Chapter 65 "No, get out."
Shen Mi was completely exhausted from his antics and leaned against the hot spring wall, breathing heavily.
In recent days, she gradually realized that Gu Zhan was not the self-disciplined and respectful person that outsiders had rumored. He was clearly despicable and shameless to the core. But she never expected that he would do such a thing while taking a bath in the hot spring.
She didn't want to pay attention to Gu Zhan, but he wrapped his arms around her from behind, not giving her any chance to escape, as if he wanted to do it again.
She immediately moved one of her hands away from the hot spring wall and pushed against his chest, saying, "No, get out."
However, the rock face was slippery, and when she loosened her grip with one hand, she lost her balance, and her other hand also slipped.
Gu Zhan chuckled softly and effortlessly pulled the person into his arms, bringing the two of them close together.
Shen Mi wanted to scold him, but she was afraid that he would say some outrageous and inappropriate things like before. However, she couldn't tolerate his recklessness and felt extremely frustrated. She just glared at him.
Gu Zhan already had a smile on his lips, and seeing her glaring at him with her ears slightly red, he felt even more pleased.
He had to admit that Shen Mi did have a temper, which was better than her being timid and cautious in front of him before, and better than her treating him with icy indifference.
He raised his hand and stroked upwards from Shen Mi's back again, causing her back to tremble slightly. He could feel her subtle tremor.
Shen Mi's voice was weak: "It really can't be done."
Gu Zhan simply scooped up a handful of warm water and poured it on her shoulders, letting the water droplets trickle down her smooth back. He then gently kissed her neck. "What are you thinking about, Zhi Niang? I said I'd help you bathe, but in the end, it really was just me bathing you. Or is it that you're still not satisfied?"
Shen Mi's eyes widened; she didn't want to hear Gu Zhan say such things anymore, so she raised her hand to cover his mouth.
Gu Zhan removed her hand, his tone incredibly gentle, "Alright, I won't bother you anymore. Let's finish cleaning up quickly, and I'll carry you back to your bed."
Shen Mi was relieved to hear him say that; she really didn't have the strength to let Gu Zhan cause any more trouble.
Gu Zhan kept his promise and helped her wash up and change into brand new undergarments and stockings before "considerately" carrying her out of the dark room to go to bed.
Shen Mi didn't smell the calming incense tonight, but her tired limbs forced her to close her eyes, and soon her consciousness faded away.
Using the soft light of the luminous pearl, Gu Zhan traced Shen Mi's eyebrows and eyes with his fingertips.
"Zhi Niang, if we were to have a child, would their features resemble yours more, or mine more?"
Shen Mi had already fallen into a deep sleep and naturally did not hear a single word.
Gu Zhan was fully aware of this, but he could only look at her as if the four years they had missed could never be made up for.
If his child with Shen Mi is a son, he will make him a wise and benevolent ruler; if it is a daughter, he will make her live a happier and more carefree life than Chi Ying.
Looking at Shen Mi in front of him, and the two children he imagined, Gu Zhan suddenly remembered that when he was young, before he officially moved to the East Palace and lived alone, he had lived in the back hall of Kunning Palace for a long time.
At that time, the Emperor often visited the Empress at Kunning Palace. Everyone said that he was the Empress's biological son, but the Emperor treated him completely differently from the Empress.
The Emperor could tolerate the Empress's temper tantrums. Sometimes, if the Emperor arrived at Kunning Palace late, she would refuse to let him in. Not only would the Emperor not be angry, but he would also send many rare treasures to Kunning Palace the next day and tell the palace servants not to announce it, and he would go into the palace to coax the Empress.
However, the emperor always treated him like a father to a subject, and he was very strict with his studies, requiring him to surpass his elder brother Gu Shen in everything.
When he first started learning, he had to write better than Gu Shen, memorize the texts faster and more fluently than Gu Shen, and later he also had to write better articles than Gu Shen, and his political views had to be more mature and stable than Gu Shen's.
Although Gu Shen was four years older than him and had started his studies four years earlier, he had to study under the same teacher as Gu Shen from the age of seven. At that time, Gu Shen was already eleven years old, having completed two years of formal education and had been studying with the Hanlin Academy invited by the government for three years. He started his studies at the age of six and had to catch up with Gu Shen's four-year learning progress in one year, and even do better than him.
He studied day and night, afraid of disappointing the Emperor and Empress in the slightest. However, at that young age, he did not understand why the Emperor doted on his "mother" Empress and loved his sister Chiying, but was so strict with him.
