The Prime Minister’s Darling - Chapter 669

Chapter 669: Chapter 316: The Group’s Beloved Jiaojiao (First Update)_3 Chapter 669: Chapter 316: The Group’s Beloved Jiaojiao (First Update)_3 Ha.

Everyone laughed.

Lady, you’re too naive, do you even know who these two are? One is the supreme ruler of Zhan Country, and the other is the unrivaled master without the crown. Do you really think they would play rock, paper, scissors with you?

Hehehe!

The next second, everyone was left speechless.

The two top bosses of Zhan Country actually rolled up their sleeves and started playing rock-paper-scissors in the Imperial Garden.

The result is needless to say.

Empress Dowager always wins.

The Emperor gnashed his teeth: “Three-three-three, best of three!”

The Emperor gnashed his teeth again: “Five-five-five, best of five!”

Empress Dowager looked at him with a pitying look: “I have already won three rounds.”

The Emperor, his heart pierced by a thousand arrows: “…”

Being the number one gambling god in Bishui Alley doesn’t come easy. Empress Dowager has never lost a game of rock-paper-scissors.

“Hmph!” Empress Dowager proudly took Gu Jiao back to the Renshou Palace.

The Emperor’s mouth twitched fiercely.

“Ahem!” Prince Ning cleared his throat and asked, “Father, who is that Lady Gu…”

“She is my benefactor.” The Emperor sighed. “She healed me and saved me from the assassination attempt. And also…”
He paused before continuing, “The glutinous rice mortar and the bellows were also handmade by her.”

Prince Ning’s handsome face expressed surprise: “Ah… Is it really her? So, she’s the daughter of the Marquis Residence?”

Some things that are not known to the public are widely spread within the palace. Although Prince Ning has been living outside the palace, he is familiar with incidents happening within the palace, like Gu Jinyu taking credit for the real Miss Gu.

Prince Ning showed a sudden realization: “I have seen her at the scene of the accident. She was rescuing patients and even risked her own life to save a patient in the explosion. Colonel Gu stepped up to protect her. No wonder they seemed so close, they are siblings. I’ve heard she grew up among the commoners, but who would have thought she had such skills.”

The Emperor said: “I asked her where she learned her medical skills. I wanted to invite her teacher to come out of retirement, but she said her mentor had passed away.”

Prince Ning sighed regretfully.

“By the way, how is the investigation you were conducting going?” asked the Emperor.

Prince Ning knew that the Emperor was asking about the assassination attempt on the Princess Consort. He came to the palace today to report the results to the Emperor. He said: “I checked. It’s not the Chen Nation’s hostage.”

“Not him?” The Emperor looked skeptical.

Prince Ning nodded: “The hostage from Chen Nation recently lost a general and wouldn’t dare to cause trouble again in such a short period of time. He and his subordinates have been staying quietly in the palace.”

The Emperor’s gaze turned cold: “If it’s not the hostage from Chen Nation, there’s only one other possibility.”

Prince Ning looked at him: “Father, do you suspect…”

The Emperor said coldly: “Isn’t it obvious? It’s her! I know she is your royal grandmother and also your aunt, you do hold her in special regard. But apart from her, who else could do such a thing?”

Prince Ning, caught between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, was also quite conflicted. Among the many princes in the palace, only his status is somewhat awkward: “The Prince Consort of Rui and I are close friends, and also loved by the royal grandmother.”

Prince Rui is from Prince Ning’s lineage, therefore, the Empress Dowager would have no reason to take action against the couple.

The Emperor huffed coldly: “Have you forgotten how close Prince Rui and his wife are to Concubine Jing? She’s just jealous of Concubine Jing! She can’t bear to see anyone treating Concubine Jing well!”

But Prince Ning shook his head: “The royal grandmother wouldn’t do this.”

The Emperor said indifferently: “Forgot about her poisoning Ahen years ago. If not for the palace maid who discovered it early, Ahen would have died.”

The Emperor never said a bad word about the Empress Dowager in front of the Crown Prince, but in front of Prince Ning, he had no reservations.

