Chapter 589: Is it too late to be afraid now?
Gu Junze walked into the woodshed step by step, each step steady and powerful, as if he was stepping on the hearts of those thugs.
The prince's stick fell to the ground with a thud, and his face was as white as paper.
"Sir, sir, please spare us! We don't know, we really don't know!" He knelt down with a plop, his voice trembling violently.
Gu Junze ignored her and walked quickly to Gu Qingchen, reaching out to pull her up.
"Daddy!" As soon as Gu Qingchen saw his father, tears instantly welled up in his eyes, and the strength he had just pretended to have collapsed in an instant.
"It's okay, it's okay." Gu Junze gently stroked his daughter's back, his voice as gentle as a spring breeze.
But when those eyes looked at those thugs, they were as cold as the coldest time of winter.
The little prince also got up from the ground, and when he saw Gu Junze, a complex emotion flashed in his eyes.
"Duke Zhenguo." The little prince tried hard to straighten his body and maintain the dignity of the royal family, but his voice still sounded like tears.
Gu Junze then knelt on one knee: "Your servant, Gu Junze, greets His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"Get up." The little prince waved his hand, then looked at the thugs, his face full of anger, "How dare these daring bastards kidnap me!"
When Brother Wang heard this, he collapsed to the ground.
Just now he thought these kids were talking nonsense, but now seeing the dignified Duke of Zhenguo kneeling, how could he not understand that this was truly His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!
"Your Highness, I am blind and fail to recognize a great man. I deserve to die, I deserve to die!" The prince kowtowed desperately, and his forehead was bleeding.
Gu Junze stood up and glanced at Lin Jiayou lying on the ground.
Although the child was kicked, he still sat there stubbornly, not crying or begging for mercy, but just watching everything silently.
"Are you okay?" Gu Junze asked.
Lin Jiayou shook his head: "Thank you for your concern, Duke Zhenguo, I'm fine."
Qian Zhenyun also crawled out from the corner at this time. Seeing Gu Junze, he immediately knelt down: "Uncle, it's all my fault. I didn't take good care of my sister and His Highness!"
"Get up, kid." Gu Junze's voice was still gentle, "I'm glad you're all okay."
After saying that, he turned to the thugs, his face instantly becoming as gloomy as water.
"Come here, take these daring creatures away and interrogate them strictly."
"yes!"
Several guards immediately stepped forward and dragged out the thugs who were already scared out of their wits.
As my brother was being dragged away, he kept begging for mercy: "Please spare my life, Duke Zhenguo! Please spare my life, Your Highness the Crown Prince! I will never dare to do it again!"
The woodshed finally became quiet, and Gu Junze looked at the children carefully.
"Tell me, what's going on?" Although his voice was calm, Gu Qingchen could tell that his father was suppressing his anger.
Gu Qingchen lowered his head and whispered, "Dad, we just want to go out and take a look."
"Take a look?" Gu Junze raised his eyebrows. "Are you going to get yourself into trouble just for the sake of taking a look?"
The young prince spoke up at this time: "Duke Zhenguo, don't blame her. It was me who wanted to leave."
Gu Junze looked at the little prince, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.
This child is quite responsible.
"Your Highness, your safety is of great importance. How can you treat it like a joke?" Gu Junze said earnestly.
The little prince lowered his head and said, "I know I was wrong."
Qian Zhenyun whispered to the side: "Uncle, we originally wanted to buy something and go back, but who knew that the owner of the restaurant asked for three taels of silver. We didn't have money to pay, so we were targeted by these bad guys."
"Three taels of silver?" Gu Junze frowned. "What did you eat?"
"They're just some ordinary dishes." Gu Qingchen said aggrievedly, "That shopkeeper must have been trying to rip us off!"
Gu Junze nodded, having roughly understood what was going on.
When these vendors saw that the children were dressed in unusual clothes, they became greedy and deliberately raised the prices.
"Dad, what will happen to those bad guys?" Gu Qingchen asked.
"Kidnapping the prince is a capital crime." Gu Junze said lightly.
Upon hearing this, the young prince's expression changed slightly: "Duke Zhenguo, although they kidnapped me, they didn't really hurt us. Otherwise..."
"Prince." Gu Junze interrupted him.
"Some things cannot be easily let go just because of your kindness."
The little prince was silent. Although he was young, he understood the truth in Gu Junze's words.
"Let's go back to the academy first." Gu Junze said, "The news of the prince's disappearance has probably spread throughout the capital."
Several children followed Gu Junze out of the woodshed, where a large number of guards and soldiers had gathered.
Gu Qingchen was shocked when he saw this scene: "Dad, what, what happened?"
Gu Junze patted her head gently and said in a steady voice, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is missing, and martial law has been imposed in the capital. These are the troops searching for His Highness."
Only then did Gu Qingchen realize that his "outing" with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had caused such a big commotion.
She felt a little uneasy and a little scared.
The little prince looked at the dense crowd of soldiers in front of him, and a trace of solemnity appeared on his little face.
He had probably never seen such a large-scale battle, all of which were aimed at finding him.
The guards quickly cleared a path, and Gu Junze protected the children and walked out quickly.
The journey back seemed extremely long to Gu Qingchen.
Along the way, Gu Junze didn't say much, but occasionally he would turn his head to look at her, his eyes filled with worry and a hint of hidden anger.
Finally returning to Bailu Private School, Principal Zhou was already as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, pacing back and forth at the door.
When he saw Gu Junze appear with the children, his old body shook violently and he quickly walked up to them.
"Duke Zhenguo! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" Principal Zhou's voice trembled, his face filled with relief at having survived a catastrophe. "As long as His Royal Highness is safe, I'm glad you're safe!"
He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that although the little prince's clothes were a little messy, he was still in good spirits.
Then his eyes fell on Gu Qingchen, and he seemed to be hesitant to speak.
Gu Junze just nodded slightly to Principal Zhou, without saying much, and took the children directly into the private school.
"Your Highness, please go to the study and rest first. I will immediately send someone to the palace to report to His Majesty." Gu Junze said to the little prince.
The little prince nodded, a trace of fatigue on his handsome face: "Thank you, Duke Zhenguo."
Gu Junze looked at Gu Qingchen and Qian Zhenyun again: "You two, go back to the dormitory and wait for me."
Gu Qingchen knew that he couldn't escape the punishment, so he responded obediently and pulled Qian Zhenyun away.
Lin Jiayou stood there quietly without moving.
Gu Junze looked at Lin Jiayou: "Lin Jiayou, you did a great job."
Lin Jiayou was slightly startled, then lowered his eyes: "I just did what I should do."
Gu Junze looked at him, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes.
"I will report your actions today to His Majesty truthfully. As for your injuries, let the doctor examine you."
Lin Jiayou then looked up and bowed deeply to Gu Junze: "Thank you, Duke Zhenguo."
After Lin Jiayou left, Gu Junze said to Principal Zhou, "Principal, please bear with me for what happened today."
"I have ordered a strict interrogation of those criminals. As for the losses of the private school, the Zhenguogong Mansion will bear all the losses."
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