Read Novel Full Chapter 80.2
Chapter 80.2
It was the middle of the night, and Murong Qingwan rushed over as soon as she had news, deeply afraid of missing Gu Xiyu again.
She had just arrived at the inn, accompanied by Yuchi Rong, and wanted to ask the front desk officer if he had seen Gu Xiyu, only to see the person walk down the stairs. His long hair was spread out, and an outer coat was hastily draped over a thin inner shirt.
After so many days apart, Gu Xiyu did not look as bad as she had imagined. On the contrary, his complexion looked much more rosy compared to his days in the Dayan Palace.
Gu Xiyu was also surprised to see Murong Qingwan when he came downstairs, not only because of the fortress master’s precise timing but also because he had not deceived and teased him.
The man really let him go just like that. He didn’t say a word about Wei Chiyan from the beginning to the end. He thought about it for a while, always feeling that something was not quite right, but he just couldn’t wrap his head around it.
He patted Murong Qingwan’s back and said to her, “I’m fine, it’s been a while, what’s the word from the palace now?”
“I have to see the Third Prince at any rate. I have to go to the palace no matter what.”
Murong Qingwan said soothingly, “I heard that the palace guards have not stopped looking for you; this seems to be at the behest of the Third Prince, who seems to be quite keen to consummate the marriage.”
Gu Xiyu paused for a moment and asked, “The Third Prince.… is in the palace right now?”
“Yes.” Murong Qingwan was a little puzzled. She was originally confident in her answer but was suddenly unsure of herself when Gu Xiyu asked her so.
She looked back at the handsome man standing silently behind her and confirmed, “Right?”
Yuchi Rong glanced at Gu Xiyu and replied, “The Third Prince is rather aloof and spends most of his time alone, but he is always watched by palace staff. It’s rare to hear of him leaving the palace, and we haven’t heard of him going out, so he must be in the palace all the time.”
Gu Xiyu was full of worries, so he did not answer.
On the contrary, Yuchi Rong, who had realized something, raised his eyebrows and asked lightly, “I only know that the Dayan Kingdom sent a bride to make peace with our palace, but they didn’t say …… it’s a man?”
Gu Xiyu was not scornful of Yuchi Rong, so he replied in a light voice: “My father wanted to send my sister Qingwan, if I don’t replace her, then she will have to be sent to Wei Chiyan’s palace.”
Yuchi Rong’s face changed imperceptibly, and only after a long time did he ask again, “So what you’re saying is that you want to continue hiding the truth and enter the palace instead of Qingwan? You can conceal it for a while, but not for the rest of your life.”
“Besides, my brother is unpredictable and hates to be deceived. If he finds out about your identity, I’m afraid you will suffer.”
Gu Xiyu didn’t think that would happen, but Murong Qingwan was frightened by Yuchi Rong’s words and said, “Why don’t we just forget about it?”
“The palace has searched for you for so long and received no news. They’ll give up after a while and think that you were killed during your escape. We managed to leave the palace, but the people in Dayan must have discovered our intentions by now and must be worried about the trouble we’ll run into if we’re discovered. If we pretend that you and I are both dead, the Dayan kingdom will not dare to pursue the matter with the Yao kingdom. The Dayan kingdom will not be blamed since everything happened outside their territory, and the matter of substituting yourself for the marriage will be buried.”
“What’s so good about life in the palace? Ah Rong has told me about the situation in the Yao Kingdom, and it is much more complicated than in Dayan, so why don’t we just be happy, carefree citizens and live the life of ordinary people?”
Gu Xiyu only stroked Murong Qingwan’s head, not knowing how to explain to her.
Bad news would be coming from Dayan soon, and Murong Qingwan might change her mind then.
After thinking about it, he said, “I have to go to the palace. I need to meet with Wei Chiyan.”
Murong Qingwan could not persuade him, so she could only follow her original plan and return to the capital with Yuchi Rong to prepare to enter the palace.
However, they had just entered the imperial city when news came from the palace, announcing that the princess of the Dayan Kingdom had been killed and that the mountain bandits who had harmed the princess would be severely punished.
Of course, the fact that the princess was dead or alive was of no consequence to them, so it was not a matter of necessity.
Gu Xiyu was confused by the palace, or rather by Wei Chiyan’s manipulation, and was even a little angry and aggrieved inside.
He had been working so hard to get back, and all for what? He had worked so hard to get to the imperial city, only for the Great Demon to give up on the marriage, so he had no reason to enter the palace.
The meeting was delayed, and he could not enter the palace directly, so Yuchi Rong took them to his mansion outside the palace.
Gu Xiyu was in a sullen mood for a long time after learning that the marriage was canceled, and his tone was indignant when he spat it out to the system, “It’s been so long; couldn’t he wait just one more day?”
“I think he just wanted to grind me down and is deliberately working against me.”
The more Gu Xi Yu thought about it, the angrier he became, and his tone became calmer and colder: “Forget it, since he doesn’t care about me, then I don’t want to see him.”
Wei Chiyan received Gu Xiyu’s message when he was in the palace’s imperial study to see the emperor.
He had returned to the palace a few days earlier than Gu Xiyu and the others. He was traveling alone, while Yuchi Rong and Murong Qingwan had a lot of things to take care of on the way, and Yuchi Rong himself also had private matters that needed to be dealt with, so their return journey definitely took longer than his.
[Yes, the mission target is too hateful. You must teach him a lesson when you meet with him in the future.]
He replied and chuckled inwardly as he knelt to greet the emperor, and when he looked up again, there was no trace of laughter in his eyes.
He had come to the imperial study to continue the discussion about his marriage.
He was not too young, and if it were anyone else, they would have already had a family and several children, so it would be difficult to put it off any longer.
His mother was worried that he would use his marriage to gain the shelter of a large family and affect his brother’s bid for the throne, so after this marriage was put off, she started putting forward several girls from prestigious families to the emperor. These girls were from good backgrounds, but they were only good enough for his status. They couldn’t offer him more than that and weren’t even close to their natal family.
In addition, they were easy to control, and she would be able to use the other side to keep him in check.
“Yan’er, have you seen the portraits and scrolls of the girls that were sent to your palace yesterday? Is there one you like?”
Wei Chiyan was silent for a moment, then he lowered his head and said, “I didn’t look at them, I just had them sent back.”
Seeing the emperor’s confusion, he calmly explained, “I don’t like those girls, and I won’t marry them.”
“Father, I came here to tell you that I already have someone I like.” There had never been any fatherly affection or filial piety between them, and Wei Chiyan did not know how to coax or negotiate with his father like his other siblings, nor did he bother to think about it, so he used the most direct way to express his attitude.
The emperor stroked his beard and asked him, “Oh? Then you can start by saying which young lady it is, and I will check for you to see if she is suitable.”
There was another short silence, and when Wei Chiyan spoke again, the words were astonishing.
“It’s not a young lady, it’s a gongzi.”