Chapter 414

The night grew darker by several degrees, oppressively heavy.

A delicate and exquisite manor stood among the flourishing blossoming trees in the suburbs, occasionally echoing with an infant's cries before falling silent again.

A man in dark, form-fitting attire rode his horse up to the manor's gate, only to be blocked outright by the hidden guards on either side.

Since the incident at Qian Tuo Temple, the manor where Gu Jiu Ling resides has had its internal and external defenses fully upgraded; the former heads of the hidden guards were either transferred away, and the one who had colluded with Ying Gu also vanished—people say he was personally executed by the Prince.

This time the Prince flew into a rage, killing many, showing no mercy even to those who had followed him for years.

Everyone trembled with fear, acting with utmost caution in whatever they did.

Ling Feng said in a low voice, 'I am Ling Feng; the Prince summons the Princess Consort to come out for a moment—the carriage waits outside.'

'Leader Ling, please show the Prince's waist tablet; no matter who you are, without the Prince's waist tablet you may not enter the Princess Consort's courtyard—not even if the Prince himself came.'

'Leader Ling, please bear with it; everyone has been having a hard time these days.'

Ling Feng really wanted to curse, what the hell is this? He muttered a curse, pulled out a token, and handed it to those people.

The lead guard took the token Ling Feng handed over, examined it carefully, then stepped aside to let Ling Feng pass.

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Ling Feng wished he could beat those guys up, but recalling the Prince's thunderous methods during his earlier fury, he also felt terrified.

Inside the warm chamber, Gu Jiu Ling was playing with the children; the two little ones could already sit up, each clutching a jade ruyi and gleefully gnawing on it.

The toys properly made by Jiu Yue for the children, the two little ones didn't like them at all; instead they loved playing with things that seemed utterly unbelievable.

Gu Jiu Ling was about to snatch the saliva‑slicked jade ruyi from her son's hand when Yun Duo hurried in.

'My lady, Leader Ling Feng has arrived.'

Gu Jiu Ling froze for a moment; Jiu Yue beside her also seemed a bit dazed—such a solemn affair surely wasn't coming for her.

'Please come in,' Gu Jiu Ling said, rising to straighten the sleeve her son had crumpled, then proceeded to the outer side hall.

Ling Feng bowed to Gu Jiu Ling: 'Princess Consort, peace be upon you; the Prince has urgent business tonight and asks you to come over—besides, you must bring the young Heir Apparent and the young Commandery Princess.'

Gu Jiu Ling's brow twitched slightly; she had actually already guessed that Xiao Yin would soon give her an explanation.

She had already set the trap and drawn in the net; not a single person who entered was missing, all of them his former confidants—how to deal with them was not for Gu Jiu Ling to decide.

Yes, her maternal grandfather was the killer of Qi Sha Gu; she grudgingly acknowledged it.

Yet it was not the place of unrelated people to strike at her; she wanted to see what kind of explanation Xiao Yin would give her.

She hadn't expected Xiao Yin to also insist on bringing the two children, which left Gu Jiu Ling feeling bewildered.

Then a thought crossed her mind: after all, it is Xiao Yin's offspring—could she really exterminate his own seed?

'All right!' Gu Jiu Ling rose and returned to the warm chamber, having Jiu Yue and Yun Duo dress the two little ones.

Soon the mother and her two children, accompanied by maids and wet‑nurses, boarded the carriage waiting outside the manor; all around were guards in dark attire, not to mention the highly skilled hidden guards lurking in the night.

Now Xiao Yin had erected walls of bronze and iron around her, so tight that not even a fly could get in.

Gu Jiu Ling lifted the carriage curtain to look outside, only to discover the carriage was not heading toward Jing Cheng but was moving farther and farther away from it.

At last the carriage halted outside a martial training field, a facility recently built, which was one of Xiao Yin's secret places for drilling private troops.

Ling Feng personally escorted the carriage into the main camp, proceeding straight to the very center of the martial training field.

