Chapter 211 [VIP]
The carriage wheels began to move.
Gu Zhizhuo lifted the curtain and glanced outside.
"Are these people from the Naoe Guard?"
As Gu Zhizhuo left the city, he noticed that the guards near the city gates were no longer the Imperial Guards, but rather soldiers from the garrison. The standard armor of the garrison soldiers was similar to that of the Imperial Guards, but there were some subtle differences, such as the waist belt.
"Zhijiang Guard was one of the guard posts located at the border of Qingzhou and Yizhou. I remember there was Zhijiang Guard, Zuozhi Guard, and Fengjiang Guard."
Gu Zhizhu crossed his arms and said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, Chief Supervisor."
Shen Xu said irritably, "It's just icing on the cake."
"Even if I don't make it back in time, it won't matter. It's just a matter of a moment earlier or a moment later."
Xie Yingchen specially sent a token, ordering him to mobilize troops from the garrison in Qingzhou and arrive in the capital before noon on the fifteenth of October.
When Shen Xu received that token, he almost thought Xie Yingchen had gone mad.
Not only did he hand over the political power of Qingzhou, but he also dared to entrust me with the military power of Qingzhou! Did he really believe that I would stand on his side? If I were to turn against him, the three garrisons that he personally handed over would be enough to make him lose everything this time.
Ha, I don't know whether to call him cautious or carefree.
Shen Xu disliked traveling, so after detouring to three different garrisons, he had to return at top speed.
"No, no." Gu Zhizhuo shook her finger and laughed, "If you hadn't lent a hand, I might have been kidnapped by Duoling. Didn't you see how dangerous it was just now?"
A load of lies! Shen Xu's eyes twitched as he listened: "Sweet talk."
Gu Zhizhu chuckled, sat up straight, and said earnestly, "Thank you, Commander, for bringing troops back to support us and holding the Imperial Guards in check."
Shen Xu subtly curved his lips into a smile: "It's good that you know."
There was a moment of silence in the carriage.
"you……"
Shen Xu wanted to say a few more sarcastic remarks to her, but when he looked up, he saw that she was leaning against the side of the carriage with her eyes closed. The person who had just been talking to her had actually fallen asleep.
Tsk.
Shen Xu stared at her with disdain.
Her body was covered in mud and bloodstains, which was an eyesore, especially the smell of kerosene and smoke that even incense couldn't mask.
Shen Xu had an urge to kick her out of "his" carriage.
"This is really troublesome."
He grabbed a cloak from the side, raised his hand, and draped it securely over her. She remained unconscious, breathing steadily.
Trusting yourself that much?
This is inexplicable! Both of them are like that.
"Meow?"
Shen Xu gestured for the cat to be quiet and then patted its head.
Shenmao is an easily satisfied cat. Following the movement of the palm, it squinted its eyes and made a pleasant purring sound in its throat.
The carriage moved forward smoothly, leaving only the soft sound of its wheels rolling over the ground.
Shen Xu's carriage was specially made, and there was almost no bump along the way. Under the escort of the soldiers, they soon arrived in the capital.
They also entered the city from the nearest northern city.
"The Grand Eunuch is back!"
The Imperial Guards on the city wall were overjoyed to see the carriage in the distance. Soon after, the tightly closed city gates opened. Just as Gu Zhizhuo had guessed, there were no Imperial Guards present. The entire defense of the capital had fallen into Shen Xu's hands an hour earlier.
"master."
Sheng Jiang stood at the very front, and when he saw the black carriage approaching, he immediately scurried over to greet it.
The carriage didn't stop for him, but that didn't matter. Sheng Jiang skillfully jumped onto the carriage. Before being told to, he didn't dare to enter the carriage, but just sat on the carriage frame. Until a soft "Come in" was heard, Sheng Jiang bent down and crawled into the carriage.
October in the capital was already a bit chilly, but the familiar scent of incense in the corner made Sheng Jiang feel completely comfortable.
He wiped away his tears: "Master, you're finally back."
Wait a minute, why is there a bloody smell?
Shen Xu: "Don't make a sound."
Sheng Jiang stood there stunned, and it took him a moment to notice that Gu Zhizhuo had fallen asleep against the carriage.
Sheng Jiang:!
This Miss Gu is still so incredibly audacious!
