Xia Tong felt as if a string in her brain had broken and was buzzing. Her face suddenly turned red and she suddenly sank into the water.
The hall was filled with wisps of hot mist. A beautiful petal was floating on the calm surface of the pond, drifting with the waves. The person who had just appeared seemed to have disappeared out of thin air, without a trace.
After glancing at the tattered little book in his hand, Gu Qin frowned slightly. He didn't expect that this woman actually liked to read this kind of thing. No wonder she stayed in the yard all day long.
"You use foul language, which is inappropriate." His face became increasingly ugly.
Unable to hold it back any longer, Xia Tong could only poke her head out of the water, gasping for breath, and looking at the man beside the pool with a guilty look on her face. She blushed and hesitantly explained, "It's... it's nothing. How... where are the dirty words?"
At most there are just some kissing scenes in it. It's a good romance novel, but he had to make it sound pornographic.
Amid the rippling water, looking at the little head that had emerged, Gu Qin could not help but say in a deep voice: "It is so disgusting, yet you still don't repent."
Seeing that the other party was still holding the little book in his hand, Xia Tong felt like she was caught by the pigtail and couldn't explain herself. She still had a real pornographic novel in her room that she hadn't read. Why were the people here so low-brow?
"It's just that the prince is feudal and old-fashioned, how can you blame me? And...you...how could you just come in like that!" Suddenly thinking of something, Xia Tong looked at the man with a blushing face and an accusing expression.
In the misty water, the man frowned and smashed the unsightly book into pieces. At the same time, his eyes swept over the little head in the pool, "Why can't I come in? Don't forget your identity."
When their eyes met, Xia Tong choked and even the back of her ears felt hot. But hadn't he never touched her before?
"You...what are you doing..." Her face changed and she looked at the other person with horror as he was undressing.
Glancing down at the woman, the man's cold, three-dimensional features showed no emotion at all, as if he was talking about something insignificant. "This is my place. You tell me what I want to do."
Her expression changed drastically. Xia Tong stepped back repeatedly, touching the clothes by the pool, and said in panic: "Then...then you take your time washing, I won't disturb you."
Not daring to go up to put on her clothes, Xia Tong put on her tube top dress directly in the water. Without caring about anything else, she held on to the stool by the pool with her slender arms and tried to climb up quickly.
The pool was quite deep, and she finally climbed out with great effort. She hurriedly tried to put on her outer robe, but the next moment someone suddenly grabbed her ankle, and she fell back into the water with a "splash".
She choked on the water several times and her vision became blurred. She felt as if she was pressed against the wall of the pool. When she raised her hand to wipe her eyes twice, her vision gradually became clearer and she saw a wall of flesh with distinct texture suddenly appear in front of her and a scorching gaze was fixed on her.
Xia Tong raised her head timidly, and was suddenly met with a pair of bottomless black eyes. The man's angular features carried a hint of danger, his chest muscles were distinct, and his arms were strong and powerful. She felt dizzy and wanted to dive into the water again with a red face.
He grabbed the woman's slender waist and pulled her out of the water. Gu Qin stared at her deeply, "I have not yet settled the score with you for your betrayal."
The hand on her waist was burning hot. Even though she was wearing a tube top dress, Xia Tong still felt that she had nowhere to hide. She could only blush and put her hands in front of the other person, pushing him hard. "Your Highness clearly said that he didn't care about it, how could he go back on his word and commit adultery in broad daylight... How could a gentleman act like that?"
The soft force was almost negligible. There were still a few drops of water on the woman's white collarbone. The snow-white and slender arms dazzled his eyes. The man's eyes darkened and he suddenly grabbed the little hand, saying in a hoarse voice, "This king has never been a gentleman."
After saying this, Xia Tong paused for a moment, and felt the big hand around her waist suddenly tighten. A familiar outline instantly enlarged in front of her eyes.
"Um... Your Majesty... calm down... "
She beat the man's shoulders with both hands desperately. Her whole petite body was covered by the man's shadow. She felt the hand on her waist suddenly become unscrupulous. Xia Tong was so anxious that tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.
