Chapter 146 Who is the Prince Consort? (Two in One)
Gu Fangchen was stunned when he heard this, raised his eyebrows, and his eyes fell on the empty seat.
He raised his hand and said:
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the seat..."
Obviously, there are still many other vacancies.
Although they were the last to arrive, the seats at a royal banquet shouldn't be arranged too cramped.
Especially since those who were present were of high status, they would have their own seats, all arranged in advance.
In fact, excluding those who could not come at the last minute, there were at least four or five extra places.
But Emperor Yong'an specifically asked Gu Fangchen to sit in the seat belonging to the prince!
Everyone present looked sideways at once, and besides shock, there was something else in their eyes as they looked at Gu Fangchen.
After a month of excitement, it was surprising enough that the Prince of Zhenbei who was finally recognized was still Gu Fangchen, and not Gu Yuandao, who had attracted much attention and had been bet on by many people.
But that was still limited to the family affairs of King Zhenbei. Apart from those who had chosen sides early on and were in the same party with King Zhenbei, who might be very upset about this matter, the others were just watching the fun for the time being.
Although it was unexpected that Gu Fangchen was still the prince, the news that he had suppressed the rebellion of the seven sects in Jiange and his cultivation had skyrocketed a few days ago had already reached Huangtian City.
Some people originally questioned whether it was true or not, but now the truth is clear.
Emperor Yong'an's attitude at this moment is enough to prove everything.
The meaning behind this can be big or small.
To put it simply, judging from what Gu Fangchen said, the reason why he went to Jiange to suppress the rebellion of the seven sects was actually the order of Emperor Yong'an.
So, at today's banquet, they have been wondering about the reason and the culprit behind Emperor Yong'an's sudden whim, and the real person should actually be Gu Fangchen.
This is a celebration party specially held for Gu Fangchen!
Then, it was natural for Emperor Yong'an to give a seat to reward the meritorious official and let him sit closer to himself.
But if you want to talk about it in a big way, then there is no limit...
Although Emperor Yong'an never had the idea of abdicating, and even almost dragged the crown prince to death, this does not mean that his thoughts would not change.
If people live too long, they will inevitably become more and more abnormal.
What if Emperor Yong'an and the Crown Prince are really tired of each other, and are not interested in other princes and princesses, so they want to overturn the table and choose an outsider?
It is now obvious that Gu Fangchen has completely broken up with the King of Zhenbei, and has taken the position of the Prince of Zhenbei, even skipping the step of being crowned king.
In the past, there were emperors who passed the throne to their adopted sons because their descendants were not capable enough.
Anyway, it seems that Gu Fangchen is most likely not Gu Yuye's biological child, so it would be easy to change her surname to Xiao...
Taking a step back, Emperor Yong'an did this at least to train Gu Fangchen to replace Gu Yuye.
Maybe they want him to be a loyal minister.
So whoever Gu Fangchen is close to now, does it represent the Emperor Yong'an's intentions?
Everyone present was a shrewd person, thinking three steps ahead. In an instant, they were even preparing how to flatter and please His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
Others were uneasy when they saw Emperor Yong'an's attitude. Gu Fangchen knew more information and his expression became more and more strange.
He had indeed speculated that he might be the only descendant of Daoist Master Heng Chang—
Note that it is not Emperor Yong'an, but Master Hengchang.
Emperor Yong'an, as well as the founding or last emperors of various dynasties, were merely an incarnation of [Master Hengchang Dao, the First Ancient Human Emperor] in the cycle of reincarnation.
The two are completely different in nature.
To put it bluntly, the first-grade Eternal Realm is a high-dimensional creature that is reproductively isolated from humans.
Emperor Yong'an could have eight sons, but if Master Hengchang had not encountered an accident, he would never have had descendants.
But the most puzzling thing is why Emperor Yong'an treated the original body as the groom's son and gave it to Gu Yuye.
From Gu Fangchen's current perspective, Emperor Yong'an undoubtedly attaches great importance to him.
When he was at the dentist's place, he used the scale to test Emperor Yong'an's attitude towards him and how much he valued him, so he just casually wrote "I'm happy".
The scale originally belonged to Master Hengchang. As long as he wanted, he could of course press the scale to the bottom.
Facts have also proved that Emperor Yong'an was indeed very kind.
In fact, at that time, Gu Fangchen felt that he was almost 80% likely the descendant who disappeared as mentioned in the secret in the original plot.
But in this case, Emperor Yong'an's attitude before and after is very contradictory...
