Chapter 2838 The Substitute Was Forcibly Taken by the Bandit's Wife 43

On the official road leading from Nanzhou back to the capital, carriages and horses rumbled along.

It was late spring, and the willows along the roadside had sprouted new green leaves, swaying gently in the breeze.

Gu Fanghe rode on horseback, with Jin Chen's carriage beside him. Occasionally, the wind would lift a corner of the carriage curtain, revealing the silhouette of the person inside sitting by the window, looking languid and leisurely, as if on a picnic.

At the very end of the convoy was the prison cart carrying the crown prince.

Wu Zhengming huddled in the carriage, his hair disheveled and his clothes tattered. He was no longer the majestic prince he once was. He kept his head down, but his eyes kept glancing ahead, as if waiting for something.

As evening fell, the caravan stopped at the Guanjia Post Station outside the city.

The post station clerks had already received the news and came out tremblingly to greet the general, kneeling on the ground and saying, "Welcome, General."

Gu Fanghe dismounted, turned around and walked to the carriage. He reached out and lifted the curtain, and Jin Chen bent down to get out of the carriage.

The minor officials secretly glanced up and saw this scene. They were all shocked. They had heard that General Gu had returned to the capital with a very favored young master by his side. Now that they saw it with their own eyes, they knew that the rumors were true. This young master was indeed very handsome.

The group entered the post station.

The food was already laid out in the hall; it wasn't lavish, but it was clean enough.

Gu Fanghe pulled Jin Chen to sit down in the main seat, while Liu Mianfeng sat privately on either side.

As for the Crown Prince... he was bound hand and foot and thrown into a corner without even a stool, so much so that the clerk's hands were shaking when he served the dishes.

Gu Fanghe acted as if he hadn't seen it, and simply picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of the tenderest part of the steamed sea bass and put it in Jin Chen's bowl, "The journey was bumpy and arduous, are you getting used to it?"

Jin Chen lazily propped her chin up and looked at him. "There's probably someone else who's not as used to it as I am...."

“Our Boss Gu… oh no, General Gu, looks very nervous.”

Gu Fanghe was taken aback, then burst into laughter.

It wasn't so much nervousness as it was a feeling of trepidation as one gets closer to home, but these emotions suddenly dissipated in Jin Chen's words.

He moved closer to Jin Chen, feeling more at ease, and then placed another piece of chicken in Jin Chen's bowl, saying, "Eat more."

In the corner, the prince watched this scene, and his stomach growled involuntarily.

He has only been able to eat every five days since he started his journey, and that was only to prevent him from dying on the road. How could he not know that Gu Fanghe was doing this on purpose?

Starve him, just like he starved the youngest brother of the Koo family to death back then, torturing him little by little.

Wu Zhengming gritted his teeth, but his eyes grew brighter and brighter. Once he returned to the capital, he would make these people pay the price.

Just then, the sound of hurried hooves suddenly came from outside the post station.

Immediately afterward, the clerk scrambled in, "Reporting... to my lords!"

"News has arrived from the capital: His Majesty passed away two hours ago!"

"What!" Everyone in the hall, except for Gu Fanghe and Jin Chen, was shocked.

The Emperor has passed away! So quickly?

The clerk continued, "Now it is the Ninth Prince... who is temporarily in charge of the government and managing all affairs. Martial law has been declared in the capital."

Has the Ninth Prince taken power?

"General! The Ninth Prince... the Ninth Prince has arrived!"

The crown prince was visibly shaken, overjoyed.

His imperial uncle was always a free spirit and had no interest in the throne.

His father had tried several times to get him involved in politics, but he refused each time. His taking power was perhaps just a temporary measure to stabilize the court.

So...do I still have a chance?

Wu Zhengming suddenly looked up at Gu Fanghe and his group, "You're all dead! My royal uncle must have come to save me! When I am the emperor again, I will definitely make you..."

