Chapter 307: Preparing on Both Fronts

Princess Yongfu was afraid her eyes were deceiving her. Without waiting for Yu Fei to help her, she quickly got down from the carriage and stared fixedly at Gu Jingyun’s face.

He was practically the spitting image of the Empress’s eldest son, who had died young.

Because he was the eldest imperial grandson^[1]長孫 = eldest grandson (typically refers to the son of the crown prince or the heir apparent’s son). and was especially intelligent, his only shortcoming was his frail health and tendency to fall ill. He was deeply cherished by the Emperor, who often kept him close.

Back when Princess Yongfu was still unmarried and living in the palace, she often went to Qinzheng Hall in order to marry the Marquis of Guangyuan. She became quite familiar with the eldest imperial grandson. After all, if she managed to coax him into good spirits, he could say a few words when the Emperor was angry, and that would help smooth things over.

Given how much her father, the Emperor, valued him, the empire would likely be passed on to the eldest imperial brother. That child might very well become the crown prince in the future, so currying a bit of favor wouldn’t do her any harm.

Unfortunately, just a few years after she was married, the eldest imperial grandson died young. And then she heard a surprising piece of news: her father, the Emperor, had always favored her second imperial brother as the heir to the throne.

Perhaps it was out of pity for the eldest imperial grandson’s frail health that her father, the Emperor, doted on him.

It was just that by then, her father, the Emperor, had already passed away.

Later, she heard that the Empress adopted the Crown Prince (the second imperial brother) to raise under her care. A few years later, she became pregnant again. But perhaps she was fated to be without children, as her baby died shortly after birth.

The boy before her now looked to be about eight or nine years old. With a quick calculation in her mind, he was about the same age as the Empress’s second child would have been.

Princess Yongfu was shrewd and deeply perceptive, prone to suspicion. An ordinary person, upon seeing someone who merely resembled another, wouldn’t think much of it.

But she was different. Once a doubt took root in her heart, her thoughts would spiral, and all the suspicious points would begin to surface.

For instance, the Empress’s affection for Su Wan. Despite her marrying a man from a humble background, the Empress had never stepped in to stop it.

Given Su Wan’s current status, why would the Defender Duke’s household show her such respect? Yet in everything Old Madam Zhao said, there was an unmistakable tone of elevating Su Wan!

Princess Yongfu glanced at the residence before her. Never mind that Su Wan was said to be out of favor in the Marquis of Dingyuan’s household, even the Marquis himself wouldn’t be able to claim a property like this!

If this child was the Empress’s… then everything would make sense.

Princess Yongfu’s gaze grew darker. The Empress had hidden things far too well.

Who knows what thought crossed her mind, but the corners of her lips lifted slightly. Heaven never seals off all paths. As long as she had this little one, the Empress Dowager would surely help her!

Gu Jingyun keenly sensed that the person before him was looking at him in a strange way. With a loud bang, he shut the door.

Princess Yongfu raised her brows slightly but didn’t act rashly. Instead, she got back into her carriage and returned to her residence, planning to scheme carefully and go to the palace tomorrow to negotiate terms with the Empress Dowager.

The sound of the departing carriage echoed into the house. Slowly, the door creaked open a sliver.

Gu Jingyun pressed his eye to the crack, confirming that the strange person had left. His brows furrowed tightly together.

“What’s wrong, Second Brother?” Gu Baozhu crouched down, her small face also pressed to the crack in the door, but she didn’t see anything.

“There was a strange woman outside.” Gu Jingyun thought of how Gu Huaizhi had warned him not to run around recklessly, and recalling the unsettling way that woman had looked at him, he lost all interest in going next door to see his cheap father.

He grabbed Gu Baozhu by the back of her collar, pulled her back, and shut the door.

“Mo Yuan! Mo Yuan! Come out here!”

Gu Jingyun grabbed Gu Baozhu’s hand and ran toward the front hall.

The gatekeeper at the side let out a sigh of relief and bolted the door shut.

The two little ones ran to the shadow wall and saw Mo Yuan standing guard there.

“Mo Yuan, just now a carriage stopped in front of the gate. There was an old woman standing there. She looked really wealthy and stared at me for a long time. You could tell at a glance she was up to no good.”

“Hurry and go after her to see who it was! Her carriage just left, not long ago. The curtain was dark purple, and there was a bird embroidered on it that looked like a phoenix.”

A zhui bird?

Mo Yuan instantly knew who it was.