It was already midsummer, so even the night breeze carried a hint of warmth.

The carriage came to a stop, a slender hand with distinct joints reached inside and yanked the curtain open.

Gu Jiu Ling lifted her eyes to meet the peerlessly handsome face outside the curtain, her expression flickering with surprise, yet she could see nothing amiss on that fellow's face.

This time she did not inform Xiao Yin and directly dealt with Li Yinggu, not knowing whether Xiao Yin would blame her.

After all, the Li family carried great weight for Xiao Yin.

Xiao Yin's sturdy arm reached out and lightly supported Gu Jiu Ling's arm.

At that moment, for some unknown reason, Gu Jiu Ling felt her heart settle, and Xiao Yin helped her down from the carriage.

Jiu Yue and Yun Duo each got down from the carriage, one holding a child, and followed behind Gu Jiu Ling and Xiao Yin.

Only after Gu Jiu Ling stepped down from the carriage did she clearly see the scene before her: a huge crowd packed the martial arts field.

Leading them were the Li father and son; upon seeing Xiao Yin approach with Gu Jiu Ling, they all dropped to their knees in unison.

Li Cheng's face turned ashen as he rushed over to Gu Jiu Ling, kowtowing and pleading, "Princess Consort, please calm your anger; this girl Yinggu has been spoiled by me."

"She is young and unaware; I beg the Princess Consort to spare her this once. I will have her kowtow to you in apology, and thereafter I, her old servant, will take her away from Shang Jing, never to set foot in the capital again."

"I implore the Princess Consort to show mercy!"

Li Cheng's aged voice trembled slightly; this time he was truly afraid.

He had thought his daughter was merely hot-headed, never imagining she had colluded with the people of Bei Di to commit such heinous treason.

But Gu Jiu Ling is also ruthless, having set a trap for her own daughter; although the Prince substituted a death-row prisoner to exchange her out of jail, her body had already been beaten black and blue by torture.

Li Fusheng beside him also knelt before Gu Jiu Ling, pleading for mercy for his sister.

Gu Jiu Ling's gaze fell on Li Yinggu, who knelt foremost, still wearing prison garb, her hair disheveled, her whole body filthy, having been tortured.

It was clearly the work of her brother Gu Kang, who had recently been appointed by the emperor to the Ministry of Justice, overseeing criminal law.

Li Yinggu lifted her head to look up at the looming Gu Jiu Ling, a flash of hatred crossing her eyes.

But she was also panicked, for just now Xiao Yin had ordered a death-row prisoner to take her place and free her from jail, and she did not know how Xiao Yin would treat her.

Yet he did not watch her die helplessly; he must still hold a place for her in his heart.

Having been made to suffer so terribly by Gu Jiu Ling this time, she would surely demand justice; as long as she lived, Gu Jiu Ling would surely regret it.

But seeing the current situation, if she apologizes to Gu Jiu Ling and saves Xiao Yin's face, she can spare her own life.

She suddenly burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably; though she was apologizing to Gu Jiu Ling, she lifted her gaze to Xiao Yin with a pitiful, beseeching look.

"Prince, it is all Yinggu's fault; she should not have consorted with the princess of Bei Di."

"Yinggu was also bewitched by Princess Yuan Qing of Bei Di; back then, the patriarch of the Du family set a trap that killed many brothers of Qi Sha Gu, and Yinggu, unable to contain her anger, heeded Princess Yuan Qing's words and told her the Princess Consort's whereabouts."

"At that time, seeing Qin Tuo Temple engulfed in flames, I also worried for the Princess Consort's safety."

"Princess Consort," Ying Gu looked at Gu Jiu Ling, crying even louder, "I really didn't mean to harm you, I truly wanted to go put out the fire, that fire wasn't set by me, I initially didn't know that you, Princess Consort, had already left Qiantuo Temple. If..."

"If you knew I had left, you probably still wanted to bring people to hunt me down, right?" Gu Jiu Ling said with a cold smile.