Before he could finish speaking, the door of the inn was pushed open.

The Ninth Prince was not the Ninth Imperial Uncle in the Crown Prince's memory, who always waved a folding fan and acted like a leisurely scholar.

He walked in, his gaze sweeping across the hall, lingering briefly on the Crown Prince before looking away as if it were something insignificant. He then looked at Gu Fanghe, who had stood up, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and bowed deeply, "General Gu, seven years have passed since we parted. Our great undertaking... is finally accomplished."

The joy on the prince's face froze.

No... Impossible...

Are the Imperial Uncle and Gu Fanghe in cahoots?

“Your Highness is too kind. This is your great cause, not mine,” Gu Fanghe said. “I helped you ascend to the throne only because I didn’t want to… repeat the mistakes of the past.”

Upon hearing this, Ninth Prince Wu Chengjing's eyes showed even greater respect. "General, you have saved my life, recognized my talent, and even... given me a second chance."

"If it weren't for the general's unwavering support and guidance in the military camp back then, I, Wu Chengjing, might have long been a pile of withered bones under the imperial power, or a listless prince who lived out his days in a daze, and I would never be where I am today."

"This favor will never be forgotten by Chengjing. If the general is willing, this throne..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was already clear.

Gu Fanghe shook his head without hesitation, "No need."

“I have no interest in that position. I am a general, and in the future, I will only be a general who leads troops into battle.”

He was born to be on the battlefield, at the frontier, amidst bugles and the smoke of war. The treacherous intrigues of the imperial court were neither his desire nor his forte.

not to mention……

Gu Fanghe turned his head to look at Jin Chen, who was still sitting lazily beside him, showing no interest in the topic of the throne.

He asked his young master, Jin Chen, and Jin Chen also showed little interest in that supreme position, even finding it troublesome.

If Jin Chen wanted it, he might consider doing everything in his power to seize that position and hand it over to him, just to make him smile.

But since Jin Chen doesn't want it, then so be it.

Prince: "..."

"Wu Chengjing! How dare you betray the royal family, collude with traitors, and plot to usurp the throne! You are unworthy of the surname Wu!!"

The Ninth Prince then turned to look at him, "The Crown Prince probably doesn't know, but I... am not a member of the royal family."

"I am the general's man."

Ok?

Upon hearing this, Jin Chen raised an eyebrow slightly, looked up at Gu Fanghe, and said with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "He's the general's man... then whose man am I?"

Gu Fanghe was taken aback.

Immediately, he raised his foot and kicked the Ninth Prince in the buttocks without any hesitation. The force was not heavy, but it was enough to make the future emperor stagger a step.

"Speak properly." Gu Fanghe said expressionlessly.

Caught off guard by the kick, Wu Chengjing immediately lost his composure as he clutched his backside. His calm and dignified demeanor crumbled, and he cried out in despair, "I was wrong! I was wrong! Don't kick my backside again! You're going to be the emperor soon! Can't you give me some face?"

His appearance was completely different from his previous imperial majesty; he looked more like a boy who had returned to his childhood years ago, when he was being trained in Gu Fanghe's military camp, crying and screaming in pain.

Liu Mianfeng burst out laughing, and Yan Qi, with his arm around Shi Meng's shoulder, laughed so hard he almost fell over. Even Chen Xiaoshan couldn't help but smile.

Gu Fanghe then turned around, gave Jin Chen a flattering kiss on the corner of his lips, and poured him a glass of wine. "He's just talking nonsense, don't listen to his lies."

"He used to be... a useless pawn that the late emperor abandoned in my army camp to hone his skills. I picked him up and taught him casually for a few years. He's practically my apprentice."

Jin Chen smiled and said "Oh".

The prince slumped in the corner, his face ashen.

He finally understood that all that talk of being a carefree hermit and not coveting power was just a lie.

This royal uncle, whom he had never taken seriously, was the one who was the most deeply hidden.