Chapter 62. "Don't rub against me randomly."
Shen Mi subconsciously tried to break free from Gu Zhan's control, but was held tightly by the back of her head and couldn't move an inch.
Noticing her movement, Gu Zhan placed one hand on the back of her neck, while the other hand slid down her spine inch by inch, gently pressing on each joint of her back. As he lowered his head, his breath brushed against her neck. "Zhi Niang, you're always like this. Of all the women in this world, only you dare to be like this in front of me."
If it were anyone else, let alone watching her test him little by little, he would have had her brought back and executed on the spot for "regicide" the moment she went to see the foreign officials without permission. How could he allow her to ask him so many questions?
"Don't touch me." Shen Mi didn't know what he was going to do, so she reached out her hands to push Gu Zhan away, but it was all in vain.
Before she could react, the man's hand had already moved to the back of her knees, picked her up horizontally, and carried her to the bed, where he settled her down.
Gu Zhan was behaving very strangely tonight, so strangely that Shen Mi was somewhat frightened.
He once said that he hated people who were disloyal to him the most in his life, and he hated betrayal the most. Therefore, Shen Mi thought that if the poisoning was exposed, even if it was not entirely her intention, Gu Zhan would be angry, question her, or even take action against her. However, none of these things happened.
He casually brushed aside such a big matter, as if he didn't care about it at all. He simply trapped her between himself and the bed, then leaned down and gently kissed her collarbone.
Shen Mi quickly realized what he was about to do. Normally she would have gone along with Gu Zhan, but at this moment she had no intention of being affectionate at all. So she released her hands from Gu Zhan's chest, pulled her clothes together, and resolutely refused to let Gu Zhan take advantage of her.
She didn't believe it. She couldn't believe that Gu Zhan could be so calm after going through something like this. In her memory, Gu Zhan had never been an easy person to talk to, especially since she had indeed crossed his bottom line today.
Gu Zhan looked up at the woman's hand clutching her clothes and her head turning away, chuckled softly, and didn't continue kissing her. He simply sat above her, quietly watching her.
If he really wanted to, Shen Mi wouldn't have the slightest chance to fight back.
Shen Mi paused for a moment and asked Gu Zhan, "Why?"
Gu Zhan gripped her shoulder with one hand and asked, "Zhi Niang, even now, don't you understand?"
Shen Mi pursed her lips, not replying to him.
Gu Zhan's thumb traced along her neck, sliding from her collarbone down to her shoulder. "Now that I have married you, I will live and die with you for the rest of my life, and I will never let you leave me first."
Shen Mi turned her head to look at him, "What do you mean?"
"What you hear is what you get. We are husband and wife, how could I hold you accountable just because you accidentally spilled the hangover soup?" Gu Zhan released his hand, slowly got up, strolled to the incense burner in the hall, took out a jar of spices from the antique shelf beside him, scooped out two spoonfuls with a golden spoon, sprinkled them into the incense burner, and then covered the golden lid. He was calm and unhurried throughout the whole process, not at all like someone who was almost fed the agonizing drug.
Shen Mi sat up from the couch, looked at the tall, slender figure, and asked, "What exactly do you want to do?"
Gu Zhan didn't respond to her question, but simply placed the spice jar and the gold spoon on the antique shelf beside him.
He wore only a light blue robe, which at this moment almost blended into the curtains of the Qingluan Palace, like a wisp of spring smoke.
Shen Mi leaned against the headboard for a moment, lost in thought.
The Qingluan Palace was decorated according to her preferences, so the screen inside was not painted with the national beauty of the peony, but with a magnolia blooming alone on the branch in the wind and snow. The curtains next to the screen were light blue, which was also her favorite color.
It seems that ever since Gu Zhan forcibly brought her back from Runzhou, Gu Zhan has been wearing plain colors like light blue, light blue, and moon white except when he goes to court. But she clearly remembers that Gu Zhan used to wear almost only black clothes.
While she was lost in thought, Gu Zhan turned around and walked towards the bedside.
He casually extinguished the candles on the lamp holder in the inner chamber of the bedchamber with the lamp cover, then sat down on the edge of the bed, put one arm around Shen Mi's waist, brushed down the curtain with the other, and placed the other hand on her waist as well, so that she could lie on her side in his arms in an almost snuggling position.
"sleep."
"I don't want to sleep, I can't sleep." Shen Mi's voice came through the quilt.
