The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1146 - 1146 559 Asking the Gentleman to Enter the Jar (Part

Chapter 1146: 559 Asking the Gentleman to Enter the Jar (Part 2) Chapter 1146: 559 Asking the Gentleman to Enter the Jar (Part 2) Imperial Study Room.

Sitting beside the Emperor, Princess Ning An looked dim-spirited.

The Emperor patted the back of her hand and said, “Don’t take it to heart, the truth of the case will eventually come to light.”

With a low voice, Princess Ning An said, “Sometimes I wonder if I should not have returned. I was the one blinded, disregarding the advice not to marry to the distant border pass. In the end, the trust I placed was misplaced, bringing harm to hundreds of thousands of civilians at the border, suffering from warfare, and so many military officers lost their lives. When Your Majesty proposed to bestow upon me the title of Princess Protector of the Nation, I actually understood I was not worthy.”

The Emperor looked at her: “Ning An …”

Princess Ning An met his gaze: “Brother Emperor, hear me out.”

The Emperor nodded helplessly: “Alright, speak.”

Princess Ning An spoke with self-reproach: “For me, already bearing sins, to be accepted back into the royal family is already an enormous grace from Brother Emperor. Please don’t mention bestowing rewards upon me anymore.”

The Emperor spoke earnestly and sincerely: “It wasn’t your fault. Regardless of whether or not you were there, remnants of the former dynasty would have caused trouble in Zhan Country. You were just a pitiable person exploited by them. It wouldn’t have been you, it would have been someone else. Don’t blame yourself anymore. Your words, however, remind me—perhaps my excessive doting on you has made some people jealous and discontent, stirring up a great many problems?”

Princess Ning An remained silent.

The Emperor comforted her: “I have my own judgement on this matter and will certainly not let you suffer. Pretend you have heard nothing today, I will find out the truth.”

Princess Ning An’s eyes reddened slightly.

Seeing her like this, the Emperor couldn’t help but think of her childhood. Ning An was a lively child, not given to crying like the usual young girls. When she felt wronged, she would find a secluded place to sit in silence, struggling to hold back her tears.

It was always him who would find Ning An and cheer her up.

Thinking of the past, the Emperor felt even more distressed for Ning An.

One can only wonder how many times she, alone at the border, hid in a corner, privately heartbroken. Did anybody find her? Did anybody care for her?

The Emperor called for Eunuch Wei: “Go to the Ministry of Justice and instruct Minister Xing to keep hushed, and not to reveal any information about this case for the time being.”

“Yes.”

Eunuch Wei left to carry out the order.

But it was too late.

On the way to the Ministry of Justice, Eunuch Wei already heard people heatedly discussing the matter.

“You two young gents, what were you just talking about?” Eunuch Wei pulled aside the carriage curtain, addressing two young fellows by the road in a pleasant tone.

Since it was meant to be confidential, he couldn’t let his identity slip, so he wore the attire of an ordinary nobleman.

Thinking he was a wealthy man from Capital City, the two young men told him the news they had heard in the Tea House.

“I heard that Xianle Inn colluded with the royal family and killed military officers returning from the border pass!”

“Is, is there such a thing?”

The old sacrificer knew well that the speed at which rumors spread depended entirely on the sensationalism of the rumor itself. It didn’t matter whether it was exaggerated or not, as long as it was widely circulated!

“Who was killed?”

“The young master of the Gu Family army! Gu Changqing!”

“Cough, cough!” Eunuch Wei nearly choked himself to death!

How did it get connected to Gu Changqing?

Wasn’t it said that the assassination attempt was on Miss Gu, and that it was an attempt and did not succeed?

“That must be a mistake, right? The young heir of the Gu Family went to offer condolences to the families of the soldiers.”

“That’s right. He was killed on the way out of the city! It’s not far from Fen County; people coming from nearby post stations saw the snowfield full of bodies and bloodstains!”

That was clearly where Miss Gu and the assassins of Xianle Inn clashed, with all the dead belonging to Xianle Inn!

This, this, who concocted such nonsense!

“Ah, how tragic! The young heir of the Gu Family bravely fought enemies at the border, only to be assassinated by the royal family upon his return. They must fear his merits overshadow the master, thus deciding to rid themselves of him once his purpose is served!”

“Not dying at the enemy’s hand but instead at our own people’s, it is truly disheartening.”

“It seems he didn’t die but managed to escape.”

“Does that mean the young heir of the Gu Family will have to hide and flee from now on?”

This was the first version Eunuch Wei heard.

There was also a second version.

It was mostly the same regarding Gu Changqing encountering an assassination attempt outside the city, Xianle Inn colluding with the royal family. But instead of a story about the royal family wanting to dispose of him after his purpose was served, it was about a princess of the royal family who took a fancy to Gu Changqing and wanted to make him her consort.

Gu Changqing disagreed, which angered the princess, leading to her savage revenge.

“What nonsense!” Eunuch Wei was exasperated.

The third version was the one that gave Eunuch Wei the biggest headache, with the victim still being Gu Changqing instead of Gu Jiao.

“It’s said to be the remnants of the former dynasty!”

“Haven’t the remnants of the former dynasty been entirely exterminated?”

“It seems some fish slipped through the net and infiltrated Capital City, colluding with Xianle Inn, seeking vengeance on the Gu Family army and the young heir!”

“Poor young heir Gu is gravely injured, his fate uncertain.”