Holding those soft lips, Gu Qin roughly absorbed her sweetness. With a burning heart, he pried open those loose teeth and gradually went deeper.
The water ripples, and the gorgeous petals sway with it. The whole hall is filled with an ambiguous atmosphere, which is charming and moving.
"Gu...Gu Qin..."
The man gradually stopped all his movements with the tiny gasps, but his big hands were still slowly moving on the smooth and delicate back. A terrifying storm swept through his eyes, and he was staring closely at the flushed little face in front of him, "How dare you call me by my name?"
After taking several laborious breaths, the woman could only hold onto the man's arm tightly to prevent herself from slipping into the water. Her fair face was abnormally red, her mouth slightly opened as she breathed hard, and she knew that if she didn't stop the man from doing this, her innocence would be in jeopardy today.
"Some things are only fun if both parties are willing. Your Majesty, you can't feel happy if you are like this." Xia Tong bravely met the man's gaze. She felt dizzy and didn't know what she was saying.
But she knew that she didn't want to do this kind of thing with the other person at this time. Although this man had a nice figure, she was not mentally prepared at all. The other party had never clearly expressed that he liked her, so how could she give herself to him in a daze, even though she was just trying to stop him.
Looking at the rosy little mouth, the man frowned and said in a hoarse voice, "Who taught you these things?"
A woman who knows quite a lot, must have learned it from reading those obscene books.
"I..." Xia Tong realized that she seemed to have said something with "implied meaning". Her face was burning as if on fire. She immediately explained anxiously, "When I... got married... my mother and the others taught me... how to serve the prince. It's just... it's just that some things are definitely not good if one party forces them. I'm sure the prince doesn't want to be a villain who takes advantage of others' misfortune, right?"
She swallowed, glanced at the other person secretly with her big watery eyes, then quickly lowered her head. The round drops of water slid down along her white collarbone and gradually sank into the water.
Gently stroking the smooth back, the man's heart gradually felt hot. Suddenly, he slowly lowered his head and stared at her steadily. This woman really dared to say anything.
"Did your mother tell you that some things are more exciting the more you force them?" he said dimly.
Xia Tong: “…”
After taking a breath, she could only lower her head nervously and dare not say a word. Is it really possible that she cannot escape this disaster today?
Feeling the slightly trembling body, the man curled his lips slightly, pulled the person into his arms, lowered his head and took a deep breath from the white and tender neck, and said in a hoarse voice, "You are not in good health, take care of yourself for a few more days."
He had never thought of marrying her here, but he didn't expect that this woman had so many twisted ideas in her head. It seemed that those filthy books must be banned from being circulated.
Xia Tong's body stiffened, and ripples began to appear in her heart. She never thought that when it came to this, there would be a man willing to stop abruptly.
Suddenly her mind went blank. She blushed and tremblingly wrapped her arms around the man's neck, saying softly, "I... I'm not unwilling, I'm just... I'm a little worried about my parents. Wait... Wait until my parents are okay... Your Majesty can do whatever you want."
The last sentence was as light as the sound of a mosquito flying, but how could Gu Qin not hear it? The fire that had been extinguished instantly burned again, and he became restless and unbearable.
"The Xiahou Mansion case will be retried tomorrow, and you will go with me." He said in a hoarse voice.
After saying this, Xia Tong was delighted. She didn't expect that the case would finally be retried. There should be a result this time, right?
Putting her hands on the man's shoulders, she gently pushed him, looked at him tentatively, and said softly: "Then...can I call you by your name in the future?"
She likes to call his name.
At some point, the woman's tube top tulle dress had spread apart, half of her snow-white skin was faintly visible on the water. The man's throat tightened, and he didn't hear what she said at all. He just responded softly.
I didn't expect the other party to be so easy to talk to. But when I noticed that there was something wrong with the other party's eyes, Xia Tong immediately lowered her head. Her face changed drastically in an instant. She squatted in the water and looked at the other party with an accusing look on her face, "How could the prince do this!"
Those big watery eyes seemed to be seducing him. Gu Qin narrowed his eyes, as if he was displeased. "If you seduce me again, I don't know what will happen later."
If he hadn't thought that this little body was too weak to bear it, he wouldn't have cared where this was.
