He looked directly into Gu Yanfei's eyes quietly, and their eyes met.
Chu You stood with his hands behind his back beside a willow tree, while Gu Yanfei was still sitting on the bench by the lake, motionless.
The girl has a pair of clear eyes that seem to see through everything, as if any scheme or conspiracy cannot escape her eyes.
There was no trace of strange expression on Chu You's face. He remained expressionless, making it impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.
Beneath his seemingly indifferent appearance, his mind was racing: this matter was of great importance and he had not mentioned it to anyone.
As for Fang Mingfeng, although he is stupid, he would not say anything nonsense at this juncture.
Gu Yanfei couldn't possibly know...
After staring at Gu Yanfei for a moment, Chu You calmly brushed off a willow leaf from his shoulder and said, "I don't understand what Miss Gu means."
Chu You said he didn't understand, but the others who were watching couldn't help but start thinking about it.
The biological sister of the future Princess Kang?! The future Princess Kang is Gu Yunyan, the third daughter of the Gu family. Doesn’t that mean that the daughter-in-law named Zhaodi is Gu Yunyan’s sister?
Really?! This is really a wonderful drama! The princes of the royal family exchanged glances with great interest, curious about the origin of the Zeng family's daughter-in-law.
"So..." Gu Yanfei's lips curled up even higher, "That Li Zhaodi has nothing to do with the prince's future princess?"
She raised her hand and pointed in the direction Li Zhaodi left, with a meaningful smile on her lips, as if provoking him.
"My Lord, are you sure?"
“……”Chu You’s eyebrows twitched.
The two looked at each other quietly, as if they were engaging in a silent duel.
As the silence spread, the air became suffocatingly heavy. No one spoke for a long time, as if time had stood still.
Chu You secretly bit his back teeth, and a look of struggle flashed in his eyes.
These days, Chu You racked his brains and tried every possible way to save Gu Yunyan, and even went to the Northern Pacification Office several times, using threats and inducements. He Lie finally allowed him to visit the prison, and he finally met Gu Yunyan.
At that time, Gu Yun'er had been imprisoned in the imperial prison for five days. He had lost a lot of weight, with dark circles under his eyes, and looked very haggard, which made Chu You feel heartbroken.
His Meng'er had never suffered such a crime in her life! But even so, she still comforted herself: "My lord, I'm fine. I have a clear conscience. My lord, please don't take risks for me."
Her considerate words were still ringing in his ears, and Chu You's chest was burning with heat.
For Gu Yunyan, Chu You bowed his head to the emperor again and again, and made many concessions again and again. He even promised that after the wedding, he would take Gu Yunyan with him to the fiefdom and never return to Beijing.
This was a difficult decision for him.
The throne had been his goal for the past twenty years. Since he was a child, the late emperor had told him that the throne belonged to him. For this reason, the late emperor had worked hard for twenty years.
If the late emperor could live another three to five years, if Chu Yi died in Yue State, perhaps the situation would be different...
But the late emperor passed away too suddenly, and as the current prince, it was natural for me to ascend the throne after the late emperor's death.
Over the past year, Chu You never gave up, believing that he could still fight for it, but now, for Gu Yunmeng, he decided to give up. However, the emperor still did not agree.
Chu You certainly didn't want to have anything to do with someone as lowly as Li Zhaodi, but for his daughter...
He had no other choice.
Chu You clenched his fist tightly and said with great difficulty: "That's Meng'er's sister."
As soon as these words were spoken, the color on Zeng Ya's face quickly faded, turning pale, and her legs felt as if they weighed a thousand pounds.
King Kang's answer proved Gu Yanfei's words, and Zeng Ya couldn't help but tremble.
"Ms. Zeng," Gu Yanfei turned his cold gaze from Chu You's face to Zeng Ya, and sighed regretfully, "You are indeed 'crazy'."
"No, I didn't!" Zeng Ya said harshly, her voice even sharper.
Her panic-stricken expression made her words less convincing.
Another gust of wind blew gently, and the long willow branches by the lake swayed, and a few willow leaves fluttered in the wind.
Everyone else around was extremely shocked, but Chu Yi was the only one who remained calm and composed.
Chu Yi gently waved the folding fan in his hand, with a smile on his face. His eyes, as deep as the sea, showed endless tenderness as he looked at Gu Yanfei, and his eyes were full of unmelting tenderness.
"What the hell is going on?!" someone in the crowd whispered.