As he grew older, he learned his true identity and only vaguely understood the difference in the Emperor's attitude. It wasn't until he married Shen Mi and they had been husband and wife for many years that he finally understood that the Emperor's feelings for the Empress were always unique.
He thought that he felt the same way about Shen Mi.
The emperor bestowed many rare treasures upon the empress, defying public opinion to allow the commoner empress to enter the palace and grant her unparalleled honor.
So he did as she asked, giving Shen Mi precious treasures, keeping her a widower, petitioning the emperor to make her the crown princess, and getting involved in the Shen family's case for her...
But he never understood why his relationship with Shen Mi was different from that of the loving emperor and empress.
Perhaps because of Gu Zhan's terrible behavior before going to bed, Shen Mi did not sleep well that night.
When she woke up in the morning, the person beside her lifted the covers, and her consciousness became a little more awake, but she couldn't open her eyelids, so she didn't move.
She heard Gu Zhan rinsing his mouth and washing his face with the help of palace maids, putting on his clothes, and then he seemed to turn around, bend down and kiss her lips, but it was just a light touch.
But she was too weak to move, so she let Gu Zhan do as he pleased.
Gu Zhan probably didn't realize she was awake, and only instructed his subordinates: "If someone from the palace comes, you should know how to report back."
The palace maid replied, "This servant will remember Your Highness's instructions and will certainly not let any information slip by. We will only say to the outside world that the Crown Princess is seriously ill and will not allow anyone to visit her."
Gu Zhan hummed in agreement.
Then the sound of the palace door opening reached her ears, and this time she recognized that the person who came seemed to be Sun Cheng.
Sun Cheng talked to Gu Zhan about a lot of political matters, but Shen Mi caught a name that the two of them kept mentioning—Wang Chengxian.
But when Shen Mi woke up again, she couldn't remember what exactly they talked about. She spent the whole day pondering the name that sounded so familiar.
Finally, she remembered that besides hearing this name from the King of Wei at the Daxiangguo Temple years ago, she had also heard this person's name when she was a child.
Wang Chengxian was an old friend of her brother and the deputy general most trusted by her father. He lost his father at a young age and depended on his mother for survival. After he joined her father's army, his brother and he hit it off, and his father almost regarded him as half a son.
Shen Mi remembered that after the war, the person who came to her home to tell her and her mother the news of her father and brother's death in battle was Wang Chengxian. Even when her father and brother were buried, her mother fell seriously ill due to excessive grief, and it was Wang Chengxian who helped her choose and buy coffins and burial plots. But not long after, he seemed to have been transferred away from Yanzhou and instead went to Qingzhou and Ningzhou.
She never heard of Wang Chengxian again, so when she first heard of him at Daxiangguo Temple, she didn't realize his connection to her family.
But why are both King Wei and Gu Zhan paying such close attention to Wang Chengxian? They've been discussing him since before the new year, which doesn't seem like a good thing.
Shen Mi had a vague idea in her mind: could it be that Gu Zhan's recent busy work, or the key to his struggle with the Prince of Wei, was about Wang Chengxian?
But Wang Chengxian was just a general. It was the custom of the dynasty to value civil officials over border defense. What did he have that made him worth fighting Gu Zhan, the crown prince, for with the Prince of Wei?
Shen Mi sat at the table, where an exquisite breakfast was laid out on the octagonal table in front of her. She had something on her mind, and simply held a spoon and gently stirred the porridge in her bowl.
Seeing that the Crown Princess was lost in thought, Danju assumed that she had no appetite and did not want to eat, so she took a pure silver lotus cup from the plate and placed it in front of Shen Mi, saying, "Your Highness, would you like some eel noodles? His Highness knows that Your Highness was stranded in Runzhou before, so he sent someone to Runzhou to invite a local chef some time ago. The chef just arrived in Bianjing yesterday and made this special eel noodle dish from Runzhou this morning."
Shen Mi snapped out of her reverie. Speaking of eel noodles, she remembered that when she was in Runzhou, her neighbor, Madam Xu, although her maternal family was from Hangzhou, had been in Runzhou for a long time, so she made delicious eel noodles and would always invite her and Cuiwei to her home for a short visit.
