Chapter 483 Success (First Update)
Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng entered the prefect's mansion in the afternoon, but the prefect did not return until evening.
Master Hu had the kitchen prepare dinner, and he personally served it to them.
With Gu Chengfeng at Gu Jiao's side, Master Hu brought the food to this room as well.
At this moment, Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng both took off their masks. When Hu Shiye saw Gu Chengfeng, he thought that this gentleman was really good-looking, but he was too young. How could Empress Dowager Zhuang send such a young man to the frontier?
Then he saw Gu Jiao standing to the side.
Master Hu was stunned by the birthmark on Gu Jiao's face. Was the imperial court so unscrupulous in its selection of personnel?
Gu Chengfeng took in Hu Shiye's reaction. He didn't pay attention when Hu Shiye looked him up and down, but the strange look Hu Shiye gave Gu Jiao made him feel angry for no reason.
His expression turned cold: "Is there anything else, Master Hu?"
"Ah! No, no!" Master Hu snapped back to reality, noticing the other party's displeasure. He quickly smiled sheepishly, took two steps forward with the tray, and said, "My lords, this is dinner. I've put it here for you."
As he spoke, he respectfully placed the tray on the table in front of the two of them.
Gu Chengfeng and Gu Jiao had spent many days and nights traveling together, enduring hardships and sleeping outdoors. They had experienced prosperous cities and also stayed in impoverished towns. The further north they went, the colder the weather became, and the more miserable the lives of the people seemed to be.
He just hadn't expected that the food at the prefect's mansion would be so bad!
He's the highest-ranking local official, after all!
Gu Chengfeng stared dumbfounded at the pitifully presented cornbread, two boiled eggs, and a dish of pickled vegetables in the bowl.
Seemingly sensing Gu Chengfeng's doubts, Master Hu smiled awkwardly and said, "The border region is a harsh and cold place, unlike the capital. I hope you two gentlemen will be understanding."
"Is even the prefect's mansion this poor?"
Gu Chengfeng couldn't help but ask.
There's a saying among the people: "A clean prefect for three years can amass 100,000 taels of silver."
There are only poor people in the world, not poor officials.
Master Hu lowered his head and sighed helplessly: "My lords, you are unaware of the fact that Yuegu City is poor and the people are starving. The prefect comes from a humble background and loves the people like his own children. He uses all his salary to provide relief to the disaster victims. He eats whatever the people eat on ordinary days. Today, he only brought out eggs and pickled vegetables that he usually only eats during the New Year to entertain you two."
The last sentence is absolutely brilliant.
Gu Chengfeng's lips twitched. There's meat in here?
The kind with diced meat?
Thinking of something, Gu Chengfeng asked, "The imperial court allocates funds to the border regions every year. Where does it go?"
Master Hu sighed again: "Our Yuegu City is just a small city. The amount of money we received was not much, and it was all spent. The Prefect does not take a single penny from the people, nor does he take a single cent from the imperial court."
Gu Chengfeng remained silent.
Forget it, he's a notorious thief, what business does he have with the people's livelihood?
His purpose in coming here was to rescue his grandfather; nothing else mattered to him.
Hu, the clerk, observed the situation and said, "Please enjoy your meal, gentlemen. I'll take my leave now."
"Hmm." Gu Chengfeng waved his hand dismissively.
After Master Hu left, Gu Chengfeng casually picked up a cornbread. It was probably hot when it came out of the pot, but it had been blown cold by the wind and was as hard as a stone by the time he brought it over.
Gu Chengfeng took a bite, and frowned as he found it unpalatable. He said to Gu Jiao, "If Princess Ning'an had known that she would be marrying into such a place, she probably wouldn't have come to the border region."
"I don't know," Gu Jiao said.
Gu Chengfeng curled his lip in disgust; he always had a way of killing the conversation.
He looked disgusted, but he was very careful in picking out the cornbread for Gu Jiao.
He peeled off the dried outer skin and put it in his own bowl, while placing the warm and soft filling inside into Gu Jiao's bowl. He also carefully picked out the meat chunks from the pickled vegetables and gave them to Gu Jiao.
He wasn't always so natural. The first time was at the first post station after leaving the capital. The food was pretty good then, and they even got to eat a plate of shrimp. He had gotten used to taking care of his younger brother, so he just peeled one for Gu Jiao without thinking.
