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How could it be… Her?
Gu Changqing exclaimed incredulously, "She... actually attempted to a.s.sa.s.sinate JiaoJiao... What about the incident between the Supreme Commander Estate and Marquis Ding’an Estate before that?"
Old Chief knew about this matter since he was the one who let Gu Changqing into the house when he escaped to see Gu Yan.
Old Chief said, "There is no evidence for that matter, but judging from the motive, it does seem that the real person behind it was her. Besides her, no one else would be so anxious to prevent His Majesty from reconciling with Empress Dowager."
Even though the Zhuang Family hoped to have control over everything, they didn’t think it was a bad thing if Zhuang Jinse had a good relationship with His Majesty. If they could win over His Majesty and get more benefits for the Zhuang Family, Grand Preceptor Zhuang would also be happy.
However, His Majesty always refused to board the Zhuang Family"s boat.
Old Chief continued, "I guess she still harbors a grudge about the position of Empress Dowager. She wants to be the Empress Dowager and wants to get rid of Zhuang Jinse, she just hides herself too well, to the point that even though she should be the most suspicious, no one suspects her."
Something flickered in Gu Changqing"s eyes. He clenched his fists and his expression turned icy.
"She"s probably also targeting Liulang recently." Old Chief hesitated for a moment before mentioning the jade pendant incident. "And... I suspect she was the one who poisoned the Little Marquis of Zhao when everybody thought it was Empress Dowager."
Gu Jiao"s eyes also turned cold.
Seeing that the siblings seemed ready to take justice into their own hands, Old Chief quickly advised them, "Don"t act impulsively. You must not kill anyone in the palace! With the death warriors of the late Emperor, you cannot kill her and might even get hurt instead. Secondly, even if you do kill her, your actions won’t be right, His Majesty won’t forgive you nor will the law of the current dynasty."
Gu Changqing coldly said, "So we just let her go free?"
Old Chief chuckled, "To deal with such a person, you must use unconventional methods!"
"How do we use unconventional methods?" Gu Changqing asked.
Old Chief smiled inscrutably, "Naturally... Give her a taste of her own medicine!"
This method sounded simple, but it wasn’t an easy task, especially since the old white lotus had hidden herself deeply. Even Old Chief admitted that he wasn’t as good as her.
However, Old Chief always refused to admit defeat. You may have more knowledge than me, and a higher official position than me, but you can"t defeat me when it comes to being a green tea b.i.t.c.h!
Life was like a drama, people always competed in acting skills!
Gu Jiao quietly touched her small back basket.
Old Chief asked, "Where are you going so late?"
"To see Grandaunt." Gu Jiao said without changing her expression.
Old Chief said, "Put down your back basket."
Gu Jiao blinked her eyes and put down her back basket.
"Take out the dagger." Old Chief said.
Gu Jiao sullenly took out her black iron dagger.
"And the other three." He continued.
Gu Jiao took out three other hidden daggers.
"Take out the sack."
"Take out the hidden weapon."
"Take out the poisoned needles."
"And the thing that makes that popping sound."
Gu Jiao pouted, "That one"s all gone."
Old Chief said, "The poisonous insects."
"The poisonous snakes."
Gu Changqing"s temples throbbed as he heard the latter. How could a young girl carry so many dangerous items in her back basket? Even poisonous snakes!
Gu Jiao emptied her back basket, leaving only her small medicine chest.
The medicine chest couldn"t hold living creatures or things that didn"t belong in it, or they would disappear. Gu Jiao had tried it before.
Old Chief knew this girl too well. If he didn"t stop her today, she would directly enter the palace and put Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing into a sack.
But the risk was too great.
He couldn"t allow her to take such a reckless action.
Gu Changqing automatically ignored his sister"s basket of strange things and looked at Old Chief, asking, "What is Chief Huo"s plan specifically?"
Old Chief stroked his beard and said, "Well..."
He had a plan, but he was still missing someone to do the dirty work!
This person must have the Emperor"s trust and be able to easily enter the palace.
The second point alone wasn"t too difficult for him, but ever since the Emperor found out that he had been posing as his father for some time, the Emperor had harbored a lot of resentment towards him.
He was no longer as trusted as before.
Old Chief sighed deeply and said, "It"s not easy being an official."
As he was sighing, the sound of horse hooves and the rolling of wheels could be heard coming from the alley, and the sound stopped at the gate next door. Then, the entire alley heard Little Jing Kong"s angry roar, "Ah! I don"t want to go out with you again! It"s not fun, not fun at all! It"s not fun at all!"
Old Chief murmured, "What happened? Who did he go out with? Why is he so angry?"
Gu Jiao and Gu Changqing didn"t know.
The three of them went outside.
Little Jing Kong jumped off a tall carriage and stamped his feet in anger.
"Jing Kong." Gu Jiao called out.
