Gu Zhao suddenly realized.

No wonder Emperor Shouzheng wanted to summon her today, promote her, and praise her for her good performance. It turned out that it was the most noble father and son who chose her and wanted to use her to make deals with Lin Weikang.

When he heard the news, the first image that came to Gu Zhao's mind was Yuan Fu's face.

If Yuan Fu knew that she was going to marry the prince, he would definitely be very sad.

Gu Zhaoluo pondered for a while and then made a suggestion: "What your Majesty and His Highness are discussing are national affairs, and I dare not make unreasonable comments. If Your Highness wants Wei Chen's opinion, Wei Chen believes that Lin Yayi, the concubine of Duke Li, has admired the prince for a long time."

, is a good candidate.”

The prince's eyes narrowed, as if he was a little surprised, "Does Mr. Gu think that an orphan is worthy of marrying the concubine of Duke Li as his concubine?"

Gu Zhao quickly stood up and admitted his mistake, "Your Highness, I forgive you. I didn't mean this."

She looked ashamed, and her attitude was very sincere, "Your Highness is right, it is really not suitable to be a concubine to a public servant. I am a humble minister with a humble background and dull qualifications. It is really a mockery of generosity."

The prince looked Gu Zhao up and down, and his shrewdness flashed through his deep thinking: "I realized, you are not stupid, but too smart."

He played with the white jade ring on his thumb and said with a lukewarm smile, "You want to say that none of the concubines of Duke Li are worthy of being the crown princess. You are just a righteous daughter, so you should not be considered."

,right?"

"As expected of Mr. Gu, you blocked me back before I even opened my mouth."

Gu Zhao did not answer. The prince was not a fool, but she was not a puppet at the mercy of others.

She just stood quietly in the pavilion, obviously with her head lowered and her posture very humble, but the prince could feel her firmness.

It's not like playing hard to get.

This made the prince, who didn't take this kind of thing seriously at first, a little more curious.

Is there really a woman in this world who doesn't want to be his crown princess?

The prince stood up and walked to Gu Zhao step by step.

"Gu originally thought that Master Gu would have a good impression of Gu because he was able to stand in front of Gu at Huifa Temple and risk his own life to fight the assassin."

Gu Zhao lowered his head and could only see the black-soled mud-gold dragon-patterned short boots on the prince's feet.

She answered softly, "Kong He is the emperor's personal guard. It is the duty of a minor official to protect His Highness."

"So, it's just a duty?" The prince seemed to be asking Gu Zhao, but also seemed to be asking himself.

Looking at Gu Zhao who lowered his head and did not explain, the prince smiled, turned around and walked back to his seat, "Mr. Gu, why are you standing? Sit down, sit down, my father personally ordered me to entertain you well."

Gu Zhao sat down again, but the atmosphere at the banquet was no longer as harmonious as it was at the beginning.

The prince's expression did not change, but Gu Zhao did not feel that the noble prince really had no grudge against her polite refusal.

She was a soft-spoken person and could not withstand any random revenge from the supreme father and son.

Gu Zhao leaned forward in his seat and said, "Your Highness, the key to this matter is not who is the Crown Princess, but what Duke Li wants to do and to what extent he can achieve it."

The prince poured himself a glass of wine, put it to his lips and took a sip. "Mr. Gu is right. Mr. Gu is the first to talk about this matter, so there is no need to hide it from Mr. Gu."

"Gong Li was awarded a title for his military merits and had extensive connections in the army. Among the eight armies in the four towns of Bei'an, there are generals who came from the gate of Duke Li."

"The "Xingzhilu" discovered by Mr. Gu from Hongxiuzhao once again proves that he has too many private information about hundreds of officials."

"Even in the palace..." The prince laughed twice with unknown meaning, "I'm afraid there are many informants of Duke Li. If there is any trouble in the palace, Duke Li will know immediately."

He looked at Gu Zhao, "If Master Gu hadn't reminded him, everyone in the Bei'an court, including Gu, would not have known that Duke Li had such a method."

"Although there are only a few hundred private soldiers in Yuchong Mountain, if they are sent to the battlefield, they can immediately become the backbone of the military camp. Each commanding 510 soldiers can pull up a team of thousands of people."

"If Duke Li's private soldiers enter Shangjing, who knows what he can do next?"

The prince smiled sarcastically, "But it's not surprising. With the current situation in Bei'an, there are countless heroes in the world who are ready to take his place."

Gu Zhao didn't expect that the prince would explain the matter so thoroughly and not hide anything.

She nodded, "So, if you want to use marriage to dispel Duke Li's ambition, I'm afraid it won't fundamentally solve the problem."

The prince sighed, "How could I not know that this is treating the symptoms rather than the root cause?"

"It's just that Bei'an is now in a critical situation. Donghao is determined to steal Douchuan Pass. They also sent a mission to Beijing to try to get the imperial court to agree to designate the entire hundred miles around Douchuan Pass as a free zone."

Gu Zhao was stunned, "Free zone?"

She vaguely remembered that in her previous life, the Donghao Mission also came to Shangjing at this time, but she did not know what exactly they wanted to do and what agreement they had reached with the court.

At that time, she was still immersed in gratitude. All she could think about was how to repay Lin Weikang and his wife and Lin Xuerong. She had no extra energy to pay attention to national affairs.
Chapter completed!