Princess Yongfu!

To highlight her status, her carriage was embroidered with a zhui bird. People who recognized it on the road would make way for her out of respect.

“You’ve caused trouble,” Mo Yuan said expressionlessly. “When the master returns, you’ll have to confess your mistake yourself.”

Gu Jingyun was instantly dumbfounded.

“I… Am I not allowed to be seen by others?”

He looked at Mo Yuan with wide, pleading eyes.

“Mm.”

Gu Jingyun touched his face, which he was certain would be even more handsome than his older brother’s when he grew up, and felt incredibly wronged.

He sighed heavily and said, “It’s all Mother’s fault for giving birth to me so handsome.”

Mo Yuan: “……”

Gu Baozhu: “……”

Gu Jingyun widened his eyes, looking at the indescribable expressions on their faces. He pouted and said, “Did Big Brother cause trouble out there? And now the people outside can’t catch him, so they want to grab his little brother for revenge?”

“You can think of it that way,” Mo Yuan said, then added a warning: “Go find the Young Lady.”

With that, he quickly left the residence.

Gu Jingyun realized something was wrong. All his earlier thoughts vanished as he pulled Gu Baozhu along to find Su Wan. Maybe their sister-in-law would have a solution.

As soon as they stepped into the main courtyard, they saw Su Wan coming out of the house. The two of them, one on each side, pulled her back inside.

“Sister-in-law, we’re in trouble. Please help us figure something out!”

Before Su Wan could even ask, Gu Jingyun hurriedly recounted everything that had just happened: “Mo Yuan’s gone to take care of it. Did I really cause big trouble? Is that why Big Brother didn’t want me to come back?”

Because of the matter with County Princess Lin’an, Su Wan had been paying special attention to the Marquis of Guangyuan’s household, and she quickly guessed that the one who had come to the Gu residence was Princess Yongfu.

If Princess Yongfu had come, she must have had a reason. After seeing Gu Jingyun and staring at him for quite a while before leaving, it was very likely she had begun to suspect his identity.

Su Wan gently touched the faces of the two little ones and smiled softly. “I thought it was something serious. Mo Yuan was just trying to scare you. But your big brother and I have indeed offended some people, so you two shouldn’t run around outside. Be careful, or our enemies might try to use you to threaten us.”

No matter how clever Gu Jingyun and Gu Baozhu were, they were still young, and they trusted Su Wan completely. They didn’t suspect a thing.

The two of them pouted. “Mo Yuan is so mean. He definitely scared us on purpose so we wouldn’t run off again.”

“That’s right, you really mustn’t run around,” Su Wan said gently, rubbing their heads with affection. “Go to the study and review your lessons. I need to go out for a bit.”

“Okay!” the two of them replied cheerfully, hand in hand as they headed to the study.

The smile on Su Wan’s face disappeared as she raised her voice and called out, “Qi Sixteenth!”

Qi Fifth appeared in front of her. “Young Miss, what are your orders?”

“Where’s Sixteenth?” Su Wan asked, puzzled.

Qi Fifth scratched his head. “Sixteenth said he was getting moldy staying in the residence, so he switched assignments with me and went out on a task.”

Su Wan didn’t think much of it. “In a moment, pick two people. Send one to find Mo Yuan at your young master’s place, and another toward the palace. If either of them encounters anyone from the Marquis of Guangyuan’s household, intercept and silence them on the spot. As for you, infiltrate the Marquis of Guangyuan’s residence. If Princess Yongfu is there, sprinkle this on the clothes she plans to wear.”

She rummaged through the cabinet and handed him a porcelain bottle.

“Stay hidden and keep watch. If anything happens to Princess Yongfu, make sure everyone around her is taken care of.”

Qi Fifth put away the porcelain bottle and asked, “If Princess Yongfu heads to the palace, should we intercept and silence her as well?”

“Mm,” Su Wan affirmed, her tone firm. “No matter who it is, as long as they’re connected to Princess Yongfu.”

Princess Yongfu’s death was a far better outcome than the risk of Jingyun’s identity being exposed.

“Yes.” Qi Fifth selected two people, and the three of them split up to carry out their tasks.

Su Wan had originally planned to go out and buy medicine. She and Gu Huaizhi weren’t planning to have children for the time being, so she wanted to get contraceptive pills.

But the current matter was too urgent. She couldn’t afford to deal with anything else for now, and decided to head to the palace to see the Empress, preparing for both possibilities.