Shen Qingqiu understood and said, "Everyone has been young and ignorant. Buddha said that if you put down your butcher knife, you will become a Buddha immediately." Shen Qingqiu put down his hands, "Even your biggest mistake in the past was not to kill anyone. Even demons can become Buddhas immediately, let alone you?"
Gu Yanran smiled, "Qingqiu, I wish I were you."
She has such a good temper. She seems ruthless and cruel, but she can let go of everything. She seems to have a kind of free and easy attitude that is different from this world.
Shen Qingqiu curled his lips, "What's so good about someone like me? So many people hate me."
"But so many people like you..." Gu Yanran said as she looked back again.
Shen Qingqiu shook his head, "Who knows what he likes."
The two of them were chatting and laughing all the way, but they didn't notice that another group of people had already quietly followed them.
——
"Mother, why are you in such a hurry to ask me to come to the palace?"
Gu Cheng entered Concubine Li's palace, bowed to her first, then sat down at the side. The palace maid quickly served him tea.
Concubine Li glanced at him and said, "The people I sent to Changping Mansion today came to report that Changping and the old lady of the Dao family have arranged some people to do something during the incense offering ceremony at the Marquis' Mansion."
Gu Cheng frowned when he heard this, "What can those people do to Shen Qingqiu?" He is not that idiot like Gu Yanran. He followed Changping and suffered from it from beginning to end. Isn't it enough for this person to make a mistake once? Concubine Li looked at her stupid son and felt very disappointed. "Are you stupid? You know Shen Qingqiu is a powerful martial artist, but doesn't the Princess of Changping know that? She deliberately arranged those people and asked the old lady of the Dao family to get involved. Can't you see why?"
Gu Cheng discovered that after his mother came back this time, she always liked to scold him.
Wasn't he the one who was tricked by Changping into harming Shen Qingqiu, but was instead put in solitary confinement by his father? "Forgive my stupidity." But he really couldn't see it.
In fact, it's not really Gu Cheng's fault. After all, he is a man and a prince. How could he care about the reputation of a common woman?
Concubine Li wanted her son to be successful and knew everything. "Changping did it on purpose. She knew it would not cause any harm to Shen Qingqiu, but she still asked Old Lady Dao to go, just to ruin her reputation." If Shen Qingqiu was still Liu's daughter, it would not matter if her reputation was ruined.
But she is now the legitimate daughter of the Marquis's Mansion and is Princess Kangle, personally conferred by the Emperor. She is bound to be implicated by such a great reputation.
Concubine Li looked at her son again, "This woman Changping is vicious. She wants to use the Marquis' Mansion to threaten Shen Qingqiu."
Gu Cheng clicked his tongue twice, and thought it was actually not bad, "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Mother, since we already know about this, why not go with the flow?" It was true that he liked Shen Qingqiu, but she was too stubborn, so it would not be a bad idea to use some special means.
"Now that the crown prince has fallen, I saw Princess Changping trying to get close to me at my ninth sister's birthday party last time." Gu Cheng thought that Changping wasn't ugly anyway, and if she agreed to cooperate with him this time, then after he married Shen Qingqiu, it would be fine to give her a position as a concubine.
Gu Cheng had a very good plan, but Concubine Li glared at him, "Haven't you suffered enough from Changping? This kind of woman has too many tricks and they are too sinister. She can scheme against anyone for enough benefits. Empress Pei is her aunt. Now that the crown prince is dead, can't she just leave?"
Thinking of this, Concubine Li couldn't help but sneer, "You think she has some affection for you, but do you think that affection can compare to her previous affection for the prince?"
Gu Cheng thought about it and shook his head.
You know, everyone knew that Princess Changping had a crush on the prince. At that time, because Wang Qingluo and the prince were engaged, the two of them had a big fight among the ladies in the city. Even he knew about this.
"Then look at how many days she was sad after the prince died?" Concubine Li asked again.
Gu Chengping didn't pay attention to Princess Changping on weekdays, so how could he think so much. But on the day of the Ninth Princess' birthday banquet, the prince had only passed away for half a year, but Changping, who seemed to be deeply in love with the prince, could dress up to seduce him, which showed that this woman was heartless.
Concubine Li asked again, "Do you dare to marry a woman like this?"
Gu Cheng immediately shook his head. This was like having a poisonous snake in his backyard, and it would bite him out of the blue. Who could stand this?
"What does mother mean?" Gu Cheng asked.
Seeing that he had finally given up that thought, Concubine Li stroked the teacup on the table and said, "Although we cannot cooperate with her, we can take advantage of Changping's plan. Before this, when I was away, you and that woman from Changping got together to oppose Shen Qingqiu. She already has a bad impression of you. Why not take this opportunity to resolve the past grudge?"
Gu Cheng frowned, "My mother wants me to take my men with me?"
Concubine Li nodded.
Gu Cheng was somewhat reluctant, "But Gu Yanran has also gone to burn incense. If I block Gu Yanran's face and go to see Shen Qingqiu, won't that disgust her even more?"
