Rebirth and Marriage: I am the Mistress of the Palace

Chapter 681: Even a Duke of Zhenguo can no longer suppress it

Gu Qianhan pulled Shen Wantang up, turned around and walked away, walking slowly because he was afraid that Shen Wantang would not be able to control himself and would rebel today and kill the emperor and the prince.

The emperor's face suddenly darkened. "Gu Qing, you seem to be increasingly fond of making decisions for me. I think it would be better if I let you sit on the throne!"

Gu Rongchang frowned, "Your Majesty, please don't frighten me. I'm merely teaching you a lesson to two of your unworthy juniors, lest you become angry and damage your health, wasting your rest time. Why would you even want to resign from the throne?"

"you!!!"

"How about this old minister call the people back, and then you can make them kneel in the rain and listen to your lecture?"

"Okay, you said it, call it back!"

"But I'm afraid this will tarnish your reputation. You are kind and compassionate, and you have a broad mind. You've always treated Qianhan with kindness, but you suddenly and inexplicably punished him, and even took his new wife with you. How will the world think of you? It's really outrageous to compete with a little girl of low birth, isn't it, Your Majesty?"

The emperor was speechless, but the murderous intent in his eyes grew stronger.

Of course, he was not competing with a little girl. He was just punishing the girl to make an example of her and warn the Duke's Mansion who the emperor was!

The one he really wants to compete with is Gu Rongchang, who has his own army and is very powerful!

That girl deserved the bad luck of falling into his hands. He hated the Duke's Mansion so much that he felt annoyed even when he heard the word "Gu". He was worried that he had no place to vent his anger. Now that there was such a suitable candidate, he would of course humiliate her so that he could use her to damage the reputation of the Duke's Mansion!

I didn’t expect Gu Rongchang to come to the palace to rescue people so quickly!

As expected, he had spies in the palace. Not long after Shen Wantang entered the palace, this old guy came!

The emperor looked at Gu Rongchang coldly, snorted, and turned to enter the inner hall.

The prince was about to follow the emperor in when Gu Rongchang stopped him, "Your Highness, please wait a moment. I have something to say to you."

The prince froze. He knew what the old man was going to say and he didn't want to hear it at all. However, he couldn't deny his uncle his respect.

He clenched his hands tightly in his sleeves, but a gentle smile appeared on his face: "What's the matter?"

"Your Highness, An Ning has reached the age of marriage. It's time for men and women to get married. Shouldn't we start planning for the wedding? Or has Your Highness already chosen someone else and no longer values An Ning? That's why there's been no movement these days?"

"Uncle, you misunderstood. How could I have someone else in mind? I think it's An Ning who has someone else in mind, right?"

"Your Highness, you are being unreasonable. You should know better than me how much An Ning likes you and how much she hopes to marry you and become the Crown Princess."

"Really? What did Qianhan say just now? Your family has already found a husband for Aning, and told me not to mention Aning's name again. Uncle, who is lying, you or Qianhan?"

Gu Rongchang remained unfazed. His face was polite, but his tone was firm as he spoke: "Qianhan was just joking, Your Highness, how could you take it seriously? I, Gu Rongchang, am not dead yet, and it's not Qianhan's turn as the second brother to plan a wedding for his sister at the Duke's Mansion! Your Highness had better think carefully about whether or not to marry An Ning, so that I can decide whether to continue helping Your Highness based on your decision!"

After Gu Rongchang finished speaking, he turned around and left with his umbrella.

The prince was left standing there, his face ashen.

How many times has this happened? I can’t even count how many times!

Gu Rongchang relied on the fact that he controlled a large number of troops and was rich enough to rival a country to threaten him time and time again!

He has been doing his best to develop his power and expand his industry in the past two years, but he still does not have enough manpower and he is still in dire need of money.

What has been making him even more upset recently is that some clueless thief has robbed several of his properties and hasn't collected even a single ounce of silver this month!

Others see him as the crown prince living in such a glorious state, but no one knows how strapped for cash he is right now. He can't even afford to reward people and has to ask his mother for it.

It wasn't like this before. No matter how much silver he wanted, Gu Rongchang would take the initiative to give it to him. He never lacked money!

What he wanted to do most now was to confiscate the entire Duke's Mansion and put all the wealth of the Duke's Mansion into his personal treasury!

He also secretly mentioned this matter to his father, but his father was afraid of Gu Rongchang and never agreed.

However, today...

Maybe this is a good opportunity to bring it up again.

Xiao Qingxuan straightened his robe and walked into the hall.

He waved his hand and drove out all the eunuchs serving him.

"Father, just now, my uncle forced me to marry An Ning again. What do you think...how should I respond?"

The emperor's face was so gloomy that it looked like rain. "Gu Rongchang, damn him! He's becoming more and more lawless! He even wants to interfere in your marriage. He wants the daughters of the Gu family to be queens for generations, and for the emperor to be a puppet of his family!"

"Father, I actually like An Ning, but my uncle is too strong. I'm afraid that if I really marry An Ning in the future, my uncle's power will grow even stronger, and by then, he'll have the final say in the world."

The emperor looked at him coldly and said, "You'd better wake up. Any petty love is meaningless in front of the country! Your Crown Princess can be anyone, but she can't be from the Gu family!"

"Yes, my father taught me that. But the Gu family is becoming more powerful day by day, and this generation of the Gu family has produced many talented people. There's the well-rounded and skilled Gu Qianling, and the renowned and gifted Gu Qianhan. In the future, I'm afraid there will be two more Dukes of the State!"

Xiao Qingxuan sighed, "Father, we can't even suppress one Zhenguo Duke. If there are two... the consequences will be unimaginable."

The emperor was even more wary of the Duke of Zhenguo and his two sons who had not grown up crooked at all than he was.

Other families cannot be rich for more than three generations, and their descendants are either playboys who do not work hard, or are not as brave and resourceful as their ancestors and only know how to pursue pleasure. However, every one of the sons of the Gu family has no bad habits. They all study hard and practice martial arts with great effort, and their ambition is frightening.

What’s even more terrifying is that the Gu family also raises their daughters very well. Regardless of whether they are legitimate or illegitimate, they are all well-educated, receive generous dowries when they get married, and marry into prominent and wealthy families.

As time went by, all of the Gu family's relatives became very powerful. They were intertwined, supported each other, and united against the outside world.

The emperor's voice was gloomy: "Xuan'er, don't worry, there won't be two Zhenguogongs, because I won't allow it! The throne of Dafeng belongs to the Xiao family, so it's not the turn of the Gu family to tell you what to do!"

"So, Father, what you mean is... that you are going to start weakening the power of the Duke of Zhenguo?"