The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1017 - 1017 484 Unrivaled Jiaojiao (Part 2)

Chapter 1017: 484 Unrivaled Jiaojiao (Part 2) Chapter 1017: 484 Unrivaled Jiaojiao (Part 2) The war-torn Lingguan City was a sight of devastation, where soldiers outnumbered the commoners on the streets, and innocent civilians were arbitrarily arrested without cause.

Gu Chengfeng constantly reminded himself that he was a great thief, that the life and death of the commoners had nothing to do with him. Yet, when he actually witnessed such scenes before him, the blood in his veins couldn’t help but boil with anger.

He clenched his fists tightly and it took tremendous effort to barely suppress the urge to kill those Zhan Country soldiers who bullied the commoners with his sword.

He couldn’t expose himself.

Not yet… not yet…

“Let’s find an inn!” he said, turning away, afraid that another glance would make him unable to hold back and rush over.

“All right,” Gu Jiao replied, calm and collected as she nodded her head.

She seemed indifferent to everything, with the life and death of others appearing insignificant in her eyes. Yet, she had traveled thousands of miles to this bitterly cold and perilous land for the sake of the “fool” and brothers she spoke of.

Suddenly, Gu Chengfeng realized he couldn’t understand her.

The two found an inn nearby.

The inn bore signs of being plundered. The shopkeeper’s face was horrifically marked with the imprint of a slap. As for the servers in the inn, they were either injured or in pain, with swollen eyes.

They were busy setting upright chairs that had been knocked over. The inn was devoid of other guests, and it was unclear if no one had stayed there to begin with or if they had all been scared away.

Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng approached the counter.

The shopkeeper, trying to gather his spirits, looked at them with a voice still trembling from previous sobs, “Are the honored guests here to eat or to stay?”

Gu Chengfeng told the shopkeeper, “Give us a room. If there’s food, bring it up; if not, never mind.”

“Please follow me,” the shopkeeper said, holding back his sorrow, and led Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng upstairs to a room that was still relatively clean and tidy, “This is our inn’s best room, one hundred wen per night, including two meals.”

“One… one hundred wen?” Gu Chengfeng doubted he had heard correctly.

The shopkeeper hastily said, “Does the guest think it’s too much? I can give a discount, how about eighty wen?”

Gu Chengfeng opened his mouth and said, “That’s not what I meant.”

One hundred wen was really too cheap. On their journey, they had never stayed in such an inexpensive inn, and it was the best room, with two meals included.

“One hundred wen it is,” Gu Chengfeng eventually relented, not having the heart to haggle with the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper gratefully said, “Thank you, honored guest. I’ll go prepare the food right away, though you might need to wait a bit.”

Gu Chengfeng understood his meaning; with the inn looted by the soldiers, the kitchen likely didn’t even spare the fine foods. They would need to purchase more supplies.

Gu Chengfeng’s heart was a mixture of emotions.

Gu Jiao ate and slept without a care, seemingly heartless, and showing no signs of worry or compassion.

Gu Chengfeng watched the person hugging a Red-Tasseled Spear and snoring heavily on the bedchamber, his mouth twitching!

A little girl, whose heart seemed even bigger than that of a man like him!

After dinner, the two prepared to set out.

They changed into night garments and put on masks, ready to depart.

But just as Gu Chengfeng had opened the door, he immediately closed it again.

“Someone’s coming?” Gu Jiao asked.

Gu Chengfeng’s throat moved, he steadied his spirit and said, “It’s Zhan Country soldiers, a large troop of them.”

A large troop meant dozens of them, virtually filling the Grand Hall of the inn in an instant.

For a moment, Gu Chengfeng suspected that his and Gu Jiao’s whereabouts had been exposed, but fortunately, those people settled directly in the Grand Hall, it seemed they were only there to freeload food and drinks.

Gu Chengfeng let out a sigh of relief inwardly.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of these soldiers; he could handle them on his own in a real fight, but if a battle were to break out and the heavy forces of the Governor’s Mansion were alarmed, that would be bad news.

The room had no windows. They could only wait for the group of soldiers to leave.

Those soldiers had no idea anyone else was staying at the inn, thinking it was all their own people. They spoke without any reservation, which allowed Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng to overhear some incredible information.

As it turned out, the capture of the old marquis was indeed Tang Yueshan’s “handiwork!”

The son-in-law placed Princess Ning An under house arrest. The old marquis sought Tang Yueshan’s help in borrowing a few archers to sneak into the Princess Residence and rescue Princess Ning An, but Tang Yueshan refused the old marquis, citing the pretext of needing to dispatch troops to quell rebels.

The old marquis had sensed something awry and cautioned Tang Yueshan that the situation might not be so straightforward and urged him to not act rashly.

Tang Yueshan thought the old marquis was preventing him from achieving merit, ignored his advice, and stubbornly launched a night raid against the remnants of the former dynasty. The result was that he fell into the enemy’s trap.