At this point, Concubine Li felt that her son was even more stupid. "You, it wasn't your fault that Gu Yanran's appearance was ruined. It was Changping who was vicious. But you insisted on driving her out and offending the Gu family. Could it be that your huge palace can't even afford a pair of chopsticks for a woman?"
Gu Cheng kept lowering his head because of what Concubine Li said. At that time, he was also frightened by Gu Yanran's ugly face.
Besides, which man would allow his woman to have someone else in her heart? Gu Yanran likes the prince, and he was already generous and magnanimous for keeping her in the backyard for his plan.
Concubine Li knew what her son was thinking from his expression. She sighed and said, "Gu Yanran has always been a problem in the middle. If not for this, it would be normal for a man to have three wives and four concubines, not to mention the royal family. If you hadn't done this at the time, when Empress Pei's proposal to marry the crown prince failed, I would have had no choice but to push you out."
The hateful old woman, Queen Pei, not only dug Gu Yanran out from the backyard of the Gu family, but also left her standing there like a piece of wood, ruining all her plans.
Fortunately, the prince is dead now, and the queen is now like an eagle with broken wings. No matter how fierce she is, she can't cause any trouble.
"Okay, mother, what's the point of saying all this now? Time can't go back." After all, he was a prince of noble status, and he was scolded by his mother all day long. Gu Cheng was a little impatient.
Concubine Li said, "Are you still not satisfied after I said a few words to you? If it weren't for the stupid things you did back then, how could we be so difficult to do things now?"
"I know I was wrong." Gu Cheng hurriedly said, "Mother, please tell us what to do quickly. If it's too late, the people from Changping may have arrived." There was no plan at that time.
Concubine Li said, "I also had a sea lantern at the place where the Marquis's residence prayed for blessings. You can take some people with you and say that you are helping me fulfill my vow. You just happened to run into the Marquis's residence on the way."
Gu Cheng hesitated, "Isn't this just a coincidence? Mother, you don't know that Shen Qingqiu is very intelligent, and she was able to open such a large textile factory in the capital, so the power behind her can be seen... Such an ordinary method..."
Concubine Li said: "If you can think of it, how can mother not think of it? It is precisely because she is so talented that she cannot achieve success overnight. Now that the past grudges have been resolved, it is only the beginning. This time when you go, you must not show a big liking for Shen Qingqiu. Instead, you must get close to Gu Yanran and find a way to bring her back to the palace."
Gu Cheng had already frowned, but Concubine Li didn't wait for him to speak and continued, "Don't hit someone who smiles. Shen Qingqiu is smart and can tell who set them up this time. You helped them out personally. No matter what, she must remember this good thing."
Concubine Li has been in the palace for so many years, and her favor is not entirely due to her appearance. She is also very good at manipulating people's hearts.
People like Shen Qingqiu are the hardest to approach, because you can't drive them with interests, you can only exchange sincerity for sincerity. But how can they be sincere when they are used to fighting for years? But if they don't have sincerity, they can always pretend. Is there anyone in the palace who can't act? Gu Cheng understood what his mother meant.
Although he didn't want to pay attention to that ugly Gu Yanran, he knew in his heart that with Shen Qingqiu's character, if he didn't deal with Gu Yanran who was standing in the way, she would always treat him like that.
Never mind, let’s take a long-term view.
"I understand. I'll go right away." Bowing to Concubine Li, Gu Cheng retreated.
Concubine Li then used her hand with the armor on it to rub her temples, "Finally he has come to his senses. I've been so worried about him." The nanny at the side came over, helped Concubine Li take off the armor, and gently pressed her forehead, saying, "The Seventh Prince is young, and he hasn't even reached the age of twenty yet, so it's normal for him to be simple."
"Naive, if he remains so naive, how will we live?" Concubine Li shook her head. "If I hadn't been so careful over the years, he would have been in a much worse situation than Gu Yanwei, that sickly kid."
The nanny next to him sighed and said, "Speaking of which, the Ninth Prince has been very favored by the Emperor over the years."
Concubine Li sneered, "In fact, Gu Yanwei is a talented person. You can tell from the fact that he lost his mother, but was still able to survive in this deep palace until now. But who can blame him for his bad luck? He was killed before he was even born." Even if he put in all his efforts, even if he was greatly favored by the emperor, in the end he still wouldn't live past the age of twenty-five.
Thinking of this, Concubine Li ordered, "I remember that the Ministry of Internal Affairs just sent some good tonic medicine today. Send it to the Ninth Prince quickly."
The nanny said, "The Ninth Prince has a lot of work to do now. He is favored by the Emperor, so he should not be short of these things."
Concubine Li shook her head. "I gave this gift before, and I should give it now. Otherwise, the emperor will think too much if I am not sincere." She pinched her forehead. "The queen has the same personality as Changping. The emperor knows that the Ninth Prince and the Ninth Princess were harmed by the old queen."
The emperor pretended to be ignorant for the sake of the Pei family, so she had to pretend to be virtuous.
The Queen has become much smarter recently. After the death of the Crown Prince, she looked as if she had lost all hope, which made the Emperor feel less resentful towards her. But this hope will revive, and if she doesn't use Gu Yanwei to overthrow the Queen, she will still have more troubles in the future.
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