The four years she spent in Runzhou suddenly came back to her mind. If Gu Zhan hadn't discovered her at that boatman's house that night, would she have already returned to that little courtyard in Runzhou with Cuiwei? Would she not have been captured and brought back to Bianjing, and would she still be locked in the Qingluan Palace with these special mechanical chains, unable to take a single step out?
But when her memory stopped at that rainy night when Gu Zhan brought her back to the boat, the image of a man reappeared in her mind—the boatman's son who suffered from hysteria.
The man, who looked a few years older than her, had clung to her legs and begged her, even mentioning his brother's name.
"You, you must let me go! I didn't do it, I didn't! Shen Cong died in battle. His death has nothing to do with me, with us. Please let me go..."
"Are you related to General Shen Cong? I heard he has a younger sister, is that you? Please forgive me, I had no choice back then..."
"Please let me go. It's been ten years. Go tell General Shen that I really know I was wrong, and tell him to stop coming to me in my dreams..."
She sensed something was wrong at the time, and even suspected that there were doubts about her brother's death in battle. However, the more important thing at the time was to escape Gu Zhan's pursuit, and she didn't have the time or energy to get entangled with a hysterical madman.
After that, Gu Zhan dragged her onto the ship back to Bianjing despite the rainy night. After returning to Bianjing, she was constantly restricted by Gu Zhan to stay in the East Palace, and she forgot about this incident.
Looking back now, this matter seems highly suspicious.
Ten years ago, on the battlefield of Yanzhou, I apologized to Shen Cong, and now I am also involved with Wang Chengxian, who was closely related to her deceased father and brothers. How could there be such a coincidence in the world?
Could it be that Gu Zhan's recent busy schedule is really related to the Shen family?
However, the Shen family was not originally any founding father. Her father was also a commoner who became a military general after serving as a civil official. In addition, the family had few children. After the war, she was almost the only one left in the entire Shen family. That's why Chen Jun was so eager to get engaged to Li Xiang's youngest daughter.
But since this happened almost ten years ago, how are they connected now?
Shen Mi was completely baffled, and looking at the delicious eel noodles in front of her, she immediately lost her interest.
Although it is customary for officials not to attend court on the second day of the Lunar New Year, the emperor still summons some high-ranking officials in purple robes to the Funing Hall to discuss matters due to the heavy workload of court affairs. As the crown prince, Gu Zhan naturally had to attend as well.
However, the matter he was currently arguing with the Prince of Wei could not be discussed in the Funing Palace. The matters discussed in the Funing Palace were mostly about the harvest and sericulture after the new year, as well as some border defense and water conservancy issues. These were all raised by the responsible officials and then discussed among themselves. Gu Zhan only listened from the sidelines. If the Emperor did not ask him, he would not say a word. After all, in his current situation, saying too much would only lead to mistakes.
However, the emperor's illness did not seem to have fully healed. From before the Lunar New Year until after, he looked very tired and had to be served tea by the eunuchs next to him from time to time.
Gu Zhan privately inquired about the Emperor's medical records from Cheng Lin. Cheng Lin said that the Emperor was nearly sixty years old and his health would probably deteriorate day by day. Gu Zhan then began to make a plan.
No matter how fiercely the struggle between the King of Wei and him continues, as long as his position as crown prince is not revoked, he will be one of the few princes who can ascend to the throne after the Emperor's death.
Therefore, during this period, no matter how much the King of Wei provoked him, he simply remained unchanged in the face of all changes, except for the case of the Shen family.
The emperor hadn't listened for long when he felt a headache coming on and signaled to the high-ranking officials in purple robes to postpone the discussion to another day, saying that it would be over for today.
In the following days, the situation remained the same, and Gu Zhan had no choice but to keep a close eye on the Wei King's faction, fearing that the Wei King might take this opportunity to cause trouble.
One day, as he was leaving Funing Palace as usual and was about to return to the East Palace, Yang Qing told him that he had actually found several survivors of the soldiers who had retreated from the Yanzhou battlefield years ago, and had secretly brought them back to the East Palace.
Gu Zhan originally intended to interrogate them personally to see what useful information he could get from them. If it was useful, he would keep them; if not, he would wait until the Shen family case was cleared before releasing them. Otherwise, if they were all controlled by the Wei King's faction like Wang Chengxian, the situation would only become more unfavorable to him.