The tent was illuminated by the luminous pearl. Gu Zhan looked down at the woman in his arms. He brushed aside the messy black hair piled up behind Shen Mi's back and saw the small red mole on the back of her neck. He gently pecked at the mole.
"Can't sleep? Do something else and you'll feel sleepy."
When his lips touched that delicate skin, Gu Zhan suddenly felt reluctant to let go.
He didn't know how to ease the tension between him and Shen Mi, but he knew that Shen Mi had always been shy about such things.
He wanted to distract Shen Mi and comfort her.
Feeling the chest of the person behind her gradually burning hot, and the hand around her waist tightening, Shen Mi immediately struggled and shouted angrily, "Utterly shameless!"
They've already reached this point, and he's still thinking about this kind of thing!
Unbeknownst to her, she bumped into something while struggling haphazardly, and heard Gu Zhan let out a muffled groan.
Gu Zhan held both of her hands with one hand, his arm across her waist to restrict her movements. He took a deep breath and said, "If you keep moving around, I don't know what will happen."
Shen Mi was not naive and guessed Gu Zhan's unspoken meaning. The object behind her was also reminding her that if she didn't want to, she shouldn't rub against him anymore.
Perhaps sensing that she had stopped moving around, Gu Zhan said, "Be good, and you'll fall asleep soon."
A whiff of incense wafted to her nose, not the Snow Spring scent she usually preferred. Her body gradually went limp, her consciousness blurred, and she couldn't utter a single word. Everything went black before her eyes, and she lost consciousness.
Feeling the woman in his arms gradually calm down, Gu Zhan slowly loosened his grip on her waist, letting her curl up in his arms. His other hand went down and touched the gold bracelet that he had personally put on Shen Mi earlier.
His fingertips traced the edge of the gold bracelet twice before he removed it from her ankle. He knew that Shen Mi was unconscious and couldn't hear him, but he still sighed softly in her ear, "Don't blame me. It's been too dangerous outside these past few days, and you've always been a worry for me."
After saying that, he raised his hand and pressed down on a spot on the wall. At the same time, a soft "click" was heard in the silent night.
Gu Zhan leaned down and kissed Shen Mi's forehead again, then lifted the quilt, drew back the curtains, and bathed the room in moonlight.
The incense in the incense burner has been lit, and wisps of white smoke are swirling in the air.
After he believed that Shen Mi had perished in the fire and her remains were gone, he often suffered from insomnia and occasionally developed headaches. Cheng Lin prescribed many calming medicines, but none of them worked. Cheng Lin only said that it was a mental illness, but how could he not know that it was a mental illness? When he was really at the point where medicine could not cure him, his subordinates offered him the prescription for this calming incense, saying that although it could not cure his illness, it would allow him to sleep normally at night.
He had Cheng Lin test the ingredients of this so-called special calming incense, and after confirming that it would not cause much harm to the body, he had someone light it.
The incense was incredibly effective at first. Just by lighting it, his headache would subside within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and his consciousness would become hazy, allowing him to sleep soundly for a while.
However, after using it for two years, perhaps his body developed a resistance to the incense. The incense, which was very effective at first, began to be less effective. He needed to increase the dosage or it would take a long time to fall asleep after using the incense. Later, it became completely ineffective. So he asked someone to remove the incense burner and stopped using it altogether.
He remembered that Shen Mi had once given him a sachet, so he searched almost the entire Qin Zheng Hall before finally finding the sachet that he had casually discarded years ago. From then on, he could only sleep peacefully by holding that sachet on countless nights.
Gu Zhan shifted his gaze from the white smoke rising from the incense burner, pulling his thoughts away from the past.
He took an outer robe from the clothes rack, put it on, and pushed open the door to the bedroom.
Tonight is New Year's Eve. He granted Shen Mi's request to release all the palace servants in the Eastern Palace from their duties, telling them they didn't have to stay on duty as usual, and could either go back to keep watch or gather together to relax.
When Shen Mi mentioned this to him on the way back, he thought she was just a kind and innocent person. Little did he know that she had been plotting against him ever since.
The unguarded Qingluan Palace, the lax security of the Eastern Palace on New Year's Eve, and a bowl of hangover soup laced with a drug that induces convulsions.
If he hadn't noticed, that would have been terrible!
Snowflakes began to fall from the sky, instantly turning the ground into a pristine white expanse.
