“I will accompany the Prince to fish!” Rong Yuanyou hurriedly said.
Gu Jingyuan glanced at him without speaking.
Madam Tao asked, “Young Master, it’s so thoughtful of you to come so early. Have you had breakfast? If not, sit down and eat with us.”
“I have already eaten.” Rong Yuanyou lied without thinking.
His residence was not close to the Wuxian Prince’s Mansion, and it was cold today, making the food cool quickly. He didn’t know when the Wuxian Prince’s family had breakfast, so he set off before dawn, forgetting to eat on the way.
Gu Jianli smiled and said, “After we eat, I will also accompany Father. Father, please wait for me to finish eating.”
Gu Jianli then turned to instruct the maid to serve food for Gu Jingyuan.
Only then did Gu Jingyuan pick up his chopsticks again.
Gu Jianli picked up a delicate pastry, half red and half blue, and took a small bite. It was sweet, soft, and melted in her mouth, leaving a fragrant sweetness on her lips and teeth. She couldn’t help but take another bite before smiling at Rong Yuanyou, “Young Master, you are so considerate, this is delicious! Father, Sister, you should try it too.”
Gu Jingyuan didn’t even look.
Gu Zaili was drinking flower tea, a habit of hers, having a warm cup every morning. She put down her tea cup and picked up a piece of pastry to taste.
Rong Yuanyou watched Gu Zaili’s expression closely, extremely nervous.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t discern anything, and Gu Zaili, like her father, didn’t even look at him.
His heart felt suddenly empty.
Gu Chuan, on the other hand, was eating quite a few southern pastries, nodding repeatedly while eating, and didn’t forget to thank Rong Yuanyou.
“Sister, are the shops busy today? Why don’t we all accompany Father?” Gu Jianli said.
“I might have something in the afternoon, but the morning is free.”
Hearing Gu Zaili’s words, Rong Yuanyou’s empty heart started to beat again.
“I want to go too!” Gu Chuan shouted.
“Stay home and study.” Gu Jingyuan frowned and reprimanded.
Gu Chuan shrugged his shoulders and lowered his head, sulkily eating pastries. Fortunately, these southern delicacies were really delicious, easing his disappointment at not being able to go out.
Gu Jianli tried every breakfast dish Rong Yuanyou brought, nearly all of which were sweets. When she tasted the lotus heart dumplings and the fish inside, her eyes brightened.
She picked up two lotus dumplings and placed them on the small white plate in front of Ji Wujing, whispering, “I’ve tried everything; you should like this.”
Ji Wujing responded with an “oh” and ate the two fish-filled lotus heart dumplings.
Gu Jingyuan took in the scene, sighing quietly. He didn’t want to look at Ji Wujing sitting across from him and turned his gaze away, only to meet Rong Yuanyou’s face. Rong Yuanyou, feeling nervous, tried to appear calm and composed but didn’t manage well, looking rather awkward. He sat properly on one side, sneaking a glance at Gu Zaili before quickly lowering his eyes.
Gu Jingyuan felt quite displeased as he looked at Rong Yuanyou’s youthful face.
Finally, he turned his gaze to Gu Chuan. His stare was hard to ignore, and Gu Chuan looked up at him, eyes full of hope. “Father, are you really not taking me?”
Gu Jingyuan let out a heavy “hmph” and said, “Today, tell your teacher to double your lessons!”
Gu Chuan opened his mouth, on the verge of tears.
After breakfast, Gu Jingyuan indeed went fishing. The weather was nice, and he went out on horseback. Gu Jianli, her sister, Ji Wujing, and Rong Yuanyou all accompanied him, with two young servants carrying fishing gear following behind.
Gu Jingyuan reined in his horse, looking back at Ji Wujing, and said irritably, “Aren’t you supposed to be sick and cold? Go back inside and rest.”
Ji Wujing replied earnestly, “No way, no way. If a good father-in-law invites me, I’d risk my life to accompany him. After all, it’s always good to spend more time with elders.”
Gu Jingyuan laughed, “Ji Zhao, I wasn’t beaten to death in prison just to save my life for your nonsense, right?”
Rong Yuanyou watched carefully from the side, studying the interaction between his future father-in-law and brother-in-law. He wanted to learn from them, but he felt that other families didn’t interact this way.
As for Gu Jianli, she was already used to her father and Ji Wujing’s bickering. Riding her horse, she stayed close to Gu Zaili, and the sisters chatted.
When they arrived at the river, the two young servants broke the ice and set up stools, fishing rods, and baskets.
Gu Jingyuan sat by the river, his face dark as he began fishing, ignoring everyone.
Gu Zaili took a fishing rod from a servant, standing straight on the riverbank as she cast her line, looking relaxed. Rong Yuanyou hesitated for a moment before approaching her side. Without saying anything, he cast his line too, but his eyes remained on Gu Zaili’s rod, watching for any sign of a big fish biting.
Ji Wujing had no such leisure, lounging on his horse and looking into the distance.
“What are you looking at?” Gu Jianli walked over, standing by his horse.
Ji Wujing extended his hand to pull her up onto the horse. Following his gaze, Gu Jianli saw two tiny figures in the distance—a couple, with the man teaching the woman to ride a horse. The woman cried out in surprise, and the man, sitting behind her, both reassured and coaxed her. The woman shyly looked back, and the two shared a smile, leaning close to each other.
