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

Chapter 189 Message
Knowing that he would force his cousin to kill the emperor in three days, and that everyone in the world except himself would hate her, Gu Tingchen couldn't bear to deprive her of the last moment of filial piety with Ji Yuan.

“Alright, I’ll have Liu Zhang go and invite my father-in-law over right away,” Gu Tingchen replied and went out.

After he left, Xingtao came in with a smile and reported, "Miss, the maids, servants, and guards outside the courtyard have all been withdrawn."

Ye Wanshu was not surprised by this.

Gu Tingchen had previously had someone guard Cuiweitang only because he was worried that Gu Tingchen would find out about his aunt's death. Now that Gu Tingchen knows what happened in the mansion, he no longer needs to keep such a close watch on him.

After all, there were patrol battalions guarding the outside of the mansion, so he was not worried about escaping the Duke's mansion.

Jingxin waited at Cuiweitang for two hours before someone came to report that her father had been invited into the mansion.

Ye Wanshu led the maids to the outer courtyard hall, where they found her father sitting in the guest room, anxiously looking around.

"Father."

Ye Wanshu curtsied and looked him up. It had only been a little over a month since they parted, but he looked much older, with a lot of gray hair at his temples. For the first time, she felt a pang of heartache for him.

Seeing how much thinner his daughter had become, Ji Yuan felt a pang of sadness. He quickly stood up, took her hand in his, and inadvertently noticed the red mark on her wrist. He glared angrily at Liu Zhang: "Is this how you take care of your future princess?"

Ye Wanshu quickly shook her head at him and instructed Liu Zhang, "You all go out. I'll keep Father company for a while."

"This," Liu Zhang said, feeling troubled.

"What? I'm confined to the manor all day, and His Majesty has already abdicated. Are you worried that my daughter and I can cause any huge upheaval in the Duke's manor?" Ye Wanshu shouted sharply.

After careful consideration, Liu Zhang realized that since the Prince of Yongning had already entered the northern border, even if the young lady knew about this, there was nothing she could do.

As for the matter of regicide, no one knows about it except myself and Prince Dao'an, so there is really no need to make a fuss about it and be so wary of Miss Biao.

At least she will be the mistress of the royal palace in the future.

"Alright," Liu Zhang advised, "We'll be family soon. I know the Grand Secretary has a prejudice against our Prince. Miss, you should persuade the Grand Secretary to think more about our Prince in the future."

After saying that, he closed the door with peace of mind and waited outside.

"Wanwan, are you really sure you want to marry that scoundrel?" Ji Yuan asked, his eyes filled with tears. He deliberately raised his voice, but without making a sound, he took out a small crumpled piece of paper from his sleeve and stuffed it into Ye Wanshu's hand.

Ye Wanshu opened it and quickly glanced at it. She saw the character "成" (chéng, meaning "success") written on it, and knew that her father had accomplished the task.

“He’s not my cousin, please don’t hold a grudge against him anymore, Father.” In this short sentence, Ye Wanshu emphasized the words “cousin” and “don’t hold a grudge anymore”.

Ji Yuan pondered for a moment, and seemed to understand something.

Perhaps it was her daughter reminding her to contact Gu Tingzhou again.

Looking at his daughter with some confusion, Ye Wanshu nodded. Ji Yuan smiled knowingly, then took the crumpled paper back and swallowed it.

“You’ve already stumbled once in this mansion, and your father doesn’t want you to make the same mistake again,” Ji Yuan reprimanded loudly.

Both sentences were attempts to stop the marriage, which greatly displeased Liu Zhang outside the door.

Impatiently pushing open the door, Liu Zhang first addressed Ye Wanshu, saying, "Miss, it's not that I'm being unreasonable, but the Grand Secretary is far too old-fashioned. How can my Highness be compared to the Eldest Young Master?"

