What Bad Intentions can the Yandere Crown Prince have?

Chapter 448 - 444: Master Tao’s Innate Goodness—Tao Gu Extra (Part 10)

May 1st, early morning.Outside Wulou Temple, horse hooves clattered weakly against the bluestone in front of the mountain gate.

A passerby, recognizing the man on horseback, greeted with a smile, "Master Tao is on break today? Why so listless?"

Tao Fen responded with a dry laugh, murmuring a couple of indistinct words.

Just then, a convoy of carriages came by, and as he glanced over casually, his spirits lifted suddenly, and he hurriedly reined his horse to the side.

The carriages stopped at the mountain gate, and two elegantly dressed women got off the carriage, surrounded by servants.

Tao Fen unconsciously craned his neck to watch.

The silks were like rosy clouds, her beauty surpassed that of flowers.

Tao Fen was lost in amazement.

Why is she so dazzlingly bright today?

In his daze, that radiant young girl had already entered the mountain gate with her mother.

Tao Fen hurriedly dismounted and followed.

Previously, Zhong Chuchu had refused to help him arrange a meeting, and Tao Fen also knew it was inappropriate by etiquette, feeling embarrassed to ask others for help again.

And ever since he entered officialdom, he no longer had the time to pass by the Gu Family seven or eight times a day.

Today, he had an appointment with someone at Wulou Temple, encountering Gu Qinglan was purely coincidental.

Since they met, Tao Fen temporarily set aside his original plans, hastily dismissed the friend he had arranged to meet, and somewhat sneakily headed toward the incense hall to search.

Before he reached the hall, he saw Gu Qinglan.

Amidst the carved beams and painted rafters, the young girl was as radiant as the morning glow, gracefully walking along the winding corridors with an elegance and beauty that was indescribable.

Tao Fen hesitated.

Would it be too abrupt if he just went up to greet her?

But while he hesitated, suddenly a person blocked Gu Qinglan’s path.

In an instant, the clinking of jewelry startled, a cry of retreat and fear.

Tao Fen’s heart tightened, and he hastened forward.

Within two or three steps, the gloating face of the roadblocker came into Tao Fen’s view.

His eyes narrowed drastically, anger shooting straight to his forehead—

...

Two hours later, Tao Fen stood in the Eastern Palace Lizheng Hall, crestfallen.

"Speak." The Crown Prince’s expression was indifferent, not even sparing him a glance.

However, the Crown Princess Consort beside him was looking at him thoughtfully with her round apricot eyes.

Tao Fen, feeling inexplicably guilty under her gaze, plucked up his courage and said, "I thought that Yuwen Hao was being disrespectful to Fifth Miss Gu, so..."

The person who suddenly appeared and blocked Gu Qinglan was none other than Yuwen Hao, who had previously plotted something inappropriate at the kicking field.

"Why does my brother think Yuwen Hao was disrespectful to Fifth Sister Gu?" The Crown Princess Consort asked keenly, "If there really was an act of disrespect, we could also defend my brother."

Tao Fen immediately felt dejected: "That’s not exactly..."

In fact, Yuwen Hao hadn’t had the chance to be respectful or disrespectful before he was beaten up by him.

He was indeed impulsive.

"But Yuwen Hao once before..." Tao Fen recounted the incident at the kicking field.

The previous occurrence served as a lesson, so upon seeing Yuwen Hao, he naturally assumed this person had ulterior motives.

Moreover, with Fifth Miss Gu’s surprise and defensive posture, he rashly charged forward.

Who would have expected that after landing just a few punches on Yuwen Hao, a lot of people would appear.

There were those from the Yuwen family and those from the Gu family.

Seeing the mother of Fifth Miss Gu and the mother of Yuwen Hao standing together scolding him, Tao Fen felt as though a bucket of ice water had been poured over him.

Later, he was dragged to the government office.

Afterwards, the Crown Prince sent someone to bring him back to the Eastern Palace.

He is still holding on to a suppressed anger.

The Crown Princess Consort, hearing this, also showed a look of displeasure: "How could there be such an incident? Why didn’t I know?"

