The outcome of the private case is still pending, because the people involved in the case in Shu bit Xiao Shuli and Gu Huaiyu tightly, Zhang Zhenli had to resist all the charges alone, and his confession was reversed, saying that he had a relationship with Xiao Shuli, and the rumors were deliberately spread by him.

However, even if he changed his confession, those people were still very tough, saying that Xiao Shuli's close attendants had personally come to Shu and had read those account books.

At this point, Xiao Lingheng and Lu Younian both understood that this was not just as simple as leaking the rumors, but that someone had bought off the people involved in the case and wanted to detain all the charges on Xiao Shuli and Gu Huaiyu.

Xiao Lingheng was afraid that if the stalemate continued, they would come up with further evidence, so he personally visited the Prime Minister's Mansion.

Lu Zhengze expected that Xiao Lingheng would come, so he ordered someone to pour tea and wait early.

As soon as Xiao Lingheng entered the door, he smiled and said, "Duke Lu, why do you press step by step and hurt the harmony of the two families?" ”

Lu Zhengze glanced at him lightly, "It's not me who hurt the peace first, but your Xiao family." ”

This made the smile on Xiao Lingheng's face a little stiff, "You have to do it, if you are so decisive because of His Highness's affairs, the old body will apologize to you." ”

"If just apologizing can be solved, then I can only say sorry to you about Zhang Zhenli." Lu Zhengze snorted coldly and didn't give him the steps at all.

Seeing this, Xiao Lingheng had to smile shyly: "Naturally, it's not as simple as apologizing, in order to express my sincerity, I will personally intercede for His Highness." As long as Lu Gong is no longer forced to force each other, the old body guarantees that His Royal Highness will be released intact. ”

Lu Zhengze's smile was a little warm, and he stretched out his hand and pointed to the seat next to him, "Since Xiao Yushi is so sincere, let's sit down and have a cup of tea." ”

After finishing talking at Lu Zhengze's mansion, Xiao Lingheng rushed to Lu Younian's mansion non-stop.

First, he is a member of the Xiao family, Xiao Shuli is involved in this case, he should avoid suspicion, and secondly, Lu has just made military merits when he was young, and he pleaded for Gu Huaijin, and the chances of winning are better.

After listening to Xiao Lingheng's words, Lu Younian happily accepted, "It's not impossible to intercede for him, it just so happens that I still have a chess piece in my hand that I haven't used my strength." ”

So Lu Younian personally went to the "Weiyang Palace".

Before he could speak, Gu Chengye glanced at him coldly, "If Duke Lu intercedes for the queen and the third prince on this trip, I don't need to see it." ”

"The minister doesn't dare, this case is all up to Your Majesty." Lu Younian hurriedly took a stand, and said in a deep voice: "The minister came to ask for His Highness's forgiveness. ”

"Him?" Gu Chengye put down his pen and propped his forehead with great interest, "If I remember correctly, the relationship between Aiqing and Huaijin has always been not very good. ”

"That's how the minister can comment on this matter fairly as a bystander." Lu Younian glanced at Gu Chengye's face and saw that he didn't move, so he continued: "The next thing in His Highness is the fault of the slave. The minister thought that His Royal Highness wanted to find out what happened nine years ago out of filial piety to his mother, but he was simple-minded, and fell for the trick of the slave maid, which made His Majesty unhappy. His Majesty will give His Royal Highness a small punishment and a big commandment, if he really moves the punishment, I am afraid that it will make the relatives painful, and the enemies will be happy. ”

"It's a 'relatives are painful, enemies are fast', I don't think I'm thoughtful." It sounded like a compliment to Lu Younian, but there was no heat in his eyes, Gu Chengye opened the fold in front of him again, and the words gradually changed, "But it's not a good thing to be a prince with a simple heart, punishment, I still have to be punished, but the punishment will not move, Aiqing can rest assured." ”

Lu Younian was relieved at this time, and waved his hands and retreated.

Lu Younian, who walked out of the palace gate, glanced in the direction of the North Palace, where dark clouds covered the sun, and there seemed to be a downpour.

Seeing this, he curled his lips slightly, and the chess pieces placed there should also move.

