newbobooks Chapter 726 She's good in every way, except she's too kind; she feels sorry for everyone.
Chapter 726 She's good in every way, except she's too kind; she feels sorry for everyone.
The courtyard was very clean, but it had a desolate feel to it, as if no one had lived there for a long time.
Lin Jiayou did not take her into the house, but led her to sit down at the stone table in the courtyard.
"Besides my mother, you're the first person to arrive here," he said, his voice low.
Gu Lanxin looked around, her heart pounding.
Lin Jiayou's gaze drifted into the distance, as if he were lost in some distant memory.
"Lanxin, aren't you curious about my background?"
He didn't wait for Gu Lanxin's reply and continued talking to himself.
"Everyone knows that my mother is a princess of the Yongwang Mansion, but who knows that she is just an imposter?"
This opening was like a thunderbolt, leaving Gu Lanxin's mind blank.
"During the Rebellion of the Five Princes, the capital was in chaos. In the Yong Prince's mansion, the princess was about to give birth. The midwife who was delivering the baby was tempted by greed and switched her newborn daughter with the real little princess."
“My mother is that midwife’s daughter. She grew up surrounded by admirers in the Prince’s mansion, enjoying all the riches and honors.” Lin Jiayou’s lips curled into a mocking smile, as if he were mocking someone. “But the truth will eventually come out.”
His voice deepened, carrying a suppressed hatred.
“A good-for-nothing playboy in the capital somehow found out the truth about this. He used it as leverage to threaten my mother… and that’s how I came to be.”
Gu Lanxin covered her mouth, her eyes filled with shock.
She never imagined that beneath Lin Jiayou's gentle and refined appearance lay such a shameful past.
"That man was insatiable, and he ruined my mother... It's a pity that in the end she was also blinded by love and greed, and in the end, she harmed herself as well as others."
“After my mother died, there was no place for me in the vast capital.” Lin Jiayou turned to look at Gu Lanxin. “At that time, Qingchen was kind-hearted and couldn’t bear to see me with nowhere to go, so she asked someone to send me to Chengdu to seek refuge with her brother, Gu Lu.”
He described Gu Qingchen's good deeds as a condescending act of charity and pity.
"Qingchen...she's good in every way, except she's too kind. She feels sorry for everyone."
These words instantly gave Gu Lanxin a sense of balance.
It turns out that Gu Qingchen's kindness towards him was only out of pity.
Yet he was willing to tell himself about this shameful past without reservation.
Lin Jiayou watched her changing expressions, reached out and placed his hand on the back of her hand, his eyes filled with pain and sincerity.
"Lanxin, I've told you everything. I don't want to hide anything from you."
Gu Lanxin's defenses completely crumbled at this moment.
She looked at the man in front of her. He was ambitious and resourceful, but all his struggles seemed to have a reason.
She could no longer control her emotions, and suddenly leaned forward, planting a shy yet resolute kiss on his lips.
Lin Jiayou's body stiffened for a moment, then he took the initiative and deepened the kiss.
After a long while, he finally released her, his forehead pressed against hers, his breath hot.
"Given my background, I still have a long way to go to gain a foothold in the capital and to marry you with dignity..."
His voice was hoarse and seductive.
"Lan'er, will you wait for me?"
Qian Zhenyun's "retreat to advance" tactic was truly a fatal blow.
The generous gifts from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion were sent to the palace, and the Empress handed them over to Princess Jiahe, thus silencing the royal family.
Immediately afterwards, the Censorate submitted a memorial impeaching the Prince of Yongding. The Emperor, taking advantage of the situation, reprimanded the Prince of Yongding for his lax management of his household, which left him overwhelmed and with no energy left to cause trouble for the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.
The turmoil in the imperial court was thus quietly suppressed.
While the open storms subsided, the underhanded tactics became increasingly insidious.
Princess Yongding couldn't swallow this insult, so she began to intentionally or unintentionally cry about her daughter's grievances at banquets hosted by noblewomen in the capital, portraying Gu Qingchen as a bullying, vicious, and shrewish woman.
As soon as Gu Qingchen stepped out of the mansion after his confinement period ended, he felt this malice.
