Gu Yunrong was standing too far away to hear exactly what was being said.
She could only stare in disbelief at the tall figure slowly approaching. For a moment, she was too shocked to speak.
Wasn’t the person coming to Zhejiang supposed to be Li Boyuan, the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief? Why had it become Huan Che instead?
While she was still lost in thought, Huan Che had already stepped ashore. Seeing that Gu Yunrong remained frozen in place, her maid Qiutang approached and quietly asked, “Miss, should we still follow the plan we discussed earlier?”
The previous day, the young lady had told Madam Xu and her elder sister that her cousin from the Xie family, Miss Xie Yi, had mentioned something in private. She had overheard her maternal uncle and cousin discussing how the imperial court planned to send a high-ranking official named Li Boyuan to Zhejiang to investigate the case.
Li Boyuan was known to be a fair and reasonable man. If they could find an opportunity to appeal to him when he arrived in Zhejiang, there might still be a chance to save Gu Tongfu.
However, the young lady had said that too many people going together might make things inconvenient. After much persuasion, she had convinced Madam Xu and her elder sister to remain at home and wait for news while she brought a few maids along to scout the situation first.
Gu Yunrong finally came back to her senses, but she was at a loss.
This sudden change had completely disrupted her plans.
Her cousin, Xie Yi, had indeed mentioned Li Boyuan when they were chatting. What she had told her mother and elder sister was true. However, that was not the real reason she had come here. Her decision was based on the memories of her previous life, which remained deeply etched in her mind.
Her father had actually been dragged into the case involving Yu Sixian.
After suffering one military defeat after another along the coast, the imperial court had appointed Qian Yongchang to inspect military affairs. During the battles against the Japanese pirates in Jiaxing, Pingwang, and other areas, Deputy Commander Yu Sixian had won a major victory against the enemy.
It should have been wonderful news that lifted everyone’s spirits. However, Qian Yongchang was jealous of Yu Sixian’s abilities and twisted the victory into a false report, accusing him of fabricating military achievements and deceiving the Emperor.
The Emperor was furious and ordered Chen Han, the Governor of Zhejiang, to temporarily imprison Yu Sixian while they waited for an imperial investigator to arrive and handle the case.
That was why Li Boyuan had been sent to Zhejiang.
During that same battle, Wan Liang had been so afraid of dying that he had nearly allowed Qiantang County to fall into enemy hands. Unable to take responsibility for his actions, he had staged an elaborate deception, claiming that he had been sabotaged by enemy spies.
After pretending to conduct a thorough investigation, he eventually shifted the blame onto Gu Tongfu.
Li Boyuan was from the north. When he had come to Zhejiang in her previous life, he had suffered badly from the unfamiliar climate and local conditions. It had taken him two months to recover.
During that time, he had been unable to devote himself fully to the investigation. Wan Liang and the others had taken advantage of the situation to secretly fabricate evidence against her father. They had also used the prison guards to threaten and intimidate him, trying every possible way to force him to confess.
Her father had refused to admit to a crime he had never committed, so he had suffered terribly.
Later, the military situation along the coast became increasingly tense, and her father’s case was put aside. He remained in prison throughout that time.
It was not until the case was reopened together with Yu Sixian’s case that her father’s innocence was finally proven. By then, an entire year had passed.
When her father was finally released, he had been tortured so badly that he was barely recognizable. His health had been permanently damaged. No matter how many expensive medicines they later bought for him, he never fully recovered.
Gu Yunrong did not want her father to suffer through those same hardships again. That was why she had planned to appeal directly to Li Boyuan before he became ill from the unfamiliar climate.
Li Boyuan was not part of the same circle as the officials in Zhejiang and Fujian. In fact, their interests often conflicted. He would be more than willing to seize this opportunity to investigate the matter thoroughly.
Early that morning, she had instructed a servant to keep watch on the county office. As soon as Wan Liang and the others left the city, she had followed them.
She had never expected to see this familiar figure instead of Lord Li.
She had no idea why Huan Che had come to Zhejiang.
If he was here to investigate the case, then she could finally relax. There was no reason for Huan Che to side with Wan Liang and his associates. He should be able to uncover the truth quickly and have her father released.
Gu Yunrong let out a long breath, feeling as though a heavy burden had suddenly been lifted from her shoulders. She turned around and quietly told the others, “We can go home now.”
But just as she said that, another thought made her tense up.
Huan Che was also from the north…
Could he suffer from the unfamiliar climate too?
Meanwhile, at the ferry, Huan Che walked toward his carriage while the officials of all ranks respectfully greeted him.