Just then, he arranged for someone who was keeping an eye on the Ministry of Justice and the Prince of Wei's faction to come and report that Wang Chengxian, who was in prison, had suddenly provided crucial evidence, claiming that Shen Yu had corresponded with the Dangxiang people back then. Those letters should not have been destroyed in time, but were brought back to Bianjing by the surviving Shen woman, who is now the Crown Princess, and hidden in Shen's residence. The Ministry of Justice had already written a note and was about to send the Imperial Guards to search Shen's residence.
Gu Zhan made a quick decision, turned back, and told Yang Qing to go back to the East Palace to keep an eye on the people. He then took his own token from his waist and handed it to the subordinate who had come to inform him, "Take my token and go to the Imperial Guard to find Xia Yong. Tell him to quickly send a group of elite troops to the Shen residence to ambush them first."
Upon hearing this, Yang Qing was shocked. "Your Highness is confused. Your current situation is already a dilemma. If you use the token to privately mobilize the Imperial Guards to obstruct the Ministry of Justice's investigation, you will surely face a barrage of criticism!"
The subordinate who had already received the token hesitated upon hearing this, unsure whether he should go.
After all, if the crown prince were to suffer, he, as an official, would not fare any better.
Gu Zhan coldly swept his gaze over the man. "Immediately, right now."
The subordinate was so frightened that he dared not resist at all and ran away with the token.
Gu Zhan walked out of the palace with Yang Qing and said to Yang Qing, "His Majesty is unwell, as Gu Shen can see. If I do not take action now, Gu Shen's men will collude with the Imperial Guards transferred from the Ministry of Justice to enter the Shen residence and fabricate evidence in no time. Gu Shen dared to instruct Wang Chengxian to do this, so he must have made complete preparations in those so-called letters of treason. At this moment, I have no other choice but to stop them and not give them any opportunity to fabricate evidence."
Yang Qing also fell silent at this moment. Although His Highness the Crown Prince's move was a risky one, there was indeed no other way in the short term.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Palace remained peaceful and stable.
During this time, Shen Mi was still chained up in the Qingluan Palace by Gu Zhan. Fortunately, she had Xiao Man to keep her company, so her days were not too boring. Gu Zhan seemed to have a lot on his plate lately, and the absurd thing he did in the bath that night did not happen a second time.
Worried about her suspicions, she tried to get some information out of Gu Zhan, but Gu Zhan was always meticulous and dismissed her thoughts with just a few words, making her realize that it was almost impossible to get information about the outside world from Gu Zhan.
She was anxious, but she didn't know what to do.
On this day, the Empress sent some portraits from the palace.
The palace maid who delivered the message was not allowed to enter Qingluan Palace because of her "serious illness." She stood outside the window and said to her, "Your Highness, the Empress's intention is that you and His Highness have been married for many years but have no children. Now that you are seriously ill, Her Highness has selected portraits of some women from respectable families in Bianjing and sent them to the Eastern Palace. She hopes that you can fulfill your duties as a wife and advise His Highness to have children for the Eastern Palace as soon as possible."
She understood the Empress's unspoken meaning. The Empress was worried that she was too young to see outsiders because she was "seriously ill" and might suddenly pass away one day. So she wanted to bring some new people into the Eastern Palace this morning.
But whether she wanted to or not, since it was a gift from the Empress, she had no reason or right to refuse. If she didn't accept it, it would be "great disrespect." Moreover, if a new person could really enter the Eastern Palace, she might be able to understand the situation outside better. She didn't believe that Gu Zhan would make her wear such a heavy chain to receive the greetings of other concubines.
Regardless of her reasons, Shen Mi ultimately had Danju accept the portrait and thanked the palace maid sent by the Empress.
*
Gu Zhan intended to go to the Ministry of Justice, but no sooner had he stepped out of the palace gates than the eunuch serving the Emperor came to inform him.
"Your Highness left in a hurry just now. The Emperor summoned you to the Funing Palace to discuss matters alone!" the eunuch said breathlessly.
Gu Zhan frowned and asked, "Alone? Do you know what it is about?"
The eunuch laughed and said, "Your Highness's question has stumped this servant. This servant will only relay the message; you will understand the details when you see His Majesty."
Gu Zhan indicated that Yang Qing did not need to follow, and told him to find others to keep a close eye on the movements of the Ministry of Justice and the Shen residence, while he himself went to the palace to meet the Emperor.
He usually met the Emperor in the front hall of the Funing Palace with other important officials to discuss political affairs, and rarely went to the Emperor's residence in the back hall. Before he even entered the room that day, he heard the sound of an elderly man coughing, and as soon as he entered, he smelled a strong medicinal odor.
