"Xijiu, I know that you aren’t interested in Rong Chu at all. But if His Majesty wanted to appoint you a spouse, you definitely can’t reject. But I have a suggestion, would you like to listen?"
"What’s it?" Gu Xijiu was curious.
"My father has been urging me to get married, but like you, I don’t want to get married yet. Therefore, why don’t we make a show? If my father wanted to appoint you a spouse during the farewell dinner, I'd request that he appoints you to me…"
Rong Jialuo looked at the brightening eyes of Gu Xijiu, "Don’t worry; we’re just acting even if we got married. You’ll still have your freedom, and I’ll not force you into anything. In the future, if you see anyone, I’ll try to dissolve this marriage so that you can go with him."
Gu Xijiu, "…"
Gu Xijiu kept silent for a moment. On this big land, unless one had the same status as Di Fuyi, everyone had to obey the imperial decree.
Therefore, if the emperor really appoints her a spouse during the dinner, she could not directly disobey.
After all, she was The Lord’s disciple; the emperor could not kill her even if he were outraged. Furthermore, she was about to go to the Dark Forest, and would come out with another identity, what was she afraid about then?
Rong Jialuo seemed to have understood some of her thoughts, and sighed, "Xijiu, you’re The Lord’s disciple. Therefore, my father will not kill you if you don’t obey the decree but you will place your family in a difficult situation, and all of them will be killed if things turn out serious…"
Gu Xijiu became silent.
Because she could cause hundreds of people in general mansion to lose their life, she thought about it more.
This deal was not a good deal! Gu Xijiu thought of those female attendants who served her whole-heartedly and loyally, and she could not ignore their potential death!
She might as well agree with Rong Jialuo for the show. She finally decided, but she also stated clearly, "Your Highness, I just take you as a friend. Regardless of whether I can come out of the Dark Forest, this marriage will have to be called off regardless."
Rong Jialuo looked slightly disappointed, but he immediately nodded, "Definitely. As I said, I’ll not restrict you, and the marriage can be called off anytime. If you don’t trust me, I can write you a marriage dissolution letter now, which you can use anytime."
With this, Gu Xijiu had no other reason to disagree anymore, "Great! Let’s do it cleverly over dinner then."
To make the show more trustable, Rong Jialuo took out a precious bracelet and passed it to Gu Xijiu, "Xijiu, this is a pledge."
The bracelet was obviously valuable and should be much better than the best quality emerald around. It looked watery on her palm, and it had spirit power glimmering inside it too.
The Firmament Stone which had been silent all this while immediately told Gu Xijiu about what it knew excitedly, "Master, this is a spiritual bracelet! Wearing it not only increase your spirit power but also makes you beautiful and young forever. It has always been a gift from the empress to the crown princess… And it’s the only one in the Feixing Kingdom! You should receive it; it’d be good for the red patch on your face! It can potentially disappear completely…"
It was talking endlessly in Gu Xijiu’s mind. Therefore, after it finished nagging, Gu Xijiu said, "Yes, at least it looks better than you."
The Firmament Stone was mad but could not rebut, "…!!!" It originally looked better than this spiritual bracelet! Was she not the one who required it to be so ugly?"
While it was feeling gloomy, Gu Xijiu hurt it again, "Come, let’s put this precious bracelet in your space so that it can cultivate your sentiment too."
Firmament Stone, "…"
Gu Xijiu seemed to have recalled something, "Has the case of Count Le Hua been closed?"
Rong Jialuo nodded, "It’s considered to be closed. Though the evidence isn't good for them, there isn’t any evidence directly proving that they did kill Count Le Hua. Furthermore, both twelfth brother and Gu Tianqing didn't confess it in prison at all. Therefore, no matter how many times the judge interrogated, they can only confirm that they wanted to plot against you. Also, General Gu has been begging my father frequently so that my father would let your sister off based on his past achievements in the army and also your status as The Lord’s disciple. Therefore, my father decided to let them off after considering the case again and again. Of course, he doesn’t want just to release them but to banish them as an exile to the wilderness of frontier fortress for three years and can only come back if they don’t make any mistakes again. However, twelfth brother cannot be made duke anymore while Gu Tianqing cannot be married to an officer but is to be a commoner forever. My father would declare it in a few days."
Gu Xijiu kept quiet but to looked down and drank a mouthful of water.
She knew that the emperor was not punishing them mildly because of Gu Xietian but rather because the emperor himself wanted to release them too. After all, Rong Yan was a prince and his son. The result was the same as what Gu Xijiu had predicted, but she still felt uncomfortable when she heard it herself.
"Little Cang, have I helped the original owner of this body to get her revenge? Or have I not done it nicely yet?" Gu Xijiu secretly asked the Firmament Stone.
The Firmament Stone was feeling rather unhappy while replying, "I think you’ve done enough! But it doesn’t matter anyway, the original soul was a very kind little girl, even if she felt that it was unfair, she’ll neither blame it on you nor hurt you."
Gu Xijiu drank another mouthful of water and said indifferently, "I feel a stronger urge to help her take her revenge the kinder she is. Frankly, after I took over this body for a longer period, I do feel empathy for her…" Could Gu Xijiu be her in her past life? Not similar! Her character was not similar! Should not be. Gu Xijiu shook her head as she wanted to shake off the impossible idea.
...
It was a sunny and warm March.
The spring had already dyed the tree branches green, and the water at the imperial garden had already defrosted. The stream was flowing down through the bluestones and became a fall because of the five-meter vertical distance from the bluestone to the ground. The creek was not big, but it sounded unbelievably melodious like the [1] Guqin when it was pouring down on the white stone before it bickered its way away.
Not far away from this fall, there was a palace which looked like a water pavilion. It was the most famous place in the imperial garden – the Musical Stream Hall. It was where the emperor organized the farewell dinner for Gu Xijiu. It was a grand event where almost all the officials and their families went.
Regardless of men or women, everyone was dressed up, and the dinner was bustling with joy and excitement. Unlike the usual table arrangements where each family was assigned a table, it was now a layout where each table only accommodated three persons.
The officials were sitting together in a row while the madams in another. Meanwhile, those young men and young ladies of the officials were allowed to choose their seats, and thus, they sat together with whom they knew.
The tables were arranged according to what the imperial concubine empress requested so that the young people could sit together to create a lively atmosphere.
As they arrived earlier, they started getting familiar with the rest before the dinner began. Therefore, the chattering and laughing of girls heated up the atmosphere.
[1] Guqin is one of the traditional Chinese musical instruments.
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