Chapter 128 Part 2

 

Xuyu sat in the carriage that was shaking slightly along the way, and the scene of Gu Twelve talking to Pei Xiaoyuan just now kept appearing before her eyes.

Obviously, something was wrong. And judging from the look on Gu Twelve’s face, it was definitely not a small matter.

What exactly did Pei Xiaoyuan hide?

Xuyu knew she shouldn’t do this. Since he was hiding it, he must have his reasons, and she shouldn’t go and check it. However, she couldn’t control herself, she couldn’t do it.

When it was getting dark, she followed Gu Twelve’s whereabouts and came to Aunt Gao’s inn again.

It was still the same Gao Family Inn she remembered. At this time, it was the busiest time of the day, but Aunt Gao was not in the lobby.

She and Gu Twelve had long been secretly involved, but they had never made it public. In the evening, Gu Twelve, who had not been seen for a long time, finally came to her place. She immediately put aside her chores, arranged wine in the room to accompany him, and closed the door. She hadn’t even managed to voice her complaints about his long absence when a knock sounded at the door. Annoyed at the interruption, she called out to ask who it was, but there was no response—only another knock. She distinctly remembered ordering that, unless the sky was falling, no one was to disturb her, and she couldn’t help but get angry. Hastily smoothing down her tousled hair, she stormed to the door, her expression thunderous, and pulled it open just a crack, ready to lash out at the fool who dared to intrude. But the moment her gaze met the visitor’s eyes—smiling as they looked at her—she froze, completely at a loss for words.

Gu Twelve, having loosened his belt, sat comfortably behind the table, pouring himself a drink by the candlelight. Hearing no outburst from Aunt Gao after she opened the door, he found it strange and asked casually, “Who is it? What, cat got your tongue?” Looking up, he then saw who it was. Stunned, he dropped his wine, fumbled to straighten his clothing, and hurriedly knelt alongside the now-recovered Aunt Gao to pay respects.

Xuyu entered from the back door, took off her veil and told the two to stand up. How could Aunt Gao dare to do that? She respectfully completed the kowtowing, and only then got up from the ground to test the princess’ intentions.

Xuyu smiled and said, “It’s not a big problem. I just want to talk to Captain Gu about a few things.”

Aunt Gao understood what was going on and nodded yes, inviting Xuyu to sit on the couch. She added more candles, lighting the room until it was as bright as day, then she closed the door and left.

Gu Twelve remained kneeling in fear. Only when Xuyu called for him to rise again did he finally get to his feet, standing stiffly to the side as he respectfully asked, “The humble one is but a rough man and did not know the Princess would grace this place. May I ask what matters brings the Princess here to look for the humble one?”

“You went to the Orchard Quarter to look for Prince Consort during the day. What did you want to talk to him about?” Xuyu asked directly.

Gu Twelve suddenly raised his eyes to look at her, a look of surprise flashed across his eyes, and after a trace of hesitation, he quickly responded: “Princess, why do you ask this? It seems you have mistaken, the humble one has not been to the Orchard Square today…”

“I saw it with my own eyes. Prince Consort was in the ancestral hall at the time, and you went to look for him.”

Gu Twelve was startled, and met Xuyu’s gaze with an awkward expression, and said vaguely: “It’s nothing…it’s just…it’s just that the humble one lost money in gambling recently and want to borrow some money from Prince Consort to make ends meet for a few days…”

“Gu Twelve!” The smile on Xuyu’s face disappeared, and her expression turned slightly cold.

“Do you think I can’t do anything to you if you have Prince Consort as your backer?”

Gu Twelve’s face changed slightly, and he knelt down hurriedly, kowtowed repeatedly: “Princess, please calm down! Please forgive the humble one! It’s not that the humble dare to deceive, but this matter… this matter the humble one really dare not say… Princess, even if you kill the humble one, the humble one dare not say it… If the Princess wants to know… why not… why not ask Prince Consort…”

She couldn’t believe that this Gu Twelve was so stupidly loyal and won’t give in to any persuasion. He refused to tell the truth even after being questioned like this.

Xuyu relaxed slightly.

“Gu Twelve, I know you are protecting your master. But listen carefully, I came to you precisely for Prince Consort’s sake. My intent is to keep this matter from escalating. If you refuse to speak, I will not force you, but I can simply have Yuan Zhi investigate instead. Whether the truth comes out sooner or later makes no difference.”

She said no more and rose from her seat, preparing to leave. Gu Twelve’s face changed again, and he kowtowed hurriedly to stop her: “The humble one deserve to die! The humble one understands! The humble one will say it!”

Gu Twelve had no choice but to tell the truth.

The court seemed to have not given up on investigating Wei Juren’s whereabouts. The reason why he went to look for Pei Xiaoyuan this morning was because he received a report from his subordinates last night that a spy seemed to have found a clue about Zhang’s cloth shop in the West Market.

The shopkeeper of the Zhang family was indeed Wei Juren’s man. He used to run a cloth shop in the West Market. Later, he married and had children, partly to make a living and partly to hide his identity from others. His family didn’t know a thing about these matters. After the accident that day, the rest of the Zhang family saw that the head of the family was gone, and they were afraid of being implicated. They even gave up the shop, closed the door, and fled back to their hometown.

