The prince loves me like his life, but I force him to rebel

A breeze carried the heat from the explosion in the city to the banks of the moat.

The air began to be filled with the unique smell of gunpowder explosion.

People who witnessed the explosion rushed to escape in the direction away from Duanmen.

The originally quiet river bank began to be filled with people's screams of fear, hurried footsteps and heart-wrenching howls.

"Mr. Cen, please let go. Gu doesn't need your protection."

From Cen Yu's reaction, Gu Nianzhi already knew that his guess was the fact.

The person in front of her became extremely disgusting in her eyes.

If Shu Huaiyuan really died in the explosion, she would never forgive Cen Yu.

I can't even forgive myself.

Gu Nianzhi changed the way he addressed him from "Brother Cen" to "Mr. Cen". Cen Yu knew clearly that his image in Gu Nianzhi's mind had changed.

"Brother Gu, it doesn't matter who I am, but I hope you can believe that I will never harm you under any circumstances."

"No need to call each other brothers. I, Gu Nianzhi, don't have a brother like you."

Gu Nianzhi exerted great force and shook Cen Yu's hand away.

She left without looking back.

Several guards soon came over to Cen Yu.

"Master, do you want to bring her back?"

Cen Yu's face was stern.

"No need. One day, she will come to me on her own."

Going against the flow of people, Gu Nianzhi moved forward with difficulty.

I don’t know how long it took, but I finally arrived at the place where Zhuque Street and Duanmen meet.

But the imagined bloody scene did not appear.

"Didn't there just explode here? Where are the injured?"

Gu Nianzhi asked, pulling on the sleeve of a guard beside him.

"The explosion wasn't here, it was above."

Following the direction pointed by the guard, Gu Nianzhi looked up and saw that the right side of the viewing platform on the city wall had become dark, with smoke billowing out.

"There was explosives placed under the prince's chair."

"Prince?"

This plot is quite different from the original book.

Gu Nian stamped his feet. It was all his fault for not thinking carefully.

In the original book, the crown prince had passed away at this time and the position of crown prince was still being contested, but at this moment the crown prince is still alive.

The bias in the plot is understandable.

"How is the prince now?"

"Prince..." The guard was about to speak, but another guard pulled him away and said, "Don't discuss this matter rashly."

Although this person was speaking to the guards, his eyes were looking behind Gu Nianzhi.

Gu Nianzhi turned around and saw Shu Huaiyuan standing behind her.

"The prince has passed away."

Shu Huaiyuan's whole body turned gray and his face turned very black.

A pair of eyes became more conspicuous on the dark face, and even the bloodshot in the whites of the eyes were clearly visible.

Gu Nianzhi was extremely surprised.

"Is this the result Mr. Gu wants to see?"

Gu Nian was unable to react for a moment.

"Master, why do you ask this?"

"Mr. Gu, why did you go to the Bai Mansion? How did you know there was gunpowder on the street today?"

No matter how stupid Gu Nianzhi was, he understood it now.

Shu Huaiyuan suspected that he was in collusion with the Bai family, so he made a feint to the east and attacked in the west, allowing Shu Huaiyuan to focus most of his energy on street inspections, allowing people to take advantage of the situation and carry out the explosion targeting the prince.

"Master, are you doubting me?"

Shu Huaiyuan said nothing.

He stood in front of Gu Nianzhi like a statue. His powerful aura made Shu Huaiyuan feel afraid of him for the first time.

"Master? Are you doubting me?" It was hard to tell whether she was more aggrieved or more afraid, but tears welled up in Gu Nianzhi's eyes.

"I cannot bear the title of Master. If you cannot explain clearly at this moment, I can only take Mr. Gu to the Ministry of Punishment to explain clearly."

"Master? It's not what you think."

"Come here, take Mr. Gu back and wait for his fate."

Everything changed so quickly that Gu Nianzhi didn't have time to react before he was carried away by two guards.

"Wait a moment." Shu Huaiyuan came quickly and told the two guards, "Ms. Gu has a special status. She must be placed in a single cell. There must be no mistakes."

Gu Nianzhi was imprisoned in the Ministry of Punishment without knowing why.

I don’t know how long I waited, but Shu Huaiyuan finally showed up.

"Master, this matter really has nothing to do with me."

