The furious emperor loudly ordered: "Seventh Prince Gu Cheng, you secretly led troops in the capital. From now on, you are not allowed to take a single step out of the Seventh Prince's Mansion. Half a year's salary will be deducted!"
The emperor did not give a specific deadline. Without his order, the seventh prince might not be able to come out.
Such an order was a serious crime. He could not attend court and had no way to get close to officials.
"Father! Father! I really know I was wrong."
But these pleas for mercy could not win the emperor's forgiveness.
"Forgive? You've made a fool of yourself for all the people in the world. Do you think you deserve my forgiveness?" The emperor threw away his sleeves fiercely, anger surging between his brows.
Now I am worried about national affairs, but this person actually goes against my wishes.
The emperor didn't want to look at the other person any more, and waved his hand in disgust: "Back off."
No matter how uncomfortable and unwilling he was, Gu Cheng had no choice but to retreat obediently.
After watching Gu Cheng leave, the eunuch in charge gently persuaded the emperor: "Your Majesty, this is not intentional on the part of the Seventh Prince. Perhaps he really believed what the villain said..."
The emperor shook his head: "I know Gu Cheng's character well. He is my son."
"Even if he believed the slander of a villain, it doesn't necessarily mean he believed it. There must be something tempting for him to believe it."
The emperor spoke slowly: "He shouldn't have provoked Marquis Gu."
"Doesn't he know who Marquis Gu is? He holds military power and is swift and resolute. If you mess with him, you will have a hard time. Even if he is a prince, so what? Marquis Gu's methods are extraordinary."
If he hadn't provoked Gu Hou, this wouldn't have been the outcome. Gu Hou was a man who had seen blood on the battlefield, so it would have been easy for him to attack Gu Cheng.
Moreover, Shen Qingqiu had just handed over more than half of the profits from the textile factory, and Gu Cheng searched her house in the blink of an eye, which was clearly a lack of respect for her.
As things piled up, the emperor became more and more upset.
"Who on earth did you believe? If I catch you..." The voice was gritting teeth.
The eunuch in charge sighed. There were some things he was not comfortable saying. Serving the emperor was like serving a tiger. If he knew things he shouldn't know, he would lose his life.
The emperor paced back and forth in the study. As a person in power, he was always confused about what had happened recently.
It was as if someone had done it on purpose, plotting conspiracy against the royal family.
At this moment, Gu Cheng, who was kicked out of the study, had no idea what the emperor was thinking. He was completely immersed in the emotion of being scolded.
He was criticized by the emperor for what he did, and thought he had a sure win, but he was actually being schemed against by others.
One wrong step leads to another, and now Gu Cheng has fallen into the abyss of conspiracy.
"How could this happen?" Gu Cheng never understood why Shen Qingqiu saw through his careful plan and even made preparations in advance.
Gu Yanran had already put the letter in the study, so why was it replaced? Could it be that this letter was not a rebellious letter from the beginning?
Gu Cheng murmured in a low voice, thinking about the direction of the whole thing in his mind: "There is no need for Princess Changping to deceive me. Could it be that she hates me because of the textile factory drawings?"
"But there is no need... If I bring this letter of rebellion to the emperor, she will not be able to escape responsibility."
"Then it can only be Gu Yanran."
Gu Cheng locked onto one of the targets.
Gu Yanran, who had seen through everything, had already heard what was happening on the street during the maids' conversation.
"Will the Seventh Prince be punished?"
A faint smile appeared on Gu Yanran's lips. She had already anticipated this when she told her about the plan of Princess Changping and Gu Cheng.
As a prince, he secretly led troops to encircle and suppress officials, and even relied only on the words of villains and simple evidence.
Everything is not entirely true.
Knowing that Gu Cheng left in disgrace, Gu Yanran couldn't help but smile smugly. She did it on purpose.
Time goes back to one day ago. Gu Cheng handed her the letter and told her to do such a thing, without giving her a chance to think.
Gu Yanran was not a fool. She knew clearly how serious the significance of the rebellious book was.
Gu Cheng asked him to put the letter in Gu Mansion, not only because he broke the story of their textile factory, but also because he asked him to put the rebellious letter in the study of Gu Mansion. Everything passed through Gu Yanran's hands and had nothing to do with Gu Cheng.
Gu Cheng is not a reckless man who uses others to shirk the blame.
If the rebellious book is finally discovered, there will be a thorough investigation into who entered the study in the Gu Mansion that night, and she will be the first target.
She would not be left out, and might even be severely tortured. The moment she received the rebellion letter, all the escape routes were already conceived in her mind.
In this chessboard-like layout, everyone is a chess piece trapped in it.
If you want to live in peace and security, you must work very hard. No one can protect himself alone in this chaotic world.
Gu Yanran was not in control of the overall situation, she was just a chess piece on the chessboard. But her inner struggle forced her not to be used by others.