“Now that the spies have found the cloth shop, if they keep investigating, they’ll find out about the humble one’s involvement soon. The humble one went to find Prince Consort during the day. In addition to reporting this matter, also wanted to cut the grass and get rid of the remaining people in the Zhang family before the spies found them, so as to prevent them from becoming a scourge later. But Prince Consort did not allow it. He said that he would solve the matter and would not implicate the humble one, and told the humble one not to interfere.”

“What happened to Wei Juren? Didn’t they say he escaped from Chang’an? What did you do?” Xuyu suppressed her surprise and continued to ask, “Did he fall into Prince Consort’s hand?”

It had come to this point, Gu Twelve knew he could no longer hide it, so he gritted his teeth and recounted what had happened.

“… Chen Shao and the humble one caught Wei Juren. He begged for his life, saying that he had important matters to discuss with Prince Consort. When Prince Consort came, he said… he said…”

Gu Twelve hesitated again, finding it difficult to speak.

“What did he say?” Xu Yu was slightly angry and suddenly raised her voice.

Gu Twelve was startled and said hurriedly: “He should be saying that… His Majesty was the instigator of the Battle of Beiyuan. His father was the messenger sent by Liu Ceye to deliver a letter to His Majesty. The evidence is irrefutable…”

After he finished speaking, he was already covered in cold sweat, his forehead dropped to the ground, and he didn’t dare to look up.

Xuyu was stunned for a moment.

Now, because of Gu Twelve’s narration, she connected the pieces, and everything seemed to fall into place.

When they were planning to fool Li Yan of how he had conflict with the emperor, which ultimately driving him to switch sides, he had assured her that he could handle this matter. He promised that he would be able to at least get Li Yan to agree to a meeting.

At that time, she asked him for details about exactly what he intended to say, but he avoided it, simply telling her that he had his own plan, that she needn’t worry.

She believed him and didn’t think much about it.

Now that she thought about it again, he must have been half-truthful and used this matter as bait.

Yes, what other reason that could better prove his hatred for the emperor and his determination to rebel against the court?

She calmed herself down and suddenly thought of that night again. The murals in the West Hall were damaged by Xiao Liu shi, and she worked day and night to repair them. Exhausted and physically weak that night, she had desperately clung to him in the small room. After making love with him, she fell asleep. He left, and when he returned the next day, he publicly took the blame for Chengping in front of her father, leaving no room for negotiation. This action completely turned her father against him, making their already strained relationship even more tense.

She understood it all!

It turned out that during that second half of the night, when he had claimed to be on his usual patrol, he had actually been through all of this.

The thing that she was most afraid of, but stubbornly refused to believe, turned out to be true.

Her father was truly the culprit of the battle that happened years ago, a complete sinner…

She only felt the blood in her body gradually turning cold, her ears buzzing, and her heart beating wildly.

No wonder she always felt an inexplicable and subtle sense of alienation after that night.

It wasn’t that he treated her badly. He was still very good to her, always responsive, gentle and considerate. However, that feeling—the one that once allowed her to completely lose herself in their entanglement—had, after that final moment of intimacy on that night, reached its peak like a bird soaring to the mountaintop, only to suddenly lose its wings.

“Princess?”

After hearing no response for a long while, Gu Twelve finally mustered up the courage to call out.

Xuyu suddenly came to her senses.

She tried her best to keep a calm expression, not wanting anyone to see the turmoil in her heart.

“Who else knows about this?”

“As far as the humble one know, there should be no one else except Chen Shao and the humble one.”

“I see.”

Xuyu closed her eyes.

“Don’t let Prince Consort know that I have looked for you.” She gave an order and stood up.

Late at night, Pei Xiaoyuan arrived outside the gate of the imperial palace, dismounted, and knocked on the palace gate.

After the incident of the deposed crown prince, the rules on entry and exit of the palace became stricter. In the past, as long as one’s name was on the palace register, it was easy to enter, not to mention a person of Pei Xiaoyuan’s status. But since the palace coup, particularly at night, without a summons from within the palace, even though he was not on duty as a night guard, the newly promoted gate officer still dared not grant him immediate entry. While palace rules were one reason, the recent widespread rumors about prince consort losing favor were undoubtedly another. It was only after Pei Xiaoyuan presented his prince consort’s fish tally that the officer, unwilling to offend him too much, finally permitted him to enter alone.

At first, he thought Xuyu would be in her usual residence, Xianfu Palace, but she was not. He then went to the nearby Ziyun Palace, and the palace guards outside the gate also said that the princess had not come tonight. He could not help but feel confused and panic.

He knew she must have returned to the palace, but he didn’t know where she had gone. He stopped in front of a stone lantern beside the palace road, thinking hard about other possible residences she might have in the palace, and suddenly thought of a place, and hurriedly turned back.

He came to Yuyun Tower next to Chongtian Hall.

