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The man looked at the Crown Princess’s hand tightly gripping the corner of her clothes and sneered, "What? Do you want to slap this prince again? Then you'd better put more effort this time, don't leave just a palm print like last time."
……
The Crown Prince came out of the imperial study with a pale face, not paying much attention to the path ahead and nearly colliding with someone passing by.
He was about to lose his temper but noticed that the person was Ning Wang.
Feeling a mix of emotions, he greeted in a dull tone, "Eldest brother."
Ning Wang smiled and asked, "What's wrong? You seem unhappy. Was it you or Little Seven who received scolding from imperial father?"
The Crown Prince complained, "Imperial father said it's my fault for not disciplining Little Seven properly! What does it have to do with me? Who knew that little chubby kid would run around the palace with such audacity?"
Ning Wang chuckled and patted his shoulder, saying, "You are the Crown Prince, the elder brother, and the role model for all the imperial princes. Imperial father naturally has higher expectations of you. Don't worry, he's just saying it, imperial father isn’t really blaming you. As for Little Seven, he's just being mischievous at his age; causing trouble is normal. Imperial father loves him too much to blame him seriously."
Hearing these words was somewhat comforting.
The Crown Prince didn't envy Qin Chuyu for receiving the favor of their imperial father. After all, Qin Chuyu was his full-blooded younger brother, and there was a significant age difference between them. Besides, what Ning Wang said was true—— imperial father's expectations of him were higher than those of other princes.
He sighed, "But... Imperial father still wants to punish Little Seven, and my plea won't change anything."
Ning Wang smiled and patted the Crown Prince's shoulder again, "You should go back to the East Palace first. I'll talk to imperial father about it."
The Crown Prince opened his mouth. Honestly speaking, he and Ning Wang were not on the same side. Ning Wang was the biggest threat on his path to becoming an Emperor, not only because Ning Wang was smarter and more capable, but also because imperial father loved Ning Wang deeply.
However, he couldn't bring himself to hate Ning Wang.
Ning Wang's gaze was warm, sunny, and sincere. He tried his best to be a good son to their imperial father and a good older brother to the imperial princes. He was ambitious, but didn’t seem to be overly ambitious.
In particular, he had no unspeakable thoughts towards Linlang.
Don't think the Crown Prince didn't know that the Third Prince, Fourth Prince, and even the Fifth Prince, Imperial Concubine Shu’s son, all secretly admired Linlang.
Only his eldest brother was upright, a true gentleman.
With this thought, the Crown Prince found Ning Wang much more pleasing to the eye. "Alright, I'll leave Little Seven's matter to eldest brother. Linlang is injured, and I need to go back and take care of her."
He had just taken a few steps when Ning Wang suddenly called him, "Second brother."
The Crown Prince turned around, "Eldest brother, is there something else?"
Ning Wang said, "Imperial father has been worried about the six ministries' assessment recently, and the cabinet has been debating over it. I'm planning to go to the cabinet. Do you want to come along?"
The Crown Prince hesitated a bit. As the Crown Prince of the country, he knew that appropriately participating in government affairs to share the burden for his imperial father was a rare opportunity. However, he was genuinely concerned about Linlang's injuries.
Ning Wang smiled, "How about I tell imperial father that I'll go alone."
Would imperial father be happy if he knew?
The Crown Prince muttered, "Imperial father didn't mention this matter earlier."
Ning Wang chuckled, "That's because I haven't reported it yet."
Well, there was no escaping now.
The Crown Prince let out a sigh, "Then I'll wait for eldest brother to go to the cabinet together."
Ning Wang smiled, "All right."
As they watched the two brothers get into the carriage, Gu Jiao and Yuan Tang behind the big tree couldn't believe their eyes.
Yuan Tang said, "What? They didn't fight? Does the Crown Prince feel that his head isn’t thoroughly green enough?”
Yuan Tang had already figured out the identity of the man that had a secret rendezvous with the Crown Princess.
