sjar Chapter 102 Arranging for Entry into the Mansion
Chapter 102 Arranging for Entry into the Mansion
Jiang Zhi first parted ways with Gu Liang and returned to the Zhenyuan Marquis's residence.
As soon as he entered the courtyard, Min knelt down.
“Min Youxiang greets the Princess.”
"If it weren't for the Princess, I'm afraid I would never have been able to leave the inner palace in my entire life."
"The princess is my savior, and I swear to follow her to the death."
Jiang Zhi lowered her eyes to look at the boy in front of her.
The boy changed into clean clothes; his back was thin and frail, yet he possessed an unyielding and stubborn pride.
Jiang Zhi smiled and helped him up. "Get up, you don't need to kneel before me."
“You’re so smart.” Jiang Zhi looked at him. “You also know that there’s a reason why I went to so much trouble to rescue you.”
Min looked up at Jiang Zhi again, her clear eyes shining like stars, and said firmly, "No matter what the reason was for the Princess Consort saving me, she is still my savior."
“What my savior says,” he said, his tone becoming more serious, “I will naturally listen to him.”
As Jiang Zhi listened, she couldn't help but lower her eyes.
Looking at Min Youxiang's sincere expression, she was certain that saving him was not a bad thing.
At least for now, he seems to be a useful person.
She smiled and said, "From now on, you will stay by my brother's side. Tomorrow I will have someone come and teach you kung fu."
"Learning some kung fu will help you protect yourself."
"Secondly, protect the people you want to protect in the future."
"My brother Jiang Shuyue, once his leg injury heals, you will follow him and stay by my uncle's side. Are you willing?"
Min had long heard of Lu Pingsheng's great reputation, and now that Jiang Zhi was offering him, a servant of the inner palace, to follow the General of the Cavalry in the future, he was naturally willing.
He asked excitedly, "Is what the princess said true?"
Jiang Zhi nodded, "Of course it's true."
"I know you have a family feud to carry, but if you want to take revenge, only those in a high position have the right to choose."
"Now that I've brought you out of the palace and into our Jiang family, you're considered a member of our family."
Min nodded hurriedly, "The princess will find a way to rescue me and bring me back to the Jiang family. I was born a member of the Jiang family, and I will die a member of the Jiang family."
"I will never betray the Queen."
Jiang Zhi smiled faintly.
"Your brother will be able to arrive in Yanjing in a few days."
Min lowered her head again, a little disappointed. "My Min family was wiped out. My brother and I haven't seen each other for many years. He hasn't forgotten me, has he?"
“How could someone you hold in your heart be easily forgotten?” Jiang Zhi said.
"But you must remember, you now belong to the Jiang family."
Min nodded again, "Yes, Your Highness."
Jiang Zhi turned to Shu Yao and said, "I have to go back to the manor right away."
Then, Shuyao took Min Youxiang to Jiang Shuyue's courtyard.
Jiang Shuyue heard that Min wanted to win a game of chess against Wei Zhuo at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet.
He seems to be a clever child, and it was even sent by his own younger sister.
He was naturally happy to accept.
Soon, Min was arranged to stay in the best room in his courtyard, and servants were sent to serve him the finest food.
Gu Liang strode into the courtyard from the other side.
He asked the guards outside the door, "Has the person arrived?"
"Yes, Your Highness," the guard replied. "We arrived a quarter of an hour ago and are currently in the study."
Candles were lit in the study, and the room was filled with a faint scent of sandalwood.
Qin Qi sat at his desk, while Xing Luo sat beside him.
Gu Liang looked up and saw the two of them, then asked, "How did it go?"
Xingluo replied, "The craftsmen who escaped at that time were all registered residents of Qingzhou. They worked in the palace half a year ago and did not know martial arts. As for the one who planted the explosives, we can only confirm that he was not from the palace."
"Only the Book of Ten Thousand People was written by us," Qin Qi said. "The people who appeared later, we don't know who arranged it, and their intentions are also very strange."
“How could those craftsmen who don’t know kung fu possibly hurt the emperor?” Gu Liang said.
"How could the palace guards possibly harm the emperor?"
“Those explosives are strange too,” Xingluo said. “The amount was enough to destroy that artificial mountain. Even if he took that path, he was protected by the Imperial Guards. At most, he would have been injured, not killed.”
Qin Qi's eyes darkened as he said, "The person behind the scenes is unaware of our plan, so the appearance of these people tonight should just be a coincidence."
“However, judging from their demeanor, they might not be targeting the emperor, but rather Gu Yuan,” Qinghuai said from the side.
Gu Liang looked at the inkstone. "They had those craftsmen ruin the palace banquet, bring Gu Yuan forward again, and then threaten the emperor with explosives when he left. In this way, everything would be caused by Gu Yuan, and the emperor would definitely become suspicious of him again. And since those people are from Qingzhou, this matter will definitely cause more trouble."
"Moreover, Wei Zhuo's actions today are by no means an accident."
"Does Your Highness mean that the person behind the scenes shares the same idea as us? He wants to take down Gu Yuan?" Xingluo asked.
“However, he probably doesn’t know about the Yu County iron mine,” Qin Qi said. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t have needed to resort to such crude methods.”
"So we're saying we helped him?" Xingluo said indignantly. "We went through all that trouble to make a copy of the 'Book of Ten Thousand People' and stuff it into the artificial hill, and all they did was have someone cause a ruckus."
Qinghuai smiled as she looked at Xingluo.
Qin Qi laughed and said, "You can't say that. Today is the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet. His Majesty has to consider his reputation, so he naturally won't punish them. Now that this has caused such a commotion, the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet has been disgraced, and His Majesty will naturally hesitate again regarding Gu Yuan."
“This person probably knows the emperor very well,” Gu Liang said. “It may also be related to Gu Yuan. We exposed the iron mine incident to make the emperor suspicious of the Wen family, but he will still put on a brave face for a while for the sake of his daughter.”
"Now that this has happened, the emperor will more or less become suspicious of Gu Yuan."
Xingluo asked in confusion, "Although Gu Yuan is arrogant and opposes His Highness, he doesn't have much real power. Why is that person treating him like this?"
"If Gu Yuan falls out of favor, who will be the biggest beneficiary?" Gu Liang asked.
Xingluo thought for a moment, "Your Highness?"
The emperor currently has only three sons: Gu Yu, who has been exiled, Gu Liang, and Gu Yuan.
Opinions within the court regarding the struggle for the position of crown prince are varied and numerous.
“But this is too obvious,” Xingluo said. “Is it aimed at His Highness?”
"Does he think of what we want?"
"His Majesty favors Gu Yuan, as all the court officials know," Qin Qi said. "But I don't think His Majesty really wants to make him the Crown Prince."
"I don't have much affection for you, Your Highness."
Gu Liang said, "He hasn't reached the point of being old and losing his looks yet. Even if Gu Yuan is useless, he can still have more children."
"He is not establishing a crown prince now simply because he is afraid; this has always been his mindset."
"Unless it's the person behind it all..."
"Your Majesty is in the prime of life, how could you possibly be willing to relinquish power to someone else?" Qin Qi said.
“We’ve already achieved our goal tonight,” Gu Liang said. “Let’s wait a little longer. When they’re fighting tooth and nail, we’ll give them another push. I don’t believe the Wen family won’t fall.”
"Oh right, I'm afraid the Wen family can't be considered an Imperial Noble Consort."
Qin Qi smiled knowingly.