It wasn't until it was placed on Gu Jiao's plate that he realized something was wrong.
Gu Jiao is neither his brother nor his sister, so he doesn't acknowledge her!
The most awkward thing wasn't that he presumptuously peeled shrimp for Gu Jiao, but that Gu Jiao might suddenly say, "Why are you so nice to me?"
To everyone's surprise, Gu Jiao didn't say a word, and didn't even lift her eyelids, as if this behavior was neither out of line nor important.
This made Gu Chengfeng secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
He unconsciously did similar things a few more times after that, and she always accepted it calmly. If he didn't do it, she wouldn't ask him why.
Gu Chengfeng felt that this girl wasn't too difficult to get along with.
Or more precisely, they are very easy to get along with.
Even Gu Jinyu in the manor isn't this easy to get along with. Gu Jinyu is too fragile and needs someone to protect her at all times, otherwise she will be sad and cry.
Gu Jiao wouldn't do that; she only knows how to make others cry.
After dinner, Gu Chengfeng asked Gu Jiao, "I'm going to Yecheng tomorrow to rescue my grandfather. What are your plans?"
The remnants of the previous dynasty were stationed in Ye City, and his grandfather and Princess Ning'an were also captured and taken there.
Ye City was the most heavily guarded of the three cities, with not only remnants of the previous dynasty but also the army of the Chen state. It was easy to defend and difficult to attack. He wanted to rescue his grandfather by himself, but the chances of winning were actually very slim.
But he had no choice but to do it; that was his grandfather. Even if Ye City was a mountain of knives and a sea of fire, he had to go and risk it.
Gu Chengfeng suddenly remembered Gu Jiao's purpose in coming to the border and asked her, "You said your brother was also captured. Could he be in Ye City as well?"
"Not here," Gu Jiao said.
Gu Chengfeng's expression relaxed: "It's good that we're not in Ye City. The situation in Ye City is the most complicated. Don't act rashly yet. Wait for me to go to Ye City to rescue my grandfather, and then we'll go together to rescue your brother."
Gu Jiao took a sip of water containing sand and slowly said, "Okay."
Princess Ning'an and the old Marquis had already been secretly moved and were not in Ye City at all. Ye City was an empty nest where Gu Chengfeng would never return.
After Gu Chengfeng returned to his room, Gu Jiao also went to rest.
In the middle of the night, she heard a very slight noise coming from the roof. Her ears twitched, and she coldly opened her eyes.
In that dream, Gu Chengfeng stayed at an inn. On the first night, he was drugged, which caused him to suddenly lose all his powers when he went to Yecheng to rescue someone the next day, falling into the other party's trap.
It seems the governor's defenses weren't very effective; what was bound to happen has finally arrived.
There were three people in total.
Gu Jiao looked at the roof, threw off the covers and sat up. She heard them go next door. She was waiting for them to come to her side to die after they came out, but they just left!
etc.
She came with Gu Chengfeng, so why didn't they drug her too?
Or is it that the only person they've ever been dealing with is Gu Chengfeng?
wrong.
Gu Chengfeng and the old Marquis were beheaded, Gu Changqing had his legs severed, and the Gu family army was annihilated... This was not targeting Gu Chengfeng, but the Gu family and the Gu family army.
She concealed her identity and did not reveal that she was the daughter of the Gu family, so the other party did not include her in their calculations.
Gu Jiao's eyes turned cold. She pushed open the door and went out to Gu Chengfeng's room. She kicked the door open, went inside, and extinguished the sleeping incense on the windowsill.
Gu Chengfeng was awakened by the loud noise, and sat up with his dagger in hand: "Who goes there!"
He looked at Gu Jiao, his brow furrowing: "It's you?"
"I'm leaving," Gu Jiao said calmly.
"What are you doing?" Gu Chengfeng asked.
Gu Jiao threw the extinguished incense out the window: "Weren't you supposed to be saving someone?"
Gu Chengfeng looked in the direction of her movement and asked, "What did you just throw away?"
Gu Jiao took out a handkerchief and wiped her hands: "Scent of intoxication."
Gu Chengfeng frowned: "You put a sleeping potion on me?"
Gu Jiao said nonchalantly, "Yes, I want to kill you."
Gu Chengfeng's face darkened.
