The Prime Minister’s Darling - Chapter 1424

Chapter 1424: 693 Little Princesses’ Might! (Second Update) Chapter 1424: 693 Little Princesses’ Might! (Second Update) The monarch was a man of decisive action. When he declared the young princess would begin her enlightenment, he truly sent her to the Imperial Academy without delay.

After entering through the Meridian Gate, the first to be seen was Jinluan Hall, followed in succession by Zhonghe Hall and Baohe Hall, with the Imperial Academy located within Baohe Hall.

The students of the Imperial Academy were all children of the royal family, each significantly older than the little princess. Though the teaching masters delivered lectures in batches, having a four-year-old little princess sit quietly through a morning’s lessons was indeed a tall order.

Hence, as soon as classes were dismissed, she couldn’t wait to find her Uncle Emperor. She didn’t want to go to school anymore, no matter what anyone said!

After the monarch’s court session, he would rest in the Zhonghe Hall or review memorials for a while. By that time, it was already late; thus, the little princess thought the monarch would have left court and hurried to Zhonghe Hall to find him.

Who would have expected that instead of seeing the monarch, she saw Gu Jiao being taken away by Zhang Dequan.

Her eyes lit up, “Teacher! Why have you come to the palace? Are you here to teach me? Hurry, hurry, take me with you! I don’t want to attend the Grand Preceptor’s lessons anymore!”

And with that, the little princess decisively intercepted him.

Zhang Dequan dared not exercise force in front of the little princess. After all, if he were to make the little princess cry, the monarch would behead him.

After Zhang Dequan recounted the whole incident, he stood there as silent as a cicada in winter.

The study room was very quiet, quiet enough that it seemed an invisible pressure bore down on Zhang Dequan’s head.

Suddenly, Zhang Dequan felt his life might not last much longer.

“Uncle Emperor!”

A sweet little head peeked in from outside the door.

The monarch slowly opened his eyes.

The little princess awkwardly stepped over the threshold, which was higher than her shins. She was of high status and had always regarded herself as a senior member of the family, maintaining a dignified demeanor and grace in her movements. She had ceased hopping and skipping about since turning two.

Yet, today, she bounded over to the monarch’s side like an eager little rabbit, her tiny hands grasping the monarch’s sleeve as she adorably pleaded, “Uncle Emperor, may I ride horses with my teacher? Lingyu and the others said I can only go riding if you give your consent.”

Lingyu and the others were the palace maids who cared for the little princess.

The monarch responded, “Didn’t you say you were afraid of riding horses?”

The little princess declared with conviction, “But, but once I’ve learned, I won’t be scared anymore!”

The monarch looked at the little one, “How about I ask Prince Han to teach you how to ride? He can give you a young Hei Fengqi horse.”

Hei Fengqi horses were envied by all, and a young Hei Fengqi was even more precious.

Yet, to his surprise, the little princess showed no interest in the Hei Fengqi and asked astonishingly, “Are you replacing my teacher?”

Before the monarch could affirm, she looked at him with injury, issuing a soul-searching challenge, “Why!”

Very well, only one other had dared to question the monarch in such a manner, and that was Xuanyuan Li, who was now dead.

Zhang Dequan broke out in a cold sweat for the little princess.

However, he soon realized he was being naive; it was the monarch who should be sweating bullets.

Seeing the monarch didn’t reply, the little princess pouted, her eyes brimming with grievance.

The next second, she took a deep breath, tilted her head back, flapped her tiny arms behind her, and burst into tears with a loud wail!

Zhang Dequan saw the monarch’s body tremble at the sound!

When the little princess cried, it was as if heaven and earth were startled and ghosts and spirits wept. Her cry seemed to split mountains and crack the earth, evoking the force of a thousand soldiers with just one child’s tears!

It was no wonder then why those who made the little princess cry were put to death by the monarch.

“I won’t change your teacher, is that alright?!” the monarch conceded with a dark expression.

Instantly, the little princess stopped crying and gracefully curtsied, stating solemnly, “Thank you, Uncle Emperor. Then I’ll go ride horses with my teacher now!”

With her skirt hem in hand, she hopped out like a little rabbit.

…
As an unidentified assassin appeared in the Imperial Palace, raising concerns for the monarch’s safety, the palace’s defenses were strengthened and appointments with the ruler were temporarily suspended.

Despite the cancellation, as the monarch made his way from Jinluan Hall, aside from Gu Jiao, who had been taken by the little princess, the martial teachers were fortunate to witness the monarch’s regal countenance up close.

For them, seeing the monarch from such a short distance once in their lifetimes was as good as smoke billowing from their ancestral graves; they could boast about it for a tael or two of silver back home.

However, with the incident involving Nangong Li fresh in their minds, they couldn’t help but feel a bit frightened.

They had encountered a murderer’s case, and Lang’er had been implicated. He had even come close to being mistaken for the culprit and arrested.

