Wei Yun and Chu Yu fought their way out of the city, while Zhao Yue hurriedly returned to the palace. Amidst all this chaos and confusion, only one person remained calm, unhurried, and composed.
He quietly observed this farce, as if he were a complete outsider. All the chaos, entanglements, and unseemliness had nothing to do with him. It wasn’t until Wei Yun and Chu Yu escaped that he turned around, blending into the crowd, and headed towards the palace gates under the protection of his guards, his expression sharp.
By the time he entered the palace, it was already in complete disarray. Zhao Yue was in the Imperial Study, having regained his composure. He stood over a sand table, issuing orders one by one.
Gu Chusheng entered, knelt to pay his respects, and said respectfully, “Your subject Gu Chusheng greets Your Majesty.”
“Rise,” Zhao Yue calmly raised his hand. Gu Chusheng stood to the side, listening as Zhao Yue quickly arranged matters. After Zhao Yue finished, he looked up and gestured for everyone else to leave.
Only Gu Chusheng and Zhao Yue remained in the room. Zhao Yue looked at him and smiled somewhat helplessly, “I thought you would leave with Wei Yun.”
“If Your Majesty truly thought so, why give me this imperial edict of betrothal?” Gu Chusheng found a small table nearby and sat down casually, pouring himself some tea. “Didn’t Your Majesty give this edict to tell me that if I left with Wei Yun, I would never be able to marry Wei’s First Madam? Only by staying with you would I have enough power and status to marry her, isn’t that right?”
Hearing this, Zhao Yue chuckled lightly, “Lord Gu is indeed clever.”
“Your Majesty,” Gu Chusheng looked at him seriously, “Is what Wei Yun said true?”
Zhao Yue didn’t speak. He stared silently at Gu Chusheng for a long time before finally laughing.
“What if it’s true, what if it’s false?” Zhao Yue burst into wild laughter. “Did I do wrong? Do you think I did wrong too? Emperor Chunde was a treacherous rebel who committed treason. Have you forgotten how your father died?! I’m merely avenging you, avenging us!”
Gu Chusheng didn’t speak. He trembled, staring intently at Zhao Yue, “How did you become like this!”
The Gu family had once received imperial favor from the Zhao family and sworn lifelong loyalty to the Zhao clan. This was true for Gu Chusheng’s grandfather and father.
Years ago, when the Zhao family lost in the palace struggle, Gu Chusheng’s father sacrificed his life to save Zhao Yue. But even then, not even Gu Chusheng’s father had imagined that the Zhao family must necessarily rise to power again.
Gu Chusheng still remembered the last words his father said to him before dying—
If His Majesty is fortunate enough to have the throne, then so be it.
So be it.
It doesn’t matter who sits on the throne; what’s important is the common people, the masses. That’s why in his previous life, although Gu Chusheng was a small-minded person who engaged in open and covert struggles at court, he never failed the people.
Saving Zhao Yue back then was partly due to the loyalty between master and servant, and partly due to friendship. When they saved him, including the Princess, no one could have imagined that the warm, gentle prince who couldn’t bear to step on an ant would become what he is today.
Seeing Gu Chusheng’s gaze, Zhao Yue’s eyes showed disgust, “Don’t look at me like that.”
As he spoke, he walked towards Gu Chusheng, his voice cold, “You are no different from me, Gu Chusheng. Look at you, even knowing what I’ve done, you still chose to stand here.”
Zhao Yue crouched down, his gaze fixed on Gu Chusheng like a venomous snake, “You’re just like me, selfish and cold. We’re the same kind of person, Gu Chusheng. What right do you have to look at me like that?”
Gu Chusheng remained silent for a long time before finally chuckling softly.
“You’re right,” he raised his eyes to look at Zhao Yue, “We are the same kind of person. I indeed don’t have that right.”
As he spoke, he stood up, “Since Your Majesty seems confident and assured of victory now, this subject will not disturb you further and will take his leave.”
Gu Chusheng turned to leave, but after just two steps, he heard Zhao Yue call out behind him, “Chusheng!”
