The real daughter's life was stolen, and she was reborn and became the best in the capital

Chongguan five years.

Five years have passed since Gu Changye ascended the throne.

The once free and innocent young man is now wearing a yellow robe and is trapped in this huge and depressing palace, dealing with mechanical and tedious affairs every day.

It no longer has the vitality it once had.

Occasionally, when Gu Changye looked at the man in the mirror, he would feel an indescribable sense of strangeness.

He almost forgot what he looked like before.

Only occasionally looking at old friends can I regain some vitality.

But the number of old friends around him is decreasing.

The court was purged the year Gu Changye ascended the throne.

River Song is dead.

He died at the hands of his adopted son Zhou Que.

The eunuch party, which was once extremely powerful, is now either dead or useless, and has long lost its former glory.

The Imperial Household Department no longer has as much power as before.

The two big families, the Xiao family and the Ming family, had already collapsed.

After Gu Changye ascended the throne, the affair between Empress Dowager Xiao and the eunuch Song He was made public, and Empress Dowager Xiao's family, the Xiao family, which had only recently risen to prominence, was also killed along with all nine generations of the family.

No one from the Xiao family is still alive.

The Ming family members didn't die, but their condition wasn't much better either.

In the first year of Chongguan, the first year of Gu Changye's reign, the Ming family was stripped of their titles, and the eldest branch of the Ming family, including Ming Yuandu, Zhou Zhaoru and his wife, and the brothers Ming Jingrang and Ming Jingheng, were all sentenced to exile.

The four members of the Ming family's eldest branch were sent to Qianzhou.

Qianzhou was originally named Fengzhou. It is located at the junction of four provinces and is famous for its salt wells. Exiled prisoners were sent here to do jobs like digging and making salt.

In the first year that Zhou Zhaoru went to Qianzhou, he couldn't bear the hardship and committed suicide.

In the fourth year of his exile, Ming Yuandu died due to corrosion of his body by the salt well.

Now only the two brothers Ming Jingrang and Ming Jingheng are left in Qianzhou.

Nothing happened to the second branch of the Ming family.

Ming Jingting even returned to the capital, and now he is one of the few old friends of Gu Changye that he can still see in the court.

The two of them occasionally eat and drink together.

Because of his broken arm, Yuan Ci could no longer serve as the commander of the imperial guards.

In the second year of Chongguan, the second year after Gu Changye ascended the throne, he took his daughter and mother to his hometown Yingzhou.

Yuan Yu is still there.

However, this young man who used to be so romantic and unrestrained has now become more and more taciturn.

He stayed in the Dali Temple every day to judge cases.

Apart from attending court, he seldom entered the palace and seldom went home.

He is still single and has never married.

Gu Changye knew very early on that his cousin liked someone, a deceased person.

That day he and his cousin were drinking in a pub.

Just when he was bored, he suddenly saw a woman getting out of a carriage, and my cousin stood up excitedly.

Ignoring his questions and inquiries, she ran downstairs in a hurry.

That was the first time he saw his cousin act so hastily.

They are cousins ​​and have been getting along well since childhood because of their similar personalities.

Thinking that something had happened, Gu Changye naturally hurried over, but he didn't expect that his cousin was standing downstairs, his eyes looking straight ahead.

He felt strange at the time and followed his cousin's gaze. He saw that Prince Ming from the Anyuan Marquis's Mansion was also there, with a gentle and beautiful woman standing beside him.

From the attendants, he learned that the woman was the eldest daughter of Lord Xu, the Minister of the Dali Temple, and was about to marry the Crown Prince of Ming.

It was also that day that he found out that his cousin had been rescued by a woman when he was injured.

I thought the woman was just a country girl, but I didn't expect she was the daughter of Mr. Xu.

——The daughter of his cousin’s boss.

I even almost met his cousin once.

It was because his cousin only had that savior in his mind at the time and refused to look at him. The Xu family noticed his attitude and couldn't bear to see their daughter come to the Yuan family and be ignored by him, so they turned their attention to the Ming family.

Since then.

Although his cousin was still as unrestrained and casual as before, Gu Changye could see that it was just a disguise.

When Miss Xu died of miscarriage, my cousin was devastated for a long time.

His aunt often wrote to him, asking him to help find a marriage for his cousin.

But since he knew what his cousin was thinking, how could he bring himself to ask for it? He could only let it go.

After dealing with a pile of memorials, Gu Changye let out a long sigh of relief with fatigue.

He had been working at his desk for too long and was exhausted, so he simply got up and walked around. He went to the window, opened it and looked out, only to find that it was snowing outside.

"Snowing……"

The eunuch behind him brought a cloak and put it on him. After hearing what he said, he continued, "It didn't seem like much rain this morning, but by night, it will probably fill the ground and make it difficult to walk. Your Majesty, do you want someone to clean it up now?"

Gu Changye looked at the snow outside and suddenly asked instead of answering, "What day is today?"

The eunuch replied: "The twenty-third, there are still six days until New Year's Eve."

"twenty-three……"

After Gu Changye murmured, he suddenly said: "Then the little uncle should be back soon."

He was talking to himself in a voice so soft that the eunuch naturally did not hear clearly, so he could not help asking, "Your Majesty, what did you say?"

But Gu Changye did not answer.

