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It rained in the evening, and Gu Yan"s dark guards came back to report that the road was difficult to traverse, so Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun stayed at Nan Xiang and Master Lu’s house. The next day, they would go directly to Qinghe Academy from there.
Nan Xiang and Master Lu were very fond of Gu Xiaoshun and Gu Yan, therefore Gu Jiao wasn’t worried and simply asked the dark guards to bring two sets of clean clothes for them.
On the other hand, Old Marquis, who had been encouraged by Gu Yan and Gu Jiao, felt unprecedented support. He had lived his whole life for the State of Zhao and for the Marquis Ding’an Estate. Apart from desperately fighting on the battlefield, he had never done anything daring in private.
He had worked hard all his life and kept to his duties. But maybe because he was getting old and had not many years left, he didn’t want to have any regrets in his life.
How long had he lived for others? He had let her down for so many years.
In the remaining days of his life, he no longer wanted to let her down.
Fortunately, the army that he had cultivated for the Emperor was already in place, Gu Changqing had grown up, and there were successors for the Marquis Ding’an Estate. He could finally rest a.s.sured.
"Go and call the shizi." Old Marquis instructed a servant.
"Yes." The servant promptly went to Gu Changqing"s courtyard and called him over.
Looking at Old Marquis who was sitting in the main seat with a different expression than usual, Gu Changqing asked indifferently, "Grandfather, why did you call me so late?"
Old Marquis looked at him deeply. This was the grandson he had raised by himself, and he had poured all his efforts into him, even more than he had put into his own son, Gu Chong.
And he did not disappoint, growing up to be the person he had envisioned.
Old Marquis handed him two tokens of different materials, one was the Gu Family Army"s token and the other was the token of the secret army.
"What does this mean, grandfather?" Gu Changqing asked strangely.
Old Marquis looked at him seriously and said, "You are grown up now, and some responsibilities should be handed over to you. Perhaps I won"t live to see the day when the Gu Family Army will be revived, but I hope you can see that day."
"Why won"t you be able to see it?" Gu Changqing asked lightly.
Old Marquis hesitated for a moment, then squeezed the corner of the table and said, "I have my own arrangements; you don"t need to ask too much."
Gu Changqing let out a cold sneer and his words were not without a hint of sarcasm, "Grandfather always has his own arrangements, just like that thing back then!"
After speaking, he didn"t wait for Old Marquis to ask which specific thing he was referring to before turning and leaving.
He took both tokens with him.
As the eldest son of the Gu Family, whether it was his own rights or burdens, he would spare no effort to bear them.
Old Marquis sighed helplessly as he looked at his grandson"s determined departure.
After that, he had his servants call Gu Chengfeng and Gu Chenglin.
As his grandsons, he naturally loved the two of them, it was just that he didn’t favor them as much as he did Gu Changqing, nor did he show them as much compa.s.sion as he did for Gu Yan.
This was probably the sadness of not being able to occupy both ends. They were neither as capable as Gu Changqing nor as delicate as Gu Yan, so they naturally received less attention.
Now that the day they were really going to part ways came, Old Marquis couldn"t help but feel reluctant at the bottom of his heart.
He looked at the two of them and intended to say some emotional words between grandfather and grandson, but when he saw Gu Chenglin’s bald head that had only recently grown hair, the corner of his mouth twitched.
He couldn"t say anything emotional!
He also gave the two of them a token and some family a.s.sets, which were sent to Gu Changqing"s place for safekeeping for the time being. When the day the two of them got married and started their own careers, it would be handed over to them.
He also left something for Gu Yan, which he had already sent to the hands of the dark guards by his side and would be handed over to him at an appropriate time.
Gu Jiao had gotten married, and a married daughter was like spilled water, so he didn"t leave her a token. However, out of consideration for her dedication to Gu Yan, he still left her a sum of money.
It was also in the hands of the dark guards.
Marquis Gu went to repair the road and wasn"t in the estate.
But Old Marquis didn"t even think of this invisible son of his.
After everything was arranged, Old Marquis left the Marquis Ding’an Estate overnight.
Gu Chenglin looked at the token in his hand, not knowing what its use was. He asked in confusion, "Second brother, did you feel that grandfather was acting strange today?"
Gu Chengfeng looked at the token and then at the endless night, thoughtfully saying, "Yes, quite strange indeed."
