Forced to marry, I picked up a young powerful official

Chapter 106 Who Wants to Destroy Our Home?

Shen Nankui shook his head. "He's not with me. I guess he doesn't know about this yet."

"Is he in the capital?"

"Yes."

Cai Ling frowned, "The person who arrested you also came from the capital. It makes no sense for a woman like you to offend such a person. Could it be because of him?"

Shen Nankui sighed, "It's not clear yet, but I don't think so. My husband is just a newly-appointed scholar with no official position. Who would want to target him like this?"

"Newly-appointed scholar?"

Cai Ling was a little surprised by this. "Although the results of the Spring Examination have been announced, it will take at least four or five days for the news to be transmitted back to Cang County. You haven't even entered the city yet, so how do you know that he has passed the imperial examination?"

"I believe him." Shen Nankui lowered his eyes and smiled, his eyes full of tenderness.

"Well," Cai Ling sighed, "Since your husband is also in the capital, I think this matter is most likely related to him. Cai will escort you into the city and do his best to protect you."

"Thank you, Mr. Cai."

“There is no need to thank old friends.”

The two stayed at the old lady's house until mid-afternoon before setting off on their journey. Since Shen Nankui was not able to ride a horse, Cai Ling borrowed a cart from the old lady's house, hitched it to a horse, and used it to carry her into the city. When they arrived outside the city, the city gate was exactly fifteen minutes away from closing.

As dusk fell, the two men entered the city smoothly.

Cai Ling sent Shen Nankui to the courtyard outside Qingyu Lane and said, "Madam Gu, I won't go in to disturb you as you and your wife are reunited. If you need anything, please come to Chaoyun Temple to find me."

After he left, Shen Nankui also knocked on the door of the courtyard.

When Zhong Shan opened the door and saw her, he was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth. He stammered, "Husband... Madam?"

"Why, we haven't seen each other for months, so you don't recognize each other?"

"No, no..."

Zhong Shan hurriedly opened the door and invited her in, "I just didn't expect that Madam would come here at this time."

Shen Nankui smiled and asked, "Is the young master here?"

"exist."

Although she had gone through a lot of hardships, Shen Nankui couldn't help feeling happy at the thought of seeing Yichuan soon. But as soon as she entered the yard, she froze in place.

On the right hand side of the entrance, there was once a lush and flourishing bamboo forest, but now it has disappeared completely, leaving only the short and messy bamboo stumps that were cut down.

She was so shocked that her voice changed, "What's going on?"

"This, this..." Zhongshan stammered, not knowing how to answer.

Shen Nankui hurriedly walked towards the south corner of the wall. The peach blossoms were in full bloom now. If the peach tree was still alive, its branches should be full of fragrance.

But when she got to the wall, not only was there no peach tree, even the plum tree and the crabapple tree were gone. There were only three wooden stakes standing sadly in the corner.

Shen Nankui's body shook, "What exactly happened?"

Zhong Shan was sweating profusely, "Husband, Madam... I can't explain it clearly in just a few words, why don't you go ask the young master!"

Shen Nankui nodded and walked into the house with heavy feet. Gu Yichuan happened to hear the noise and came out.

"Nan Kui!"

He hurried over and looked Shen Nankui up and down, "Why are you here? Are you in danger?"

Shen Nankui asked back: "Did you know I would be in danger?"

"I……"

Without waiting for his answer, Shen Nankui pointed to the bamboo forest that no longer existed and said, "This is our home. How could you let it become like this?"

Looking at the courtyard that was now completely unrecognizable, she finally couldn't hold back her sadness and tears rolled down her face.

"Nan Kui, I'm sorry, it's my fault..."

Gu Yichuan wiped her tears with trembling hands, and there was deep sorrow in his dark eyes.

Shen Nankui's eyes suddenly lit up with anger. He held his hand and asked, "Yichuan, tell me, who did this?"

Gu Yichuan gently held her in his arms, "Nan Kui, I'm very happy to see you. Let me hold you like this for a while, okay?"

Shen Nankui calmed down in his arms and hugged him back quietly.

The two had been separated for several months, and they should have been filled with joy to meet again, but at this moment, all that filled the air between them was a deep depression and sadness.

It was completely dark. Gu Yichuang pulled Shen Nankui into the house. There was candlelight in the house. Shen Nankui could see his appearance clearly. Gu Yichuang's hair was crooked, his eyes were dark, his beard was messy, and there was no light in his eyes. He looked more lonely than ever before.

Shen Nankui subconsciously asked: "Yichuan, what's wrong with you? Did you fail the Spring Examination?"

She ignored the doubts in her heart and persuaded softly: "If that's the case, it's okay. You are still young. You will be in your early twenties in three years. We can start over. Why torture yourself?"

Gu Yichuan shook his head and said, "Nan Kui, I have lived up to your expectations. I have been selected by His Majesty for the imperial examination."

Shen Nankui's face lit up with joy, "Number one? You won the top prize!"

But then she calmed down again, "If it's a happy event, why did it turn out like this, Yichuan, what happened, who wants to destroy our family?"

"…It's Princess Yongjia."

"Princess Yongjia?" Shen Nankui frowned, "Why is it her?"

Gu Yichuan smiled bitterly, "Before the imperial examination, Princess Yongjia came to see me and said that she liked me and was willing to marry me."

Shen Nankui was stunned, "Doesn't she know that you already have a wife?"

"I'm afraid that before she came to me, she had already done some research and already knew that I was married, but she didn't take it seriously and even advised me to divorce my wife and remarry. Of course, I didn't want to, and I ignored her after I rejected her. She invited me to banquets and outings, but I refused them all. But she actually came to the Qingyu Lane courtyard..."

Gu Yichuan clenched his fists. "That day, I saw that most of the peach blossoms in Beijing were in full bloom, but the peach tree at home hadn't even grown into a bud. I thought it was lacking fertilizer, so I bought fertilizer and took care of the tree at home, thinking that when you came, I could enjoy the flowers with you at home. Princess Yongjia came to my courtyard, and I knew what she was thinking. I just greeted her and then went about my own business. I wanted to make her give up, but she got angry and ordered people to cut down the tree and the bamboo forest."

Shen Nankui was furious. "How could she be so arrogant? When she failed to force someone to divorce his wife and marry another, she forcibly destroyed his house? Is there any law?"

Gu Yichuan's dark eyes were cold, "This behavior is outrageous, and I couldn't stand it anymore, so I went to the government office to seek justice. The people in the government office saw that I was the top scorer in the examination, and they were very polite to me at first, but when they knew that I was suing the princess, they didn't dare to accept the case and drove me out."

Shen Nankui also felt a deep sense of powerlessness. "So you guessed that she might attack me?"

"The day before yesterday, I received this hairpin..."

Gu Yichuan took out a plum blossom jade hairpin from his bosom, his face showing sorrow, "I know something happened to you, I want to go back to find you, but I can't get out, this small courtyard has been watched by someone."

Shen Nankui's heart trembled.

She had planned everything, but she had never expected that her disaster this time was caused by Gu Yichuan?