flstandardbreds Chapter 179: The Queen Mother's Relatives Who Want to Become the Queen (8)
Chapter 179: The Queen Mother's Relatives Who Want to Become the Queen (8)
However, the next day after Gu Shutang left the palace, the empress dowager went to the Qianqing Palace, hoping that he would revoke his order to take a concubine and let Gu Shutang leave.
Gao Shaofu was shocked by the Queen Mother's intention. Thinking of Gu Shutang's sudden departure from the palace, he understood that Gu Shutang had persuaded the Queen Mother.
But how could she dare? She was clearly already his woman, the matter was done, how could she dare to refuse his will?
Who else can I marry besides him?
Who dares to marry the emperor's woman?
Gao Shaofu was in a bad mood and was angry about Gu Shutang's thoughts, but he concealed it well on his face. The anger only flashed for a moment, and even the empress dowager sitting opposite him could not notice it.
Seeing Gao Shaofu's indifferent expression, the empress dowager breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that her son was just in a spur of the moment mood for Atang, and was not to the point where he had to have Atang.
After some persuasion, the empress dowager thought her son had let it go, so she returned to Shoukang Palace and enthusiastically talked about the young master in the capital with the nanny beside her.
After the Empress Dowager left, the red brush in Gao Shaofu's hand broke, his face turned ugly, and he broke the chair with force. After venting his anger, he forcibly suppressed his desire for her and let the eunuch come in to clean up as if nothing had happened.
He didn't want to think about the woman he hated so much anymore. Now that the position of queen had been promised to him, he thought Gu Shutang would come back.
The Gu family behind her has always longed for the position of queen, so that the Gu family can enjoy the grace of Duke Cheng'en again. Even though Gu Shutang has lived in the deep palace for a long time, she still does not give up sending her family's confidants into the palace to influence Gu Shutang.
This made the young Gu Shutang set the queen as his target and regarded her as something in his pocket, and he would stop at nothing to get her.
This is also the reason why Gao Shaofu hates the girl of the Gu family. For some reason, Gao Shaofu felt inexplicably panicked, as if the development of the situation was beyond his expectations.
Gao Shaofu called out An Yi and said, "An Yi, take a female secret guard to the Cheng En Mansion to protect Princess Jiaping."
"Her every move must be reported to me."
Gu Shutang felt bored staying in the Cheng'en Mansion. Her uncle and aunt, whom she had not seen for a long time, treated her like a porcelain doll that would break at the slightest touch. They treated her with great courtesy as a guest temporarily staying in his house, but were unwilling to get close to her.
Even the two little cousins, under their aunt's warning, did not dare to approach her. When they met her from a distance, they just said hello and left.
If Lady Cheng'en knew Gu Shutang's impression of the Cheng'en Mansion, she would definitely feel wronged.
Although she and her husband did not spend much time with this niece who had been raised in the palace since childhood, their relationship was not as close as that with the nephew from the third wife.
But she is their niece after all, a niece they once had high hopes for, so how could they treat her coldly?
In fact, the Queen Mother had sent people to warn the couple many times not to use the name of relatives, as they did when their niece was young and sent people to instigate, and they were not allowed to force their own ideas onto their niece.
The wife of Duke Cheng'en knew that all the glory of their family came from the current empress dowager. They did not have the talent of their elder brother and could not gain a foothold in the court with their own talents.
He only relied on his blood relationship with the Queen Mother, so naturally he didn't dare to disobey her wishes.
Lady Cheng'en felt a little heavy-hearted. She would rather not be Lady Cheng'en and be the second wife in the Cheng'en mansion who relied on her mother-in-law and eldest sister-in-law.
If the former crown prince had not been murdered by thieves, implicating his mother's family, his eldest brother and sister-in-law, who were both extremely talented people, would not have been poisoned. Even with the help of famous doctors, they could only survive until Your Majesty ascended the throne.
The capable young generation of the Gu family would not be wasted in the past, forcing her and her husband to support the Cheng'en Mansion, making the prestigious Cheng'en Mansion a family that outsiders despised for currying favor with the powerful and fawning on the powerful.
……
Gu Shutang brought her maids and the nanny sent by the empress dowager to take care of her, and traveled light to a villa not far from Beijing.
She took Musk Moon to have fun in the villa for several days, picking fruits, fishing in the river, and in the yard at night, the two of them leaned against each other and watched the stars together.
The sky was full of stars shining above their heads. Musk Moon felt that the days at this moment were more comfortable than the fearful palace. The princess smiled more and more often in the villa.
Gu Shutang lay on the recliner, listening to the cicadas chirping in the trees, closing his eyes to rest, with only Musk Moon by his side.
Suddenly, several men in black with face masks came down from the courtyard wall. They stood in the courtyard with their heads lowered, not daring to look at Gu Shutang who was sitting on the recliner.
Behind them came a man in a black robe, holding a long box in his hand. He waved his hand to the men in black, and the men in black responded by asking the drowsy Musk Moon to leave the yard.
Only one of them was sent to control Musk Moon, while the rest patrolled outside the yard to prevent anyone from eavesdropping.
Musk Moon was restrained by someone and could not move. She looked ahead with fear in her eyes. Why did His Majesty come here?
The person holding her down was probably the secret guard who attacked her that day. Musk Moon was trembling with fear, not caring about her own safety, and shouted at the top of her voice to wake Gu Shutang up.