Gu Zhan stretched out his fingertips to catch the falling snowflakes.
When the snow falls this heavily next year, Shen Mi will surely be in his arms, watching the white snow and whispering sweet nothings to him. If they get tired of talking, they will snuggle together and quietly listen to the snow falling little by little.
No one can stop them from being together anymore.
Gu Zhan lowered his eyes and turned the jade thumb ring on his thumb. Thinking of Shen Mi, who was lying quietly in his arms under the influence of the calming incense, his eyes were like cold stars, but the corners of his lips were slightly curved upwards.
Shen Mi was still young and inexperienced in palace intrigues, making her easily deceived. The pain of losing her child remained a thorn in her side.
So she was just tricked and deceived into poisoning the woman; the real culprit is the person who tricked and deceived her.
Thinking of this, as he stepped down the steps of the Azure Phoenix Palace, the smile on his face gradually disappeared.
Gu Zhan did not return to the Hall of Diligent Governance, but went directly to Yang Ping's residence.
It was not yet midnight, and Yang Ping, who had a habit of keeping watch at night, was certainly not asleep.
As expected, when he arrived, Yang Qing was drinking with Yang Ping. Neither father nor son seemed to have anticipated that on New Year's Eve, His Highness the Crown Prince wouldn't be with the Crown Princess, but instead came looking for them.
The two stood up and bowed to Gu Zhan.
Gu Zhan raised his hand, looking only at Yang Ping, but speaking to Yang Qing, "Yang Qing, you go out first. Your father and I have a few words to say."
Yang Qing glanced at Yang Ping, but dared not disobey the emperor's order, and respectfully withdrew.
Looking at the Crown Prince's gloomy face, Yang Ping roughly guessed what was going on and said, "Your Highness's arrival so late at night, is it because of the Crown Princess?"
Gu Zhan glared at him coldly and asked, "Why did you tell the Crown Princess about the treacherous scheme you devised back then? How dare you fabricate something I never did in front of her."
Yang Ping knew that Gu Zhan was angry, and his mind was forcibly pulled back from his slightly drunken state. He hunched over and said, "Your Highness, I am only considering the overall situation. The Prince of Wei's faction has Wang Chengxian in their hands and is using the matter of Shen Yu and Shen Cong to harass Your Highness. The Emperor does not allow Your Highness to directly intervene in this matter. If Your Highness does not want to sit and wait for death, the only way is to sever ties with the Crown Princess!"
"I would never sacrifice her," Gu Zhan said coldly.
Yang Ping raised his head, frowned as he looked at Gu Zhan, and continued to persuade him: "Your Highness, I implore you to reconsider. Love is the most useless thing in the world. Once Your Highness ascends the throne, you will have countless beautiful women by your side. Why be so infatuated with this moment..."
"Enough." Before Yang Ping could finish speaking, Gu Zhan interrupted him coldly.
Gu Zhan took two steps toward him, looking down at him. "When I brought you back from Yangzhou, it was out of respect for my mother, because you are her younger brother. I wanted to take good care of her family, so I trusted you and called you 'uncle'. But you have repeatedly failed to understand your place and have repeatedly crossed the line, interfering in my private affairs. I absolutely cannot keep you in the Eastern Palace."
"Your Highness?" Yang Ping looked at Gu Zhan with considerable fear.
Gu Zhan withdrew his gaze from him, turned his back, called Yang Qing back, and instructed Yang Qing: "Now that you have a house outside the palace, bring your father out of the East Palace. You don't have to abide by so many rules of the East Palace at home outside the palace, and you can take good care of him."
Yang Qing glanced at Yang Ping. In front of His Highness the Crown Prince, he never dared to make decisions on his own. His father was His Highness's maternal uncle, so he could say things that Yang Ping could not mention. However, in terms of kinship, he was His Highness's cousin, and in terms of the relationship between ruler and subject, he was a subject. No matter how you looked at it, he could not question His Highness's decision, so he could only nod in agreement.
Gu Zhan hummed in agreement, did not linger at Yang Ping's residence, and went straight back to the Hall of Diligent Governance.
He flipped through the case files and documents, and before he knew it, the whole night had passed.
