Upon hearing this, the villagers present immediately fell silent.
It turns out he's the Regent from the capital. So how could they possibly let him live after all those people who were threatening him earlier…?
Aunt Wu and Wu Tiancheng were so terrified by the guard's words that their minds went blank. Everyone knew the Regent was the late Emperor's youngest child; he certainly didn't have a teenage sister. The young lady Gu inside was clearly the Prince's woman. They had actually dared to use such underhanded means to seize his woman…
Inside the room, Lu Zhao led Jin Yang to the bedside. "Take a look at Miss Gu. She's been drugged. We don't know where this drug came from, and we don't know if it will have any other effects."
Jin Yang was able to become Lu Zhao's personal bodyguard not only because he was highly skilled in martial arts but also because he was proficient in medicine.
After carefully examining the situation, Jin Yang reported, "Master, Miss Gu is fine. She was only put to sleep by a small amount of sleeping pills. There are no aftereffects, and she will wake up later."
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhao breathed a sigh of relief.
"After dealing with Wu Tiancheng, the rest will be handed over to the government. Investigate whether they have committed any human trafficking offenses in recent years and deal with them according to the law."
The meaning of this action is self-evident: Lu Zhao is no good person, and anyone who dares to covet him will pay the price.
In the Great Yu Dynasty, it was illegal to abduct and sell people who were not slaves. Today, the villagers tacitly agreed to bring sticks, hoes and other weapons to his door and ask him to let Gu Chaoxi stay. Lu Zhao did not believe that they had not done such a thing before.
"Also, prepare a carriage."
Jin Yang accepted the order and went to carry it out.
He moved quickly, and the carriage was soon ready. Lu Zhao carried Gu Chaoxi and boarded the carriage under Jin Yang's shocked gaze.
Jin Yang thought to himself, "It seems that my master is quite fond of this Miss Gu. The Prince's mansion will probably soon welcome a mistress."
Jin Yang instructed his subordinates to handle the affairs of Wu Family Village. After giving the instructions, he boarded the carriage and acted as the driver, driving the carriage towards the town.
The group arrived at the town's inn and settled Gu Chaoxi in. Seeing that Gu Chaoxi was still unconscious, Jin Yang did not avoid the question and reported directly, "Master, the day before yesterday, I led men to the town and captured three assassins alive. After severe torture, they confessed that they were sent by the Dong family."
"His Majesty specially invited you out of the palace, but even on this spur-of-the-moment decision, there were still assassins who tried to kill you. In my opinion, this was probably His Majesty's idea."
Lu Zhao hummed in agreement, not objecting to his guess.
Jin Yang clenched his fists. "Your Majesty is such an ingrate! Your Highness supported him to the throne and has devoted yourself to his education for the past ten years, working tirelessly for the Great Yu Dynasty. Yet he has turned against you behind your back. Perhaps we should..."
Jin Yang wanted to suggest that they change the emperor, but Lu Zhao interrupted him.
"Jinyang, be careful what you say."
Jin Yang shut his mouth in resentment, secretly regretting that His Highness was the late emperor's most favored and outstanding prince. If he had been able to have an heir, how could the current young emperor have ascended the throne?
"Is there anything else?"
"There's one more thing," Jin Yang said, remembering that he hadn't mentioned something else. "It concerns Miss Gu."
"Miss Gu disappeared along with you. For some reason, there are some rumors in the capital saying that the eldest daughter of the Gu family eloped with someone."
Women value their reputation, so once such rumors spread, regardless of whether they actually eloped or not, the disappearance is real, and people will only speculate. Coupled with the fact that the Zhao and Gu families broke off their engagement, many people will believe the eloping theory.
Lu Zhao knew that rumors could often kill a person, so he sent a message back to have someone investigate the matter thoroughly.
"yes."
After Jin Yang left, Lu Zhao looked at the person on the bed. Her butterfly-like eyelashes trembled slightly, and she was still pretending to be asleep.
