The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1014 - 1014 482 Beating the Scum Dad (Second Update)

Chapter 1014: 482 Beating the Scum Dad (Second Update) Chapter 1014: 482 Beating the Scum Dad (Second Update) For Xiao Hen, today was a day of great joy as he received a promotion, and for Yuan Tang who had finally escaped the Capital City, it was equally a day of celebration.

The Lord Marquis of Gu in the Capital City was not so lucky; he had an ominous chill in the middle of the night, sensing that something big was about to happen. Sure enough, he was arrested first thing in the morning before he even had a chance to wake up fully.

He was completely bewildered.

What’s going on? Why was he arrested for no reason at all?

His father was arrested at the border defenses, and he was arrested in the Capital City—what kind of mess was this?

“Lord Marquis.”

The one who arrested him was none other than Xiao Hen’s new immediate superior, the Minister of Punishment.

The Minister of Punishment said with a stern face, “You are suspected of the crime of deceiving the emperor, and I need you to take a trip to the Ministry of Justice.”

The Lord Marquis was dazed: “Hold on, explain yourself! Who deceived the emperor?”

The Minister of Punishment had anticipated his response and brought forward the guards who had been on duty at the north city gate the previous night, asking the leader, “What happened while you were on duty last night? Tell me everything.”

The head guard replied, “Last night, the Lord Marquis used a fake imperial decree to leave the Capital City through a secret passage at the north city gate.”

The Lord Marquis said angrily, “I stayed in my residence all night long. When did I leave the city? And when did I use a fake imperial decree?”

The Minister of Punishment looked at the guard: “Are you sure you weren’t mistaken? It was the Lord Marquis?”

The guard said with conviction, “That person had the token of Marquis Anning, and his voice was exactly the same as the Lord Marquis’ is right now!”

A cold light flashed in the Lord Marquis’ eyes: “Do not slander me with such unfounded accusations!”

“What about his appearance?” asked the Minister of Punishment.

Intimidated by the Lord Marquis’ aura, the guard glanced at the Minister of Punishment before saying, “He wore a bamboo hat, and I didn’t see clearly.”

The Lord Marquis was furious: “Go and search my residence! I never left the Marquis Residence the whole time! It must be someone impersonating me! That token is also fake! My token is clearly—”

As he spoke, the Lord Marquis reached into his wide sleeve for the token, to his surprise, he found nothing.

Eh?

Where was his token?!!!

“Lord! Lord! It’s not good! The Second Young Master has disappeared!”

It was Huang Zhong’s voice.

Gu Chengfeng was missing.

The Lord Marquis’ token had also vanished without a trace.

If the Lord Marquis couldn’t guess what had happened now, it would be unreasonable.

“Lord! Your horse is gone too!”

The Lord Marquis’ fists creaked as he clenched them.

The unfilial son!

This unfilial son! How had he never realized his second son was so audacious?

Without making a sound, he had stolen his horse and token and escaped the city with a fake imperial decree!

Why had he left the city?

To heaven perhaps!

After careful questioning by the Minister of Punishment, it was confirmed that the “Lord Marquis” from last night matched Gu Chengfeng in both height and build, and the horse’s characteristics matched those of the Lord Marquis’ horse as well.

It was indeed confirmed to be Gu Chengfeng.

Although it was not the Lord Marquis who deceived the emperor, with his son committing the crime, the father was not exactly blameless either.

The Minister of Justice reported the investigation results to the Emperor.

Just as Gu Chengfeng had expected, his father was harshly punished by the Emperor with one hundred heavy strikes; a son pays for his father’s debts, and a father pays for his son’s. The Emperor showed no mercy, and the Lord Marquis, caught in an injustice, screamed miserably from the beatings, a sight too pitiful to witness.

Huang Zhong had already become composed, not knowing from when but their Lord seemed destined to be on a one-way journey to get beaten.

He once again skilfully hoisted the man onto the carriage.

…

The border being thousands of miles away, Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng almost never stopped moving, changing to a high-quality horse at each post station in order to reach the border defenses as quickly as possible.

Even at night, they continued their journey, and despite the impacts of weather and road conditions, it still took them nearly twenty days to reach the border defenses.

At the end of October, the border defenses were swept by howling cold winds and frozen solid for miles.

Beiyang City, Lingguan City, and Ye City had all fallen. Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng were currently in Yuegu City, which, if nothing went wrong, would be the next target of the Chen Kingdom’s army and the remnants of the former dynasty.

Perhaps due to the anticipation of war, Yuegu City was alarmed and restless, with very few civilians on the avenues and many shops closed.

Wrapped in thick fox fur, Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng led their steeds down the somewhat desolate avenues, and they had long noticed that the further north they went, the more desolate the cities were, with many civilians abandoning their homes, fleeing southward alone or with their families.

“Ah!”

A little girl around seven or eight years old was rushing forward with her family but accidentally tripped and fell right at Gu Jiao’s feet.

Gu Jiao reached out and helped the little girl to her feet.

The girl’s family didn’t even have time to thank her before they hurried off with panic-stricken faces.

They were worried that if they delayed any longer, the city gates would close, and they would not be able to leave that night.

Yuegu City was on the brink of battle. Though they did not know which day it would begin, leaving early was certainly the right decision.

“Hey! You dropped something!” Gu Chengfeng picked up an old pellet drum from the ground.

