Gu Qingyuan held up her skirt and stepped onto the steps to Chongming Hall.
This time entering the palace is different from the previous ones.
Inside the hall, candles hang high from an oil pool on the dome, surrounded by a row of twelve-branched lanterns as tall as a person.
The entire hall was illuminated as brightly as day.
There were about twenty ministers sitting on the left and right according to their official positions.
The emperor sat sideways on his throne and was furious.
On the right sits the queen in regular clothes.
By comparison, when Pei Jinting was summoned to the palace last time when the marriage abduction occurred, the ministers he met were already tolerated by His Majesty.
Today, it feels a bit like a three-chamber trial.
Lu Wenze stood with his hands on one side. When he saw Gu Qingyuan coming in, his eyes moved slightly, and then he frowned.
Before coming in, Gu Qingyuan had told Pei Jinting not to defend her, but only if His Majesty asked.
She will take care of everything by herself, which is the best result expected.
No matter what, others will only think that she seduced Pei Jinting. Since this is already the case, it is better for her to admit it proactively.
Pei Jinting didn't say a word, but looked at her with deep eyes.
Fortunately, His Majesty summoned her alone.
"Ms. Gu, I just heard some shocking news. Do you know what it is?"
The emperor gave Gu Qingyuan a chance.
However, Gu Qingyuan lowered her head like an ordinary little girl who was confused and helpless.
Then he slowly raised his head, and his soft eyes looked at the ministers below as if asking for help.
"I dare to ask you, sir, if the husband-in-law in your family hangs out with the sisters in your family before they get married."
"And on the eve of the wedding, I went out of the city to visit other girls. What should you adults do?"
Her move made everyone else present change their expressions with different expressions.
"What if one of you adults is my father and I don't want to marry my fiancé?"
One of the bearded officials pointed at her with an angry face and said,
"Do you know what you are talking about? The marriage has been scheduled for so long, and you only said you didn't want to get married before the wedding. Do you think the marriage is just a daughter-in-law?"
"Can you do such an immoral thing if you don't want to get married?"
"Fortunately, I don't have a shameless daughter like you."
Although Gu Qingyuan felt uncomfortable being pointed at her nose and criticized, she had already expected such a scene.
Her unyielding eyes are like fire,
"I feel sad for the girl in your lord's house. I think their marriage must be unhappy."
"Perhaps when your daughters come to you full of grievances and complain, you must let them examine their own faults first, right?"
"I don't understand. When your future husband-in-law hangs out with other girls and humiliates her, why do you, as a father, ask her if she didn't do a good enough job?"
Gu Qingyuan sneered,
"My father, the Duke of Zhenguo, has been guarding the border all year round. With no father or mother to teach me, I have nowhere to go to complain."
"I didn't expect that so many girls would be treated unfairly if they had parents by their side."
"When your future husband-in-law says that your daughter is not good enough, will he want her to die and pray not to meet her in the next life, so that everyone can be satisfied?"
Life and death are the biggest taboos for people. Gu Qingyuan mentioned it rashly, and everyone present stared at her in surprise and weirdness.
The bearded official was horrified. The two girls in his house were indeed not living a happy life in their husband's family.
But he would not admit it and was still looking for words to refute it.
"That's not the reason for you to violate your morals and conspire with others to steal your bride."
Of course this is not a reason. Then why did she go to this point?
It started when Mr. Ruan talked sweetly about her and tried to help Gu Yunniang steal her marriage.
In order to escape from that suffocating mansion, she planned step by step.
What Lu Wenze did was just the last straw that broke her back.
It was also an excuse for her to find comfort and comfort in her self-exile.
She didn't know whether Lu Wenze had ever been retaliated against by her.
But at least, Pei Jinting's inadvertent tenderness made a flower bloom in her muddy heart.
Gu Qingyuan's face was peaceful. She passed by the bearded official, Lu Wenze, and looked steadily at the empress.
"It is indeed my fault to seek out the Third Young Master Pei and steal his bride. Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I am willing to accept the punishment."
Gu Qingyuan didn't feel a trace of confusion in her heart.
Before she admitted everything, she threw Duke Zheng out.
She has been in the frontier all year round, and she has no kindness to teach her, and there is no way for her to be pointed at and scolded for not raising her daughter well.
No matter what the courtiers said, no matter how angry they were, the words they said made Gu Qingyuan want to refute them countless times, but in the end, she still bore it all in silence.
For the last time, she pressed her head against the ground, closed her eyes, and said decisively,
"Your Majesty, your Majesty, your Majesty. If you are wrong, you are wrong. I have nothing to say and nothing to argue with."
"No matter what kind of treatment, I will accept it."
Gu Qingyuan licked her dry lips and thought, luckily Pei Jinting didn't come in with her.
Otherwise, things would not have gone so smoothly.
The emperor's face was full of majesty and solemnity,
"Aren't you afraid? What you did is unheard of. If you are punished, from now on, you will no longer be a noble lady."
"Worrying about food and clothing has nothing to do with you from now on. You can't protect yourself without skills."
"Even if you are not a prisoner, it is difficult for an ordinary citizen to survive in the bustling city of Kyoto."
"Ms. Gu, you have to think clearly."
The emperor remembered the last time Gu Qingyuan came over with a piece of clothing and asked him to send someone to find Duke Zhen.
His back was straight, just like today.
The Queen, who had never spoken a word, suddenly asked,
"Ms. Gu, there are many women in Kyoto who are better than you, and there are also many who want to marry Jing Heng."
"Why is it you? You hold the handle on Jing Heng? Otherwise, why would he accompany you to fool around?"
This is what the ministers present want to know.
Although the Gu family is beautiful, she is not the most beautiful woman in the country. Although she has a good reputation, she is also known as a wooden beauty.
What on earth made Pei Jinting agree to kidnap the bride?
It can't be out of curiosity.
We’ve seen too many ladies in flower houses in Kyoto. Are we going to steal some good-natured women?
Gu Qingyuan also wanted to know why Pei Jinting agreed so quickly.
There are not so many things in the world that can be predicted by God, but more by accidents.
When she approached Pei Jinting, she just made what she thought was the best decision.
She felt that her hands and feet were getting cold as she knelt on the summer floor tiles.
My vision was blurry and my sense of touch was a little dull.
In the side hall, Pei Jinting saw that Gu Qingyuan was summoned alone. He wanted to go to the main hall several times to ask for an audience, but was blocked by the guards in front of the door.
"Your Majesty has not summoned me. I hope you will not embarrass us."
He stood silently in front of the threshold of the palace door, his eyes very dark and heavy. For a long time, the guard's hand holding the sword was almost sore.
Only then did he say "Okay."
At the same time he turned around and sat back in his chair.
In the main hall, Gu Qingyuan bit her lips and did not explain.
"Come here, take Mrs. Gu down and put her in the awakening room of the inner palace for the time being."