It wasn't just because he recognized the man's voice, it was because when the man left, he accidentally turned around, allowing Yuan Tang to see his face clearly.
At that moment, Yuan Tang was beyond surprised.
Even Gu Jiao made a sound of astonishment, genuinely surprised as well.
Yuan Tang exclaimed coldly, "I must clear my name!"
Gu Jiao firmly refused, "No, you can't."
"Why?" Yuan Tang asked.
"Rui Wangfei will die." Gu Jiao said, "She is the only one who 'saw' your secret meeting with the Crown Princess. She is an important witness. Once you clear your name, Ning Wang won't spare her."
People like Ning Wang couldn’t be relied upon to uphold principles and moral values; don't expect him to consider brotherly feelings.
Yuan Tang coldly snorted, "So, am I just supposed to carry this blame for the rest of my life?"
Gu Jiao's eyes darted around, "How about... you go and assassinate him?"
The corner of Yuan Tang's mouth twitched.
Am I some rookie? Who would just do it if I was told to kill?
Also, this is the territory of your State of Zhao! If I go to assassinate the eldest prince of your State of Zhao, how many heads do you think I have?
Seemingly catching on to his complaint, Gu Jiao shrugged, "Didn't you attempt to assassinate the Emperor before?"
Yuan Tang clenched his fists, "That was just for show! How could I dare to really kill your Emperor! Am I seeking death?"
Gu Jiao glanced at him, "Conspiring with the enemy's imperial concubine dowager, isn't that seeking death?"
Yuan Tang choked on his words.
Then, an idea came to Yuan Tang, and he grinned, "Hey, how about you tell your Empress Dowager? She trusts you a lot, right? Whatever you say, she won't doubt it, will she?"
Gu Jiao remained silent.
After a while, she spoke in a calm tone, "Is her trust in me a reason for me to stab her in the heart?"
Yuan Tang choked again.
He had forgotten that the blood flowing in Ning Wang's body was the same blood as Empress Dowager Zhuang.
Ning Wang might have wronged many people, but he had never betrayed Empress Dowager Zhuang.
His filial piety towards her was genuine.
Yuan Tang looked deeply at Gu Jiao, "So... What exactly is your plan? I need to know if we'll be enemies or friends in the future."
It wasn’t surprising that Yuan Tang asked this. Even Yuan Tang could see that Ning Wang wouldn't harm Gu Jiao.
Ning Wang couldn't possibly not have guessed that Gu Jiao had already figured out the truth from the beginning. He never intended to take Gu Jiao's life, and Yuan Tang could think of several reasons why.
One, Gu Jiao was Empress Dowager Zhuang's beloved, and if anyone harmed Gu Jiao, Empress Dowager Zhuang wouldn’t let it go easily.
Two, Ning Wang also needed Gu Jiao to treat Ning Wangfei's illness, assuming that Ning Wang really had feelings for Ning Wangfei.
The third and essential point was that Gu Jiao was an outsider, and she didn’t care about the struggles between the imperial princes at all. Even if Ning Wang defeated the Crown Prince entirely, it had nothing to do with Gu Jiao, right?
Since Ning Wang wouldn’t kill her, then she didn’t need to be an enemy of Ning Wang, right?
Gu Jiao calmly said, "I'll only do what I think is necessary."
Yuan Tang couldn't understand, "What do you mean? Are you going to oppose Ning Wang or not?"
Gu Jiao looked at him, "Actually, I should be the one asking you this question."
Yuan Tang was taken aback, "What?"
Gu Jiao explained, "If Ning Wang finds that assassinating you is not easy, he might give up on you and think of other ways. In that case, do you still want to be his enemy?"
Yuan Tang opened his mouth, "I..."
Gu Jiao continued, "Whether I am his enemy or not is none of my concern. I never need friends, nor do I fear having more enemies."
Her words struck him right in the heart!
So, what exactly was this girl's intention in the end? He still didn't understand!
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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