The King of Yu glared at Gu Ruobai fiercely, and there was even a hint of grievance in his tone. "I've been inferior to him since childhood! Both you and Mother Concubine liked him! Now even the woman I like and my princess love him. Why?"
The King of Yu patted his chest, looking extremely excited. "What on earth am I lacking compared to him?"
Before Su Mingyu could retort, the emperor had already slapped him. "You good-for-nothing! Did your mother only teach you how to fight for power and profit?"
The King of Yu was obviously stunned by the slap. He paused for a moment and then suddenly burst out laughing. "My mother? She only taught me to outdo Gu Ruobai. She only taught me to please you. She spent her whole life longing for your favor, but what about you? You have so many concubines, and the new court ladies are younger than each other. Have you ever thought about how Mother Concubine felt?"
The King of Yu seemed to have thrown caution to the wind and poured out all his pent - up grievances. "I've been compared with Gu Ruobai since childhood. When I was young, I wasn't as tall as him. I was inferior to him, so Mother Concubine forced me to eat things I didn't like every day. Later, my achievements were not as good as his. No matter how difficult the task was, Mother Concubine forced me to take it on just to show off in front of you!"
The King of Yu pointed at the emperor. "You have no idea how much suffering I've endured because of you! You only know how to keep having children! Look at how many children you've had! Which one of them truly loves you? Everyone fears you, and no one even dares to speak their mind in front of you, right?"
The emperor was obviously taken aback, seemingly not expecting the King of Yu to say such things. Then he made a move that made Su Mingyu feel a bit helpless yet also a bit heart - wrenching. The emperor, the supreme ruler of the land, actually looked at Gu Ruobai with a pleading look in his eyes, as if hoping to get some reassuring answer from him.
But Gu Ruobai just looked at him without saying a word.
Seeing this, the emperor let out a long sigh and then sat down on the railing beside him. "I never thought... I've been the emperor for so many years, thinking I'm a wise ruler, but I'm not a good father at all..."
"Do you just realize it now? It's too late!" The King of Yu sneered, but his smile was uglier than crying. "Do you think saying such regretful words will make you feel better? Let me tell you, it won't. I've become like this because of you. It's all your fault!"
Saying this, the King of Yu suddenly turned to look at Su Mingyu. "Finally, can I ask you a question? Please answer me truthfully."
Su Mingyu really didn't want to pay him any attention, but looking at the pain in the King of Yu's eyes, she lowered her voice. "Ask, but I'll answer selectively."
The King of Yu nodded upon hearing this. "This sounds like your style."
"Su Mingyu, I clearly met you first. Why did you finally choose him?" The King of Yu pointed at Gu Ruobai. "In terms of appearance, I'm not inferior to him, and I also think I'm not less intelligent than him. Why did you always choose him so firmly in the end?"
The King of Yu wasn't stupid. He could tell that Su Mingyu's kindness to him was just a sugar - coated bullet. But because of his blind self - confidence at that time, he was willing to accept it.
Now seeing the two holding hands, the King of Yu only felt an indescribable sense of loss welling up in his heart.
Su Mingyu thought he would ask something important, but unexpectedly, it was just this question.
After thinking for a while, Su Mingyu tightened her grip on Gu Ruobai's hand and then said seriously, "Maybe many things are just about meeting the right person at the right time. My encounter with Gu Ruobai might be at the best time."
"You are indeed excellent, but King of Yu, have you forgotten that you showed strong interest in my younger sister at the beginning? I, Su Mingyu, will not pick up what others don't want. From the moment you approached Su Yueyue with a purpose, it was doomed that we had no future."
Su Mingyu's gaze was firm, and her eyes looking at the King of Yu were clear and clean, without the slightest hint of the victor's arrogance.
After hearing this, the King of Yu burst out laughing. Finally, he took a deep breath and looked at Gu Ruobai. "I've lost, and I'm convinced."
Saying this, the King of Yu stretched out his hand, indicating for Gu Ruobai to come forward and arrest him.
But when Gu Ruobai walked up to him, the King of Yu suddenly spoke again. "I've always been curious. What exactly happened to your leg?"
"Actually, this plan started when I learned that Tang Yan's mansion was gone after I left." It could be seen that the King of Yu was no longer aggressive, so Gu Ruobai explained coldly, "I had just left, and they were all killed. It was almost obvious that it was aimed at me. And the people who knew I was at Tang Yan's place were all my trusted subordinates. To protect myself and find out who the traitor was, I pretended to be disabled with a leg injury."
Saying this, Gu Ruobai raised his eyebrows. "After returning to the capital, I've been investigating this matter, but there was no progress. Finally, I have to thank you for sending Tang Yan to me. Through Tang Yan, I learned the truth of that year and also found people like Zhang Wencai and Xu Wencang."
"After Zhang Wencai was taken to the Imperial Household Department by your people, I knew this matter couldn't end so simply. So Tang Yan and I went to check the mechanism at the bottom of the lake again. Tang Yan is a very skilled mechanism master. He saw at a glance that there was a river connected to the bottom of the lake. We swam out along the river and unexpectedly saw your army."
"Indeed, at first, I was quite surprised to see that you had raised so many people. After all, this is under the emperor's nose, and it's not easy for you to hide from Father Emperor and other eyes. But later, I found that the soldiers you raised were very weak in combat power. They were basically stragglers. I then realized that these people were recruited by you temporarily because you suddenly decided to rebel."
The King of Yu looked at Gu Ruobai, not expecting that he had known about his secretly raising an army so early. "So was it also part of your plan when I had my people capture you while you were secretly training soldiers?"
Gu Ruobai nodded. "It should be said that you're too sharp. In the eyes of outsiders, I'm just a disabled person, but you always regarded me as your biggest obstacle and always wanted to get rid of me. So I gave you this chance."
"After I was captured, I immediately had a long private conversation with Father Emperor. I showed all the evidence to him. Father Emperor originally wanted to send troops to wipe you out, but I always thought it wouldn't be that simple if it was you."