As he bent slightly to enter the carriage, his gaze swept briefly toward the cherry blossom grove. Then he calmly looked away, as though nothing had happened.
His two personal guards, Wuwu and Nayun, noticed the subtle movement. They exchanged a quick glance before turning their eyes away as if they had seen nothing.
After Huan Che entered the carriage, the two guards briefly studied the bamboo blinds hanging on either side of the carriage. It seemed they had finally confirmed something, and only then did they relax and step back.
After carefully searching through her memories, Gu Yunrong recalled that Huan Che had shown no obvious signs of suffering from the local climate when she had met him in Qiantang County before.
As she thought about it, she watched the procession surrounding the prince’s carriage gradually disappear into the distance. Her feelings were complicated.
Perhaps her life was not so bad this time around. At least she no longer had to exhaust herself trying to win over someone as difficult as Huan Che.
There had always been an enormous gap between them. If not for the unusual circumstances that had brought them together in her previous life, they would never have ended up together.
Besides, the imperial family was full of schemes and betrayals. Her death might very well have been connected to those power struggles. Staying away from such trouble was probably for the best.
Gu Yunrong took a deep breath.
From now on, Huan Che had nothing to do with her. Perhaps, as time passed, she would eventually forget him.
After returning home, Gu Yunrong briefly told her mother and elder sister what she had witnessed that day. However, she deliberately left out the fact that she recognized Huan Che.
Madam Xu looked troubled. After carefully closing the doors and windows, she said worriedly, “Even if that prince has come to investigate the case, there’s no guarantee he’ll handle it fairly.”
In Madam Xu’s opinion, a prince of the imperial bloodline would hardly travel all the way here to do any real work. It was entirely possible that he was on the same side as Wan Liang and the others.
Gu Shuyu shared her mother’s concerns. Her expression grew serious as she added, “If the imperial investigator had been Lord Li, things might have been easier. We could have gone to the authorities and beaten the grievance drum to demand justice. But now, first, we don’t know why this prince has come here. Second, we might not even get close enough to appeal to him before Wan Liang and his men accuse us of disturbing a prince. They could easily have us arrested and thrown into prison.”
Madam Xu became even more anxious after hearing her elder daughter’s words.
“What are we supposed to do now? Doudou said the prince is very young. Could he have come all the way to Jiangnan under the excuse of official business just to enjoy himself?”
Gu Yunrong pressed her fingers against her forehead.
If she did not know Huan Che’s character, she would probably be just as worried after listening to the two women.
Still, she genuinely did not know the purpose of Huan Che’s visit. She would have to find a way to investigate.
However, she soon discovered that the provincial authorities had become heavily guarded. The entire place was as tightly secured as an iron fortress. Even the guards at the entrance refused to reveal anything. No amount of money could persuade them to talk.
She did not know whether Chen Han and the others had tightened security to protect the prince or whether Huan Che himself had ordered everyone to keep his official business confidential.
Gu Yunrong tried to comfort herself by thinking that her father would probably be released within a few days.
But then, a servant who had been watching the county office every day returned with troubling news.
Her father had been transferred from the county prison to the main prison at the Governor’s Office.
This made Gu Yunrong even more certain that Huan Che had come to Zhejiang in place of Li Boyuan to investigate the case.
She had initially thought that Huan Che intended to combine Yu Sixian’s case with her father’s and investigate them together. However, she waited for another entire month, and there was still no news about the progress of the investigation.
Instead, Huan Che had gone out twice, apparently to inspect the naval forces.
Whenever Gu Yunrong thought about her father still being locked up, she could not help remembering the suffering he had endured in prison in her previous life. She became so anxious that she paced restlessly around the house.
And as if things were not already bad enough, another problem soon came knocking.
Her maternal uncle from the Xie family, Xie Gao, arrived with his wife, Madam Yang, to break off her engagement.
Ever since Gu Yunrong had been reborn, she had been immediately confronted with her father’s arrest. During the past month or so, she had been so busy dealing with one crisis after another that she had almost forgotten about her engagement.
The Gu and Xie families had always been close. When Gu Yunrong was still a little girl, their elders had arranged a marriage between her and her cousin, Xie Jing.
Although the two families had only exchanged tokens of betrothal, they had already regarded each other as future relatives by marriage.
All of this had happened before she came into this world.
Since she was not originally from this era, she had initially been against the idea of a marriage arranged by her parents. However, she knew she had to adapt to life here. Xie Jing seemed decent enough in both character and appearance, so she had thought she should accept the arrangement.
