I dare not

As if she didn't understand, Gu Qiao said in a business-like tone: "If the Third Highness is fine, please forgive me and leave first."

Xiang Zenan frowned with thick black eyebrows, "You don't want to talk to me?"

Gu Qiao cupped her hands and bowed: "I dare not."

A voice came from the banquet hall, Xiang Zenan grabbed Gu Qiao's hand and left.He exerted some strength, but Gu Qiao couldn't break free and had to be led away by him.

The two trotted all the way through the Merlin to the lake.

This place is far away from the palace, and the surroundings are pitch black, only the calm lake reflects the full moon.

Xiang Zenan let go of his hand, and Gu Qiao immediately took a few steps back, deliberately putting on an annoying admonishing appearance, "The prince and the courtiers privately give and receive, which may arouse suspicion, please think twice, Your Highness."

Xiang Zenan's tone was not kind, "The prince and the courtiers... privately exchange?"

Gu Qiao didn't speak, but stood with lowered eyebrows, which was very polite and alienated, which made people very angry.Xiang Zenan stared at him for a while, then suddenly put his hands around the back of his neck and pressed him into his arms.Gu Qiao was surrounded by the breath of the third prince, a little dizzy, and even forgot to resist.

"This is called giving and receiving in private." Xiang Zenan leaned against his ear, traced his cheek with the tip of his nose, and then pressed a kiss gently on his lips.

Gu Qiao's eyes were wide open, her heart beating like a drum, as if the peach blossom wine's stamina was only coming to the fore, and she was a little unsteady.

"You're angry with me." Xiang Zenan buried his face into his neck, tightly against his slightly hot skin after drinking.

The two had slept in each other's arms and kissed skin to skin for so many nights in Lianzhou, and they were already familiar with each other's bodies, so it was not against their harmony to hug each other without thinking, as if they had never been separated.

Gu Qiao let him hold her as if giving up, and sighed deeply, "Fool."

With the two words of helplessness and doting, Xiang Zenan seemed to touch a certain nerve, and he kissed those slightly parted lips fiercely without hesitation.

Gu Qiao closed her eyes and thought in a broken jar, "Forget it, monarchs and ministers, let's talk about it tomorrow." She also stuck out her tongue and tentatively responded to the kiss. Xiang Zenan was encouraged and kissed harder, as if to Gu Qiao took it apart and ate it in his stomach.

The hazy moonlight shone on the two of them, and Gu Qiao's mind was already in a mess. He thought distractedly, if he wasn't a civil servant, and he wasn't the prince, the two of them would be in Lianzhou and it would be good for this life.

When the lips parted, Gu Qiao felt that her lips were swollen, so she stuck out her tongue and licked it.

Xiang Zenan's eyes were deep and his voice was hoarse: "We..."

The sound of urgent footsteps not far away interrupted what he was going to say, and a group of patrolling guards were coming here with lanterns.

Gu Qiao wanted to hide in a panic, but Xiang Zenan pulled him back, turned his back to the outside, and said softly, "Don't move."

The leading guard saw clearly that the figure was the Third Prince, and immediately knelt down on one knee, "I don't know that His Highness the Third Highness is here, so I interrupted you boldly, and I beg your Highness to forgive me."

Xiang Zenan leaned slightly to block the guards' probing eyes, "Today's Baiguan palace banquet should be strengthened, what is the crime? We need to pay more attention to the dark places around the banquet hall to prevent accidents among drunk officials."

"Yes!"

Xiang Zenan wanted to cover it up, but the guard didn't dare to look any further, so he led the patrol team and left quickly.

At this moment, Gu Qiao finally woke up from the cold wind. He cleared his throat, adjusted his mood, and said in a respectful tone: "Your Highness, I have retired."

It was so docile and soft just now, but it turned into this again in a blink of an eye. Xiang Zenan saw through his sternness, and curled his lips, "Are you going back to the banquet hall like this?"

Gu Qiao paused, her lips were still slightly swollen, her hair was messed up, and her official uniform was crooked, so how could she explain it to others when she went back like this?

"I send you."

