Chapter 227: Marriage
The King of Qi also saw this scene, and the comparison made him feel extremely embarrassed.
The carriage stopped at the Siyi Hall, and the King of Qi settled down and arranged for someone to investigate who was behind such a grand display.
After nearly an hour, the person who was sent out returned to report: "Your Highness, the Jinyiwei went to greet Zhao Yi from the Duke's Mansion."
The King of Qi frowned. As early as the Northern Qi Dynasty, he had heard of Zhao Yi. Emperor Jing'an favored him more than any other prince.
Now that he had come to the Great Zhou, he had seen it all, but he did not know how much of this favor was genuine and how much was false.
Seeing the guard hesitate to speak, the King of Qi said coldly, "Is there anything else you haven't reported?"
The guard said tremblingly, "I heard that Emperor Jing'an arranged for the Minister of the Ministry of Rites to escort us into the city first in order to avoid delaying Zhao Yi's treatment."
King Qi's solar plexus throbbed, a surge of anger surged in his heart, and he clenched his fists tightly.
Very good, Emperor Jing'an deliberately slapped Northern Qi in the face.
We just humiliated Northern Qi.
"Your Highness, calm down. His Majesty arranged for Princess Guangning to marry into the alliance in order to maintain peace between the two countries. It is unwise to provoke further war."
Chang An deliberately mentioned Princess Guangning to ask King Qi to remain calm so as not to ruin his plan.
He pondered and said, "We had previously intended to have Princess Guangning enter the palace, or to select a prince. Now it seems we can find another candidate."
"who?"
"That depends on whether Zhao Yi is truly favored by the emperor or is just a shield."
"check."
-
As soon as the two sedan chairs entered the city gate, they dispersed.
One sedan chair went to the Duke's Mansion, and the other sedan chair went to the Gu Mansion.
Gu Changsheng came to Beijing on the pretext of returning home. If he went directly to the Duke's Mansion, it would arouse suspicion, so he returned to the Gu Mansion first.
Before going to Beijing, Shen Qingtan wrote a letter to Gu Zongci, telling him about his itinerary in advance.
Gu Zongci knew that today was the day Gu Changsheng would go to Beijing, so he went to the shop as usual, and then returned to the mansion to deal with the letters as usual.
At this time, hurried footsteps were heard outside the door. Gu Zongci looked up at the door and saw the housekeeper walking in breathlessly.
The housekeeper said excitedly: "Master, the young master is back."
Gu Zongci stood up suddenly and walked out quickly. He had only one opened letter on the table, which fell to the ground with a clatter.
Just as he reached the door of the study, he suddenly stopped, smoothed his sleeves to make them flat, put his hands behind his back, and walked to the screen wall with steady steps.
The main door of the mansion was opened, and two gauze lanterns were hung at the door.
Gu Zongci looked at the square gauze lantern, which depicted a wanderer returning home. The breeze blew the gauze lantern around, and the pictures flashed before his eyes frame by frame.
The wanderer got off the sedan chair, stood at the door as if he was homesick, paid his respects to his parents, and the whole family sat together to have a reunion dinner.
The gauze lantern slowly stopped, and the scene froze on a sedan chair parked at the door.
Gu Zongci saw a slender hand lift the curtain, and a tall and thin figure came out of the sedan chair.
His pupils trembled, and he subconsciously looked up at the lantern at the door, then looked at the cold and lonely figure next to the sedan chair. He clenched his hands, then slowly loosened them.
Gu Zongci's gaze stayed on Gu Changsheng's eyes for only a moment before he looked away.
"You're back." Gu Zongci's expression was normal, just like the stern father he used to be. "It's already noon. Come in and eat."
Gu Changsheng was startled and looked in the direction of Gu Zongci.
The familiar tone of his father's voice was as if he had never left home for fourteen years, but had gone to the academy to study and then returned home.
At this moment, the strange feeling of returning home disappeared and his heart returned to peace.
"Okay." Gu Changsheng slowly stepped onto the stairs. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Father."
Gu Zongci's fingers trembled, and seeing that he was walking steadily, he withdrew his gaze and slowly walked towards the mansion.
Gu Changsheng followed Gu Zongci step by step into the mansion and went to the side hall to eat.
There were only two dishes on the table, one was lotus fish and the other was stir-fried lotus root.
Gu Changsheng's eyelashes trembled slightly, and he lowered his head to taste the rice. The rice exuded a faint fragrance and had a very soft texture.
Since he was a child, he didn't like to eat hard rice, and he preferred it to be steamed softer, so his meals were separate from those of the people in the mansion.
My father once said: "As a man, you eat so finely. If you don't have such conditions outside, will you not eat?"
Gu Changsheng has been wandering around for more than ten years and is no longer so picky. He can eat a little of any kind of food.
Now when I eat this long-missed rice, every grain of it tastes like home.
Gu Zongci watched Gu Changsheng finish his meal slowly, his expression as calm as ever, and it was impossible to tell what he liked or disliked.
He said, "Go back to the courtyard and rest. We can talk tomorrow."
"Yeah." Gu Changsheng agreed.
The father and son sat quietly, silent.
No matter how calm they pretend to be and how hard they try to break the barriers forged by time, they still can't go back to being able to speak freely as before.
Gu Changsheng slowly stood up and followed the housekeeper to the yard.
The steward brought Gu Changsheng into the house. Seeing the veil covering his eyes, his eyes reddened. "Sir, your courtyard is the same as the one in Nanlingzhou. Wherever the master goes, he will leave a courtyard for you."
Gu Changsheng placed his fingers on the Duobao Pavilion and subconsciously pinched his fingertips.
The steward saw this and smiled: "The master knows that you like cleanliness, so your yard is cleaned every day."
Gu Changsheng felt that there was no dust on his fingertips. The room was filled with the cool fragrance of plum blossoms, and there was no smell of dust that had been there for a long time.
The steward felt bitter when he saw that Gu Changsheng was taciturn. The young man used to be cheerful and sociable, but now he is a completely different person.
"Sir, the servants are waiting at the door. If you have anything to do, just tell them to do it."
The steward gave some instructions and then said goodbye and left.
Gu Changsheng suddenly said, "Just tell the kitchen to follow father's preferences. You don't have to accommodate mine."
The steward paused and blurted out, "Today's meal is also to the master's taste."
Gu Changsheng curled his fingers and nodded slightly: "I understand."
The steward stepped out of the door and closed it.
Gu Changsheng stood there for a moment, then slowly walked towards the Arhat couch.
I originally thought that after fourteen years, I had already forgotten the layout of the house.
But some memories were ingrained in his bones. He walked to the Arhat couch with ease and without any hindrance. He sat down slowly and touched a book on the small table.
The memory was suddenly pulled back to the small courtyard in Nanlingzhou. On the afternoon of the day when Manman was lost, he held her in his arms and sat on the Arhat couch, holding a book and reading to her.
The maid called them to have dinner, and he put the book on the small table, planning to take Manman to see the lanterns and then read an article to her to put her to sleep.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
