Chapter 311: You’re a Big Liar

The sudden news struck Gu Jingyun like a blow, leaving him completely stunned.

His mind was in chaos, a total blank.

All the blood in his body surged upward in reverse.

It was as if he had been stripped bare and thrown into a land of ice and snow.

Gu Jingyun clutched tightly at Mother Gu’s sleeve, his knuckles turning white. His large, dark eyes brimmed with tears, and his voice was laced with both sobs and panic as he vehemently denied it: “I am your child. I grew up drinking your milk. The first time I called someone ‘Mother,’ it was you. I don’t have any other parents. You are my mother.”

His cries tugged painfully at Mother Gu’s heart. Every word was like a blunt knife, cutting into her flesh—not all at once, but slice by slice, slowly and cruelly.

“After I gave birth to the second child, he was in poor health. I took him to the county for treatment. On the way, I found you… That was the fate that tied us together as mother and son. The person who was with you died from their injuries. Your birth mother didn’t abandon you on purpose. She loved you very much too.”

Mother Gu couldn’t hold back her emotions any longer. She pulled Gu Jingyun into her arms, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face. “Good child, I can’t bear to let you go. I wanted to raise you for the rest of my life. You are my life. We’ve relied on each other and made it through so much together.”

“I didn’t want you to acknowledge them. I wanted to hide you away, even if it meant living in hardship. But we… we can’t be selfish. You have your own birth parents. If you recognize them, there’ll be one more person to love you.”

“We will always be your family. You can come back anytime. There will always be a place for you in this home.”

“No! I don’t want them! I only have you as my mother! You are my real mother!”

Gu Jingyun was crying uncontrollably, completely unable to accept the truth. He sobbed and pleaded, “Mother, don’t abandon me! Please, I’ll listen to everything you say. I don’t want anything else. Can we just go back to Xinghua Village, please?”

Mother Gu was overwhelmed with sorrow, her heart softening. She turned to look at Gu Huaizhi.

Gu Huaizhi wasn’t feeling any better. His throat was tight with emotion.

Gu Baozhu was sobbing quietly on the side, her fingers clutching tightly at the corner of Gu Jingyun’s clothes, as if holding on to him would keep Second Brother from leaving them.

“Jingyun.” Gu Huaizhi called out softly and gestured to him, “Come here.”

Gu Jingyun shook his head desperately and clung to Mother Gu, his bright, teary eyes filled with distrust.

Gu Huaizhi clenched his fists and said gently, “You’re already a little grown-up now. You have the right to make your own decisions, and you have the right to know the truth. Today, we’re only telling you your true identity. Whatever choice you make in the end, we will respect it.”

“Liar! You’re a big liar!” Gu Jingyun shouted at Gu Huaizhi, his young heart deeply wounded.

“You left me in the mountains to study with Master Jiang and never brought me home. When I snuck back, you were angry. Had you already decided long ago to throw me away?”

Gu Jingyun was full of defensiveness and hostility. “Liar! You’re nothing but a liar!”

Su Wan’s eyes were sore and stinging, her heart aching as well. She wanted to say something.

But Gu Huaizhi raised his hand to stop her. He slowly walked up to Gu Jingyun, crouched down in front of him, and looked him in the eye. “There are things Big Brother did that didn’t take your feelings into account, that made you feel disappointed and sad. I want to say I’m sorry for that.”

He used a handkerchief to wipe the tears from Gu Jingyun’s cheeks. His dark eyes were filled with gentleness. “Big Brother never intended to abandon you. Whether you stay here or go back to your birth parents, Big Brother will always be by your side, protecting you for a lifetime.”

Gu Jingyun clenched his small fists, and the tears flowed even more fiercely. Yet he stubbornly refused to speak, afraid that if he showed even a trace of vulnerability, Gu Huaizhi would seize the opportunity to coax him into going to his birth parents.

“You are the Empress’s youngest son. Your older brothers before you died young. In order to protect your life, the Empress sent you away. The person who took you was hunted down and killed, and the Empress lost all trace of you.”