Why should I be oppressed by others? Can't I control my own life? Gu Yanran's thoughts gradually returned to that night...
After receiving the rebellion letter, she had no chance to tell Shen Qingqiu in person. She simply wrote a letter in secret.
Gu Cheng's people had been secretly watching her to prevent her from leaking anything, so she couldn't tell Shen Qingqiu about this plan before entering the study.
Gu Cheng's people had no way of entering the study in the Gu Mansion. Moreover, the Gu Mansion had always been heavily guarded, so how could there not be someone guarding it all the time?
Gu Yanran simply entered the study and placed the letter in the designated location. She used ink to outline on the white paper, clearly telling Shen Qingqiu the conspiracy of the whole incident.
Gu Yanran would not let Gu Cheng succeed. Women have a strong desire for revenge, and she would remember all the grievances she had suffered in the Seventh Prince's Mansion from beginning to end.
He left obscure clues to tell Shen Qingqiu and personally pushed Gu Cheng into the abyss.
now……
Gu Cheng must be feeling very uncomfortable.
Gu Yanran suddenly chuckled, startling the maid beside her. She hurriedly asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Gu Yanran was confused as if there was someone else in the room, so she slightly restrained her smile and said, "It's okay, you can go down first."
Gu Yanran was about to take a rest when the panicked voice of the maid suddenly rang out from outside the door: "Seventh Prince!"
Gu Yanran was surprised. Why did he come back at this time? She just stood up and saw Gu Cheng rushing in. Before she could say anything, he slapped her hard in the face.
"Bitch!"
"Did you leak the news of the rebellious book?"
"You are the only one who knows the whole thing. What is your intention?"
Gu Cheng questioned him repeatedly, his eyes filled with anger, he wished he could strangle the other person to death.
If Gu Yanran hadn't leaked it on purpose, how could Shen Qingqiu have replaced the rebellion letter in the letter in advance? The whole thing was calculated clearly, but no one expected that some people played a key role in it.
Whether it was the textile factory blueprints or the rebellion book, Gu Yanran had played a role in both, causing twists and turns in the originally complete situation, and finally reversing the situation.
"Why can't I understand what the Seventh Prince is saying?" Gu Yanran whispered softly, "Don't play deaf and dumb here. You and I know exactly what happened behind the scenes." Gu Chengke didn't want to play deaf and dumb with her.
The originally good plan was disrupted by others. Not only did it fail to cause any harm to Shen Qingqiu, but now it has suffered the consequences.
The emperor's reprimand and punishment echoed in his mind, and he was furious.
If it wasn't for Gu Yanran, how could he have ended up like this? If it wasn't for Gu Yanran ruining the plan, he wouldn't have been treated as a joke by the people on the street.
Layers of anger accumulated in my heart, and my entire heart felt like it was being tightly gripped by a huge hand.
Gu Cheng was unwilling to give in. He clenched his hands into fists at his sides to suppress the rage in his heart.
"Why did you do that?"
He wanted to understand everything behind it.
Gu Yanran is now his concubine, why is she still stubbornly helping the Gu family? Moreover, I heard that she and Shen Qingqiu were not on good terms before, but now she deliberately did such a thing behind his back.
All the truth is shrouded in a fog. Gu Cheng is eager to know the reason behind it, but he is unable to make any progress.
Gu Yanran touched the slap mark on her cheek: "Why me?"
Gu Yanran was silent for a long time and did not answer, as if she subconsciously ignored the question.
Since entering the Seventh Prince's Mansion, she had never received any favor. It was Princess Changping's repeated inducements that made her go against Shen Qingqiu.
Making such a choice now is like returning to the original path.
Gu Yanran raised her eyes and looked at Gu Cheng: "No reason."
A slap fell on Gu Yanran's face again. This sentence was like the last straw that broke the camel's back. Gu Cheng was furious: "Am I too indulgent to you?"
A slap in the face could not offset Gu Cheng's hatred for Gu Yanran, and he let her break his plans again and again. Not only did he lose the profits of the textile factory, but he also lost face in front of his father.
"It's all because of you!" Gu Cheng pushed Gu Yanran hard, and she was caught off guard and fell to the ground unexpectedly.
The crisp sound of porcelain breaking was heard in the room, and Gu Cheng threw all the porcelain in the yard to the ground to vent his anger.
Countless fragments were scattered all over the ground, lying on the ground groaning silently.
The slap mark on her face was still there, faintly painful, and Gu Yanran clearly knew the mistake she had made.
"Bitch!"
Gu Cheng was still venting his emotions, dumping his resentment on the former again and again.
Broken porcelain pieces were scattered around Gu Yanran, and the tiny fragments accidentally scratched his body and face.
The naked skin was severely scratched, and faint traces of blood were clearly visible on the fair complexion.
Gu Yanran was like a puppet that had lost its soul. She fell to the ground blankly without any reaction.
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