Lucky for them, the little princess had appeared just in time.

The martial master rubbed his still anxious chest and, looking at Gu Jiao helplessly, said, “Why do I feel like ever since I’ve known you, life has become so thrilling!”

Taming the horse king was thrilling, playing cuju was thrilling, even entering the palace once was this thrilling!

Master Wu, with deep grievances, said, “I was just about to be scared to death by you, do you know that?”

Gu Jiao: “Oh.”

Master Wu: “…”

“You guys say… who really went into the palace and killed General Nangong?” Yuan Xiao asked.

“Shh, keep your voice down.” Mu Chuan lowered his voice and said, “Xiaoliu is the only eyewitness, even though he saw nothing, but what if the murderer thinks he did? Or what if, the murderer thinks that General Nangong told Xiaoliu his name before dying?”

Yuan Xiao paled with fright, covering his mouth and said, “Oh no! I hadn’t thought of that! By this logic, isn’t Xiaoliu in great danger until the murderer is caught?”

Master Wu agreed profoundly and nodded seriously, “I concur with Mu Chuan, after the news from the palace gets out, the murderer might harm Xiaoliu. Xiaoliu, these next few days I will come to your house to take you to school.”

Gu Jiao: “…”

I am the murderer, thank you.

Zhao Wei sighed, “The Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice are both working on the investigation. Let’s hope something comes to light soon; otherwise, as long as the murderer is at large, Xiaoliu won’t have peace.”

Mu Chuan and Yuan Xiao both nodded in agreement.

Master Wu remained silent.

Gu Jiao glanced at them and asked, “General Nangong is dead, do you all feel regretful?”

Zhao Wei said, “General Nangong was the heir of the Nangong Family and a renowned general of our Dayan Country. It’s truly lamentable to think he died abruptly in the Imperial Palace.”

What a lamentable situation.

Gu Jiao thought of the words Nangong Li had uttered during his hallucination before dying–if what he said was true, then there would be a hidden story behind the Xuanyuan Family’s rebellion from that time.

Moreover, the Xuanyuan Family wasn’t meant to fail; it was Nangong Li who had shot Xuanyuan Sheng in the back with a cold arrow, betraying his childhood friend as well as the Xuanyuan Family who had once supported the rise of the Nangong Family.

Yet the vast majority of people knew nothing about this. Public opinion had already tilted towards the victors. How true it was that victors are hailed as kings while the defeated are branded as bandits.

The Xuanyuan Family’s rebellion led to a sentence of death for everyone involved, while the Nangong Family, who betrayed the Xuanyuan, became the lauded heroes.

…

When they were at the Imperial Palace, all of them were interrogated by the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple; therefore, their return to the Academy was delayed, and it was already dark when they arrived.

Master Wu told Mu Chuan and the others to go back to their dormitories first: “Xiaoliu, I’ll escort you.”

“No need, my home is very close. I’ll go back by myself.”

“No, I won’t feel at ease,” Master Wu insisted.

Gu Jiao sighed, “Alright then.”

Master Wu escorted Gu Jiao back to the rented alley using his carriage.

Gu Jiao hopped off the carriage: “I’m home now, Master Wu, you can go back with peace of mind.”

Master Wu lifted the curtain, paused for a moment, and said, “These next few days you must be extra careful. If it really won’t do, you might as well move into the Academy. We have guards there, and I’m also there.”

Gu Jiao said, “I will consider it.”

If she didn’t say that, Gu Jiao worried Master Wu might keep her here talking until dawn.

Master Wu received a satisfactory answer and got on the carriage to head back.

Just as Gu Jiao turned around, about to push open the courtyard door, a long sword was suddenly pressed to her neck from behind.

The ice-cold blade reflected a piercing chill in the darkness of the night, its gleam caught in Gu Jiao’s calm and composed eyes.

Gu Jiao glanced at the sword out of the corner of her eye.

“Who are you really?”

The solemn voice of Mu Qingchen came from behind Gu Jiao.

Gu Jiao turned around nonchalantly and fixed her gaze on him: “You’re back in the capital?”

“Just returned,” Mu Qingchen looked at Gu Jiao with a complicated expression, “and heard about the incident in the palace.”

“Was it you who killed Nangong Li? Last time on the Avenue, I saw you being chased by Nangong Li, and I hid you in a carriage. You told me you threw a stone at Nangong Li, so that’s why he chased you. And your anger towards him was because his son, Nangong Lin, played dirty in the cuju field, purposely trying to set you up. I asked how you knew he was Nangong Lin’s father? You said you heard a servant call him General Nangong. I believed all of that! But how do you explain today’s events in the Imperial Palace!”

“You told them you didn’t recognize Nangong Li, you were lying!”

“You’ve been lying all along!”

“Tell me, was it you who killed Nangong Li?”