The Princess of Liang shouted angrily, "Gu Liyue, don't distort the truth! This is what your Gu family owes Mingzhu!"
"Who said our Gu family owes her anything?"
Gu Liyue looked up and saw Gu Zhongxian striding over. Besides him, there were also several other officials.
Gu Zhongxian shielded Gu Liyue behind him and stared angrily at the Princess of Liang. "The Princess of Liang doesn't take our Gu family's girls seriously at all. At the palace banquet, you actually forced my niece, Gu Liyue, to break off the engagement? I still remember clearly what you and the wife of the Qi family said back then, that my niece was unworthy. If it weren't for the personal visit of the Prince of Liang, that matter would never have been settled peacefully! Now you're doing it again. I, Gu Zhongxian, will never back down! Princess of Liang, please leave."
The Princess of Liang was stunned and took a step back. "What do you want to do?"
Gu Zhongxian said coldly, "Didn't you say you wanted to break off the engagement? The matter of marriage should be decided by the parents. Why are you making things difficult for a little girl like Liyue? Her biological father has passed away. If you really want to break off the engagement on behalf of Lu Jinchen, I can make the decision. Now, come with me to the Emperor. I will tell him everything that has happened today in detail! As for whether your step - son will marry your niece in the future, that's the business of your Prince of Liang's Mansion!"
The Princess of Liang gritted her teeth in hatred. Although she was the Princess of Liang, she was just a concubine who had been promoted. The Shu family had always been away from the capital, and she had never been highly regarded. All she relied on was the favor of the Prince of Liang. The Emperor was very cold towards her. She knew in her heart that the little bit of courtesy was only given because of the Prince.
How could she dare to break off the engagement for Lu Jinchen, the biological son of the former princess, in front of the Emperor?
Gu Zhongxian continued coldly, "Moreover, my younger brother, Gu Shuxian, and his wife, Liu Anyuan, were deeply in love all their lives. They only had one daughter, Gu Liyue. And according to the ancestral precepts of our Gu family, we must never take concubines. He had no concubines and will never have other children. If your Shu family dares to talk nonsense again, don't blame our Gu family for being rude!"
The Princess of Liang's eyes instantly turned red. She grabbed Shu Mingzhu and said, "My younger brother and my niece don't care, but you can't bully people like this. Mingzhu is clearly a daughter of the Gu family, but you just won't recognize her!"
Shu Mingzhu was sobbing so hard that she could hardly catch her breath. She grabbed the Princess of Liang and said, "Aunt, please stop talking. Please stop. I've finally... I'm Daddy's daughter, not someone else's..."
They were both crying bitterly, but none of the people present showed the slightest reaction. They just looked at each other. A few young ladies felt sorry for Shu Mingzhu in their hearts, but in this situation, they didn't dare to say a word.
"The Emperor is coming!"
The shout of the eunuch interrupted everyone's thoughts. Everyone quickly knelt down to pay their respects.
The Emperor looked displeased. "It's not time for the banquet yet, but I can hear all this noise. This is the imperial palace, my home. Do you want to rebel?"
Gu Zhongxian quickly kowtowed and pleaded guilty. "Your subject is guilty. It's all my fault. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Someone brought a chair over. After the Emperor sat down, he scanned the crowd. Seeing Lu Yunxi kneeling with the Gu family girl, he waved. "Yunxi, come here."
Lu Yunxi quickly stepped forward and said aggrievedly, "Your Majesty."
The Emperor smiled kindly. "Who made my Yunxi feel wronged? Tell me, and I'll make it right for you."
Lu Yunxi pouted. "It's not me. It's Liyue. I'm feeling wronged for her."
The Emperor raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"
Lu Yunxi quickly exaggerated what had just happened. "Your Majesty, don't you think that Shu Mingzhu is ridiculous? She actually said that Brother Jinchen has taken a fancy to her and that he even gave her the hairband that Liyue gave him. Haha, it's really funny. With her looks, would Brother Jinchen be blind and not want the beautiful Liyue?"
Someone in the crowd couldn't help but laugh. Afraid of being punished, they lowered their heads and tried to suppress their laughter.
The Emperor also wanted to laugh, but he just frowned. "Nonsense."
Lu Yunxi pouted. "It's true. Your Majesty, tell me, is Gu Liyue prettier or Shu Mingzhu prettier? If it were you, who would you take a fancy to?"
The Emperor shook his head helplessly. "You, you. I'm at this age. How would I care about such things?"
Lu Yunxi shouted, "Your Majesty is in the prime of life. You're a man, so of course you can tell the difference between a beautiful and an ugly girl!"
Although her words were very disrespectful, the Emperor didn't show the slightest sign of blame. He just laughed. "You are all my juniors. In my eyes, of course, you, Yunxi, are my precious pearl."
Lu Yunxi proudly raised her head. "That's right. Your Majesty loves me the most."
Perhaps the Emperor had just noticed that everyone was kneeling, so he said lazily, "Alright, all of you get up. On this wonderful day, you've all made it so unsettling..."
Just then, Shu Hong, who was standing behind, stepped forward, knelt down and cried, "Your Majesty, I have something to say. Please make it right for my daughter."
Before the Emperor could say anything, Lu Yunxi said quickly, "Hey, only officials of the fifth rank or above can attend the palace banquet. You, Lord Shu, are only a sixth - rank official. How did you get in?"
Shu Hong was stunned. He felt annoyed in his heart, and the sweat on his forehead rolled down.
The Emperor didn't seem to care. He just asked, "What's the matter? Tell me."
Shu Hong gritted his teeth and said, "My daughter, Shu Mingzhu, was originally the daughter of my younger sister, Shu Ying... Shu Ying was my youngest sister. She never got married in her life and only had this one daughter. Finally, Mingzhu has grown up and can return to the capital, but she can't return to her father's clan. I feel wronged for her and think it's not worth it for my sister to have remained chaste all her life!"
Hearing this, Gu Zhongxian immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, I will never forget how the Shu family persecuted my younger brother back then. It was the Shu family that made the first mistake!"
Shu Hong looked extremely sad. He turned around and said, "Lord Gu, my sister and I have already been punished for the mistakes we made back then. But all these have nothing to do with the younger generation. Mingzhu shouldn't bear such a heavy responsibility because of this!"
Gu Zhongxian was stunned. Shu Hong's words made sense, and he couldn't think of any words to refute. But if they really let Shu Mingzhu into the family, it would be confirmed that the Gu family had wronged Shu Mingzhu first. Moreover, what would Liyue do?
Moreover, this Shu Mingzhu actually wanted to snatch Gu Liyue's fiancé.
Thinking of this, Gu Zhongxian's face turned ugly. He kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, back then, my younger brother didn't admit that he had a marital relationship with that Shu Ying. I trusted my younger brother. Moreover, my only niece is Gu Liyue."
Shu Hong stared angrily. "My sister remained chaste all her life. She never stepped out of the inner courtyard in Luanhe City and missed Gu Shuxian every day. Her house was full of paintings she made for Gu Shuxian. Shu Mingzhu is clearly Gu Shuxian's daughter. Are you so cold - hearted that you won't even give Mingzhu a way out?"
"Is it our Gu family that won't give her a way out, or is it your Shu family that has been plotting for a long time?" Gu Junyan strode in, knelt down and paid his respects. "Your Majesty, Shu Hong and his sister, Shu Ying, conspired to frame the Gu family. I implore Your Majesty to allow me to arrest Shu Hong and take him back to the Supreme Court for investigation."