"Well done! You two are indeed a perfect match, a match made in heaven!"
"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty. I am flattered. This is all thanks to Your Majesty." Gu Sang said to the Emperor with a smile. Her tone was full of humility, but there was a hint of pride on her face. She thought to herself: This Emperor is indeed worthy of being her father's friend. He has a very high opinion of me.
"Gu Sang, you don't need to be so reserved. There's no need to be so polite or humble in front of me. Your humility only makes me feel uncomfortable," the Emperor said to Gu Sang when he saw her being so polite.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Gu Sang said to the Emperor with a smile, then turned to Li Rong and asked, "Li Rong, didn't you say we encountered trouble outside? How did we encounter trouble?"
“I sent someone to find the third young master of the Gu family and asked him to send you into the palace. However, none of this is my business. It was all arranged by Old Madam Gu.” Li Rong explained to Gu Sang after hearing her words.
Gu Sang was taken aback. She looked at the Emperor and the Empress Dowager and asked them, "How did Gu Yun know I would be entering the palace? How did she know that Li Rong and I were entering the palace today?"
"This is a long story, let's sit down and talk about it slowly," the Emperor said to Gu Sang.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Gu Sang and Li Rong said to the Emperor in unison.
Seeing Li Rong and Gu Sang like this, the Emperor smiled slightly and said, "Li Rong, Gu Sang, you are both my most beloved children. I will not hide anything from you now. In fact, I have known for a long time that Gu Sang is my niece, but I have never told Li Rong."
"Niece?" Li Rong and Gu Sang said in unison, their faces filled with shock and disbelief. Li Rong glanced at Gu Sang, then turned to the emperor and said, "Gu Sang, is she your niece?"
"Yes, my cousin, Gu Sang, you and my cousin look so alike. If it weren't for your different personalities, I would have thought you were my long-lost sister," the Emperor said.
"Am I really the Emperor's niece? What's going on?" Gu Sang looked at the Emperor with a puzzled expression and asked him.
The Emperor smiled slightly at Gu Sang and then said, "My sister told me about this. She and I are siblings from the same mother, who is from the same country. However, my sister and I were rescued by our father during the war and were later abandoned here. Our father raised us in the deep mountains and forests and never let us leave the manor. Later, when our father ascended the throne, he was afraid that his faction would become too powerful, so he married my sister off to another family. The master of that family liked my sister very much, so my sister stayed with that family until later, when my father brought her back to the capital."
"Oh, I see," Gu Sang said to the Emperor with a sudden realization.
"Yes, Gu Sang, aren't you curious about how my sister and I met?" the Emperor said with a smile.
Gu Sang shook her head and said to the Emperor, "It's not that it's strange, but rather that I'm quite surprised. My cousin and I have similar personalities; we both prefer quiet to noise. However, I never expected that my cousin and I could become good friends, and that we could even live in my hometown for more than ten years. It really surprises me."
As Gu Sang spoke, her eyes were filled with envy, an envy that came from the bottom of her heart. For more than ten years, in the Gu family, apart from her own relatives, no one else treated her well, especially that Gu Qinglan. He always tried his best to bully her, and she always swallowed her anger because she didn't want to become enemies with her relatives. However, if she didn't bow her head, they would become even more outrageous, and even wanted to kill her.
Gu Sang sighed as she thought about it, her brows furrowed with obvious frustration.
Seeing Gu Sang's sorrowful expression, Li Rong reached out and held Gu Sang's hands tightly, saying, "Gu Sang, you don't need to think too much. You and Aunt Wanying are different. Aunt Wanying is gentle and kind, and her attitude towards us isn't bad. However, Aunt Wanying is, after all, a direct descendant of the Gu family. We Gu family members can't easily trust anyone from a young age, especially those with status and power in the Gu family. So, just don't take Gu Wanying to heart."
As soon as Li Rong finished speaking, she immediately received the approval of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. They both nodded and said to Li Rong, "Li Rong is absolutely right. Gu Sang, what Li Rong said to you is also correct. You really shouldn't take Wan Ying to heart. She is not the same as she used to be. No matter what, she is now a princess, a princess who is high and mighty. You should also learn to protect yourself. So, from now on, you must never be the same as before."
"Yes, I understand." Gu Sang nodded and said to the Emperor and Empress Dowager, "Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty and Empress Dowager."
"Since you are now my nieces, there's no need to be so formal with me. Your name is Gu Sang. Don't be so polite with us; just call me Your Majesty or Imperial Uncle," the Emperor said to Gu Sang.
"Alright, Gu Sang has remembered." After speaking to the Emperor, Gu Sang turned to look at the Empress and said to the Emperor, "Then, Your Majesty, may I leave now?"
"Hmm." The Emperor responded, then looked at the Empress and said, "Empress, you should take Li Rong to see your brother. You two should go and rest. Tomorrow, I will send someone to take you home."
"Yes, Your Majesty," the Empress said respectfully to the Emperor.
"Li Rong, take Gu Sang to rest. I have some official business to attend to, so I'll be leaving now." After saying this, the Emperor left the Imperial Garden.
"Your Majesty," the Empress Dowager called out to the Emperor.
The Emperor stopped and asked the Empress Dowager, "Mother, what is it?"
"Your mother wants to ask you, were you satisfied when Wanying was betrothed to you?" The Empress Dowager asked the Emperor, her eyes fixed on his, trying to discern something from them.
Upon hearing this, the Emperor's lips curled into a bitter smile as he said to the Empress Dowager, "Mother, rest assured, I will certainly not let you down."
Seeing that the Emperor was unwilling to talk about it, the Empress Dowager did not press him further. Instead, she changed the subject and asked the Emperor, "You just asked Li Rong to take Gu Sang out to play. Where do you plan to take Gu Sang? Are you going on a picnic?"
“Mother, Gu Sang is the Emperor’s niece. How can the Emperor take his niece around aimlessly? I would like to take Gu Sang somewhere.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
