“What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I say it? Isn’t what I said the truth?” Gu Wangchen waved his hand, sending someone to settle the little girl in his arms, and replied casually.
Sikong Yue ruffled her hair and fumed, “If you hadn’t framed me before, I wouldn’t have lost my job at the Jingfang Pavilion!”
“Oh, you mean that matter,” Gu Wangchen nodded calmly. “I almost forgot. Looking at you now… you really weren’t there to assassinate me that night?”
“No, no, no, no!” Seeing Gu Wangchen mention it again, she gritted her teeth and said, “How many times do I have to tell you? I wasn’t there to assassinate you. I truly felt a demonic aura!”
“Fine, let’s leave it at that.”
With that, Gu Wangchen glanced at her and turned to walk away.
*Slap* —
“You’re not allowed to leave!”
Gu Wangchen froze, his gaze shifting to the fair hand resting on his shoulder. He frowned slightly.
“Lady Sikong, what is the meaning of this?”
“You slandered me. Now that I’ve proven my innocence, you must apologize to me!” She stepped in front of Gu Wangchen, blocking his path, and spoke indignantly.
Gu Wangchen raised his hand to brush off the handprint left on his shoulder and said in a heavy voice, “Sikong Yue, I don’t have time to bicker with you right now. I am the person in charge of this attack. Move aside.”
“You — you’re not allowed to leave!”
Seeing Gu Wangchen try to bypass her, an inexplicable surge of annoyance rose in Sikong Yue’s heart. She stepped out to block him again.
“What… are you trying to obstruct official business?” Gu Wangchen stopped and looked down at this petite heroine. “Can you take responsibility if the timing for the joint trial of the Three Bureaus is delayed?”
“I’m not — I just want you to apologize!” Sikong Yue also knew her behavior was inappropriate, but she simply didn’t want to let this man named Gu leave just like that.
She wanted to clear her name!
“Why should I apologize? You burst in that night with a loud crash. You knew my identity, and since we already had friction, wasn’t my suspicion reasonable? Well?”
“Reasonable… it was reasonable, but I wasn’t an assassin. Wang Lingniang already investigated it!” Sikong Yue’s tone weakened, but then she remembered her innocence and became confident again.
“If it was reasonable, then that’s that. I didn’t frame you on purpose; it was for my own safety. Put yourself in my shoes, what do you think?”
“I… in that situation, I would…” Sikong Yue lowered her head, a trace of confusion flashing in her spirited eyes as she considered Gu Wangchen’s words.
‘Wait, you’ve led me in circles. Why should I use your logic to think? Regardless, you defiled my reputation, so you must apologize to me!’
“No time.” Gu Wangchen frowned, not wanting to deal with this heroine who was clearly starting to be unreasonable.
“Right now!”
“I said I have no time.”
“I want it right now!”
“…”
Gu Wangchen sighed softly, turned around, and shouted, “Someone, come here! This person is obstructing official—”
“Hey, hey, hey! Can’t you play fair?”
Seeing Gu Wangchen about to use his power to suppress her again, bad memories instantly flooded her mind. Sikong Yue hurriedly reached out and covered his mouth.
“Ptooey, ptooey —”
Gu Wangchen pulled out a silk handkerchief and wiped the dirt from his mouth, saying with disgust, “Listen, Sikong Yue. You don’t dare to face me head-on, yet you want me to yield to you? Are you making a wish or something?”
“I just want you to apologize!” Sikong Yue’s face flushed. She realized she had been blinded by anger and her recent behavior was indeed inappropriate.
But how could she back down when facing Gu Wangchen?!
“How about this,” Gu Wangchen said, looking at Sikong Yue, who had a look that was three parts aggrieved and seven parts bewildered. “I can apologize to you, but you have to help me.”
“Why should I help you…” Sikong Yue spoke reflexively.