It was a dark and stormy night.
The capital had shed its daytime hustle and bustle, and turned into a quiet and isolated city.
In the dim night, a dark shadow flew across the wall and crept into the palace like a ghost.
A group of patrolling imperial guards pa.s.sed by.
Since the incident of the attempted a.s.sa.s.sination on Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing, the imperial palace had strengthened its defenses, and the number of imperial guards had doubled.
"Hey, did you hear any noise just now?" One imperial guard asked.
His companion replied, "No, did you guys hear anything?"
The rest of them shook their heads in unison.
The first imperial guard scratched his head in confusion, "Maybe I heard wrong." He looked back at the impregnable palace walls. Apart from their patrol unit, the four corners of the palace were also being guarded by the skilled imperial experts and imperial dark guards.
If anyone really tried to sneak in, they shouldn"t have been able to get past all the defenses, right?
"Let"s go, let"s go! Let"s continue the patrol!" The imperial guard said.
The group of imperial guards marched forward in formation.
Soon after they left, a hidden figure on a tree leaped towards the direction of Huaqing Palace.
The person was very familiar with the palace"s defenses, avoiding all the dark guards and imperial experts’ sight and successfully infiltrating Huaqing Palace.
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing was sitting in the small meditation room, beating the wooden fish and reciting scriptures.
Suddenly, an obscure figure flashed behind her, approaching within three steps.
However, just as the figure was about to reach her, another shadow swooped down from the ceiling, wielding a flashing cold sword and standing coldly in front of him.
Dragon Shadow Guard!
Old Marquis was shocked.
"Stop!" Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing spoke up.
The Dragon Shadow Guard lowered his sword.
"Withdraw." Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing ordered.
The Dragon Shadow Guard flew up and jumped out of the window.
Old Marquis knew about the Dragon Shadow Guards. They were a group of death warriors purchased by the former Emperor at a high cost from the State of Yan. They were then secretly trained for many years to become the Dragon Shadow Guard in the former Emperor"s hands.
He didn"t expect to see a Dragon Shadow Guard by Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing"s side.
"You..."
His words suddenly got stuck in his throat.
Since the Emperor had given her a Dragon Shadow Guard, did that mean her situation wasn"t as bad as he imagined?
"Why are you here?" Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing stared at him.
Old Marquis met her gaze and took a long time to find his voice, "I heard that you were attacked by a.s.sa.s.sins in the palace and were almost ambushed by something Marquis Xuanping sent you."
Marquis Xuanping was investigating the case, and in a quite high-profile manner at that. So much so that everyone in the imperial court knew about it.
Old Marquis didn"t believe that Marquis Xuanping and Old Chief would harm Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing, but that was the terrible thing about this event. The true culprit was hiding in the shadows, which made it truly impossible to guard against.
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing lowered her eyes and sighed, "I"m fine."
She put the wooden fish mallet back on the table.
Old Marquis saw the wound on the back of her hand and furrowed his brow, "You"re injured!"
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing lowered her hand and covered it with her sleeve, "It"s just a small injury, it doesn"t matter."
"Was it the person from Renshou Palace?" Old Marquis thought it over and felt that the person in the palace who least wanted Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing to come back was Empress Dowager Zhuang!
All of this might have been secretly planned by Empress Dowager Zhuang!
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing sighed bitterly and said, "Don"t say things without evidence. We can"t fight against her."
Her pitiful and helpless appearance aroused Old Marquis"s bloodthirsty nature.
If it were the Old Marquis of the past, he would go this instant to take revenge for her by a.s.sa.s.sinating Empress Dowager Zhuang at Renshou Palace!
But today, Old Marquis came to take Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing away. He was a man with a plan and had to act according to his plan. Empress Dowager Zhuang could be dealt with next time.
He took a deep breath and said, "I saw the Dragon Shadow Guard just now and was hesitant about whether to do this or not, but since she is so arrogant, it"s not safe for you to stay here anymore. I"m taking you away now!"
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing was stunned, "Wha, what?!"
"You can rest a.s.sured that I will avenge you. But for now, I refuse to let you down again, so I"m taking you away!" Having said that, he grabbed her wrist and led her out of the door.
However, as soon as they reached the door, they ran into the Emperor who had come to visit Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing.Raz P."s Thoughts
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