Sheng Jiang dared not cry anymore. He knelt down near the carriage door, looking aggrieved, and explained the current situation in the capital.
The Imperial Guards were ordered to seal the city gates and ignore any disturbances in the capital. Later, the Liang forces were defeated and fled, and the Imperial Guards fell into chaos, the soldiers acting like headless flies. Sheng Jiang seized the opportunity to falsely convey an imperial edict, claiming that the soldiers of the Shangzhi Guard and other garrisons were sent to rescue the emperor, thus deceiving the Imperial Guards into opening the city gates.
"My subordinates then had the Embroidered Uniform Guards coordinate from within and without, and they captured the city's defenses."
"Well done."
Shen Xu leaned back on the pillow, exuding the arrogance of a superior.
His peach blossom eyes were half-closed, and the cinnabar mole at the corner of his eye made his skin look like jade.
Sheng Jiang was overjoyed by the praise, his voice rising slightly with excitement: "Thank you for the compliment, Master."
"Don't make a sound."
Sheng Jiang covered his mouth.
He coldly ordered, "Enter the palace."
Sheng Jiang hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Gu Zhizhuo. Upon hearing the word "speak," he recounted everything that had happened since Shen Xu left the capital.
Shen Xu had only been gone for a little over a month, and he received letters every few days. He roughly knew that the capital was still under his control, and Xie Yingchen had not taken advantage of his absence to seize his power.
As the carriages passed through the Meridian Gate, most of the students who often gathered there went to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, making the Meridian Gate unusually empty.
Gu Zhizhuo was half asleep when she felt the carriage suddenly jolt. Startled, she opened her eyes and peeked out from behind the curtain.
Red walls and golden tiles.
It's the imperial palace!
They have already entered the palace gates.
Gu Zhizhuo immediately jumped up and shouted, "Chief Supervisor, I'll go first."
Before the carriage could stop, Gu Zhizhuo nimbly jumped down, grabbed the reins of the jade lion, mounted the horse, and galloped forward.
Sheng Jiang silently gave this Miss Gu a thumbs up in his heart. She was definitely the first person in history to dare to ride a horse wildly in the palace.
Shen Xu stroked the small jade pendant on his wrist: "Have Wu Shang lead some men to follow them."
The sound faded in the wind.
The jade lion galloped with its four hooves flying, the sound of its hooves falling like raindrops.
The emperor's intention was not to slaughter everyone in the capital; after all, to him, he was the great ruler of Qi, a wise and benevolent monarch of a prosperous era. He was eliminating treacherous officials and upholding imperial power.
He ordered the Imperial Guards to seal off the capital, waiting for his triumphant return from the Imperial Ancestral Temple, where the people would welcome him in droves.
Therefore, Xie Yingchen took away the Zhenbei Army and the most easily manipulated Jinwu Guard, Luanyi Guard, and the other twenty-six guards. Gu Zhizhuo only had the 1,000-strong guerrilla battalion within the city.
She didn't need to be wary of the emperor, nor of the hundreds of thousands of leaderless imperial guards who were "not allowed to move without orders," but only of the Liang people.
This is the source of Gu Zhizhuo's confidence in controlling the capital.
Gu Zhizhuo is not afraid of being multifaceted.
Her only worry was that she was too far away to protect her aunt in the palace.
"Whoa!"
The Jade Lion rode straight to Chonghua Palace. Seeing the palace gates wide open, Gu Zhizhuo felt a little nervous. She spurred the horse, and the Jade Lion leaped into the air, landing steadily in the courtyard of Chonghua Palace.
Familiar eunuchs and palace maids lay sprawled on the ground. Gu Zhizhuo's breath caught in her throat for a moment. She gripped the reins tightly and quickly dismounted.
"Young lady."
Yunhua, the head maid of Chonghua Palace, tugged at her military boot with difficulty and said weakly, "Young lady, our lady, she..."
"In the main hall."
Gu Zhizhuo nodded to her and hurried towards the main hall.
Cough cough.
"Your Majesty..." Yunhua coughed a few times with difficulty. She struggled to get up, revealing her bloodied and mangled head.
Gu Zhizhuo rushed up the steps in three strides, bent down, drew his sword, and lunged at the imperial guards at the gate. With a swift movement, he swung his sword and then kicked open the tightly closed main hall door.
