I have suffered enough in my previous life, my cousin will never marry me

Chapter 174 The Upright Qingyu

Seeing the Gu brothers looking at Zhou Fuhai with curiosity, Ye Wanshu already guessed that her father must have taken care of everything.

I underestimated my cheap father's abilities. I didn't expect him to persuade the emperor so soon after returning to Lin'an.

It remains to be seen whether Empress Dowager Gu will take the bait and ascend the throne as soon as possible.

She feigned ignorance and looked at Zhou Fuhai, puzzled, and said, "Eunuch Zhou, my daughter has rendered no service to the court, yet the Empress Dowager has inexplicably bestowed upon her the title of princess. I am truly terrified. I beg you, Eunuch Zhou, to tell me the reason why."

Gu Tingchen pondered for a moment, then snorted smugly: "Wanwan, you don't know yet, do you? Your cousin has been granted the title of Prince Dao'an by the Empress Dowager. It must be that your aunt was worried that you would be wronged if you married me, so she deliberately elevated your status and conferred upon you the title of princess."

Gu Tingzhou felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this.

My father had worked so hard for my great-aunt all these years but had never been granted the title of king by a different surname. Unexpectedly, my great-aunt appointed my second brother as king. It seems that my great-aunt had high hopes for my second brother.

The only reason he could think of was that his aunt wanted to arrange a marriage between the two of them, since his cousin had been unjustly bestowed the title of princess upon her.

But his second brother had treated his cousin so cruelly in Yuezhou, almost driving her to her death. He absolutely could not stand by and watch his cousin marry his second brother.

"Tingchen, I congratulate you on your new title," Gu Tingzhou said sincerely, glancing at Ye Wanshu out of the corner of his eye, his expression becoming somewhat complicated: "Wanwan doesn't like staying in Lin'an, please let her return to Yuhua Town."

"What nonsense are you spouting, brother?"

Gu Tingchen's eyes flashed with anger as he glared at him fiercely: "My affairs with Wanwan are none of your business. Yueling is pregnant now. If you want to stay in Lin'an, then live a good life with her. If you don't like Lin'an, then go back to Yuzhou."

Seeing how the second young master treated the eldest young master, Jiang Yueling also felt unhappy.

Not becoming the wife of the Duke's heir had already caused her to lose face, and now she had to watch this little bitch from the Ye family become a princess, looking down on her by several heads. She had never suffered such humiliation before.

Jiang Yueling glanced at Zhou Fuhai, noticing that this favorite of the Empress Dowager seemed to be deliberately avoiding the Gu brothers' gazes, and vaguely realized that something was wrong.

"Miss Biao is the daughter of the Grand Secretary, and her status is already extraordinary. Marrying the young master will only make her more noble. Even if the Empress Dowager loves Miss Biao very much, she would not risk causing trouble for herself by incurring the jealousy of the imperial clan, unless there is some special reason."

Jiang Yueling asked Zhou Fuhai suspiciously, "Eunuch Zhou, is there some hidden story behind this?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Tingchen immediately felt something was amiss.

When her cousin was first made a princess by the emperor, the empress dowager was extremely unwilling. Now that her cousin has married her and become a princess, the empress dowager really has no need to make such a fuss.

Rolling his eyes at Zhou Fuhai with annoyance, Gu Tingchen said unhappily, "Eunuch Zhou, please tell me the truth about the matter."

Seeing the Empress Dowager's displeasure in his young nephew's eyes, Zhou Fuhai quickly swallowed back the words that were about to come out.

Gu Tingchen angrily said, "Eunuch Zhou, if you dare to conceal anything, I don't mind killing you first and then apologizing to the Empress Dowager."

Zhou Fuhai was so frightened that his legs went weak and he hurriedly knelt down: "It was Princess Qi Ning of Yuezhou who suggested to the Empress Dowager that Princess Jinghe go to the northern border for a marriage alliance to reach this peace agreement."

"What, a marriage alliance?" Gu Tingzhou and Gu Tingchen were both taken aback.

The others stared wide-eyed.

Zhou Fuhai hurriedly replied, "The Empress Dowager and His Majesty have already agreed to Princess Qi Ning's suggestion, and today they specially sent this old servant to welcome Princess Jinghe into the palace."

"I absolutely disagree," Gu Tingchen said, his face flushed with anger. "If Princess Qi Ning is so capable, why doesn't she let her precious daughter go for a political marriage?"

