Chapter 266: Each to Their Own

“Father, I don’t want to leave, I won’t leave.” Gu Yunzhen clung to Gu Qingsong’s legs, crying hoarsely, “Don’t abandon me. You said that when I grew up, you would teach me horseback riding and archery. Have you forgotten?”

Gu Qingsong’s eyes instantly reddened, but he still did not relent. He pried Gu Yunzhen’s fingers off and said, “From now on, your surname will be Xu. Dongxue will stay by your side to take care of you. When you come of age, there will be a sum of money for you. You can do whatever you wish in the future.”

Qin Ming immediately picked up Gu Yunzhen and carried him out.

Gu Yunzhen struggled and screamed, “Father—”

Gu Qingsong turned his back, no longer looking at Gu Yunzhen, whose face was covered in tears and mucus.

Soon, Qin Ming and his group left Prince Changxing’s residence.

Not long after, Qin Luo also crawled out from the tunnel.

“Your Highness, the person has escaped.”

Gu Qingsong’s expression turned grim as he gave the order, “Take your men and ride swiftly back to Great Zhou. Stay by Guixiang’s side, and the moment you spot any trace of Liu Mao, capture him immediately.”

“Understood,” Qin Luo accepted the order and left.

Gu Qingsong looked at the empty room, faintly filled with the lingering scent of medicine, and his heart felt equally hollow.

He left the courtyard, intending to head to the study to carefully contemplate how to mend the father-son relationship with Gu Huaizhi and how to seek Liu Guixiang’s forgiveness.

The guards arrived, carrying the scent of blood, and reported, “Your Highness, those people inflicted 3,357 cuts on Lady Liu. How should we deal with them?”

“Send them to the frontier to perform hard labor,” Gu Qingsong said, rubbing his brow. He decided to enter the palace immediately to find Su Wan and learn more about the Gu family’s situation over the years.

——

Yaoguang Hall…

Gu Huaizhi sat by the brazier as Mo Yuan reported to him, “Master, Liu Rongran has been interrogated. In order to save his life, he confessed everything. Back then, the Liu family, in order to win over Prince Changxing, arranged for someone to ambush him, intending to stage a ‘beauty saving the hero’ scenario. However, they didn’t expect Prince Changxing to know martial arts and end up breaking one of the assailant’s legs.

The Liu family devised another scheme, orchestrating a vendetta scene where an ambush was staged as an “assassination” during Prince Changxing’s hunt. In the chaos, he fell off a cliff. The Liu family picked him up and took him to Xiliang, where he remained unconscious for some time…”

Mo Yuan recounted every detail of how Gu Qingsong was manipulated by the Liu family—step by step, lie after lie, toyed with in the palm of their hands.

Gu Huaizhi lowered his gaze, staring at the letter in his hand. His inner thoughts remained calm as he listened to Mo Yuan’s account, as though the story had nothing to do with him.

After a long silence, Gu Huaizhi folded the letter. “Does he know?”

Mo Yuan shook his head.

A faint sneer appeared at the corner of Gu Huaizhi’s lips. “No need to tell him.”

“Yes,” Mo Yuan replied, then asked, “How should we deal with Liu Rongran?”

“Didn’t catch Liu Mao?”

“He has been hiding in Prince Changxing’s residence. We are citizens of Great Zhou and cannot recklessly storm the prince’s residence to apprehend him. The men stationed to monitor the residence have yet to report back, so he has most likely escaped.”

“Keep Liu Rongran alive; he will be useful in the future.”

“Understood,” Mo Yuan said and then withdrew.

Su Wan finished packing the trunk and came to Gu Huaizhi’s side. Noticing his fatigued expression, she knelt by him and began massaging his temples. “Rest for a while first. Later, we’ll go to bid farewell to the Empress Dowager.”

“Alright.” Gu Huaizhi held Su Wan’s hand, pulling her into his embrace. Resting his chin lightly on her head, he gently rubbed it and asked, “If you were a mother, what would you do?”

“Each to their own, perhaps?” Su Wan pondered seriously. “Mother has a very strong-willed personality and probably can’t tolerate even a speck of sand in her eyes. After all these years, whether that person exists or not no longer matters. All she wants is to live well with her children and grandchildren.”