Chapter 382: Nonsense (2)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Madam Gu was nervous and secretly gave Gu Jian a look. What she meant was, why did he enter the palace?
Gu Jian received his mother’s signal, but the palace was an important place and couldn’t be noisy. He could only look at Madam Gu in a dilemma. He hid his thoughts and didn’t dare to answer or ask. He looked to the left.
The Emperor was sitting by the window with Eldest Prince Chu Yi, who was dressed in an apricot-colored python robe. They were facing each other across the coffee table. There was a Torreya chessboard between the father and son and only a few pieces on the chessboard.
There was a colorful parrot on the gilded bird stand by the window. The lively parrot flapped its wings on the bird stand.
The atmosphere in the water pavilion was abnormally heavy.
Gu Jian lowered his head and bowed to the Emperor and Chu Yi with Gu Yuan and the patriarch. “Greetings, Emperor, Eldest Prince.”
Gu Jian’s palms were already covered in cold sweat.
He didn’t expect the Eldest Madam to be brought to the Imperial Palace.
Initially, the Eldest Madam would only kneel at the entrance for a while to put on an act. Then, he would go to the entrance in an hour to pick her up. It wouldn’t be good if this matter really blew up in front of the Imperial Palace.
No matter what, the Emperor and the Eldest Prince were biological father and son. The Emperor would definitely not punish the Eldest Prince for a dead person. He would definitely protect the Eldest Prince.
If the Gu family was too ostentatious, they would stand out.
Xiao Shoufu and the other officials in the water pavilion fell silent and looked at the three Gu family members with different expressions.
After two seconds of silence, the Emperor’s calm voice sounded. “Zhao Rang, show Battalion Commander Gu the Eldest Madam Gu’s memorial.”
Zhao Rang agreed and handed a fold to Gu Yuan from the side of the wooden chessboard.
Gu Yuan had already seen this memorial from Chu Yi, but at this moment, his face didn’t show any surprise. He pretended to look at the memorial and recalled what his sister had said to him.
Right on the heels of that, Gu Yuan lifted his robe and knelt down without saying a word. Even when he knelt down, his back was still straight, like a pine tree standing proudly at the edge of a cliff.
Xiao Shoufu bowed to the Emperor and said righteously, “Emperor, please punish Gu Yuan.”
Beside him, Feng She and the others quickly exchanged glances, their eyes shining.
As long as Gu Yuan was convicted, it would mean that the Eldest Prince had done it before. Their Feng family would be saved!
Xiao Shoufu wanted more. Not only did he want to protect the Feng family, but he also wanted to use this to save the Yu family.
The Emperor glanced at Xiao Shoufu, Feng She, and the others indifferently. He took a handful of fish food from the box and casually scattered it into the lake outside the window. He asked, “Do you think that it’s the fault of Battalion Commander Gu?”
In the lake, hundreds of golden-red carps smelled the fragrance and came over, forming a beautiful scene like a hundred birds returning to their nest. The lake water was sparkling.
Chu Yi looked at the ripples on the lake outside the window. His beautiful lips curled up slightly, as if he didn’t hear it, as if it had nothing to do with him.
Xiao Shoufu looked up and met the Emperor’s eyes. He still held his hands in front of him and said calmly, “Emperor, Madam Gu is the grandmother of Battalion Commander Gu. There’s naturally a reason why she reported him.”
With that, Xiao Shoufu raised his voice and turned to interrogate Madam Gu, who was kneeling on the ground. “Madam Gu, is that right?”
Xiao Shoufu’s words were usually neither light nor heavy, neither slow nor anxious, but at this moment, there was a sharp pressure in his voice.
Madam Gu was already sweating profusely. The heavy makeup on her body pressed down on her like a mountain, making her feel suffocated.
At this point, since she had already handed over this confession letter, it meant that she had invited herself to become a knife in Xiao Shoufu’s hand. She had no other choice.
Madam Gu gritted her teeth and said with difficulty, “Emperor, Xiao Shoufu, my eldest grandson is violent. He has liked to fight since he was young and often causes trouble. He has injured many people.”
“And…”
She paused and glanced at Gu Yuan, who was kneeling not far away. She pretended to want to say something but hesitated. She seemed to hesitate for a moment before continuing, “On the ninth day of the lunar new year, after my eldest grandson returned to the residence, he personally told me that he accidentally killed someone…”
“I’ve been thinking about it for the past few days and can’t sleep. I can’t let him make a huge mistake and cause a storm in the court before coming to apologize.”
With that, Madam Gu lowered her head heavily again. Her well-maintained hand, which was like a young girl’s, was hidden tightly in her sleeve.
Hearing this, the patriarch at the side widened his eyes in disbelief. There was shock, disappointment, anger, and enlightenment.
He had watched Gu Yuan grow up, so he naturally knew that Gu Yuan wasn’t the kind of person Madam Gu was talking about.
As he thought about the separation of the family today, the patriarch looked thoughtfully at Gu Yuan beside him, his eyes filled with pity. He thought to himself, “The Eldest Madam is biased towards the second branch. She even dares to say such nonsense in front of the Emperor. I’m afraid she’s always been like this all these years. It’s really hard on Brother Yuan.”
Gu Yuan knelt on the ground with his back straight. He still didn’t say a word, and his expression was cold.
With a straight face, the Emperor slowly looked around at the crowd again, taking in their reactions of perturbation, antic.i.p.ation, dissatisfaction, and gloating.
There was silence in the water pavilion for a moment.
A smile appeared on the Emperor’s old and refined face. He seemed to be sneering and sneering. He slowly said, “In that case, Madam Gu and the adults think that Feng He didn’t a.s.sa.s.sinate the Eldest Prince and that the Eldest Prince wronged him?”
The Emperor’s voice was still calm, but the resentment in his words could be heard by anyone. His tone was three times colder.
There was dead silence in response to the Emperor. Only the occasional splashing of carp outside the window could be heard.
How could Madam Gu dare to answer? She knelt down with her head lowered.
That was indeed what Xiao Shoufu, Feng She, and the others thought.. They didn’t answer either, but their answers were clearly written on their faces: Of course, Feng He didn’t try to a.s.sa.s.sinate the Eldest Prince!