The little girl looked back at the pellet drum, her eyes filled with longing and reluctance.

But her family pulled her away without looking back.

“Alas, it really is.” Gu Chengfeng hesitated, the rattle-drum was of no use to him since the other party didn’t want it, he had no choice but to throw it away.

The situation in Yuegu City was even more severe than he had imagined.

He sighed, “We haven’t even started fighting, and it’s already like this. Once the battle begins, who knows what the situation will become.”

Gu Jiao knew that in her dreams rivers of blood flowed, corpses from famine were strewn across the fields, the landscape was shattered, people were displaced, strong men were slaughtered, women and children were abused, and the borderlands had become a human purgatory.

“Are we staying at an inn or a post station tonight?” Gu Chengfeng asked.

“Neither,” Gu Jiao said.

“Then where will we stay? Surely not on the street!” Gu Chengfeng looked up at the darkening sky, “It looks like the weather is turning. There might be a heavy snowstorm tonight. If we really sleep on the street, we could freeze to death.”

Gu Jiao had no intention of sleeping in the street. She stopped walking and stood on the icy, snowy avenue.

She felt as if she had been there before.

Yet this street never appeared in her dreams.

After pondering for a moment, she turned right, leading the horse.

“Hey, where are you going?” Gu Chengfeng asked.

“To the Governor’s Mansion,” Gu Jiao replied.

“What for?” Gu Chengfeng asked, puzzled.

“To stay,” Gu Jiao said sparingly.

Gu Chengfeng frowned, “Stay… at the Governor’s Mansion? Why would we stay there?”

Gu Jiao led the horse forward: “It doesn’t cost money.”

Gu Chengfeng: “…”

Gu Chengfeng did not ask how Gu Jiao knew the direction to the Governor’s Mansion; throughout their journey, she was like a walking map, clear about everywhere!

Thinking that there was something in the world called a map, Gu Chengfeng was then reassured.

The two arrived at the Governor’s Mansion.

Not many guards were patrolling the Avenue, but the Governor’s Mansion was heavily guarded.

“Who goes there?” A guard approached Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng.

Without a word, Gu Jiao casually tossed a token to him.

The guard, just a low-ranking soldier from the frontier, did not recognize the items of Capital City, but Gu Jiao’s imposing manner, – coupled with the fact that she and Gu Chengfeng were dressed in fine fox furs – clearly separated them from ordinary commoners.

The guard took the token and entered the Governor’s Mansion.

About a quarter of an hour later, a middle-aged man dressed in official robes, supporting the official hat on his head and holding up his hem, jogged over.

Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng were both dressed as men, wearing masks on their faces.

With a curious expression, the middle-aged man glanced at them, holding back his doubts, and saluted, “My surname is Hu, named Hu Hai, and I serve as the secretary in the Governor’s Mansion. The Governor is out on business, and we were unaware of the esteemed arrival of the two gentlemen. We failed to welcome you from afar, please forgive us!”

Gu Chengfeng waited for Gu Jiao to speak.

But Gu Jiao did not.

Remembering that the girl was not good at disguising her voice, Gu Chengfeng cleared his throat and said, “No matter.”

“May I know how the two gentlemen would like to be addressed?” the Secretary Hu asked respectfully.

Gu Chengfeng put on an air of authority, “Our identities must remain confidential; better not to ask.”

“Ah, of course!” Hu Hai handed back the token to Gu Chengfeng.

Gu Chengfeng thought for a moment and took it on behalf of Gu Jiao.

Hu Hai invited them into the Governor’s Mansion.

Gu Chengfeng spoke with an affected air, “Find us a quiet Courtyard. We may need to stay in Yuegu City for a few days.”

“Yes, yes! I will arrange it immediately!” Hu Hai hurriedly complied, leading them to a clean Courtyard.

The Courtyard had three rooms in total, and Gu Chengfeng had Gu Jiao take the innermost room while he took the one next door.

“I’ll go and select some astute servants to attend you,” Hu Hai suggested with a smile.

Gu Chengfeng glanced at Gu Jiao and, seeing no objection from her, nodded to Hu Hai, “Thank you for the trouble.”

Hu Hai bowed respectfully and left the Courtyard.

The steward, driven by curiosity, followed up, “Secretary Hu, who are those two? Why are you treating them with such courtesy? You even let them stay in the Liuxiang Courtyard – that Courtyard was originally…”

He was cut off halfway through his sentence as Secretary Hu hushed him, “What do you know? They possess the Empress Dowager’s token; they’ve come from Capital City!”

The steward stood there, flabbergasted.

…

Gu Jiao, unconcerned with the stir her identity was causing within the Governor’s Mansion, entered the room, removed her mask, and set down the red-tasseled spear and her small backpack.

While it was freezing outside, the room was warm, due to the heated kang.

Gu Chengfeng walked in, removing his mask as he spoke to her, “Strange, all this way you’ve kept your identity well hidden. Why stop hiding it now?”

Gu Jiao took off her deerskin gloves, “No need to hide anymore, our whereabouts have already been exposed.”

Gu Chengfeng’s eyes widened, “Exposed? When? How come I don’t know about this?”

Gu Jiao said, “As soon as we entered Yuegu City, it was exposed.”

In her dreams, it was precisely in Yuegu City that Gu Chengfeng had been targeted.

If nothing went wrong, someone would come to drug Gu Chengfeng tonight.