Chapter 375 The Princess (Second Update)
Consort Jing held the imperial edict in her hand with an icy expression.
Granny Cai grabbed her arm and knelt down abruptly. Her face turned deathly pale, and her voice trembled as she spoke: "Your Majesty! This servant kneels before you! Please don't be impulsive! His Majesty is just temporarily bewitched! In a while... in a while His Majesty will be fine!"
These words were merely a consolation, but Granny Cai couldn't think of any other way.
"Please, I beg you, please put the imperial edict back... please put it back..."
"You don't only have His Majesty, you also have Princess Ning'an... Please don't be impulsive... Think about the princess..."
Consort Jing said blankly, "Ning'an will never come back in this lifetime... never..."
“No way!” Granny Cai shook her head, choking back tears. “The Empress Dowager’s words that if the princess dared to marry, she would never be allowed to come back… were just said in anger. The Empress Dowager loves the princess so much; if the princess really wanted to come back, how could the Empress Dowager possibly turn her away?”
Consort Jing murmured, "Can Ning'an still come back?"
"Yes...yes!" Seeing the somewhat dazed look on Consort Jing's face, Granny Cai stood up calmly and carefully reached out to grasp one end of the imperial edict. "Your Majesty, please give the edict to me...I'll put it away for you...I'll grind ink for you later...Your Majesty, please send a letter home to the Princess, saying you miss her..."
Consort Jing looked bewildered: "Write a letter to Ning'an..."
Granny Cai slowly pulled the imperial edict from her hand: "Yes! Yes, Your Majesty! Write a letter to Princess Ning'an! You haven't written your letter home this month yet!"
Consort Jing did not resist in the end, and her hand fell down.
Granny Cai took all the imperial edicts in her hands, breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly put them into another hidden compartment.
The old hidden compartment has already been exposed; this one is now under the floor.
Fearing that the Imperial Concubine Jing might change her mind, Granny Cai hurriedly went to the study to fetch pen, ink, paper, and inkstone: "Come on, Your Highness! Write a letter to the princess!"
In any case, we must first divert the Empress Dowager's attention!
Consort Jing picked up her pen calmly.
In the darkness where no one could see, she closed her eyes and a tear rolled down her cheek.
...
Xiao Liulang went to the countryside, Xiao Jingkong went to Xu Zhouzhou's residence, and Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun went to learn their craft again. Gu Jiao felt that with such a perfect opportunity, it would be unreasonable not to secretly stir up some trouble.
She infiltrated the Marquis of Ding'an's residence.
The Marquis of Ding'an's residence remained as quiet as ever. Originally, Gu Chenglin was a bit noisy, but a while ago, the Marquis of Gu had no carriage and walked all the way from the countryside to the capital. His legs almost broke, and he fell ill as soon as he got home.
Gu Chenglin is taking care of his ailing father in his courtyard today.
This actually made things convenient for Gu Jiao, since Gu Chenglin and Gu Chengfeng lived in the same courtyard, so having one less person watching over them was never a bad thing.
Gu Jiao entered Gu Chengfeng's courtyard with practiced ease.
Gu Chengfeng was taking a bath, singing opera in the wooden tub as he soaked.
Gu Jiao didn't understand opera, but for some reason she found his operatic singing quite pleasant to listen to.
"Eee~ee~ee~ee~ee~ The wild geese soar in the sky~ I hear your voice and your shadow fall on the painted screen~"
Gu Chengfeng sang with great passion, his tone was melodious and his voice was graceful, and his gestures were all full of charm.
"You can sing female vocals too?" Gu Jiao bent down and asked him, looking into his ear.
The tone of this sentence was so casual that it was as if he were greeting an acquaintance on the street. However, the reality was that Gu Chengfeng was taking a bath, singing opera, and completely naked in his own room!
To avoid being overheard, he deliberately chose a time when Gu Chenglin was not in the courtyard and dismissed all the servants.
Therefore, he had no idea that he would be disturbed.
To call it a disturbance is too mild; this is downright shocking!
Gu Chengfeng plunged into the water with a splash and almost choked to death!
By the time he managed to sit up, holding onto the edge of the tub, he had already swallowed several mouthfuls of his own bathwater!
He grabbed a towel hanging on the wooden tub to cover a certain unspeakable area, and his voice rose in panic: "What are you doing here in the middle of the night! And you chose to come while I'm taking a shower! Do you have some kind of weird fetish?"
