The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 913 - 913 419 Confession (second watch of the night)_3

Chapter 913: 419 Confession (second watch of the night)_3 Chapter 913: 419 Confession (second watch of the night)_3 As he spoke, he actually reached out and grabbed Liu Yisheng’s right hand, intending to blow on it.

Liu Yisheng was absolutely thunderstruck and quickly put a distance of nearly half a carriage between them!

Gu Jiao was the type who’d report the joy but not the worries, no, she wouldn’t even report the joy—she wasn’t good at discussing her daily life and experiences with others.

Perhaps because of her childhood, when no one cared to listen, she gradually stopped speaking, as if to create a false impression—”You don’t know about my affairs, not because you don’t care about me, but because I refuse to share.”

Even when she grew up, this trait remained unchanged.

Back when Empress Jing’s incident occurred, it was Xiao Liulang who kept digging into it, coupled with various incompetent allies who kept slipping up, she leaked so much that she had no choice but to confess.

Xiao Liulang wouldn’t inquire about Liu Yisheng’s matters, after all, Liu Yisheng was just a patient of hers, and being petty with a patient would make her seem small-minded.

Xiao Liulang went to the kitchen to boil water, making quite a racket, as he was boiling the water for Gu Jiao’s bathwater.

Gu Jiao followed him in and sat down on the little stool beside him, turning her head to look at him: “You seem unhappy.”

Xiao Liulang: “I’m not.”

Gu Jiao: “Are you jealous?”

Xiao Liulang: “I’m not so petty.”

Gu Jiao: “Oh.”

Xiao Liulang: “Who looks better, him or me?”

Gu Jiao: “…”

After taking a bath, Gu Jiao went to the backyard to pour out the water, only to find that Xiao Liulang hadn’t gone to sleep yet.

He was standing in the courtyard, bathed in moonlight and starlight, looking as elegant and refined as jade, as if he were waiting for her.

“Why haven’t you gone to sleep?” Gu Jiao put down the wooden tub and turned to ask.

Xiao Liulang approached, raised his hand, and his warm palm gently landed on her head.

Gu Jiao was slightly taken aback: “Why would you…”

“I don’t know.” He lowered his hand, “I just suddenly felt like patting your head.”

As if sensing she needed it, yet unable to articulate why she did.

Gu Jiao blinked, gazing intently at him for a long while, then shook her little head and leaned it towards him: “Then, pat it again.”

Like an obedient child awaiting affection.

Xiao Liulang chuckled softly: “Alright.”

…

The next day, Gu Jiao had originally promised to attend a chamber of commerce gathering with the second shopkeeper, but because of this sudden turn of events, she had to confirm something first.

Gu Jiao told the second shopkeeper to go ahead, and she would come after handling the situation.

“Sure, just make sure to arrive before dinner.”

After saying this, the second shopkeeper boarded the carriage and departed for the Four Seas Villa in the eastern suburbs of the Capital City.

Gu Jiao made a trip to Prince Rui’s Residence.

Prince Rui had gone to deal with official affairs, leaving only the Princess Consort at the residence.

Hearing of Gu Jiao’s arrival, the Princess Consort was so excited she personally hitched up her skirt to greet her.

She needn’t worry about Gu Jiao getting upset and running… er, leaving too quickly.

When she arrived at the entrance of the residence, with a smiling face, she said: “You’ve finally come! The prince mentioned the last time you escorted me back, he invited you to visit more often to keep me company, but I’ve been waiting so long and you haven’t showed up! What wind has blown you here today?”

Gu Jiao’s gaze drifted past the Princess Consort and rested on the corridor not far away, where two hidden guards stood.

She had never seen them around the Princess Consort before.

Gu Jiao asked, “Are those two the guards Prince Ning sent to protect you?”

The Princess Consort shared everything with her, including the fact that Prince Ning had sent protectors for her.

“You saw them?” The Princess Consort turned her head to glance at them in surprise, saying, “They are hidden guards, they only met with me once when they came to the residence, and after that, I couldn’t detect their presence at all.”

“I came to see how you are,” Gu Jiao continued from where she had left off.

“Come in and sit down!” the Princess Consort of Rui eagerly took Gu Jiao’s hand and led her into the residence.