Yet, despite all those years, she had never developed any feelings for him. She had also gradually realized that their personalities were probably not compatible.
Later, just when she had assumed that she would marry Xie Jing after reaching adulthood and spend the rest of her life living an ordinary, uneventful existence, everything suddenly changed.
After her father was imprisoned, the Xie family broke off the engagement. The Gu family’s circumstances also deteriorated rapidly.
And eventually, she married Huan Che instead.
Madam Xu was already deeply troubled by her husband’s situation. When she heard why the Xie couple had come, anger immediately flared within her.
She let out a cold laugh. “Time truly reveals a person’s character. We don’t need relatives like you. If this marriage is not going to happen, then so be it!”
Madam Yang cared greatly about her reputation. She did not want others to accuse her family of breaking their promise. However, Gu Tongfu had already been imprisoned for more than a month without any news of his release. It seemed increasingly likely that he would be convicted.
She certainly did not want her family connected to someone accused of collaborating with the Japanese pirates.
Even if she and her husband were willing to sacrifice their own reputations, their son, Xie Jing, still had to pursue his studies and take the imperial examinations. If he became known as the future son-in-law of a man convicted of collaborating with the Japanese pirates, wouldn’t his prospects be ruined?
That was absolutely unacceptable.
It was better to end the engagement as soon as possible and completely distance themselves from the Gu family.
The only problem was that Xie Jing was deeply attached to Gu Yunrong and had always wanted to marry her. The couple had deliberately come to break off the engagement without telling him.
If he found out later, they had no idea how much trouble he would cause.
Just thinking about it made Madam Yang’s temples throb. She stood up and said, “Please don’t blame us. We have no choice in this matter… We are truly sorry. I hope you can understand.”
Madam Xu was already too angry to say anything more. She simply gestured for the maid to see the guests out.
After the Xie couple had left, Madam Xu turned to her eldest daughter, who had remained quietly beside her.
“Don’t tell Doudou about this just yet.”
Gu Shuyu smiled faintly. “She’ll find out sooner or later. It makes no difference whether she knows now or later.”
The mother and daughter were still talking when Chunsha hurried inside to report, “Madam, Eldest Miss, a group of constables has arrived outside. They say they have orders to bring you, Eldest Miss, and Young Miss to the authorities for questioning.”
Meanwhile, Qiutang had overheard everything the Xie couple said. After hesitating for a while, she decided that she should inform her mistress.
She was just explaining to Gu Yunrong that the Xie family had come to break off the engagement when a little maid rushed in to report that the constables had arrived to summon them.
Gu Yunrong was startled.
The Xie couple had only just left and climbed into their carriage when they heard the commotion outside the Gu residence.
Madam Yang lifted the carriage curtain to take a look. A large group of constables had surrounded the Gu residence. From the way they were positioned, it looked very much as though they had come to arrest someone.
She patted her chest in relief.
“It’s a good thing we broke off the engagement. Looking at this situation, the entire Gu family might end up being implicated.”
Xie Gao also breathed a sigh of relief. Then he added, “We’ve ended the engagement, but I’m afraid we’ll have trouble dealing with Jing’er.”
Madam Yang’s temples began throbbing again.
“I’m not worried about him making a scene at home. What worries me is that he might still be unwilling to give up on Yunrong and secretly go to the Gu residence to see her.”
Xie Gao’s expression suddenly darkened.
“Actually, I already had some regrets when we visited the Gu family during the New Year celebrations this year. I didn’t think much of it back then. But now, Yunrong has grown into such a striking beauty. She’ll probably become even more beautiful as she gets older. Our family isn’t particularly wealthy or powerful. Taking a wife who is too beautiful may not necessarily be a good thing.”
Even the Xie couple thought the constables had come to arrest the Gu women. Gu Yunrong herself had the same suspicion.
However, when the three women nervously stepped outside, they discovered that the constables had not come to arrest them. They had simply been ordered to escort them to the authorities to answer some questions.
As for who exactly had ordered it, the constables refused to say anything more.
When the three women arrived at the steps outside the Governor’s Office, the senior attendant who had escorted them made a gesture telling them to remain quiet and stop. Then he motioned for Gu Yunrong to follow him inside.
The area outside the office was lined with spears, and the security was extremely tight. Fully armored soldiers stood throughout the corridor and along the steps, their formation orderly and imposing.
Gu Yunrong paused in surprise. She glanced around before quietly asking, “Am I the only one going in?”
The attendant nodded. “That’s right.”
Gu Yunrong took a gentle breath, straightened her skirt and hair ornaments, and slowly climbed the steps.