Today is the birthday banquet of the old lady of the British Duke's Mansion. As soon as she entered the garden, the voices of the people who were originally chatting and laughing suddenly fell silent.
Those noble ladies who would usually greet her warmly now stood at a distance as if they had made a pact, casting glances of disdain or anticipation.
A young girl in a pale yellow dress, a distant niece of Princess Yong, deliberately raised her voice.
"Some people are really lucky. They pushed the princess into the water, almost killing her, but they themselves are fine and can still come out to attend the banquet."
Someone nearby immediately chimed in, "That's right, having a good family background makes all the difference. If it were us, we'd probably still be in jail right now."
Gu Qingchen stopped in his tracks and looked over coldly.
The girls felt uneasy under her gaze, but taking advantage of their numbers, they stubbornly glared back at her.
Just as she was about to speak, Lin Jiayou's gentle voice rang out.
"My sisters, please be careful with your words. This matter has already been settled; it was just an accident. Qingchen is not that kind of person. Don't believe the rumors and ruin our harmony."
He walked over at some point and stood naturally beside Gu Qingchen, adopting a completely protective stance.
The girls pursed their lips, their gazes towards the two of them becoming increasingly ambiguous. They left with the words, "We wouldn't dare to offend the young lady of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion," and turned to walk away.
"Ignore them," Lin Jiayou said softly to Gu Qingchen. "They're just jealous of you."
His "heroic rescue" did not make Gu Qingchen feel relieved; instead, it made her even more annoyed.
Qian Zhenyun was checking accounts in his own clinic when, after listening to the servant's report on the birthday banquet, he slammed the account book shut.
He didn't go to the Duke's mansion, nor did he go to comfort Gu Qingchen.
He simply went to the back room and gave a few instructions to a waiter who had been by his side for many years.
"Go to one of the taverns in the west of the city that porters and waiters love to frequent, and chat casually. Just say that the northwest border got cold early this year, and the soldiers are still wearing only light clothing, but the new black fox fur cloaks that Prince Yongding’s mansion has acquired are so shiny and smooth that each one is worth over a thousand taels of silver."
The waiter understood immediately and bowed as he withdrew.
In just two or three days, the winds in the capital quietly shifted.
The gossip about Gu Qingchen was gradually replaced by new topics.
In teahouses, taverns, and on the streets, people were talking about the extravagance of the Yongding Prince's Mansion and the hardships of the soldiers on the frontier.
"Have you heard? The Prince of Yongding bought a Ferghana horse the other day, spending a full five thousand taels of silver!"
"Five thousand taels? My God, that's enough for so many winter clothes for our brothers on the border!"
None of these messages accused Prince Yongding of embezzling military funds, yet every single one put Prince Yongding's residence in a very difficult position.
Inside the imperial study, the emperor finished reading an anonymous letter and remained silent for a long time. The letter contained no lengthy discourse, only two accounts.
One expense was the extravagant spending of the Yongding Prince's Mansion over the past year. The other was the amount of military supplies allocated to the northwestern border.
The contrast between the two is shocking.
By the time the Prince of Yongding realized the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, it was too late. He sent people to investigate the source of these rumors, but to no avail.
Those words seemed to appear out of nowhere, spreading little by little from the lowest corners of the capital...
On the training ground of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, Gu Qingchen was in a state of turmoil. He drew his bow and shot arrows, but his shots always missed the bullseye.
"Lower your shoulders, don't tense up."
Qian Zhenyun walked over at some point and placed a bowl of chilled mung bean soup on the stone table next to him.
He didn't mention the birthday banquet or the rumors outside. He simply walked behind her and helped her adjust her bow-drawing posture.
"You're too hasty."
His palms were warm, and through her clothes, he gently placed them on her shoulders with a steady, firm touch.
Gu Qingchen's body stiffened, and she turned her head to look at him.
The Crown Prince forced her to apologize, a scheme he devised to satisfy both sides. She was humiliated at the birthday banquet, and in the blink of an eye, the Yongding Prince's Mansion became the laughingstock of the entire city.
She is not stupid.
There aren't that many coincidences in this world.
Looking at Qian Zhenyun's calm profile, Gu Qingchen felt the wavering scales in his heart finally tip in one direction.