I dare not

It happened so suddenly that the others hadn't reacted yet.

Everyone thought that he just went to the capital like Wei Changshi, and came back after a few days. Only Gu Qiao knew in his heart that things would never be that simple.

Going back this time is either a blessing or a curse.And the person who wanted him to go back was the second prince, and he always felt that the possibility of disaster was more likely.

He met this Second Highness once, when he participated in the policy questioning in front of the palace, it was the one standing next to the emperor.In my impression, the image of the second prince is quite similar to that of the emperor, with slender phoenix eyes, high nose bridge, and thin lips.Different from the emperor, he looked at people with a calculated smile, gentle at first glance, and daunting at second glance.

Gu Qiao couldn't figure out what the second prince's intentions were, and she couldn't tell if she could come back to work as Sima after going to the capital.Before he had time to pack his bags, he rushed to the yamen to explain the work. When he came back, the two servants were already impatient.

The gray cloth bag he carried when he came to Lianzhou was long gone. Chang Ling found him a piece of floral cloth, and Gu Qiao dressed him up in two clothes, some pens, ink, paper and inkstones, and a few taels of silver.

Zhai Renli said with a smile: "Going with the Sa family, you don't need to prepare a lot of things."

Gu Qiao nodded and bid farewell to Fazhang and the others.The servant brought the horse, and the three of them got on the horse and left after leaving the courtyard.

It was only after getting on the road that Gu Qiao realized what Zhai Renli meant when he said that there was no need to prepare anything. He had never thought of such a treatment for business trips before.

When they leave Ningcheng, someone will come to pick them up, and eight officers and soldiers clear the way, riding horses and galloping all the way.When they arrived at the post station, someone would immediately prepare delicacies and first-class rooms. There was no need to spend money on board and lodging, and horses were chosen at will. The clothes just changed were washed, dried and delivered immediately.Although riding a horse non-stop for several days is a bit hard, but as soon as you stop to rest, someone will hand you fruits and snacks.

When it was almost time to arrive in the capital, it started to rain, and the official post quickly brought the carriage. Gu Qiao lay on the spacious carriage and thought in a trance, sugar-coated cannonballs!Is this the treatment that I, a sixth-rank petty official, can enjoy?

I have been driving day and night for five days, but I don't feel tired.I finally understand why the court officials, who are busy with everything, can be so energetic at any time. It is not because they are born with supernatural powers, but because their logistics support is really good.

It was still early in the morning when they entered the city, and Zhai Renli asked Gu Qiao to go home to take a bath first, change into his official uniform, and wait for him at Hengyang Gate two hours later.

Gu Qiao's rank was too low, even though he was born as the No. [-] scholar, he was not allowed to enter and leave the palace at will. Xiao Huangmen had to go to the Internal Attendant to issue an entry and exit receipt with a seal for him first, and then enter with the entry and exit receipt.The time, reason, and scope of entry and exit are indicated on the receipt. You must not stay there, and you must not go to places outside the specified range, otherwise there will be big troubles.

Gu Qiao was very annoyed by the various red tapes in the palace. In the past, she would not go if she could. When she really had to go, she tried to hide in the crowd to reduce her presence.

Change your clothes, leave the house, turn right and walk along the street to the end, which is Hengyang Gate.

As expected, the little servant next to Zhai Renli was already waiting at the door. He stretched his neck to look around, and he was relieved when he saw Gu Qiao coming.

This little servant is new here, and he is somewhat related to Jiancheng, the servant, so he was specially arranged to learn from Zhai Renli's side.It was the first time for him to work alone, and he felt a little uneasy. Fortunately, Gu Qiao arrived after a short wait.

"It's work."

Gu Qiao took the entry and exit slip with both hands, and was led by the little servant to the inner door.

There were guards at the inner gate searching him. Gu Qiao opened his hands cooperatively. The little servant stood by and looked at him. He felt that this man had a good temper, good-looking, and polite, and he was not so nervous anymore.

There was still some distance between the Hengyang Gate and the Imperial Study Room, and the two walked slowly.

The winter in Beijing is much colder than in Lianzhou, and the north wind makes my face hurt.

Non-royal members were not allowed to ride horses and carts in the palace, so Gu Qiao had to walk behind the servant. His official uniform was so thin that he felt like he was about to freeze into a block of ice.

He heard the sound of horseshoes kicking from a distance, and soon saw a goose-yellow carriage approaching. The little servant hurriedly asked Gu Qiao to stand by the roadside and bowed to salute.

Gu Qiao stood with her head down, watching the wheels run over the blue brick and stone road, and couldn't help sneezing when the carriage passed by.

The waiter was so frightened that he was about to cry, for fear of disturbing the nobles in the carriage and being punished. Fortunately, the people in the carriage only lifted a corner of the curtain to take a look, and did not blame them.

When the carriage left, the servant glared at Gu Qiao reproachfully, Gu Qiao said innocently, "I didn't do it on purpose, who can hold back a sneeze?"

The little servant hurriedly waved his hands to make him whisper, and said in a low voice: "Will you not wait until he leaves before calling?"

