"How dare you! Do you not bow to Princess Fuxi the moment you see her!"
At the city gate, a hush fell over the crowd first, and the next second, everyone present dropped to their knees to pay their respects to Princess Fuxi, save for Gu Fuzhou, who stood his ground, his entire body radiating a murderous aura.
"Greetings, Princess Fuxi!"
Rong Yao squeezed her slightly tight palms, held her head high, and spoke steadily and unhurriedly, "Rise, all of you."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Deputy General Zhu Yue was among the crowd. He lifted his head, glanced at Rong Yao, then raised his hands to bow to her once more, saying, "Your Highness, how could you shield a traitor? This criminal just now insulted His Majesty the Emperor. His crime is punishable by death!"
Rong Yao stared at the man, then glanced at the bow and arrow that had fallen to the ground, confirming immediately that he was the culprit who had shot and killed the Marquis of Zhenxi with a single arrow in her past life.
What an ugly face he had.
"The Marquis of Zhenxi said he was trapped by enemies, framed by treacherous villains, and that there were hidden circumstances behind everything. Did you not hear any of that?"
Zhu Yue had not expected the six-year-old Princess Fuxi to speak out against him. He froze for a moment, then hurriedly said, "The words of a rebellious traitor are nothing but nonsense, how can they be trusted?"
Princess Fuxi's young voice, laced with undeniable authority, rang out again, "But I clearly heard you deliberately provoke the Marquis of Zhenxi, tricking him into saying words that could be seen as disobeying my father the Emperor. The life and death of the Marquis of Zhenxi should be decided by His Majesty alone! Just now, you gave the order to execute the Marquis of Zhenxi on the spot, which is a blatant sign that you hold no respect for the Emperor!"
Zhu Yue knelt unwillingly on the ground, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles turned white, his head hanging low as he spoke with suppressed resentment, "This lowly official would never dare show any disrespect to His Majesty! This official has always hated traitors who collude with enemy states the most! I acted rashly out of anger, please forgive me, Your Highness!"
Rong Yao frowned, did not spare him another glance, and instead looked over at Gu Fuzhou, Marquis of Pacifying the West, who was still surrounded and hemmed in by officers and soldiers, holding a tattered red-tasseled spear in his hands.
Rong Yao walked past the officers and soldiers, stepped up to him, and looked up at Gu Fuzhou, Marquis of Pacifying the West, whose eyes were red with fury. She said,
"I will take you to see my father, the Emperor."
Gu Fuzhou gripped his red-tasseled spear so tightly his knuckles whitened, his scarlet eyes lowered to stare at the little girl who had appeared before him out of nowhere. A flicker of daze crossed his mind: three years ago, when he had left the capital, his own daughter was just about this age.
"Princess Fuxi." Gu Fuzhou tightened his grip on the spear again, repeating the four words with his face full of seething hatred.
Rong Yao said, "Yes, I am Princess Fuxi. I will take you to see His Majesty, and I will take you to see your family."
"Family!" Gu Fuzhou let out a loud, bitter laugh that echoed through the air, and tears streamed down his dirt-streaked face. He swung his spear and pointed it straight at Rong Yao, "What family do I have left! My old mother, my wife, my sons and daughters—they all died at the hands of bandits, every last one of them!"
"Now even a little child is trying to deceive me! Do they all take Gu Fuzhou for a mindless brute of a warrior?"
"Protect the Princess! Kill the rebellious traitor!" Zhu Yue suddenly jumped to his feet and shouted at the top of his lungs.
Several soldiers surrounding Gu Fuzhou tensed up, ready to move.
"Stop, all of you!" Rong Yao shouted with a frown, then turned to point at Zhu Yue, ordering General Guo, "General Guo, arrest this man."
General Guo hesitated for a split second, then complied with Princess Fuxi's order and had Zhu Yue seized.
To tell the truth, he was completely bewildered. He could not understand why the Princess would go out of her way to save Gu Fuzhou, why she was being so kind to a man everyone called a criminal.
Was Gu Fuzhou not a traitor, who had colluded with the enemy and caused the deaths of tens of thousands of imperial soldiers? All of them who had fought on the battlefield hated this kind of traitor more than anything. That was why when Gu Fuzhou had first appeared just now, General Guo had been filled with nothing but hatred for him.
But the Princess had ordered him to protect Gu Fuzhou. He did not dare disobey. He had already seen how intelligent the Princess was, and now that she had given him the order to protect Gu Fuzhou, he was certain she had some deeper plan in mind—she was surely far more thoughtful than all of us rough military men.
