Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince’s study.
Rong Yan, the Crown Prince of Da Chu, was painting. It wasn’t a landscape of mountains and rivers, nor a vibrant floral scene, nor even a hundred-horse painting, but rather a portrait of a woman.
Her loose hair appeared to be blown by the wind, vaguely obscuring her exquisite face. Her eyebrows were delicate and slender, her nose bridge high and straight, her eyes filled with emotion, and her red lips full and lush. A translucent red gauze garment casually draped over her voluptuous jade-like body, exuding temptation.
Eunuch Quan, serving nearby, couldn’t help but swallow hard. In contrast, the Crown Prince remained completely serious, his eyes showing no ripple of emotion.
Rong Yan completed the final stroke and admired his painting.
“Eunuch Quan, how is my painting?”
Quan Fu immediately praised, “Your Highness’s painting skills are exceptional, bringing the beauty to life with vivid realism, as if touched by divine inspiration.”
Eunuch Quan used every complimentary phrase he knew – no matter how exaggerated, flattery never goes wrong.
Rong Yan was quite pleased. He threw his head back and laughed, then noticed the young eunuch waiting outside the door.
“Did you see him?”
“Reporting to Your Highness, there were too many people at Gu Mansion’s entrance, so this servant didn’t approach.”
“Hmph! Just an unrefined merchant, and a playboy at that. Yet so many people flock to him.”
When the Crown Prince said this, he completely forgot that he was one of them.
He asked disdainfully, “Who did you see there?”
“Servants from the Fourth Prince’s residence and Zhenyuan Marquis Manor, along with the Young Prince’s attendants. Other mansions sent their stewards…”
He detailed everything he had seen. As for what he hadn’t seen, the Crown Prince probably already had an idea.
However…
“This servant saw Princess Linghui also went.”
The Crown Prince frowned, “What was she doing there?”
“The Princess went dressed in men’s clothing.”
Linghui was the Crown Prince’s biological sister who had fallen in love with Gu Da Shao at first sight. Unfortunately, their statuses didn’t match, and moreover, Gu Da Shao had no interest in the Princess.
“My sister has truly lost her mind. Among the hundreds of officials, there are plenty of young and handsome men, yet she particularly takes a fancy to a lowly merchant playboy.”
“Your Highness, perhaps the Princess is doing this for you.”
“For me?”
Rong Yan paused. Seizing the opportunity, Eunuch Quan said, “If the Princess were to marry that fellow, wouldn’t the Eastern Palace gain substantial financial resources?”
The Crown Prince had always looked down on Gu Da Shao and had never considered this point. But given the current tense situation, perhaps they should change their perspective.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the young eunuch suddenly remembered he hadn’t finished his report.
“Your Highness, this servant still has matters to report.”
Interrupted in his thoughts, Rong Yan grew impatient. “Why didn’t you say everything at once?”
The young eunuch quickly kowtowed to apologize and said urgently, “Gu Da Shao has gotten married. He brought back a beautiful woman. It’s said Old Master Gu was dissatisfied and even broke his leg. Gu Da Shao was carried into the mansion.”
Having said everything in one breath, the young eunuch lay prostrate on the ground, quietly catching his breath.
“Married? From which mansion? Whose person is she?”
“This… this servant doesn’t know.”
“Useless!”
The Crown Prince angrily slammed his palm on the table, destroying the freshly painted beauty portrait.
“Quan Fu, investigate that woman’s background.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Rong Yan now felt immense regret. To win over Gu Yu Chen, he had specifically prepared the legitimate daughter of a third-rank official from his own faction. Who would have thought that fellow wouldn’t even look at the Princess, and now he had quietly gotten married.
This cannot be allowed. Absolutely not.
Many shared the same sentiment as him; numerous people both inside and outside the palace were unwilling to acknowledge this marriage.
At Prince Rui Manor, the Junior Prince choked on his water upon hearing the news, spraying it everywhere. Fortunately, Prince Rui dodged swiftly, avoiding a direct hit.
