Gu Fu later asked Li Yu regarding this matter.
Knowing that Gu Fu wouldn’t tell anyone, Li Yu inexplicably confessed his rebellious thoughts: “The prestige came from my aunt. If I had the choice, of course I would want to bring honor to the Li family through my own abilities.”
In other words, the Prince of Yi’s approach was actually correct. He saw through Li Yu’s nature, knowing that he was someone whose family placed too high expectations on him, with an excess of pride, even arrogance, eager to prove himself.
So, the bait the Prince of Yi dangled for Li Yu struck at the deepest desires of his heart.
He even vaguely promised that he would spare the life of the empress for Li Yu.
However, Li Yu did not tell Gu Fu that the Prince of Yi’s bait didn’t stop there.
The Prince of Yi seemed to know that Li Yu had a close relationship with Gu Fu, and mentioned that he had found a military doctor from the northern borders, and that the former commander of the northern borders was a woman. He further said: “The emperor summoned Marquis Zhongshun back from the northern borders due to concerns over her being a woman. Ultimately, it was to appease societal expectations. But if it were up to me, I would never bury her talents just because she’s a woman.”
The Prince of Yi’s words didn’t move Li Yu; rather, they reminded him of Gu Fu’s presence.
The past few years of interaction had taught Li Yu that Gu Fu had a sharp memory. She would never forget who gave her the opportunity to join the military in the northern borders, and she certainly wouldn’t betray the person who had first opened that door for her just to return to the battlefield.
So, Li Yu knew that no matter how eloquent the Prince of Yi’s persuasion, it was impossible for him to recruit Gu Fu.
In other words, siding with the Prince of Yi meant becoming an enemy of Gu Fu.
Had Gu Fu ever lost a battle during her years in the northern borders?
Not once, not a single time.
Instinctive fear made Li Yu pretend not to notice the Prince of Yi’s subtle probing and invitation.
The palace on Xishan Mountain was vast, with many rooms.
But the overall style leaned towards ruggedness, exuding a sense of ancient simplicity and grandeur.
The Prince of Yi’s rebellion wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision; he had been planning it for years. His actions were nothing short of deceiving the heavens themselves, to the point that even the Secret Cabinet hadn’t detected any signs. That it was only discovered at the last moment was a testament to his skill.
Now, the palace was on high alert, with guards stationed every three steps and sentries every five. Only Gu Fu had the emperor’s permission to move freely within the palace, so she ran outside, holding her entirely black Miao Dao (a type of sword), sitting on the high walls of the palace, letting the wind blow.
The day before, she had heard from Lu Zhu that Prince Ying had captured the imperial city, set fire to the Qitian Tower, and burned Fu Yan to death.
To be honest, she really believed it at the time.
Because that wasn’t the plan Fu Yan had told her.
Fu Yan had said he would let Prince Ying successfully capture the imperial city, blow up the palace gates, and leave behind solid evidence of his rebellion. Then, the troops from Weizhou and Huzhou would launch an attack, retake the imperial city, and defeat Prince Ying.
Afterward, they would just need to wait for the emperor to return to the capital. The hardest part wasn’t reclaiming the imperial city but ensuring the safety of the officials being held hostage.
If any officials that the emperor valued were killed, Fu Yan would face consequences far worse than just dismissal. So, Fu Yan had arranged everything, with secret agents from the Secret Cabinet standing guard beside almost every official and even at the residences of the ministers.
Fu Yan had never mentioned anything about the Qitian Tower being set on fire, so Gu Fu was startled.
Ignoring the attempts to stop her, she rushed into the imperial tent, hoping to find the messenger who had come from the capital to clarify the situation. Instead, she saw the emperor sitting calmly behind the imperial desk, waiting for her.
Gu Fu’s heart sank, but at the same time, she breathed a sigh of relief—if something had truly happened to Fu Yan, the emperor wouldn’t be reacting like this.
At that moment, Lu Zhu also entered, her face showing none of the previous urgency or panic.
Only then did Gu Fu remember—Lu Zhu had always been a great actress.
So, was it the emperor who had deliberately ordered Lu Zhu to act and scare her?
Gu Fu wasn’t entirely sure, but she still knelt down to beg the emperor’s forgiveness, revealing Fu Yan’s original plan in full.
Seeing that Gu Fu had confessed everything, the emperor’s anger, which had been building up over the past few days, eased a little, but he was still displeased. He mockingly remarked, “The two of you certainly have a good understanding—you wait until everything is done before reporting to me. Do I even matter to you anymore?”