Cui Jinyuan was already very worried that she couldn't get news of her mother for a few days, but Gu Huaijin didn't return to the North Palace for a few days, and she couldn't inquire about the news, so she could only pace anxiously in the hall.

Her door was suddenly pushed open, and Cui Jinyuan looked at Du Ruo vigilantly, "What are you doing?" ”

"Naturally, I got the news to share with you." Du Ruo smiled and blinked, as if he was familiar with Cui Jinkite.

Cui Jinyuan coldly closed her eyes, "No need, I'm not interested." ”

"No, you're interested in what you're going to say." Du Ruo approached her, although he was smiling on his face, his eyes were like quenched needles, and the needles were cold.

"You don't have to wait for your mother, she has already hit a pillar and died in the 'Jianzhang Palace'."

"What did you say?" Cui Jinyuan's eyes widened and she sat down on the couch in disbelief.

"I don't believe it, you're talking nonsense!" Although he was so determined, he also had a premonition, and tears kept welling up in his wide eyes.

Du Ruo didn't bear it at all, and said to herself: "She blamed His Highness for colluding with King Qi to rebel, and later her conscience was disturbed and she bowed down and confessed. His Royal Highness also angered His Majesty because of this, and now he is still in prison, don't you think he deserves it? ”

"Enough!" Cui Jinyuan interrupted her loudly and stared at her resentfully, "Why are you telling me this?"

"I just look at you pitiful, but I don't know that my mother is dead, and now I don't even have the opportunity to carry the coffin and guard filial piety."

Du Ruo ignored her hostility, walked around her room, caught a glimpse of the wedding dress on the bedside, and grabbed it as if he had found something terrible.

"Yo, do you still have it? You don't think Your Highness will really marry you, do you? ”

"Give it back to me!" Cui Jinyuan saw that her cherished things were grabbed by her, and immediately came up to snatch them.

Du Ruo raised his hand and said while hiding: "I'll tell you honestly, His Royal Highness never intended to give you a name, and his kindness to you was just to separate you from Aunt Cui." Your Highness has known about the conspiracy between you and Aunt Cui for a long time, otherwise why did Your Majesty send someone to collect the seal when your mother came to deliver the silk scarf. I was punished for bumping into you in the courtyard that day, and it was also a scene between me and His Highness, just to make you believe that His Highness really wanted to take you as a concubine. But you don't think about it, if Your Highness really wants to give you a name, why wait until two months later? In this world, there is no reason for slaves and maids to be masters. ”

Cui Jinyuan listened to her talking, and the strength to snatch gradually disappeared, only the tears in her eyes flowed out, and she fell to the ground in frustration, panting constantly.

Seeing that she didn't rob it, Du Ruo lost interest, threw the wedding dress on the ground, turned around and walked out. Before leaving, he also said, "If you don't believe it, let's see if His Highness will marry you when he returns." It's just a chess piece, how can you really think of yourself as a human being. ”

Lu Zhengze and the Xiao family each made a move, and in the end, Zhang Zhenli replaced all the charges, and Gu Huaijin was also released.

He was locked in a cold cell for several days, and he was already very tired, but when he returned to the North Palace, he found Cui Jinyuan sitting on his couch in a wedding dress, and couldn't help frowning, "Why are you here?" ”

During this time, Cui Jinyuan couldn't eat or sleep well, she was already a little haggard, and the red color made her pale, as if she had lost her blood color.

She stood up and slowly approached Gu Huaijin, "The servant has a few questions for Your Highness. ”

"You say." Gu Huaijin turned around and sat down and poured himself a cup of tea.

"Is Mother really dead?"

Gu Huaijin looked at the foam on the tea surface and sighed softly, "She refused to confess to the people behind the scenes, but took the blame on herself, and I couldn't save her." ”

"Okay." Cui Jinyuan nodded bitterly, and then asked, "Is the trap of the seal under His Highness?" ”

Gu Huaijin's hand holding the teacup froze slightly, he glanced at Cui Jinyuan, but was silent.

