Chapter 83 It's nice to see I'm still alive, aren't you disappointed? ...
With the arranged marriage cancelled, Hongzheng Pavilion temporarily became her residence.
Song Ai and the other palace maids were thus placed under her command. They no longer needed to learn those tedious formalities, and even the lessons arranged by Chen Qing were suspended by the palace.
For a time, the entire Hongzheng Pavilion became relaxed, and she was finally able to stay in bed a little longer in the morning, no longer having to get up early as she used to.
As for the Imperial Horse Stables, most of its personnel have already withdrawn, leaving only a small number of people behind to serve as guards.
Yu Nie leaned against the couch, munching on melons and fruits, while Sui En bowed and reported the movements of the Imperial Stables to her.
After listening, she took a bite of the crisp pear in her hand and asked casually, "Where is Gu Xiangzhi? He must have left on horseback by now, right?"
Sui En said, "Junior Supervisor Gu was unwell this morning and is currently resting in the wing room in the front courtyard."
Upon hearing that Gu Xiangzhi had suddenly fallen ill, she stopped what she was doing and asked in surprise, "How could he suddenly be sick?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly remembered how he had jumped into the water to save her yesterday. Her heart stirred slightly, and she hurriedly asked, "Is it related to being in the river yesterday? Have the people from the Imperial Medical Bureau come to check on you?"
Sui En bowed and replied, "I have already consulted the imperial physician, but I do not know the specifics. Mei Nian, the personal attendant of Supervisor Gu, only said that he had caught a bit of a cough."
Thinking that he had contracted the disease because he saved her, Yu Nie sat up straight, thought for a moment, and instructed, "Sui En, go to the kitchen and tell them to stew some nourishing soup and send it to Prime Minister Gu's bedroom as soon as it's ready."
After saying that, she put the half-eaten fruit on the plate, stood up and looked at Song Ai and Cuiwei beside her. Her gaze finally fell on Song Ai: "Song Juling, come with me to the front and see how Gu Xiangzhi is doing."
Song Ai bowed and agreed.
Cuiwei still had seeds to deal with. She had to personally supervise the others as they carefully loaded the seeds onto the truck.
To avoid suspicion, extra seeds of other varieties were prepared within the area, with the intention of sending them to the temple together.
As a state temple, Yongxing Temple has its own garden. She used the excuse that she had an ominous dream the night before and wanted to cultivate good karma and accumulate merit to donate these seeds to the temple.
Given her status as a princess, she had to have a reasonable explanation for everything she did. If she were to send seeds rashly, it would inevitably arouse suspicion. So she could only make such careful arrangements.
After settling them in, she led Song Ai and two palace maids toward the front wing.
There were guards outside the room. Song Ai stepped forward and explained her purpose to the guards at the door. The guards responded and went inside to report.
After a while, Mei Nian came out with the guards.
Mei Nian was also a eunuch, not from the White Guard. He was about the same age as Sui En, probably in his early twenties.
Mei Nian approached her, bowed, and gave a curtsy: "Princess Shunhe, the eunuch has instructed that only you are allowed to enter to visit. Song Juling and the others, please wait outside."
Upon hearing the news, she exchanged a glance with Song Ai beside her.
Given Gu Xiangzhi's actions that night, Song Ai shook her head, signaling her not to go in.
Yu Nie glanced back at the closed door before turning her gaze back to Song Ai.
She had clearly made up her mind: "Juling, you wait here. I'll be right back."
As soon as she finished speaking, she raised her hand, pushed open the heavy wooden door in front of her, stepped over the threshold, and walked in, lifting her skirt.
After she went in, Mei Nian did not follow her in, but stayed outside with Song Ai and the others.
The room was not spacious. The outline of a daybed could be vaguely seen on the left, while bookshelves stood on the right. In the middle was a long table with four screens painted with landscapes behind it. The overall furnishings of the house were simple, yet exuded a sense of elegance.
"cough……"
A soft cough came from the direction of the bed. Yu Nie looked in the direction of the sound and saw the hanging curtains being lifted by a hand with distinct knuckles.