Her breath hitched, and Consort Shu collapsed limply to the ground, a white silk ribbon around her neck, her face pale. Several old women stood beside her, their expressions ferocious as they held her arms tightly.
"Splash water on her to wake her up!"
"I'd like to see how long she can keep up this stubbornness..."
The Empress sat regally in the main seat, her eyes bloodshot, her chest heaving with rage. Hearing the door open, her gaze swept over like a knife. The instant she saw Gu Zhizhuo, the Empress slammed her hand on the coffee table: "Your Majesty—"
Before the word "courage" could even be uttered, Gu Zhizhuo had already charged forward like an arrow released from a bow.
Her military boots had thick soles, and her movements were swift and decisive. With a kick and a sweep, several muffled groans were heard as the maids who were holding Consort Shu down one after another, their cries of agony filling the entire hall.
Gu Zhizhuo helped Consort Shu up, his hands trembling as he tore off the white silk ribbon around her neck. The red marks left by the ribbon were deeply imprinted on Consort Shu's fair skin, a shocking sight.
Her heart was pounding like a drum.
She had originally considered the worst-case scenario: her aunt being coerced into a bargaining chip.
That's fine, as long as her aunt is safe, she can decide to release them. Besides, the young master is not a narrow-minded person and would never want to exterminate these women of the harem.
Who would have thought...
"Auntie, Auntie!"
Gu Zhizhu knelt on the ground, holding Consort Shu in his arms, and placed two fingers on her neck pulse, feeling a weak tremor in his fingertips.
The Empress sat there, furious, her finger trembling as she pointed at her: "Do you think you can just barge into this palace like this?! Don't you have any manners at all?!"
"Of course I can."
Gu Zhizhuo administered several acupuncture needles, then said coldly without raising his head:
"Empress... no, I should call you Madam Sun now."
Xie Rong's first wife was also a woman from the Sun family, and she was the Empress's cousin.
This title intensified the Empress's anger. Pointing at Gu Zhizhuo, she said with resentment, "Guards, seize her and slap her."
Gu Zhizhuo turned around abruptly, raised her crossbow, and the gleam of its blade flashed as she aimed at their bolts. She didn't need to make any extra movements; the old women all stopped in their tracks, their legs trembling with fear, and turned to look at the Empress.
No matter how arrogant they were, they were still just servants in the harem, and had never seen anything like this before.
"You...you!" The Empress's voice trembled slightly, and all color drained from her face. "Gu Zhizhuo, you...you want to rebel!?"
Her answer was a sharp, piercing sound as an iron arrow grazed her temple and accurately knocked her phoenix hairpin to the ground.
The Empress froze on the spot, her hair disheveled, her lips half-open, her hands gripping the armrests of the chair tightly, unable to conceal her inner panic.
“It’s not a rebellion,” Gu Zhizhuo said. “It’s… restoring order to what was right.”
Hearing the footsteps outside, Gu Zhizhuo said without turning his head, "Take them all."
"Ha, ha. Gu Zhizhuo, you are simply lawless..."
The empress's voice trembled as she tried to mask her inner turmoil with sarcasm.
The next moment, several eunuchs rushed in from outside the hall and grabbed her shoulders without saying a word.
"What are you doing... How dare you!"
The empress was both shocked and furious, and struggled desperately, but she had been pampered for too long and her strength was no match for these eunuchs. Soon her hairpins fell off and her hair became disheveled.
"You are committing insubordination! You are rebelling! Rebellion!"
She screamed hysterically, her heart filled with panic and helplessness.
She is the Empress, she is the Empress! Since ascending to the throne, she never imagined that one day she would be like a prisoner, pinned to the ground.
Gu Zhizhuo continued administering acupuncture, saying, "Take Madam Sun to the Cold Palace to calm down. Everyone in the palace, from the Empress Dowager down to the concubines and princesses, should be sent to the Cold Palace first. Let the palace servants of each palace bring their own."
"Don't get in my way."
yes.
Wu Shang gave a signal, and the eunuchs obeyed, pulling the loudly shouting Empress out of the room.
The maids brought by Fengluan Palace trembled and shrank back, obediently following them out.
"Go and fetch Chen Baishu."
