The imperial family is the most ruthless. How many women have ended up in the harem in a miserable way. Beauty fades easily. Gu Yanfei wants to rely on the favor of men to stay in the harem, but she will only regret it...
Gu Yanfei, who had his back to Gu Yunyan, vaguely sensed the strange gaze behind him. He stood up with his zither in his arms, knelt down and bowed to Fengyang with a smile: "Thank you, Your Highness, the Grand Princess, for your praise."
The emperor laughed again, stroking his beard leisurely. He looked as if he was more pleased than if his own daughter was being praised. There was a hint of smugness in his expression.
The emperor and Fengyang's attention was all on Gu Yanfei, as if everyone else present did not exist.
The girls from the aristocratic families couldn't help but feel indignant.
It is obvious that Yu Chaoyun's song "Sad Parting" has better technique, more delicate emotions, and more elegant artistic conception, which is far better than Gu Yanfei's "Taking the Green Sky" with its sword-like gleams and shadows.
But the Emperor and the Grand Princess are so partial to one and discriminate against the other, which is really unfair.
There was an indelible cloud hanging over Yu Chaoyun's heart, and the corners of his lips, which had always been slightly raised, tensed for a moment.
Today she came for the eldest prince's wife. Although the eldest prince did not come to the Water Pavilion, the emperor did.
In front of the emperor, she could not be weaker than others. It would be fine if she was weaker than others, but as a girl from a noble family, she should be dignified and reserved, keeping a low profile, like the bright moon and clear wind.
but--
The person in front of me is Gu Yanfei!
Yu Chaoyun's lips tightened a little more, her red lips still curved, her eyes as dark as an ancient well, she looked at Gu Yanfei and said, "I heard from Miss Gu San that Miss Gu Er grew up in Huaibei. I've heard for a long time that Huaibei has picturesque scenery and simple folk customs. Is that true or not?"
Yu Chaoyun asked calmly, as if just asking out of curiosity, and his fingers gently stroked the sachet ball in his sleeve.
Upon hearing this, Miss Zeng quickly realized that something was wrong with this sentence: Huaibei is not Yangzhou, and it has been peaceful for the past ten years or so.
Therefore, when Gu Yanfei said that she had seen the battlefield, she was clearly lying. The criminal was deceiving the emperor!
Gu Yanfei is really bold! As everyone knows, Princess Fengyang has a fiery temper and can't tolerate any sand in her eyes. Gu Yanfei wanted to please Fengyang, so he spoke nonsense. Now he is afraid that he will suffer the consequences!
Miss Zeng's lips curled up in a cold arc, and she pulled Miss Zhao's sleeve, signaling her to watch the show.
Feng Yang raised her long eyebrows, looked at Gu Yanfei and asked, "Girl, did you grow up in Huaibei?"
"Yes." Gu Yanfei nodded calmly, "I was born in Yangzhou in the sixth year of Xuanren. I was born in Yangzhou."
In the sixth year of Xuanren, Yangzhou.
For the teenage girls present, this time and this place were forgotten as soon as they heard of them, and did not cause any ripples.
But to an old general like Fengyang, it sounded like a knife. She immediately remembered the battle in which South Vietnam raided Yangzhou fourteen years ago, and Gu Ce, the former Marquis of Dingyuan, who was guarding Yangzhou at that time.
At that moment, extremely complex emotions surged in his eyes, including admiration, regret, reminiscence, and sighing.
Feng Yang's heart moved, remembering that this girl's surname was also Gu, and he couldn't help but ask again: "Is your father Gu Ce?"
Over the past eight years, the name "Gu Ce" seemed to have been covered in dust. In the eyes of many people, it meant the shame of Dajing, and most people avoided talking about it. The girls present knew little about it and looked at each other in bewilderment.
Gu Yun'er frowned slightly, his heart sinking.
Gu Ce was a traitor and a sinner of Dajing. Over the past eight years, the Gu family has finally come out of the shadow of Gu Ce's surrender to the enemy, and have finally made others forget this shameful past.
If we bring up the past again now, wouldn't that just be a smear campaign against the Gu family and cause them to be criticized for nothing? !
"Yes, my father is Gu Ce." Gu Yanfei nodded again, his eyes bright as the rising sun, not shying away from the emperor and Fengyang's scrutiny. "At that time, Yangzhou was in turmoil, and my mother went north to the capital after being pregnant for seven months. I was born in the midst of the war."
The emperor, who was still a prince at the time, naturally would not forget the battle in Yangzhou fourteen years ago, and the memories came flooding back.
The chief eunuch Zhao Rang leaned over and whispered a reminder in the emperor's ear. The emperor looked at Gu Yanfei with even more kind eyes.
This girl lost her mother fourteen years ago and her father eight years ago. Both her parents are dead.
Eight years ago, Gu Ce should not have died.
No wonder this girl reacted like this when she heard someone mention "Record of the Journey to the West" just now!
She certainly couldn't stand it when someone insulted her deceased father, so she played the song "Taqingxiao" in response.
Thinking about "Taqingxiao" now, the emperor felt even more sad. It turned out that this girl could play such a magnificent piece of music because she was thinking about her deceased father.
The war eight years ago was also a pain in the emperor's heart. His only son, Chu Yi, was sent to Nanyue as a hostage by the previous emperor for eight years.
There was a point when the emperor thought he would never see his son again in his lifetime.