This annex to the main hall, originally built for the emperor’s longevity celebration, was the most suitable place in the palace for a high view. Standing on it, one can have a panoramic view of the entire Chang’an. At this moment, in the dark night sky, against the backdrop of the majestic Chongtian Hall nearby, the outline of Yuyun Tower appears even more towering, with flying eaves and corners, soaring into the sky.

As expected, she stayed here alone tonight.

Pei Xiaoyuan entered the building under the guidance of Yang Zai’en. With the sound of his boots echoing loudly, he walked quickly up the spiral stairs.

Finally, he climbed to the top of Yuyun Tower in one breath, and in a magnificent pavilion that was set up as a private room for the princess, he saw the person he was looking for.

Regardless of his heavy breathing, he heaved a sigh of relief and paused outside the door of the pavilion.

The figure stood behind a window inlaid with mica. The window was open, and she was facing the night sky outside the window, as if immersed in a world that belonged to her, completely unaware of his arrival.

Pei Xiaoyuan didn’t dare to disturb her for a while. After a moment, he saw her figure move slightly, turned her head, and cast her eyes on his face, but she didn’t speak immediately.

Several huge candles were burning on a gilded branch lamp. The night wind kept pouring in through the window, causing the candle flames to flicker and her shadow cast on the wall of the pavilion to sway constantly.

She looked like she was getting ready for bed. The hairpins in her hair were gone and she was only wearing her nightgown.

There was a brazier burning in the pavilion, but the clothes were obviously too thin.

Pei Xiaoyuan walked in and reached out to close the window.

The candlelight froze for a moment, then the room became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

“When I came home in the evening, they said you were come back for a while. Why did you leave again?”

He stopped opposite her and asked.

In fact, it was more than that. He shi said that she had come back, entered the bedroom, sat alone for a while, and suddenly ordered someone to take down the new curtain that had been hung last night, and then left again.

Xuyu did not answer, but walked to a nearby couch covered with a brocade mattress and sat down.

Pei Xiaoyuan followed her side, bent down to pick up a thicker rose-pink shawl with linked beads and deer patterns that was hanging beside her, and wrapped it around her shoulders.

“What’s wrong? Why do you suddenly come here to sleep alone?” he asked in a low voice.

She didn’t answer him, her eyes drooped and her long eyelashes lowered.

“It’s getting late, let me take you to bed first—” he continued to persuade patiently.

“Kiss me.” Suddenly, he heard her respond, interrupting him.

This was really abrupt.

Pei Xiaoyuan was startled and looked at her. She had already raised her eyes and they were staring at each other.

Pei Xiaoyuan was finally sure that he had not heard wrongly.

“Princess?” He called her tentatively with some confusion.

“I told you to kiss me.” She looked at him quietly and repeated.

Pei Xiaoyuan sat down slowly. Then, he stretched out his arms, held her in his arms, leaned over, and gently kissed her forehead.

“Not there,” she said.

His eyes flickered slightly.

He lowered his head and slowly leaned his face towards her. As his tall nose brushed her cheek and touched her skin, he began to kiss her lips as she wished.

Her lips were smooth and cool, without any heat. Soon, she parted them slightly, and a soft, warm tongue extended forward, gently licking his lips before pushing apart his originally closed lips and slipping into his mouth.

Whether it was due to his surprise at her rare initiative or some other reason, the moment she intimately offered her tongue into his mouth, he seemed to hesitate instinctively.

The sweet tongue then became still.

Then, as if suddenly regaining his senses, he caught her lips between his own, ready to welcome the sweet, moist softness she had offered. But just as he moved, she turned her face away, abruptly and completely pulling away from him.

This rejection was so sudden, just like her request for him to kiss her just now, he was caught off guard.

He froze for a moment.

“Princess?”

With some confusion, he looked at her hesitantly and called her softly.

Xuyu raised her eyes and stared at him.

“Pei Er, didn’t you say that you fell in love with me the first time you saw me? Don’t you like me anymore now?” she asked softly, with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Pei Xiaoyuan was stunned.

“Last night you asked me if I needed you to sleep with me. What were you thinking at that time?”

Without waiting for his answer, she continued to ask.

Pei Xiaoyuan seemed to be struck by something. His heartbeat quickened and a slight sweat broke out on his back.

When did he say such a thing?

Just when he was at a loss as to how to respond, he saw the corners of her lips slightly raised, revealing a hint of smile again.

“You are fulfilling the responsibilities of a prince consort as we agreed on our wedding night, right?”

He seemed to be stung by her smile and suddenly came to his senses.

“Damn it! I was wrong, I was wrong! Please don’t blame me.”

His expression turned frustrated and sullen as he repeatedly whispered apologies, pulling her into his arms again. Lowering his head, he sought her lips, eager to continue the kiss that had been interrupted.

Xuyu turned her head again and gently pushed him away. Then, she stood up, left him, walked to the door of the pavilion and opened it for him.

“I don’t blame you. It’s getting late. You should go out of the palace and rest. It’s inconvenient to keep you here.”

“Also, I have a lot of things to do lately, and I have to take care of my father, so I won’t be back often in the future. You must have been busy too, so you don’t have to come to see me like you did tonight.”

After a pause, she continued.

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