Liu Zhang impatiently ordered the guards to come in and chase Ji Yuan away, saying, "Prime Minister, please leave. You need not see Miss Biao again." Thus, the father and daughter's reunion lasted only a short while before Ji Yuan was asked to leave the mansion. Ye Wanshu pretended to be dissatisfied and wanted to chase after him, but Liu Zhang stopped her.

“Miss, the Grand Secretary has ill intentions. Why should you cause trouble for His Highness again because of him?” Liu Zhang reminded her, “After all, you are the future Princess Consort. You don’t want to be imprisoned in Cuiweitang again, do you? It would be very undignified if word got out that you were imprisoned.”

Ye Wanshu spat at him with a cold look in her eyes, then led Chunhong and Xingtao back to Cuiweitang.

As soon as they returned to the room, the two maids began to complain incessantly about Liu Zhang's arrogance. However, Ye Wanshu showed no displeasure on her face. She knew that her father was deliberately putting on an act for Liu Zhang's benefit.

The thought of Fu Mingchi's imminent arrival in Lin'an stirred up a wave of emotions within her long-calm heart.

She used to always try to avoid him, but now she wishes she could see him every moment.

If she could meet him again, she really wanted to pour out her heart to him about the pain of their separation, to tell him that she had always loved him and that she could never bear to have any more misunderstandings with him.

Outside Yezhou City
Just as autumn began, a torrential downpour started, the continuous rain making the mountain road even more difficult to traverse.

On the incredibly steep mountainside, a group of men in plain clothes struggled to climb the bare rock face. Every now and then, someone would fall off the cliff and disappear without a trace.

“Your Highness, we are only two hundred li away from Lin’an. You have been traveling for seven or eight days straight. Why don’t you stay and rest for a while, and wait for the rain to ease before continuing your journey? This humble general will lead men to Lin’an first to rescue the Princess.” Zhu Wencai advised with heartache, looking at the exhausted Fu Mingchi.

"In three days, it will be the coronation ceremony of Empress Dowager Gu. Everyone must arrive in Lin'an before the ceremony."

Fu Mingchi gripped the stone wall, glanced at the bottomless abyss below, and ordered, "Tell everyone to hold on a little longer."

Zhu Wencai glanced at the prince's bloodshot dark eyes, feeling extremely uneasy: "But..."

"No need to say more."

Fu Mingchi interrupted him: "Gu Erlang could have personally led the expedition to appease the people during the crisis in the North, but he sacrificed so many innocent women's lives in vain. This shows that he is vicious and will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. The longer Wan'er stays by his side, the more dangerous it becomes."

Zhu Wencai knew the dangers of this mission. If the three groups of people could not meet up on the designated date to launch a surprise attack on Lin'an, and the court discovered it, all of His Highness's plans would be in vain.

At that time, not only will it be impossible to rescue the princess, but His Highness and all the Yuezhou soldiers will also die without a burial place.

"Your Highness, please be careful," Zhu Wencai comforted her, "The Princess is kind and benevolent; Heaven will surely protect her."

After saying this, he focused on instructing his soldiers to continue their march in the rain.

Fu Mingchi glanced silently at the misty distance ahead, wishing he could see into Lin'an City in a single glance.

Thinking back to his own ruthless and resolute actions atop Huizhou City, he hated himself even more for not noticing Wan'er's thoughts in time.

Gu Tingchen sacrificed so many innocent women's lives and made Wan'er bear a bad reputation in order to keep her in Lin'an. If he knew about the secret edict, he would probably do something even more heinous.

After all, the emperor and the Gu family were already irreconcilable enemies. Since Empress Dowager Gu chose to usurp the throne, she certainly could not tolerate the emperor.

If the grandmother and granddaughter harbored the intention to harm the emperor and then pinned the charge of regicide on Wan'er, it would undoubtedly plunge Wan'er into an abyss of no return.

Thinking of this, Fu Mingchi felt even more eager, and his steps were as light as the wind, making the bare, steep slopes feel like flat ground, and his climbing speed increased considerably.

"Wan'er, you must wait for me."