Gu Qingmian and Gu Tingji were also quite frightened. They hurriedly looked at Ye Wanshu and said, "Cousin, we will never let you enter the Northern Border. We will go and beg Father to let you into the palace." Ye Wanshu was unaware that Princess Qi Ning had such a shady trick up her sleeve. Although it was somewhat hateful, it had inadvertently saved her a big problem, preventing Gu Tingchen from suspecting her and her father.

Without making a sound, Ye Wanshu pulled Gu Qingmian and Gu Tingji, siblings, aside and said in a serious tone, "I am deeply favored by His Majesty and the Empress Dowager. The situation in the northern border is critical. If I can use my own strength to ensure the eternal stability of the Great Ye Kingdom, I am willing to go to the northern border for a marriage alliance."

"You're not allowed to go anywhere," Gu Tingchen shouted. "From today onwards, you'll stay obediently in Cuiweitang."

"Gu Tingchen, do you want to defy His Majesty and the Empress Dowager's decrees?" Ye Wanshu deliberately provoked.

Zhou Fuhai was at a loss and could only earnestly advise, "Prince Dao'an, the Empress Dowager has high hopes for you. You can't act recklessly!"

"There's no room for discussion on this." Gu Tingchen's eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Ye Wanshu and said in a deep voice, "You want to go to the Northern Border for a marriage alliance to get rid of me? I will never agree to that."

After saying that, he forcefully pulled her back into the house.

Upon learning that the little bitch from the Ye family was only granted the title of princess because she was sent to the northern border for a political marriage, Jiang Yueling was secretly delighted for quite some time.

Seeing that the young master wanted to stop this, Jiang Yueling quickly stepped forward to persuade him: "Your Highness, please listen to Eunuch Zhou and don't do anything reckless."

"Get out!" Gu Tingchen roared at Jiang Yueling, glaring angrily at Gu Tingzhou, and said sternly, "Take this slut and get out of the Rongguo Duke's mansion. If I see her again, I will make sure she is beheaded."

After uttering these harsh words, Gu Tingchen pulled Ye Wanshu back into the house.

Jiang Yueling looked at Gu Tingzhou with a wronged expression, choking back tears, and said, "Young Master, I was only thinking of His Highness, how could he do this?"

"Send her out."

Gu Tingzhou was in a state of mental turmoil and had no mind to question Jiang Yueling. He coldly instructed Xiaodie, who had come with him, "Temporarily settle Aunt Jiang in the North Garden in the north of the city. Without my permission, she is not allowed to step out of the courtyard."

"Gu Tingzhou, how could you be so heartless to me?" Jiang Yueling touched her belly with tears in her eyes, "I'm carrying the child of your Gu family."

Gu Tingzhou stared intently at the spot where her fingers were pressing on her lower abdomen, and something felt off.

When he was in Yuzhou, he had seen many of the young men and their families when they were six months pregnant. Jiang Yueling was now six months pregnant, and her abdomen should have been full and plump. However, when she pressed her abdomen, it would sink in as she pressed her fingers, which was not the condition that should be during pregnancy.

As he approached her step by step, Gu Tingzhou's gaze gradually darkened: "Aunt Jiang, are you really pregnant with my child?"

"What does the eldest young master mean by this?"

Seeing the doubt in his eyes, Jiang Yueling felt guilty and forced herself to remain calm, saying, "Although I come from a brothel, I have always been chaste and have only ever had one man in my life, the eldest young master."

Gu Tingzhou was too lazy to listen to her sophistry. He turned to the maid beside her and rebuked her, "Tell me, is Aunt Jiang really pregnant?"

Qingyu disliked Jiang Yueling in the first place. She was only willing to cover for her because she was the eldest young master's concubine. Now that she saw that Jiang Yueling was still not favored by the eldest young master, she had lost interest in playing along with her.

"Your Highness, Consort Jiang is not pregnant," Qingyu said truthfully.

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Jiang Yueling said angrily, slapping Qingyu hard across the face.

A patch of blood appeared at the corner of Qingyu's mouth. She wiped the blood away without changing her expression and continued to answer coldly: "Not only is Aunt Jiang not pregnant, but the matter of consummating her marriage with the eldest young master is also fabricated by her."

"You!" Jiang Yueling gritted her teeth in anger, and was about to slap Qingyu again in a fit of rage, but Gu Tingzhou grabbed her wrist tightly.