Chapter 712 He is the crown prince. If you kick him, the emperor will lose face.
Gu Qingchen paused and slowly turned around. In the shadow cast by the rockery, Princess Jiahe was walking slowly towards him.
"It's Princess Jiahe," Gu Qingchen said, his tone unclear, "What's the matter?"
Princess Jiahe chuckled, "I'm just curious, what kind of seductive tricks did Miss Gu use to be able to bewitch His Royal Highness the Crown Prince so completely."
Gu Qingchen raised his eyebrows and folded his arms across his chest. "The princess left the border to stay and traveled thousands of miles to the capital. If you didn't know, you would think that the princess of Prince Yong's Mansion couldn't get married at the border."
"You!" Princess Jiahe's face turned red instantly.
"You ignorant and unruly girl! You are only favored by the Empress because your father is the Duke of Zhenguo and a close confidant of the Emperor!"
"Why can you be the Crown Princess, but I can only be a concubine? How is my Yongwang Mansion inferior to your Zhenguogong Mansion?"
So this is the crux of the matter.
Princess Jiahe grew angrier as she spoke, and remembering what happened at the banquet, she sneered, "An Qing'er is right. You're just a crude warrior who can kill a cow with one punch! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been temporarily deceived by your fresh appearance. When he comes to his senses, he will definitely dislike you!"
"Oh?" Gu Qingchen laughed angrily. She slowly lowered her arms from her chest and approached Princess Jiahe step by step, her eyes like a wolf staring at its prey. "How do you know I'm someone you can easily mess with?"
Just at this moment, a burst of light footsteps was heard not far away. It turned out to be An Qing'er and a few noble ladies coming over, obviously wanting to watch the show.
Gu Qingchen's gaze swept across them, and finally fell on Princess Jiahe, who subconsciously retreated because of her approach.
"Just right, everyone's here." Gu Qingchen's lips curled up in a cold arc, "Don't you want to see me kill a cow with one punch?"
"I'll open your eyes today. I'll start with you... a purebred cow!"
Before he finished speaking, Gu Qingchen's figure flashed!
Princess Jiahe felt her eyes blurry, and before she could react, she was struck hard in the abdomen! Although the force wasn't enough to seriously injure her, the pain made her groan and double over.
Before she could stand up, a foot had already kicked her hard in the back!
"ah!"
With a short scream, Princess Jiahe flew straight out like a kite with a broken string, and with a "plop", she crashed into the lotus pond next to her, splashing huge water.
The water in the lotus pond in autumn is icy cold.
"Help! The princess fell into the water!" An Qing'er and others were stunned at first, and then burst into shrill screams.
Suddenly, the entire Imperial Garden was in commotion. Princess Jiahe thrashed about in the icy water, choking several times and soaking her gorgeous palace dress.
The guards who came upon hearing the noise stood by the pool, looking at each other, but no one dared to go into the water.
This is the legitimate princess of Prince Yong's Mansion. If they go into the water to rescue her and ruin the princess's innocence during the struggle, it will be a capital crime and they will lose their heads.
Most of the palace servants could not swim and could only stand on the shore and worry.
"Get out of the way! Everyone, get out of the way!" An anxious male voice came, and Prince Zhao Chen'an pushed through the crowd and rushed over quickly.
When he saw Princess Jiahe struggling in the water, his face changed and he immediately prepared to take off his outer robe and go into the water to save her.
A hand suddenly grabbed his arm.
"Are you sure you want to save her?" Gu Qingchen's voice was as cold as the water in the pool, and there was no trace of joking in his eyes.
The prince was getting anxious. He struggled but couldn't get away from Gu Qingchen's hand. "Qingchen, stop messing around! Jiahe is the legitimate daughter of Prince Yongding. She must not get into trouble in the palace!"
His words contained trade-offs, pros and cons, and were the most rational judgment of a crown prince.
But to Gu Qingchen, this was a choice.
She slowly loosened her hand and looked at the prince's back as he prepared to go into the water without hesitation.
Well, Your Highness the Crown Prince is truly a man who considers the overall situation.
Since his desire to marry Princess Jiahe was clear on his face, she would help them.
Under everyone's horrified gaze, Gu Qingchen raised his leg and kicked the prince in the back with a clean and decisive kick.
"Since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is so kind and considerate to women, then go down and accompany her!"
Zhao Chenan was caught off guard and let out a scream, following the same fate as Princess Jiahe, falling into the water in an awkward position.
The whole place was dead silent.
Everyone was shocked by Gu Qingchen's actions.
The next moment, the Crown Prince who had fallen into the water stood up on his own amid the sound of splashing water.
When everyone looked closely, they found that the seemingly deep pool water only reached his waist and was not enough to drown him.
The cold pool water soaked through his luxurious prince's dragon robe, and his hair crown tilted to one side, with water droplets dripping down his handsome cheeks.
He looked at the indifferent woman on the shore in disbelief, anger and shame mixed together, making him forget words for a moment.
"you!"
Gu Qingchen just looked back at him coldly, without any fear or regret in his eyes.
"Isn't Your Highness the Crown Prince in a hurry to save people? I'm just helping you. No need to thank me."
"Cough cough... Your Highness..." On the other side of the pool, Princess Jiahe let out a series of weak coughs. She was shivering in the water, her face as pale as paper, and she looked like she was about to cry. I felt pity for her.