Just now, when the daughter-in-law named Zhaodi kept saying that the second girl Gu was her sister Li Erya, they were more or less skeptical.
But now, in a surprising turn of events, Prince Kang actually admitted in person that Li Zhaodi was the sister of Gu Yunman, the third daughter of the Gu family.
All the noble ladies present were very familiar with Miss Gu San. She was the best among the ladies in the capital in terms of music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and had a wide circle of friends. She was close friends with noble ladies such as Princess Changqing and Princess Ya'an, and was a prominent figure in the capital. Last year, she was married to the future Princess Kang by the Empress Dowager.
However, no one knew why Gu Yunyan suddenly changed from the eldest daughter of the eldest house to the daughter of the second house.
In wealthy families, adopting children is not an uncommon thing. Since the Gu family didn't say anything, no one would get to the bottom of it. To put it bluntly, this is someone else's business.
But now, Prince Kang actually said that Gu Yun'er's sister was a slave of the Zeng family.
This kind of thing is simply unheard of, even more bizarre and shocking than the plots in those play scripts!
Everyone was shocked, but no one dared to question Chu You face to face. They all looked at him, wanting to see if he would say anything else.
However, Chu You's face turned grim, he pursed his thin lips and said nothing.
His silence was a kind of affirmation, indicating that what he had just said was not a joke but a fact.
Everyone was stunned and didn't come back to their senses for a long time.
A round-faced girl licked her dry lips and couldn't help asking, "Just now, the servant of the Zeng family said that her sister is Li Erya, so is the third daughter of the Gu family surnamed Gu or Li?"
"Miss Gu San is Li Erya?" a young man said uncertainly.
In other words, Gu Yun'er's surname is not actually Gu, but Li?
The future Consort of Prince Kang became the sister of a slave. Doesn't that mean that Prince Kang will marry a house-born child as his principal wife? This is too absurd!
The eyes of the people looking at King Kang became very subtle, and no one cared whether Zeng Ya was crazy or not.
Gu Yanfei smiled slightly and asked, "My Lord, is it appropriate for Princess Kang's sister to be a servant in someone else's house?"
She emphasized the word "sister" and ended with a faint sigh.
She used a questioning tone, but shook her head in disagreement.
The atmosphere became colder, and there was a hint of solemnity in the air.
Chu You didn't say anything, but Zeng Ya shuddered with fear and used up almost all her strength to avoid losing her composure.
Zeng Ya knelt down with difficulty and bowed to Chu You, her voice a little hoarse: "Your Majesty, I will send someone to send Zhao Di to the palace later."
Gu Yanfei interrupted casually, "Then the indenture..."
"Of course the indenture contract will be sent to the palace along with the other person!" Zeng Ya interrupted Gu Yanfei impatiently, her lips turning almost blue, not daring to look directly into Chu You's sinister and sharp eyes.
Her heart was in a turmoil, with panic, fear, surprise, uneasiness, resentment and other emotions swirling in her heart, and her middle shirt was soaked with sweat.
She really didn't understand why King Kang would agree to this matter. It would do King Kang more harm than good.
Was King Kang coerced by Gu Yanfei? Or did Gu Yanfei use some means to control other people's minds?
Various speculations emerged in Zeng Ya's mind, and her heart became even more confused, and her hands were shaking like a sieve.
This matter involved King Kang, which was equivalent to her exposing King Kang's shortcomings in public. She was sure that nothing good would happen to her when she returned today.
Zeng Ya's fingernails almost made her palms bleed. She tried to explain calmly, "Your Highness, I took Zhao Di in because I felt sorry for her. I really didn't expect Zhao Di to say such nonsense..."
She tried to distance herself from the incident, telling herself that she was not wrong, but her hands were still shaking uncontrollably. She had never been so scared as she was today.
"No." Gu Yanfei interrupted Zeng Ya lightly and said flatly, "You are crazy."
After saying that, she turned around and looked at Chu You who was a few feet away again, and asked with a smile: "My Lord, is that so?"
Gu Yanfei tilted her snow-white cheek slightly, smiled cleverly, and smiled sweetly.
She considers herself not to be a generous person, but rather to be very stingy and always seeks revenge.
She also doesn't mind showing this in front of everyone, so the next time someone wants to provoke her, they will naturally consider whether they can afford her counterattack.
Chu You's mind was in a mess, and upon hearing this, he became even more furious, with a changeable look in his eyes.
After trying everything to no avail, he could only lower his head and look for Fang Mingfeng.
Only then did I know that Fang Mingfeng had actually brought the Li family to the capital.