Having never seen such a person who turned the tables on others, Xia Tong did not care about anything else. She covered her skirt as much as possible, then climbed up to the ground with great effort, put on her clothes quickly, and walked out quickly, as if she did not want to stay any longer.
The man in the pool glanced at the hurried woman and felt that this woman was getting bolder and bolder and didn't even take him seriously.
After leaving the palace, a gust of cold wind blew away the heat on her face. She felt that even the air was fresher. However, Xifeng and others on the side looked at her strangely. Calculating the time, it took the prince about a quarter of an hour to go in. It was impossible. How could the prince go in so fast?
"The prince is here, why didn't you inform him?"
As soon as Xia Tong came out, she couldn't wait to settle the score with Qing'er. This girl must be thinking of letting her consummate her marriage with the villain again. If the villain didn't have good self-control, she would have become a snack delivered to the door today.
Seeing her master's unhappy face, Qing'er could only lower her head and quickly reply, "Yes...it's the prince who won't allow it."
The prince had not informed them in the first place and had broken in quietly. How could she spoil the prince's fun?
Xia Tong looked at Qing'er doubtfully. Although this did sound like a villain's behavior, Qing'er must have her own little thoughts.
No longer blaming her, Xia Tong could only walk to her own yard. She would never dare to take a bath here again. But when she thought of what she had said before, she felt her cheeks getting hot. Was she crazy? Why did she say such a thing?
After returning to the house, Xia Tong suddenly remembered that her storybook was destroyed by Gu Qin. It was a limited edition and was in short supply. It seemed that she would have to ask Qing'er to buy a few more copies next time. Fortunately, she still had a copy of "The Poor Scholar and the Rich Daughter".
Upon hearing that the old emperor would re-examine the Xiahou Mansion case tomorrow, Xia Tong did not inform Xia Ning. After all, the result was still unknown and no one knew what would happen to the Xiahou Mansion.
The court session was at 1:00 am, and the case should be tried in front of all the civil and military officials during the court session. Xia Tong got up very early the next day. She was a little worried that it would be inappropriate for her to attend the trial, but when she thought that she was being brought by the villain, she thought that no one would come to pick a fight with her.
The cold wind was blowing early in the morning, and groups of imperial guards with solemn expressions were still guarding the palace gate. At this point, all carriages had to stop, and only one black wooden carriage drove in through the palace gate unimpeded, and no one dared to stop it.
The court was already in session at this time. Gu Qin did not wait for her. He just let Xifeng take her into the palace. He slightly lifted the curtain and glanced at the palace outside. This was the first time Xia Tong rode in a carriage in the palace. She suddenly felt a little strange. As expected, in the face of absolute power, rules are not worth mentioning at all.
When the carriage stopped outside the Golden Palace, Xifeng took her to the side hall, which was next to the main hall. The side door led to the main hall and allowed one to see everything in the hall. When Xia Tong went in, she didn't expect that there were quite a few people inside, including some ladies from aristocratic families and even the queen. They must have all come for today's retrial.
"Your Highness pays respects to Her Majesty the Queen." She bowed hastily.
Seeing Xia Tong coming in, some people in the room had complicated looks, especially the queen who was sitting on the throne. She looked at the still beautiful woman with an obscure look and lazily took a sip of tea, "You still remember your Xiahou Mansion."
This was a double entendre, but Xia Tong still bowed and replied, "Innocence is in the hearts of the people, and I naturally believe that the emperor will give justice to my father and his family."
The villains and the prince's faction were not on good terms to begin with, and this time the other side must have suppressed their Xiahou Mansion, so she didn't need to be so polite to the queen.
After she finished speaking, the queen just squinted at her, her narrow and long phoenix eyes slightly raised, looking meaningfully at the woman below, if it weren't for that traitor, the Crown Princess at this time should be Xia Tong. Lin Qin's temperament is not stable enough, and she can't control the East Palace. Concubine Dong is too thoughtful and only plans for herself, completely ignoring the overall situation. It is indeed a bit sad to think about it, but since it is a done deal, there is nothing to regret.