Gu Fangchen pondered in his mind and walked over to sit down.
Xiao Yinghao was already sitting in another empty seat to his left.
——Although Xiao Yinghao was not the second oldest among the many imperial heirs, as the eldest princess canonized by Emperor Yong'an, her status was second only to Crown Prince Xiao Sheng, so it was natural that she was arranged here.
And Gu Fangchen's position is the third one.
The second prince, who was supposed to be between the two, was born with a disease and had been weak and sickly since childhood. He had to stay at home all year round and was only able to survive with careful care, so there was no place prepared for him.
Gu Fangchen was about to sit down when he saw the "heart poison" pattern on the palm of his hand and suddenly stopped.
etc……
In fact, Emperor Yong'an's attitude can be said to be completely non-contradictory.
Because, the Gu Fangchen who was replaced and the Gu Fangchen today... are not the same person at all!
Gu Fangchen stood there in a daze for a moment, feeling a little embarrassed.
If Emperor Yong'an knew the difference between him and his original self, the difference in his attitude before and after would make sense.
If it were someone else, Gu Fangchen would still be a little hesitant.
But in the first-level Eternal Realm, which is said to be a level beyond dimensions in the game, such a thing is entirely possible!
At this time, Xiao Qiu's calling of names interrupted Gu Fangchen's thoughts. Gu Yuye walked in afterwards with an expressionless face. Gu Lianxian brought the unconscious Gu Yuandao, which once again attracted everyone's attention.
But this time, there was not much surprise.
Before Gu Yuandao came here, news was flying everywhere like wings, and the people in the palace who should know it had already known it.
If it were in the past, if Gu Yuandao had something happen, a bunch of people would definitely come around to ask about his well-being.
Such an attitude is enough to show the change in Gu Yuandao's status in their hearts.
After a slight pause, Gu Fangchen remained calm and sat down.
Xiao Sheng, who was standing next to him, then stood up and said:
"Father, I wonder what merits the prince has accomplished that make you so happy today?"
Emperor Yong'an smiled and said:
"I was just about to have a chat with you, my dear ministers."
He called out:
"Xiao Qiu, you read."
"yes."
Xiao Qiu bent down, walked respectfully to Gu Fangchen, took the imperial edict from his hand, and then read its contents aloud.
It was nothing more than the original agreement on how to decide who would be the crown prince.
Xiao Qiu read to the end:
"...The position of Crown Prince shall be held by the capable. Now, whoever quells the rebellion of the Seven Sects and brings back the imperial edict shall be the Crown Prince of Zhenbei!"
But the more he read, the uglier Gu Yuye's expression became. He held the wine glass in his hand and closed his eyes.
As confident as he was then, he is as embarrassed now.
Every word of the imperial edict read out in public was a slap in his face.
In front of so many people!
The reason why Gu Yuye was so confident was because it was written in the imperial edict that not only did he have to quell the rebellion of the seven sects, but the person who brought back the imperial edict would also be qualified to become the crown prince.
In his opinion, there shouldn't be any problem with either the former or the latter.
The result... was that I lost both!
"Today's banquet is specially held for this child. The Seven Sects' Rebellion broke out in just three days, and it was completely suppressed, averting a catastrophe for the people. This truly brings me great relief!"
Emperor Yong'an's gaze fell on Gu Yuye and asked:
"Gu Aiqing, do you have any objections?"
Gu Yuye took a deep breath, stood up and said:
"I accept defeat and have no objection to this matter!"
Everyone was stunned. They didn't expect that King Zhenbei would admit defeat like this.
After all, it has come to the point where "the capable will take the position", which shows that Gu Fangchen is definitely not his biological son.
Although the hidden truth is unknown, the princess was so angry that she ran to her parents' home, which shows that there are more or less some unknown secrets...
This is why Gu Yuye had to let his child and Gu Fangchen do this.
But just accepting it like that is totally different from the Military Saint's previous style.
Just as everyone was thinking this, they saw Gu Yuye narrow his eyes, then clasped his hands and said solemnly:
"But I still have a question in my mind."
Gu Yuye looked at Xiao Yinghao and said loudly:
"Your Highness, I was shocked to hear the tragic news from Qiu An Dao. I was momentarily flustered and misunderstood military intelligence, making a fool of myself. I never expected that it would be the Princess's husband, a man I had never heard of, who would turn the tide and drive back the majority of the Qing Man army."
