Broken plaque
Xiao Chengyan remained calm, stepping forward to shield Gu Jinghong beside him, his voice deep and cold: "Your Excellency is too polite. It is my duty."
Gongsun Lie's smile remained warm: "Your Highness looks travel-worn... You must have had a fruitful hunting trip with His Majesty. His Majesty is mighty, and Your Highness is also an outstanding individual. Today's hunting grounds must have been quite spectacular."
Xiao Chengyan's aura seemed to have turned colder.
He had just accompanied his father on a hunt when, for some reason, a wild elephant appeared in the hunting grounds, seemingly out of nowhere.
This was only the second time in his life that the Emperor had seen wild elephants in the hunting grounds. The first time was in the year he ascended the throne. So he chased after them with all his might. His horses seemed to have been drugged, running exceptionally fast. In the end, only Xiao Chengyan caught up with them.
Unfortunately, Emperor Chengqian was getting on in years, and although he had a good bow, he lacked the strength to shoot it. Instead of hitting the wild elephant, the arrow startled it and caused it to pounce on Emperor Chengqian.
Although Xiao Chengyan fought valiantly against the wild elephant, Emperor Chengqian was ultimately injured.
He sensed something amiss, so he kept the news under wraps, sent Emperor Chengqian back to his camp, and invited a doctor to examine his health.
Logically, no one should know about this...
Xiao Chengyan's voice was devoid of emotion, "Father is indeed divinely mighty. I have other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave first. The Crown Prince has been frightened; please comfort him well, Duke."
Gu Jinghong was half-forced away by him, and couldn't help but glance back.
Gongsun Lie stood there, his face still bearing that impeccable smile, watching them go.
But in the shadows, his eyes held no trace of a smile, only deep calculation and a cold glint. His naive son, Gongsun Cheyuan, stood by, his gaze a mixture of gratitude, admiration, and a touch of confusion, following her retreating figure.
A chill crept up Gu Jinghong's spine.
She understood instantly.
What Xiao Chengyan had just experienced was far more dangerous than she had imagined—not only the Emperor's accident, but also the subsequent spying from the top predators in the court.
His anger stemmed from the overwhelming sense of loss of control he felt when, after experiencing a major upheaval and being on edge, he discovered that she was also out of his control.
He arrived at this time smelling of blood, so he must have come looking for her without having time to deal with it. Therefore, he was actually concerned about her safety.
Having figured this out, Gu Jinghong's heart calmed down.
Immediately, she cursed inwardly—it's all that old man's fault!
On the way back, Xiao Chengyan could clearly sense that Gu Jinghong was not in a good mood. She seemed to be thinking about her own things and was quite angry, even her brows were unconsciously furrowed—while usually, it was him who frowned and she would smooth them out.
Why? Because of my own earlier self-blame?
No, Jinghong isn't that kind of petty woman.
Could it be Gongsun Lie...? But just now, Gongsun Lie's words were all about Xiao Chengyan.
Thinking of this, Xiao Chengyan extended his index finger...
Gu Jinghong felt a chill between her brows and came to her senses—only to see Xiao Chengyan standing in front of her, looking at her with a half-smile, and then pressing his index finger to the spot between her brows, just as she always did when she touched his brow.
He looked at her with a half-smile and said, "What's wrong? Are you unhappy?"
Gu Jinghong snapped out of her daze, leaned her head back slightly, and suddenly smiled: "No, I'm very happy."
Xiao Chengyan withdrew his hand and turned his head slightly to look at her—he felt that her smile was malicious. What was she planning to do now?
He gave a barely perceptible smile, or perhaps not, and simply continued walking forward, seemingly confident that Gu Jinghong would catch up.
"Ah Hong, Father is unwell today, and I must go to the palace. You stay at the Prince's residence and be careful on your own... As long as you don't run away, ordinary people are not allowed to enter the Prince's residence, understand?"
Gu Jinghong nodded.
She felt that Xiao Chengyan's words seemed to have a hidden meaning, but because she was preoccupied with figuring out how to vent her anger at the Duke of Zhenguo, she didn't have time to think about it further and simply replied, "Yes."
Xiao Chengyan seemed to sigh – judging from her background and demeanor, she must be planning something tonight. But tonight was destined to be no ordinary night; she still needed to be watched closely.
...
That night
Prince Jin's Mansion · Chun Shen Garden
Changfeng personally directed the people in the manor to patrol the manor on the surface, but in reality, they were keeping a close eye on whether Gu Jinghong had left the courtyard.
Having been dumped by Gu Jinghong before, Changfeng dared not relax at all tonight.
He kept a close eye on the activity around Chun Shen Garden, and occasionally, when the activity around Chun Shen Garden was less intense, he would go up to the roof to see what Gu Jinghong was doing.
Gu Jinghong was doing the same things as usual—reading, writing, or tinkering with a pair of mechanical wooden objects—which was quite boring.
Changfeng waited from 7 PM to 11 PM, but Gu Jinghong did not make any move. He unconsciously looked up at the moon and then yawned.
He couldn't help but frown—could it be that the prince's judgment was wrong?
At three-quarters past midnight, the gate of Chun Shen Garden creaked open.
Changfeng, who was still feeling sleepy, was suddenly awakened and quickly walked to the courtyard gate to ask, "Does Miss Gu have any instructions?"
