After the recent division of the family, the clan leader had a much better impression of Gu Yanfei.
In the past, he only heard Madam Gu and Gu Jian say that this child was unruly and disobedient, but today he saw that this child spoke and acted in a generous manner, knew right from wrong, knew righteousness, and had the style of his father.
On the contrary, it was Madam Gu and Gu Jian and her son...
The patriarch glanced at Gu Jian with a look of surprise.
No matter what, Madam Gu cannot be allowed to kneel at the Meridian Gate all the time. This would be too damaging to the Gu family's reputation and would make the Emperor think that the Gu family is ignorant. She must be brought back quickly, but the palace gate is an important place and it would not be good to have so many people surrounding it.
The clan leader discussed with Gu Jian, then asked someone to prepare a car, and took Gu Yuan with him to hurriedly leave the house to pick up someone.
The group of carriages and horses galloped all the way, whipping their horses as fast as they could, and arrived at the Meridian Gate after a stick of incense.
However, the center of the Meridian Gate was empty, and Madam Gu was nowhere to be seen. Only the imperial guards on both sides were guarding the gate with spears in their hands, and the tips of the spears were shining coldly in the sunlight.
Gu Jian's heart skipped a beat, he wasn't sure if the Madam had returned home on her own, or...
Just as he was thinking about it, he saw a short and fat middle-aged eunuch from the other side of the Meridian Gate walking towards him leisurely. He bowed casually to Gu Jian and Gu Yuan and said in a shrill voice, "Madam Gu has been summoned by the Emperor."
"The emperor has ordered us to wait here for the marquis."
"My Lord, Captain Gu, please come together."
As he spoke, the middle-aged eunuch smiled and stretched out his hand as if to ask for permission, his eyes lightly sweeping over the clan leader standing between Gu Jian and Gu Yuan.
Gu Jian was even more unsure. From what the eunuch suggested, did the emperor know that he would come sooner or later?
He felt his mouth dry, and dryly introduced the clan leader to the eunuch: "Eunuch, this is the clan leader of my Gu family."
The clan leader bowed and introduced himself politely: "My surname is Gu, my name is An, and I am honored to meet you, sir."
Being in the important position of the palace gate, the clan leader felt uncomfortable in every way. He had never been to a palace before in his life. The majestic high walls and palace gates around him gave him an invisible sense of oppression, making him feel restrained.
"Old Master Gu, please come with us." The middle-aged eunuch smiled warmly on his round face and walked in front to lead the three people from the Gu family.
So the three of them followed the middle-aged eunuch and walked straight forward, passing through the tall and majestic palace gates unimpeded.
The clan leader was extremely terrified and did not look around at all. He just felt that the sunshine today was so bright and dazzling that it was difficult to open his eyes.
He had only walked a hundred feet or so, but his back was already soaked with sweat, and his body and steps became increasingly stiff and cramped.
The clan leader had no idea how to get there, and after passing through countless palace gates, he finally entered a lush garden. There were no high palace walls around him, and he suddenly felt open and clear.
The sky was clear and blue, the imperial garden was filled with the fragrance of flowers, and the branches of the forsythia had little tender yellow buds.
The weather in early spring is warm but still cold, and the afternoon wind still feels chilly on the body.
After walking around the garden for a while, they came to a water pavilion by the lake.
About ten people gathered in the water pavilion. The clan leader saw a familiar figure kneeling stiffly on the ground. It was a woman in her fifties, wearing heavy makeup. The extraordinarily luxurious five-翟 crown on her head shone brightly.
The woman kneeling on the ground was Madam Gu.
When the three members of the Gu family walked past Madam Gu under the guidance of the eunuchs, Madam Gu finally noticed them.
She hadn't expected them to come and her eyes widened slightly in surprise.
Madam Gu pursed her lips tightly, her dull lips were dry and chapped, and a trace of uneasiness flashed across her eyes.
After Gu Yuan left, Madam Gu knelt in the Meridian Gate for nearly half an hour. More and more court officials came and went in the Meridian Gate. Although those court officials did not ask Madam Gu why, they could not help but cast strange looks at her.
Later, she was brought in by a strange eunuch and taken directly to the Tinglan Water Pavilion in the Imperial Garden and presented to the emperor and his son.
Madam Gu knelt down and was about to "apologize" on behalf of Gu Yuan when Prime Minister Xiao, Wang Kangyin, Feng She and others heard the news and rushed to ask to see the emperor.
Most of these people were powerful officials who held important positions in the court. Once they arrived, Madam Gu, a woman, had no room to speak at all. She could only wait here, and waited for half an hour until Gu Jian, Gu Yuan and others arrived.
Madam Gu was worried and winked at Gu Jian secretly, meaning, why did he come into the palace?
Gu Jian noticed his mother's look, but the palace was an important place and no noise was allowed. He could only stare at Madam Gu in confusion, with many things to say but he dared not answer or ask, and looked to the front left.
The emperor was sitting by the window, facing the eldest prince Chu Yi, who was dressed in an apricot-yellow dragon robe, across the coffee table. Between the father and son was a torreya wood chessboard with only a few chess pieces on it.
A colorful parrot was perched on the gilded bird stand hanging on the window, and the lively parrot was flapping its wings on the bird stand.
