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

Chapter 204 Persuading Gu An
Looking up at the city wall, Gu Tingchen seemed to be in a great hurry. Fu Mingchi didn't know what had happened, but looking at the fireworks in the northwest corner, he roughly guessed that Wan'er must have used some means to help him break through the city.

"Zhu Wencai, take good care of His Majesty and the Princess."

Fu Mingchi gave an order, then looked at Ye Wanshu beside him and softly instructed, "Wan'er, wait for me to come back."

"Be careful," Ye Wanshu said with some reluctance.

"Ah."

Fu Mingchi responded lightly and then took the lead, leading the Divine Might Army to launch a fierce attack on the city.

Hearing the commotion inside the city, the able-bodied men realized that the city was in chaos. They had no intention of fighting for the Gu family anymore and rushed down the city walls, making the already disorderly situation on the city walls even more chaotic.

In less than half an hour, Fu Mingchi and the Divine Might Army captured the West Gate.

The city gates opened wide, and Ye Wanshu accompanied Emperor Zhaolie into the city. However, they saw a ragged man leading several burly men running out from the fleeing crowd.

Upon seeing Ye Wanshu, the leader rushed forward, wailing hysterically, "Elder sister, they say Father is dead."

Upon recognizing Ji Ningxi's voice, Ye Wanshu took a closer look and saw that she was filthy all over, with not a clean spot on her face, and a foul stench could be smelled from a distance.

Subconsciously covering her mouth and nose, Ye Wanshu nodded heavily and silently stepped aside, revealing the body of her father being carried by the soldiers.

"Father, your daughter is unfilial, I'm too late." Ji Ningxi threw herself at the body, sobbing uncontrollably, "How could you so heartlessly abandon your daughter? How am I supposed to live now?"

The emperor sighed helplessly, his gaze gradually shifting to Ye Wanshu, who was lost in a daze.

Noticing Emperor Zhaolie's gaze, Ye Wanshu quickly regained her composure and answered truthfully, "Your Majesty, it was my second younger sister who led the death row inmates of Prince Qi's mansion to open up the secret passage leading into the city today."

Although she didn't expect her half-sister to come out alive, since she had accomplished her task, she should fulfill her promise: "Your Majesty, please forgive their death sentence."

Thinking of Ji Yuan's heroic leap from the city wall today, which united the Shenwei Army and turned the tide, Emperor Zhaolie felt a pang of sorrow as he looked at the body of his old minister, who was both his teacher and friend.

"I am greatly pleased that you have redeemed yourselves by helping me retake Lin'an," Emperor Zhaolie said, lowering his eyes. "Today I will spare you from the death penalty. I hope you will behave yourselves well."

The surviving guards knelt down in fear and quickly expressed their gratitude. Ye Wanshu tugged at Ji Ningxi, saying, "Hurry up and thank His Majesty."

Ji Ningxi was already crying her heart out and had no strength left to express her gratitude. She collapsed onto Ji Yuan's corpse and fainted from crying.

Ye Wanshu rubbed her temples speechlessly and had no choice but to send someone to take Ji Ningxi back to her residence first.

Just as they returned to the palace with the emperor, Tao Anran and Qian Zhang, the commander of the Divine Might Army, led a group of men to greet them.

Where is the Empress Dowager?

After decades of hard work, Emperor Zhaolie finally brought down Empress Dowager Gu. He was anxious to see her immediately.

Qian Zhang immediately lowered his head and reported with a dejected expression, "Prince Dao'an has fled south with Empress Dowager Gu and the Imperial Seal."

Emperor Zhaolie immediately sensed something was wrong: "Oh no, that scoundrel Gu Erlang has probably fled to Yuezhou."

"Your Majesty, please do not worry," Ye Wanshu comforted. "I have already instructed Yan Jin to rush back to Yuezhou to deliver the message. There are still 50,000 troops stationed in Yuezhou. Consort Zhang and Chief Secretary Zhao will surely be able to defend Yuezhou."

