"Look, everyone! General Gu is back!"
Gu Jiangyue and Gu Yi waited for a while longer, then they saw the crowd at the front start to stir.
"Sister, sister! Father is back!"
Gu Yi jumped up and down. It seemed that he had already spotted the several galloping horses making their way through the crowd towards them. With a beaming smile on his face, he shouted out.
It took General Gu Yanwu quite a while to make his way through the crowd on his horse before finally reaching Gu Jiangyue's side. Looking at the different expressions on the commoners' faces, Gu Yanwu was filled with confusion in his eyes.
But the next moment, all his doubts vanished when he saw Gu Jiangyue and Gu Yi. Gu Yanwu deftly dismounted his horse and walked up to the two of them.
"Jiangyue, Yi'er, I'm back. Yi'er has grown so much."
There were more signs of the hardships of life on Gu Yanwu's face than before, but his eyes were still as bright as ever, now filled with tears.
The onlookers were looking at Gu Yanwu with increasingly strange expressions. They had seen the sight of criminals being paraded through the streets before, but the treatment that Gu Yanwu was receiving now was completely different from that of a criminal.
"I wonder if the rumor could be false," someone whispered.
"I think so too. General Gu looks like he's done nothing wrong at all."
The murmurs started up again. These harsh whispers first reached Shen Menglan's ears. Although she was confused, she still didn't want to believe it.
Seeing more and more skeptical looks, Shen Menglan shouted angrily, "What are you all looking at? Maybe someone will come and arrest them all for execution soon! Don't be too happy too soon!"
Execution? Gu Yanwu was even more confused. But before he could ask Gu Jiangyue, the horse beside him reacted first.
The horse had been on a long journey and was on high alert. Hearing Shen Menglan shouting at the top of her lungs, the horse closest to her immediately became restless.
A neigh pierced the sky. Then the horse started moving. The commoners around were so frightened that they stood still. Some were even knocked to the ground. This was a battle - hardened horse that had seen blood.
In an instant, the horse reared up and charged in a certain direction. Everyone could only shout and run away. Gu Yanwu tried to stop it, but it was too late.
Just as everyone's hearts sank, a white figure appeared. The figure was extremely agile. He leaped over the crowd and directly mounted the still - struggling horse. Gu Jiangyue recognized the person's face. It was Xie Jiuan.
The horse was even more frightened and didn't want to be tamed. Xie Jiuan tightly grabbed the reins, lying flat on the horse's back, and pressing his feet firmly against the horse's belly. After the horse let out a high - pitched neigh, it finally stopped its wild movements. A cloud of dust was kicked up behind it.
The horse stopped, and the people around heaved a sigh of relief. Xie Jiuan stood on the horse. At this moment, fine beads of sweat had oozed out on his forehead.
Xie Jiuan looked back at Gu Jiangyue and gave her a gentle smile. His beautiful peach - blossom eyes were filled with a hint of pride. Xie Jiuan turned the horse around. Facing the crowd, he said word by word, "General Gu Yanwu was invincible on the battlefield and has made outstanding contributions. He has been conferred the title of Marquis of Wuan and rewarded with a general's mansion."
Xie Jiuan's words were clear and shocked everyone present. After a brief moment of silence, the discussions among the crowd almost tore the sky apart.
"I knew the rumor must be false! General Gu would never do such a thing!"
"General Gu is our great hero."
Someone started clapping first, and then everyone followed. The sound of applause was continuous.
"What should we do with the people from the Gu Mansion?"
A confused voice rang out in the crowd. Only then did everyone remember the Gu Mansion people who had been so arrogant just now.
Shen Menglan and the old matriarch were so shocked that they stood there motionless. They only reacted when they noticed everyone looking at them.
"This must be fake," Shen Menglan still refused to believe it.
"How could the emperor's words be false?" Xie Jiuan's voice was loud enough to intimidate Shen Menglan.
"I... I..." Shen Menglan stammered but couldn't say a complete sentence.
"Yanwu!" The old matriarch no longer cared about her face. Now that they had driven Gu Yanwu out, they had nothing left. She looked at Gu Yanwu with pleading eyes.
Gu Yanwu was still confused and angry. Shen Menglan had startled the horse and almost hurt the commoners. The next moment, he felt someone tugging at his sleeve.
Gu Yanwu looked over and saw Gu Jiangyue shaking her head at him. Xie Jiuan also dismounted his horse and spoke at this moment, "Marquis of Wuan, hurry up. The emperor is waiting for you."
Xie Jiuan subtly winked at Gu Jiangyue, and she immediately understood.
"Yes, Father, hurry up," she said, then pushed Gu Yanwu out. Although Gu Yanwu didn't know what had happened, he thought it was more important to see the emperor now. Then he was taken away by the people Xie Jiuan had brought.
Gu Yanwu was sitting in the carriage. He looked at the old matriarch, but Gu Jiangyue stepped forward directly to block his view. She waved at him and gave him a sweet smile.
"Everyone disperse! Everyone disperse!"
Seeing Gu Yanwu leave and the misunderstanding cleared, the onlookers all left. They came quickly and left quickly. In a short while, the street returned to its usual appearance.
The only difference was that there were many more people passing by the Gu Mansion gate and scolding them.
Xie Jiuan was just about to pull Gu Jiangyue away when he turned around and saw Gu Jiangyue staring at him. A bad feeling welled up in his heart. He asked, "What's wrong?"
Gu Jiangyue stared into Xie Jiuan's eyes, as if trying to find something in them. Finally, Gu Jiangyue let out a long sigh.
"We'll talk when we get back."
Gu Jiangyue didn't give Xie Jiuan time to be confused. She grabbed his hand and directly got into the carriage.
Gu Jiangyue always felt that she seemed to have discovered a secret of Xie Jiuan's. Xie Jiuan noticed that Gu Jiangyue was in a bad mood, so he didn't ask any more questions. The two of them sat in the carriage in silence all the way.
By the time they arrived at the Azure Water and Cloud Residence, the sky was gradually getting dark. Gu Jiangyue directly led Xie Jiuan into her room.
"Aren't you supposed to be unable to fight?"
As soon as she closed the door, Gu Jiangyue asked the question that had been buried in her heart for a long time. Xie Jiuan had once told Gu Jiangyue that he didn't know any martial arts, but he always showed up whenever Gu Jiangyue needed him. All the signs indicated that Xie Jiuan must know martial arts.
"I..."
Gu Jiangyue's gaze was too direct. Xie Jiuan couldn't even avoid it. He could only be stared at by Gu Jiangyue like this, not knowing how to answer.
"Why did you lie to me?" At the same time, Gu Jiangyue spoke again. Xie Jiuan noticed that Gu Jiangyue's eyes were slightly red.