Last time it was in the outhouse, and this time it's in the bathtub. Gu Chengfeng strongly suspects that she did it on purpose!
Gu Jiao shrugged: "I didn't know you were the one singing. Who told you to sing while taking a bath, especially a female-singing opera?"
Gu Chengfeng's face flushed red: "You know, you sing whatever role you're supposed to be! Don't you understand?!"
"I don't understand," Gu Jiao said frankly.
Gu Chengfeng: "..."
Gu Chengfeng gritted his teeth: "You, you, you, you... get out!"
"Oh." Gu Jiao turned around, opened the door and walked out. Just as she stepped over the threshold, a small head suddenly peeked in. "It sounds pretty good."
Gu Chengfeng: ...Shut up!
When Gu Chengfeng impersonated an assassin to frame Granny Cai last time, he used a voice that was completely different from his usual one. Gu Jiao didn't take it too seriously at the time, thinking that they were just highly professional thieves who could not only conceal their appearance but also disguise their voices.
But when I listened to him tonight, I realized that this wasn't just a disguise; he really could change his voice!
"Hey, what other sounds can you make?" Gu Jiao asked Gu Chengfeng as he came out of the house with a dark face.
"That's all!" Gu Chengfeng said irritably.
Gu Jiao: "Oh."
Gu Chengfeng thought she had given up, but she suddenly spoke again: "Can you speak in a loli voice?"
"That... a mature, older woman's voice?"
"A boy's voice?"
"Queen's voice?"
Gu Chengfeng stopped and looked at her with a puzzled expression: "Although I don't know what you're talking about, but... when did you become so talkative!"
Doesn't your family only have one little loudspeaker, Xiao Jingkong?
Gu Jiao blinked, and sure enough, she stopped bothering him to change his voice. She took a copper coin out of her purse and handed it to him.
"What?" Gu Chengfeng asked.
Gu Jiao said, "This is a tip for you."
Gu Chengfeng: "..."
The two left the courtyard and walked forward at a leisurely pace. However, the old Marquis was not there, and most of the mansion's guards were also not in this area.
As they passed a small wooden cabin, Gu Chengfeng said, "Next time you come to see me, could you at least let me know beforehand? Or at least knock on the door."
I only caught him singing in the shower today; what if one day...?
He's a man, and there will always be times when it's inconvenient for him to be seen by others.
"Oh, is that so?" Gu Jiao raised her hand casually and knocked on the door of the cabin.
creak—
The door to the cabin opened.
Both of them were stunned. Neither of them expected that there was actually someone inside, and that the person who came out was Gu Changqing.
Both were dressed in black and were holding masks.
Upon seeing his elder brother, Gu Chengfeng didn't say a word. He immediately put on the mask and ran away using his lightness skill!
Gu Changqing frowned: "Who is it!"
Gu Chengfeng had already vanished without a trace.
"Did anyone pass by here just now?" Gu Changqing asked.
Gu Jiao shrugged: "No way..."
That guy isn't human.
That's not what she wanted to say!
Gu Changqing withdrew his gaze from the surroundings and looked at Gu Jiao with a puzzled expression: "Why are you here so late? Where are you going dressed in the dark?"
Gu Jiao: "This..."
Gu Changqing asked, "You came to see me?"
Gu Jiao thought for a moment and said, "That works too."
Gu Changqing: ...What do you mean by "also possible"? Is it true or not?
"I want to steal the imperial edict," Gu Jiao said bluntly. Since she had already been caught, no one would believe her if she said she was just out for a walk.
Gu Changqing was startled: "What imperial edict? Why did you steal the imperial edict?"
Gu Jiao calmly said, "The Empress Dowager Jing has an imperial edict, and I want to steal it."
Gu Changqing looked at Gu Jiao suspiciously: "How do you know she has an imperial edict? Did you investigate her...did you steal something from her?!"
Gu Jiao blinked, looking utterly innocent.
Gu Changqing gasped, "Are you crazy! She has Dragon Shadow Guards by her side. Getting close to her is suicide!"
Gu Jiao blinked but didn't say anything.
Gu Changqing suddenly couldn't stay angry anymore. No, he was still angry: "It's too dangerous. Don't do this kind of thing alone in the future."
He certainly didn't expect that Gu Jiao had dragged Gu Chengfeng into it.
Gu Changqing asked, "When did you go?"
Gu Jiao thought for a moment: "The day before yesterday?"
Gu Changqing frowned: "Did we disturb her?"
