Xiao Changqing watched the direction where Xiao Huayong disappeared and said gravely, “I was careless.”

He shouldn’t have gone to see Gu Qingshu out of curiosity about whether she had any connection with Shen Xihe a few days ago. Now that he was under Xiao Huayong’s close watch, any slight movement would arouse Xiao Huayong’s suspicion and investigation.

“How do you plan to handle the Gu family woman?” Xiao Changying cared more about this matter.

“Don’t worry, I have a way to permanently eliminate future troubles,” Xiao Changqing’s gaze became determined.

Xiao Changying was somewhat doubtful – had Xiao Changqing come to terms with killing Gu Qingshu?

Xiao Changying was too naive. After Gu Qingchi was secretly sent to Prince Xin’s mansion by Xiao Huayong’s people, early the next morning, Xiao Changqing brought Gu Qingshu into the palace and knelt before Emperor Youning to confess: “Your son replaced a death row prisoner, an unforgivable crime. I request Your Majesty’s severe punishment.”

Emperor Youning lifted his eyes to look at the two once, then lowered his head to review memorials, which took an entire hour.

“It’s been a year before you thought to be honest with me?” Emperor Youning took a sip of tea and asked in a flat tone.

Xiao Changqing kept his head lowered without speaking. Emperor Youning was a clever person, and so was he. These words were asking who had caught his weakness, forcing him to confess because he could no longer hide it.

Xiao Huayong had accompanied Shen Xihe out of the palace yesterday, and their itinerary was basically under Emperor Youning’s control. However, the one who returned to the palace from the Princess’s mansion by carriage wasn’t Xiao Huayong himself – he had gone to Prince Xin’s mansion, and only Xiao Changqing, his brother, and Prince Xin’s Chief Steward knew about this.

He wasn’t afraid of Xiao Changqing exposing this because he had ways to make anything Xiao Changqing said appear as mere slander, a compounded crime of deceiving the Emperor.

How could Xiao Changqing not know that since Xiao Huayong dared to visit so openly, he must have absolute confidence? He could only say: “The Gu family was executed, and I lost my wife. I harbored resentment.”

He claimed it was because of his hatred that he didn’t want to bring the person before the Emperor, and bringing her now was because he had come to his senses, not because someone had exposed him and forced his hand.

Ever since Gu’s death, Xiao Changqing had been resentfully defiant toward Emperor Youning, which the Emperor had always known. Today was considered a gesture of submission. Emperor Youning looked at Gu Qingshu beside him – she was sixteen, lightly made up, graceful, and poised.

He thought of Gu Qingchi – though they were sisters with some similarity in their features, they were as different as clouds and mud.

“The Gu family… I also feel guilty. Since you risked death to save her, I will bestow her upon you as a secondary consort.” The daughter of a concubine wasn’t qualified to be a proper Princess Consort.

This meant he wouldn’t pursue the crime of replacing a death row prisoner. Xiao Changqing had calculated this point – His Majesty wanted him alive, perhaps to check the Eighth Prince or maybe now to check the Crown Prince. If the Gu family hadn’t been cleared of charges, he wouldn’t dare act like this. Now that the Gu family had been rehabilitated, His Majesty’s pardoning of Gu Qingshu could also be seen as a gesture of appeasement.

Gu Qingshu was overjoyed, never having imagined she could openly stay by his side.

“Your Majesty, Ashu is my wife’s younger sister. It hasn’t been a year since I lost my wife, and I do not wish to remarry or take concubines.” Xiao Changqing respectfully kowtowed.

Gu Qingshu’s face instantly turned pale, tears welling up in her eyes, and she quickly lowered her head to hide her distress.

Emperor Youning observed Xiao Changqing for a while, showing neither anger nor insistence: “Very well, I shall respect your wishes.”

When Xiao Changqing brought the Gu woman to see His Majesty and confessed his crime, not only did His Majesty not pursue the matter, but he also returned some of the Gu family’s assets to Gu Qingshu and bestowed upon her the title of County Princess, allowing her to return to the Gu family residence.