The emperor closed his eyes, suppressing the turbulent emotions in his heart, and the wrinkles on his forehead became deeper.
Fortunately, my son is back and has found his lover. In a few years, I might even be able to have a first-grade kid...
At this moment, thinking back to the day when his son mentioned Gu Ce and Gu Yuan, father and son, to him in the East Warm Pavilion, the emperor suddenly felt as if he had suddenly realized something.
When the emperor turned to face Fengyang, a friendly and happy smile appeared on his gaunt face, and he praised Fengyang: "Aunt, this girl is not bad."
"..." Feng Yang was in a rare daze, and for a moment she couldn't keep up with the emperor's thoughts, but she did have a very good impression of the little girl in front of her, and nodded, "She's a good child."
"You're also good at playing the piano."
The song "Taking the Qingxiao" that Gu Yanfei just sang was really good. Even if I were her age, I wouldn't be able to play it with such a mood.
This child is not easy and has a good character.
Yu Chaoyun stood there with his eyes lowered, and hesitant to speak for several times. He wanted to expose Gu Yanfei's lies, wanted to say that Gu Yanfei was simply talking about something else, but in the end he didn't say it out loud.
She knew that the best time had passed. If she continued to harass Huaibei, the emperor would inevitably have the impression that she was unreasonable.
It is easy for people to sympathize with the weak. This Gu Yanfei is really scheming and has no loopholes.
Wei Jiaoniang smiled proudly at Fengyang's praise, thinking that Her Royal Highness the Grand Princess really had good taste.
She was bold, and took two steps forward with a smile, pretending to be cute and asking for a reward: "Your Highness, my Yan Fei is so good, do you have any reward?"
Feng Yang recognized Wei Jiaoniang, and treated this little girl as if she were his own junior. He laughed and clapped his hands, saying, "She deserves a reward."
"Girl, what do you want?" Feng Yang turned and asked Gu Yanfei, his eyes wrinkled with smile, and he looked very excited.
The proud demeanor of a strong person did not make people feel that she was old, but instead made people look up to her. Most of the girls in the water pavilion were stunned by her radiance.
Wei Jiaoniang rushed to Gu Yanfei's side, pulled her sleeve openly, and made a face, meaning, you're welcome.
What do you want? Gu Yanfei rolled his eyes, and when his thoughtful gaze met Wei Jiaoniang's sparkling eyes, his mind moved.
Just now, after they sat down in the water pavilion, Wei Jiaoniang told her a lot about Fengyang, saying how Fengyang was both civil and military, how she was a master on the battlefield, how she could shoot an arrow through an arrow from a hundred paces away, and how she danced with a whip like autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves...she talked about everything.
Lu Qin also told her that Wei Jiaoniang's habit of wielding a whip was learned from Princess Fengyang. However, Wei Jiaoniang's whipping skills were just fancy, not even 100% as good as Princess Fengyang's.
Gu Yanfei shifted his gaze to the right, and landed on the long whip at Fengyang's side, and said with a smile: "I heard that His Highness is not only an extraordinary musician, but also a good whipper."
Gu Yanfei stared at Fengyang with burning eyes, with a look of intimacy in his expression.
The eldest sister under the leader of their Tianwen Sect is very good at whip skills.
In the Yaoling Realm, she was picked up by her master at the age of five and accepted as his personal disciple. The master didn't know how to raise a child, and after starving her several times, he realized that children need to eat, sleep, and wash, so he used the excuse of retreat to leave her to the eldest senior sister.
The eldest senior sister took care of her for three years. Not only did she take care of her daily life like an elder sister, she also taught her whip techniques and introduced her to the senior brothers and sisters in the sect.
It also made her gradually understand that she was different from her previous life, and that she was still quite likable...
There was a hint of smile in Gu Yanfei's eyes.
A sharp cold wind blew in from the main entrance of the water pavilion, gently lifting the hem of her skirt, causing it to dance gracefully, making her smile more lively and brighter.
Feng Yang, who was looking at Gu Yanfei, also smiled.
She just thought that Gu Yanfei knew that she had whipped the late emperor and the empress dowager. The smile on her face gradually widened, and finally a bright laugh overflowed from her lips.
Over the years, other people were either afraid of the late emperor or the Yuan family, and few dared to mention this matter in public.
This girl is really brave, she had the courage to play that piece just now!
"Girl, can you play with a whip?" Fengyang asked with a smile.
"Yes." Gu Yanfei nodded immediately, and Wei Jiaoniang beside her also nodded frequently. They thought that Yanfei was so smart, but she just didn't know how to do it. If they taught her for two days, she would definitely be able to apply what she has learned.
"Come here." Feng Yang waved at Gu Yanfei, took off the whip on his waist, and handed it to Gu Yanfei personally, "This Xuanyan Whip is given to you, keep it well."
The leather whip he got was very handy. The long whip had a dark luster, black with a hint of purple, and the long handle was carved with flame patterns.
Gu Yanfei grabbed the handle of the whip and shook it casually. He could hear the sound of the whip vibrating the air, which was crisp and sharp.
"Thank you, Your Highness." Gu Yanfei was in a good mood and also followed Fengyang's example and put the long whip on his waist.
When she raised her eyes, she looked at the emperor's eyebrows, counted twice with her fingers quickly, and thought to herself: Sure enough...
She took out two amulets from the pouch on her waist and said with a smile, "This is a return gift."
"amulet."
(End of this chapter)
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