He certainly didn't believe Gu Jiao would kill her, so the sleeping potion wasn't brought by Gu Jiao. He looked at Gu Jiao, then at the door she had kicked open, his face darkening, and said, "Was someone here just now?"
"Not too stupid," Gu Jiao said, putting away her handkerchief.
A hint of seriousness flashed across Gu Chengfeng's expression. He was Fei Shuang; only he knew how alert he was. Gu Jiao said that they had been watched when they entered the city, but at the time he assumed the other party was too far away to notice in time.
Yet tonight, the other party had sneaked right under his nose, and he hadn't noticed at all...
Gu Jiao strode out: "If we don't leave now, we won't be able to catch up."
At this point, it would be a bit pretentious to tell Gu Jiao that she doesn't need to take the risk with me.
Gu Chengfeng composed himself, threw off the covers, and got out of bed.
They slept fully clothed throughout their journey, enduring wind and rain.
After getting out of bed, he grabbed his sword and left the prefect's mansion with Gu Jiao without making a sound.
To avoid being noticed by the three men, they followed them at a considerable distance.
The two were hiding on a rooftop. Gu Chengfeng glanced at the three people urinating in front of him and then covered Gu Jiao's eyes with his hand.
Gu Jiao: "..."
Thanks, but I wasn't interested anyway.
Gu Chengfeng whispered, "Do you think they are remnants of the previous dynasty or experts from the Chen Kingdom?"
“Remnants of the previous dynasty,” Gu Jiao said without hesitation.
"Are you so sure?" Gu Chengfeng asked, looking surprised.
Gu Jiao nodded.
She had just thought it over carefully. The remnants of the previous dynasty and the Chen army were in cahoots. Although all their actions seemed to be coordinated, they actually had their own purposes.
For example, sending the 100,000 Gu family soldiers to their deaths seemed like the idea of the Chen state army, while dealing with the Gu family grandfather and grandson seemed more like a scheme by the remnants of the previous dynasty.
I don't know how the Gu family offended the remnants of the previous dynasty, to suffer such rampant retaliation from them.
In fact, Gu Chengfeng also felt that the possibility of the former dynasty's remnants was relatively high, after all, his grandfather had fallen into the hands of the former dynasty's remnants.
Gu Chengfeng continued, "Princess Ning'an's husband is also a remnant of the previous dynasty, and according to the information I obtained from Qianji Pavilion, he is also a member of the previous dynasty's royal family."
Gu Jiao was unaware of this.
After the three of them finished relieving themselves, Gu Chengfeng removed his hand from Gu Jiao's eyes and continued chasing after them with Gu Jiao in his arms.
As he continued his pursuit, he sensed something was amiss.
"Hey, that doesn't seem to be the way to Ye City." He had studied the map repeatedly before going to sleep. If he went along this official road, Ye City would be to the east, and Lingguan City would be to the west.
"They're going to Lingguan City!" Gu Chengfeng gasped suspiciously. "What are they going to Lingguan City for? Shouldn't they be going to Ye City? Could it be... they've secretly shifted their base?"
Gu Chengfeng was not stupid after all, and he figured out the key point after thinking about it for a while.
If that's the case, then my grandfather must not be in Ye City either. I went through all that trouble to get there, only to find it empty-handed.
The fact that he found nothing is secondary; the fact that those people drugged him and moved their position suggests that they had already set a trap in Ye City.
Gu Chengfeng was shocked: "So I'm just sending them to their deaths from afar..."
Gu Jiao glanced at him sideways and silently clapped her hands in her heart.
Congratulations, you got it right!
The two chased them for half the night, and as dawn approached, the three finally stopped their journey and instead took the token and entered a mansion.
“It’s the Prefect’s residence in Lingguan City.” Gu Chengfeng leaned on the eaves of a roof and whispered to Gu Jiao behind him.
With the fall of Lingguan City, the Prefect's Mansion had long since become the possession of the remnants of the previous dynasty and the army of the Chen Kingdom.
The governor's mansion was heavily guarded, and judging from their armor, they included soldiers from the Chen state as well as a large army of remnants from the previous dynasty.
"Could my grandfather be imprisoned here?" Gu Chengfeng murmured.
Gu Jiao thought he was asking her, so she replied, "I don't know."
She didn't dream about this detail; she only knew that Gu Chengfeng and the old Marquis were beheaded in Lingguan City, and their heads were hung on the city wall of Lingguan City.
(End of this chapter)
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