Gu Wangchen pointed to the porridge shed that had just exploded. “Because you were an eyewitness. Didn’t you say you saw the culprit? So many people died in this explosion; don’t you think you should lend a hand to bring them to justice as soon as possible?”
Sikong Yue turned her head to look at the countless commoners crouching on the ground in rags, clutching corpses and weeping. Her eyes ached, and she bit her lower lip, reflexively clenching her fists.
Recalling her master’s teachings and the oath she had previously sworn, she immediately spoke up, “Hmph, fine. This land where the flowers of evil bloom must be cleansed by me, Sikong Yue!”
‘What a classic line.’
Gu Wangchen raised an eyebrow. He didn’t expect to hear Sikong Yue’s classic rebellious speech from the original plot here. He couldn’t help but find it amusing.
“Good. Now come with me. You are to follow my orders for everything. You do what I tell you to do, understand?”
“I’m not an idiot!” Sikong Yue curled her lip.
Leading the heroine back to the scene, Gu Wangchen shouted, “Who is the security officer in charge of this porridge shed? Get over here!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the security commander with the cleft lip immediately dropped his task and ran over to him. “Reporting to My Lord, I am Wei Yang, in charge of security for the porridge shed!”
Gu Wangchen looked the burly man up and down. His speech was slurred because of the cleft lip. “Setting aside the issue of your negligence for now, tell me every clue you have regarding the suspects.”
At the mention of “negligence,” Wei Yang shuddered. He swallowed and hurried to explain:
“My Lord, I knew — I knew this shed was set up by the Crown Princess, so I arranged for twenty people to patrol the perimeter. But — but I didn’t expect the Crown Princess to actually come here in person. The commoners who heard the news rushed over to see Her Highness’s grace, and the attackers took advantage of the chaos…”
“Enough, enough,” Gu Wangchen interrupted him. “I don’t want to hear about your difficulties. I only want to know what clues you have.”
“…”
Wei Yang lowered his head, silent for a moment.
“You know nothing at all?” Gu Wangchen raised an eyebrow.
“It… it was my failure!”
“Sigh…” Gu Wangchen let out a helpless sigh and said with disdain, “Not only did you fail to protect the Crown Princess properly, but you can’t even find a single clue about the attackers. I don’t think you need to be a security commander anymore.”
With that, he didn’t bother to waste any more time with this incompetent fellow. He flicked his sleeves and prepared to leave.
“My Lord, My Lord!” Wei Yang hurriedly moved in front of him, bowing with his hands clasped. “Wei Yang knows he made a mistake. I — I want to redeem myself. I want to go with My Lord to catch the attackers!”
“Do you have the ability?”
“I… I…” Wei Yang looked up at Gu Wangchen, his face turning bright red. His small eyes were filled with urgency. “I was a soldier transferred from Anxi. I can kill. I can clear the way for My Lord. You can leave all the dangerous work to me. Please, My Lord, you must give me a chance to redeem myself!”
“Are you that afraid of losing your position?” Gu Wangchen asked casually.
“Yes, I am indeed afraid of losing my post. But it’s more than that. My brothers,” Wei Yang turned to look at the corpses behind him covered in white cloth, “I want to avenge my brothers even more. Please, My Lord, give me a chance to redeem myself!”
“Fine,” Gu Wangchen thought for a moment and nodded. “Your motives are acceptable. Protecting your position, revenge… these are the strongest motivators. I’ll believe your words for now. Come with me.”
“Yes, My Lord!” Wei Yang’s face lit up with joy. He followed behind Gu Wangchen, hesitating for a moment before whispering, “My Lord, may I go put on my armor first?”
“Oh? You brought armor with you?”
“Yes, I still hold a military rank. I can still use the armor issued by the imperial court, so…”
“Go quickly and come back soon.”
While Wei Yang went to change his equipment, Nie Ling, a member of the Jingting Guard, walked quickly toward him with a stack of records in hand.
“Commander Nie, is the questioning complete?”
“It is finished. Please have a look, My Lord.”