C14

Hearing this, a hint of thought flashed through the emperor's eyes. He knitted his brows, as if he was considering their words.

"Your majesty, please don't. This Gu Qiangwei is the daughter of a criminal official. What she is doing now is merely atoning for her sins. This is what she should do." Ann Yuan quickly kneeled down, a hint of coldness flashed through his eyes. He said with a frown, "Finally, we've brought down the Gu family. We can't let them have the chance to stand up again."

"I don't agree with State Duke Qi's words." Imperial Physician Li straightened up, a stern look in his eyes as he spoke, "When the Gu family was jailed, Gu Qiangwei was only ten. What did a ten-year-old child know?"

"That's right, Your Majesty. A hero should be punished for his crimes without asking where he came from, but he should also be rewarded for his meritorious deeds." Hearing this, Lee Mingzhi also hurriedly moved. The Gu family's Qi State was very prestigious, even four years ago, everyone was imprisoned, everyone was sighing with amazement.

The emperor looked at Ann Yuan and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes. He frowned and said, "Indeed, that makes sense. Since it's a pearl, then don't bury it."

Originally, the emperor felt that it was too embarrassing to tell anyone that a general cured the plague. He'd wanted to record the merits to Imperial Physician Li, but Imperial Physician Li was too unorthodox.

Now that he had brought it up, he couldn't ignore it either.

"If the Emperor were to reward Gu Qiangwei, then she would definitely be deeply grateful. Even the Gu family would thank you. They would definitely treat you with unwavering determination." Hearing that, a smile flashed across Lee Mingzhi's face and his eyes were filled with surprise.

"In that case, pass on my decree that Gu Qiangwei has done well in curing the plague, bestowing a thousand taels of gold, returning the Gu family's estate to its owner, and bestowing the title of County Head Yiping." A trace of benevolence flashed past his eyes, and a trace of a loving smile appeared on the corner of his mouth as he said, "Li Aiqing, tell Gu Qiangwei that if she can help share the worries of the country and win merits for the country, she can also bring her parents home in the future."

Hearing this, Lee Mingzhi nodded his head. A trace of a smile flashed across his eyes as he said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

In his heart, however, he was incomparably sarcastic. Gu Qiangwei was a pearl, so the Emperor wanted to exhaust all the light within this pearl, leaving no leeway. As long as it was useful to him, he absolutely couldn't let it go. Those who were in danger would not be forgiven.

"The imperial edict has arrived." Before Lee Mingzhi returned, the imperial edict had arrived.

Gu Qiangwei and Xiao Leng were drinking tea in the living room. Upon hearing the sound, they hurriedly walked out. A trace of doubt flashed across Xiao Leng's eyes as he stared unblinkingly at Eunuch Du.

"Gu Qiangwei receives the decree." Eunuch Du's sharp duckling voice sounded.

Gu Qiangwei quickly took a step forward and knelt in front of Eunuch Du.

"With the blessing of the Heavens, the Emperor decreed: Gu Qiangwei has made a great contribution in the treatment of the plague, to the benefit of the people, and has saved Dawn from the burning of water and fire. Although she is the daughter of a sinful official, she has been bestowed with the title of 'Princess', 'Yiping', as well as a thousand gold taels. "Here it is." Eunuch Du's voice sounded especially harsh.

At this moment, Gu Qiangwei was stunned. A trace of doubt flashed across her eyes. Why did she suddenly feel like she had just opened her mouth? Isn't she leveling up too quickly?

"County Head Yiping, accept the decree." Eunuch Du looked down at Gu Qiangwei's stupefied expression and thought that she was being overly happy. A trace of a smile flashed across her eyes as she spoke.

"Gu Qiangwei receives the decree." Gu Qiangwei immediately stretched out her hand to receive the imperial edict. A trace of a smile flashed in her eyes as she stood up.

"Reward." Xiao Leng looked at Eunuch Du, who had a flattering look on his face, and said while narrowing his eyes.

"Eunuch, take the money and buy some tea. I'll make a trip over here for you." Xueruun said in a thanking tone. A trace of a smile flashed in her eyes as she nodded. She quickly took out a silver ingot and placed it in Eunuch Du's hand.

Eunuch Du kept the silver and said, "Thank you, thank you. Then this servant will take his leave."

"Take care, eunuch." Gu Qiangwei hurriedly said.

"County Head Yiping, not bad, not bad at all." Seeing Eunuch Du walk out, the corners of Xiao Leng's mouth slowly curled up into a smile. Within his slightly narrowed almond-shaped eyes, there was an abundance of coldness and ridicule.

"Hmph." Gu Qiangwei snorted coldly and straightened her back. She raised her head and looked at Xiao Leng, who was a head taller than her. She put her hands on her hips and said, "Don't yell at me anymore. I'm a princess."

