Lu Yunxi stared blankly at Gu Liyue. "I... can I?"
Gu Liyue nodded. "Of course you can."
Lu Yunxi quickly grabbed her arm and asked again. "So... you support me, right? If it were you, would you go?"
Gu Liyue was taken aback and lowered her head without saying a word. If it were her, she probably wouldn't have the courage to go.
Seeing this, Lu Yunxi let go of her arm. "Come on, just tell me. You're not brave enough either."
Gu Liyue whispered, "I'm not brave. I've been timid since I was a child. I'm afraid... what if he doesn't like me and rejects me?"
The two fell silent, and everything seemed to have come back to square one.
Gu Liyue looked up and held Lu Yunxi's hand. "But you're different. You're the princess, the bravest princess. I think we're different."
Lu Yunxi stared at her for a long time, then smiled and patted her on the head. "Let's not talk about this. I've been wanting to ask you. Do you really believe that Brother Jinchen and Shu Mingzhu have no affair?"
Gu Liyue looked up at her. Her gaze was firm, and she smiled faintly. "Why shouldn't I believe it?"
Lu Yunxi muttered, "But that hair ribbon... Aren't you afraid that Brother Jinchen will be unhappy when he comes back?"
"Why would he be unhappy?" Gu Liyue said. "I'm willing to trust him because I know he's not a person without responsibility. If he really falls in love with someone else, he will definitely come out and explain it to me himself, instead of giving the things I gave him to other women. So I believe him. If he's unhappy, it just means I misjudged him."
Lu Yunxi gave her a thumbs up. "I'm not as calm as you. If it were me, I'm afraid I'd be in a panic."
Gu Liyue lowered her eyebrows and smiled faintly. Yes, she was also in a panic. She remembered Shu Mingzhu's coquetry beside Lu Jinchen that day, and also remembered Lu Jinchen's hasty and somewhat aloof look.
But she remembered even more what Lu Jinchen said to her, that she should tell him everything. If she just endured and suspected blindly, they would only grow farther and farther apart.
It wasn't until evening that Gu Liyue finally waited for the truth of the matter after waiting for so long. She nestled in the old lady's arms and quietly listened to her eldest brother tell the story of the Shu family.
"At that time, because Luanhe City was remote, no matter how powerful the Shu family was, they were still no match for the local forces. The old master of the Shu family passed away from illness in just three years. Many of the Shu family's daughters and female relatives were not acclimatized, and the whole family declined. That's why Shu Hong never thought he was wrong. Instead, he thought it was our Gu family that harmed them."
Gu Chengzhi sneered. "Bad people are always so disgusting. If it weren't for them forcing my third uncle and third aunt into a corner, how could our Gu family end up like this? Moreover, the emperor just demoted them and sent them to other places."
Gu Junyan didn't comment. "Maybe they thought that third uncle didn't know how lucky he was. But more than a decade ago, after the Shu family had established themselves in Luanhe City, Shu Hong and Shu Ying began to plan their revenge. Shu Ying never married in her life, but she didn't have any children. So she found nearly a hundred girls of about the same age, all of them were orphans without any support. Then she selected eleven girls who looked most like the Gu family members. They were waiting for the day to return to the capital."
"Originally, they chose the twin sisters Zhenzhen and Zhuzhu, who looked most like the Gu family members. One reason was that they looked the most alike, and the other reason was that if two girls entered the Gu family, they could cooperate better from inside and outside. But before they returned to the capital, they changed their minds and let the current Shu Mingzhu be Shu Ying's daughter. Maybe it was because of the heroic look in Shu Mingzhu's eyes."
The old lady sighed deeply after a long time. "What about the Shu family?"
Gu Junyan said, "Shu Hong and Shu Ying were convicted of raising and murdering young girls. They also intended to harm court officials and committed crimes such as insubordination. The Shu family was raided, Shu Hong and Shu Ying were beheaded, and the others were exiled."
The laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty no longer had the crime of collective punishment. Such a punishment was considered very severe.
Gu Liyue was beside the old lady, stroking her hand one by one.
The old lady's hand trembled slightly, and she said hoarsely, "If it weren't for them back then... third brother and Anyuan would have..."
Gu Liyue looked up at her. "No, grandmother. My parents wanted to go far away. The Shu family was just the fuse. Otherwise, they wouldn't have insisted on cutting off contact with the capital even after the matter of the Shu family was resolved."
The old lady felt sad in her heart, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Gu Liyue wiped her tears and smiled. "Grandmother, I was young at that time, and I don't remember many things. But in my few memories, they were happy. They were always smiling, always happy."
The old lady looked at Gu Liyue for a long time and hugged her into her arms. "Yes, your parents were probably happier outside the capital than in the capital. Now that everything has settled down, everything will be better. Everything will be better in the future."
After the Lantern Festival, there was still no news from the northwest. Gu Liyue counted the days with her fingers and waited eagerly, waiting for news from her uncle, and even more waiting for news from Lu Jinchen.
Qin Caiyin came several times, and Lu Yunxi also invited her to go out and play. Gu Liyue just dealt with them occasionally. Most of the time, she still stayed at home waiting.
She didn't want to think about the worst result. She didn't know what would happen after such a natural disaster. Even selfishly, countless common people would die, but her father, brother, and lover were all nobles. If they could survive, they should be the first to survive, right?
Gu Liyue was in a daze while holding the jade hairpin. She was selfish, but what about them? The Prince of Qingling, the Prince of Liang, Lu Jinchen, her uncle, and her third brother. They were all people who could sacrifice everything for the common people. How could they be like she thought?
"Princess, you can't go in!"
Gu Liyue heard the shouting outside. When she came back to her senses, she saw Lu Yunxi running in. The maids didn't stop her.
Lu Yunxi rolled her eyes. "Gu Liyue, I've been inviting you out every day, but you never go. Today I came to pick you up. You should be willing to go out now, right?"
Gu Liyue asked in confusion, "You've been staying in the palace since the palace banquet. Why are you out of the palace now?"
Lu Yunxi spread her hands. "I find it so boring to see them being so cautious. It's just that I lost my father. Anyway, it didn't make much difference whether I had a father or not before."
Gu Liyue was stunned for a moment. "Princess, you can't say that..."
"Okay, okay!" Lu Yunxi didn't care and pulled Gu Liyue out. "You're not allowed to stay at home today. There's a night market on West Street. Come with me to the night market."
Gu Liyue spread her hands helplessly. "My dear princess, at least let me change into some clothes for going out."
Lu Yunxi ran out laughing and waited for her. It was Tangyuan who frowned and said something beside her.
"Miss, isn't the princess being a bit too heartless?"
Gu Liyue just shook her head. "Don't talk nonsense. Help me change my clothes."