"What are you saying! Why should I apologize to the princess?" General Xie retorted.
Gu Jiangli continued slowly:
"You conspired with the princess to drug Shi Yan, attempting to make Shi Yan and the princess consummate their marriage, so that the princess could become Shi Yan's wife."
"What's wrong, General Xie? Is your memory failing you with age?"
General Xie raised his head high, pointed at Gu Jiangli with one finger, and shouted:
"You're talking nonsense!"
Xie Shiyan gave him a cold look. "Take your finger back."
General Xie was intimidated by Xie Shiyan's imposing manner and subconsciously withdrew his finger.
Xie Shiyan added, "If you don't admit it, the princess will prove it herself. The grand plan failed yesterday, and the princess must be very angry."
Madam Xie was completely bewildered. "What are you talking about? Didn't you say that Liu Baoxuan admired the princess and wanted to marry her?"
Gu Jiangli was taken aback. "Liu Baoxuan? He's asking for the princess's hand in marriage?"
But after exchanging a glance with Xie Shiyan, the two immediately understood.
Princess Jinghe must have inhaled some of the drug she gave Xie Shiyan.
After Gu Jiangli knocked her unconscious with a stick, she woke up again, perhaps due to the effects of the drugs.
Then, they unexpectedly ran into Liu Baoxuan, and the two of them went through the ritual of lovemaking!
"Wow..." Gu Jiangli exclaimed, "This is really unexpected. What is this? Princess Jinghe has never succeeded in planning a divination banquet, but she has run into Liu Baoxuan."
Madam Xie's eyes darted around.
She wasn't stupid; she immediately understood.
After learning what had happened, anger filled her mind.
Even she, who always prided herself on her composure, stood up agitatedly and angrily rebuked:
"Was what Shi Yan and Miss Gu just saying true?!"
"Mother...don't listen to their nonsense..."
Madam Xie's cane fell heavily to the ground.
"You've really gone too far!"
"I understand now. What you just said about wanting to marry the princess for Liu Baoxuan's sake is entirely because Liu Baoxuan is rebellious and dared to do something improper to Princess Jinghe!"
"You're worried the princess will be angry, so you want to use my influence to ask the emperor for her hand in marriage."
"Forget about it! He deserved to die, and there's no way I'd step in to save his life!"
Upon hearing this, Gu Jiangli finally understood what the mother and son had been arguing about.
She gave a disdainful smile.
General Xie actually came up with this way to save his life, without even considering whether the noble princess was willing to accept it.
She said sarcastically, "General Xie, your abacus beads have hit my face. Don't you value status and position the most?"
"Have you considered whether Liu Baoxuan, given his status, has the ability to marry a princess?"
"Although I don't like Princess Jinghe either, she is still the emperor's daughter."
What is Liu Baoxuan?
"Liu's younger brother?"
"Does a lecherous opportunist even deserve to be called one?"
Gu Jiangli's sarcastic remarks made General Xie grit his teeth and say, "Who gave you the right to speak?"
At this moment, Old Man Xie couldn't help but mock:
"Did Miss Gu say something wrong?"
"It is precisely because you yourself understand that Liu Baoxuan is of humble origin and not worthy of the princess that you want to take Liu Baoxuan as your sworn brother, change his name to Xie Baoxuan, and even think about including him in my Xie family genealogy."
"But why should my Xie family accept him?"
"It's already a huge favor that I'm letting him stay at the Xie family's house."
General Xie's face was extremely ugly, and his overwhelming hatred was directed at Gu Jiangli, but it was stuck in his chest and he could not vent it.
If she hadn't spoken up today, perhaps his persuasion would have led his mother to agree to this!
However, since there was something he needed to ask Xie's grandmother to do, he held back his temper.
“Mother, if the princess really punishes Baoxuan because of this, Baoxuan will surely die.”
"If he dies, and this gets out, it will be bad for the Xie family."
"Outsiders will say that the Xie family has failed in their parenting, which is not a good thing to hear."
Madam Xie wished she could beat the man in front of her to death with her cane.
"You know it's not nice to hear? When you brought him to the Xie family, did I tell you that someone like him would bring disaster to the Xie family? Did you listen to me?"
"Now you realize what he did will damage the Xie family's reputation? Why didn't you think of that sooner?"
General Xie was sweating profusely with anxiety.
“Mother, I will kneel in the ancestral hall and beg for the forgiveness of the Xie family ancestors. Please, I beg you to save Liu Baoxuan. I promise this is the last time I will ask you to worry about the two Liu siblings.”
Seeing that his previous words had no effect, General Xie softened his attitude and tried to use tears to entice his grandmother to take action.
Gu Jiangli watched coldly from the side.
When Xie's grandmother heard him say that this was the last time he would help Liu, she may have softened a little.
At this moment, Xie Shiyan, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up, "General Xie, there's no need to go through all this trouble to ask Liu Baoxuan to marry the princess. I have a plan that will surely put the emperor at ease and allow him to marry Princess Jinghe to Liu Baoxuan."
General Xie was somewhat suspicious, seemingly not believing that his son, who had always been his enemy, would be so kind as to offer a solution.
But he still patiently asked, "What's your idea?"
Xie Shiyan coldly said, "The princess and Liu Baoxuan have already consummated their marriage. As long as this matter is spread and everyone in the capital knows about it, that will suffice."
"These rumors will become increasingly offensive as they spread among the people, and by the time they reach the Emperor's ears, they may have already become the story of 'Princess Jinghe and Liu Baoxuan having an affair.'"
"Once the princess's reputation is ruined, her future marriage becomes the emperor's biggest worry."
"In order to silence public opinion and save face for the royal family, His Majesty had no choice but to release the news that Princess Jinghe and Liu Baoxuan were actually engaged long ago and that the two were already in love."
"In this way, the princess can no longer kill Liu Baoxuan, and she can only marry Liu Baoxuan."
General Xie suddenly realized.
This method is very simple.
He neither needed to adopt Liu Baoxuan as his sworn brother, nor did he need to add Liu Baoxuan's name to the Xie family's genealogy.
It can also easily make a princess willingly marry someone.
The emperor could only swallow this bitter pill.
The methods were ruthless, something I definitely couldn't have come up with myself.
This is, after all, a matter of royal reputation and the princess's honor.
General Xie looked at Xie Shiyan with a hint of suspicion, completely baffled as to why he was being so kind as to offer this suggestion today.
Xie Shiyan naturally understood his look, and then said:
“Grandmother will never agree to your proposal. If you want to protect Liu Baoxuan and the beloved younger brother of the Liu family, this is the only way. If you are unwilling, you can only wait to collect Liu Baoxuan’s corpse.”
General Xie stood frozen in place, his eyes darting around.
He glanced at his mother, who also remained silent.
He clenched his fist and quickly made up his mind.
"Mother, I'll take my leave now."
He turned and left in a hurry, not caring about the looks he was getting from the people behind him.
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