“Moreover, I heard that there is a spy within the royal family, and that former dynasty remnant is hiding within the Imperial Palace.”

“Alas, I’ve heard something. When the prince consort was killed by Gu Changqing, Princess Ning An pleaded with Gu Changqing to let the prince consort fend for himself in the Snowfield, yet Gu Changqing stubbornly refused to heed Princess Ning An’s opposition and took the prince consort’s life on the spot.”

“Could it be that…”

Eunuch Wei could only look helplessly towards the heavens.

It’s over, now everything’s finished.

Once a message starts spreading, it’s not so easy to reel it back in, and as the saying goes, it’s better to channel than to block. The more the emperor forbids the public from discussing the matter, the more fervently the public will gossip about it.

If the emperor were a tyrant, it would be a different story—he could kill a hundred or so people, and no one would dare speak nonsense anymore.

But he isn’t one.

This has led to the continued escalation of the incident, and by the second night, almost everyone in the Capital City had heard about the assassination attempt on Gu Changqing by Xianle Inn in collusion with the royal family.

As Gu Changqing wasn’t in the Capital City at the time, even if the emperor wanted to call him out to clarify the truth, he couldn’t.

The emperor could choose to have Gu Jiao step forward and claim that she was the one targeted in the assassination, but that would mean confirming the assassination attempt by Xianle Inn.

Moreover, is there really such a big difference between assassinating Gu Jiao and Gu Changqing?

It’s merely a matter of how quickly the news spreads. As the young master of the Gu family’s army and the heir to the Marquis Residence, Gu Changqing had a more prominent reputation in the Capital City.

Gu Jiao was too low-profile.

Her name wasn’t sensational enough.

But the nature of the matter was the same.

Besides, this isn’t about whether the victim was Gu Jiao or Gu Changqing, but rather which royal family member was the mastermind behind it all.

“Princess, the tea is overflowing,” Lianlian reminded her in the Warm Pavilion of the Bixia Hall.

Princess Ning An, seeing the spilled tea covering the table, put down the teapot she had been pouring for who knows how long and said, “Wipe it up.”

“Yes.” Lianlian took a cloth and carefully wiped the water stains off the table. “Princess, you’ve been so distracted these past two days, has something happened?”

“No, nothing,” Princess Ning An said.

The Bixia Hall was well shielded by the emperor, and no rumors or nonsense had reached it; Lianlian merely thought her young mistress was worried about Huangfu Xian.

She offered reassurance, “Don’t worry about the Young Master; he’s just being petulant. Once he grows a bit more, becomes more sensible, he’ll know to honor and respect you.”

Princess Ning An asked, “Lianlian, if you were taken away one day, would you betray me?”

Lianlian solemnly replied, “Of course not! My life was saved by you, Princess. Without you, there would be no Lianlian. I would never betray the princess!”

“Yes, how could you betray me when your life is mine?” Princess Ning An regained her composure and smiled, “Go check on the soup that’s being simmered for my mother in the small kitchen.”

Lianlian returned from the small kitchen with a food box in her hand, “It’s ready for you.”

Princess Ning An took the food box and headed to Renshou Palace.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Hen was also there.

Princess Ning An looked at Xiao Hen inside the Empress Dowager’s study room.

The Empress Dowager said, “This is Liulang whom I’ve mentioned to you, Ning An. You haven’t met Liulang before, have you?”

Princess Ning An paused and smiled faintly, “Ah, that’s right, I haven’t.”

Xiao Hen stood up, cupped his hands in a salute, “Princess Ning An.”

Princess Ning An nodded her head as a return greeting.

The Empress Dowager lamented to Princess Ning An, “Didn’t I tell you to stop cooking?”

Princess Ning An smiled, carrying the food box to the table, “The soup was simmered by the chefs from the Bixia Hall.”

The Empress Dowager signaled to Eunuch Qin to take over.

“Allow me,” Eunuch Qin took the food box from Princess Ning An, opening it and presenting the soup within.

Princess Ning An smiled, “Then I shall leave. I will come to pay respects to my mother again tomorrow.”

After Princess Ning An left the study room, she overheard the Empress Dowager saying to Xiao Hen, “Continue.”

Xiao Hen said, “That’s all, just those rumors heard among the commoners.”

The Empress Dowager spoke, “To quell the rumors, we need the witness to speak. Has the witness awakened?”

Xiao Hen, “She has.”

The Empress Dowager, “Wasn’t she affected by the ‘Seven Days Drunkenness’? How has she woken so quickly?”

Xiao Hen, “Jiaojiao had a sobering remedy. She woke in the morning, but wasn’t able to speak until the afternoon.”

The Empress Dowager, “Did she reveal the mastermind?”

Xiao Hen shook his head, “Not yet, she refuses to talk.”

“Did you torture her?”

“We did, we applied every torture we could, but her lips are sealed tight.”

The Empress Dowager huffed through her nose, “If force doesn’t work, try gentleness; if gentleness doesn’t work, resort to cunning. I refuse to believe that everyone from Xianle Inn is unbreakable. Bribe someone to poison Hua Xiyao under the guise of visiting her, claiming it’s a dessert gifted by the young master. Hua Xiyao will understand the message.”

“Princess, your handkerchief…” in the courtyard, a young palace maid addressed the absent-minded Princess Ning An.

Princess Ning An glanced at the torn handkerchief in her hand, and with a gentle smile, she said, “It got snagged by a tree branch. I was just wondering what to do with it.”

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.