Still pretending to be asleep?
Upon Lu Zhao's question, Gu Chaoxi could no longer pretend. She opened her eyes tremblingly, her clear pupils revealing a hint of panic.
"I swear, I didn't hear anything! When I woke up, all I heard was you talking about the rumors that I'm in the capital. I didn't hear anything else!"
Lu Zhao laughed. "Then how did you know we discussed other things? Hmm?"
Gu Chaoxi quickly covered her mouth with both hands, secretly annoyed at herself for speaking out of turn.
She sheepishly admitted her mistake, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your conversation. It's your fault for not keeping it from me. I heard you cursing as soon as I woke up. I promise you, I will never tell anyone. Please don't kill me to silence me."
Even when she admits her mistake, she still tries to shift the blame onto them, complaining that they don't speak to her in a way that avoids her.
Lu Zhao found it amusing and deliberately asked her, "How can you guarantee that? I only trust the people around me. Now that we're not related, unless you marry me?"
Gu Chaoxi wasn't fooled. This wasn't the first time Lu Zhao had said he wanted to marry her, but she understood that Lu Zhao was only somewhat interested in her, perhaps even a little fond of her, but not to the point where he couldn't live without her.
This brush with death did bring the two closer, and Lu Zhao even couldn't resist kissing her, but that wasn't enough. What she wanted was for Lu Zhao to be completely devoted to her. Since she had decided to have more than one child, how could she do it without a foundation of affection? With her current body and limited intelligence, she would only end up as cannon fodder.
We need another opportunity.
She fidgeted with her fingers for a long time, then said, "Marrying you is impossible. I used to dream of becoming a concubine in the palace."
The smile in Lu Zhao's eyes vanished instantly, and his face darkened. He recalled how the emperor had fallen in love with Gu Chaoxi at first sight and insisted on marrying her as his empress. His previously pleasant mood disappeared without a trace, replaced by a strange feeling.
"You want to marry the emperor?" Lu Zhao didn't know what was going through his mind when he asked that question.
Even though she lost her virginity to him, she didn't want to marry him because she wanted to enter the palace and marry the emperor.
A flood of jealousy overwhelmed him; apart from being younger than the emperor, he believed he was inferior to the emperor in every way.
"Of course, only by entering the palace can I have the chance to enjoy wealth and honor that I could never enjoy in several lifetimes. Although I am the legitimate daughter of a marquis, I still have to compete with Gu Ruiyun in everything in the mansion. My grandmother is still alive and can still favor me. But after my grandmother passes away, I estimate that I will be bullied to death by them. So I want to enter the palace and climb to a height where they can't bully me anymore. This way, I can be guaranteed to have no worries about food and clothing and that my expenses will not be reduced. I don't want to live a hard life."
Gu Chaoxi made no attempt to hide her vanity.
Lu Zhao's anger dissipated by half. "Just because of this?"
"What else could it be?"
"I thought you were truly in love with the emperor and insisted on entering the palace to accompany him."
Seeing that Lu Zhao didn't seem to intend to pursue the matter of her overhearing their secret, Gu Chaoxi gradually regained her courage and glared at him, "The emperor has three palaces and six courtyards, why would I admire him? It's exhausting to compete with a bunch of women."
"However, that was my previous thought. I am no longer a virgin and therefore cannot enter the palace."
There was still a hint of disappointment in his tone.
One sentence put Lu Zhao in a bad mood again.
Given the emperor's temperament, the fact that he is so attentive to Gu Chaoxi by the Panyue Lake suggests that he probably doesn't care whether Gu Chaoxi is a virgin or not.
If she knew that the emperor had fallen in love with her at first sight at Panyue Lake, she would probably have the idea of entering the palace again.
Thinking of this, Lu Zhao looked into Gu Chaoxi's eyes and said, "What Jinyang said earlier is correct. The emperor was actually put to power by me, and it is my decision who will sit on the throne. Why marry the emperor when you can marry me?"
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