What was more, a criminal like Gu Fuzhou deserved to be handed over to the Emperor to face justice, to be spat on by the entire populace, to serve as a warning to every soldier in the army. He should not die right here at the city gate. That Zhu Yue was indeed far too impulsive, and it was only right that he be restrained for now.
General Guo said, "This official obeys the order!"
With that, General Guo ordered his men to pin Zhu Yue down.
Rong Yao was relieved, feeling much more at ease now. She lifted her head again to look at Gu Fuzhou, Marquis of Pacifying the West, who was now looking at her with a mix of hesitation and full-body vigilance.
"Marquis Gu, right now all the people of Great Zhou are spreading rumors that you colluded with the enemy and betrayed our empire. If you have been wronged, you should go before His Majesty, tell him the full truth. Are you truly willing to bear this undeserved shameful name forever? To let the villains who framed you gloat in their victory? To let their treacherous scheme succeed?"
Gu Fuzhou's face, already taut with hatred, hardened even further. He stared down at Rong Yao intently, and asked in a hoarse, rough voice,
"Can you truly help me?"
Rong Yao nodded. "Of course. Will you come with me to the palace to see His Majesty?"
Gu Fuzhou drove his red-tasseled spear hard into the dirt, then knelt down on one knee before Rong Yao. "This subject begs Your Highness to bring me to the palace. I have matters of utmost importance to report to the Emperor!"
Rong Yao turned to look at General Guo. "General Guo, we return to the palace!"
General Guo responded, "Yes, Your Highness!"
Very quickly, General Guo assigned two soldiers to flank Gu Fuzhou, Marquis of Pacifying the West on either side. The two were there both to guard Gu Fuzhou, and to prevent any possibility that he might harm the Princess.
The group of people walked through the city gate and entered the city proper.
"Watch out behind you!" Rong Yao turned her head and saw Zhu Yue, who had somehow broken free of his restraints. He had picked up his bow and arrow, and was aiming straight for Gu Fuzhou, Marquis of Pacifying the West, about to loose the shot. She shouted the warning at the top of her voice.
Everyone spun around at her cry, and saw Zhu Yue's arrow flying through the air at blinding speed.
Gu Fuzhou's brows drew together sharply. He tilted his body to the side, and the arrow whizzed right past him, missing its mark.
General Guo strode forward with a dark, furious look on his face. "Deputy General Zhu! How dare you defy the Princess's orders!"
Zhu Yue shouted, "Your Highness is being foolish! We cannot bring this traitor before His Majesty! The Emperor will be in grave danger!"
Rong Yao retorted, "My father, the Emperor, is surrounded by highly skilled generals. You are so determined to kill Marquis Gu today, that you refuse to let him meet His Majesty. That can only mean you have a guilty conscience!"
"General Guo, arrest this man, and bring him along to be dealt with by the Emperor together with the others!"
General Guo also found Zhu Yue's behavior deeply suspicious. This time, he found a thick, sturdy rope, tied Zhu Yue up securely, and led the whole group toward the imperial palace.
What none of them noticed was that, the moment their procession disappeared from sight, a raggedly dressed boy of about eight or nine years old stepped out of the shadows. His jet-black, obsidian-like eyes were fixed intently on the carriage carrying Princess Fuxi, and a bright smile spread across his face.
……
The Imperial Palace. The Wenyuan Pavilion.
Wang Zhong pushed open the palace doors in a great hurry, dropped to his knees with a heavy thud, and said urgently, "Your Majesty! The Marquis of Zhenxi—he's back!"
Dantai Ji shot to his feet at once. "What did you say? Is Gu Fuzhou really back?"
Wang Zhong said, "Yes, Your Majesty! An hour ago, the Marquis of Zhenxi arrived at the city gate, but the gate guards stopped him outside. He insisted on seeing Your Majesty, but the Deputy General Zhu who was stationed at the gate… Fortunately, Princess Fuxi was there, and she did everything in her power to protect the Marquis of Zhenxi."
Dantai Ji's eyes turned cold and sharp. "There were actually people trying to stop Gu Fuzhou from coming to see me?"
Wang Zhong said, "Yes, Your Majesty. That Deputy General Zhu at the gate is highly suspicious."
Dantai Ji asked, "Where are they right now?"
Wang Zhong replied, "They should be arriving at the palace very soon."
Right as Wang Zhong finished speaking, a report came from outside the hall, "Your Majesty! Princess Fuxi is here, accompanying the criminal Gu Fuzhou to request an audience with Your Majesty!"