Ji Wujing sighed, disappointed. “It’s a shame I can’t teach you to ride a horse.”
“I’ve known how to ride since I was very young.”
Ji Wujing, now more annoyed, said, “Who was so troublesome as to steal my chance to teach you?”
“My father taught me.”
Ji Wujing cast a dark glance at Gu Jingyuan, cursing silently: This old man is really annoying.
It was probably too cold for the fish to come out, as they hadn’t caught a single one after an hour.
Gu Jingyuan threw down his fishing rod. “Let’s go home!”
“Father, I’m not going back with you. I need to stop by the winery first,” Gu Zaili said.
Rong Yuanyou thought for a moment and then quietly followed Gu Zaili at a distance of about ten steps.
Gu Jianli had intended to go home with her father, but Ji Wujing didn’t let her leave.
Meanwhile, Lin Shaotang went to Ji Yan’s residence. Entering the side room, he saw Ji Xuanke and asked, “Why didn’t you go to the Wuxian Prince’s Mansion yesterday?”
“I did go, but I left early because of some urgent matters.”
Ji Xuanke had indeed attended, standing in a corner and watching Gu Jianli be surrounded by admirers. He also saw her and Ji Wujing eating noodles together in a pavilion. After that, he left before the assassination attempt began.
Lin Shaotang paced around the room for a while before speaking anxiously, “Why hasn’t the Second Prince arrived yet?”
Ji Xuanke put away the jade clasp in his hand and looked at him. “There’s no need to be so anxious.”
“How can I not be anxious?” Lin Shaotang gave a bitter smile. “She’s been pretending to be mad in the palace day and night, and I wish I could take her out of there immediately. Ever since she entered the palace, it feels like time has dragged on unbearably.”
Ji Xuanke was silent for a moment before advising, “What we are plotting now, if there’s the slightest mistake, it will be a disaster with no escape. No matter how anxious we feel, we must act cautiously.”
Lin Shaotang’s eyes dimmed momentarily, then he sighed softly and said, “You don’t understand. Yesterday, watching the assassin charge out to kill Ji Lan, I desperately wished those swords would pierce his chest and leave a hole! Even knowing it was impossible, I still had a glimmer of hope in my heart. Watching Chen He easily fend off the assassin, I even hoped Ji Zhao would suddenly appear and slay Ji Lan with a single strike!”
“Our plan was never to assassinate him. Those death warriors shouting out the accusations disturbed Ji Lan’s mind; that alone was enough to achieve our goal. There’s no need for regret,” Ji Xuanke said.
Lin Shaotang understood this reasoning well.
In Ji Xuanke’s plan for Ji Yan, the aim was never really to assassinate Ji Lan. Such an attempt in that setting would be too difficult. The chosen men were death warriors; their mission was simply to shout out the accusations publicly.
Ji Xuanke had subtly hinted to Ji Lan about the assassination, causing Ji Lan to be on guard. As expected, Ji Lan fell for it. Ji Lan was already a suspicious and cunning person. Having ascended the throne for a year without capturing Ji Yan had made him increasingly anxious. Even after receiving the warning, he still risked coming. Ji Lan planned to use the assassination attempt to flush out traitors among his ministers. Those he captured were long-suspected subordinates whom he feared and distrusted but couldn’t openly accuse.
He thought he was outsmarting them, using the attempted assassination to justify a crackdown, but the assassins wouldn’t cooperate. Ji Lan had prepared a false confession.
The list of traitors was extensive, leading to a near-complete purge of the court.
Ji Lan believed he had won this round, but he was unaware that every step he took was within Ji Xuanke’s plan.
Gu Jingyuan’s birthday banquet had attracted not only the capital’s nobles but also visiting princes and marquises.
Ji Xuanke arranged for the death warriors to shout about Ji Lan’s patricide and usurpation and to reveal that Ji Yan, the original crown prince, was still alive.
This was just the first step, or rather, a spark to ignite the subsequent wildfire.
The key to the plan lay in the list of traitors.
Ji Lan, being inherently suspicious, was manipulated over six months by Ji Xuanke, Ji Yan, and a few other ministers they had planted within the court. They exploited Ji Lan’s suspicion to make him distrust some of his loyal ministers, convincing him that they were part of Ji Yan’s faction.
In the list of traitors personally written by Ji Lan, most were actually his loyal subjects. He was essentially executing his own people.
After dealing with this batch of “traitors,” there would be a significant reshuffling in the court, leading to the promotion of new ministers.
Thus, Ji Yan could leverage the deeply entrenched network of loyal ministers to recommend his own people, those loyal to him.
No matter how Ji Lan, born of a palace maid, planned, he couldn’t match the influence and support that Ji Yan’s maternal family had built over many years.
After a while, Lin Shaotang spoke with some despair, “I understand the difficulty of changing the throne. Every step must be cautious to avoid future troubles. But you and I are different. You serve a wise ruler for ambition and future glory. But I only want to bring her home. Even if it means living the rest of my life in anonymity, farming and fishing, giving up all past luxuries.”
Ji Xuanke remained silent.
For ambition and future glory?
He crossed his arms, his fingers turning the jade clasp over and over.
In truth, he envied Lin Shaotang. Though separated by countless mountains and rivers from Sun Yinzhu, she was waiting for him, their hearts connected.