"I don't know the name of this consort, or his status. He's so talented and brilliant, yet I've never recognized him. What a shame! Princess, could you please tell me a little?"
In an instant, there was an uproar in the Ziji Palace.
Xiao Yinghao controlled Qiu Andao's military intelligence more strictly after the previous leak.
Apart from the great victory, it was not revealed to the outside world that the person in command at that time was actually Xiao Yinghao's son-in-law.
After all, Gu Fangchen was using the White Dragon Army Formation at that time. Even in the eyes of several Taoist practitioners nearby, they would only think that it was Xiao Ying who set up the formation.
Therefore, when Gu Yuye said this, everyone was naturally stunned.
Especially some of the younger generation of practitioners who stayed behind were extremely heartbroken.
Someone immediately stood up and said angrily:
"Your Highness, I knew you and the Princess were at odds, but there was no need to resort to such despicable tactics, fabricating lies and spreading malicious rumors, right?!"
"The princess is devoted to defending her country, so where does she need a consort?"
Some other young practitioners echoed this sentiment, even feeling indignant.
Liu Xuan, who was sitting in the corner, looked at the cultivators around him trying their best to protect him, and whispered in astonishment:
"Junior Sister, is the eldest princess's reputation among the practitioners so high? Why do I feel that instead of defending the eldest princess, they seem to not want her to have a consort..."
Li Qingguang: “…”
She felt people around her suddenly looking at her senior brother with anger, as if they wanted to stab him to death, and she held her forehead and sighed.
"Brother, you should drink..."
"Junior sister, really? Didn't you tell me not to drink?"
"You can drink now!"
Looking at the noisy scene below, Emperor Yong'an was not angry, but instead spoke slowly:
"Yinghao, what do you think?"
Xiao Ying glanced at Gu Fangchen and stood up.
The jingling of the jewelry was so clear and pleasant that the others fell silent and turned their gazes to the extremely beautiful and arrogant "God of War".
Gu Fangchen couldn't help but turn his gaze over. He was sitting next to Xiao Yinghao, so close that he could smell the faint fragrance coming from her.
It was a cool aroma similar to pine resin mixed with the scent of floral incense lingering on the clothes.
The former was contaminated by years of maintenance of weapons, while the latter was emitted naturally from the extremely luxurious clothes she wore.
As soon as he looked up, he could see a layer of faintly glowing down on Xiao Ying's delicate white face.
When martial arts reaches its peak, the body returns to its original state, maintaining the purity and softness of a baby.
But that was just an appearance. In fact, the delicate hands of the woman in front of him could easily crush a person's skull and wield a spear weighing thousands of pounds.
On the battlefield, the most outrageous rumor about Xiao Yinghao was that she was eight feet tall, rode a tall black horse across the battlefield, and liked to string people's heads together with a spear and chew them like candied haws, just like a ghost.
As for Gu Fangchen, a high-level player who knows all the information, he must dispel the rumors——
She simply likes to string people's heads together, and she doesn't chew them.
At this moment, Gu Fangchen flashed through his mind the look that Xiao Yinghao gave him when he stood up, with a half-smile on his face.
This glance made Gu Fangchen feel that she probably knew that she was the one who pretended to be the prince consort.
This also made him feel a little worried.
By doing so at that time, he was indeed taking advantage of Xiao Yinghao's reputation. If Xiao Yinghao holds a grudge and wants to take revenge on him, the best way is to accept his identity as his son-in-law now.
Because in this way, his identity as the prince would be meaningless.
The eldest princess turned to look at Gu Yuye and said calmly:
"Prince Zhenbei, this is my princess's private matter, right?"
Gu Yuye bowed and said:
"Since the Princess is supported by the people of Great Wei, your private affairs are also public affairs of the world."
Gu Fangchen sighed inwardly.
Gu Yuye is still so good at moral kidnapping...
They had set him up in the first place, as if he owed them something because he had eaten at the palace's table for nineteen years. Yet, they didn't mention the fact that his meridians were completely damaged and he couldn't enjoy any of the palace's resources, and that he had blocked the frame-up that Gu Yuandao might have suffered.
Now, let’s kidnap Xiao Ying again.
"What a righteous King Zhenbei."
Xiao Yinghao clapped his hands and said with a forced smile:
"This princess does have a prince consort who was betrothed to her since childhood, but he is rather shy and doesn't like to show up in public, so he has never told anyone about it."
"Now is a good opportunity."
She looked around and her eyes fell on Gu Fangchen's face.
————
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(End of this chapter)
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