Gu Fu kept her head down, letting the emperor vent his anger.
After all, they had deliberately kept this from him from the start, so all she could do was admit her fault.
The emperor scolded her a couple more times harshly. Had it been an ordinary official, they would have most likely been terrified out of their wits. But Gu Fu, with her bold nature, felt that the emperor’s scolding was no different from Gu Qizheng’s. It sounded frightening, but in reality, it didn’t hurt or matter much.
Gu Fu waited for the emperor to deliver a more substantial punishment, but to her surprise, after his scolding and a sip of tea, nothing more came.
Gu Fu was a bit confused and looked up at the emperor.
The emperor glanced at her, “What? Do you think I went too easy on you, and you haven’t had enough of my reprimands?”
“I wouldn’t dare,” Gu Fu murmured, “It’s just that… um… Is there something else you haven’t said? If Your Majesty intends to punish me severely, neither Wangxi nor I will have any complaints.”
The emperor replied, “This matter is certainly not over, but that will be dealt with when we return. For now, let’s discuss something else.”
Gu Fu was perplexed, “Something else?”
The emperor then shared with Gu Fu the news that Fu Yan had sent a few days ago, delivered by a messenger riding day and night. Gu Fu finally understood that although it was their mistake, it was also because of their unintentional actions that they uncovered a conspiracy that no one had noticed or even thought of.
Going back to the second day after they left the capital, Fu Yan had received a small note from Lin Yuezhi, delivered by a Secret Cabinet agent.
The note contained information that Lin Yuezhi had overheard from Prince Ying: five years ago, Prince Ying had hidden a large amount of gunpowder in the capital, and he was planning to use it soon.
Lin Yuezhi, unaware that Gu Fu and Fu Yan already knew about the gunpowder, hurriedly sent the message, which led Fu Yan to notice something unusual: Prince Ying’s gunpowder had been prepared five years ago and was unrelated to the recent smuggling of goods from the three ships, whose contents had been impossible to trace.
Fu Yan then launched a new investigation and eventually confirmed that what Lin Yuezhi had said was true. The house where the gunpowder was stored had indeed been purchased five years ago, and the patrol guards and military officers in the area had impressions of both the house and the people residing there.
As for why it had been five years ago—five years ago was the most critical period when the emperor was consolidating power. During that time, the emperor had even survived a particularly dangerous assassination attempt. It was during this event that the two brothers were saved by Gu Fu, giving her the opportunity to go to the northern border and join the military.
Now, a new question arose: what exactly had those three ships been smuggling?
If Fu Yan had chosen to set aside this question and first taken down Prince Ying, the outcome would not have been as it was now. The capital might have been safe, but the Prince of Yi would have altered his plans due to Prince Ying’s failure and continued to lie in wait until a new opportunity arose.
By that time, Fu Yan would likely have already been dismissed from his position, and Wei Xiao, who would have been recruited by the Prince of Yi, would have firmly secured his place as the commander in the northern border. With his forces fully developed, once he started a rebellion, it would have been uncertain who would emerge victorious.
Fortunately, Fu Yan chose to investigate thoroughly.
He started with Qingzhou, where he had originally found nothing, but unexpectedly received some information from Gu Fu’s elder brother—Gu Chen.
About half a year ago, Gu Chen’s department had to send someone to Qingzhou for official business. Gu Chen, wanting to take his wife out for a trip, volunteered for the assignment. By chance, he made the acquaintance of the third son of Marquis Changning—Wen Xi’s older brother, Wen Hai, who had gone to Qingzhou for unknown reasons.
Wen Hai had gotten involved in black market trading in Qingzhou. Since this shady business was disgraceful, he was expelled from the family by Marquis Changning. Through Wen Hai, Gu Chen learned that over the years, someone had been purchasing young and strong laborers from the black market.
Following this lead, Fu Yan finally uncovered the truth about the cargo. It wasn’t gold, silver, jade, or iron weapons, nor was it gunpowder—it was people. The Prince of Yi had been buying people from Qingzhou over a long period, training them, and then sending them all together.
These people disguised themselves as dockworkers. After disembarking, they scattered and went to their designated gathering point. This was why the Secret Cabinet couldn’t trace the cargo—because the “cargo” had legs and could run on its own.
