Chapter 36

As long as Old Master Gu agrees, Qin Jiyi will bring Gu Qiancheng into the mansion!

When Gu Qiancheng said this, she was not the least bit nervous. After all, she wasn't lying, right? She just rephrased what Qin Jiyi said, and the meaning didn't change much. As for how Old Master Gu would interpret it, that was beyond her control...

In Old Master Gu's eyes, the meaning of Qin Jiyi's words was that he would repay the favor to Gu Qiancheng by bringing her into the Qin王府 (Qin Mansion) and restoring the Gu family's reputation.

This way, Gu Qiancheng would have a place to stay, and no one would say that the Gu family was lax in educating their daughters. The other children of the Gu family wouldn't have to worry about their marriages either.

Old Master Gu made this inference based on the fact that the other half of the *Yi Guo Zhi* (Chronicles of the Yi Kingdom) was in Qin Jiyi's hands, which was naturally the result of Gu Qiancheng's hint.

Although not obtaining the complete *Yi Guo Zhi* made Old Master Gu very unhappy, the thought of currying favor with the Prince of Qin made him happy again. It was better than getting nothing at all.

As for sending Gu Qiancheng to the Qin Mansion?

Ha, how could he waste the Prince of Qin's favor on Gu Qiancheng?

In a moment, Old Master Gu's gloom dissipated. When he saw a servant enter, he waved his hand and had the servant help Gu Qiancheng up: "What are you standing there for? Can't you see that the young miss is kneeling? Quickly help the young miss up."

Since the Prince of Qin remembered Gu Qiancheng, Old Master Gu wouldn't make her look bad in the short term. Besides, he had plans for her future.

Finally, she escaped a crisis!

Gu Qiancheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief and stood up with the servant's help. She didn't have a habit of kneeling for long.

"Grandfather, it's getting late. I won't disturb your rest. I'll take my leave now." Gu Qiancheng didn't have a masochistic tendency. Old Master Gu clearly wasn't going to punish her, and she didn't want to seek punishment.

Old Master Gu wasn't stupid. Gu Qiancheng's thoughts weren't deeply hidden. Although he was still unhappy about her losing the *Yi Guo Zhi*, this outcome was still acceptable. He had no intention of making things difficult for Gu Qiancheng and waved his hand to let her go.

Back in her courtyard, Gu Qiancheng let out a deep breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead. No matter what, the matter of the *Yi Guo Zhi* was temporarily over. Old Master Gu wouldn't confront the Prince of Qin or cause her trouble in the short term.

With Qin Jiyi's favor, even if Old Master Gu was unhappy with her, he wouldn't say anything openly. As long as Old Master Gu didn't take a stance, Duke Gu and Lady Gu wouldn't dare to cause her trouble.

She could rest and recover in peace!

Old Master Gu didn't fully believe Gu Qiancheng. As soon as she left, he sent people to investigate what happened that night.

After so many days, the matter of drugging Gu Qiancheng had been cleaned up by Lady Gu. Moreover, there were few people who saw it that night. Old Master Gu only found out that some servants discovered a lot of gold leaves in the pond, but nothing else.

Gold leaves weren't rare to the Gu family, but to Gu Qiancheng, they were something she had no chance to see. When Old Master Gu saw the intricately designed and ancient gold leaves, he was sure they were definitely royal items.

Confirming that Gu Qiancheng hadn't lied, Old Master Gu gave up on the *Yi Guo Zhi*. He was too afraid to ask the Crown Prince for it. As for the half he had in his possession?

Old Master Gu thought about it and decided not to send it to the Qin Mansion but to keep it himself.

The Prince of Qin thought the *Yi Guo Zhi* was given to him by Gu Qiancheng, and no one in the Gu family knew about it. From the Prince of Qin's thoughts, he didn't plan to offer the *Yi Guo Zhi* to the Emperor. If Old Master Gu sent the half he had, it would mean he knew the Prince of Qin had the *Yi Guo Zhi*. What would the Prince of Qin think then?

"Letting the Prince of Qin remember the Gu family well is also a good thing." Old Master Gu and Duke Gu, being father and son, naturally ignored Gu Qiancheng when it came to benefits.

Gu Qiancheng didn't care what Old Master Gu thought. She focused on recovering in her courtyard. As long as the Gu family didn't bother her, she wouldn't seek trouble while she was still injured...

It takes a hundred days to recover from a serious injury. Gu Qiancheng's injury was severe, and she spent three months in her courtyard, fully recovering from her leg injury.

During these three months, many significant events occurred...

The Prince of Zhao was reprimanded by the Emperor for failing to educate his son, and the Crown Prince, Qin Yunchu, was punished to reflect on his actions for three months. Lady Gu, the imperial concubine, was also penalized for three months due to a minor incident that displeased the Emperor.

Both the Prince of Zhao and Lady Gu knew that they were reprimanded and penalized because of the incident at Gu Qiancheng's wedding, which disgraced both families. They blamed Gu Qiancheng for everything, and the Prince of Zhao even harbored resentment towards the Gu family because...

After reprimanding the Prince of Zhao, the Emperor issued an edict for the Prince of Qin to study at the Six Ministries and familiarize himself with the procedures. This edict unsettled both the court and the palace. The Empress, the four concubines, and the princes were all restless.

It was known that the previous Crown Prince started his studies at the Six Ministries, and no other prince had this honor. Now, the Emperor was ordering the Crown Prince to study at the Six Ministries, which suggested he might bypass his sons and directly appoint the Crown Prince as the heir?

The current Emperor has five sons. Apart from the deceased Crown Prince and the unmarried Prince, the other three sons are already married and have been princes for many years, with considerable influence in the court.

Since the death of the Crown Prince, the Emperor had never mentioned appointing a new one. It was impossible for these princes to have no ambitions. Now, seeing the Emperor directly bypass them to cultivate Qin Jiyi, they couldn't be happy and would certainly try to hinder Qin Jiyi.

The Prince of Zhao was very busy, suppressing Qin Jiyi and collaborating with his brothers to create obstacles for him. Additionally, with Qin Yunchu being punished, the Prince of Zhao was dissatisfied with the Gu family. Therefore, three months later, he did not welcome Gu Qianxue into the mansion with the ceremony of a secondary wife but carried her in through a small gate in a pink sedan chair.

She was a concubine, not even a high-ranking one. The Gu family's "dowry" for Gu Qianxue was returned by the Prince of Zhao's steward: "Please rest assured, Lord and Lady, the Prince can afford to support his women. If you really want to send something, you might as well send the indenture of Lady Xue to the mansion."

These words were not polite at all. The Prince of Zhao's mansion treated Gu Qianxue like a bed servant, showing no respect. Duke Gu and Lady Gu were so angry that their faces turned white, but with their daughter already taken away and the imperial concubine penalized, they didn't dare to make a fuss.

Gu Qiancheng knew that the couple would blame her for everything. They couldn't do much to her because of Old Master Gu, but they had no qualms about targeting others like Mama Sun.

Gu Qiancheng turned to Mama Sun and instructed, "Be careful these days. It's best not to go out. Don't provoke Lord and Lady at this time. Hand over your tasks to the young maids and don't handle them yourself."

The atmosphere in the Gu family was clearly wrong, and Mama Sun naturally understood, nodding repeatedly, "Miss, rest assured, I will be careful."

However, despite all their precautions, something still happened...