Gao Dan followed Zhao Shu's side, a step behind, not daring to speak or even breathe loudly.
After parting ways with Zheng Hongsheng and Liu Huan, Zhao Shu pondered all the way home, wondering what to do next now that she had lost her military power.
I used to take it for granted that I had a million soldiers standing behind me, and that none would dare disobey my iron cavalry.
Now, however, they have to think about how to save their lives.
"Let's go to the post station." After walking for a long time, she couldn't remember exactly how long she had walked, from the dead of night to the dawn, and she still couldn't come up with a perfect plan. In the distance, she could see the city wall standing in front of her, backlit, making it look even more majestic and imposing.
"Princess, the capital is ahead." Gao Dan was terrified and broke out in a cold sweat.
Zhao Shu nodded, "Oh, with Lord Zheng entering the capital, Jiang Yue's matter will come to an end. You must keep an eye on the post station and make sure to find that traitor. Do you understand?"
Gao Dan agreed repeatedly, not daring to say more. He instructed several of his subordinates to go ahead, while he escorted Zhao Shu back to her residence.
Back at the Prince's residence, Bi Qiao was about to leave in a hurry when she saw Zhao Shu. She breathed a sigh of relief and quickly walked over to curtsy. "Princess, you're finally back! Little Zhu has been looking for you everywhere. I think something important must have happened."
Zhao Shu nodded, then asked suspiciously, "Is something urgent?"
"Princess, Her Majesty the Empress is going to hold an ice festival. I was thinking of making you a fashionable dress from the capital, but we don't have enough fabric and time is tight. I'm worried that the people below might not be able to handle things properly, so I'm going to go to the shop to take a look." She said enthusiastically, but then she remembered that Zhao Shu didn't know about this, so she quickly apologized, "Princess, please forgive me. I was so happy that I forgot to report this."
Zhao Shu was even more puzzled. It was just an ice-related gathering; why was she so happy? "Is there anything else?"
"I heard yesterday," she whispered to Zhao Shu, "that Your Highness is going to choose a consort for His Highness the Crown Prince. Binghui has also invited Master Huo Qi. It seems that Your Highness is going to marry a noble lady from a prominent family to be the Crown Prince's consort."
I never expected that such a big thing would happen if I was gone for just one night. If the Crown Prince is choosing a consort, Jiang Yue's matter will have to be postponed to avoid bad luck. Anyway, it's not her who will suffer in vain.
But with the Crown Prince absent, how can a concubine be chosen?
"Go, but don't be too flashy." Zhao Shu already roughly knew that the Empress had been living in seclusion in Fengqi Palace for many years, and when she came out, it was to select a consort for the Crown Prince. Compared to this, Emperor Mingde, as the father, really hadn't done a good job.
However, who can blame him but the emperor? He has dozens of sons, and he lets them run wild. He doesn't care if they beat each other until they bleed, because he has plenty of sons anyway.
Thinking about it, she realized that she was still the best off. Although some people might point at her back and say, "Just wait and see, Zhao Shu is arrogant now, but what good will she get in the future without the Empress Dowager and Prince Yong? She won't have any brothers to back her up."
But at least, there wasn't a father who didn't care whether he lived or died.
Back at Qionghua Courtyard, Green Ivy and the others busily cleaned her up before she collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
This really worried Xiao Zhu Zi. He paced back and forth in the yard, making Green Ivy dizzy. If it weren't for his obvious anxiety, Green Ivy would have definitely gone over to argue with him.
At this moment, Zhao Shu seemed to have returned to that year, floating in the air like an outsider, looking at her thirteen-year-old self, who was both arrogant and insecure, yet had to pretend to be very proud.
The pear blossoms were in full bloom. At thirteen, I was truly in the prime of my youth, full of youthful vigor and vitality, just like the flowers in spring, brimming with life.
"Ah Jun, look at Young Master Gu." Lin Xiuxue smiled brightly, a little smug and a little expectant.
At thirteen, I was clueless, not knowing what she was expecting. Following the direction she pointed, I saw a young man in fine clothes walking towards me amidst a shower of pear blossoms. He had a refined air and handsome features, and his steps, treading on the pear blossoms, made him seem like a spring god descending from heaven.
The amazing moment was just that.
But at this point, it seems nothing special.
"This humble student greets the two young ladies. Please forgive me for disturbing you. I stopped to admire the beautiful pear blossoms here, and before I knew it, I had wandered deeper and deeper and lost my way." At thirteen, I thought he was refined and polite, not at all abrupt.
At thirteen, young and full of youthful vigor, he pointed at him and asked, "What is your name, scholar?" In fact, he already knew that his surname was Gu.
Faced with her impoliteness, Gu Chongxuan raised his hand in a very gentle bow and replied, "My name is Gu Chongxuan."
"Oh, your surname is Gu. Do you know who I am?" At that time, her smile at the age of thirteen was pure, innocent, and untouched by worldly dust.
He shook his head, still extremely tolerant of her rudeness, "I didn't know."
"Ah Xue, he doesn't even know who I am." In the whole capital, who doesn't know Princess Jun? She is the Empress Dowager's most beloved granddaughter.
There's also a good-for-nothing father.
Lin Xiuxue took her arm and introduced her, "This is Princess Jun, the only daughter of Prince Yong."
When he was introduced to his father, the thirteen-year-old felt a pang of pain in his heart. Then he heard Gu Chongxuan say, "So you are Princess Jun. I was impolite and greet you."
In his eyes, there was no contempt or disdain, just like he would treat any ordinary person.
It was that simple, so simple it was illogical, that he easily remembered a person named Gu Chongxuan. He didn't look down on him, nor did he reject him because of his father's bad reputation.
At the poetry gathering, someone mocked her, saying, "Princess Jun, your poem just now was quite well-written, but it lacked any distinctive features. You'd better write something special in the next one."
"Don't make things difficult for her. Don't you know her own limitations?"
"I wasn't trying to make things difficult for her. I was just reminding her that poetry should have its own style. For example, Xue's poems are elegant, Sister Sun's poems are like the proud plum blossoms in winter, and Sister Xie's poems are grand and magnificent. But a royal princess's poems are so mediocre. She must have racked her brains for several nights and pieced them together word by word."
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