Dong Gong Mei

Chapter 582
The stars are few, the moon is like frost,
A woman turned out from Suichun Garden, her light blue skirt fluttered like a light cloud, rolling and relaxing on the path full of green bamboos, until it was hidden in the night.

Zhao Xiwei stood alone on the high platform, his mind gradually drifting away.

Under the high platform is the Cuiyan Lake. There is an arch bridge over the Cuiyan Lake. On the other side of the bridge is the Condensed Water Pavilion where Gu Yuci lives.

Standing on the high platform, Zhao Xiwei had a panoramic view of all this.

The arrival of Gu Yuci caused a small disturbance. Although it did not cause much impact, it still broke the original calm.

The secretive illness, the ulterior secret medicine, and Li Xuanye's occasional silence...

Like layers of thick cobwebs in an old palace, it is not clear but cannot be ignored.

The night wind was cold, and her thoughts slowly settled down.

Suddenly, Zhao Ziyi came to mind.

Since the grounding, she has almost lost contact with the outside world, and she doesn't know what happened to him?How are your legs recovering?
Strangely, she didn't have the slightest ups and downs about Xu Yunjiao and Zhao Ziyi's matter, neither resentment nor dissatisfaction.

Everyone has their own life, the things of their parents' generation, let them end in the previous generation.

She was concentrating on it, but saw a person walking towards the path by the lake.

Wearing purple clothes and golden crowns, she has a tall and straight figure.

The palace lantern stretches like stars, and in the bright light and shadow, his beautiful face can be vaguely seen.

Even at such a distance, I can still be overwhelmed by his demeanor.

The Gu family has beauties, the late queen is a rare beauty, Gu Yuci is also the number one beauty in Chang'an, and the uncle Gu Yong is also a handsome man who looks better than Pan An.

It wasn't his appearance that caught Zhao Xiwei's attention.

But -

It's so late, Gu Yong hastily entered the palace, why?
Gu Yong walked up the arch bridge steadily, and was about to turn down the stone steps, but his footsteps suddenly stopped, his jaw slightly lifted, and he looked towards the high platform where Zhao Xiwei was.

At the same time, Zhao Xi moved slightly and quickly hid behind the pillar.

This Gu Yong is really a cunning old fox!
After such a distance, and under the darkness of night, he almost noticed the clues.

Steady footsteps sounded, Gu Yong stepped down the stone steps and took two steps towards the high platform.

Zhao Xiwei put his palms on his back, trying to hide himself in the shadow of the palace lantern.

She didn't have to hide it, but her intuition told her that there must be something tricky about the Gu family—otherwise, why would Gu Yuci suddenly live in the East Palace?
Just when she was thinking about how to confront Uncle Guo, suddenly there was a "squeak", the courtyard door was pushed open, and she stepped out in a red dress shining like fire, "Father! Why are you here?"

The place where Gu Yuci lived was very narrow. Gu Yong was tall and could barely stretch his legs when sitting at the table.

The whole room was dim except for the faint light of an oil lamp.

Gu Yong frowned invisibly.

There is only one concubine in the East Palace, the concubine, and there are so many empty bedrooms in the backyard, and it’s not that there are no spacious houses. If you don’t look at the monk’s face and the Buddha’s face, Gu Yuci is the daughter of the uncle’s mansion, and the prince’s doing this is too much some.

Gu Yuci did not show any sign of displeasure, took the teacup in person, and said, "Father, why did you come here without even saying hello, leaving my daughter with no time to prepare anything."

"Well, the imperial court wants to reduce or exempt the land tax. I was ordered to come over to discuss with His Highness, and come over to see you." Gu Yong took the tea, took a small sip, and frowned again.

This is not tea, it is clearly hot water.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and he looked around the room in the dim light.

A bed, a table, two chairs, a wardrobe, and two bookshelves.

Nothing else.

Although the Gu family has experienced ups and downs, it is still a big family with rich clothes and good food. He is such a precious daughter. Even in the remote Qianzhou, he never let her save money. When did she suffer from such a poor life?
Gu Yuci didn't seem to care about these things at all, and only asked with a frown, "Tax cuts? Isn't there a war with the people of Xiliang soon? With the tax cuts, what about the military rations?"

Wei Wei was taken aback for a moment, and immediately understood, "Is this what the Empress Dowager meant?"

"Yes." As soon as Gu Yong leaned back on the chair, he felt his back tremble, and then there was a "creaking" sound.

Gu Yong's temperament is very calm, but he couldn't help muttering in his heart: Can you fix the furniture for the dignified East Palace?
He paused, tried his best to endure the discomfort, and told his daughter about the situation in the previous dynasty: "The Queen Mother issued an order saying that the years of wars will waste the country's capital, and there will be many natural disasters. For the people's livelihood, it is appropriate to reduce the land tax. Withdraw troops and horses—”

The corners of Gu Yuci's lips curled up, revealing a bit of sarcasm: "One mouthful, one livelihood, that's really nice to say, but it's actually just raising the bandits' self-esteem!"

"You can see it too." Gu Yong took another sip of hot water, shook his head and sighed softly: "The Queen Mother is getting old, and she loves power even more, she would rather endure threats from Xiliang people than give the prince a chance to breathe. "

As he was speaking, he glanced at his daughter unintentionally. Seeing that the fabric she was wearing was thin and loose, his brows were furrowed even tighter.

Gu Yuci's tone was a bit resentful: "Since His Majesty ascended the throne and the Empress Dowager came to court, she has been implementing the policy of recuperation. Now that the crown prince is 20 years old, the rebels in Xiliang are still unwilling to be ministers. Isn't it God? Big joke!"

Holding the teacup, Gu Yong's tone became cold: "The empress dowager's move is not completely unreasonable. Jiangnan and Hebei have suffered from natural disasters, and the people are waiting for the imperial court to provide relief. If taxes are collected as usual this year, it will inevitably be a disaster. Lost the hearts of the people..."

Before he finished speaking, Gu Yuci suddenly raised his eyes: "Father, you—"

Gu Yong nodded lightly.

Gu Yuci's heart skipped a beat, and he blurted out, "Isn't your purpose of returning to Beijing this time to assist His Highness?"

Gu Yong looked at his daughter with a complicated expression.

Gu Yuci choked for breath, and hurriedly said: "Father! You are the prince's uncle, a relative in everyone's eyes. Now His Highness wants to capture Xiliang, and it is time for your full support. How can you Choose to stand idly by, or even stand on the opposite side of him, to support the Queen Mother?"

She stretched out her palm unconsciously, crossed the table, grabbed her father's wrist, and murmured: "Father, even if it's not for the benefit of the future, for the sake of the family, for our family, you can't oppose him."

Gu Yong smiled, raised his hand to hold down his daughter's fingers, and sat upright.

With just such a movement, the back of the chair swayed again, as if it was about to fall apart.

He finally couldn't take it anymore.

"Ci'er. Dad knows that you have been strong since childhood, but there are some things that Dad has to say—"

He stared at his daughter and said earnestly: "Although you have His Majesty's edict, as long as His Majesty is not willing, you will never get what you want, and everything I do will be in vain."

Gu Yuci was taken aback: "But, you can't take refuge in the Queen Mother."

"Silly boy!" Gu Yong smiled, "When did Daddy say he would support the Queen Mother?"

(End of this chapter)