Gu Jinghong covered her mouth and yawned while rubbing her stomach and said, "Commander Feng, I'm a little hungry. Could you please ask the kitchen to cook some food for me?"
Upon hearing that Gu Jinghong was going herself, Changfeng felt relieved.
He looked into the courtyard and saw the beautiful figure standing there. He softened his voice and said, "Miss Gu, please wait a moment, it will be ready soon."
He immediately turned around and gave a few instructions to one of the guards beside him.
In the short moment that Changfeng lowered his eyes, Gu Jinghong reached out and a bird flew away.
...
At the hour of Chen (7-9 AM), Xiao Chengyan returned to his residence.
As soon as Changfeng heard that the prince had returned, he hurried over, his cloak fluttering in the wind as he moved.
He followed at a distance that was neither too close nor too far behind Xiao Chengyan. "Your Highness, I have fulfilled my mission as you asked me to do yesterday."
Xiao Chengyan's expression seemed uneasy, and he replied indifferently, "Hmm. Is Ah Hong still in the manor?"
Changfeng was quite confident, and his voice unconsciously rose a few decibels: "Your Highness, please rest assured, tonight, not a single fly has flown out of Chun Shen Garden."
Xiao Chengyan suddenly stopped. Changfeng, who was behind him, seemed not to have expected the prince to be angry and had not yet reacted. He stopped just when there was only a finger's width of distance between them.
Xiao Chengyan turned his head slightly, his voice hoarse and low, his eyes even colder than the moonlight on this winter night.
"Not a single fly flew out... So, did a single bird fly out?!"
Changfeng was stunned: "This..."
He suddenly frowned, recalling that back in Medicine Master Valley, Gu Jinghong had left the desolate, frigid region guided by something that resembled a bird but wasn't.
So... despite all the precautions taken last night, Miss Gu had no intention of going out herself. Instead, she released a mechanical bird when he wasn't paying attention.
Changfeng frowned even more, immediately feeling extremely annoyed at his lack of caution.
But then I thought—wait a minute, the prince hasn't returned to the manor today, so how did he know that a mechanical bird had flown out of the manor?
Changfeng subconsciously looked up and met Xiao Chengyan's gaze.
Xiao Chengyan said, "Go and take a look at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, but keep it discreet."
Changfeng clasped his hands in a fist and said "Yes," then left.
...
The Duke of Zhenguo's mansion remains as majestic as ever, but unlike its former solemnity, it is now crowded with onlookers.
Changfeng mingled among the crowd in the distance. Looking up, he saw that the plaque with the words "Duke Zhenguo Mansion" written on it was broken in the middle. He didn't know what broke it. The half of the plaque where the words "Duke" were located was crooked and about to fall. The wood at the crack was curled up and scorch marks were faintly visible.
People were pointing and talking about the broken plaque at the gate.
"Good heavens... what's going on?"
"That plaque was made of the finest nanmu wood, how could it break so easily? Someone must have..."
"Could it be... being struck by lightning?"
"Shh! Don't talk nonsense! You dare to gossip at the Duke's doorstep?"
Clang—
The vermilion gate was pushed open, and the steward of the manor led more than ten servants out in single file, their faces gloomy.
"Insolence! This is no place for idle talk like this in front of the Duke's mansion! Are you all courting death?"
After he finished speaking, he gave a signal, and the servants, armed with wooden sticks, drove the crowd away.
They were just a group of ordinary people watching the spectacle. When they saw someone coming to drive them away, they naturally spat out a few curses and left.
In just a short while, the area in front of the Duke's mansion became much quieter.
Changfeng stood further away, but his eyes remained fixed on the butler.
The butler's gaze lingered on the broken part of the plaque for a moment. He then directed his men to remove the plaque, circled back and forth in front of it, stared intently at the broken part for a while, a hint of fear flashing in his eyes, before finally waving his hand.
Two strong servants worked together to lift the plaque into the mansion...
The heavy, broken plaque was placed on the carpet in the center of the study.
The steward bowed and said, "Reporting to the Duke, it's the plaque in the manor..."
Gongsun Lie stood with his hands behind his back, staring at the broken plaque with a somber expression.
A moment later, he slapped the butler across the face.
The butler was so dazed from the beating that swollen red handprints appeared on his face, but his first reaction was to kneel down.
The Duke of Zhenguo's eyes were bloodshot, and his tone was low and fierce: "What are you good for! Such a large Duke's mansion, and you can't even protect a single plaque!"
The steward kept kowtowing, pleading, "Your Excellency, spare my life! Your Excellency, spare my life!"
Gongsun Lie kicked the steward, who was kowtowing incessantly, to the ground, and let out a low roar, "Outrageous!! Investigate! Investigate for me!! Who was on duty last night? All the spies outside the manor, get them moving! I need to know what kind of demons and monsters dare to cause trouble in my Duke's manor!"
"Yes!" The steward knelt down again and tentatively asked, "Lord Duke, what about this plaque..."
The air in the study was still, and all the servants were silent as if trembling with fear.
The Duke of Zhenguo took a deep breath. "Keep it for now. The break is so strange; there must be a clue."
"yes……"
Gongsun Lie glared angrily: "What are you still standing there for? Get out of here!"
Everyone fled as if their lives depended on it, leaving only Gongsun Lie, who had recovered, staring intently at the broken part of the plaque.
Just as he was engrossed in watching, his subordinate suddenly reported, "My lord, something terrible has happened!"
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