Cui Jinyuan already knew it in her heart, and she smiled softly, "Has Your Highness never thought of marrying me?" ”

"Yes." Now, Gu Huaijin doesn't plan to continue to lie to her.

He slowly lowered the cup, "But I won't be angry with you because of your mother's affairs, tomorrow I will arrange for someone to take you to a safe place." ”

When he was released, Gu Chengye told him that Xiao Shuli wanted a palace person by his side. He knew that what she wanted was Cui Jinyuan, maybe Aunt Cui didn't trust him, and was afraid that he would kill Cui Jinyuan to vent her anger, so he asked Xiao Shuli to protect her. But Aunt Cui didn't know Xiao Shuli at all, how could she not kill the chess pieces she had used. So in the end, Gu Huaijin only said to Gu Chengye that the palace man had been sent away by him.

Cui Jinyuan looked at the wedding dress on her body and laughed loudly, "It's me who is ridiculously wrong, I should be a slave with peace of mind, I shouldn't betray my mother, and I shouldn't believe His Highness's words." How could I be so stupid as to fall in love with His Highness, to hope for things that shouldn't belong to me, and to push myself step by step into a situation from which I will never recover? ”

If she hadn't turned against her mother because she fell in love with him, her mother might not have been in a hurry and fell into the trap, and if she hadn't betrayed her mother because she fell in love with him, maybe she could have reminded her mother that she wouldn't have fallen to the point where she is dead.

The red was particularly glaring, full of mockery at her.

"But what about Your Highness? Isn't there anything wrong with Your Highness? Your Highness deceived me and made me think that you were sincere to me, but what was the result? As a result, I was a fool's dream, and I became a wishful joke in your trap. So what is my affection for you? Just because I am humble, can't I even have the right to love you? So you deserve to be used by you to kill my biological mother? ”

Gu Huaijin looked at her almost crazy appearance and remained silent.

He did owe her, but he didn't regret it either. If he hadn't taken advantage of them, he would have died today.

Cui Jinkite's voice had become hoarse, and her tearful eyes swept over Gu Huaijin's figure, "Actually, I'm not even as good as them, right?" ”

It turns out that the tragic song she sings is never someone else, but herself.

Gu Huaijin remembered what he said when he gave her "Si Yueyin" in Beigong that day, "Don't sing those sad songs next time, I will protect you, you won't be them." ”

At that time, she didn't understand that this was exploitation, but now that she understands, she realizes that she is even inferior to those people in the song.

Whoever has happiness in life is not cheaper than anyone else.

Gu Huaijin watched her back go away, the red color was solemn and intense, but it looked particularly sad on her. The sun was just right, and she was away in the wind, like a moth to a fire.

The next day, the people sent by Gu Huaijin were just about to send Cui Jinyuan away, but they found that she had committed suicide by hanging herself from a beam in the house.

The palace people told Gu Huaijin the news of Cui Jinkite's suicide.

Gu Huaijin's heart was slightly suffocated, and she slowly turned her head, "Did she say anything before she died?" ”

The palace man presented a letter, "The girl left this. ”

He glanced at Gu Huaijin's gloomy face, and carefully handed over the two boxes.

"On the table in the side hall, there are neatly stacked wedding dresses, dance clothes, and hostas, and the slaves and maids have also packed up."

She returned all the things he had sent.

Gu Huaijin didn't say a word, he opened the letter, and there were only a few words on it, "I'm not as good as them." ”

There was a sense of boredom in my heart.

He tore up the letter and said to the palace man: "Bury her well, give her everything she wanted in her life." ”

In this palace, whose life is not as shaky as duckweed. He owes her only in this way.

Zhang Yixian learned that his brother had committed something and was sentenced to behead by His Majesty, and he was immediately anxious like an ant on a hot pot.

Although she and Zhang Zhenli are not siblings of the same mother, they have had a deep relationship since childhood, and Zhang Zhenli did not hesitate to sell the grange to prepare a dowry for her in order to let her marry into the Xiao Mansion. Now that her brother is in trouble, she naturally can't help it.

So as soon as she saw Xiao Lingheng, she burst into tears, pulled his sleeve and begged him to save her brother.