He just looked out the window again and said with emotion: "Five years..."

five years ago.

He and his uncle led the troops to attack the imperial city. Because they had cooperated with Zhou Que in advance and his uncle was famous, they entered the palace with almost no effort.

At that time, the commander of the imperial guards, Han Hao, had been captured by Zhou Que, and Gu Changxuan was also controlled by his men.

Just when everyone was breathing a sigh of relief, Wu Ji suddenly ran in, with a pale face and a message. He said, "Your Majesty, Miss Ming...she is dead."

Before Gu Changye could react, his uncle and Zhou Que's faces changed drastically and they ran towards the harem.

But a while later.

Zhou's face suddenly turned gloomy. He turned around and pulled away Gu Changxuan, his former fourth brother.

He also sent someone to bring the Ming family and Ming Yao over.

Afterwards, they went to Xianfu Palace in a mighty manner.

At that time, there was only one woman crying in Xianfu Palace. She was her fourth sister-in-law's personal maid, named Hua Sui.

His fourth sister-in-law was lying on the bed with a peaceful smile on her face. She didn't look like she was dead, but rather like she was asleep.

At that time, his uncle was standing in front of the bed and asked the maid, "Fourth Sister-in-law, if she had any requests before she died?"

The maid just cried and shook her head and said, "My master has nothing to ask for."

At that time, the uncle didn't say anything, he just walked up, picked the person up, and then walked out step by step.

He asked his uncle where he was going.

The uncle just looked at the heavy snow outside, looked at the dark night, and said softly: "...She probably doesn't want to stay here."

A few days later.

My uncles are all at Yuxu Peak.

He buried his fourth sister-in-law on the top of Yuxu Peak.

after that.

His uncle did not accept his request to ascend the throne, but only supported him to sit on that position. He also used thundering means to clear out the treacherous officials in the court for him. After that, he returned to Jiayuguan with his own soldiers.

Five years later.

The uncle would only come back once a year in the twelfth lunar month, and only then could the uncle and nephew see each other.

Gu Changye knew that his uncle was the one who came to worship Yuxu Peak.

He actually wanted to go too.

If it weren't for the help of Fourth Sister-in-law, they would never have been able to enter the imperial city so easily.

But now that he sits in this position, even leaving the palace has become difficult.

He twitched his lips and sneered.

But that smile flashed across his face, and in the next moment it became dead silent again. Where was the dazzling look as before?

He stopped looking at the snow, as if he really felt cold. He turned around, pulled his cloak around him, and said calmly, "Close the window. It's too cold."

……

Three days later.

Zhou was riding a horse at the foot of Yuxu Peak.

He is still the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

After Gu Changye ascended the throne, he wanted to reward him, but Zhou refused.

He only asked Gu Changye for two people.

——Gu Changxuan and Mingyao.

After Gu Changye ascended the throne, Gu Changxuan and Mingyao disappeared, and no one knew where they went.

No one dared to ask.

Only occasionally there was a rumor that these two had entered the villa of Lord Zhou.

The person who said this was Zhou Que's first wife.

The former Princess An Chengzhang.

Princess An Chengzhang had been favored and pampered since childhood, but now she has become a lunatic.

I heard that he was frightened.

But no one knew what kind of shock she had suffered.

Who would believe what a madman said? Moreover, Zhou used ruthless means, and countless people had died at his hands over the years. Who would dare to believe it?

"Uu——"

Zhou reined in his horse and stopped at the foot of the mountain.

Looking at the snow, he saw several horses parked nearby. Without saying anything, he dismounted, took the things from the guards, and climbed the stairs to the mountain by himself.

Wu Ji and Qing Xin were guarding the entrance of the mountain.

The two of them have become accustomed to seeing people walking under the snow.

In the first year, there will be obstacles.

After that, he was never stopped again.

Anyway, at this time every year, when they follow the prince back, they can always see Lord Zhou here.

Now I can say hello to people I didn’t know well before.

"Lord Zhou is here." Wu Jixian spoke to Zhou Que.

Zhou nodded, still as quiet as ever. After Wu Ji and the others made way, he went in with the food box.

Wu Ji watched him leave.

Thinking about what I had heard before, I still shook my head and sighed.

Lord Zhou looks aloof and like a scholar, but who would have thought that his private methods are so cruel?

Everyone in the court said that Lord Zhou was cruel and ruthless.

If they knew how he treated those two people in the other courtyard, they would probably be so scared that they wouldn't dare to close their eyes and sleep at night.

Even he still feels frightened when he thinks about it now.

When His Majesty ascended the throne, he wanted to reward people according to their merits, but Lord Zhou did not want any reward, he just wanted two people.

Wu Ji had investigated privately and found out that Lord Zhou had secretly taken the man to a villa in the suburbs, tortured him with all kinds of torture, and also alienated the two people, causing them to torture each other...

Even his wife, Princess An Chengzhang, went crazy because of this.

Not to mention the two people who were tortured.

Wu Ji shook his head and looked away.

The scenery on Yuxu Peak is beautiful.

This is the highest mountain near the capital. From here you can see the whole mountain and the imperial city in the distance.

But Zhou saw a man standing in front of the tombstone.

Perhaps he heard the noise behind him, the man turned around, and was not surprised to see him, but said casually: "Here I come."

"Ah."

Zhou agreed and went over with the things.