Prince Ning understood that this was not just a form of respect, but also a test.

The Emperor was testing his emotions, his filial piety, and his loyalty.

Prince Ning insisted: “It’s not the royal grandmother, I’m sure of it.”

The Emperor was not pleased: “What makes you so sure?”

Prince Ning saluted, “Because when my third younger brother and sister were assassinated, the daughter of Marquis Ding’an was also present, and she nearly died under the assassin’s arrow. The Imperial Grandmother loves her so much that she won’t let anyone harm her.”

The Emperor frowned at Prince Ning, “Why didn’t you say this yesterday?”

Prince Ning said shamefacedly, “I didn’t know about her relationship with the Imperial Grandmother and Father, I thought she was just an ordinary physician, not worthy of mentioning.”

No matter how deep the Emperor’s prejudice against the Empress Dowager was, he had to admit that she had genuine affection for the young divine doctor.

She would not choose to attempt assassination when the young divine doctor was present.

But if it wasn’t the prince of the Chen Kingdom, and it wasn’t the Empress Dowager, then who else could it be?

Who would target the Princess Consort of Prince Rui?

Thinking of something, Prince Ning said, “Father, since the identity of the young divine doctor is so unique, could the assassin not have targeted the third brother and sister yesterday, but instead, her?”

Targeted the young divine doctor?

The Emperor’s expression instantly became cold, so cold it was somewhat terrifying, even more terrifying than when Prince Ning told him that the Princess Consort of Prince Rui was being assassinated.

Prince Ning was taken aback, was the daughter of Marquis Ding’an so important in the Emperor’s heart? More important than his own daughter-in-law and unborn grandson?

Gu Jiao left Renshou Palace after lunch.

As she was leaving, Gu Jiao asked the Empress Dowager, “Great-aunt, have you ever heard of the Xianle Inn?”

The Empress Dowager furrowed her brows in thought, “I can’t remember it.”

Although the Empress Dowager’s memory had indeed recovered, it was only mostly recovered, with some memories still missing.

As such, she couldn’t guarantee whether she had never heard of it or had forgotten about it after hearing it.

“Is Jiaojiao inquiring about this?” the Empress Dowager asked.

Gu Jiao replied, “No, just casually asking, great-aunt doesn’t need to inquire.” So as not to alert the snake in the grass.

If the Xianle Inn knew about the assassination attempt against the Emperor by people from the Chen Kingdom, it meant Yuan Tang had some dealings with the Xianle Inn, and he knew the Emperor’s whereabouts like the back of his hand; he must have informants in the palace.

Whether these informants were arranged by Yuan Tang himself or through the Xianle Inn was unknown.

Once the storm passed, she would revisit the Xianle Inn.

Gu Jiao returned to the Medical Hall.

Liu Yisheng was also present.

“He’s been waiting for a long time,” Xiao Sanzi whispered, “He specifically came to wait for you.”

“Got it.” Gu Jiao nodded and called Liu Yisheng into the consulting room.

Liu Yisheng said, “I’m not here for medical treatment or to ask for medicine, I came to tell you, yesterday’s assassination attempt had nothing to do with Yuan Tang.”

“Okay.” Gu Jiao nodded.

Liu Yisheng was taken aback, “You…don’t ask me how I know it had nothing to do with him? Evidence? Proof?”

Gu Jiao merely uttered, “If you say it has nothing to do with him, I believe you.”

And that was it, no need for evidence or other explanations.

Liu Yisheng was suddenly choked up.

I believe you.

Ever since the Liu family was destroyed, he hadn’t heard these words again.

“Why?”

Why believe him, why never doubt him?

Gu Jiao stayed silent.

He stood up to leave, walked out of the room, then hesitated and said, “You…be careful.”

Watching his retreating figure, Gu Jiao thought about the dream of returning to the Marquis Residence.

Why did I believe you…

Because I simply gave you a bowl of water, but you collected the corpses and buried the bones for me.