Emperor Zhaolie was still somewhat worried: "There are still 300,000 troops stationed in Huizhou and Yezhou. If they are taken over by the grandmother and granddaughter, the consequences will be unimaginable." Ye Wanshu was also worried about this. At present, the main force of Yuezhou army had gone to the northern border. With the 50,000 troops brought back by Tao Anran, it would be difficult to take back Huizhou.

After pondering silently for a moment, Ye Wanshu suddenly thought of someone.

Looking at Tao Anran, she asked urgently, "Brother Tao, after you stormed the city, did you find my uncle's whereabouts?"

Tao Anran nodded: "I thought the young master was still in the Duke's mansion. The first thing to do after entering the city was to rush to the Duke's mansion. However, the Duke of Rong is currently being held in custody by the Yuezhou army."

Ye Wanshu's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, immediately relaxed a lot: "Your Majesty, my uncle is not a man who doesn't understand the bigger picture. The generals in Yezhou and Huizhou are all his trusted confidants who fought alongside him in the past. Why don't you let me go and persuade him to convince Yezhou and Huizhou to surrender, so as to avoid fighting each other?"

Emperor Zhaolie knew Gu An all too well. Although he had always sided with Empress Dowager Gu over the years, he still had his own opinions when it came to matters of principle.

"Girl, then I'll trouble you to make this trip." Emperor Zhaolie said, "Go ahead and do your best. I will personally arrange your father's funeral with the rites due to a state mourning."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "As for the Rongguo Duke's Mansion, as long as Gu An can stop this fighting, I can preserve the Duke's Mansion's honor and pardon the Gu family."

Thinking of the Duke's mansion that her aunt had worked so hard to maintain for half her life, and of Qingmian and Tingji, Ye Wanshu knelt down and said with heartfelt gratitude, "Your Majesty, I thank you."

"Get down quickly."

He personally helped her up, glanced silently at Ji Yuan's corpse, and felt another pang of sorrow in his heart: "You and your daughter finally managed to put aside your past grievances, it's just a pity."

Ye Wanshu followed his gaze to her father's remains. Thinking of how he had traveled to Yuezhou months ago and humbly stayed by her side, just to be a good father, she felt a pang of sadness.

"I am content," Ye Wanshu said, gently wiping her moist eyes. "At least I know what it feels like to have a father's love."

After saying that, she quickly turned around and instructed Qian Zhang, "Please take good care of His Majesty, General Qian. I'm heading to the Rongguo Duke's Mansion now."

After bidding farewell to the emperor, she led Tao Anran and Zhu Wencai to the Rongguo Duke's Mansion in a hurry.

As dawn broke, the Rongguo Duke's mansion was already bustling with activity, with white banners hanging everywhere.

Upon seeing Miss Ye Wanshu return to the manor, Chunhong, Xingtao, Caiju, and Qiuli all came out to greet her, surrounding Ye Wanshu and crying, "Miss, you're finally back! We were so worried about you all night!"

Ye Wanshu glanced around the heavy atmosphere in the mansion and sighed softly, "Has Uncle woken up?"

"The Duke brought back the eldest son's body yesterday and had the mourning hall set up. He stayed there all night without eating or drinking. Miss, please go and persuade the Duke," Caiju pleaded.

Thinking about how her uncle had been indulging Gu Tingchen these past few days, Ye Wanshu couldn't help but snort coldly.

Taking slow, deliberate steps into the mourning hall, Ye Wanshu looked at the men kneeling before the two black coffins and walked straight in.

The sobs of the maids and servants lingered intermittently throughout the mourning hall. Ye Wanshu walked to the front of the hall by herself, took some paper money, and silently knelt down beside Gu An, throwing stacks of paper money into the brazier in front of her.

Gu An took a deep breath and said with great dissatisfaction, "You still have the nerve to come back?"

"I should be asking my uncle that question."

Looking at her aunt's memorial tablet, Ye Wanshu said coldly, "Does Uncle only have my second cousin as his heir? Aren't Qingmian and Tingji your own flesh and blood?"