The atmosphere in the water pavilion was unusually solemn.
Gu Jian's palms were already covered in cold sweat.
He also didn't expect that the lady would be brought before the emperor.
Originally, the lady would only kneel at the Meridian Gate for a while as a show, and then he would go to the Meridian Gate to pick the person up half an hour later. It would not be good if the matter was brought to the imperial court.
No matter what, the emperor and the eldest prince are father and son. The emperor will definitely not punish the eldest prince for a dead person and will definitely protect the eldest prince.
If the Gu family is too ostentatious, they will become the ones that stick out.
Officials including Chief Minister Xiao in the Water Pavilion all fell silent and looked at the three members of the Gu family with different expressions.
After two breaths of silence, the emperor's calm voice rang out: "Zhao Rang, show Mrs. Gu's memorial to Captain Gu."
Zhao Rang agreed, picked up a chess piece from the side of the Chinese torreya chessboard and handed it to Gu Yuan.
Gu Yuan had seen this memorial before from Chu Yi, but at this moment there was no trace of surprise on his face. He pretended to look at the memorial and recalled what his sister had said to him.
Immediately afterwards, Gu Yuan lifted his robe and knelt down without saying a word. Even when kneeling, his back remained straight, like a pine tree standing proudly on the edge of a cliff.
Xiao Shoufu bowed to the emperor and said in a righteous manner: "Your Majesty, please punish Gu Yuan."
Feng She and others nearby exchanged glances quickly, their eyes shining with excitement.
As long as Gu Yuan was convicted, it would mean that the eldest prince had done something wrong, and their Feng family would be saved! However, Prime Minister Xiao wanted to gain more. He not only wanted to save the Feng family, but also wanted to save the Yu family.
The emperor glanced at Xiao Shoufu, Feng She and the others calmly, took a handful of fish food from the box, and casually scattered it into the lake outside the window, asking, "Does the Prime Minister think it's Captain Gu's fault?"
In the lake, hundreds of golden-red carps came attracted by the scent, creating a gorgeous picture like hundreds of birds returning to their nests, with the sparkling lake water dotted with them.
Chu Yi looked at the rippling lake outside the window, the corners of her beautiful lips curled up slightly, as if she didn't hear anything, as if it had nothing to do with her.
Xiao Shoufu raised his head and looked at the emperor, still bowing with both hands, and said calmly: "Your Majesty, Madam Gu is the grandmother of Captain Gu. There must be a reason for the grandmother to tell the grandson."
As he spoke, Xiao Shoufu raised his voice and turned to ask Madam Gu, who was kneeling on the ground, "Madam Gu, is this true?"
Prime Minister Xiao usually spoke neither lightly nor heavily, neither slowly nor quickly, but at this moment his voice revealed a fierce and oppressive tone.
Madam Gu was already sweating profusely, and the heavy makeup on her body was like a mountain pressing down on her, making her feel breathless.
Things have come to this point. Since she has already submitted this letter of apology, it means that she has become a knife in the hands of Prime Minister Xiao. She has no other choice.
Madam Gu gritted her teeth and said in a difficult voice, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Xiao, my eldest grandson has a violent temper. He has loved fighting since he was a child. He often caused trouble and hurt many people."
"and……"
She paused, glanced at Gu Yuan who was kneeling not far away, and made a gesture of wanting to say something but stopping herself. She seemed to hesitate for a while before continuing, "On the ninth day of the first lunar month, my eldest grandson came back home and told me in person that he had accidentally killed someone..."
"I have been thinking about this for the past few days and have been unable to sleep. I cannot let him make such a big mistake and cause a stir in the court, so I am here to confess my crime."
After saying this, Madam Gu lowered her head heavily again, her well-maintained hands, like those of a young girl, hidden in her sleeves and stretched tightly.
Hearing these words, the patriarch on the side widened his eyes in disbelief. There was shock, disappointment, anger, and sudden enlightenment in his eyes.
He watched Gu Yuan grow up, so he naturally knew that Gu Yuan was not the kind of person that Madam Gu said.
Thinking about today's division of the family, the clan leader looked at Gu Yuan beside him thoughtfully, full of pity, and thought: The Madam is partial to the second house and dares to speak so outrageously in front of the emperor. I'm afraid it has been like this all these years. It's really hard for Brother Yuan.
Gu Yuan knelt on the ground with his back straight, still silent and with a stern expression.
The emperor frowned and slowly looked around at everyone again, taking in their reactions, whether they were nervous, expectant, dissatisfied, or even a little gloating.
There was silence in the water pavilion for a moment.
The emperor's old and elegant face showed a smile, like a sneer, like a sneer, and he slowly said, "So, Madam Gu and the others think Feng He didn't assassinate the eldest prince, and it was the eldest prince who wronged Feng He?"
The emperor's voice was relatively calm, but anyone could hear the anger in his words, and his tone became three degrees colder.
The emperor was responded with dead silence, with only the occasional sound of carp flapping their wings outside the window.
Madam Gu didn't dare to answer, she just knelt there with her eyes on her nose and her nose on her heart.
Xiao Shoufu, Feng She and others also thought so. They also did not answer, but their answer was clearly written on their faces: Feng He certainly did not assassinate the eldest prince! (End of this chapter)
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