Chapter 438: Another Beauty Trap
Du Hanping was injured in her upper arm. Gu Nianting took out the medicine box and bandaged her carefully.
His technique was clumsy but he finally finished bandaging the wound. He took out a silk handkerchief and carefully wiped the sweat off her forehead.
"Look at you. You're in so much pain, but you're still holding on."
Du Hanping looked slightly sick and smiled.
"I am happy because the prince loves me."
Gu Nianting followed suit and smiled.
"I am very pleased to be favored by Lord Du."
Du Hanping was weak and frail, and asked with a hint of pleading.
"I have no way to repay you for saving my life, so I have no choice but to abandon my former master. I wonder if Your Majesty is willing to accept me as a fool?"
Gu Nianting couldn't help but feel overjoyed.
The life-saving grace was the opportunity he had been longing for.
In order to repay the life-saving grace, Teng Yuru supported Xie Mao and helped him to sit in his current position. He even made contributions and had them credited to Xie's mother, so that she was awarded the first-rank imperial decree and was respectfully called Madam Xie.
Xier treated old lady Xie, and Xie Mao was willing to submit to her in order to repay her for saving his life. He seemed to be following King Di Jin, but in fact his heart was with Xier, and he was willing to die for her and obey her every word.
Envious all the time, finally his dream came true. Gu Nianting seized the opportunity and responded modestly.
"Lord Du's willingness to accompany me is like bringing glory to my humble family and brightening up my humble courtyard. I am extremely honored and I am unworthy of it."
Du Handing lowered her eyes with pity, her smile still showing some shyness.
"It is my great fortune to have met a wise master in my lifetime."
Lords Qi and Tao discussed countermeasures and achieved some success.
During the lunch break, they visited Prince Chen's mansion together. Led by the servants, they came to the prince's guest room and knocked on the door to ask for a meeting.
"Your Majesty?"
When he heard someone coming, Gu Nianting did not listen carefully to the voice. He was only concerned about Du Hanping's reputation. He gently adjusted her sleeves to cover her snow-white arms.
"I think Wu Yan was anxious and couldn't find us anywhere, so he returned to the mansion to confirm."
He unfolded the quilt, covered her with it, and then agreed in a deep voice.
"Enter."
Qi Tao and the other man followed his instructions, pushed the door open and walked in. They were immediately frightened by the scene before them and stopped where they were, horrified.
"Master Du?!"
Tao Kangping had heard about the plan to appease Du Hanping and had told Qi Lei about it long ago.
They were astonished, not because Du Hanping appeared in Prince Chen's mansion, but because of the way the prince interacted with her. How could two people who were obviously not familiar with each other be so close?
It's bad enough that they were a single man and a single woman, but she was also lying on the bed?
Why are the enemy's beauty traps so ubiquitous?
Qi and Tao looked at each other in confusion, as if asking: Your Majesty, have you really fallen into Lord Du's beauty trap?
Before they could react, Gu Nianting came towards them and scolded them again.
"What do you mean by staring at a woman like this, examining her body in detail?"
"Where did you learn these shameless behaviors? Do you know the rules?"
"I have a virtuous wife at home, but it's still not enough. Could it be that you want to covet Lord Du's grace and elegance?"
Tao Kangping immediately gave in.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. I dare not."
The facts before him were so absurd that Qi Lei could no longer endure it. He responded sarcastically.
"We are not princes, why would we have such intentions?"
He subconsciously ignored Tao Kangping's words and only heard Qi Lei's sarcasm. Suddenly, Gu Nianting's face showed anger.
"What do you mean by this? How dare you ridicule this king?"
Tao Kangping tugged at Qi Lei's sleeve as a reminder.
Qi Lei was angry at his lack of ambition, his face was smiling, his tone was contemptuous, and he refused to give in at all.
"What is sarcasm? Sarcasm is when the words are sharp, the facts are exaggerated, or even fabricated."
"My choice of words and intentions are all facts. This is honest advice and admonition. Why should I be obscure and twisted?"
"The former, the prince said that it is impossible to use the honey trap between men. The prince has a reason and evidence, and I can believe it."
"But now, what about the relationship between men and women?"
Gu Nianting frowned and became more angry.
"Incomprehensible!"
"All day long, it's either the honey trap or the false surrender. Do you have anything new to say?"
Du Hanping was humble and explained hurriedly.
"Master Qi really misunderstood."
"I'm already old, and I don't want to be in love any more. Besides, the prince is in his prime, how can I be worthy of him? Anyone who sees us would think we are mother and son. Why would Lord Qi want to have a honey trap for no reason?"
Hearing this, Gu Nianting felt uncomfortable all over, and responded seriously and corrected it solemnly.
"Master Du, please do not belittle yourself."
"Age has never been a barrier in love."
"Logically, it should be said that I am a divorcee, and I am not worthy of you who are still single and flawless."
Qi Lei was so shocked by the rare tender side of the prince that he couldn't calm down for a long time.
"Your Highness, for saying such absurd things, clearly means you are falling for the honey trap!"
Gu Nianting refuted with strong arguments.
"Everyone knows that I am born humble. How can I say such absurd things?"
Seeing that the situation was not good, Tao Kangping hurried to try to stop the fight.
"My Lord, Master Qi, please be patient."
It was not appropriate for Lord Qi to stay for long, so he immediately found an excuse and tried to get him to leave.
"I almost forgot an important matter. Lord Yu has an urgent document to submit, and Lord Qi must handle it personally. Lord Qi, please go back to Feng Zhengtai and don't delay the official business."
Qi Lei saw through it at a glance and replied coldly.
"Master Yu is taking a day off today and is not at the Fengzhengtai."
Tao Kangping remained calm and kept lying with his eyes open.
"That's..."
Seeing him like this, Qi Lei was even more furious, and every word he spoke was to the point and sharp.
"Master Tao, please stop making other excuses!"
"If we talk about urgency, the current situation is imminent. It would be fine if Lin Mu pretended to surrender alone, but now he has also summoned the two powerful officials of the Secret Office. What will he do next? Isn't it to bring in the two powerful officials of the Copper Affairs Office to lie dormant beside the prince?!"
"Your Highness is enjoying this. If we don't rebuke you and give you direct advice, when will we?"
As if she didn't understand what he said, Gu Nianting found fault with it and asked questions.
"how?"
"I am the ruler of the Secret Service and the Copper Affairs Office. What are you dissatisfied with?"
Qi Lei asked a question in return, sneering wantonly.
"Owning it? Haha, Your Majesty is too naive."
His words were concise and to the point, he wanted to vent his anger but also to enlighten the prince.
"Lords An and Xu are here in person. No matter how many assassins the prince hires to protect your own safety, they can take your life in an instant!"
"At this point, don't you know the pros and cons?"
Gu Mengzhen still had doubts about Xu Mingqian, so this plan did not originally include the Tongshitai.
Du Hanping was well aware of the plan and listened to their quarrel silently. When the conversation came to this point, she took the opportunity to add fuel to the fire.
"I did think of a plan to appease the two masters of the Tongshitai, but Master Qi is deeply worried. Well, for the sake of the prince's safety, this plan will be abandoned."
"Master Qi, what do you think?"
Qi Lei was choked by her and was speechless. He couldn't believe that he was tricked again.
"you……"
The words of enlightenment were originally effective, but after one sentence that added fuel to the fire, all the results were ruined.
Gu Nianting was furious and suddenly roared.
"So, you came here specifically to stop me from getting the Bronze Stage?!"
"What exactly are you two aiming for?!"