Prince Rui cast a disdainful glance at the Junior Prince, who was red-faced, teary-eyed, and still coughing violently.
“Is it really that shocking? Yu Chen is just getting married. Why are you so surprised?”
Finally catching his breath, the Junior Prince pitifully replied, “Cousin, aren’t you surprised? He only went back to pay respects to his ancestors—how did he end up getting married? He didn’t even notify us, his closest friends.”
“If he had notified you, do you think he could have gone through with the marriage?”
The Junior Prince took the towel handed to him by a servant and wiped his face haphazardly.
“Why couldn’t he have gotten married? Who would have stopped him?”
As he spoke, he recalled the current situation in Jing City and suddenly burst into laughter.
“Haha, that guy must have known in advance and put on a show for us.”
The Junior Prince grew restless. “Cousin, let’s go to his mansion right now.”
“Absolutely not! Don’t interfere with Yu Chen’s plans.”
“I just want to see what’s going on.”
“Not even that. Too many people are watching.”
Unconvinced, the Junior Prince left Prince Rui Manor, anxiously waiting for nightfall.
Finally, in the dead of night, he sneaked over to Gu Mansion. Before he could get close, he noticed shadows darting along the walls and tree branches outside the estate.
Good heavens, Gu Da Shao is quite the figure—so many people are keeping tabs on him.
The Junior Prince leaped onto a large tree behind him, settling in to watch the commotion.
Inside Gu Mansion, at Ruifeng Courtyard.
Song Shiyue was extremely irritated. “Don’t these people have anything better to do? And what about your guards and servants—are they just freeloaders? Don’t they know how to chase these intruders away?”
“We can’t drive them off. We need them to take some information back.”
Gu Yu Chen was also annoyed. Those people were brazenly leaping across his roof, invading his privacy—anyone would be furious.
“I promise it’s only for tonight. They won’t come back tomorrow.”
Song Shiyue scoffed. “How can you guarantee that?”
“Well, since they’ve disturbed my wife, shouldn’t I hire some highly skilled guards specifically to chase them away for your sake?”
“Are you trying to use me as an excuse to paint me as a shrew?”
Gu Yu Chen secretly delighted. He hadn’t thought of that—it was Song Shiyue’s idea, and he saw no reason not to use it.
“That’s a brilliant idea. Can we go with that?”
There was no need to pretend; the girl was fierce enough as it was.
“Hmph! If that’s the case, why wait until tomorrow?”
Before Gu Yu Chen could react, Song Shiyue had already flown out of the room and leaped onto the roof.
“Who are you people? How dare you trespass on private property? This lady will make sure you regret coming here!”
The people on the roof were stunned.
Uncle Da, hearing the young mistress’s furious shouts, rushed out. From a distance, he saw her displaying exceptional martial skills but refraining from lethal force, instead creating opportunities for the intruders to escape. He immediately understood her intention.
“Liu Wu, hurry and assist. Make sure none of those people stay behind.”
Gu Yu Chen’s personal guards grasped Uncle Da’s meaning and eagerly joined the fray.
The spies from various mansions, realizing the situation had turned against them, swiftly fled.
Only then did the servants of Gu Mansion start shouting, “Thieves! Catch the thieves!”
After a period of chaos and confusion, the courtyard of Gu Mansion finally fell silent.
Song Shiyue leaped down from the rooftop and praised the guards and servants gathered in the courtyard, “Well coordinated! There will be rewards.”
“Thank you, Madam!”
Everyone was overjoyed. The young mistress was both generous and formidable—now let’s see who would dare to sneak in recklessly in the middle of the night.
Gu Yu Chen and Uncle Da exchanged a glance—another spendthrift had entered the household.
Those who had fled the estate were all grimacing in pain, limping back to their respective mansions to report to their masters.
The Junior Prince picked his jaw up from the floor. “Who would have thought Gu Da Shao’s new bride would be so fierce!”