“You’ve studied the art of rulership under Master Jiang, so you should understand the current situation in court. If you return to your birth mother’s side, you will become the Crown Prince, and eventually, the Emperor. That path is bitter, exhausting, and even dangerous.”

Seeing the stunned look on his face, Gu Huaizhi let out a soft sigh. “If you don’t want to go, Big Brother will send you away. You can go live with Mother and Baozhu somewhere else.”

Gu Jingyun hadn’t expected that he was the young prince. It took him a long while to process it. He pressed his small lips tightly together and said nothing.

“Take your time to think it over. Give Big Brother an answer when the sun rises.” Gu Huaizhi gently patted his head, then stood up.

Su Wan could tell that Gu Huaizhi had softened as well, giving up the plan he had been preparing for all these years.

“Jingyun, your big brother would never lie to you. We all respect your decision.” Su Wan gently caressed his face and said softly, “I’m sorry. We kept this from you for so long and only told you at the very end.”

Gu Jingyun kept his head lowered. After a long time, he finally looked up. His eyes were red like a rabbit’s, brimming with tears as he gazed at Gu Huaizhi. “Can I stay?”

Gu Huaizhi nodded.

After holding it in for a moment, Gu Jingyun asked again, “Is the reason you wouldn’t let me go out… because of my identity? Is it dangerous?”

“Mm.”

Gu Jingyun bit his lip, his eyes dimming. “If I don’t go back… will you all be in danger?”

Gu Huaizhi was momentarily stunned and was just about to speak.

But Gu Jingyun didn’t want to hear it. He shoved Gu Huaizhi away and ran off.

“Jingyun!”

“Second Brother!”

Several people ran out after him and saw him dash into the room next door. With a loud bang, he slammed the door shut.

“What do we do? What do we do?” Mother Gu was so anxious she was pacing in circles, her voice filled with worry. “Huaizhi, Jingyun will be alright, won’t he?”

“Don’t worry. He’ll be fine,” Gu Huaizhi reassured her gently.

“I shouldn’t have listened to you. I shouldn’t have brought the child to the capital.” Mother Gu was filled with regret, wiping away her tears. “This child has always been mature for his age, and the more sensible a child is, the deeper he gets hurt. I’m just afraid… afraid that he’ll carry this knot in his heart and won’t be able to forgive us.”

Su Wan handed Mother Gu a handkerchief. “He won’t. Jingyun knows how much you love him.”

Her words only made Mother Gu feel even worse, her heart weighed down with guilt and sorrow.

“Please go rest. Huaizhi and I will stay here and keep watch.” Su Wan instructed the maid to escort Mother Gu to her room.

Mother Gu shook her head. “How could I possibly sleep? My heart feels like it’s on fire. I’ll stay here and keep watch too.”

Su Wan helped her into the room and had her sit down.

Gu Baozhu tugged at Gu Huaizhi’s sleeve, her small face tilted up as tears streamed down uncontrollably. “Big Brother, I want Second Brother. Please don’t send him away, alright?”

As she spoke, she burst into tears, sobbing, “I want Mother, I want Big Brother, I want Sister-in-law, I want Second Brother… Can’t we all just stay together, whole and complete?”

Gu Huaizhi didn’t answer. The choice was left to Gu Jingyun to make. He silently picked Gu Baozhu up into his arms.

Gu Baozhu’s eyes widened in fright, but then a wave of sorrow surged in her heart. She wrapped her arms around his neck and lay against his shoulder, crying her heart out.

Big Brother didn’t respond. He must really mean to send Second Brother away.

Gu Huaizhi carried her into the room. After she cried herself tired and quieted down, he set her down in a chair. “No matter where Jingyun is, he will always be your Second Brother.”

Gu Baozhu had just barely managed to hold back her tears, but upon hearing those words, they burst out again, turning her back into a little crying mess.