The following day was New Year's Day. In previous years, a grand court assembly would have been held, with the Tanguts sending envoys to Bianjing, the capital of the Great Qi, to pay homage and offer congratulations. However, the Great Qi and the Tanguts had just fought a war before the new year, and the two states had been at odds for the past few years. After that war, the Great Qi lost Yanzhou and several prefectures in northern Shaanxi, so there was naturally no need to hold such a grand court assembly.
The Emperor's health has not been good since the beginning of winter, so the court assembly on New Year's Eve was cancelled, allowing all officials a day off.
Gu Zhan rarely had any free time, but he had to go to the Ministry of Justice to meet with Wang Chengxian.
The Shen family's case absolutely cannot be left unresolved.
With all officials on holiday, only the head of the Ministry of Justice remained in the prison. Although the Minister of Justice was a fellow townsman of Prime Minister Li, the Ministry of Justice was not a monolithic entity. There were always people who wanted to get in touch with Gu Zhan in order to gain the favor of the current crown prince. Therefore, it was not difficult for Gu Zhan to enter the Ministry of Justice prison on a day when all officials were on holiday.
After disguising himself slightly, Gu Zhan put on a hooded black cloak and was led by a minor official from the Ministry of Justice to the cell where Wang Chengxian was imprisoned.
Before committing the crime, Wang Chengxian had commanded the troops in Yanzhou fighting against the Dangxiang, holding an important position and status. Moreover, the crime of "treason" would not have allowed him to be imprisoned with others.
When Gu Zhan arrived at the cell where Wang Chengxian was being held, he was sitting facing the wall, wearing only a thin prison uniform, looking up at the light streaming in through the top window.
When he heard the sound of chains and iron gates rattling, Wang Chengxian's ears twitched, but he didn't turn around. He only said, "You can't even have a moment's peace on the first day of the Lunar New Year. You've been locking me up in this Ministry of Justice prison since you brought me back to the capital on the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month. It's been almost a month, and you keep asking the same questions over and over again. I've said everything I need to say. What more do you want?"
Gu Zhan stood at the door with his hands behind his back, his face cold.
Wang Chengxian didn't hear the commotion around him. He turned around slowly, the light making his eyes uncomfortable. He blinked hard before he could see who it was. He immediately dropped his lazy demeanor and kowtowed to Gu Zhan: "Your Highness, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
Gu Zhan hummed in agreement, then cut to the chase, asking, "What should be said, and what shouldn't be said?"
Wang Chengxian's hunched body trembled. He thought it would be someone from the Ministry of Justice investigating, which was why he blurted out the sentence he had just uttered. He never expected that His Highness the Crown Prince, who was directly involved in this matter, would come to see him directly.
When he was first imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice, he confessed to the Ministry of Justice based on the same statement he had made when he was discovered in Yanzhou. He thought that if he told everything in one go, he would suffer less physical pain. However, there seemed to be different voices in the Ministry of Justice. Some people wanted him to focus on asking questions, while others would nitpick on some minor details in his confession. The implication was clear: they did not want him to involve Shen Yu and his son Shen Cong, who had died in battle ten years ago.
He also guessed that the case was related to the ongoing power struggle between the Crown Prince and the Prince of Wei. On one side was the rightful heir apparent, and on the other was the ambitious Prince of Wei. For nearly a month, the various forces had been pulling each other back and forth, and the case was still unresolved.
Wang Chengxian realized he had unintentionally misspoke and immediately added, "In my current predicament, I naturally have nothing to say but what I should say. As for the so-called accusation of colluding with the enemy, I was indeed bewitched. On this matter, I have no way to defend myself."
"What I care about is the Shen family's case," Gu Zhan glanced at him. "I only ask you, when Yanzhou fell and Shen Yu and his son Shen Cong were ambushed, was it because you leaked the military deployment map to the Dangxiang?"
"It was a sinful subject who was ordered to act."
"Whose orders are you following?"
"It is a military order, of course."
Gu Zhan strode forward. "Is it the Dangxiang's 'military order' or Shen Yu's military order?"
Wang Chengxian paused for a moment, then said, “This humble subject is unaware of whether General Shen’s intentions align with those of the Dangxiang. However, the Dangxiang have indeed promised this humble subject a high-ranking official position and generous salary. If this matter can be accomplished, this humble subject will no longer have to endure hardship in Yanzhou and can return to Bianjing to provide a comfortable and luxurious place for his elderly mother, wife, and children.”