Gu Xiangzhi, dressed in a moon-white inner robe and with a plain outer robe draped over his shoulders, came out.
His black hair was unbound, cascading down like spilled ink, making his originally gloomy appearance appear somewhat sickly pale. There were faint dark circles under his eyes, but his eyebrows remained as sharp as ink paintings. Even with this sickly air, he still looked handsome.
With such a handsome face and deep waist, if we were to move forward a few thousand years, he would definitely be a darling of the screen.
So engrossed in looking at her face, she momentarily forgot about the important matter and realized that she had been somewhat out of line.
She looked away guiltily for a moment, then looked at him again and explained her purpose: "I heard you were sick, so I came to see you."
Because they were a little far apart, she didn't see the thin layer of sweat on his forehead when his old ailment flared up.
"Are you disappointed to see I'm still alive?" He coughed again, glanced at her, and walked behind the desk.
She was furious, thinking to herself that this person was underestimating her.
She didn't expose him, but instead went along with his words: "Yes, yes... You shot me in Jingyuan, and I still haven't settled that score with you. I'm really disappointed to see that you're still alive."
Upon hearing this, the person who had just sat down behind the desk lifted his eyelids to look at her, his expression unreadable.
Without any hesitation, she walked straight to the seat opposite him and sat down.
Only when she got closer could she clearly see the unusual paleness on his face, a look that could not have been caused by a mere cough.
Yu Nie couldn't help but ask in surprise, "A mere cough can wear you down like this? Gu Xiangzhi, your constitution is too weak, especially considering you're the Junior Supervisor of the Imperial Horse Administration."
The words had barely left her mouth when she realized they were inappropriate. They sounded like salt being rubbed into someone's wounds.
She hurriedly pursed her lips, and after two seconds she stammered, "Uh... I'm not mocking you, you know I don't have the guts. What I mean is, is there a quack in the Imperial Medical Bureau? Is it really just a 'wind cough'?"
Having stayed at Lingbao Temple for so long, she saw that her martial uncle Cui Miaochang had treated at least several thousand people, if not tens of thousands. Even the most severe case of wind-cough shouldn't have tormented a person to this extent.
Upon hearing this, he lowered his gaze, reached for the book on the table, and began to read it.
"The people in the Imperial Medical Bureau are all selected through a rigorous process. You are more likely to doubt your own eyes than to doubt their medical skills."
Yu Nie didn't take it seriously, casually picked up an apple from the fruit plate in front of him, and tossed it back and forth between his hands.
"That's not necessarily true. Logically speaking, the position of prefect should be selected through a series of selections, right? But our prefect of Dingzhou is more greedy than anyone else. He's the son of the Prince of Yan and a member of the royal family, yet he's still a half-baked official."
She caught the falling apple steadily, then turned to look at him: "To be honest, you're not even half-baked. After all, a person with poor abilities doesn't necessarily do things like disregarding human life or selling out their country for money."
Hearing her words, Gu Xiangzhi paused slightly as he turned the pages of his book. For some reason, a figure suddenly flashed through his mind.
He tapped his finger on the page, seemingly casually asking, "So you knew Huan Xun back in Dingzhou?"
Yu Nie was taken aback by his sudden question. Her mind was instantly flooded with memories of her and Huan Xun in Huaiyuan, including the scenes of them carrying water, chopping wood, and chatting in Jisi Zhai.
The more she recalled the past, the more a bitter feeling welled up in her heart.
Unfortunately... those vivid scenes were all fake.
"Hmm." She responded in a muffled voice: "You are all officials in the court and people close to the emperor. You should know that he was busy eliminating treacherous officials in Huaiyuan at that time."
What she said was indeed correct, but he didn't respond. Instead, he asked, "Was it him who handled the negotiations with the Jie people for you?"
Even though she wanted to stay away from Huan Xun, she kept her mouth shut and showed no intention of betraying him, firmly shaking her head.
Seeing this, he didn't press the matter further.
Looking across the entire Jian'an City, there was no one else besides Huan Xun who had the courage to accept her request and, more importantly, the willingness to take action. This was something he was absolutely certain of.
