625 The Emperor Visits, Father and Daughter Meet
The Emperor was distraught after such a big thing happened. The carriage had already reached the palace gate when he suddenly stopped the coachman.
The coachman asked, “Your Majesty, aren’t you going back to the palace?”
They were already at their own house.
The incident at the altar had caused too much trouble, and the palace had probably already received the news. If he returned now, he would either be greeted by Consort Yun’s unreasonableness or the Empress’s tears. Although he was the Emperor, he was also an ordinary man. When he encountered such a thing, he would occasionally want to escape.
He pressed his throbbing temples. “To the Gu Hall.”
“Yes.”
The coachman changed direction and drove the carriage away from the palace towards the Gu Hall dozens of miles away. A fire broke out in the Gu Hall, and a few courtyards were missing. Among them was Gu Elder Kong’s courtyard.
Gu Elder Kong was already old. He was not used to it if it was too far away, so he moved to the medicinal garden a wall away.
The medicinal garden was planted with precious herbs. They were most likely picked from Gu Mountain and were used to raise and train Gu. There was a small straw hut at the back of the garden, and Gu Elder Kong lived there now.
The straw hut was simple, but it was abnormally tidy.
Gu Elder Kong sat in the room for a while, picked up the kettle, and went to the courtyard to water the herbs. He staggered and his movements were slow. When the Emperor arrived at the herb garden, he had just poured a small ridge.
Seeing that he was having a hard time watering it, the Emperor could not help but frown. “Why bother? It’s not like no one does it. Do you need to do such a small thing yourself?”
Gu Elder Kong turned around and smiled at the Emperor. “Your Majesty is here.”
The Emperor walked forward and was about to help him take down the water kettle in his hand when he pointed at the water jar at the side and said, “There’s another one there.”
The Emperor who really doesn’t want to help him water: “…”
The Emperor closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He walked over and picked up the kettle. He fetched water from the water jar and watered it.
The Emperor was much more agile, but in order to match his pace, he did not water it too quickly.
As Gu Elder Kong irrigated the herbs, he asked, “Isn’t there a ritual today? Why is Your Majesty back so quickly? Did something happen?”
The Emperor was speechless.
The roots of a herb grew weeds. Gu Elder Kong placed the kettle on the ground and pulled out the weeds with his thin hand. He did not throw the weeds away. Instead, he carefully put them into the cloth bag hanging at his waist.
“Why did you do that?” The Emperor asked in confusion.
Gu Elder Kong smiled and said, “The weed’s vitality is too tenacious. It will continue to grow when thrown into the ground.” After a pause, he said without warning, “That child is the same, right?”
The Emperor was stunned.
Gu Elder Kong continued, “She was plucked from her home the moment she was born and thrown far away, but she still grew very well.”
The Emperor understood who he was talking about and did not know how to reply for a moment. Suddenly, he heard Gu Elder Kong weigh the cloth bag at his waist and say, “We have to burn it.”
Burn… that child? The Emperor shivered!
Gu Elder Kong smiled at him and pointed at the weeds in the cloth bag. “I’m talking about this.”
The Emperor broke out in cold sweat. Even if he didn’t care about that child back then, she was still a citizen of Nanzhao. He had never thought of taking her life.
“But it’s the same,” Gu Elder Kong said. “You knew that she could grow anywhere, but she moved from one place to another. You actually thought that she would come back, right?”
Whether it was to return with hatred or to reunite.
The Emperor did not reply. Instead, he changed the topic and said, “Are you in good health? When the place was on fire, I heard that you were carrying water outside. Fortunately, you have a hard working habit, so you didn’t sit in the room and be affected.”
Gu Elder Kong sighed. “It’s fate.” With that, he picked up the kettle on the ground and continued to water it.
The Emperor paused. “I originally believed in fate, but now…”
“You don’t believe in it now?” Gu Elder Kong finished his sentence for him.
The Emperor was confused. If the sentence “it’s fate” was true, then how should the experiences of the two Princesses of Nanzhao be explained? The two of them had lived for days that were completely different from their fates. How did all of this happen? Who jinxed who? Or was Nanzhao’s fate really irreversible?
“The holy artifact has been found.”
The Emperor originally wanted to talk about the ritual, but he could not speak no matter what. He could not say that the youngest daughter he had doted on for so many years had actually done such a heart-wrenching thing.
She had let the title of the Princess down.
At Gu Elder Kong’s age, who could hide their thoughts in front of him? However, the Emperor was unwilling to say, so he tactfully did not ask further. He only followed the Emperor’s words and said, “Who found it?”
The Emperor opened his mouth. “Her daughter.”
He remembered that Helian Beiming called her Ah Wan. He wanted to call her that too, but he couldn’t.