He believed that His Highness the Crown Prince would understand his unspoken meaning, and that he had no choice but to compromise because his mother, wife, and children were in the hands of the Prince of Wei's faction.
Gu Zhan curled his lips and sneered, "Then do you know that no matter what, your old mother, wife and children will be branded as the relatives of a traitor from now on?"
Wang Chengxian did not answer.
The junior official who had led Gu Zhan in earlier coughed twice at the door, indicating that Gu Zhan should not linger there.
Just as Gu Zhan was about to turn around, Wang Chengxian suddenly crawled forward two steps and grabbed the hem of his cloak.
Gu Zhan turned around, his brows furrowed, and remained silent.
Wang Chengxian sighed and said, "This matter was originally intended to target Your Highness. For Your Highness, protecting yourself is the best course of action. As a condemned subject facing death, my words are wise."
Gu Zhan grabbed his cloak and ignored Wang Chengxian.
"Protecting oneself" sounds nice, but it simply means severing ties with the Shen family. Even if it weren't for Shen Mi, he didn't believe that Shen Mi's father and brothers would betray the country.
*
East Palace, Qingluan Hall.
Shen Mi didn't know why she had fallen asleep in Gu Zhan's arms last night, and when she woke up, it was already bright daylight.
She shook her head, trying to dispel the chaotic consciousness and clear her mind.
She subconsciously called out Cuiwei's name, but it was Danju who came in instead of Cuiwei.
She remembered that she hadn't seen Danju in a long time, so she leaned against the headboard and asked, "Where's Cuiwei?"
Danju lowered her head and mumbled a reply, "Sister Cuiwei is busy with some other things."
Shen Mi felt a sense of unease, but couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong. Since Danju was someone she knew, she asked Danju to pour her some water.
Danju did as she was told. After handing her the teacup, she went to the antique shelf, took out a box containing spices, and added spices to the incense burner in the hall.
The familiar scent of incense wafted into Shen Mi's nostrils. This was the scent of the Snow Spring Whisper she usually used. What was the incense that Gu Zhan lit last night?
Shen Mi frowned slightly, lifted the quilt, and walked towards the antique shelf by the screen after getting off the bed. However, when she reached the Eight Immortals table in the inner hall, she suddenly couldn't move her legs and feet, and felt a tight binding sensation on her ankles.
She tucked her skirt up and discovered that the gold bracelet on her ankle was gone, replaced by a thin, gold chain.
Shen Mi looked in the direction of the chain and found that the golden chain stretched from her ankle all the way to the wall inside the bed. The other end of the chain was extended from a hole drilled in the wall.
She tried to move it and found that the screen was the furthest she could reach in this inner sanctuary.
Gu Zhan actually locked her up!
The strange and unfamiliar smell from last night was undoubtedly the incense that Gu Zhan lit, which had an effect similar to a sleeping potion. No wonder she slept so soundly last night that she was completely unaware that Gu Zhan had chained her ankles while she was asleep.
She suddenly realized why it was Danju who came to serve her this morning, instead of Cuiwei.
Is Gu Zhan trying to control her again? And he's using such despicable methods.
She had no idea that Gu Zhan had such a stubborn side.
But as she stared at the chain, she quickly realized that someone who knew everything and had called the Empress "Mother" for so many years, pretending to be a filial son for so many years, could not possibly be not paranoid.
The so-called upright and honest gentleman is nothing but an act for others to see!
Shen Mi was filled with resentment when she heard the voices of palace servants respectfully welcoming Gu Zhan from outside the door.
As soon as Gu Zhan entered the room, he saw the woman barefoot on the floor. He quickened his pace and walked to Shen Mi. Without saying a word, he picked her up and carried her to a soft couch. He then instructed Dan Ju to bring a soft and warm blanket to cover her.
He held Shen Mi's foot in one hand and asked, "Why are you barefoot on the bed?"
Shen Mi avoided his deliberate approach, pointed to the gold chain on the ground, and asked, "What do you mean by this?"
Gu Zhan gently squeezed her ankle, his fingertips gliding over the chain. "Didn't Zhi Niang never like that anklet? A chain would be lighter and more convenient."
A shiver ran through Shen Mi's body. She bit her lip and said, "This is clearly imprisonment!"
Gu Zhan simply stroked her ankle and asked gently, "Does it hurt?"
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Author's Note: My little sister's repeated escapes finally made someone stop pretending. [pat on the head]
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