"Princess, the Holy Emperor has arrived—"
"uh"
Musk Moon had only said half of her words when the secret guard next to her covered her mouth and took her out.
Her movement successfully woke up Gu Shutang who was lying on the recliner. The first thing Gu Shutang saw when she opened her eyes was Gao Shaofu, who was standing in front of her holding a long box and not moving at all.
Her face was calm, without any sadness or anger towards Gao Shaofu that she had felt that day. She was as calm as if she was meeting a stranger. She stood up from the recliner and just as she bent her knees, she was stopped by Gao Shaofu, who pushed her to sit on the recliner.
"No need to be so polite. Given our relationship, you won't have to bow to me in the future."
"Your Majesty, I am deeply troubled. Your Majesty and I are not sovereign and subject. Even if Your Majesty considers me a descendant of your mother's family and the brotherhood we've shared since childhood, and treats me with leniency, I dare not transgress the bounds of propriety."
Gao Shaofu's mouth was full of bitterness, and he felt pain in his heart when he saw Gu Shutang being polite and distant towards him.
He would rather she hated him than have her look so indifferent at the moment.
The deeper the love, the deeper the hatred. Hatring him at least means that she cared about him.
"Atang, you know I'm not talking about brother-sister relationships. You and I will be the closest people from now on, a loving and respectful couple."
Gao Shaofu touched the long box beside him and felt relieved. He already knew his mistake and using the position of queen to make up for it should be able to please Atang and reconcile with her.
He even changed the way he called himself and no longer dared to act like an emperor in front of her.
"Husband and wife? Your Majesty, I am truly terrified by your words. I cannot bear the thought of you calling me husband and wife."
"I am not worthy of being a concubine in your majesty's harem. I am narrow-minded and intolerant. I only wish to marry into a family where I can be the master of the house."
Gu Shutang's face was full of mockery, which made Gao Shaofu opposite him shift his gaze and remember his previous plan.
He stretched out his hand, but stopped because he was concerned about the person in front of him, afraid that she would be angry.
"Atang, I was wrong before. I shouldn't have ignored your opinion and decided on the position of Imperial Concubine."
Gao Shaofu coaxed softly as he opened the long box in his hand. Inside was an imperial edict that was dazzlingly yellow.
He opened the rolled-up imperial edict and spread it in front of Gu Shutang. It was the imperial edict that appointed Gu Shutang as queen, and the jade seal printed on it could not be faked.
"Atang, I have investigated the matter of Dr. Chang. It is indeed me who wronged you. I have already apprehended the person who framed you and has thrown him into jail."
Not many people had the courage to reach into Shoukang Palace. Gao Shaofu only spent two days investigating and found out who had stolen tung oil from Shoukang Palace and secretly sprinkled it around the koi pond.
It was the work of Concubine Shu's family. Her brother was so bold that he dared to use the concubine in the palace to eliminate Gu Shutang, the obstacle, for his eldest daughter who had high aspirations.
It's really ridiculous. He has never appointed a queen, but the position of queen has become something that everyone covets. Even a poor man dares to covet it and inexplicably takes his anger out on Atang.
He thought it was because of Atang's existence and the pressure from the Queen Mother that he was unwilling to compromise and that was why he had not yet appointed a queen.
Then a ridiculous idea came into being. He thought that as long as Atang fell into the water and was rescued by Concubine Shu's nephew, the idea of the Gu family would be stopped.
After all, Gu Shutang is the only grown-up girl from the Gu family's direct branch, and the other girls are too young and not suitable candidates.
When Gao Shaofu first heard the news, he found it absurd. His queen, even his biological mother, had no right to get involved. Why did the Shu Concubine's family think that since the Gu family had no suitable girl, it would be their turn?
He is not the lustful emperor like the previous one, who could be dazzled by such vulgar and lewd tricks.
It was just a matter of time before his wife would be rescued by another man and she would have to marry the shameless man due to the eyes of the world.
When Gao Shaofu thought of this possibility, he was filled with rage and wanted to kill the man who had set his sights on Gu Shutang.
After finding out about this, Gao Shaofu directly blamed Shu Taifei's family and sent the East Factory to collect evidence of their crimes. Now the family has been reunited in prison.
Because of a headache, Concubine Shu had to move to another palace, from her residence to a place near the cold palace, where she lived with only a close nanny.
It is said that less than two days after moving, Concubine Shu suffered a mental breakdown and kept shouting about the wrong things she had done.
"This is the imperial edict I wrote personally to confer the title of empress. Are you willing to be the empress?"
He thought that the former Princess Jiaping, Gu Shutang, had always dreamed of becoming the empress, and now that he was offering the position as an apology, she would definitely forgive him.
"Isn't it Your Majesty who wronged me?"
Gu Shutang sneered. It was true that the Shu Concubine's lineage that Gao Shaofu mentioned did have ill intentions towards her, but Gao Shaofu was also not free from blame.
"Your Majesty, I cannot bear your kindness. I hope Your Majesty will withdraw the imperial edict and pretend that it never existed."
Gu Shutang glanced past the imperial edict and stared straight at Gao Shaofu's face. He was surprised to see the guilty look on his face.
It turns out that he was so arrogant that he felt guilty for treating her like a dirty thing, and he knew that his attitude was hurtful.
"Atang, you're right. It's indeed me who hurt you the most. It's understandable that you can't forgive me right now, but I won't take back the imperial decree that makes you the queen."