"Your Majesty, isn't the Empress being a little too kind to the Third Prince?" Inside Lingxi Palace, Consort Rong spoke with some alarm. "Could it be that the Empress knows the Third Prince is...?"
A hint of murderous intent flashed deep in Gu Heng's eyes, but disappeared just as quickly.
"When I arrived at Zhaoning Palace that day, Ling'er was strangling Jiang Yu by the neck with both hands, trying to kill her." Gu Heng was silent for a moment, "Perhaps she was completely heartbroken."
Even Gu Heng knew in his heart how pitiful Jiang Yu had been in the past.
"Her Majesty the Empress was a favored daughter of heaven before she entered the palace. Could she really not want to acknowledge Ling'er and Feng'er anymore?" Even after hearing Gu Heng's explanation, Consort Rong was still somewhat apprehensive. "And Yao'er, Her Majesty the Empress actually sent her out of the palace for a month."
"She'll only be angry for a while. Look at the last time, she was begging Ling'er and the others to go to Zhaoning Palace after the storm had passed. Don't worry, Rong'er."
Gu Heng carefully recalled Jiang Yu's changes over the past few days, but ultimately didn't pay too much attention to it. "I have already arranged a job for your nephew at the Liu family. You just need to take good care of yourself."
Consort Rong was relieved and nestled close to Gu Heng, saying, "If it weren't for Your Majesty, I wouldn't know what to do."
Neither of them expected that Gu Qingfeng, who was beaten and bruised all over, would be in the Dragon and Phoenix Palace. Gu Qingling had only stayed in the Dragon and Phoenix Palace for a short while before leaving the palace to visit important officials in the court.
Gu Qingfeng developed a high fever in a daze, and his face was flushed with an abnormal redness.
“Feng’er, your elder brother will ascend the throne as emperor in the future, so your mother is always particularly worried about you.” In her memory, Jiang Yu would always wait outside the training ground with a handkerchief in hand, sometimes for several hours, just to say a few more words to him.
"Although you and Ling'er are brothers, you can't be too reckless. You need to know your limits."
He threw the handkerchief Jiang Yu handed him on the ground and stomped on it several times. "How dare you try to sow discord between me and my elder brother? What are you up to?"
The scene shifts, and Jiang Yu arrives at the Dragon and Phoenix Palace at night, intending to sew marigolds onto his sleeve with needle and thread.
"I don't like such disgusting things!" He pulled at his robe with disgust. "These were all made by the Imperial Wardrobe according to the patterns set by Consort Rong."
Gu Qingfeng kept muttering to himself, his forehead covered in large beads of sweat. Jiang Yu haunted him relentlessly in every moment of his dejection.
"Second Prince, Second Prince."
The imperial physicians were also at a loss. People with fever need rest the most, but for some reason, the second prince was extremely tense, and even sedatives were ineffective.
It wasn't until night began to fall that Gu Qingfeng briefly regained his senses.
"Where's Big Brother? And Yao'er?"
Gu Qingfeng forced a smile, his parched lips parted, and the pain throughout his body caused tears to stream down his face.
"Second Prince, His Highness the Crown Prince has not yet returned from the palace, and the princess has been sent to Prince Yu's residence."
Upon hearing this, Gu Qingfeng remained silent for the duration of half an incense stick's burning. Then, struggling to his feet, he disregarded the advice of those around him and walked step by step out of the Dragon and Phoenix Hall, heading towards the Zhaoning Palace.
With each step he took, Gu Qingfeng felt the pain from his wounds all over his body.
The distance to Zhaoning Palace had exhausted Gu Qingfeng, but standing outside the palace, he felt a strange joy, as if he had found something he had lost. "Clearly... I am your child, so why are you so good to Gu Qingyan?"
The moment he collapsed to the ground, Gu Qingfeng cried in a very pathetic manner.
Even if he were to die, he would die in Zhaoning Palace, beside Jiang Yu.
Gu Qingfeng, who was always ignorant of his own limitations, attributed his behavior to instinct; a critically ill child instinctively wanted to be close to his mother.
"Mother, please look at me again..."
......
"Wanji, notify Lingxi Palace to come and pick up the person."
Jiang Yu looked at Gu Qingfeng, who was curled up in a ball, without feeling any pity.
[By attaching myself to Zhaoning Palace at this time, and by finding a way to delay the healing of the whip wounds for a few more days, I can make it seem like I'm ruthless and cruel to harm my own flesh and blood. What a clever scheme!]
Gu Qingfeng struggled to speak and deny it, but found that he couldn't make a sound at all. Gu Qingyan, who was watching Gu Qingfeng's condition closely, didn't offer any explanation for Gu Qingfeng.
Gu Qingyan understood that Gu Qingfeng's remorse at this moment was genuine, but the harm he had done to his mother in the past was also real.
Gu Qingfeng doesn't have the brains to come up with such a scheme; he's probably just being used as a pawn by Consort Rong again. In that case, let Consort Rong take good care of Gu Qingfeng; it would be a way to fulfill the mother-son bond between them.
Only now did Gu Qingfeng truly understand the pain of being unable to speak out. It wasn't like that at all; he had come to Zhaoning Palace desperately because he wanted to stay by her side.
But Jiang Yu no longer believed him; she truly regarded him as Rong's mother's child.
Gu Qingfeng felt his wound hurt even more, so much so that he had difficulty breathing. What about Gu Qingyan? Did she only see Gu Qingyan as a child now?
He coughed up a mouthful of blood, and at that moment Consort Rong arrived at Zhaoning Palace.
"Feng'er!" Consort Rong exclaimed in alarm, "Your Majesty, why does the Second Prince's wound look even more serious?"
Consort Rong's questioning only confirmed Jiang Yu's earlier guess, and Jiang Yu's face turned completely cold. "I don't know why the Second Prince came to Zhaoning Palace either, and I sent someone to Lingxi Palace to report the news immediately. Since you're here, take him away."
After saying that, Jiang Yu went into the inner room without looking back, leaving Consort Rong crying and calling for the imperial physician to treat Gu Qingfeng's injuries.
"Don't go..." Gu Qingfeng shouted desperately in his heart, but it was still to no avail. He felt Jiang Yu walking further and further away, so far away that he could no longer reach her.
"Master Meng, why does everyone in Daqing have to read the Classic of Filial Piety? This prince dislikes reading such dry and boring things the most."
Mencius's ruler struck the unruly Gu Qingfeng without mercy. "Parents' love is broad and selfless, and will not be easily taken back. As children, we must understand the way of filial piety. Daqing governs the world with benevolence and filial piety, and the Second Prince should be a role model for all people."
"My mother doesn't love me at all." Gu Qingfeng pouted. That woman only knew how to say things he didn't like to hear and always contradicted him. She was no match for Consort Rong.
And then there was that day in the Imperial Study, when Gu Qingyan rolled up his sleeves, the marigolds embroidered on them stung Gu Qingfeng's eyes. Gu Qingfeng used all his strength when the guards stopped his kick.
The Master clearly said that love is not easily taken back, so why did she take it back so easily?
Finally, Gu Qingfeng could no longer hold on and completely lost consciousness.
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