Gu Chusheng stopped in his tracks, his back to Zhao Yue. Zhao Yue’s voice was choked with emotion, but he still tried to maintain a facade of sternness, “Don’t betray me.”
Gu Chusheng didn’t respond. Zhao Yue continued with difficulty, “When I was in trouble, it was your Gu family who saved me at the cost of their lives. Chusheng, we’ve been brothers for many years. I once promised you that if I became emperor, you would be my prime minister. I wasn’t joking. If you don’t betray me,” Zhao Yue’s voice turned hoarse, “If you want everything, I certainly won’t fail you.”
Hearing this, Gu Chusheng couldn’t help but laugh.
If he hadn’t failed him, why did he do what he did when Gu Chusheng asked to marry Chu Yu?
However, he didn’t reveal these thoughts, only saying, “From now on, I won’t interfere in your affairs. After the matter with Wei Yun is settled,” Gu Chusheng turned back to look at Zhao Yue, “We’ll settle our old scores.”
With that, Gu Chusheng walked out. At the door, he turned the corner and whispered to someone beside him, “Have Eunuch Zhao arrange for me to see the Princess as soon as possible.”
Hearing this, the person beside him quietly acknowledged and quickly retreated.
Another guard behind him whispered, “What does my lord plan to do now?”
Gu Chusheng glanced at him calmly, “Would I let such a treacherous dog remain as emperor?”
He continued calmly, “The banner Wei Yun is waving now is nothing more than claiming Zhao Yue is unvirtuous, so he wants to kill Zhao Yue to cleanse the empire. But after Zhao Yue dies, who will be emperor? The Li family or the Zhao family? But the Li family has long been torn apart by internal strife, and their bloodline isn’t legitimate. The Zhao family now only has Zhao Yue left. If Zhao Yue dies, I’m afraid it will lead to warlords dividing up the country and great chaos.”
As he spoke, starlight fell in Gu Chusheng’s eyes, and he said calmly, “Wei Yun must have thought of this point too. He’s forcing me now.”
“How is he forcing you?” The guard didn’t understand.
Gu Chusheng’s expression remained calm, “We’ll know after meeting the Princess.”
Gu Chusheng returned to his mansion. At midnight, someone came from the palace and whispered, “My lord, everything has been arranged in the palace.”
Gu Chusheng nodded. He had planted numerous secret agents in the palace, and now they were finally proving useful.
He disguised himself as a guard and entered the palace directly, then was led to Qifeng Palace. In Qifeng Palace, Gu Chusheng kept his eyes lowered, not looking up. He bowed respectfully, kneeling before the Princess.
“Your subject Gu Chusheng pays respects to Your Highness.”
“Last night, Wei Yun had someone tell me you would come to see me,” the Princess’s voice was lazy and slow, “What do you want to see me for?”
Hearing this, Gu Chusheng smiled.
He finally understood what Wei Yun wanted to do.
Wei Yun wanted Zhao Yue dead and a new ruler for the empire, but if Zhao Yue died without a reasonable heir, it would surely throw the country into chaos, which Wei Yun, deep down, couldn’t bear to see happen. Wei Yun wasn’t as adept at maneuvering in the palace as Gu Chusheng, so he let Gu Chusheng solve this problem.
Zhao Yue calculated human nature, but wasn’t Wei Yun doing the same?
The difference was that Zhao Yue believed human nature was inherently evil, while Wei Yun believed it was inherently good.
Others thought Gu Chusheng was a treacherous villain, even Chu Yu, who had been with him for a lifetime, might think so. But in this life, Wei Yun trusted him. Trusted that he wouldn’t sacrifice the fate of the common people for an obsession with “pure bloodline.”
Gu Chusheng couldn’t describe how he felt. He looked up at the Princess and calmly said, “I’ve come to ask the Princess just one thing: do you want to kill Zhao Yue?”
The Princess was slightly taken aback. After a moment, she chuckled lightly, “Why ask what you already know, Lord Gu? Just tell me what you want to do.”