Gu Nianzhi stretched his hand through the gap in the fence, grabbed Shu Huaiyuan's arm, and eagerly proved his innocence.

Shu Huaiyuan looked solemn and said nothing.

"By the way, how is the Third Prince now? Where is the Emperor?"

If the explosion occurred under the crown prince's chair, there would naturally be some casualties among the surrounding royal relatives.

"The Third Prince is far away and is not seriously injured, but the Emperor's body is slightly damaged and he is currently receiving treatment."

"Trust me, Master. I am not the instigator."

Shu Huaiyuan sighed and looked at Gu Nianzhi with a heavy heart.

"Mr. Gu, I really can't see through you. Can you explain where you were when the explosion happened?"

Gu Nianzhi recounted the entire story of how he was lured to the moat, and told Shu Huaiyuan about his acquaintance with Cen Yu and the fact that Cen Yu had already known about the explosion.

"Master, have your doubts been completely dispelled?"

"I never knew there were such people in the martial arts world. Well, according to what you said, it was only after you were lured to the moat that you learned that the explosion was related to Cen Yu. Then why did you remind me that there were explosives on Suzaku Street before? How did you know this?"

"I..." Even if Gu Nianzhi had a thousand mouths, he couldn't explain it clearly.

The matter of traveling through a book is too bizarre to talk about, especially in the current situation. Even if you explain it in detail, he may not listen.

"You clearly know that the Bai family belongs to the Second Prince, so why did you go to the Bai family?"

Shu Huaiyuan's doubts were never answered.

Gu Nianzhi hesitated, not knowing whether to tell the truth.

"If you don't tell me, they have plenty of ways to make you tell me. The methods of the Ministry of Punishment are unbearable even for a man of steel and blood, let alone a weak woman like you... a weak scholar?"

"The Bai family mistakenly thought that Princess Yun'an was interested in me, and they summoned me to tell me not to have any improper thoughts about Yun'an. I thought that if I told you about this, the rift between me and the Bai family would deepen, and there would be no hope for me to be with Bai Yun'an, so..."

"So you kept it a secret from all of us?"

"Ah."

"Do you think there's a chance that Bai Yun'an and I can be together?"

"Princess Yun'an is infatuated with Master. I can see it clearly."

"Love between men and women doesn't always lead to success. Today I will tell you why Yun An and I will never have a chance. Back then..."

Shu Huaiyuan was about to continue speaking when Sima Yao's voice came.

"Mr. Gu, are you okay?"

“Your Highness…” Gu Nianzhi seemed to have found a life-saving straw, and immediately stretched out his hand and waved towards Sima Yao.

"Huaiyuan, Ms. Gu has been through life and death with us, how could she do such a thing? You are being too reckless this time, aren't you?"

"Third Prince, this is Huaiyuan's duty. What's more, if I don't get to the bottom of this matter and the Bai family intervenes, it will be even more difficult to mediate. Besides..." Shu Huaiyuan frowned, hesitating to speak.

"But it doesn't matter."

"Your Highness was unharmed in this incident, and I think he will be targeted by the Bai family... If I can find evidence of the Bai family's secret manipulation, I can clear your Highness of suspicion..."

"Is this the reason why you treat Mr. Gu like this? As long as I am sure that Mr. Gu is colluding with the Bai family, I can get away with it?"

"When necessary, it is not impossible to sacrifice pawns to save the king."

"Even if it's Mr. Gu who was wronged?"

Sima Yao stared at Shu Huaiyuan. The two looked at each other, but could not reach a consensus.

Shu Huaiyuan retracted his gaze and looked at Gu Nianzhi. He said without hesitation: "Mr. Gu's background is unknown, and he has been criticized. Mr. Gu is indeed kind to Huaiyuan, but for the sake of your highness's future, Huaiyuan can't care about anything else."

Gu Nianzhi's heart moved.

Shu Huaiyuan's goal is consistent with mine.

Let the third prince become emperor.

But if she had to sacrifice her own life to achieve this goal, she said she couldn't do it.

"Master, I have already told you the reason why I went to the Bai family. If you don't believe me, you can go ask Bai Mo. I never lied."

Shu Huaiyuan was still hesitant.

Gu Nianzhi's series of actions really looked like a feint to the east and attack in the west.