When Little Jing Kong saw Gu Jiao coming out of Granduncle’s house, he pouted and ran over to her and jumped into Gu Jiao"s arms.
Gu Jiao crouched down, wiped the sweat from the little guy"s forehead, and fixed his lapel. His clothes were completely soaked with sweat.
Marquis Xuanping got off the carriage and raised an eyebrow at the little guy. He smiled and said, "I took you to such a fancy restaurant, and you don"t appreciate it."
"Marquis." Gu Changqing greeted him.
"Hm." Marquis Xuanping responded lightly.
Little Jing Kong was still angry, "You said you would! Such a big restaurant! So many delicious dishes, and you only ordered me an egg!"
Marquis Xuanping coughed lightly and said, "That"s a boiled egg in abalone sauce, very expensive. Besides, can a child like you eat so much? Didn"t I take you to row a boat?"
"What kind of c.r.a.ppy boat was that? It"s leaking! I"ve been bailing water the whole way! Uwaaah!" Little Jing Kong felt so wronged, "JiaoJiao, my arm hurts."
There were boats that cost twenty copper coins, and there were boats that cost fifty copper coins. If you go higher up, there were even wooden boats covered with black cloth that cost one or two silver taels.
Marquis Xuanping rented the cheapest boat, which didn"t even have a canopy, and halfway through the journey, it started leaking.
In the end, it was hard to tell whether the boat was rowing the people or the people were rowing the boat.
Gu Jiao picked up Little Jing Kong and held him in her arms while he sobbed uncontrollably.
What an eventful day it had been!
He never wanted to go out with this stingy monkey again!
"I"ll take Jing Kong inside first." Gu Jiao said, then turned and entered the house.
Gu Changqing and Old Chief looked at Marquis Xuanping, their expressions indescribable.
We know you"re stingy, but you don"t have to be this stingy!
Marquis Xuanping coughed lightly and muttered, "What are you staring at this Marquis for? This Marquis is also very tired! This Marquis has never even taken Ah Heng out when he was a child. Now he worked hard to take care of this little guy for a whole day, but he doesn"t even call this Marquis master."
"You want Little Jing Kong to call you master?" Old Chief looked Marquis Xuanping up and down and his eyes gradually lit up, "This is simple. You help me with something, and I"ll figure out a way for Jing Kong to call you master!"
Marquis Xuanping looked at Old Chief with suspicion.
……
It rained heavily at night, dissipating a lot of the summer heat. When the sky was just getting light, the rain stopped, and the palace was filled with the fragrance of flowers mixed with the moist smell of the earth, making people feel refreshed.
Empress Xiao woke up early.
According to palace rules, she should go to Renshou Palace to pay respects to Empress Dowager Zhuang, but since Empress Dowager Zhuang wasn’t an ordinary Empress Dowager and had to attend the morning court, it saved Empress Xiao the trouble of having to follow the formalities in front of her mother-in-law.
However, not paying respects to Empress Dowager Zhuang didn’t mean not paying respects to Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing.
"Your Majesty, this peac.o.c.k feather hairpin looks beautiful." A young palace maid who was combing Empress Xiao"s hair said.
Empress Xiao looked at herself in the bronze mirror and sighed, "Time ages a person, and youth fades away. What use is a beautiful hairpin when one gets old? No matter what one wears, it won"t look good when one is old."
The young palace maid hurriedly said, "How could Your Majesty the Empress be old? You are the peony among flowers, with national beauty and heavenly fragrance. You are also the pine tree in the mountains, thriving after the frost! You will only become more beautiful with time!"
Empress Xiao gave a faint smile, "You are just sweet-talking me." She raised her hand, indicating the young palace maid to put the hairpin on her.
The young palace maid put on the peac.o.c.k feather hairpin and picked a few white jade flower ornaments for her.
"Your Majesty is the Empress and doesn"t rely on her looks to serve others. Why fear the pa.s.sing of time?"
Grannie Liao walked in with a basin of flower petals soaked in clear water.
Empress Xiao smiled, "Grannie Liao speaks the truth."
She was the Empress, the wife of the Emperor, different from the other imperial concubines. She and the Emperor had a genuine marital bond as they were married by imperial edict and had exchanged vows.
Men might pay attention to other women, but a wife would always be a wife.
Empress Xiao dipped her hand into the water filled with flower petals.
Grannie Liao said, "Your Majesty, Marquis Xuanping is here."
"My brother is here?" Empress Xiao"s eyes lit up.
Grannie Liao sighed inwardly, only in front of Marquis Xuanping would her Majesty reveal her childish side.
"Invite him in quickly!"
It wasn’t a permission, but an invitation.
Empress Xiao greatly respected her older brother and, of course, Marquis Xuanping also treated his younger sister well.
Empress Xiao met with Marquis Xuanping at the Qingyou Pavilion, where she usually met with her guests.Raz P."s Thoughts
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