Behind Huan Xun was Yan Yue, who held 70% of the military power in Beiye. Of the 300,000 troops, 200,000 were elite soldiers. Not to mention the Xuan Ce Army, which Huan Xun personally led. Of the 80,000 men, 40,000 were elite soldiers handpicked from among the best.
Even if the emperor's spies discovered the truth, they wouldn't dare to do anything to such a powerful force.
The reason is simple: the emperor in the deep palace, who is determined to suppress the powerful clans, can only rely on the military power held by Yan Yue and his son.
For centuries, powerful clans and aristocratic families have been rampant, relying on their scholarly integrity and always looking down on military men from military households. Even if their family members went to the army, apart from holding high positions, they never went to the battlefield and had long been out of touch with the realities of military life.
In contrast, Yan Yue rose through the ranks step by step through sheer military merit. Coming from humble beginnings, he ate and slept alongside the soldiers, earning them deep respect and admiration.
Power is not an object; it is not something you can command the world just by possessing a military tally. Power comes from the hearts of the people, from their support.
The aristocratic sons who lost the support of the army naturally could not stay in the army for long and could only leave in a huff. Yan Yue thus became the only ruler of the Beiya Army.
At that time, the Rouran were also making trouble on the border, so even if the gentry wanted to impeach Yan Yue, they could only temporarily put their plans aside. They knew that there were very few people in their clans who understood military affairs, and if they rashly angered Yan Yue, who would guard the northern frontier for them?
Not all military generals can become their preferred "henchmen".
It was this momentary concession that caused them to miss a golden opportunity.
By the time they wanted to deal with Yan Yue again, he had already grown into a towering figure under the late emperor's support, dominating the region and becoming virtually unshakeable. Even if they tried to cut off the supplies of the Beiya Army and the Xuan Ce Army, it would be futile.
The northern frontier had long been Yan Yue's domain.
The late emperor granted him special permission to collect taxes locally, and turned a blind eye to Yan Yue's decision to allocate local land to his troops, allowing the soldiers to farm and weave for a living in peacetime, except for regular duty.
The powerful families in Liangzhou, Xiazhou, Dingzhou and other areas suffered greatly because of this.
The Li and Gao families rose to prominence in the northern frontier. Yan Yue's actions threatened the interests of the local powerful families, which in turn threatened the interests of the entire gentry.
The root cause of the current fierce conflict between the two sides lies precisely in this.
This is precisely the situation that the emperor is happy to see.
Huan Xun's return to Jian'an was marked by numerous assassination attempts, most of which were carried out by members of the aristocratic class.
However, Yu Nie was completely unaware of these intricate and complex matters. That's why she thought that as long as she shook her head and denied it, Gu Xiangzhi would find someone else to suspect.
Gu Xiangzhi said, "I know you want to find a big tree to lean on in Jian'an for some shade." He looked up at her, "But getting involved with Huan Xun will only make you die faster."
His expression betrayed a hint of warning, but she smiled and said, "Who said I need to rely on him?"
She paused for a moment, then said, "You two are colleagues, so in Judge Gu's eyes, does he seem like the kind of person who's happy to help others and let them lean on him for free?"
After saying that, she stood up: "Young Master, you shouldn't worry about my safety. You should worry about yourself instead."
She looked at him and smiled gently: "A sick person should take good care of themselves. You should read less books at this time."
"I've already had some soup made, and it will be sent over to the eunuch in a little while to help him recover." She smiled charmingly and lively. "I'll come to see you again later, sir. Goodbye."
Her departure was as unexpected as her arrival.
He watched her figure disappear into the distance, lost in thought, seemingly pondering something.
Once her footsteps had completely disappeared outside the door, the room returned to silence.
Suddenly, Gu Xiangzhi's taut back slumped, as if the strength he had been supporting for so long had been instantly drained away, and the book in his hand fell to the ground with a "thud".
The searing pain inside his body was eroding his limbs and bones, so painful that he almost curled up. The veins on his forehead bulged, his vision flickered, and his ears were ringing. He gritted his teeth.
Upon seeing this, Mei Nian rushed in from outside, shouting, "Junior Supervisor!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
