"Your subject is not afraid, your subject knows Ninth Imperial Uncle will not do this."
Gu Qianying said this while giving Nangong Mo a charming smile.
Her light tone improved Nangong Mo's mood somewhat.
Nangong Mo reached out and suddenly grabbed her wrist. With a gentle pull and a spin, she fell into his embrace.
His handsome face was close, his steady breathing reaching her ears.
He spoke, "Relying on my favor towards you, you dare to bully me like this, don't you?"
He had said this once ten years ago, but to her ears then, it carried a different meaning.
"I... I..."
Gu Qianying suddenly jumped off Nangong Mo and said, "Ninth Imperial Uncle, your subject has other matters to attend to. Please excuse yourself."
With that, Gu Qianying quickly ran out.
Just now, she had acted on impulse, wanting to kiss Nangong Mo to quell his anger.
But the thought of her bold actions and Nangong Mo's words made her blush with embarrassment.
After leaving the main hall, Gu Qianying took Lu Zhu to see Old General Gu.
There were some things she needed to clarify in person.
She knew that from today onwards, her fate would change, and along with it, her future and her ending.
Gu Qianying stayed in Old General Gu's room for a long time. No one knew what she and the old general had discussed, but as soon as Gu Qianying left his main courtyard, Old General Gu had servants bring him two large vats of wine.
On the way back, Lu Zhu was very curious, "Miss, what did you say to the Ninth Prince? Why did the Ninth Prince ask the Princess to keep a small portion of the betrothal gifts he sent today and bring it back to the palace, to be personally returned by you after you win it back in the future?"
Yes, when Gu Qianying came out of the main hall, Nangong Xuanning rushed in, insisting on getting an explanation from Nangong Mo. Nangong Li had come up with this plan to appease Nangong Xuanning.
Nangong Xuanning thought Nangong Li's plan was excellent, so she publicly snatched a small portion of the betrothal gifts and swaggered back to the palace.
Before she left, she had boastfully declared that in a month's time, she would win back all the betrothal gifts Nangong Mo had given to Gu Qianying!
At the same time.
In Gu Kun's room.
"Master, the Crown Prince and the other princes are resting and having tea in the side hall, which is rather dull. Why not let our Ziran accompany them to chat? What do you think, Master?"
Third Concubine Han was helping Gu Kun change his clothes while trying to secure an opportunity for her daughter to accompany the princes.
Her main focus was Crown Prince Nangong Qi. If her daughter Ziran, with her beauty, were fortunate enough to catch his eye, she would surely become the Crown Princess in the future.
"At the birthday banquet, due to the dignity of young ladies, one cannot openly curry favor with the Crown Prince. However, now is a good opportunity to interact more with the princes. Go and tell Yu Mei and Ming Yue to prepare themselves. Let all three go together; surely, one of them will catch the princes' eyes."
"Yes, Master, this concubine will go now."
Although Third Concubine said this, she felt a bit displeased in her heart.
At this moment, Gu Yu Mei, who was eavesdropping outside the door, had a glint in her eyes.
She then whispered a few words to the maid behind her.
A moment later, the maid ran to the kitchen and returned with two pastries.
Gu Yu Mei instructed her personal maid to deliver the pastries, which were mixed with purgative beans, to Yangchun Pavilion and Gu Ziran's room.
Third Concubine Han's plan fell through. By the time she investigated the cause, the princes and Crown Prince Nangong Qi had already left.
From then on, Gu Yu Mei became another thorn in Han Shi's side, and her close relationship with Han Shi was broken.
It was also at this time that Gu Yu Mei moved out of Yangchun Pavilion with her personal maid and obtained permission from her father, Gu Kun, to live alone.
Under normal circumstances, Gu Kun would never agree. Gu Yu Mei was merely a庶女 (shu nu - daughter of a concubine) whom her father didn't favor and her mother didn't love.
Building a private courtyard for her would be against the rules.
However, Gu Yu Mei had the good fortune to catch the eye of the Fifth Prince Nangong Ke while accompanying the princes for tea. Nangong Ke even declared that he would take Gu Yu Mei as a concubine in the future.
Although the Fifth Prince Nangong Ke was not favored by the current Emperor and lacked reliable backing, he was still the Emperor's son. If he were to be properly appeased in the future, he could be relied upon at critical moments.
For this reason, Gu Kun not only agreed to Gu Yu Mei building a private courtyard but also specifically sent several capable servants to Gu Yu Mei's small courtyard.
From then on, the status of the Fourth Miss, Gu Yu Mei, in the mansion immediately changed.
Of course, these were all later developments.
For now,
After the princes left, Nangong Mo and Nangong Li stayed at the Gu mansion for several hours.
During this time, Nangong Li, bored, insisted on dragging Gu Yefeng to play chess with Old General Gu.
Well, playing chess was just an excuse; matchmaking was the real intention.
Although Old General Gu had a temper, he was easy to get along with. He not only enjoyed chess but also loved listening to humorous folk tales.
Nangong Mo happened to be a prince who often lived in seclusion among the common people, thus he was familiar with humorous folk tales.
Therefore, after learning that Old General Gu enjoyed listening to humorous folk tales, he took on the role of a storyteller.
Through this interaction, he became familiar with Old General Gu, and they even began to address each other as brothers.
After all this, Nangong Mo's matchmaking mission was more than half completed.
The rest was quickly settled when Old General Gu received Nangong Mo's very special betrothal gift, and he readily agreed to the marriage between Nangong Mo and his granddaughter Gu Qianying.
Of course, whether to marry or not was ultimately up to his granddaughter.
Nangong Mo and his entourage had dinner at the Gu mansion before they departed together.
When they left, Old General Gu, along with all the members of the Gu mansion, personally saw them off. It was then that everyone in the Gu mansion quickly understood that Old General Gu had agreed to the marriage between Gu Qianying and Nangong Mo.
At this point, some were jealous and envious, some mocked and ridiculed, and the thoughts of everyone in the Gu mansion were varied.
The next day.
Gardening Pavilion.
"Miss, Miss, it's bad! Something has happened, something big has happened!"
Lu Zhu ran into the boudoir in a hurry, carrying a food box.
At this moment, Gu Qianying was applying makeup. She looked at Lu Zhu, her brows furrowed, "What happened so early in the morning?"
Lu Zhu placed the food box down, poured herself a cup of cold tea, and after drinking it down in large gulps, quickly said, "The village head is dead."
Gu Qianying's jade hairpin almost fell. She suddenly stood up and hurriedly asked, "Dead? When did he die, and how? Didn't my brother lock him up? Why did he die?"
Lu Zhu shook her head and could only say, "The eldest young master sent someone to deliver a message, asking the eldest young lady to come over."
Gu Qianying put on her clothes and walked out, "Let's go, we'll go and see."