It was not difficult for Gu Elder Kong to tell who “she” was. He nodded and said, “You originally obtained it through her. Now that it’s in her daughter’s hands, it can be considered returning it to its rightful owner.”
“How can this be called returning it to its rightful owner?” The Emperor felt that this definition was wrong.
Gu Elder Kong smiled and did not argue with him.
Gu Elder Kong was probably one of the few people who did not really obey him. When he spoke to Gu Elder Kong, he would often encounter a nail. Even so, the Emperor always came to torture him. He was convinced himself.
The Emperor sighed and said, “The holy artifact has become stronger than before in that girl’s hands.”
This was something that even a blind person could tell. Even the Gu Queen was stronger than the rumors. It must have been because that girl had raised it for a period of time.
Gu Elder Kong said, “Ah, from what you say, I want to see that girl.”
“She doesn’t even want to see me.” The Emperor thought of Yu Wan’s tone and gaze and had mixed feelings.
Gu Elder Kong was in the mood to tease him. “What did I say? You can’t get it back even if you beg.”
“I’m the Emperor.”
“If they care about you, you’re the Emperor. If they don’t care about you, you’re the Emperor next door.”
The Emperor carefully pondered over Gu Elder Kong’s words and gritted his teeth. He had forgotten that Yu Shaoqing was the marquis of the Great Zhou! Yan Jiuchao was even the heir of the Great Zhou’s royal family!
If things went wrong, wouldn’t he really become the Emperor of the neighboring country when the two of them returned to the Great Zhou?
The Emperor felt terrible!
The Little Princess’s crime was unforgivable. The price of wanting to right her was too high. If the Emperor had no choice, he might consider surpassing her and directly appoint Nangong Li. However, at this moment, Yu Wan, who had the holy artifact, appeared.
Because of this daughter and the three seventy-feet little Gu Elders, the commoners’ opinion of the Eldest Princess changed.
The Eldest Princess only had a jinx fate, but there were no mistakes in her character. Moreover, the jinx in her fate could be made up for by Yu Wan and the three little Gu Elders.
From the looks of it, the Eldest Princess’s bloodline had become an existence that could stabilize the hearts of the people more than Nangong Yan and her son. Of course, this was considered from the fate of Nanzhao. From a selfish point of view—
While he was thinking, Gu Elder Kong suddenly patted his shoulder. “It’s getting late. I’m going to rest for a while. Your Majesty, please leave.”
The Emperor nodded.
“Help me up.” Gu Elder Kong handed his hand to the Emperor. The Emperor helped him into the small straw hut. Gu Elder Kong took out a bag from the cabinet and handed it to the Emperor. “This is for you. Take it when you see that child.”
The Emperor did not open it in front of him. He only opened the package unhurriedly after getting into the carriage. From Gu Elder Kong’s words, it should be something that could help repair his relationship with that child.
Unexpectedly, when the Emperor opened it, it was a washboard!
The dumbfounded Emperor : “…”
The washboard that was desperately lying dead: “…”
The Emperor was furious. He swore not to look for that old thing for the rest of his life! He coldly threw the washboard under the carriage.
The washboard that was broken: “…”
What did I do wrong?
“Your Majesty, are-are we going back to the palace?” The coachman heard the commotion inside. Although he did not know what had happened, he could feel that the Emperor was angry. His voice also lowered.
“What palace!” The Emperor said angrily. “To the Divine General Manor!” After a pause, he emphasized, “The East Manor!”
East Manor? The Gu Hall was not close to the East Manor. It was already lunchtime if they rushed over. Wasn’t it a little bad to come at that time?
The Emperor said coldly, “What are you waiting for! Hurry up and go!”
“Yes, yes, yes!”
You’re the boss! I’ll go now! The coachman tightened the reins and drove the carriage to the Helian Manor.
The Emperor had thought about it. He was the Emperor of a country after all. No matter how much that child hated him, could she really not acknowledge him? If she did not acknowledge him, why did she come to Nanzhao? If she did not acknowledge him, why did she marry the second master of the Helian family?
Didn’t she spend so much effort to return to his side and take back everything that belonged to her? He would give her this chance!
“Your Majesty, we’ve arrived at the Helian East Manor.” The coachman stopped the carriage outside the Helian family’s door.
The Emperor alighted from the carriage. Coincidentally, Little Sly Jiang, who had just tired Yu Shaoqing out several times, was taking the banknotes she had taken from next door and leisurely going to the gambling den.
Creak—
The door opened.
Little Sly Jiang stuck her round little head out of the crack in the door and looked around. She saw the Emperor, who had raised his hand to knock on the door, freeze on the spot.
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