FDPBCT 05

Chapter 05

Consort De Arrives (Page 1/2)**

“How is that possible? The guards at my Prince Duan’s manor are the most law-abiding people. They never throw the first punch.”

“I saw how arrogant he was, showing no respect for my manor at all. And he had so many people blocking our gate—I was afraid he was going to beat up my father, so I called the guards to protect us.”

“It scared me to death! If it weren’t for the guards, the Third Young Master Gu would have beaten my father and me to death right then and there!”

Gu Chengyang, listening to this outrageous twisting of the truth, felt his injuries ache even more from sheer anger.

“Your humble subject, Gu, the third son of the Gu family, kowtows before Your Majesty. I beg Your Majesty to see the truth!”

“Today, I went to Prince Duan’s manor solely to retrieve a runaway slave from my household. I had absolutely no intention of offending Prince Duan or the princess.”

“The princess unreasonably shielded my family’s runaway slave and refused to hand him over—that I could have tolerated. I tried to reason with her calmly, but the princess, without distinguishing right from wrong, ordered her guards to beat me and my attendants!”

Ye Qiong looked perfectly composed. “You say this princess stole your runaway slave? Where’s the proof? No proof means you’re just making baseless accusations.”

Gu Chengyang produced a deed of sale. “This is the runaway slave’s deed of sale. The slave’s name is A-Nu. He’s a thief—he stole something from my household and fled. I’ve been tracking him for days and only recently learned that the princess had seized him and brought him into her manor!”

Ye Qiong glanced at the paper in the Third Young Master’s hand. “It doesn’t even have an official government seal—what kind of deed of sale is that? And besides, there’s no one named A-Nu in my manor!”

“You—!” Gu Chengyang’s face cycled through shades of pale and flushed, his heart burning with anxiety and rage.

For families like theirs, with countless servants beneath them, did they really have to get every single servant’s deed of sale stamped by the government?

As long as the deed was in his hands, that person belonged to the Gu family—red deed, white deed, what difference did it make?

Besides, he had bought A-Nu from an arena. People bought from those places were all unregistered black-market individuals—how could they possibly have government-recognized documents?

Just as he was at a loss for what to do, a young eunuch entered to announce that Consort De was requesting an audience.

Gu Chengyang, hearing that his aunt had arrived, immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

As the eunuch’s announcement faded, Consort De, adorned in luxurious palace attire and carrying herself with elegant poise, entered the hall.

Behind her followed a woman dressed with equal refinement, whose features bore some resemblance to Gu Chengyang—it was his biological elder sister, Gu Qingyu.

Consort De first curtsied to the Emperor and Empress, her gaze swiftly sweeping across the atmosphere in the hall, already forming a few guesses.

Then she turned to look at Gu Chengyang. “Who beat you like this? How could you be so badly injured?”

Gu Chengyang, as if finding his pillar of support, put on a pitiful expression. “Aunt, Elder Sister—Princess Zhaoyang… she seized my servant, not only denied it completely, but also had her guards beat me.”

Seeing her nephew’s bruised and battered state, Consort De’s gaze toward Ye Qiong carried a hint of suppressed anger, though she held it in check due to the Emperor and Empress’s presence.

“I wonder in what way Sanlang (Third Young Master) offended the princess, that you would deal him such a heavy blow.”

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Ye Qiong let out a cold snort, ignored her completely, and turned to look at the Emperor and Empress seated above.

“Imperial Uncle, Imperial Aunt, they’re trying to frame me! He was clearly beaten by his own household’s servants—the citizens of the capital can all testify to that!”

Ye Qiong looked utterly confident. She had already instructed all the manor guards: know who to hit, and know who to let others hit on your behalf.

So the manor guards were very measured. Aside from shouting their battle cries loudly, they generally never struck first. But unfortunately, the Gu family servants had hot tempers—when they heard a group of guards charging at them shouting “Protect the prince with our lives,” their brains overheated and they charged right in.

“You—!” Gu Chengyang’s chest heaved with fury.

These shameless manor guards! They shouted their slogans so loudly, but when the fighting actually started, they all dodged behind him, causing all those idiots he’d brought to land their clubs and fists squarely on him instead.

The Emperor rubbed his temples and looked at Eunuch Fu beside him. “Fu Hai, you tell me—what exactly happened outside Prince Duan’s manor?”

Eunuch Fu quickly bowed and reported, “Your Majesty, by the time this old servant arrived, the two sides had indeed already come to blows. This old servant saw the Gu family servants wielding clubs and pursuing the manor guards, while the manor guards were hiding behind the Third Young Master Gu. The princess was so frightened she was clinging to her two maidservants and shrieking.”

“As for the cause of the altercation, this old servant inquired among the surrounding citizens… they said… they said the Third Young Master Gu had brought a group of thugs armed with clubs to block Prince Duan’s manor gate, proclaiming that he would kill Prince Duan.”

The Emperor’s sharp gaze shot toward Gu Chengyang.

“Your Majesty!” Gu Chengyang hurriedly defended himself. “Your humble subject is wronged! I brought attendants to the manor solely to reclaim my family’s runaway slave. I would never dare to offend Prince Duan! And those clubs—my men absolutely did not bring them.”

“The manor guards must have placed them into my attendants’ hands!”

Ye Qiong looked at him in disbelief. “This princess is insane enough to give you weapons to go and beat up my own father?”

Consort De, hearing Princess Zhaoyang repeatedly claim that Gu Chengyang had brought people to storm Prince Duan’s manor and assault Prince Duan, felt her chest heave with anger.

“The princess should stop spewing nonsense! Sanlang was raised under the strict discipline of the Gu family since childhood. He is the most respectful and rule-abiding person—how could he possibly do something as absurd as leading people to attack Prince Duan’s manor? For the princess to make such baseless accusations—do you think the Gu family has no one to stand up for us, that you may slander us at will?”

Upon hearing this, Ye Qiong clutched her chest and looked at Consort De with a wounded expression. “You… you’re insulting me?”

Consort De: “???”

“When did I ever insult you?”

Ye Qiong’s face was filled with grief and indignation. “You just said I have no upbringing!”

Consort De gritted her teeth, momentarily at a loss for words.

This fool—did she truly not understand any of the palace’s subtleties?

Wouldn’t a normal person hearing those words try to parry with a clever retort?

Who just asks outright, “Are you insulting me?”

Was this princess still a baby who hadn’t been weaned?