The little heroine investigates a mysterious case

Three days later, in the early morning, Gu Zhanghua finally escaped from his inner demons. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw his third brother Gu Jiancheng leaning on a chair and dozing off with his arms folded. He was startled and quickly closed his eyes again.

He thought to himself that if he fainted, his second and third brothers, his mother, the imperial secretary, the imperial physician, the palace maids, the servants, and so on, a large group of people would surely be frightened.

But he really couldn't think of any other solution. That would at least postpone the wedding. If anyone asked him why he had injured himself in front of the Princess of Yue, deliberately triggering his old illness, he would just tell the truth. A gentleman will die for his friend!

Although he had only met the female knight benefactor twice and their time together was short, he knew that the female knight benefactor understood him. He also wondered whether the leader of Yanwangzhai would listen to the female knight benefactor's advice and accept the amnesty?

Next, he had to follow the female hero's instructions and find ways to marry the Princess of Yue, but how would he explain this to his third brother?!

At this time, Gu Jiancheng woke up, yawned, stretched, leaned over to look at Gu Zhanghua, but found that there was no sign of waking up.

Gu Jiancheng murmured, "Why hasn't he woken up yet? The imperial physician said his condition has stabilized... Shishu?"

The waiter outside the door agreed and walked in with a basin of hot water.

"Your Highness Prince Cheng, you have been busy all night. Go back and rest first. I will keep watch over you."

Gu Jiancheng said, "Well, I'll go straight to the palace for the morning court session. If my fifth brother wakes up, you should send someone to the palace to let him know immediately."

"Yes, I've made a note of it."

Gu Jiancheng looked at Gu Zhanghua worriedly again before getting up and leaving.

After a while, Gu Zhanghua quietly opened his eyes and found that Shishu was the only one in the room, wringing out a towel.

Gu Zhanghua whispered, "Shishu..."

Shishu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly turned around and ran to the bed. Seeing Gu Zhanghua sitting up from the bed, Shishu was extremely surprised.

"Your Highness, you're awake! That's great. His Highness Prince Cheng has been worried and just left. I'll go get him..."

Gu Zhanghua grabbed the secretary's arm.

"Tell me first, what happened after I fell into a coma? Did the wedding go on as planned?"

The secretary said, "You are simply sick and confused. How can the wedding go on when you are like that? These past few days have been a mess! The Concubine has come several times, and she cries her heart out every time. If the imperial physician hadn't told you that you needed to rest, the Concubine would have moved directly into our house..."

Gu Zhanghua sighed: "It is my unfilial son..."

Shishu handed the towel to Gu Zhanghua: "I'm glad you're awake. Wipe your face first!"

Gu Zhanghua took the towel and wiped his face: "What's going on with the Princess of Yue?"

The secretary suddenly slapped her thigh and said excitedly, "That princess is really amazing! She said that Your Highness accidentally entered her bedroom and saw her face. In desperation, she stabbed you with a dagger. She also said that she would not marry anyone except Your Highness, otherwise she would die for love!"

Gu Zhanghua stared at Shishu with his eyes wide open.

"Is this true?!"

Shishu felt a little puzzled.

"Your Highness, why are you asking this? Isn't that true? Was it just the princess who made it up?"

Gu Zhanghua opened his mouth and said, "Rumors! Ah, no... I mean, why did she want to stab me? And why did she have to marry me?"

The secretary sighed, "What a poisonous oath! A poisonous oath sworn since childhood! Now everyone on the street knows it! I never thought the princess would be so chaste! She would remain faithful to her husband until death..."

Gu Zhanghua anxiously threw the towel into Shishu's arms: "What exactly is this curse? Tell me now!"

There were bubbles of gossip in Shishu's eyes.

"Oh, it's this princess who always wears a veil covering half of her face, never letting any man see her true appearance. She swore that the first man to see her true face would be her future husband! I thought it was His Royal Highness the True King, but you saw it first. If you don't marry her, she will die!"

Gu Zhanghua found it unbelievable: "What a coincidence?"

"Who says it isn't? Everyone's talking about it now, saying that His Royal Highness the Virtuous Prince and the princess should have been married by imperial decree, but now it's all come back to His Royal Highness the True Prince. They all say that His Royal Highness and the Princess of Yue are destined to be together! Your Highness, you won't let the princess down, will you? Then the princess is doomed. This is too pitiful!"

Gu Zhanghua swallowed hard and said with difficulty: "I didn't say I wouldn't marry..."

Shishu clapped his hands: "That's great!"

Then the secretary looked at Gu Zhanghua with some dissatisfaction.

"By the way, Your Highness, why did you go to the Honglu Temple alone that morning? Why didn't you take me with you?"

Gu Zhanghua felt a little guilty: "You were sleeping so soundly, I called you but you didn't wake up..."

Shishu scratched his head in confusion: "Is that true?"

Gu Zhanghua pushed the secretary and said, "Alright, stop thinking about it and go change the hot water!"

The secretary agreed and ran away swiftly with a serious look on his face.

Gu Zhanghua leaned against the head of the bed, with a bitter face, sighing.

Now that he thought about it, he had only repaid half of the heroine's kindness. Even if he was willing to marry the Yue princess, how could his third brother ask for it? Wouldn't that be stealing someone else's love?

Even if the third brother gave the princess to him, it was only out of consideration for the brotherhood. With the third brother's temper, he would never have anything to do with me again!

Thinking of this, Gu Zhanghua lay back on the bed with a gloomy face. If he had known this would happen, why would he have accepted the marriage that his father had given him? Now, after all the twists and turns, he was finally back to square one. How was he going to explain this to not only his third brother, but also his father?

But why did his heart flutter the moment he saw the Princess of Yue? Not only that, he felt that the princess looked familiar, though he was certain they had never met before. And what was her relationship to his benefactor, the female knight, that she had so easily offered him the jade pendant to make him fulfill his promise?

Gu Zhanghua's mind was in a mess. At this moment, he heard the servant reporting at the door.

"Your Highness, His Majesty the True King has come to visit you and is waiting in the hall!"

Gu Zhanghua hurriedly grabbed the quilt and covered his face. He really was too ashamed to face his third brother.

It happened so quickly that in the blink of an eye, Gu Jingfeng walked quickly into the room.

Seeing Gu Zhanghua lying motionless with his head covered, he was extremely disappointed. He sat down on the edge of the bed and asked the secretary, "Didn't Imperial Physician Gao say he would wake up today? Is he lying? Sooner or later, my father will have him expelled!"

The secretary couldn't understand what Gu Zhanghua meant by covering his head and pretending to sleep, so he had to make an excuse:

"Today... isn't it still early? Maybe... maybe he'll wake up in the evening! Your Highness, you really care about our Highness. Look how anxious you are. How about some tea first?"

Gu Jingfeng stood up and paced back and forth anxiously with his hands behind his back.

"We have to wait until night? I'm in a hurry! The Princess of Yue is still waiting at the Honglu Temple! What's going on? I'll leave when my fifth brother wakes up. If he doesn't wake up tonight, I'll stay at his place. Secretary, go find me a bed and quilt, and a mattress to spread on the floor!"