Are you the fairy I prayed for in front of the Buddha?
Gu Zhao was filled with a thirst for knowledge and really wanted to run up to her right now and ask her face to face.
But at the same time, the fear that she might leave because of it took hold of his mind, making him hesitate and not dare to act rashly.
Don't ask. If you ask, she'll be like in the plays and turn into a puff of smoke and drift away with the wind.
On the way back to the palace on horseback, Gu Zhao couldn't stop regretting.
If he had known that withdrawing from the secular world four years ago would bring him her, he would definitely have eagerly awaited her arrival back then, instead of being dejected and feeling hopeless in the secluded Yongfu Villa, isolated from the world.
Gu Zhao returned to the palace and first headed for the Qianqing Palace. She was there. He really wanted to see her now. Just thinking about seeing her soon made his heart inexplicably skip a beat.
Calm down, Gu Zhao. Don't ask. Don't mention a single word. Just pretend that you've never gone to see Shopkeeper Liu alone and never heard that fantastic story from him.
As long as you stay calm, take it slow, make indirect inquiries, and carefully verify, you'll eventually figure out how to keep her.
And as long as you don't ask and everything stays the same, she won't leave.
Besides, there's an even more important thing that needs to be done right away.
No one else can hear what Shopkeeper Liu said.
The travel permit that Zhang Jingyan got for her back then was really too shoddy, leaving too many loopholes. The clue about the Yangzhou Guild Hall in Bianzhou City was also too obvious. Those physical evidences must be disposed of immediately.
No one else can know her identity.
Even the Tang Monk attracted the covetousness of many demons on his journey to the West. How much more so for her, a real fairy who has lost her magic power.
The human heart is full of evil. Gu Zhao can't let her be exposed to such danger.
When he arrived at the Qianqing Palace, Gu Zhao first went to find Shen Xu.
"Has Shopkeeper Liu been interrogated? What crime did he commit?"
Shen Xu was actually a bit puzzled that Gu Zhao wanted to see Shopkeeper Liu today.
In the case of the Tan family, Shopkeeper Liu was just a minor figure. Under severe punishment, the most serious thing he confessed was poisoning the little eunuch Shun'an.
Shun'an was also just a minor figure. The only reason the Tan family targeted him was that he tried to stop Doctor Zhu from treating the Emperor.
For such two minor figures, there was no reason for Gu Zhao to take them so seriously.
So there must be some very important information on Shopkeeper Liu that he himself had missed, something that Gu Zhao knew but he didn't.
Thinking this way, Shen Xu replied,
"There are quite a few. In the recent case, the crime of murder. He killed Shun'an. Do you want to hear about the others?"
Just this one was enough. Gu Zhao wasn't interested in knowing the rest.
He had asked Shopkeeper Liu if he wanted to live, but he was never a man of his word.
Gu Zhao said,
"I want him to die now, immediately."
It was so easy for someone who entered the Jinyiwei Imperial Prison to die. This was simply a piece of cake for Shen Xu.
So after giving this instruction that Shen Xu could handle easily, Gu Zhao was about to head for the Emperor's sleeping quarters.
He saw that the Emperor was fine this morning. He wondered how the Emperor was now.
If the Emperor was in good condition, Gu Zhao planned to take Doctor Zhu back to the side room of the Eastern Palace to rest early. She was still injured and had difficulty speaking. She needed more rest.
Shen Xu raised his hand and stopped Gu Zhao.
"The Empress Dowager is inside."
Gu Zhao immediately became nervous and asked,
"Is Qingyu also inside?"
The Empress Dowager had a prejudice against Doctor Zhu. Gu Zhao was very worried that she would suffer if she faced the Empress Dowager alone.
Shen Xu looked a bit strange and replied,
"Don't you know?"
Gu Zhao didn't know what he was supposed to know. He looked at Shen Xu in confusion.
"About what?"
The next words from Shen Xu almost made Gu Zhao jump up on the spot. Shen Xu said,
"Doctor Zhu went to the northern border with the Eldest Grand Princess. She left this morning. The Emperor promoted Doctor Zhu to the Chief Physician of the Imperial Hospital. Maybe she asked the Emperor for the official position. Didn't she tell you about going to the northern border in advance?"
Not at all!
Not a single word!
Someone didn't even leave him half a word and just left so simply and decisively!
She really came for the epidemic!
Was it because of the epidemic in Bianzhou four years ago that her prescription was stolen and so was her merit, so she had to wait until this time?
After curing the epidemic this time and accumulating enough merit, she would definitely leave.
No way!
Gu Zhao left Shen Xu behind and turned to run. The door of the sleeping quarters behind him opened, and the Empress Dowager came out and called to him.
"Zhao'er, stop. Come with me to the Chengqian Palace."
Behind the Empress Dowager, the Emperor actually followed.
The Chengqian Palace was where Consort Tan lived.
Just by looking at the Emperor's devastated and lost expression, Gu Zhao knew that the Empress Dowager had talked to the Emperor, and the matter of the Tan family needed the Emperor to make a decision.
In the past, the Emperor stayed in the Chengqian Palace eight out of ten times. The Chengqian Palace had always been the most glorious and bustling place in the harem.
But this time when Gu Zhao entered the Chengqian Palace, he felt a chill.
All the original servants in the Chengqian Palace had been arrested and sent to the prison by the Empress Dowager's order before. The newly replaced eunuchs and maids had also been cleared out in advance.
The Emperor went into Consort Tan's sleeping quarters alone to see his once-favored Consort Tan.
Shen Xu guarded outside the Chengqian Palace, while the Empress Dowager and Gu Zhao stood side by side on the corridor outside the sleeping quarters, close enough to hear the conversation between the Emperor and Consort Tan.
Inside the hall, the Emperor's voice was filled with suppressed anger and disappointment.
"Consort Tan, how dare you try to kill me? How dare you commit regicide? Tell me it wasn't you. It was someone else framing you. Now, tell me!"
Consort Tan coughed and smiled softly.
"So what if it's regicide? It's just a matter of the winner takes all. If I had succeeded, I would be the Empress Dowager in the future. Why wouldn't I dare? And, isn't it true that you, Your Majesty, have also committed regicide?"
As soon as Consort Tan said this heart - wrenching words, Gu Zhao knew that she didn't want to live anymore.
The Emperor's anger in his tone grew even stronger. He was so angry that he had lost the dignity of an emperor and became a man questioning a woman who had betrayed him. He asked,
"Why! Didn't I treat you well? Why did you do this!"
Consort Tan coughed even more violently. Although she was still smiling, there was hatred in her laughter.
"What do you mean by treating me well? Your Majesty, at that flower - viewing banquet, did you really go to the wrong room because you were drunk, or did you do it on purpose? You know it yourself! Who led you there? Wasn't it Han Cheng, that bitch who used his fiancée to seek a future?"
Hearing this, Gu Zhao knew why the Empress Dowager had let an outsider like him enter the harem.
The Empress Dowager wanted to use the example of the Emperor and Consort Tan to warn him not to go astray again.
Sure enough, the Empress Dowager's voice, rarely, carried a sense of weariness as she said,
"It was all because in the past, I indulged you too much. Look clearly and listen well. Look at the two of you. You insisted on coveting what belongs to others. See what kind of fate such an ill - fated relationship will bring! You're already twenty - three. It's time for you to get married properly. Otherwise, you wouldn't be entangled with a married woman every day. The eldest daughter of the Eldest Grand Princess is a fine match for you. The Eldest Grand Princess doesn't hold grudges and doesn't care about your previous rudeness. I'll decide this marriage for you."