The next day, all the officials in the DPRK and China found out that Mr. Gu was drinking too much in the palace, got so drunk that he passed out, and was sent home in a carriage by the palace people.And the second prince also got the news that the third prince and Gu Qiao had a secret talk by the lake.

The first court meeting after the Lantern Festival was held in Fengtian Hall. There were a large number of participants, and all the main officials from all provinces and ministries were required to be present. Gu Qiao, who was collecting relics, was fortunate to stand at the front.

On the first day he took office, Gu Qiao was very low-key. He knew that he was standing on the cusp of the storm, and every word he said might cause waves, and the third prince behind him would bear the price.Lan Tailang, who used to be outspoken and daring to speak up, became cautious when he stood in the position of admonisher. Some people who expected him to burn the fire on the first day could not help but feel disappointed.

He also had to attend the political affairs hall meeting after the Great Court Meeting, and he didn't go home until it was twilight.

At this time, the Taisheng Gate has been closed, and one has to go out from Hengyang Gate and then go around to Zhuque Street to return to Ouyang Mansion.

This area is the oldest residential area in the capital, and there are alleys in the middle of the low-rise houses that can go directly to Suzaku Street.Gu Qiao was tired and sleepy, so she walked straight to the alley without thinking about it.

Lanterns of Lantern Festival are hung on the street, colorfully decorating the streets with people coming and going, making the alleys even more quiet and gloomy.

When walking deep, Gu Qiao suddenly felt an inexplicable pressure.

In an instant, the sound of metal breaking through the air came from behind, and Gu Qiao's hairs stood on end. There was no time to react, and his mind went blank for an instant.

With a "ding", the metal fell to the ground, and then a black figure jumped down from the roof, entangled with the black figure behind Gu Qiao.

Gu Qiao walked a few steps close to the wall, watching two groups of black shadows fighting in the middle of the narrow alley.Soon one of them jumped onto the roof and ran away, the other wanted to chase after him, looked back at Gu Qiao and stopped again.

"Are you OK?"

Gu Qiao felt that the voice was a little familiar, but couldn't remember where she heard it before, so she shook her head and said, "I'm fine."

"Tsk," the man looked at the direction where the black shadow was escaping, and said with a little regret, "Forget it, don't chase, I will send you back first."

In the dim light, Gu Qiao vaguely saw the man's face, and finally remembered where he heard the voice, "Are you the guard who drove the car that day?"

"Do you still remember me, Mr. Gu?"

"Are you... the bodyguard of His Highness the Third Highness?"

"Well," he grinned in the darkness, showing his big white teeth, "I am the chief guard of His Highness the Third Highness, and my name is Wu Heng."

Gu Qiao cupped his hands and said: "Thank you, Brother Ang, for saving your life."

Wu Heng quickly supported him, "You don't need to thank me, His Highness ordered me to protect you."

Gu Qiao felt a little guilty, but luckily the light was too dark, so Wu Heng didn't see his crimson ears.

The two walked side by side, and Wu Heng suddenly said, "Master Gu, I have an older brother named Wu Yong."

Gu Qiao stood still, not daring to say anything: "It's Brother Wu Yong from Yubu Division..."

"Yes, my brother is Master Gu's apprentice."

Gu Qiao's eyes immediately filled with tears, "You..."

"After my brother died, Mr. Gu came to my house. We all believe that Mr. Gu is a good person."

Seven years ago, the mine tunnel of Chen Jinshan Gold Mine collapsed. At that time, the mine had not officially started construction. Only one person was buried inside, that is Gu Zhiwei's apprentice Wu Yong.

Ten days after the accident, Gu Zhiwei left a suicide note and hanged himself on the beam of his house.

Gu Qiao still clearly remembered the situation that day.

The summer seven years ago was extremely hot, the sun was dazzling, but the sky was gray, as if covered with a layer of paper.That day was the day when the academy was suspended from school, and he ran all the way home, hoping to see his father whom he hadn't seen for a long time soon.

For some reason, many people surrounded the door.When the neighbors who knew him saw him, their eyes showed sympathy, and they all made way for him.

Eleven-year-old Gu Qiao saw his father's body at the other end of the crowd.