It seems that the Emperor's illness is far more serious than he imagined, and perhaps even the medical records from the Imperial Medical Bureau were deliberately obscured.
Gu Zhan had already given it his all, but he greeted the official with an unchanging expression.
After drinking the medicine handed to him by the eunuch, the Emperor waved for all the palace servants to leave. He did not stand up, but leaned against the soft couch, glanced at Gu Zhan standing below, and said, "I know that you have recently been fighting with the Prince of Wei because of Wang Chengxian and the Shen family."
Gu Zhan simply nodded and said, "Your Majesty's judgment is correct."
The emperor paused for a moment and asked, "You have been intelligent since childhood, how could you be so confused about this matter?"
Gu Zhan roughly guessed what the Emperor was going to say, since Yang Ping had already said the same thing to him. So he simply put on a respectful and filial son's appearance and said, "I hope Your Majesty will enlighten me."
The Emperor coughed twice and said, "I am protecting you by not letting you get involved in this matter. Don't you understand? The Shen family's case is a thing of the past. Whether it's true or false, if you have no connection with the Shen family, it won't affect you in the slightest. You should have submitted a petition to divorce the Shen family as soon as this matter first appeared. If you cut off your ties with her, it would be the same as cutting off your ties with Shen Yu and Shen Cong. Don't you understand such a simple principle?"
"No matter how you try to maneuver during the joint trial by the three judicial authorities, without sufficient evidence, it will only be a delaying tactic. A decision must be made when necessary. There are many noble ladies in Bianjing; do you really have to choose the Shen family?"
Gu Zhan knelt before the Emperor. “Yes, all these years, I have only had Zhi Niang in my heart, and she is the only one I wish to spend my life with.” He paused slightly and said, “Moreover, Shen Yu and Shen Cong, father and son, both sacrificed their lives for the country. If such sincere people who are devoted to the country have to bear such a stigma after their deaths, where is the justice in the world? Wouldn’t that chill the hearts of the soldiers guarding the borders? Therefore, for both public and private reasons, I will not allow the Shen family to be slandered like this.”
After saying this, he kowtowed deeply to the emperor.
Seeing his resolute attitude, the Emperor sighed deeply before asking, "So, you've made up your mind to fight with the Prince of Wei over such a trivial matter, even if the final outcome isn't what you want?"
"Yes," Gu Zhan answered decisively.
The emperor glanced at him and said, "Enough. You can keep arguing with him. Now, step back."
Gu Zhan stood up in response, and as he left, he glanced at the official's expression and glimpsed a hint of disappointment.
If it were him in the past, he would have been extremely worried if the emperor showed such an expression, but now, he doesn't feel that way.
Although he knew better than anyone what awaited him if this matter was not resolved smoothly in the end.
Gu Zhan had walked this palace road from the inner palace to the east palace countless times before, but always by carriage or horseback. This was the first time he had walked back to the east palace.
When he arrived at the gate of the East Palace, Yang Qing was anxiously waiting at the gate. As soon as he saw him, he came to greet him.
"Your Highness, it's fortunate that you had set up defenses at the Shen residence beforehand. When the Prince of Wei saw that there was no result for a long time, he did indeed try to fabricate evidence, but our people discovered and subdued him on the spot. Now the evidence is conclusive, with witnesses and physical evidence. What do you think..."
Upon hearing this, Gu Zhan finally felt a slight relief from the burden on his shoulders. He glanced at the nearly full moon in the sky and raised his hand to Yang Qing: "Wait until tomorrow."
Now that the evidence has been caught red-handed, it proves that Wang Chengxian was making baseless accusations from the very beginning, and the Shen family case is now clear.
Gu Zhan returned to Qingluan Palace without asking anyone to announce his arrival. He only saw Shen Mi holding a cat in her arms, looking through a scroll.
He asked casually, "What are you looking at?"
Shen Mi raised her eyes and said calmly, "Her Majesty the Empress sent some portraits of young women to the Eastern Palace, and I am currently examining them for Your Highness."
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Author's Note: I'll be going to the fields for research this weekend, so I'm writing tonight's piece all night. I'll probably be back around 8 PM tomorrow. If my body can handle it, I'll try to post it before midnight. If I get too exhausted, I'll post a leave notice. I'm really sorry [please][please]. It's mainly because of the last-minute notice; I didn't have time to save up more drafts. [chin resting on hand]
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