—

Cian Palace…

The Empress Dowager sat on the noblewoman’s couch, draped in her sleeping robe, her expression dark and gloomy.

A man in black knelt on the ground, blood dripping from his fingertips and pooling on the floor. He pleaded for forgiveness: “Empress Dowager, the Gu Residence set a trap. They used the young prince as bait to lure us in for an ambush. Out of more than a hundred men, I was the only one who escaped.”

“Smash—”

“Useless!” The Empress Dowager flung her teacup to the floor, her eyes filled with ruthless fury. “You were all carefully trained deathsworn—each one of you could take on ten. How could you be this useless?”

They were all wiped out!

The power she had cultivated over so many years, completely destroyed in a single blow!

“The Gu Residence! The Gu Residence! How could they possibly be this capable?”

The Empress Dowager was seething with rage, her chest heaving violently. A wave of murderous fury surged within her, and she wished she could issue an edict on the spot to have them all slaughtered!

The shadow guard said, “The Qi Family Army.”

The Empress Dowager nearly ground her teeth to pieces. “Was the item placed inside?”

“It was.”

“Go find Cao Guangyi right now. Take troops to surround the Gu Residence and conduct a thorough search!”

“Yes!” The shadow guard quickly accepted the order and hurried off.

Half an hour later, Cao Guangyi led troops to surround the Gu Residence and forcibly broke in to conduct a search. He personally went to the spot where the item had been buried and directed his men to dig it up, hoping to uncover evidence of the Gu Residence’s treason.

Unfortunately, even after digging three feet into the ground, they found neither weapons nor a dragon robe.

Cao Guangyi realized he had been played. He returned to the palace to report, then asked the Empress Dowager: “Who else knows about this matter?”

The Empress Dowager’s expression suddenly changed. “County Princess Lin’an!”

Cao Guangyi couldn’t help but speculate. “Su Wan is on good terms with Zhao Wei. Could it be that Lin’an, in order to marry Zhao Wei, secretly conspired with Su Wan to set a trap for you and weaken your influence? Once the young prince ascends the throne, you would have to withdraw from court affairs—why would she fear your retaliation then?”

A flash of cold light passed through the Empress Dowager’s eyes as she spat through gritted teeth, “Someone, take Lin’an and strangle her!”

—

Regent’s Residence.

Several people had sat in the room the entire night. There was no movement from the room next door.

Gu Huaizhi and Su Wan exchanged a glance, then walked to Gu Jingyun’s door and raised their hands, preparing to knock.

The door suddenly opened.

Gu Jingyun’s small figure stood in the doorway, his whole body slumped like an eggplant beaten by frost, completely dispirited.

His eyes were swollen like walnuts, and his once bright, watery eyes looked half their usual size. He seemed especially pitiful, tugging at one’s heartstrings.

“Jingyun, are you hungry?” Su Wan crouched down and cupped his face. “Big Sister-in-law can help you put something on your eyes?”

Gu Jingyun shook his head, listless, and only glanced once at Gu Huaizhi.

Gu Huaizhi recalled how, when Gu Jingyun was little and he was home, the boy used to follow behind him like a little tail, chattering endlessly. He had always been cheerful and rarely looked so dejected and downcast.

“Let’s eat first.” Gu Huaizhi reached out to take his hand.

Gu Jingyun kept his hands hidden behind his back, eyes fixed on the floor. He had meant to think things through the whole night, but somehow, he’d fallen asleep. When he woke with a start, he lay there thinking for a long time more before finally making a decision.

Big Brother and Sister-in-law had known for a long time who his birth mother was. The reason they brought him back to the capital was to send him to her side—to become the Crown Prince, to become the Emperor.

During the past half year by Master Jiang’s side, Gu Jingyun had learned many things. Master Jiang didn’t simplify lessons just because of his age. He taught him everything from astronomy and geography to the Four Books and Five Classics, the state of the court, inner workings of the royal family, as well as the art of leadership and the principles of governance.

Gu Jingyun did his utmost to absorb all that Master Jiang taught, hoping to grow quickly, so he could ease his brother’s burdens.