This time, Gu Jian and her son were linked to the Yu family's rebellion case. The crime involved treason, and the whole family was implicated. Now, Gu Yunyan was nominally Gu Jian's daughter and was recorded in the Gu family tree, so she could not escape.
Even if Chu You could convince the emperor to grant Gu Yunmeng a pardon, as Gu Yunmeng was the daughter of a criminal, she would not have made any great contribution to the court, and he probably would not be able to marry Gu Yunmeng as his principal wife.
Unless, Gu Yunmeng is not Gu Jian’s daughter.
Unless Gu Yunmeng has no relationship with Gu Jian and is removed from the Gu family tree.
Just like this -
"Chu You, you better think it through. If you do this, Mengmeng's true background will be completely revealed to everyone and it can no longer be concealed. Mengmeng will probably become the topic of gossip for others."
Chu You could certainly think of what Fang Mingfeng could think of. With Gu Yunmeng's ambition, he would not be willing to become a laughing stock of others.
These two days, Chu You has been hesitating and weighing the pros and cons.
He also wanted to think about it carefully to see if there was a more appropriate way to get Gu Yunmeng out of the Gu family and give the Li family a decent identity.
The Li family, who was born in a family, is not even as good as ordinary civilians! But before he could arrange everything, he encountered this incident.
At this moment, Chu You really wanted to kill Zeng Ya!
With Zeng Ya being too clever in front and Gu Yanfei pressing him from behind, he had no choice.
In the blink of an eye, Chu You had already thought about it and made a decision in his heart.
He stared at Zeng Ya with cold eyes and said word by word, "My future princess's sister went missing a few days ago. I ordered people to look for her everywhere these days, but I didn't expect that she was kidnapped by your Zeng family."
"You, the Zeng family, kidnapped someone first, and now you are trying to confuse right and wrong. If you are not possessed by evil spirits, could it be that the Zeng family is intentionally trying to sow discord between the royal family and the eldest prince?!"
"You've gone so crazy, and the Zeng family actually let you come to the palace. This is really outrageous!"
Unlike Gu Yanfei who had been speaking in a gentle voice just now, Chu You did not hide his rage at all. He made the final conclusion in just a few words, leaving Zeng Ya no room for rebuttal or questioning.
He said Zeng Ya was crazy, so Zeng Ya was crazy, otherwise, the Zeng family had evil intentions.
It's just a choice between the two. Even if Zeng Ya doesn't choose, the Zeng family will choose for her.
"..." Zeng Ya felt Chu You's rising anger and looked at his bulging forehead with fear and trepidation, but she still stood straight, not wanting to lose the demeanor of a noble family.
She was not afraid of King Kang, and King Kang could not do anything to her. The problem was that she had acted on her own and had caused such consequences. If the news reached her family, her father and brother would be furious.
In order to quell the impact of this incident, even if she was not crazy, she would probably be labeled as such by her father, brothers, and clansmen.
Just like my great-uncle Zeng Yue.
My great-uncle Zeng Yue was a very contradictory person. On the one hand, he was extremely talented and left behind many poems that have been passed down through the ages. On the other hand, he was crazy by nature and had many strange ideas. One moment he made cannons and blew up houses, the next he said he could open up patients' stomachs to perform surgery, and the next he said in front of his first wife that he wanted to make a personal maid his equal wife, regardless of age, and treat them as equals...
Outsiders only knew that Zeng Yue was burned to death by a Taoist priest, but when she overheard a secret conversation between her father and brother, she realized that the truth was not so.
It turned out that the Taoist priest was not invited by the Zeng family, but was sent by the late emperor. The late emperor wanted Zeng Yue dead because he was afraid of him.
If the king wants his subject to die, the subject has to die, so Zeng Yue had no choice but to die.
She will have the same ending as Zeng Yue.
"Come here, take him away!" Chu You ordered coldly.
"I..." Zeng Ya panicked and finally couldn't help but take a step back, at a loss as to what to do.
She was in a dilemma. Not only had she offended Gu Yanfei, she had also offended King Kang.
If she admitted that she deliberately induced Li Zhaodi to slander Gu Yanfei, then she would become a sinister villain.
If she said nothing, she would not be able to clear herself of the label of being crazy.
No matter which situation it is, it will inevitably tarnish the family's reputation, and her family will not forgive her.
Zeng Ya was at a loss, sweating profusely. At this moment, no matter what she said, it would be wrong.
(End of this chapter)