Gu Zhizhuo gave an order, and a eunuch helped Yunhua in. She clutched her lower abdomen and said, "Miss, Physician Chen is in the side hall. He came early this morning."
Consort Shu originally did not want to involve Chen Baishu, as it would be safer for him to stay in the Imperial Hospital. However, Chen Baishu came by himself and refused to leave.
"Summon a few more imperial physicians."
After Gu Zhizhuo finished administering the acupuncture, Consort Shu coughed. Her breathing became stronger, no longer weak and powerless as before, and her bluish-purple complexion gradually improved.
Gu Zhizhuo pulled out the needle and softly called out, "Aunt..."
Consort Shu looked confused for a moment, then smiled the instant she saw her.
"Yaoyao".
"You scared me to death." Gu Zhizhuo threw himself into her arms, still shaken, and snuggled against her affectionately.
"Your Highness, the eldest daughter."
Chen Baishu rushed in, running so fast that he almost tripped over the threshold.
He was slashed and then locked in a side hall.
Seeing him covered in blood, Gu Zhizhuo was also startled.
"Young lady, it's alright, it's alright, the bleeding has stopped." He had used his hand to block the blow, and the knife had cut his right arm, deep enough to expose the bone. No internal organs were damaged, and once the bleeding stopped, there was no serious problem.
Gu Zhizhuo quickly took his pulse: "Uncle Chen, please apply the medicine to Auntie's body. I'll go check on the others."
Gu Zhizhuo stood up and stepped aside to check on Yunhua first.
Her face was red and swollen, and there was a finger-length gash on the back of her head, which must have been caused by being slapped to the ground. The bloody flesh was stuck to the wound, and her hair was also stuck to it, which was quite horrifying.
Gu Zhizhuo used silver needles to stop the bleeding, treated the wound simply, and then went to check on the others.
By the time the imperial physician arrived, Gu Zhizhuo had already treated the injured, including stopping the bleeding and providing emergency care, and had also categorized the injuries according to their severity and urgency.
“Red bandages on the arm indicate the most serious injuries, followed by purple and blue. White bandages indicate superficial wounds that can be ignored.”
Gu Zhizhuo wiped his hands with a handkerchief: "We've saved your lives, the rest is up to you."
"Yes, yes!"
This Miss Gu was too domineering, especially with her overbearing attitude, as if she considered the palace her own home. The imperial physicians, having been warned by the eunuchs, shrank back and nodded in agreement, busily getting to work.
Gu Zhizhuo returned to the palace to check on Consort Shu. Chen Baishu had applied medicine to her neck, but had not bandaged it.
Gu Zhizhuo checked her pulse and said, "Aunt, please rest a little longer. I'll have someone take you back to the Wang family residence."
Consort Shu's eyes lit up: "Really?" She... she can go home now?
"Yes. We're home!"
Consort Shu's surname was Wang.
She was the second legitimate daughter of the Langya Wang clan, with an elder sister named Wang Ningzhao and a younger sister named Wang Ningsui.
Taken from the phrase "May your wishes come true, and may peace prevail year after year." (Note)
Women of the Wang family never took men as concubines, except for Wang Ningsui of this generation. She was proud to be a woman of the Wang family, and every day after marrying into the Rong Prince's Mansion was torture for her; she would never find peace again in this life.
For the Wang family, for my daughter, and for the two children left behind by my elder sister.
She endured it all...
Finally, I can go home.
"Young lady."
This time, it was Qi Fu from the Thousand Machine Battalion who rushed into the main hall. "By order of you, the operation to close in on the capital has been completed."
Gu Zhizhuo stood up and said with a smile, "Aunt, I have to go now, see you in a bit."
All that's left is to clear out the imperial city! Then we can open the city gates wide and wait for the young master to return.
Wang Ningsui watched her leave with a smile.
Until she ran lightly out of the main hall, like a ray of morning sun tearing through the darkness.
"Bai Zhu, we can go home now."
"Second Miss," Chen Baishu said with relief, "we've waited for you."
Wang Ningsui relaxed her shoulders with relief. Yes, the wait was over.
A note from the author:
Note: From the Book of Song, Volume 2, "Rites and Systems"
My next book will be "Reborn Back to the Day My Husband Had Two Houses".
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