20demayo Chapter 142 The Worst Possible Case
Chapter 142 The Worst Possible Case
The secretary escorted Xu Hu out of the house, and only Zhao Xuan and Gu Zhanghua were left in the front hall.
Zhao Xuan asked Gu Zhanghua, "From what you just said, you're planning to go alone?"
"Yes, going alone will make me less conspicuous. This time I don't even plan to bring my secretary with me. I'm going to negotiate with Hu Yiba. As the saying goes, two countries at war don't kill envoys. Besides, there's no deep hatred between Hu Yiba and me."
Zhao Xuan looked at Gu Zhanghua strangely and handed the evil-slaying knife to him.
"Take it."
Gu Zhanghua took the Evil-Slaying Sword from Zhao Xuan's hand, but he underestimated the weight of the Sword. He staggered and was almost dragged to the ground by the Sword. Zhao Xuan caught the Evil-Slaying Sword and supported Gu Zhanghua.
"You can't even lift a knife, and you want to go alone?"
Gu Zhanghua smiled awkwardly at Zhao Xuan.
"Then I'd better take the servant with me."
"Then you might as well take me with you."
Gu Zhanghua rejected it outright: "That won't work. Hu Yiba has met you, but you are now the Consort of the Virtuous Prince. If we reveal any flaws and Hu Yiba gets hold of us, things will be even more difficult. We absolutely cannot allow any complications to arise now. Everything must be based on the safety of Hao Xiong and Dong Tian. Recruiting Jiaoyang Valley is the top priority."
Zhao Xuan put the Evil-Slaying Knife on the table, thought for a while, and discussed it with Gu Zhanghua.
"How about this? I'll protect you in secret as a masked female warrior, and publicly you'll bring your servant. Hu Yiba is no pushover, and I have a feeling this trip won't go smoothly. We'd better be prepared. If we can't convince Hu Yiba, we can still escape unscathed. Besides, I've been to the Tiandao League and am familiar with the route, so we won't waste any time. What do you think?"
Gu Zhanghua thought for a moment and said, "Okay, then it's as you say. We'll set off after lunch!"
Zhao Xuan immediately stretched, yawned, and walked out the door.
"I've been busy this morning and my head hurts. I'll take a nap after dinner to recharge my energy before setting off again. I'll go see what delicious food the housekeeper has made!"
Gu Zhanghua shouted, "Wait."
Zhao Xuan turned around and saw Gu Zhanghua take out the divorce letter from his arms and hand it to her.
"Tear it up quickly."
Zhao Xuan had long forgotten about the divorce letter, or rather, she thought Gu Zhanghua would quietly dispose of it. After all, it was something she had done in a fit of rage, and she didn't expect Gu Zhanghua to still keep it.
Zhao Xuan felt embarrassed and ashamed for a moment. She did not accept the divorce letter and muttered something under her breath.
"Why don't you just tear it up yourself?"
"Of course you tear up what you wrote!"
Without saying a word, Zhao Xuan grabbed the divorce letter, tore it into pieces and threw it on the ground.
"Is this okay?"
"Apologize."
"Why should I apologize? You were the one who said you didn't want to marry me!"
"Then it's true that you went to great lengths to marry me."
"Are you done yet?"
"I was being reasonable with you. If I hadn't stopped you, you would have gone to the Ministry of Justice and caused such a scene. Even if we had gotten the Evil Slaying Sword, it wouldn't have helped. All our previous efforts would have been in vain, right?"
"I apologize, Your Majesty. I'm sorry, I was wrong. Next time I won't act impulsively and will think twice before I act!"
"That's more like it, but..."
Zhao Xuan immediately looked at Gu Zhanghua warily.
"But what? I've already apologized, and that's not enough? How about this: you write me a letter of divorce right now, and then tear it up in front of me. Now we're even, right?"
"I'm not talking about the divorce letter. I'm just thinking, after all that, we've been through together and we've been through thick and thin together. We're old friends now. Isn't it a bit too distant for you to keep calling me Prince? It makes it seem like our relationship isn't that good?"