She didn’t tell Gu Chusheng that yesterday, the message Wei Yun had sent wasn’t just that he would come to see her; Wei Yun had also told her to follow Gu Chusheng’s arrangements.
Gu Chusheng’s expression remained calm as he took out two boxes from his sleeve.
“I want to kill Zhao Yue, and I request the Princess’s help.”
The Princess’s gaze fell on the medicine boxes, then she listened as Gu Chusheng continued, “Here are two boxes of medicine. One is to be taken before intimate relations, it can intensify pleasure. After two months of use, the person who has been intimate with the user will start to feel numbness in their limbs, blurred vision, and frequent headaches. After another two months, they will completely lose the ability to speak, see, and move their limbs.”
As he spoke, Gu Chusheng looked up at the Princess, “Is the Princess willing?”
The Princess laughed, “If I’m willing to kill him, why wouldn’t I be willing to do this?”
“As for the second medicine,” Gu Chusheng pushed the box forward, “it can give the Princess the appearance of a false pregnancy. I will arrange for people in the Imperial Hospital, and what the Princess needs to do is to have His Majesty name this child as the Crown Prince.”
Hearing this, the Princess frowned, “But I’m not pregnant.”
“You will have a child,” Gu Chusheng said with certainty, “You will have a child.”
Seeing Gu Chusheng’s confident attitude, the Princess finally understood.
He didn’t care whether the child was truly of royal blood; he only cared that the people believed this child was of royal blood and that it was right for this child to inherit the throne.
According to Gu Chusheng’s plan, if they worked together, they might have the opportunity to poison Zhao Yue directly. But after his death, without a confirmed heir, the country would likely fall into complete chaos. Therefore, before Zhao Yue’s death, there must be a prepared heir to appease families like the Gu family who valued royal bloodlines.
The Princess understood and nodded after a long while.
Gu Chusheng bowed respectfully and said no more, rising to leave.
The Princess called out to him, “Gu Chusheng.”
He stopped in his tracks and heard her ask from behind, “You’re letting Chu Yu leave just like that?”
Everyone could see Gu Chusheng’s obsession.
He stood at the door, silent for a long time. Finally, he said, “What else can I do?”
How many times had he made declarations, how many times had he made up his mind, how many times had he decided to obtain her by any means necessary?
Even this morning, when he learned that Wei Yun had gone to the Shuntian Prefecture, he had ordered to lock down the capital and kill Wei Yun at all costs.
But when he followed behind the common people and saw her in her official robes following Wei Yun, saw her determined expression, saw her standing noble and gentle in front of the Shuntian Prefecture gates with sunlight falling on her, heard Wei Yun’s drum beats one after another, heard Wei Yun recounting the Wei family’s grievances…
Although those were the Wei family’s grievances, he redrew from these words the path she had walked these years.
In the crowd, he heard people talk about how she had knelt at the palace gates years ago, heard about what she had experienced and endured in the time he wasn’t there.
Such an unfamiliar Chu Yu.
In his previous life, even though he held a high position, he never earned her a first-rank title. But now, married into the Wei family, she had become such a beautiful, elegant, and composed woman.
That was something he had never given her in a lifetime.
When she and Wei Yun left hand in hand, when she looked up at him with a smile, he suddenly realized that he hadn’t seen such a smile for nearly thirty-seven years.
Thirty-seven years ago, when she came with her sword, she had such an open and spirited face.
Thirty-seven years later, after experiencing wind, frost, rain, and snow, she finally returned to her former self.
What could he do?
His knife couldn’t fall, his hand couldn’t let go.
Gu Chusheng walked numbly out of the palace and took a sedan chair to the Gu mansion.
The Gu mansion without Chu Yu seemed no different from his previous life – still cold, dark, without any luster or warmth.
He watched people coming and going, servants coming forward to greet him.
After a long while, he could no longer bear it. He covered his face, trembling, and crouched down.
He suddenly didn’t understand the meaning of being reborn in this life.
If being reborn only meant completely losing Chu Yu, then why did he have to go through this torment, this living hell, once again in this world?