Usually it is useful to cry like this, but this case involves a wide range of people, she has been crying for a long time, Xiao Lingheng naturally feels annoyed, and only said that she will try to help his brother intercede.

But how did she know that Zhang Zhenli was originally arranged by Xiao Shuli and Xiao Lingheng to confess, where would she really help him intercede.

Zhang Zhenli was eventually beheaded. Zhang Yixian heard from nowhere that it was Xiao Wangshu who sent a letter to Lu Zhengze, and Lu Zhengze was able to return to Chang'an to sue the news of the royal complaint, and he was immediately so angry that his face turned pale, and he immediately went to Yongwang's Mansion to discuss a plan with Xiao Sirou.

Gu Huaijin learned that Xiao Wangshu helped him deliver a letter to Lu Zhengze, so he planned to thank her in person.

At that time, Wangshu's injuries had also healed, and he was about to return to Xiao Mansion, when the carriage that had just set off was stopped by Gu Huaijin.

"Miss Xiao, can you take a step to speak?"

Wangshu was a little stunned, she couldn't help but think of what she said when she went to "Qin Yarn Fang" to find Gu Huaijin that day.

At that time, Gu Huaijin was still hostile to her, but now she respectfully calls her "Miss Xiao".

Wang Shu got out of the carriage and walked side by side with Gu Huaijin to the garden of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

"If Your Highness has anything to say, you can say it now."

"Nothing. I just want to thank you for sending me a letter regardless of your past suspicions. Gu Huaijin took out a delicate box, and the look on his face was a little shy, "This is the hairpin I specially picked, of course, I can only express my gratitude superficially." ”

Wangshu met his sincere eyes, there was no mutual suspicion in the past, but a peaceful appearance, which made her a little unaccustomed.

"It doesn't have to be. I'm not for you, I'm for my uncle. ”

Gu Huaijin ignored her refusal and shoved it into her hand.

When the two hands touched, they passed each other's slightly warm temperature, and Wangshu was a little embarrassed, so he had to accept it.

The two looked at each other without saying a word, and Wangshu said something in his heart.

"Your Highness, you have repeatedly rushed against Your Majesty because of the Empress, and now you can learn a lesson?"

"I can understand your love for the late queen, but the late queen is also a forbidden place in your majesty's heart. If you mention it once, your father-son relationship will hurt once, and you will lose ground once. If you insist on doing so, I am afraid that you will be imprisoned before you find out the cause of the death of the late queen, and the people you care about will also be implicated by you, what ability do you have to avenge the late queen at that time? ”

Gu Huaijin lowered her eyes and was silent, like a child who had made a mistake, extremely obedient.

She suddenly remembered what she heard the man playing chess say when she was in "Qin Yarn Fang", and on the contrary, it was what she wanted to say to Gu Huaijin.

"Governing the government is like governing a chess game, and if you are anxious to determine the winner or loser, it is easy to lose the country. Uncle can't protect you for the rest of your life, and you should plan for yourself. ”

Realizing that he had said too much, Wangshu owed his body, "Loyal to the ear, I hope Your Highness doesn't mind." ”

Gu Huaijin raised his eyes and glanced at Wangshu, there was ink hidden in the abyss in his eyes, but there was a dark streamer.

"Don't worry, I will think twice in the future, act cautiously, and protect you and Uncle Lu."

This gaze was too direct, Wangshu opened her eyes uncomfortably, she saw that it was not early, and she was ready to leave.

Gu Huaijin reminded behind her, "After you return home, be careful of Cui's affairs." ”

Wangshu stopped, as if thinking of something, "He's your person?" ”

That time, Gu Huaijin went to Xiao Mansion to find her, and she came and went very casually, and she didn't suspect that Steward Cui was his eyeliner at that time.

"It used to be, but not anymore." Gu Huaijin lowered her head guiltily, this incident was also because he dragged her down.

He didn't keep Cui Shicheng's wife and daughter, and now he not only has no grace but also has a grudge.

Wangshu looked at his expression, and instantly understood the origin of this matter, and she couldn't help sighing.

When I returned to Xiao Mansion, I was afraid that there would be another fierce battle.