Chapter 261: Bearing Thorns to Admit Guilt

Seven years!

Gu Qingsong’s face was ashen, his expression dark. He even suspected that the two of them had been entangled seven years ago.

What made him feel especially nauseated and revolted was that Xu Chou’s appearance bore a resemblance to his own!

“What else did you find out?”

“Qin Yang’s elder brother-in-law works as the shopkeeper at Lady Liu Tea House. Xu Chou set up a scheme, selling top-quality tea leaves to Qian Qing at thirty percent below market price. He swindled thousands of taels of silver, and the deficit was covered by Qian Qing. However, for some unknown reason, Lady Liu didn’t demand repayment from Qian Qing. Instead, they arranged for him to work on the estate.”

While the guard found this puzzling, Gu Qingsong understood it clearly. Perhaps this scheme was orchestrated by Lady Liu and Xu Chou together for Qin Yang’s sake, with the sole purpose of pushing Qin Yang to betray him—tricking him into believing that his wife and son were both dead.

Gu Qingsong’s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot as he prepared to personally interrogate Lady Liu in the secret prison.

Suddenly, the doorman hurried in. “Your Highness, Deputy General Qin is here. He is at the gate, bearing thorns to admit his guilt.”

Gu Qingsong’s expression remained grim as he walked toward the gate.

A side door of the mansion was opened.

Qin Yang was shirtless, carrying a thorn branch on his back, kneeling in the bitter cold of winter. The icy wind whipped around him, leaving his skin blue from the cold, yet his back remained straight and upright.

“Your Highness, I am here to seek forgiveness!” Qin Yang, hearing the sound of approaching footsteps, raised his head to look at Gu Qingsong, who stood a few steps away. His teeth chattered from the freezing wind, and his hands were clenched into tight fists. “That year, after returning from the victory banquet, I was drunk and staggered into Lady Qian’s room. Seeing someone asleep on the bed, I thought it was Lady Qian and… I acted on her. It was only afterward that I realized it was the princess consort.”

“I wanted to confess and seek your forgiveness, but later, out of concern for my family, I foolishly decided to hide it. This gave the princess consort leverage over me. She used this incident to threaten me into doing her bidding, including deceiving you into believing that your wife and children in Great Zhou had already passed away.”

“When Gu Huaizhi came to Xiliang, I feared the truth would be exposed and told Lady Liu about it. She ordered me to silence Gu Huaizhi to prevent you and your son from reuniting and exposing her lies.”

Qin Yang, filled with regret, said, “I know I have committed a great wrong, and I cannot continue to make mistakes. I have come here to admit my guilt. No matter how you choose to punish me, Your Highness, I am willing to accept it.”

Gu Qingsong did not expect that this was the reason for Qin Yang’s betrayal, and he couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of sorrow in his heart.

If it hadn’t been for Gu Huaizhi’s words, Gu Qingsong, upon hearing Qin Yang’s confession, would have certainly sentenced him to a harsh punishment!

Looking back now, he realized that in the beginning, he sought power to exact revenge. But once he had gained power, the weight of his position bound him, leaving him with little freedom of choice. Now that his great vengeance had been fulfilled, he should have relinquished this heavy burden and returned to his homeland.

Instead, he had stayed in Xiliang for Gu Yunzhen’s sake.

Although he did not like Lady Liu, she had borne him a child, and that child was his responsibility.

Because of this sense of responsibility, he had abandoned his wife and children, who were waiting for him in Great Zhou.

The death of his youngest son was also something for which he bore an inescapable share of the blame.

Qin Yang had indeed made mistakes, but the one who was truly and gravely at fault was him!

“Qin Yang, you’ve been by my side for six or seven years. We were brothers who faced life and death together, people who could entrust their backs to each other. I never imagined there would come a day when you would betray me.”

An unprecedented sorrow rose in Gu Qingsong’s heart. “The bond between us ends here. Leave.”

“Your Highness—” Qin Yang looked at Gu Qingsong in shock, as though unable to believe that he would let him off so easily.

Gu Qingsong waved his hand dismissively and walked back into the mansion.

The doorman closed the gate behind him.

Gu Qingsong made his way toward the secret prison.

Hidden in the shadows, Lady Liu’s father watched Gu Qingsong’s departing figure, his eyes filled with a cold and sinister gleam.