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Gu Jiao entered the palace once more and headed to the southwest corner again.
Seeing her come over again at this time in the evening, the beekeeper hurried forward and asked, "Young Miss Gu, do you still need more honey?"
At noon, he heard Eunuch Qin from Renshou Palace calling her as such.
He had thought she was just a girl related to Renshou Palace one way or another, but the respectable people around Empress Dowager treated her more respectfully than the Crown Princess, making the beekeeper even more afraid to neglect her.
At this time, the sun was setting and the sky was a mixture of gray and blue. Only the red light of the setting sun lit up the last bit of twilight.
Gu Jiao's eyes rested on a certain building shrouded in the afterglow of the sunset. The building was a little far away, and from her point of view, she could only see the cornices of the flying eaves.
"What's that over there?" Gu Jiao raised a finger and asked.
The beekeeper looked at the roof tiles under the setting sun in the direction pointed out by Gu Jiao and said, "That… seems to be the residence of the hostage prince of the State of Chen."
The State of Chen and the State of Zhao had been at odds for a long time. Naturally, a hostage prince from the State of Chen wouldn’t be living in a luxurious palace, but would instead be given a secluded and relatively small courtyard, separated from the harem by a bee garden, which both ends were guarded by imperial guards.
Gu Jiao stared at the cornices of the flying eaves swallowed up by the night, and gradually understood the meaning of the words "Imperial palace, southwest corner".
It wasn’t that the other party lived in the southwest corner of the palace nor they entered and exited the southwest corner of the palace, but that you could see the location of the other party by standing in the southwest corner of the palace.
……
Summer in the State of Zhao was hotter than the State of Chen.
The cicadas in the tree kept buzzing, which seemed to add a bit of dryness to the surroundings.
There was also a small lotus pond nearby, where frogs croaked from time to time. It was really not a comfortable place to live in.
The lanterns in the porch were lit one by one by the palace maids, and the imperial guards on patrol were holding their swords with a dignified look on their faces.
Suddenly, a small figure soared into the air.
The movement of the little figure was so light that it did not alarm any imperial guards. However, a gray shadow suddenly flashed over from a seemingly inconspicuous corner with a speed as fast as lightning, and in the blink of an eye, a scimitar was placed on the small figure's neck.
"Now now, Song Ye, let her in. She's an honored guest of this prince."
A languid voice with a hint of playful smile came slowly from the room.
The man in gray coldly kept away the scimitar in his hand, but the vigilance in his eyes was undiminished.
He glared at Gu Jiao for a moment, as if telling her that his scimitar would once again be wrapped around her neck if the slightest misdemeanor on her part occurred.
Gu Jiao didn't intend to hide her identity, which was evident from how she wore her own clothes and didn't even wear a mask.
She calmly pushed the door and entered.
There were many oil lamps inside the room, but the brightness of the oil lamps was limited, so the whole room was dimly lit.
Yuan Tang was sitting in a chair, and a palace maid was changing the dressing of his wounds.
He seemed to have been injured in the waist and abdomen, the bandage that was removed was full of blood, and the smell of jinchuang medicine permeated the entire room.
His lapel was open, revealing his strong, sturdy chest, well-defined abs and distinct mermaid lines.
It was unknown whether it was the heat or the pain, but glistening sweat dripped from his wheat-colored skin and flowed through every firm but not exaggerated muscle.
It was a body brimming with male strength. The air in the room was suddenly filled with the scent of male hormones.
Yuan Tang didn't seem to expect Gu Jiao to come in so quickly. Fortunately, the palace maid acted quickly, immediately applying medicine to his wounds and wrapping them in bandages.
"Step down." He raised his hand when the palace maid was about to tidy up his clothes.
"Yes." The palace maid packed up the things and withdrew from the room.
Yuan Tang closed his clothes and fastened his belt. He was a man, and having his body seen wasn’t really a big deal to him, but why——
Yuan Tang glanced at Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao's gaze was magnanimous, more magnanimous than the person being stared at.
This woman was really interesting.
"All of you, withdraw as well." Yuan Tang told the rest of the palace servants in the room.
The crowd retreated in silence.
The man in gray earlier kept guard at the door and had no intention of going far away.
Gu Jiao felt a very strong aura from the man in gray, almost equal to that of the Old Marquis. She wondered who would win if they confronted each other.
Of course, if she had her original strength, she would have no problem cutting his throat.
"Don't mind him." Yuan Tang said with a smile.
Gu Jiao had first met Yuan Tang back in Liu Yisheng’s home. At that time, Gu Jiao only thought that Yuan Tang's appearance was handsome, but not peerless.
At least it was a little less refined than his cousin Liu Yisheng.
But when she saw his figure today, she realized that the State of Chen’s hostage prince was also the best among men.
Gu Jiao looked at him generously.
Yuan Tang couldn't help laughing, "Should I call you Physician Gu or Madame Xiao?"
"Whatever you want." Gu Jiao answered.
"Alright, Physician Gu." Yuan Tang smilingly said, "What business did you have with me for coming to see me so late?"
Obviously, he already knew the answer to this question, but people always felt a need for one or two nonsense.
Well, except for Gu Jiao, she didn’t like to talk nonsense. She glanced at his wound and went straight to the point, "Did you try to assassinate the Emperor yourself?"
Yuan Tang remained silent for a moment, then smiled and replied in a low voice, "How could I not personally carry out such an important assassination?"
This statement was undoubtedly an admission of everything.
Gu Jiao said lightly, "It's nice of you to admit it."
Yuan Tang smiled wryly, "From the moment my tassel disappeared, I was ready to be exposed, but I didn't expect it to be so soon, nor did I expect the person to seek me to be you."
Yuan Tang didn't make unnecessary excuses. Only fools would take others as fools. The fact that Gu Jiao could get this far showed that she couldn’t be connected to the word ‘fool’.
Since he couldn’t get away with it anyway, why waste his breath?
"Why?" Gu Jiao asked.
"Duty called." Yuan Tang said.
Gu Jiao asked, "The State of Chen's order?"
Yuan Tang turned to look at the night sky outside the window, "I also have my own selfish reasons. My aunt died at the hands of Empress Dowager Zhuang and the State of Zhao’s Emperor. At that time, they hadn’t turned against each other yet and they jointly forced my aunt to her death. So both of them... are my enemies.”
"Your aunt is an enemy’s spy. Killing your aunt was also a part of their duty." Gu Jiao's eyes remained on his face the whole time, without any sign of evasion.
Sometimes, a person's strength was not necessarily reflected in their martial arts, status and talent. At times, the strength of the heart was the most invincible.
This was a woman whose heart was brimming with strength.
Yuan Tang retracted his gaze from the window and met her eyes, "Therefore, is there any right and wrong in this world? It’s all about one’s status and identity. You are obligated to do some things due to your position. Just like how I was born in the State of Chen and is the imperial prince of the State of Chen, as long as the two countries are not in harmony, I will continue to fight with the State of Zhao. I will never let Empress Dowager Zhuang and the Emperor of the State of Zhao off."Raz P.'s Thoughts
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