Xiao Leng glanced at Gu Qiangwei and rolled his eyes, "Boring."

Gu Qiangwei frowned. A trace of displeasure flashed across her face as she said, "What's with your attitude?"

"Do you want to go home and stay here?" Xiao Leng lowered his head and looked coldly at Gu Qiangwei. There was a trace of danger and coldness in his tone as he spoke with a frown.

Gu Qiangwei's heart tightened as a hint of flattery flashed across her eyes. She chuckled and said, "Of course I'm staying here. I'm joking. No matter what, my lady saved my life. I'm not an ungrateful person."

What kind of joke was that? The Gu family mansion was returned, and there wasn't even a single person living in such a large mansion, so the living quarters were quite scary. This General's Mansion was clean and beautiful, what's wrong with living quarters?

Xueruun will bring some people to clean up a courtyard for the princess. Then, she will pick two servants for the princess, one servant for maidservant, four servants for maidservant, and four servants for maid. Xiao Leng glanced at Xueruun and said with emotion in his eyes.

Xueruun quickly nodded and said, "Yes."

"Wow." Gu Qiangwei couldn't help but open her mouth wide in shock. Wasn't this too exaggerated? In this way, there were 12 people serving her. The young ladies of ancient times were truly fortunate.

"Why?" Xiao Leng looked at Gu Qiangwei who looked at him in disbelief, and with her arms crossed, a hint of speechlessness flashed across his eyes as he said, "You don't need to thank me. Since you're living in the General's Mansion, you can't lose propriety."

Gu Qiangwei glanced at Xiao Leng and said, "Thank you Madam."

"Do you want to go home?" Xiao Leng glanced at Gu Qiangwei. A trace of melancholy flashed across his eyes. He turned around, looked at the sky and said, "I'll let you go back and take a look."

Hearing this, Gu Qiangwei lowered her head and nodded, sighing endlessly in her heart. Accompanying a man like a tiger and a light breeze like Prime Minister Gu, she was still wrongly accused of going to jail. Gu Qiangwei had gone from being a haughty young miss to a lowly servant, dying tragically in the palace.

Xiao Leng found someone to bring Gu Qiangwei back.

The two stone lions by the door were still as solemn as before. As they looked at the people walking past, not a single trace of time could be seen. Even if there was dust, it was washed clean by the heavy rain.

In the middle was a ten-meter-wide stone staircase that had not been repaired for a long time. Weeds grew out, and a head emerged from the cracks in the stone.

Gu Qiangwei raised her head to look at the giant plaque that hung high up in the sky. The words "Prime Minister Residence" were written in the emperor's handwriting.

Below was the red door. It had long since faded away. Gu Qiangwei lightly patted it as a tinge of tears flashed across her eyes. In her memory, four years ago, a family of one hundred and thirty-four people separated here.

Prime Minister Gu knew that a disaster was coming, so he dismissed all the servants and married out his three grown daughters. Gu Qiangwei, who was ten years old at the time, stood there and saw all of maidservant's servants leave while carrying their luggage and crying.

Seeing her sisters' palanquin being carried out from here, the sisters knelt in front of Prime Minister Gu and Madame Gu and cried like they were about to cry, while Gu Qiangwei stood in the corner and watched helplessly.

Gu Qiangwei stretched out her hand to touch the seal on the door and tore it off. Pushing the door open, a gust of dust assaulted her face.

There were two rows of huge trees on either side of the main gate. The courtyard was shaded from the sun by the untrimmed trees.

There was a row of grass growing on top of the gravel road in the middle. Gu Qiangwei stood there alone and didn't dare to go in. A trace of sadness flashed across her eyes. It was unknown if it was due to Gu Qiangwei's emotions or her body.

A tear fell from the corner of Gu Qiangwei's eyes.

She saw the big tree at the entrance, and it was as if she saw Gu Qiangwei being led away, holding onto the big tree tightly and crying for her parents. Her brothers and fathers and mothers stood inside the house helplessly, looking at her crying face, her father constantly sighing.

Gu Qiangwei's pregnant sister-in-law and her niece were taken away that day. Gu Qiangwei's sister-in-law gave birth in the winter, but no one attended to her. The children and adults all died in the palace, and the little nieces fell into the lake, drowning, and their brothers were exiled, all of them killed in battle.

Just like that, a good family was torn apart. A crazy hatred and anger filled Gu Qiangwei's heart. Gu Qiangwei suddenly wanted to turn the case over for Prime Minister Gu, wanted to return the Gu family's innocence as recompense for occupying Gu Qiangwei's body. Since she used her body, she should also take responsibility.