The more clearly he understood the inner workings of the royal family, the more he realized how fraught with danger it all was. One misstep, and even his bones would be devoured.

He didn’t want to enter the palace. He had no feelings toward it, and his birth mother was a stranger to him. He didn’t want to acknowledge her at all.

Once he went in, he could no longer stay by the side of his mother, Big Brother, Sister-in-law, and Third Sister.

He wouldn’t be able to truly be himself. From then on, he would be alone.

Surrounded by jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards.

But… could he really not go?

Last night, they had hurriedly left home and moved into the Regent’s Residence—something had clearly happened. His true identity had been discovered, and danger had followed, which was why they were now hiding here.

If he insisted on staying, Big Brother would send him away along with Mother and Third Sister.

The ones truly in danger were Big Brother and Sister-in-law.

Master Jiang had said that Big Brother was very clever, but he had taken shortcuts and was unwilling to endure hardship. Now, wanting to retreat unscathed was too difficult, unless the Emperor was one of their own.

Otherwise, if he took over the Regent’s position, it would lack proper legitimacy. Countless eyes would be watching him, waiting to seize on any mistake to drag him down into the abyss.

He had brought this suffering upon himself.

Gu Jingyun’s fingers tightly clenched the hem of his clothes. If… if he went back to that place, would Big Brother finally have rightful legitimacy?

Deep down, he understood very clearly—so long as he was still alive, those people inside the palace would never feel at ease.

He would spend his whole life in hiding.

“Big Brother, will you go with me, Mother, and Third Sister?”

Gu Jingyun stared fixedly at Gu Huaizhi without blinking.

Gu Huaizhi lowered his gaze and said softly, “We can’t leave together.”

“Is it because they know I’m here? You’re staying behind, working your way up, to protect us?” Gu Jingyun still felt heavy-hearted. In a muffled voice, he asked, “You had me study under Master Jiang, was it because you had already planned to send me into the palace? Why did you change your mind?”

Gu Huaizhi’s eyes were filled with complexity. They had already been exposed—there was no retreating unscathed. If Gu Jingyun was unwilling to enter the palace, then he would have to choose another young imperial heir.

“You are my younger brother.”

Gu Jingyun’s eyes turned red again despite himself, tears welling up in his eyes. “I’ve suffered so much and studied so hard, all because I wanted to make something of myself, to become a high official and live a good life. I worked especially hard while studying with Master Jiang. If I can’t become a high official in the future, then all that hardship I endured would’ve been for nothing.”

His small lips were tightly pursed, and though he didn’t look happy at all, the words he spoke were quite the opposite: “I’m the young prince. All of Great Zhou belongs to me. Whatever I want, I can have it. That’s the life I’ve always wished for. I don’t even need to wait until I grow up—I can live the kind of life others only dream of. So why wouldn’t I go back?”

Gu Huaizhi frowned, clearly surprised by his decision. “Jingyun, have you really thought this through?”

“I’ve thought it through very clearly! Last night happened so suddenly. I didn’t want to leave Mother, and that’s why everything turned out such a mess. I’ve thought about it for a long time. After I enter the palace and become Emperor, I can bring all of you into the palace to be with me.”

Gu Jingyun glared fiercely at Gu Huaizhi. “You said you’d protect me for a lifetime. If you dare lie to me, you’re dead meat!”

Gu Huaizhi picked him up and said, “No matter where you are, Big Brother will protect you. I won’t lie to you.”

How could he not understand? Gu Jingyun’s decision, was it not for their sake?

In that moment, Gu Huaizhi wanted nothing more than to throw everything away and take the whole family to live in seclusion in the mountains.

But once caught in the game, it wasn’t something one could simply walk away from.

Gu Jingyun, feeling wronged, opened his mouth and bit down hard on Gu Huaizhi’s shoulder, growling with all his might: “You’re not allowed to leave me behind. You promised me a lifetime, not a day less!”