Prince Rui was not a particularly favored royal son, and the residence he was allocated left much to be desired—it was less than half the size of Prince Ning’s. Servants were sparse along the way they walked.

The Princess Consort seemed not to care about this, happily leading Gu Jiao into her courtyard.

Her room already contained many items of baby clothing, some she had made herself during her free time, some sent by her family.

“My sister stayed here for a few days, but she was too noisy, so I sent her away,” the Princess Consort said as she and Gu Jiao sat down on the chairs. A maid was called to serve tea to Gu Jiao while she herself drank warm water.

The Princess Consort’s sister was Du Xiaoyun, the number one fan of the Crown Princess. Gu Jiao had been emphatically recommended by Du Xiaoyun a few times.

But speaking of noisy…

Gu Jiao cast a glance at the Princess Consort, Aren’t you two just as noisy?

“Try this.” The Princess Consort pushed a plate of Osmanthus Cake towards Gu Jiao. “You have no idea how miserably I was confined these last two months, I even learned to make pastries!”

Gu Jiao took a bite and it was surprisingly good.

“Is it delicious?” asked the Princess Consort.

“Delicious,” replied Gu Jiao.

The eyes of the Princess Consort turned into two crescent moons with her smile.

Gu Jiao’s visit today was primarily for a few things she needed to confirm, “The matter you overheard behind the rockery about the Crown Princess meeting someone in secret, and your suspicion that it was Yuan Tang—have you mentioned these to anyone else?”

The Princess Consort answered straightforwardly, “Only to you, Prince Rui, and my elder brother! Um… My sister-in-law might have… heard a bit while in the carriage, why do you suddenly ask?

Gu Jiao said, “Yuan Tang was attacked.”

“What? He… was attacked? How could this happen? Who would want to kill him?” the Princess Consort’s expression became grave.

After a moment, she suddenly slapped the table, “I know! It must be Wu Linlang! Surely she was worried that the scandal would come out and implicate herself, so she decided to do away with Yuan Tang once and for all, to end all her troubles!”

Gu Jiao: …your bias against the Crown Princess really runs deep.

As much as she did not want to admit it, the Princess Consort’s speculation provided Gu Jiao with another possible angle—motive-wise, the Crown Princess was indeed a suspect.

Remembering their conversation carefully, the man was the one who approached the Crown Princess, and she slapped him, indicating that he likely offended her in some way with his words.

The Crown Princess could have acted out of anger or to eliminate a future threat—it was indeed possible that she might have resolved to kill Yuan Tang.

However, Gu Jiao felt that the man was also a major suspect.

After all, not just anyone can think of something like framing Yuan Tang, nor can it be successful under any circumstances.

Killing a random person to take the fall would be futile.

But it was different with Yuan Tang.

In terms of identity, appearance, or talent, Yuan Tang was a match. Would it be convincing to point to just some random person as the man the Crown Princess met in secret?

Moreover, Yuan Tang had already been “definitively” accused by the Princess Consort.

Gu Jiao quickly thought of another thing: she had also been present during the assassination attempt on Yuan Tang, and moreover, she had killed so many of the assassins. How would the culprit regard her relationship with Yuan Tang?

Could the culprit have guessed that she knew Yuan Tang was wrongfully accused as the secret admirer at the rockery?

If it were her, she could have guessed it.

After all, the Princess Consort “recognized” Yuan Tang and had been to the Medical Hall to see her. Given the relationship between the Princess Consort and her, it was impossible not to have shared the gossip about Yuan Tang being the adulterer.

That very night she was with Yuan Tang, which could easily arouse suspicions of whether she went to confirm the truth with Yuan Tang.

“Miss Gu, what’s wrong? Did I say something amiss?” Seeing Gu Jiao fall silent suddenly, the Princess Consort became apprehensive.

There was really nothing too unlikable about her personality; the issue was that she always clashed with Wu Linlang. Since so many people liked Wu Linlang, it was inevitable that she would not get along with the Princess Consort.

“You don’t like Wu Linlang too, do you?” she weakly asked.

Gu Jiao shook her head: “I like you.”

The Princess Consort immediately lit up with joy, grasping Gu Jiao’s hand, and said affectionately, “I like you too!”

Prince Rui, who had just reached the doorstep and overheard such a mutual declaration of affection, thought: …

Suddenly felt a hint of green on his head…