Zhao Xuan didn't understand why the divorce letter brought up the topic of address.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, fake couples are still couples. They have to pretend on the surface. Look at my second brother, he calls my second sister-in-law Zhenzhen, and my second sister-in-law calls my second brother Jiancheng. It sounds so comfortable that way, and it looks like a couple."
"The matter of Jiaoyang Valley has not yet been concluded. Do you still have the leisure to think about these things? Fine, then I will call you Zhang Hua in private from now on. Is that okay?"
Gu Zhanghua thought about it seriously.
"I'm not used to hearing that. No one has ever called me that. How about you just call me Xiaowu? Everyone called me that when we were little. My mom still calls me that now and then. It seems affectionate."
Seeing Gu Zhanghua looking at her expectantly, Zhao Xuan's heart softened immediately. She thought that it was she who gave him the nickname Xiaowu. She didn't expect that after so many years, she could still call him Xiaowu openly under another identity.
This was once her dream, but when such an opportunity suddenly appeared in front of her, Zhao Xuan opened her mouth but couldn't say anything. No matter whether it was Tian Shiliu's identity or Huang Huacai's identity, she felt weird calling him Xiaowu.
Zhao Xuan simply turned around and ran: "I'm hungry, let's go eat!"
Gu Zhanghua shouted at Zhao Xuan, "What do you want me to call you in private? Huahua? Caicai? Or Huacai?"
Zhao Xuan's body suddenly swayed and she almost bumped into the servant who was bringing Xu Hu back. She ignored the servant and ran away.
The secretary was puzzled: "What's wrong with the princess? It's like she's seen a ghost?"
Gu Zhanghua smiled: "We are about to go to the Tiandao League. I saw that the princess was a little too nervous, so I made a joke to tease her."
"Your Highness, you are amazing. Not only can you argue, but you can also joke. I admire you."
Gu Zhanghua took a deep breath.
"Not only is the princess nervous, I'm actually more nervous than she is. Success or failure depends on this. Isn't it great if we can all relax a little bit by making a joke?"
After rushing for a long time, Zhao Xuan, Gu Zhanghua and Shishu finally arrived in Jinyang City at dusk three days later and stayed in an inn called "Yuekelai".
Gu Zhanghua specifically asked for two upper rooms, one for him and the secretary, and one for Zhao Xuan alone.
After dinner, Zhao Xuan returned to the guest room and took off the evil-slaying sword that she carried with her all the time. She placed it on the table. She gently stroked the scabbard and fell into deep thought.
Although the three of them had already agreed on the way that the secretary would accompany Gu Zhanghua to meet Hu Yiba, entering Hu Yiba's mansion was like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth. If Gu Zhanghua stated his identity as the virtuous king, Hu Yiba would still be a little afraid. But if Hu Yiba forcibly insisted on keeping the Evil-Slaying Knife but refused to clear Jiaoyangyu's grievances, what should they do then?
When Zhao Xuan thought of this worst possibility, her mind suddenly became confused. She carried the evil-slaying sword on her back, walked to the door, opened the door and walked out, but unexpectedly she bumped into Gu Zhanghua's arms.
Gu Zhanghua covered his chest and almost suffocated.
Zhao Xuan hurriedly reached out and rubbed Gu Zhanghua's area.
"How is it? Does it hurt a lot? Are your ribs broken? Do you want to see a doctor right away?"
Gu Zhanghua took Zhao Xuan's hand away from his chest angrily.
"Can't you just hope for me to be better?"
"Do you understand? I'm concerned about you. Well, you can still speak smoothly, it seems that everything is fine. It just so happens that I have something to talk to you about."
"I came to you to discuss something."
The two returned to the guest room where Zhao Xuan was staying and closed the door. Zhao Xuan first told Gu Zhanghua about her worries. Gu Zhanghua immediately grabbed Zhao Xuan's hand and shook it hard.
"How come you think the same thing as me? We're so in tune with each other! I'm also worried that Hu Yiba might not be so easy to talk to! So what do you think we should do?"