Princess and the General

Cover Up Today’s Humiliation (Part Two)

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This was precisely what Gu HuaiJiang intended.

Gu ShuBai said: “Father…”

“Ever since father had you escort eldest sister and YunYan back to JinLing, father has thought about a number of things.
You are the eldest son.
If anything happened in the manor that father was unable to handle, it was sure to be you who handled it.
This has been unfair to you and your younger brothers.”

If Gu ShuBai truly died last time in Changzhou, what would he do?

He asked himself this question countless times.
In the end, he changed his way of thinking.
This time, he did not choose Gu ShuBai.

On the other side, Gu ShuBai was a little unaccustomed to this.

“Eldest brother, I will be coming of age next year.
I am not much younger than you and second brother.”

Gu HanMo pushed on: “By the time that eldest brother and second brother were 19, you had both taken on important tasks.
It would not do to keep treating me the same way as the three younger ones and keep me hidden behind eldest brother, right?”

Gu HanMo had learned how to persuade others.
Ever since Tian Shu left, he had become much gentler.

Who knew if it was because he now had Tian Shu as a friend, or it was because of the matter concerning Gu WenQing and Yu Guan, but he was no longer as extreme as before.

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Gu WenQing stood up and smiled, saying: “Third brother is looking down on us.
You getting a chance is one thing, but why is it that we have to hide behind eldest brother?”

“That’s right, that’s right! Third brother is looking down on us!”

Gu Xiang and Gu Yi waved their fists.
They were no longer as afraid of Gu HanMo.

Gu HanMo glanced sideways at the two, “Then how about you two take my place?”

The pair of fists slowly pulled back.

Watching the brothers argue and tease each other, Gu HuaiJiang felt comforted, “Then we’ll go with that.
HanMo, before setting out, father will hand the secret orders from His Majesty to you.
It’s just that you won’t be able to bring too many people.
You will need to keep a low profile to keep this trip secret.
You will need to be more careful.”

Secret orders.

Gu ShuBai’s eyebrow slightly twitched and suddenly knew what to do with Qi Ting.

…

In the study of the prime minister’s manor, the floor was covered in shattered porcelain.

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Standing outside were imperial censor Xia and imperial censor Dong.
They had changed out of their court clothes and were about to step inside but were given a fright by the sound of shattering porcelain.

Not long after the servant went inside to report, Yin Shuo personally came out to receive them.

“Lord imperial censors.”

“Prime Minister Yin.”

After their greetings, Yin Shuo pointed outside, “The new servant in the study is clumsy and broke quite a bit of porcelain.
It didn’t scare my lords, did it? Let’s go to the front hall to speak.”

No matter how clumsy the servant was, they should not have broken that much porcelain, right?

Moreover, they did not hear the sound of anyone apologizing come from inside.

The two glanced at the outer study with dark looks.
The door was closed tight, so the situation inside could not be seen.

“The front hall… we came here in secret, so it would be best if prime minister did not allow too many people to know about this.”

“Don’t worry.
My prime minister’s manor does not have much, but the servants are tight-lipped.”

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Yin Shuo led the way, and the two imperial censors followed along behind him.
The two seemed to notice his hand wrapped up in a bloody cloth concealed in his sleeve…

“This official must apologize to my lords.
If not for my mistake with the report, my lords would not have been scolded by His Majesty in court.
Being fined three months salary is a result of my negligence.”

After saying this, he raised a hand, and servants came in carrying platters of silver ingots.
Bowing, they presented the silver to the two officials.

The two were shocked, and imperial censor Xia said: “Prime Minister Yin, what is the meaning of this? We did indeed impeach Lord Marquis Gu after receiving your report, but it was not for the sake of pushing out someone you disagree with.
Instead, we truly thought that Lord Marquis Gu… We actually got it wrong.
It was we who impeached him without investigating carefully.
It was our own negligence.*

Imperial censor Dong looked a little hesitant but did not speak.
Keeping his head down, he seemed to agree with what imperial censor Xia said.

“My lord imperial censors, you have misunderstood.
You two are honest and upright.
For a prominent family like Lord Marquis Gu’s, being fined three months salary is insignificant.
To my lords, it is far more significant.
The fault lies with this official for supplying the report, and this official just wanted to make up for this mistake.
It is not for the sake of winning my lords over.”

Seeing the two relax, Yin Shuo raised his hand, and the servants carrying the silver retreated.

“Regardless of whether or not my lords accept it, I must make up for my mistake.
I will order my servants to deliver the silver to your manors and hope that you will not decline.”

Civil officials had always placed great importance on face, and this was even truer for investigative officials.
Directly shoving silver in their faces was a disgrace to the educated.

If he sent it directly to their manors, they would just make of a show of refusing before accepting it.

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Sure enough, the two accepted his way of handling things.

“Today’s visit was just to ask prime minister one question.
Although we agreed to not reveal that it was prime minister who gave us the report, now that the report has been proven to be fake, may we ask how exactly prime minister ended up with the report?”

Military secrets were not things that normal people could get their hands on; moreover, this was from Gu HuaiJiang to the Gu family’s army.
They were famous for their strict discipline.

“It has indeed been proven to be fake, but do my lords not want to know what order Marquis Gu sent to the border?”

“That…”

The two exchanged a glance then quickly said: “Hasn’t Lord Marquis Gu already explained this matter to His Majesty? Didn’t His Majesty also say that Lord Marquis Gu is absolutely loyal?”

Yin Shuo subconsciously clenched his fist, blood oozing from the back of his hand where he had been cut by the shattered porcelain, “His Majesty believes in his loyalty, but I do not.
My lords, just wait and see.
I will find evidence to prove it.”

He had been careless this time and fell for Gu HuaiJiang plot.

But he did not believe that Gu HuaiJiang would go through all of that trouble just to send some meaningless order to the border.
He would definitely get to the bottom of this.
He would definitely cover up the humiliation that he had suffered…

Author’s note: Let’s have a moment of silence for Yin Shuo, as things are going a little poorly for the villains.