Chapter 24: Chapter 14 No Silver, Compensation in Flesh_2
First it was the assassin, then it was the soldiers, who on earth had that person offended?
“Han Qiu, have you ever heard of the name Zhou Mu?” Gu Changsheng, while stepping out of the courtyard, quietly asked the Han Qiu following closely behind.
Upon hearing this, Han Qiu was momentarily stunned, his usually cold face unable to hide his solemnity, “My lady, Zhou is the imperial surname.”
“Yikes! I thought the Zhou surname was common, turns out that big-nosed guy is actually related to the Emperor himself.” Gu Changsheng touched his nose and muttered softly, thinking of the clothes they had stripped off, every garment from the outmost coat to the underwear was lined with golden threads, even the red underpants were wrapped in gold thread and embroidered with golden yellow chrysanthemums!
“Your ladyship’s guess is not wrong, Prince Mu is indeed the direct grandson of the Current Emperor, with a fief in Liuzhou.”
“Oh my, we’re in trouble now!” Gu Changsheng cried out sadly, Prince oh, the fiefdom was even her hometown, she stripped his clothes off, baring him entirely, saw and touched everything, spared no effort in teasing and even threatened to sell him to a little servant house, could this really be alright? Could she possibly be chopped up in an instant?
“Han Qiu, tell me, is this Prince Mu easy to get along with?” His voice quivering, Gu Changsheng asked very cautiously, give her some hope, this is ancient times after all, where imperial power is supreme, she, it seems, had poked a hole in the sky, alas!
“Prince Mu himself, the son of the Former Crown Prince, led troops to subdue Miaojiang at the age of thirteen, and embarked on a campaign to the Northern Desert at fifteen, ruthless and decisive in action, courageous and strategical, yet a rather low-key and mysterious person, often moving about with his face covered by a mask.” Han Qiu finished sharing the information he knew, then lifted his eyes, puzzled, looking at his lady, “My lady, why do you suddenly ask about this person?”
Gu Changsheng was nearly internally injured, deadly and decisive? Courageous and strategic too? Oh my, that low-key and mysterious person was right there lying in the courtyard behind, was this luck or misfortune? She saved a Prince with immense influence, yet might have offended him thoroughly, indemnification by flesh! She slapped her own cheek, blaming herself for speaking carelessly and being too mercenary!
Wait, that’s not right, he is a Prince, so why were the soldiers conducting the search?
Something’s fishy! This is Linyang City, part of Nanhuai County, not his fiefdom, Liuzhou.
“Han Qiu, if this Prince isn’t in Liuzhou, what could be the situation?” Gu Changsheng squinted his eyes, a look of confusion on his face.
“A Vassal King with a fief may not leave his domain without imperial summons, otherwise, he is tried for the crime of plotting rebellion. Currently, there are no conflicts everywhere, it’s impossible for Prince Mu to leave his fief.” Han Qiu replied seriously, feeling it strange why his lady suddenly cared about these matters.
Gu Changsheng stopped in her tracks, slapped her forehead and crouched on the ground, unmindful of her skirt soaking up the mud from after the rain.
It was done for, not only had she offended him, but she had also gotten wind of his secrets intentionally, usually, people who knew secrets didn’t end well, fortunately for her, she could always run away, but she had a son and a maid, a whole family to care for, how could she run?
Was she really going to wait to be silenced through murder?
Damn, what is all this mess! Definitely a case of good intentions gone wrong!
“My lady, what’s wrong?” Han Qiu stepped forward, his eyes filled with concern as he looked at his lady, whose face was etched with deep grievances.
“It’s nothing.” Gu Changsheng waved her hand, “Han Qiu, next time I try to do a good deed, please do stop me.”
Did she even have a next time? That’s not certain at all! Gu Changsheng wished she could find a corner to draw circles on the wall, suddenly feeling as if her whole life had turned gray! Being connected to the Imperial Family meant what? Trouble! And what did Gu Changsheng fear the most? Trouble!
She could never return home now, she had heard it even at the inn she stayed at that day. The essence of running away is not even knowing yourself where you will go. Having made up her mind, Gu Changsheng stood up and headed towards the front courtyard of the inn, perhaps that fellow was caught by the soldiers, and then, there might be no more to worry about! What about Princes and Lords, in the struggle for that throne, it was nothing more than siblings fighting each other. Thinking of this, Gu Changsheng felt relieved, right, this trouble might not really be a problem, someone else would solve it for her.
Han Qiu watched his lady one moment hitting her own cheek, the next, she was deeply aggrieved, and the next, she spiritedly ran off, agreeing very much with Xiao Cui’s words, his lady was having one of her episodes again!
Of course, the word “having an episode” was something Xiao Cui had learned from Gu Changsheng.
Gu Changsheng ran to the inn’s lobby, hid behind the door curtain, watching as the soldiers had searched up to this point, while Hu Buer, the Shopkeeper, coldly negotiated with them.
“Arresting a fugitive wanted by the Court? Be my guest.” The man known as Second Master, Hu Buer, wasn’t simple, even in the face of soldiers he didn’t lose his composure, making a dignified gesture towards the door with a flick of his hand.
“How daring! To obstruct the routine operations of the Court!” The head of the soldiers, not giving any face, pushed his spear forward, his youthful face full of righteousness.
“Aiyo, you scared me to death, Second Master.” Hu Buer, the Shopkeeper, suddenly lost his earlier composure, putting on an obviously feigned look of fear, and with due exaggeration, clutched at his chest.
Just as the head of the soldiers was about to lose his temper, he was interrupted by Hu Buer who instantly returned to his bullying demeanor, “Little brat just joined the troops, eh? Didn’t they tell you when you left the house, what places you can search, and what places you can’t?”
Hu Buer’s tone was quite disparaging, the disdain in his eyes was clear for anyone to see.
The young head of the soldiers, his sore spot hit, was just about to speak when an older soldier hurried over from outside, “Oh dear, General Song, don’t be rash, don’t be rash.”
He grabbed General Song’s spear and pushed its head to the ground, then turned, beaming at Hu Buer with an obsequious smile, “Second Master, please don’t be offended, General Song just took up his post and isn’t familiar with the ways of the world; you are a magnanimous person, please don’t take it to heart, don’t take it to heart.”
Gu Changsheng was practically crying, stop it, where was the supposed dominance of the soldiers? Where was their supposed righteousness? What was there to fear, just fight!