Poisonous Goddess: I'm just lazing around in the mortal realm.

"You're really senile!"

Pei Zhiheng was exasperated and raised his hand to hit him, but then he remembered that he couldn't beat him, so he withdrew his hand and landed it on his own thigh.

He wondered why Gu Shining and General Weiyuan's wife suddenly appeared in the palace without any warning during the Emperor's birthday celebration, and why the two of them came to the capital together. He originally thought it was just because of the marriage agreement, but he never expected that there was another connection.

He looked up at his best friend, then sighed helplessly.

Gu Changzhe shook his head.

"It's all my fault for being too arrogant, thinking that since the emperor is far away, he will never know about this."

His expression was one of profound desolation. It wasn't that he didn't care about his daughter's future happiness, but rather, for the sake of those hundreds of lives, no matter how despicable the Third Prince was.

His daughter

Gu Shining

They all had to marry him, just to save the life of the Gu family's eagle guards!

"Did the Emperor find out about this and use it to threaten you?"

Pei Zhiheng interrupted his thoughts. He had thought that the Gu family's Eagle Guard had been disbanded long ago and should not still exist in this world.

Gu Changzhe hesitated, his words caught in his throat. He looked at the gaze his friend was giving him, unsure how to explain himself.

"Just tell me! Who else could help you? The An family is a den of wolves! Don't you know that better than I do?" Pei Zhiheng said, naturally somewhat annoyed.

He had watched Gu Shining grow up since she was a child, and the three of them had a very close relationship. If something happened to his best friend's daughter, he would feel guilty.

Gu Changzhe then sighed deeply.

"His Majesty only guessed that the Gu family's Eagle Guards were still near the capital. My daughter just wrote to me a few days ago saying that she wanted to pass this hot potato to that old man."

"Second child? You had another one?"

Pei Zhiheng frowned, because he hadn't expected Gu Shining to be his younger brother or sister.

Gu Changzhe pursed his lips, then rolled his eyes.

"What I mean is, Shi Ning plans to drag the Second Prince down with him, and isn't the Second Prince himself?"

Upon hearing this, Pei Zhiheng felt a headache coming on. He looked up and pressed his temples, immediately losing the will to continue talking to him.

He was so angry that he couldn't help but yell and curse.

"Brother Gu, it's good that you've been in Philadelphia for so long, but now that the Crown Prince and the Military Governor have moved into the Gu residence, can't you watch your mouth? This matter is already one where he and you don't get along, and if people hear you calling someone a prince like that, do you even want your head?!"

If those censors were to hear this, and then embellish it before the Emperor, the Gu family might have to change its name!

"Why should I be afraid of them? Right now, I simply can't trust my daughter's plans. Otherwise, why would I have called you here? I'm just hoping you can come up with a solution for me!"

Gu Changzhe turned his head away in annoyance, deciding not to look at him.

Pei Zhiheng was slightly taken aback, and he frowned.

"Is this how you ask for a favor? Then tell me, where exactly is that Eagle Guard?"

In Philadelphia

Where in Philadelphia?

"They had already dispersed into the Philadelphia garrison."

"Then why did Shi Ning want to drag the Second Prince into this mess?"

Pei Zhiheng picked up the bitter tea that had long since gone cold. Although he couldn't stand the bitterness, the entire table had been overturned by Gu Changzhe, so there was no water left to quench his thirst.

Gu Changzhe watched as Pei Zhiheng grimaced as he drank the cup of cold tea, then spoke.

"Back then, half of the Eagle Guards were left in the capital. At the time, thinking that they might have to go back, they were placed among the assassins originally assigned to your Pei family."

"puff--"

Pei Zhiheng ultimately didn't finish the half-cup of tea.

He sprayed the bitter tea all over the floor. Gu Changzhe frowned slightly. Although he couldn't smell it, he still moved his chair back away from him with great disgust.

Pei Zhiheng, ignoring the tea dregs still clinging to his lips, turned to look at him and said...

"What did you say? Death squads? The ones you left me before you left the capital?"

He recalled that he had rarely used that group of people over the years. It turned out that he had only used them for a few days when the Emperor wanted to take action against his Pei family, and then he had kept them secretly in the Pei residence to protect Pei Nanyue's safety ever since.

Gu Changzhe raised an eyebrow, his face expressionless.

"Of course it's that group, otherwise why would they be called suicide squads?"

"Ancestors! If those people were your Gu Family Eagle Guards, why would you keep them by my side?"

Pei Zhiheng suddenly stood up, pointing at Gu Changzhe's nose, ready to curse. After all, this was such a hot potato, and he had kept him by his side for decades with unknown consequences.

If it weren't for the Emperor finding some clues, he probably would never have known in his life about the group of trusted confidants that Marquis Gu left behind when he was stationed in Philadelphia.

It turned out to be the Gu Family Eagle Guards whom the Emperor had been searching for for many years without success!

Gu Changzhe, however, resembled a rogue at this moment, propping his head up with one hand and raising his eyebrows.

“I told you, they are my confidants. If they weren’t confidants, how could they stay by your side to help you? If you weren’t my close friend, how could I dare to put the lives of the hundreds of Gu Family Eagle Guards on your shoulders, Prime Minister Pei?”

His words seemed flawless.

But Pei Zhiheng clearly didn't hear it that way.

Pei Zhiheng shook his head, his anger flaring up instantly. He paced back and forth in front of the table, clearly not expecting his Pei family to be so riddled with problems.

He was saying that over the years, in his correspondence with his close friend, it seemed as if his friend knew everything about what was happening in the capital.

He originally thought that it was because Lord Gu's spies had been lying in wait around the capital for many years that he knew so much about him.

But he just never thought of it.

Those informants were actually assassins from his Pei family's inner circle! And all these years, he's been paying their salaries! Supporting the Gu family?

Thinking of this, Pei Zhiheng laughed helplessly.

"I'm telling you, what other scares have you had? You might as well tell me all at once, so that I won't die without even knowing how I died."

He patted his head, trying to comfort himself, realizing that he had made the friends himself and couldn't blame anyone else.

Seeing his friend looking so flustered, Gu Changzhe couldn't help but laugh.

"It's nothing, but Shi Ning's plan is obviously to drag your Pei family into this mess. She asked me to remind you to make plans early."

"Make plans early? I'm already in Philadelphia, and you're telling me to make plans early?"

Pei Zhiheng was furious, but could only shake his head helplessly.

He had long suspected the Pei family's assassins, but he hadn't dared to consider their identities as Gu family's Eagle Guards, given their ruthless nature.

It was all thanks to them that Duan Yuan was able to ascend the throne smoothly back then.

"Shi Ning's plan probably won't be completed so quickly. I was thinking that if you've already planned to leave the Emperor, why not take this opportunity to come to Philadelphia with me?"

Gu Changzhe stroked his chin; this was the only relatively normal solution he could think of.

"Not yet!"