor, it will prove that they have no connection with the emperor. It will also make the Fu clan and the whole world jealous of my cousin. Then my cousin will have no choice but to rely on Your Highness. Then, Your Highness will still worry that my cousin won't be completely devoted to you?"
Gu Tingchen was quite moved by what he heard.
Ji Yuan has been devoted to the old emperor for so many years. The emperor and his ministers have placed all their hopes on Fu Mingchi. The mother and son in the Yongning Palace seem to be particularly caring for his cousin. If his cousin were to kill the old emperor with her own hands, he would like to see what choice Ji Yuan and Fu Mingchi would make.
"Wanwan, don't blame your cousin for being cruel. I'll let you see with your own eyes that from now on, you're the only one in this world who can tolerate you."
Having made up his mind, Gu Tingchen jumped on his horse and happily returned to the Duke's Mansion.
Early the next morning, Ye Wanshu just woke up from her sleep and saw Gu Tingchen leading the maids in.
He personally took the key and stepped forward to unlock the shackles on Ye Wanshu's hands.
Looking at the red wrists from the shackles, Gu Tingchen said with great distress, "Why didn't you tell your cousin about this?"
After saying this, he angrily ordered the guards at the door, "How can these servants take care of my cousin? Drag them all away and beat them to death."
"Gu Tingchen, what's wrong with you again?" Ye Wanshu was furious at his arrogant attitude. "You treat human life like worthless. Don't you have any reverence in your heart?"
Thinking about it, Gu Tingchen didn't want to quarrel with her at this moment, so he compromised and said, "Since Wanwan doesn't like your cousin killing people, then I will forgive them this time and only let them receive twenty strokes of the cane each."
Then he asked someone to bring some medicine to Chunhong and Xingtao, and swore that he would never trap her in Cuiweitang again.
Although Ye Wanshu guessed that this bastard had no good intentions after his sudden change, but thinking that she would not be trapped in this yard anymore, she still obediently applied the golden wound medicine, washed and changed her clothes, and led the two maids out of the dormitory.
Seeing Gu Tingchen personally setting out the dishes in the dining hall, Ye Wanshu asked coldly, "Where is my aunt's body currently being placed?"
When he heard her mention her stepmother, Gu Tingchen's face was obviously unhappy.
Ye Wanshu frowned and said, "In my heart, my aunt is no different from my biological mother. Since we are getting married, how can you treat her so cruelly?"
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