"Please sit down and you will know what will happen later." She looked cold.
A palace servant brought a chair and Xia Tong sat down on it. From her angle, she could only see a little bit of the scene in the main hall. There was a hunched and thin old man sitting on the dragon throne at the top of the hall. The dragon robe hung loosely on him, which was particularly inconsistent with his appearance.
At the lower left of the dragon throne there is a huge golden chair, on which sits a lazy and cold man. He has been playing with the black jade ring in his hand nonchalantly, and seems to be oblivious to the dispute below.
Seeing him, Xia Tong inexplicably thought of the scene in the bath yesterday. She couldn't help but feel her ears turn red. She continued to calm down and listen to the voices in the main hall.
In the main hall, all the officials held their own opinions. The Third Prince spoke loudly, "Father, the Xiahou Mansion abused its power to buy and sell land privately, and also stole nearly 30% of the salt tax in the Jiangnan area. These are all proven facts. Even if there are still doubts about my brother's poisoning, his guilt is not light. I wonder what the intentions of those who deliberately covered up for him are!"
Having said that, his cold eyes inadvertently swept over Gu Qin above, hinting at something.
After he finished speaking, an old imperial censor with a gray beard on the right suddenly stepped forward and said respectfully to the emperor, "Your Majesty, what the Third Prince said is true. The trend of abusing power to seek huge profits is now widespread in the court. This is definitely not a long-term solution. However, this incident was only done by a few people in the Xiahou Mansion, but we cannot generalize and wrongly accuse good people. If we carefully check the taxation and land transactions in the court over the years, I believe we can find a lot of things. I have also heard that the Grand Tutor's Mansion also took away a full 40% of the border trade tax this time."
"Master Zhou, you need to provide some evidence when you speak. Don't always throw some inexplicable dirty water on my Tai Shi Mansion. If you want to investigate, then go ahead. If you can't find anything, won't my Tai Shi Mansion be burdened with dirty water in vain?"
A middle-aged man in first-grade court robes stood there and said gloomily, which caused an uproar among the others. Most people just wanted to investigate the case of the prince's poisoning, but if they really wanted to thoroughly investigate other things, I'm afraid no one would be clean.
The old emperor above hadn't said a word, and he looked increasingly exhausted. Although he looked listless, his old eyes were sparkling with brilliance.
"Let's not talk about the distant past, let's just talk about the recent past. You should all still remember the riot of villagers outside the city some time ago. Minister Tang had his leg broken by the mob. But as far as I know, the merchant who wants to build the manor has close ties with the Grand Tutor's Mansion. Some of the previous land transactions were all sealed by Minister Tang. It's been so long since the incident happened, why hasn't any official dealt with it? Are the subordinates just doing nothing, or is someone doing it on purpose?"
The person who spoke was a young censor. He came from a poor family and was never afraid of offending anyone because he had always been unscrupulous in the court. However, he was deeply favored by the emperor, so no one dared to cause trouble for him.
After saying this, the man from the Grand Tutor's Mansion frowned and looked at the Imperial Censor sinisterly, "You are just making up stories without any evidence. How can the Emperor listen to your nonsense?"
At this point, the man suddenly turned his gaze and immediately said respectfully to the person above him: "Speaking of this, I also got some evidence that the regent was corrupt, beat and killed officials, and formed a clique for personal gain. At first, I didn't believe it, but this matter still needs to be handed over to the emperor for his decision."
As he spoke, he suddenly took out two account books from his bosom and handed them to the eunuch below to present.
Suddenly, there was an uproar in the hall. Everyone looked at each other and whispered something. In recent years, no one dared to impeach the Regent openly. Obviously, no one expected that the Grand Tutor's Mansion and the Regent, who had always lived in peace, would actually tear each other apart.
The old emperor above still looked calm and composed, while Gu Qin over there was also listening to the quarrel of the people below nonchalantly, with his eyes lowered so that no one could tell what he was thinking.
Xia Tong had heard a vague idea of what was going on in the side hall, but when she saw the evidence presented by the eunuch, she was shocked. Wasn't that the evidence that disappeared from her? How could it be in the hands of the Grand Tutor's Mansion?
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