Gu Jiao nodded: "Mm."
Gu Changqing gasped again. Did this girl even know what she was doing? She managed to escape unscathed after alerting him. Should he say she was lucky or just incredibly fortunate?
Besides, it's only been a few days, and she already dared to go again?
Is this girl made of iron?
Gu Changqing didn't know what to say.
He rubbed his forehead: "It's too dangerous to steal the imperial edict now, and besides, she might move it... Do you know what kind of imperial edict it is?"
Gu Jiao shook her head: "I didn't have time to look at it."
Gu Changqing pondered for a moment and said, "Could it be... an imperial edict issued by the late emperor before his death, ordering Empress Dowager Zhuang to be buried alive with him?"
Gu Changqing's reaction was the same as Gu Chengfeng's, which was not surprising. After all, the incident of Consort Jing stealing the imperial edict and burning it had caused a great uproar. Although the emperor suppressed the news, the rumors had already leaked among the powerful and wealthy families.
If Consort Jing had an imperial edict, this was the only one Gu Changqing could think of.
Gu Changqing said, "Leave the matter of the imperial edict to me. Don't act rashly yet. Dealing with her is important, but..."
Your safety is more important.
Gu Changqing couldn't bring himself to say such mushy things.
The night wind was a bit strong, and one of Gu Jiao's little tufts of hair on her head stood up again.
Gu Changqing raised his hand and gently pressed down her little ahoge (cowlick), but as soon as he let go, it stubbornly stuck up again!
Gu Changqing suddenly felt like laughing.
He thought of Gu Yan; they were indeed twins, even their little tufts of hair were just as stubborn.
He gently ruffled her hair: "I'll take you home."
Gu Jiao: "Oh."
Gu Changqing escorted Gu Jiao out of the mansion, through the main gate. He had a carriage prepared for Gu Jiao, and they left the Ding'an Marquis's mansion with dignity.
The carriage stopped in Bishui Hutong.
"You go inside first," Gu Changqing said to Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao suppressed her urge to steal the imperial edict and slowly entered the house.
Gu Changqing went to the old chief priest's place.
The old master is inspecting the kitchen where candied fruit is being made. That's right, all the candied fruit for my great-aunt every day is made by the old master himself! It tastes better than what you can buy in stores! More importantly, it's less sugar and healthier!
The old chief priest met Gu Changqing in his study.
Gu Changqing explained his purpose.
The old chief priest stroked his beard: "You mean... the Dowager Consort Jing may not have burned that imperial edict? That's strange. She and Zhuang Jinse are sworn enemies. If she really had an imperial edict ordering Zhuang Jinse's death, why didn't she take it out earlier?"
Gu Changqing said, "Could it be used as a trump card to blackmail the Empress Dowager?"
The old chief priest pondered for a moment and said, "Why threaten Zhuang Jinse? Wouldn't it be better to just kill her? What Zhuang Jinse can give her, His Majesty can also give. On the contrary, because of Zhuang Jinse's obstruction, His Majesty's power has been greatly reduced, and he can give her less. So no matter how you look at it, killing Zhuang Jinse is the best option for her."
Gu Changqing asked, "Didn't the imperial edict specify that the Empress Dowager should be buried alive with the Emperor?"
The old chief priest frowned: "But if it's not Zhuang Jinse who is to be buried alive with the emperor, then what is it?"
Gu Changqing was quite troubled: "No third person has seen that imperial edict while alive, and no one knows what was written on it."
The old chief priest's eyes lit up: "No, perhaps there is one person who knows."
Gu Changqing looked at him with a puzzled expression.
The old chief priest: "Princess Ning'an."
Gu Changqing: "Her?"
The old chief priest said, "She is the daughter of Consort Jing, and the closest person Consort Jing was in the world. Perhaps... she saw that imperial edict!"
Gu Changqing hesitated for a moment, then said, "But she's far away on the frontier. Even if she's seen us, she won't be back anytime soon. Sending someone to ask her would take a long time to get the news. Besides... she might not even tell us."
If Princess Ning'an really saw it, and so much time has passed without her mentioning the contents of the imperial edict, there is only one possibility—she cannot mention it.
Gu Changqing sighed: "Is there no one else who knows the contents of the imperial edict?"
“Perhaps… there is one more,” the old priest said.
"Who?" Gu Changqing asked.
The old chief priest looked at the west room next door with a complicated expression: "Xiao Heng's mother, Princess Xinyang."
(End of this chapter)
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