"Who is that?"

The little servant looked back cautiously, "The color looks like a certain prince."

As the two talked and walked, they couldn't help but quicken their pace.Not far away, I saw the goose-yellow carriage coming back!

When the carriage stopped in front of them, without saying a word, the little servant pulled Gu Qiao to his knees and kowtowed to make amends, "My lord, please spare me!"

The guard driving the car hurriedly jumped down, "Hey, what are you doing? Get in the car!"

"Ah?" The little servant raised his head crying and said, "Get in the car?"

The guard lifted the curtain, and there was no noble person inside.

"His Highness told you to sit, you can sit! Hurry up!"

Gu Qiao and the little servant looked at each other, and asked the guard, "Dare to ask this big brother guard, who is your highness..."

The guards were already impatient, and waved their hands to urge them to get on the car, "Hurry up, or I won't be able to catch up with His Highness!"

Gu Qiao had no choice but to tell the guards that they were going to the imperial study, and got into the car with the little servant.

The interior of the car is spacious and comfortable, with a warm stove burning and a faint woody fragrance.It was the first time for Gu Qiao to drive in a royal car, looking around and feeling around, it was very fresh.

The little servant turned pale with fright, even Eunuch Zhai had never been in a car in the palace, so he just got on it, if the other servants found out, he might cause some trouble.

After looking at it for a while, Gu Qiao felt that the ones used by ordinary people only looked more advanced, felt more comfortable to the touch, and were softer to sit on. There was nothing unusual about it, so she leaned halfway on the car and fell asleep.

When the carriage stopped, Gu Qiao was almost asleep, and the guard lifted the curtain to let them get out of the carriage, "You can't drive in front, you go over there by yourself!"

Gu Qiao thanked the guard, and the guard smiled at him: "We will meet later, Mr. Gu!"

Gu Qiao's father had a very good reputation in the court. When some veteran officials called Mr. Gu, they all said Gu Zhiwei. As time passed, everyone called Gu Qiao Xiao Gu.

Unexpectedly, the guard also knew him, and when he wanted to ask him a few more words, he had already turned his horse and left.

The servant at the door of the imperial study room announced that Gu Qiao had arrived, and after waiting for a while, he heard an old eunuch inside shouting in a shrill voice: "Xuanlian Prefecture Sima Gu Qiao is here!"

Gu Qiao walked into the imperial study room with low eyebrows, knelt down in front of the desk, and shouted long live.

"Gu Qiao." The emperor's voice had a lazy majesty.

Gu Qiao straightened her upper body and replied, "The minister is here."

He lowered his head, and the emperor had to kneel before letting him get up.

The emperor asked him to raise his head and stared at him for a while, which made Gu Qiao's heart shudder. After seeing enough, the emperor finally laughed: "Okay, let's get flat."

The emperor was notoriously elusive. Although he smiled amiably at this moment, it was hard to say what would happen next moment.Gu Qiao got up and stood there respectfully.

"Tell me about it," the emperor said lazily, "how is Lianzhou?"

Gu Qiaoxin said that Wei Changshi didn't make it clear when he reported his work?On the face of it, he told the situation in Lianzhou honestly again. When talking about the fire at Shaocheng Temple, he focused on Du Yuwen and Huang Qi who had not been arrested yet. Look interested.

Because he was not sure about the identity of the third child, he concealed the encounter with the little fool during the report, but the emperor said after hearing it: "I heard that you met a person who was poisoned in Lianzhou. The matter of this person is very important." You tell me to listen."

Gu Qiao didn't know how much the emperor had "heard", so he didn't dare to lie, so he told the story exactly, but he felt that he should not tell the emperor that the little fool was sleeping in his arms when he got poisoned, so he said it lightly It is taken care of by the monks who live together.

Unexpectedly, the emperor was very interested in this matter, how painful it was when the poison occurred, how he remembered that he had an older brother when he lost his memory, and took out a needle from his brain during the treatment, all these details were explained one by one.

Seeing the solemn expression on the emperor's face, there was some anger between the brows, Gu Qiao didn't know where she said something wrong that offended Longyan, and she dared to pick up some unimportant things when she asked again.

"Okay," the emperor said wearily, propping his forehead with his hands, "you can go back and see your teacher, he misses you very much."

Gu Qiao agreed, and the emperor said, "You are doing well in Lianzhou."

Gu Qiao bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, I have retired."

When Gu Qiao went out, a warrior in white came out from the screen behind the dragon chair. He walked to the desk and knelt down on one knee: "Your Majesty, what Gu Sima said just now is similar to what we found out. Attempt to murder the Third Highness."

The emperor did not speak.

The warrior in white said again: "A Gumen is trying his best to search for the whereabouts of those two people."

"After searching for so long, you still haven't found it?"

The warrior paused, "Yes, those two people used fake identities, and they were good at hiding their tracks, so it was very difficult to find out."

The emperor waved him to go out, and the warrior in white walked out of the imperial study, jumped onto the roof and disappeared.