"He was assassinated in the northwest, and it's been found out that it was Lu Jinxuan who did it. He was seriously injured. It was only with a miraculous pain - relieving medicine that he managed to make his way back to the capital. That day, he was seriously injured again while saving you. There wasn't a single part of his body that wasn't hurt. The emperor ordered the imperial physicians to treat him for a full three days, and only today was he finally saved."
Gu Liyue was terrified when she heard this. "He... Is that what you call being safe and sound? Is he out of danger?"
Lu Yunxi shook her head. "He just woke up. He asked me to tell you he's safe, but he's not really safe."
Gu Liyue felt a pang in her heart. Maybe it was Lu Yunxi's straightforwardness that made her worry less.
Lu Yunxi yawned and waved her hand. "Don't worry. Those who survive a great disaster will surely have good fortune. Since he's alive, there's hope."
Gu Liyue thought so too, so she nodded. Then she asked carefully, "Is the emperor kind to him? Have those rumors had any impact?"
Lu Yunxi laughed out loud and waved her hand. "He looks so much like the Prince of Liang. Only a fool would really think he's not the Prince of Liang's son. The emperor is not a fool, and he's always loved him. He was very concerned about his injury. When he heard that your grandfather killed Lu Jinxuan with a single sword strike, the emperor didn't even frown."
Gu Liyue touched her nose. This comparison was a bit inappropriate, but as long as Lu Yunxi was happy.
Lu Yunxi continued, "Anyway, now the Qi family has been imprisoned, Concubine Shu has been confined to her palace, and the Second Prince has been locked up in the Eastern Three Palaces. We'll make a decision after the matter is investigated clearly."
Gu Liyue hesitated for a moment and asked, "What about the Princess of Liang?"
Lu Yunxi paused, frowned, and shook her head. "I don't know. Come to think of it, I haven't seen her or heard any news about her. Anyway, she hasn't entered the palace. I don't know if she's in the Prince of Liang's mansion."
The sentence for the Qi family was announced half a month later. It was said that the emperor's previous coma was due to poisoning, which was done by Concubine Shu. Concubine Shu's intention was, of course, to support the Second Prince to ascend the throne while the emperor was seriously ill and the Prince of Liang was not in the capital.
Concubine Shu alone couldn't cause much trouble, but with the Qi family as her backer, things were different. Just as Lu Jinxuan had been scheming against Lu Jinchen step by step, the Qi family took advantage of the situation. They wanted to draw in the Prince of Liang's mansion and make the Second Prince's ascension to the throne legitimate.
However, the queen and the crown prince were not sitting ducks. And the Second Prince was a kind - hearted person who had no intention of ascending the throne. Instead, he personally invited famous doctors into the palace and even tasted the medicine for the emperor himself.
After the truth came to light, the Second Prince knelt in front of the palace hall and asked the emperor to demote him to a commoner.
In the end, the emperor named the Second Prince a county prince, stripped him of his official positions in the court, and made him an idle prince. His descendants were not allowed to serve in the court or leave the capital for generations. As for Concubine Shu, she was demoted to a talent and sent to the cold palace. The Qi family was ransacked and executed, and the execution would be carried out on a chosen day.
Because Lord Gu had killed Lu Jinxuan, the second son of the Prince of Liang's mansion, without the emperor's order, he knelt in front of the palace hall for a whole day and night, asking the emperor for forgiveness.
The emperor had pity on the old official. He only took back Lord Gu's power to command troops and allowed the Gu family to watch the execution of the entire Qi family. He even allowed Lord Gu to personally appoint the person to execute Qi Xuan.
At the same time, Lord Lin compiled the files and evidence of the ransacking of the Xu family back then and presented them in front of the palace hall, asking the emperor to re - investigate the matter.
The final result was that the Xu family had been wronged. The emperor rehabilitated the Xu family and also rehabilitated the Peng family, which had been demoted because of the family - related punishment. The Peng family was allowed to return to the capital to report on their duties.
The Peng family was Lu Jinchen's maternal family.
The Prince of Liang had fallen into the river and his life or death was unknown. The emperor originally wanted to make Lu Jinchen the Prince of Liang, but Lu Jinchen refused, saying that his father was missing and it would take more than two years to determine his death.
As for the Princess of Liang, since the day Lu Jinxuan committed his crime, she had disappeared without a trace. The princess, Lu Jinxuan, also disappeared. No one had ever seen them again.
The emperor removed Shu's name from the imperial genealogy. Lu Jinxuan was also determined to be a criminal official. Among the mother and her three children, the only one left on the genealogy was Lu Jinxuan. She was still a princess, with a note saying that she had disappeared at the age of sixteen.
Gu Liyue saw Lu Jinchen again two months later.
Apart from being much thinner, Lu Jinchen seemed not very different from before.
Gu Chengzhi brought Gu Liyue to the private room of the Fuguilou Restaurant. For the first time, he didn't stay by their side, giving Gu Liyue and Lu Jinchen a chance to meet alone.
Lu Jinchen reached out his hand and pulled Gu Liyue into his arms.
Gu Liyue hugged him tightly too. In the past, she had doubts about him. Even though she was determined in her heart, she was always a bit uneasy, thinking that she was not good enough for him and wondering if he would really fall in love with someone else if he met someone else.
But after this incident, Gu Liyue understood that Lu Jinchen's feelings for her were no less than hers, and even much more.
They hugged each other for a long time. Then Lu Jinchen slowly let go of Gu Liyue, but he was reluctant to part. He held her neck and kissed her deeply. This kiss seemed to last forever.
I don't know how long it took before Lu Jinchen let go. He asked in a low voice, "Do you... miss me?"
Gu Liyue lowered her head and didn't answer.
Lu Jinchen's voice became a bit hoarse. "Are you blaming me? If it weren't for me, you probably wouldn't have encountered such a storm."
Gu Liyue looked up at him. "It's true. If it weren't for you, I might have had a smooth life. But if it weren't for you, what's the meaning of living?"
Lu Jinchen hugged her tightly excitedly. "I love you, Liyue."
Gu Liyue buried her head in his chest. She had been thinking about him for so long. Usually, she could only know how he was from Lu Yunxi's mouth. Now that she had really seen him, she was truly at ease.
"Are you... completely recovered?"
Lu Jinchen smiled. "I'm mostly recovered, but my body is still a bit weak. I need to rest well."
He took her hand. "Can you go somewhere with me?"
Gu Liyue asked, "Where?"
Lu Jinchen took her into a carriage, and the carriage moved forward all the way to the outskirts of the capital.
"Do you still remember the Prince of Liang?"
Gu Liyue nodded. "I'll never forget."
Lu Jinchen said softly, "I've always thought that my mother's death was related to him. Last year when I returned to the mansion, I've been investigating this matter."
Gu Liyue frowned. "The Prince of Liang doesn't seem like that kind of person."
Lu Jinchen sneered. "Yes, you all know that he's not that kind of person, but I'm just so stubborn. I think he is that kind of person. He doted on his concubine and oppressed his wife. In order to make his beloved concubine the main wife, he tried every means to make my mother..."
Gu Liyue looked at him quietly and just gently placed her hand on his.
Lu Jinchen held her hand. "I learned a lot of things from my foster father. My foster father was a criminal official, but it wasn't my mother who secretly hid my foster father. It was the Prince of Liang."
Gu Liyue was stunned. The Prince of Liang?
Lu Jinchen nodded. "Back then, my foster father and the Prince of Liang were sworn brothers. After the Xu family's incident, the Prince of Liang hid my foster father."