Rebirth and Marriage: I am the Mistress of the Palace

Chapter 682 Deep Fear

This time, the emperor did not speak for a long time.

There was a strong wind outside, with lightning and thunder. The wind seemed to be about to blow off the roof of the entire hall.

"Father?"

"Xuan'er, the power of the Gu family should have been reduced long ago. Do you think I don't want to? Do you think the late emperor didn't want to? It's impossible!"

"But Father, both the Gu and Pei families originally assisted Emperor Gaozu in building his empire. The Pei family has been weakened to the point of being isolated and powerless, with even their son being sent to the capital as a hostage. Why can't the Gu family follow suit?"

The emperor shook his head. "Because, it was the Pei family who voluntarily surrendered their military power, while the Gu family did not. Otherwise, why do you think the Pei family was crowned king? Why did they have their own fiefdom? That was all earned in exchange for military power."

Xiao Qingxuan probed, "Then can we also make the Gu family kings, give them a fiefdom, and tell them to stay away from the capital from now on, just like the Pei family, leaving only a hostage in the capital?"

The emperor still shook his head: "Do you think Gu Rongchang is a fool? The Pei family was indeed prosperous for a while. Dafeng was the first king of a different surname, and everyone envied them."

"But now their titles of princes are empty. Their power is far different from that of the Gu family. Without military power and good business management, the Pei family is nothing!"

"Pei Lin'an, the hostage the Pei family left in the capital, has long been terminally ill and is dying. The Pei family is willing to abandon their son here alone, but the Gu family would never do that."

The emperor and the crown prince knew very well why Pei Lin'an was so seriously ill - he had been sent to the capital as a hostage when he was young. In order to eradicate the disease, the emperor ordered people to give him a strange poison from the Western Regions.

Pei Lin'an is the last male in the Pei family. Killing him is equivalent to completely cutting off the roots of the Pei family.

From now on, there will no longer be any kings of other surnames who will displease the emperor. The only ones who can be king are the Xiao family!

But Pei Linan was lucky enough to survive and live until now.

But it will be soon, he will die soon.

The emperor now only regretted that the strange poison was too rare. The poisons he obtained later were not as effective as this one, otherwise he would have to give it to the entire Gu family!

Xiao Qingxuan actually knew that it would not work to confer the title of King of a different surname on the Gu family now. After all, the Duke of Zhenguo already had great power in the court. How could he possibly agree to give up all his power and become an idle prince?

He mentioned these only to pave the way for what follows.

"Father, then we may only have one last option left."

The emperor glanced at him, and of course he knew what method his son was talking about - the execution of the entire family!

However, this is not an easy task. We must first list some serious crimes that are worthy of confiscation of property and extermination of the Gu family.

But the problem is, how could Gu Rongchang give him this opportunity!

"The Gu family's power is so immense that even I am extremely wary. At least half of the civil and military officials in the court have secretly defected to Gu Rongchang!"

"The Gu family has disciples all over the world. Even Huo Yuanchu, the general who is currently guarding the northwest for me, is a disciple of the late old Duke Zhenguo! Huo Yuanchu's martial arts and fighting skills were all taught by the old Duke Zhenguo!"

"So, the last method needs to be taken slowly and not rushed."

At this time, the emperor accused the Gu family of the serious crime of confiscation of property and extermination of the clan, and he was also afraid that the Huo family would attack him!

By the time the northwest is lost and the Huns launch a massive invasion, he will have lost more than he gained!

Originally, his succession to the throne was not legitimate. When the previous emperor passed away, it was not him who inherited the throne. He snatched the throne by force with the help of the Gu family. He also killed several of his brothers. He had already been criticized by those pedantic civil officials. If he executed the entire Gu family, he would be drowned in the spit of those civil officials!

The emperor thought about it for a long time and kept shaking his head.

Xiao Qingxuan was very disappointed when he saw his hesitation.

Is it possible that my father has grown old and lost his former decisiveness? He even killed nearly all of his brothers, and now he's hesitant to kill Gu Rongchang?

How hard is it to wipe out the Gu family? Is Gu Rongchang that scary? Is the Gu family that scary?

Wouldn't it be enough to just write a letter to frame them, accuse them of treason, and execute their entire family?

Just like the letter he forged today from Shen Wantang to Xiao Qingyuan, who would investigate further? Who dared to investigate further? Anyone who dared to raise any objections would be beheaded!

-

The Duke's Mansion.

In the study, Gu Rongchang sat at the head of the table, looking at his son with a cold expression.

"Qianhan, your wife has indeed been wronged by what happened today, but fortunately, her punishment was not excessive. So, let's end this matter here. Please do not feel resentful towards the Emperor."

"If I insist on being dissatisfied, what should my father do?"

"Qianhan, you've been too popular recently. This is not a good sign."

Gu Qianhan sneered: "Yes, it will be a good sign when the emperor finds a random excuse to exterminate the entire Gu family."

Gu Rongchang's expression changed: "What nonsense are you talking about!"

"I don't believe you didn't feel the emperor's fear and suppression of the Gu family."

"You can sense it, so I naturally sensed it a long time ago. But it's normal for the emperor to be wary. I want him to be wary of our Gu family, but I also know that I won't go too far. As long as we maintain a balance between us, we will always be at peace. I warn you, don't break this balance, otherwise, you will be the sinner of the entire Gu family!"

Gu Qianhan originally didn't want to talk too much with Gu Rongchang because he had tried it in his previous life, but Gu Rongchang didn't believe him or listen to him at all.

He felt that the emperor would not touch the Gu family, nor would he dare to touch the Gu family, because he had never had the intention of treason, so he felt that the emperor would not use such a thing to frame him.

But today, Gu Rongchang braved the rain to enter the palace late at night and rescued Shen Wantang from the cannibalistic palace, which made Gu Qianhan more patient with him.

"Father, do you know that the Emperor forged a letter today?"

"Forged? What letter?"

"A letter from Atang to Xiao Qingyuan."

Gu Rongchang was stunned. "How is this possible? Are you sure the letter is a forgery? It wasn't written by your wife to Xiao Qingyuan?"

"Father thinks I'm so stupid that I can't even recognize Atang's handwriting, and can't even tell whether his woman likes a fool like Xiao Qingyuan?"

Gu Rongchang was choked by him and couldn't say anything for a long time.

Of course he knew that his son was extremely smart and was full of tricks all day long. Who could deceive him? It was good that he didn't get fooled by him!

He coughed dryly and expressed his doubts: "The Emperor is fine, why would he forge a letter from your wife? Is he bored? What good would it do him? Oh, is he making up a green hat for you to disgust you? Is he venting his anger on Xiao Qingyuan? How childish!"