Fu Yan then turned his attention to the Prince of Yi and, as he unraveled the situation, discovered the Prince of Yi’s involvement in many of Prince Ying’s past actions.
He wrote to the emperor, explaining everything and assuring him that he would defend the capital. However, he also stated that he would later report the news of the capital’s fall and the Ying King’s entry into the imperial city to hold the officials hostage—just to lure the Prince of Yi into action.
The emperor didn’t oppose Fu Yan’s strategy but was still angry at Fu Yan for initially keeping him in the dark. This led to the emperor orchestrating the scene where Lu Zhu deliberately frightened Gu Fu.
In Fu Yan’s letter to the emperor, he also mentioned that the Prince of Yi had made multiple attempts to contact Li Yu.
The emperor directly questioned Li Yu, and Li Yu, being no fool, didn’t hide the truth but didn’t reveal everything either. He only admitted that the Prince of Yi had said some strange things to him when drunk, but he didn’t understand them, so he hadn’t reported it to the emperor.
The emperor didn’t care whether Li Yu genuinely didn’t understand or not. He ordered Li Yu to pretend to be shaken after receiving the false news from the capital and to proactively approach the Prince of Yi to form an alliance, thus redeeming himself.
Later, the emperor discussed plans with Gu Fu for an entire night, and Gu Fu mentioned the matter of the missing military physician being in the hands of the Prince of Yi.
After a long period of silence, the emperor decided to have Gu Fu pretend to fall out with him and leave the camp, only to return later in secret to protect him.
Gu Fu sat on the high wall for a long time before getting up, preparing to find the empress and ask her to discuss with Prince An the marriage arrangement between their family and Mu Qingyao.
Mu Heng, who had close ties with the Prince of Yi and was suspected of collusion, had already been arrested and was now imprisoned in the underground cells of the palace.
In the Prince of Yi’s plan, Li Yu and the imperial guards were the most critical pieces. The plan was for the imperial guards to take officials’ families as hostages and to send the Chiyao Army away, making it easier for him to target the emperor.
Unexpectedly, this move provided an opportunity for the imperial guards and the Chiyao Army. They secretly transferred people from the camp to the palace and sent forces to intercept Mu Heng.
After all, Mu Heng was the Grand General of the Northwest. Neither Li Yu nor Guo Jian, on their own, could have easily captured him. It had to be a joint effort: Guo Jian provided the strategy, and Li Yu led the more experienced imperial guards familiar with the area around Xishan to encircle and pursue Mu Heng, finally capturing him.
Whether Mu Heng was involved in treason still needed to be investigated. If evidence was found, both Mu Heng and Mu Shaoqing would face the death penalty. Lady Wu Xiao, as Mu Heng’s wife, and Mu Baidi, who was only twelve and not yet engaged, would most likely be reduced to slavery.
However, Mu Qingyao still had a chance at survival.
Since Mu Qingyao was already betrothed, as long as Prince An’s household didn’t withdraw from the engagement, she would belong to her husband’s family and wouldn’t be implicated in her family’s treason. Therefore, no matter what the outcome, Gu Fu had to first ensure that Mu Qingyao’s marriage proceeded without issue.
If it turned out that Mu Heng and his son were indeed involved with the Prince of Yi, Gu Fu would see to it that Mu Qingyao was wed to Prince An’s household, even if it meant tying her to the bridal sedan herself. As for whether Prince An household would look down on Mu Qingyao for having traitors as her father and brother… Gu Fu reasoned that as long as Mu Qingyao could be saved, at worst, they could divorce in the future. Gu Qizheng could even adopt Mu Qingyao as his goddaughter, treating her as one of the Gu family.
As Gu Fu descended from the high wall and turned a corner, she encountered the General of the Southern Border.
Gu Fu wasn’t particularly familiar with the General, but she knew of his son—Major General Lin Yi.
Lin Yi had once been involved with Tang Mumu. After it was exposed that Tang Mumu had been playing all the noble sons for fools, the General of the Southern Border realized that Lin Yi had been living too comfortably under his protection, making him easily deceived. So, he petitioned the emperor for a favor and sent his son to the northern borders for training.
Ever since the selection of candidates for the Xuanlin Selection began, Major General Lin Yi had consistently been a top contender, never dropping out of the top twenty rankings.
When Gu Fu saw the General, she assumed it was a mere coincidence. After exchanging greetings, she prepared to leave, but to her surprise, the General stopped in front of her with a stern expression and asked—
“Who are you really?”
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