"At that time, the Crown Prince had just returned to the Eastern Palace, and the Prime Minister was assassinated and died, the atmosphere in the Capital City was tense, so it wasn’t publicized."

The Crown Prince paused his writing, looked up, "Just a mere Yuwen Hao."

"I have privately disciplined him." Tao Fen hurriedly said.

If the Crown Prince had taken action, it would have blown up too much.

"Privately? How did you discipline him?" The Crown Princess Consort asked with interest.

Tao Fen was a little embarrassed: "I just sneaked up at night, put a sack over his head... cough cough..."

"Did my brother personally do it?" The Crown Princess Consort was even more intrigued.

Tao Fen stammered, "Just happened to have time... asking others for help with something when you can do it yourself doesn’t count for much..."

The Crown Princess Consort smiled and asked, "Given this story, how did Fifth Sister Gu and Yuwen Hao end up looking at each other?"

Tao Fen’s face changed: "How would I know about the Gu family’s affairs?"

He only assumed Yuwen Hao intended something improper, who would’ve thought the two families were actually making an arrangement!

When realizing this situation, Tao Fen felt as though both sides of his face had been slapped swollen, and his chest as if someone had ruthlessly kicked it, right in the center.

It’s still stinging with pain.

"It should have been arranged by my third aunt, the Gu Family would never want to marry into the Yuwen Family, and Fifth Miss definitely couldn’t think highly of someone like Yuwen Hao." The Crown Princess Consort explained.

Tao Fen, preoccupied with anger, hadn’t thought it through.

After hearing the Crown Princess Consort’s words, he thought about it and realized it made sense, feeling a little better.

"In any case, my brother is in the wrong in this matter, so to avoid criticism, you are fined three months’ salary and confined to reflect for seven days."

Tao Fen didn’t care about the penalty or the confinement.

Yet when he thought back to the scene at the time, it still felt like something was stuck in his throat.

Her mother wanted her to meet with Yuwen Hao, and she didn’t even protest a little?

...

"I originally didn’t know that going to Wulou Temple that day was for—" As she whispered to this point, she fell silent, the young girl lowered her eyes, biting her lip as if embarrassed.

The anger Tao Fen had been holding for two days dissipated in an instant.

For the little girl who had avoided him for nearly a month to personally come to explain, how could he still hold on to his anger?

"Does your mother not know about the kicking field incident?" Tao Fen asked.

Gu Qinglan remained silent.

Suddenly, Tao Fen burst into anger: "Even if she doesn’t know, shouldn’t— even if disregarding the Gu family’s stance, shouldn’t she at least investigate Yuwen Hao’s character?"

Gu Qinglan spoke softly: "This matter will be decided by the family’s elders."

Tao Fen thought about it and agreed.

The Han Family may be unreliable, but the Gu family is not run by the Han Family, the main family would never neglect such matters.

However—

Tao Fen’s gaze fell to the top of Gu Qinglan’s head.

Her attire today was vastly different from that day at Wulou Temple.

A light green dress, pearls and jade pins in her hair, made her appear exceptionally understated.

Most of the time she kept her gaze lowered, though there wasn’t the slightest worry between her brows, her entire demeanor exuded a sense of desolation.

Seeing her like this made Tao Fen feel a pang in his heart, wanting to pat her head or shoulder for comfort.

But with the difference between men and women, he could only clench his palms and restrain himself, softly asking, "Does... your mother... treat you well?"

He had vaguely heard about some situations in the third house of the Gu Family.

Fifth Miss Gu’s father favored his concubine and daughters, while her mother was aloof and religious.

It was said that she grew up with the eldest daughter of the Gu family and was closer to the main house.

But asking this question was somewhat overstepping.

Fifth Miss Gu lifted her eyes, her gaze cold but with a hint of defiance: "What is Master Tao saying? In this world, which mother wouldn’t treat their own child well?"

Tao Fen dared not refute.

Yet it wasn’t long before the Han Family, with their actions, vehemently refuted Gu Qinglan’s words.