The father, whom he hadn't seen for more than two months, was so thin that he was out of shape. He was wearing a gray robe that had been washed white. One shoe was missing, and there was a hole in the sock on his foot.

Gu Qiao could remember every detail of that day, and then someone from the government came and carried away his father's body.Later, Ouyang Chigong, the Minister of Industry at that time, took him back to his home.

Gu Zhiwei said in his suicide note that the collapse of the mine was caused by his miscalculation, and that he was directly responsible for Wu Yong's death, so he apologized with his death.

Many people in the court praised Mr. Gu for his responsibility, but Gu Qiao still stubbornly doubted his father's death, and his only evidence was that his father would not choose the day when he came home to die.

He studied hard to enter the officialdom, the purpose is that one day he can find out what happened back then.

This was the first time that the family members of the victims of the mining accident stood in front of him and told him that they believed in Mr. Gu.

Gu Qiao took a deep breath, held back her tears and said, "Did you meet my father at that time?"

"Well, at that time my sister-in-law had just given birth to my nephew, Mr. Gu gave us a lot of money, saying it was saved by my brother. We only found out later that it was Mr. Gu's savings."

Gu Qiao knew about this, and his father personally helped the spirit to send Wu Yong back to his hometown, and gave all the family savings to Wu Yong's family.

Wu Heng scratched his head in embarrassment, "We didn't know it at the time, and I only heard about it after I came to Beijing to work as a guard."

"How are they? Your sister-in-law and your nephew?"

"Okay, my sister-in-law opened a wine shop with the money given by Mr. Gu, which is enough to support the whole family."

Gu Qiao nodded and calmed down, "Brother Wu Yong took good care of me when I was out with my father when I was young."

Speaking of this, Wu Heng laughed, "At that time, every time my brother came home, he would say how smart his master's son was and how good at studying, my ears were almost ringing."

"Is Brother Wu Yong's child studying?"

Wu Heng shook his head, "My nephew is just like me, he likes to wield knives and guns. It's not like my brother at all. My brother likes to read books."

"You are a scholar who is useless, and you can dance with knives and guns."

"It's better that Mr. Gu is so good. We are all reckless people, and we can't read all the words. Mr. Gu even gave us a book back then, but no one in our family could understand it."

It was the first time Gu Qiao heard about this, and she was a little curious, "What kind of book is that?"

"I don't understand either. There are pictures and words I can't understand," Wu Heng said. "It seems different from ordinary books."

Gu Qiao thought of a possibility and hurriedly asked, "What kind of picture is it?"

Wu Heng recalled for a moment, "Uh...it's crooked, like..."

"Map?" Gu Qiao asked.

"Ah, yes, it looks like a map."

Gu Qiao grabbed his arm excitedly, "Is that book still there? Can you show it to me?"

Wu Heng was a little confused, but he still nodded and said, "Sure, I can get someone to bring it here at my hometown."

Regarding the drawings, the household department has asked Zhang Qi to find them, and all the documents and files of the Lianzhou Gold Mine have indeed been handed over to the Shaofu Supervisor.The Shaofu Supervisor belongs to Taifu Temple, and he doesn't know anyone inside. He planned to ask the Third Prince for help, but he never had the chance to speak.

It is very likely that Wu Yong's family has a survey manuscript now!

According to Chang Feng, the place where the gold mine was first discovered was in the Dacien Temple, but the last mine was built a hundred miles southeast of the mountain behind the Dacien Temple.

Seven years have passed, and the mine has dug back.

That being the case, why not just move the temple away?Even if it is a 300-year-old temple, if you have dug a gold mine, you are afraid that you will not be able to negotiate the relocation fee?

This is not reasonable.

If the book in Wu Yong's family is really a survey manuscript, then just take out the Shaofujian's drawing and compare the two to get the result.

Gu Qiao had an astonishing idea, and once this idea was confirmed, then the death of his father would never be an apology for suicide!

When he left the palace the next day, a small and low-key carriage was waiting for him outside the Hengyang Gate.He got into the carriage directly, and the carriage deliberately took a detour, and finally stopped at the back door of Prince Yu's Mansion.