"Your Highness... I'm so cold..."
She was smart enough not to call for help, but to try her best to act like a frightened weakling.
This weak and helpless posture instantly made Gu Qingchen look like an unreasonable bully.
Soon, everyone at the banquet was alarmed by the commotion here.
The emperor and the empress hurried over, surrounded by eunuchs. When they saw the crown prince and princess in a miserable state in the pool, and Gu Qingchen standing upright on the shore with a look of "I did it, so what" on his face, even though the emperor and empress were used to big scenes, their faces instantly turned pale.
"How dare you!" Emperor Zhao Yunci's voice was filled with thunderous anger. "What the hell is going on?"
Gu Junze and Chu Ruohan had also arrived. Chu Ruohan saw that her daughter was safe and sound, but her fearless attitude made her sigh helplessly.
She tugged at Gu Junze's sleeve and whispered, "Whoever messes with our daughter will be in trouble."
Gu Junze's eyes passed over his daughter and fell on the prince and princess in the pool, his emotion undetectable.
He didn't say anything, but just took a step forward and stood right in front of Gu Qingchen. That posture was clearly a silent protection.
"What are you still standing there for! Hurry up and help the prince and the princess up!" The queen was the first to react and shouted at the palace servants and guards around her.
After a flurry of activity, Zhao Chenan and Princess Jiahe were finally pulled ashore.
Zhao Chenan was fine, he just looked disheveled and had an ugly face.
As soon as Princess Jiahe reached the shore, her body softened, as if she could no longer hold on. She fell directly towards the prince, still weakly calling out, "Your Highness..."
The palace maids hurriedly supported her, but this scene in the eyes of everyone further confirmed the image that she had suffered a lot of grievances and that the prince was her only support.
The queen's brows were tightly furrowed.
She felt unhappy, but this unhappiness was not directed at Gu Qingchen's recklessness, but at Princess Jiahe's stupidity.
Prince Yongding sent his daughter to the capital alone, and he must have given her many instructions to act calmly.
But she was so good that on the first night after entering the palace, she caused such a big farce just because of jealousy.
She is so impatient and her methods are so clumsy. If she enters the Eastern Palace in the future, can we still expect her to behave herself?
Gu Qingchen is already enough of a headache, and now with her?
I'm afraid the entire Eastern Palace will be in turmoil!
"Gu Qingchen!" The emperor's anger was directed at the instigator, "Do you admit your guilt?"
Gu Qingchen raised his eyes and met the emperor's angry gaze without any fear.
She stepped forward, bowed to the Emperor and Empress, and said in a clear, resounding voice, "Your Majesty, I am innocent."
"Princess Jiahe provoked a private conflict in the Imperial Gardens, and I, a humble servant, took action in self-defense."
"As for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince," she paused, then turned her gaze to Zhao Chen'an, the sarcasm in her eyes undisguised, "It was His Royal Highness himself who was indiscriminate and eager to stand up for the princess."
"I just thought that since Your Highness and the Princess are so in love, why not get together as a pair and cool off in the water together."
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience fell into silence again.
How dare you make up stories about the Crown Prince in front of the Emperor? And you say it so confidently!
Zhao Chenan was so angry that he was shaking all over. He pointed at Gu Qingchen, but couldn't find a single powerful word to refute him.
Because every word Gu Qingchen said was the truth.
"Enough!" the Queen said solemnly, interrupting the farce. She turned to the palace attendant beside her and said, "Call the imperial physician to treat the princess and the prince. Then send them back to change their wet clothes, or they might catch a cold."
She arranged everything in a few words, then turned to the emperor and said softly, "Your Majesty, today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. It's normal for children to have some minor frictions."
"In my opinion, it would be better to let them go back first and discuss this matter later. Don't let such a small matter ruin the festive mood."
This is the most typical way of compromise and the only solution at the moment.
On one side is the Duke of Zhenguo who commands a large army, and on the other side is the Prince of Yongding who guards the border. Neither of them can be touched.
The emperor looked at Gu Junze with a gloomy face, then looked at Princess Jiahe who was being supported and still trembling, and finally snorted heavily, tacitly agreeing to the queen's proposal.
"Duke Zhenguo, keep a close eye on your daughter!" The emperor gave a warning and walked away.
A palace banquet that should have been a joyful occasion ended in a bad mood.
Gu Qingchen left the palace with his parents and boarded the carriage back home.
Her earth-shattering kick not only sent the prince and princess flying, but also completely made her famous as the "Little Devil of the Capital".
From then on, when the noble ladies in the capital mentioned Miss Gu from the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, in addition to jealousy, they also felt a little more real fear.
The atmosphere in the carriage was somewhat depressing.
Chu Ruohan looked at her daughter's face which still had a hint of stubbornness, and finally couldn't help but reached out to tidy up the loose hair on her temples.
"Are you relieved?"
Gu Qingchen was startled, raised her head, and met her mother's gentle yet somewhat helpless gaze. She pursed her lips and nodded.
"Um."
"Next time, don't kick the prince." Gu Junze, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes and spoke lightly.
Gu Qingchen thought her father was going to punish her and was prepared, but she was stunned when she heard the words.
Gu Junze continued in a calm tone, "He is the crown prince. If you kick him, the emperor will lose face and it will be very troublesome later."
He paused and added.
"As for the rest, it's up to you."
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