Chapter 165.2
Someone came in holding an oil lamp, and by the faint light it gave off, Gu Jiao could somehow make out the scenery.
This was no ordinary bas.e.m.e.nt. There were two rooms in total, and the one outside where she was at just now appeared to be a meeting area, while the smaller one she was now hiding in looked like the actual storeroom.
There were two young women in total.
One of them was holding the oil lamp while the other pulled the curtain aside and looked into the storeroom, as if it were a routine inspection, but also knowing that there would be no one in the storeroom, she did not go any further.
She let go of the curtain and said to the other person, "Let’s light up the lantern and prepare the tea."
"Good." The other person went to light up the lantern.
The brightness outside made the place where Gu Jiao was hiding appear even darker, which made it more convenient for her to hide.
After the two people prepared the tea and set up a makeshift tearoom, a woman in a white dress, wearing a light cyan veil hat, walked in.
The woman"s appearance was obscured by the veil, but she had a slim figure and her jade hands were slender and delicate. She appeared to be a daughter raised by a family with riches and honor.
After she entered the room, she made a gesture to the two servant girls, and they both withdrew tactfully.
In short, she was the only one left inside the s.p.a.cious makeshift tearoom.
Gu Jiao was in the midst of hesitating whether to go out openly or just stay hidden when a man dressed in a thick purple fox fur coat came in.
From Gu Jiao"s point of view, the man was so tall that his eyebrows, eyes, nose and mouth were being blocked by the upper door frame of the small storeroom. The only thing within her sight was his refined chin and downwards.
The man sat down opposite the woman.
The other side of the table where he sat at was actually Gu Jiao’s blindspot so Gu Jiao was unable to see the man’s appearance completely.
The one facing Gu Jiao was the woman wearing a veil hat.
But since her face was covered by a veil, her appearance was also just faintly discernible.
"Your Lordship has returned to the capital. How is the princess?" The woman spoke.
Gu Jiao was unable to see her expression, but she recognized the reverence in her tone.
This woman"s voice would have been labeled heavenly if this had been her previous life.
The man opposite him replied, his voice unhurried, deep and restrained, "She"s doing fine, thanking Your Highness for your concern."
Princess? Your Highness?
It seemed that these two people had great backgrounds.
They met in a place like this probably because they couldn’t let others know about their meeting.
Gu Jiao: So that guy was waiting for these people to come here? He went through a lot of trouble to lead me here just to make me b.u.mp into these two big shots, allowing him to borrow the hands of these big shots to silence me?
She wondered where that guy was hiding at this time.
The woman spoke again, "I am relieved to hear the princess is well."
The man asked in response, "Is something the matter that Your Highness asked me for a meeting?"
The woman let out a sigh before saying, "Hearing Your Lordship call me Your Highness is quite strange. I’d like it if Your Lordship just calls me Linlang as before."
The man responded, "I dare not."
Gu Jiao thought inwardly: "I dare not," he said, but his posture is obviously higher than the sky and wider than the sea.
Instead of continuing to persuade the other party, the woman pushed a bundle on the table in front of the man and said, "Actually, there is nothing much. It’s just that New Year"s Eve is approaching. With my present status, it’s no longer convenient for me to go and offer sacrifices to him. Please help me burn these paper money and incense sticks for him."
"Your Highness has a heart." No emotion could be detected in the man"s voice.
The woman looked at him and asked, "Do you blame me?"
The man: "Your Highness worries too much."
The woman said, feeling sad, "I"m deeply sorry. I also feel regret for not being able to call you father just as I wish in my life. But in my heart, you’ll always be just like my father. My respect for you is even greater."
The man: "Your Highness exaggerates."
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward. The man didn’t seem to like to talk much, so the room quietened in an instant as soon as the women stopped speaking.
Suddenly, the woman bowed her head and coughed a few times.
Finally, the man took the initiative to open his mouth, "What"s wrong with Your Highness?"
The woman shook her head, "Nothing, just a little cold."
The man said, "Your Highness should take care of herself."
The woman nodded, "I will."
Gu Jiao could still hear the man"s concern for the woman.
"Speaking of which, there’s one thing I suddenly recalled." Looking pensive, the woman went on, "Ever since His Majesty and the eldest prince returned from their southern trip, His Majesty has never set foot in the harem again. I heard that His Majesty came across an immortal Taoist priest on their way to the southern region. The Taoist priest taught His Majesty the art of immortality, and told His Majesty to burn incense and pray every day. He also advised His Majesty to steer clear of any women for two years; even Imperial Mother hasn"t seen His Majesty for a long time."
The man: "Your Highness means..."
The woman: "I suspect that the Taoist priest was arranged by the eldest prince. This southern trip isn’t so simple."
The man: "I see. I"ll have someone investigate the Taoist priest at once. It"s getting late. If there is nothing else, I"ll excuse myself. "
The woman stood up and performed a younger generation salute in front of the man.
The man returned the courtesy and made a salutation of a subject to the monarch.
After that, the man left the underground tearoom.
The woman remained sitting in the tearoom for a while more before standing up to leave as well.
Just then, however, something unexpected happened.
A loud noise sounded, then the whole bas.e.m.e.nt roof cracked and collapsed!
“Crown Princess——”
As the servant girls screamed above ground, the Crown Princess was buried under the rubble, along with Gu Jiao who was hidden in the storeroom.