The remnants of the former dynasty and the Chen Country’s army pincer-attacked from front and back, ultimately leading to Tang Yueshan’s tragic defeat, and the fall of Ye City.

The Chen Country’s army emerged victorious in its first battle, with morale soaring. On the other hand, Zhan Country’s local troops, having seen the Grand Marshal of the world’s soldiers and horses defeated, naturally did not have much morale to stubbornly resist. Lingguan City and Beiyang City were easily taken by the Chen Country’s army.

Gu Chengfeng said angrily, “If Tang Yueshan had listened to my grandfather, my grandfather wouldn’t have been captured, and the frontier cities wouldn’t have fallen so easily!”

If his grandfather had not been captured, whether it was his grandfather joining forces with Tang Yueshan against the enemy, or his grandfather leading the troops in response to Tang Yueshan’s defeat, the frontier would not have fallen so quickly.

Gu Chengfeng furrowed his brows with suspicion, “Do you think Tang Yueshan did it on purpose?”

“Did what on purpose?” Gu Jiao asked.

Gu Chengfeng said coldly, “Deliberately suffered a defeat, allowing my grandfather to be captured! There’s a saying, ‘Like father, like son,’ and since he could father a vicious and deranged son like Tang Ming, it shows that he himself is no good either! Who knows if he discovered the truth behind the harm done to Tang Ming and came to resent the Gu Family!”

Tang Ming humiliated Gu Yan and was violently retaliated against by Gu Jiao, in which Gu Chengfeng also participated. If Tang Yueshan discovered the truth, he indeed had a reason to extend a vengeful hand against the Gu Family.

Gu Jiao paused, but didn’t say anything.

According to the information revealed by those soldiers, after his defeat, Tang Yueshan disappeared. Now they were searching everywhere for Tang Yueshan, wanting to see him alive or his body if dead.

The more Gu Chengfeng thought about it, the more he suspected Tang Yueshan, even beginning to think that the defeat itself might have been one of Tang Yueshan’s calculations, “He’s a man who loves glory. If he loses the cities first and then takes them back, showing the Emperor how hard this battle was to fight, once he returns to Capital City, he could receive double the rewards and Emperor’s favor.”

Gu Jiao patted his shoulder.

Gu Chengfeng was in the midst of analyzing Tang Yueshan’s intentions when he was suddenly interrupted, he blanked for a second, “What is it?”

Gu Jiao pointed to the floor below, “They’re gone.”

Gu Chengfeng opened his mouth, “Alright, then we should also set out.”

Gu Jiao glanced at him, “You can come back and continue talking.”

Gu Chengfeng choked, “I didn’t really want to talk! I’m a man! How could I be so talkative!”

The man who claimed not to be talkative spoke non-stop on the way to the Governor’s Mansion with Gu Jiao.

Gu Jiao: “…”

The Governor’s Mansion was heavily guarded, but for Gu Chengfeng, who could come and go freely under the Dragon Shadow Guard’s watch, it was not too difficult.

He sneaked into the residence with Gu Jiao.

Gu Jiao took out the flashy peacock feather mask and put it on.

Gu Chengfeng: No, is there any point in covering your face now?

Not knowing where the old Marquis was being held, Gu Chengfeng decisively grabbed a soldier, and Gu Jiao administered a dose of sleeping potion, making the soldier fall straight asleep.

Gu Chengfeng looked at her syringe: “…”

That medicine of yours doesn’t always work, you know…

Gu Jiao put away the injector, and said with an unchanged expression, “You can go find it yourself.”

Gu Chengfeng huffed, “With such a large residence, how am I supposed to find him? Do you want to search until dawn?”

Gu Jiao lightly patted her hands, “I’ve searched the Princess Residence before, I’m not afraid of a mere Governor’s Mansion.”

Gu Chengfeng spoke unconvinced, “How can that be the same? There are just a few warehouses in the Princess Residence and they are all in the courtyard of her and the Princess Consort. The Governor’s Mansion’s front is the Government Office, and the back is the private residence; you simply don’t know where they might be keeping grandfather. It could be the Firewood Room, it could be the dungeon, or maybe some secret room…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Gu Jiao casually opened the door next to them.

It was a wine cellar, used for storing fine wine.

Gu Chengfeng shook his head with his hand on his forehead. There was no need to look in such a place; it wasn’t a good spot for holding hostages.

His gaze unintentionally swept across the room, then he froze.

“Grandfather?”

Who else could the old man in shackles, covered in wounds and unconscious on the ground, be if not his grandfather?

Gu Chengfeng instantly became as rigid as a statue, “You, how did you know my grandfather was here?”

Gu Jiao spread her hands, “I didn’t know. I just picked at random.”

The corners of Gu Chengfeng’s mouth twitched uncontrollably. Just what kind of luck did this girl have! She managed to stumble upon him!

What happened to searching until dawn?

And what about the hundred ways he thought of evading the Chen Country soldiers’ surveillance? Huh? There’s no use for them anymore?!