Rebirth and Marriage: I am the Mistress of the Palace

There must be many more people secretly protecting the crown prince.

Gu Qianning's heart sank slightly. Killing the Crown Prince on her own was an impossible task. Not to mention the guards protecting him, even the Crown Prince himself was no weakling in martial arts; she probably wouldn't even have a chance to make a move.

And it's even more impossible for someone to kill the crown prince and leave unscathed.

The safest method is actually poisoning.

The problem is that everything the prince puts in his mouth is tested for poison and tasted by eunuchs.

The only thing she can use now is that the Crown Prince is not very wary of her, and the way she is acting now is that she is deeply in love with him.

Perhaps she could lure him out of the palace and then find an opportunity to make her move.

No, when the Crown Prince leaves the palace, he will definitely have many guards, both overt and covert, and even assassins will follow him.

One thought after another flashed through Gu Qianning's mind, and then she rejected them one after another.

Just then, Xiao Qingxuan came out.

Upon seeing her, he adopted a gentle and mild demeanor: "A-Ning, what brings you here? You went to the palace without even sending someone to inform me so I could have come to find you. It's truly my fault that you had to make the trip yourself."

Gu Qianning looked up at him, her eyes already beginning to redden.

She had clearly prepared herself mentally before coming, and had told herself countless times to stay calm, to be rational, and to act exactly the same as before. She must not act impulsively and let Xiao Qingxuan see through her act.

But when she saw Xiao Qingxuan, her emotions surged like a raging torrent, impossible to suppress.

She hated him so much, and she was in so much pain. This man, whom she had loved for so many years in her past life, had killed her entire Gu family!

Sure enough, Xiao Qingxuan immediately noticed her unusual behavior: "A'ning, what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong to make you angry?"

Gu Qianning suppressed her surging emotions with difficulty and said in her usual reproachful and resentful tone, "Cousin did nothing wrong. Cousin just doesn't like A-Ning anymore. What's there for A-Ning to be angry about? I came here by accident and took the wrong turn. I'll leave now. I wouldn't dare to disturb His Highness the Crown Prince's official business."

After she finished speaking, she turned and left.

However, as before, Xiao Qingxuan immediately chased after him.

"A-Ning! Wait for me!"

"Isn't Your Highness very busy? Why are you chasing after me? I waited for the Empress for an hour and you didn't even come to see me. What are you putting on this act now?"

“A-Ning, I had no idea you had entered the palace. Perhaps they saw me discussing important matters with the people from the Six Ministries, so they didn’t dare to go in and disturb me. The people from the Six Ministries just left, so I had time to come out and see you.”

"Yes, yes, Your Highness is extremely busy, even more so than the Emperor. Then I will not disturb Your Highness any longer. Farewell!"

Xiao Qingxuan grabbed Gu Qianning's wrist and pulled her back.

"Alright, don't be angry anymore. It's all my fault. From now on, whenever you come, I will drop everything and come to see you first. Is that alright?"

The high and mighty Crown Prince's humble apology and attempt to appease her would make anyone feel that he was deeply in love, and might even make Gu Qianning seem ungrateful.

Gu Qianning thought so too in her past life.

Having been given a second chance at life, she finally discerned something else from Xiao Qingxuan's words.

He said he would go see her as soon as she arrived.

It doesn't mean that she can go to the East Palace to find him anytime she comes.

He actually didn't want her to set foot in the Eastern Palace at all!

He would rather run errands himself than let her go to his bedchamber.

What unspeakable secrets is hidden in his Eastern Palace? Or perhaps, what secret does he not want her to discover?

He's keeping a mistress in a gilded cage?

No, that shouldn't be the case. Xiao Qingxuan has no women around him; his mind should be focused on political maneuvering.

Perhaps Xiao Qingxuan was plotting to destroy the Gu family, which is why he was wary of her and refused to let her set foot in the East Palace.

Gu Qianning felt a chill in her heart.

Xiao Qingxuan had forbidden her from setting foot in the East Palace for many years, which meant that he had actually been plotting to destroy the Gu family for a long time.

It was only because the Gu family was a large and powerful entity that it was extremely difficult for him to uproot them, so he had not yet taken action.

He's such a good actor! He makes everyone believe that he's in love with her, that he dotes on her, and that he's a devoted family man. Everyone believes him.

Gu Qianning couldn't hear what Xiao Qingxuan said next. She absentmindedly gave him a perfunctory reply, but the sharp blade hidden in her sleeve had already fallen into her palm.

They had already reached the back garden, and there was no one following them, as if the palace maids and eunuchs had deliberately created an opportunity for them to be alone, and the guards were even more discreet and did not disturb them.

With artificial hills standing tall and flowers and trees growing in abundance, it was truly a perfect opportunity to commit murder and bury the body.

Gu Qianning's lips curled into a mocking smile. Just as she was about to speak, a cold voice came from behind her: "Your Highness, the Emperor requests your presence. He has important business to discuss."

Gu Qianning turned around abruptly, and after seeing the person's face clearly, she blurted out, "Feng Shuo?!"

The crown prince seemed startled as well. He turned around and said, "Commander Feng, how come you walk so quietly and suddenly appear out of nowhere?"

Feng Shuo remained indifferent and did not respond. Instead, he repeated, "Your Highness, the Emperor is waiting for you. Please come forward."

Xiao Qingxuan sighed: "I had just managed to coax A Ning a little better, and you came to sabotage me. Couldn't you have come later? Here's what we'll do: go tell Father that I have some things to take care of here, and I'll go see him after I'm done."

Feng Shuo stood straight in place, without moving an inch: "Your Highness dares to commit the crime of deceiving the emperor, but I dare not. Forgive me for being unable to comply."

Xiao Qingxuan said helplessly, "Alright, I'll go then! A'ning, you play in this garden for a while, I'll be right back."

Gu Qianning nodded to him: "Your Highness, please go quickly, don't keep the Emperor waiting."

"Ah."

Xiao Qingxuan responded and then walked away.

After he had walked away, Gu Qianning looked at Feng Shuo again: "Aren't you a royal guard? Why do you have to run errands yourself for such a small matter as delivering a message?"

"It's a small matter like passing on a message, of course I don't need to run errands myself."

As Feng Shuo spoke, he walked to Gu Qianning's side, grabbed her wrist, and with lightning speed took the sharp blade from her palm.

"But catching assassins is my duty as a royal bodyguard."

Gu Qianning's expression changed: "Don't talk nonsense, I'm not an assassin!"

Feng Shuo concealed the thin, sharp blade in his sleeve, his tone devoid of emotion: "You want to kill him? Fine. But not now. You have to wait for your second brother's orders. Before he gives you his orders, you'd better not act rashly, lest you ruin his grand plan."