Chapter 436: Deep Love
The beauty trap used by Du Hanping was Ning Yunxi's idea, not Ning Fengzhe's.
As a husband and wife for a lifetime, she knew his character very well: he was complacent, yet self-deprecating and self-pitying. He said that he was the most handsome man in the world, but in his heart he felt humbled and needed others to show their admiration from time to time in order to gain self-satisfaction.
He loved visiting brothels, not because he had any hidden interests, but because the women in brothels, if paid with money, would praise him generously and use the most beautiful words, which made him feel relaxed and happy.
But later, gradually, he got a little tired of it, because after he sobered up, he suddenly realized that almost everything they said was a lie, and their sincere praise was never for him, but for his pocket.
From then on, he became keen to hear women who had nothing to do with him express their love.
In his opinion, the praises from his mother were for her motherly kindness; the praises from the princess were for her status; the praises from the concubines were for her footing; the praises from the prostitutes were for her wealth. Those who were interested in their own interests were all selfish, not sincere praise for her appearance, so he disdained to listen to them and was not happy when he heard them.
Now, he was unaware of the plan of false surrender, and of course he thought that Du Hanping's admiration had nothing to do with interests, but only feelings.
After a long wait, the goal of appeasement was achieved, and there was an unexpected surprise. Gu Nianting was in a trance and all his rationality disappeared.
Beneath the graceful mountains and rivers, and among the fertile fields, her beauty has both the purity of the autumn moon in an ice pot and the grace of fine gold and jade. Gu Nianting's peach eyes were fixed on her, leaving her with endless aftertaste.
"Thank you, Lord Du, for your kindness."
Du Hanping turned around slowly and met Gu Nianting's gaze. After just one glance, her brows immediately fell in shame.
"Lord Su is not a decent person and his words are inappropriate. Your Majesty, please do not misunderstand me."
Gu Nianting coughed twice, pretending not to see the embarrassment, and responded seriously.
"Ahem, please rest assured, Lord Du, I can tell the difference between appreciation and admiration."
"Lord Du has only admiration at most, and I understand that."
Du Hanping's lips curled up slightly.
"Your Majesty is wise."
Su Ding raised his eyebrows and smiled, and without any warning, he began to recite a poem.
"I will never forget Gu Fu's kindness, I will cherish the old times and pity the talented to repay the Lord's kindness; I will not regret the face-to-face fight in the court, I will not let go of my love and let him go on a bright future."
"I remember last year, on the day of the prince's wedding, Lord Du took a break from his work and wrote this poem. I didn't know what it meant, so I didn't think much about it. I thought the poem was about following the wishes of his parents and assisting his master with all his heart and soul. Unexpectedly, it was actually a love poem with a hidden acrostic."
The confession of love was unexpected, and Gu Nianting was flattered.
Writing poetry is a romantic act.
Choosing the wedding day shows the deep love.
Missing him and not thinking about work is a sign of deep love and putting him first in everything.
Then, it would be reasonable for Lord Du to change his mind for him.
Du Hanping stamped her feet in anxiety. From the moment he started reciting the poem, she tried every possible way and used all her strength to cover his mouth.
"What kind of acrostic poem is this? Lord Su is talking nonsense again."
Su Ding brushed her hand away and continued to talk nonsense.
"A while ago, the prince returned to being single. I visited the Du Mansion and saw you painting."
"The person in the painting is His Royal Highness Prince Chen."
Du Hanping lowered her head, feeling extremely ashamed.
"I explained at the time that the emperor missed his beloved son and asked me to paint for him to ease his father's worries."
Su Ding smiled meaningfully, as if to expose the truth.
"It is a serious crime to falsely convey the emperor's will."
"If you deny it again, I will go find the painting and ask Your Majesty to appreciate it. How do you think?"
Du Hanping was furious and pretended to be ashamed and angry.
"We have been colleagues for many years. How could Lord Su bear to embarrass me like this?"
Seeing that the situation was not good, Gu Nianting spoke out to rescue.
"Lord Su, please stop talking. I can see that Lord Du is just appreciating you and has no other intentions."
Su Ding's momentum dropped to the lowest point.
"Your Majesty favors me, I dare not say more."
Gu Nianting insisted on being a hero and saving the beauty, acting like a noble and righteous man.
"You are bullying me, and yet you don't allow me to stand up for the injustice?"
Su Ding was convinced and quickly admitted defeat.
"I know I was wrong, Your Majesty, please calm down."
Du Hanping added the icing on the cake and followed it up with a word of gratitude.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
At this moment, it seemed as if he had really become a hero. Gu Nianting was overjoyed inside, but pretended to be calm on the surface. He put his left hand behind his back and gently stroked his hair with his right hand. He thought every move was seductive.
"No need to say thank you for your efforts."
He used his most beautiful voice and took the initiative to invite.
"Lord Su is on his day off today, so I'm going to ask him to go shopping with me. Is Lord Du willing to go with us?"
Du Hanping suppressed the urge to vomit, smiled slightly and nodded.
"my pleasure."
Su Dingxun politely declined, giving them some time alone.
"Then I won't go."
"In the past, when the two powerful people took a day off, all the affairs of the Secret Office were handed over to the Secret Office Minister Feng. However, she has taken leave recently, so today, the Secret Office Minister Wen will take full charge of the Secret Office. He has just been promoted and may be unfamiliar with the position. I am really worried about him, so I must go back to check on him to prevent any accidents."
Du Hanping felt uneasy and made a suggestion.
"Then I'll go back too."
Su Ding asked back solemnly to correct it.
"How can you go back on your promise to the prince?"
Du Hanping wanted to say something but stopped herself, lowering her eyes in shame.
"I...that Lord Su also went back on his word."
Su Ding refuted directly.
"Did you hear me when I promised? Why do you go back on your word?"
Gu Nianting smiled with satisfaction, showing his masculinity and making a generous promise.
"Master Su, go back and check it out. I will take good care of Master Du."
Su Ding smiled sincerely.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Du Hanping was shy, as if the person in front of her was none other than her beloved.
"There are differences between men and women, which may cause criticism."
Su Ding spoke clearly and refuted her words again.
"If a single man or an unmarried woman goes shopping in the market, it is not a lewd act, so who dares to criticize it?"
Du Hanping's cheeks flushed due to being too blunt, which added a bit of sincerity, just like the gradually warming sun in the sky.
"Mr. Su is too outspoken. I won't say more to you."
Su Ding followed this and naturally pushed her to Gu Nianting.
"Then please, Your Majesty, talk to Lord Du."
"You are both passionate people, so you should be able to get along well with each other."
Gu Nianting's brows were raised with joy, and the smile on his face could not be suppressed at all.
"Being respectful is worse than obeying orders."
Wu Yan laughed wildly in his heart.
Not really.
Even Lord Du's beauty trap could have gotten the prince so caught up in it?
Did I see it wrong?
Is this a dream?
The chefs and maids in Prince Chen's mansion are constantly changing, which shows that the prince is very particular about choosing food. Why is it that when it comes to love affairs, the prince is not picky at all?
This plan is quite interesting.
I wonder how Lords Qi and Tao would react when they see this?
Before he knew it, Su Ding had taken over Du Hanping's carriage.
"Since Lord Du does not want to talk to me any more, please take the prince's carriage. I will go back to the capital on my own. Have a safe trip, please don't worry about me."
After saying this, he dismissed Du Hanping's groom, replaced him with his own guards, signaled with his eyes, and set off.
It was so fast that Du Hanping couldn't stop it.
"Master Su..."