When this news spread, many in the capital were bewildered, unable to understand His Majesty’s intentions.

When Shen Xihe heard this news, she became unusually distracted. Bu Shulin said several things without getting a response, then turned to see Shen Xihe staring fixedly at one spot.

She waved her hand in front of Shen Xihe’s eyes, bringing her back to attention before saying, “I was talking to you, did you hear?”

“You were talking about Prince Xin saving the Gu family’s young lady,” Shen Xihe picked up the conversation.

“Yes, Prince Xin was so bold, daring to replace a death row prisoner. I heard some people are using this to petition His Majesty to thoroughly investigate last year’s Gu family case, suggesting that Lord Gu might not be dead,” Bu Shulin said mysteriously.

“That won’t happen,” Shen Xihe said with certainty.

Bu Shulin didn’t immediately understand what “won’t happen” referred to.

Was it that His Majesty wouldn’t agree to these people’s petitions? Or that Lord Gu couldn’t be alive?

“Neither will happen,” Shen Xihe added, “His Majesty knows clearly that Lord Gu is dead.”

“Even with Gu Qingshu’s emergence, His Majesty doesn’t have any doubts?” Bu Shulin felt that even she would be suspicious in this situation.

“His Majesty… actually understands Lord Gu better than most people,” Shen Xihe turned her head to look at the lush green grass, “If they had a choice, they wouldn’t have wanted to be enemies.”

His Majesty knew that without Gu Zhao, he couldn’t have become Emperor, couldn’t have overthrown the eunuchs, and couldn’t have stabilized the situation.

Gu Zhao also understood that without His Majesty, our dynasty wouldn’t have seen revival and prosperity.

However, they could only work together when there were external enemies.

Before the previous dynasty, for thousands of years, the noble families had stood above the emperor. The imperial examination system of the previous dynasty had only begun to impact these families, and it took until our dynasty for the noble families to gradually decline, their power slowly slipping away.

Gu Zhao couldn’t withdraw from this political stage. He couldn’t let the Gu family become criminals. He could only be pushed step by step by the noble families into opposing imperial power, with no possibility of leading the noble families to bow to imperial authority.

As an emperor, Emperor Youning could never become a puppet. If Emperor Youning wanted to be an accomplished ruler, he had to trim the power of the noble families. The Gu family and the imperial family were bound to clash, and in this clash, the Gu family was destined to fail, because Gu Zhao had said that His Majesty was a capable ruler.

He couldn’t betray the family that raised him and couldn’t let the Gu family bear infamy in the centuries to come, so he chose to resist to the end, yet always left room for Emperor Youning. He chose to become the defeated one.

This was why Gu Qingchi had seen the Gu family’s fate from the beginning and never used her position as Prince Xin’s wife to disturb the political situation.

The struggle between Gu Zhao and Emperor Youning was a game of emperor and minister, a mutual fulfillment between two men bound by life and death. If not for this, merely relying on the trap Gu Qingchi set before her death wouldn’t have been enough to make Emperor Youning generously clear the Gu family’s name.

If Gu Zhao had been born into a humble family, perhaps he and Emperor Youning would have been rulers and ministers working together to govern the realm.

Therefore, even if Xiao Changqing had truly wanted to switch prisoners and save Gu Zhao, Gu Zhao wouldn’t have agreed.

He was too tired and wanted to rest forever.

This was also why Gu Qingchi viewed the world with cold eyes. She had known early on that her beloved father held in his heart the nation, the emperor, and the common people, with his family coming last. He could sacrifice his family’s survival to benefit the whole world, delivering the most powerful blow to help Emperor Youning shatter the noble families.

Fortunately, her father wasn’t like this. Shen Yueshan was a man of passion – while he cared for the peace of the common people, he valued his own family more. His Majesty could never let him retire to the mountains; as long as he lived, one call from him could disturb the military’s loyalty.