"Right." The eldest prince agreed. "After all, the Crown Prince is the heir apparent, and the Emperor's favorite. If we favor the Crown Prince, even if we're wrong, we won't go astray."
"We need to cooperate with the Crown Prince on this matter," Chang'an suggested. "Go to the General's Mansion and tell them about the Fourth Prince's intentions and what the Emperor said about the consequences if Gu Shijia lost her virginity. I'm sure the General's Mansion will agree with what the First Prince said."
The eldest prince thought for a moment and said, "I will go to the Crown Prince's Mansion right now. Brother Nanhua, why don't you stay at the mansion?"
"No." Chang'an refused. "I'll stay at the Sifang Inn. If the eldest prince needs me, you can send someone to inform him at any time."
After saying that, Chang'an left the eldest prince's mansion directly.
The eldest prince first went to the prince's mansion, and then to the general's mansion.
In the hall of the general's mansion, there were old General Gu Xiong, the eldest prince, General Gu Qingyun and his wife Qin, as well as Gu Shijia who was kneeling on the ground with a look of grievance on his face.
Guarding outside the hall door was Mr. Gu's confidant.
General Gu was not worried that any of his conversations would be leaked.
"Eldest Prince." Qin's face was filled with worry. "The Emperor really said that if Shijia loses her innocence then... then..."
"Yes." The eldest prince sighed, "This concerns the royal family's reputation. The emperor will never allow such a thing to happen."
"No." Qin was very emotional. "That's not the case. Someone deliberately framed my daughter. It was Chang'an, that ugly girl. She..."
"Shut up!" General Gu Xiong scolded, "Still talking nonsense here."
The eldest prince glanced at Qin, then looked at Gu Shijia, who was kneeling on the ground, with interest. Then he slowly asked, "You choose, to die or to marry the prince?"
Gu Shijia suddenly looked up, "Shijia doesn't want to die, nor does he want to..."
Before Gu Shijia could finish her words, she was suddenly hugged by her mother. She heard her mother's soft voice, "As long as there are green mountains, there is no need to worry about running out of firewood. When you die, there will be nothing left."
"You are confused." General Gu Xiong said, "The eldest prince is willing to spare your life. Why don't you thank him quickly?"
"General Gu is still decisive," said the eldest prince. "Please ask the old general to find someone to examine Miss Shijia."
Gu Shijia was taken away unwillingly, accompanied by Qin.
In the hall, Gu Qingyun said with a hint of worry, "I don't know what will happen with the Fourth Prince."
"Of course the Fourth Prince is willing to marry Miss Shijia, but Miss Shijia must remain innocent now, otherwise she will die." The eldest prince asked, "General Gu, can't you see through the Fourth Prince's intentions behind marrying Miss Shijia? The Queen is even willing to help this happen, but she has been confined to her own palace by the Emperor. Why do you think this is?"
Gu Qingyun and Gu Xiong looked at each other and stopped talking.
The eldest prince continued, "After all, the General's Mansion has more than just Miss Shijia. There are also the second Miss Gu Shirou and the third Miss Gu Changan."
Gu Qingyun frowned, "I hope the eldest prince will speak clearly."
"Since she is marrying the Crown Prince and becoming his consort," the eldest prince said, "how can there be any news of anything inappropriate? Besides, when the Crown Prince ascends the throne, she will be the Empress.
Therefore, Gu Shijia must not let any improper information be spread. From today onwards, the person who has physical contact with the Fourth Prince is no longer Gu Shijia, but someone else.
As soon as he finished speaking, General Gu Xiong instantly understood what the eldest prince meant.
He didn't want to offend me, nor did he want the Crown Prince to use all the power of the General's Mansion. "Who is the Crown Prince planning on, Shirou or Chang'an?"
"How can Gu Chang'an's appearance match that of a royal heir?" the eldest prince said. "Besides, Gu Chang'an is Gu Qingfeng's eldest daughter after all. How can I, the prince, decide her marriage?"
Gu Qingyun pondered. He didn't want his two daughters to marry into the court. The two opposing forces, "This incident happened in a boudoir in Chang'an, and everyone in the mansion knew about it.
Chang'an is attracted to the Fourth Prince. If word gets out, it would be reasonable to assume that Gu Chang'an and the Fourth Prince have had physical contact. I can just consider it as fulfilling my niece's infatuation."
The eldest prince glanced at Gu Qingyun with displeasure on his face, "In that case, General Gu should go directly to see the emperor."
Seeing this, Gu Xiong immediately said, "We should listen to the eldest prince. Shirou was born out of wedlock, and it is a blessing for her to marry the fourth prince and become his principal wife. For us in the general's mansion, it is even more joyful.
I, an old man, would also like to thank the Grand Prince for his help. The Grand Prince's kindness will be remembered by everyone in the General's Mansion."
"That's good." The eldest prince nodded with satisfaction.
After Gu Shijia's physical examination, the eldest prince left.
Qin was puzzled. "What did the eldest prince mean by this? The people around him told the old woman who was doing the body examination that there was no need for it. Then everyone just stayed in the inner room for a while."
Gu Qingyun ignored Qin's words and said to his father, "Both of them are my daughters, but they are going to marry two opposing princes."
"That's what the eldest prince meant," Gu Xiong said. "If Shijia becomes the crown prince's principal wife, you will definitely assist him. But now, it's clear that the emperor is not happy about what's going on between Shijia and Bei Mingye.
The eldest prince was trying to please the emperor, but he didn't want to offend the queen and Prime Minister Lin, so he had no choice but to let another daughter of the general's mansion marry into the fourth prince's mansion.
This way, no matter how dissatisfied the Queen and the Fourth Prince are, they won't be able to say anything. At the same time, the First Prince has weakened the power behind the Crown Prince."
Gu Qingyun frowned, "Let's take it one step at a time. I didn't expect the eldest prince to be so calculating.
But what surprised me most was the Crown Prince's reaction. How could he swallow such humiliation? Regardless of whether Shijia really lost her virginity or not, the Crown Prince would not be willing to marry Shijia based on rumors alone."
"I'm afraid someone has given the prince a suggestion. I don't know who is behind it." Gu Xiong said, "Don't worry, if the prince wants that position, he will not treat Shijia unfairly no matter what he plans to do.
Since ancient times, only by holding military power can a regime be stable. As for our General's Mansion, whether it is the current Emperor, the Crown Prince, or the First Prince, they all treat us as if they are trying to win us over."
"That being said," Gu Qingyun asked, "Didn't the emperor say that if Shijia wasn't innocent, he would be stabbed to death?"
"Isn't Shijia fine? Besides, it was just a formality and there was no physical examination." Gu Xiong thought to himself as he glanced at his eldest son.
After all, Qingyun is not as insightful as his younger son Gu Qingfeng. Some things still need to be explained to others, otherwise he will not think of them.
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