What Bad Intentions can the Yandere Crown Prince have?-Chapter 441 - 437: Master Tao’s Innate Goodness—Tao Gu Extra (Part 3)
"Is the Fifth Miss alright?"
Tao Fen asked, but received no answer.
The young girl was deathly pale, her gaze still vacant, clearly terrified.
Tao Fen was about to call her again but noticed other ladies arriving, and wisely stepped back.
At this moment, another group of people arrived.
Upon seeing Tao Fen, they became visibly angry and without a word, a whip lashed towards Tao Fen’s head and face.
Amidst the girl’s exclamations, Tao Fen squinted and took a step back, barely avoiding the vicious whip.
The opponent’s gaze grew even more sinister due to his retreat.
At that moment, the leader among the ladies spoke: "Young Master Yuwen!"
Her tone was slightly somber, an attitude of commanding to stop.
Yuwen Hao withdrew the whip and adopted a cultured demeanor, saluting the woman who spoke: "Miss Gu—"
The wife of Chief of the Ministry of Justice Shen Du, the daughter of Minister of the Ministry of Rites Gu Zhun, and the eldest granddaughter of Princess Ji of Ji Country, was not someone he could overlook.
After a polite salute, Yuwen Hao changed his tone, glancing at Tao Fen, who was in ordinary attire, and spoke first: "I don’t know where this lowly slave comes from, daring to misbehave in front of the Fifth Miss Gu, surely harboring ill intentions!"
"This is Master Tao from Xinfeng—" suddenly, the voice of Gu Qinglan rang out.
There was a momentary silence around.
A mocking sneer froze on Yuwen Hao’s face.
Among the great merchants of the world, only Tao and Qin remain.
With the Qin Family in decline, the Tao Family of Xinfeng stands unrivaled.
Yuwen Hao had not expected that this young man dressed like a horse trainer was actually the sole heir of the Tao Family of Xinfeng!
This is the very purse that the Yuwen Family and Prince Qing have long coveted!
However, with things as they are, Yuwen Hao decided to throw caution to the wind: "The Tao Family of Xinfeng is merely a merchant family, worlds apart from the Gu Family. The Fifth Miss is still too naive, unaware that merchants are the most cunning!"
Gu Qinglan didn’t even look at him and continued speaking to the Miss Gu beside her: "Sister, you should also know this Master Tao, right? He is a fellow disciple with Cousin Tang and Young Master Qin."
Miss Gu nodded slightly at Tao Fen and said earnestly: "The life-saving grace Master Tao showed today, the Shen and Gu families will remember and repay it!"
This indirectly refuted Yuwen Hao’s statement.
Yuwen Hao’s expression turned extremely grim.
Tao Fen still maintained a cheerful demeanor, waving his hand: "No need, no need, if the Fifth Miss Gu were to be plotted against by some villain here, I could not bear the blame."
Miss Gu’s expression changed: "What do you mean by that?"
Tao Fen chuckled: "I inadvertently overheard someone plotting to cause the Fifth Miss Gu’s horse to go wild and run away, creating an opportunity for a hero to save the beauty—"
"You wouldn’t be talking about yourself, would you?" Yuwen Hao interrupted with a cold sneer, his eyes already flickering with unease.
Tao Fen sighed: "Regrettably, the one bribed to act was indeed someone from my estate—"
"The one who acted was from your estate, and the one who seized the opportunity to take advantage was also from this estate," Yuwen Hao sneered again, turning to Miss Gu, "Some toads don’t know their limits; Miss Gu, don’t be fooled by him!"
Miss Gu nodded coldly at Yuwen Hao and said, "Thank you, Young Master Yuwen, we will investigate this thoroughly!"
The words "thoroughly investigate" were particularly sharply enunciated, prompting a change in Yuwen Hao’s expression.
After calmly making detailed arrangements, Miss Gu led the ladies away.
As the host of the kicking field, Tao Fen dutifully followed this group of noblewomen to see them off.
From a distance, he could still hear the Fifth Miss Gu softly speaking to her elder sister: "...It’s fine...not frightened...thanks to Master Tao..."
"Xiao Bai often tells me... of a chivalrous heart..."
"His fiancée once lived at the Duke Yan Mansion... he is deeply affectionate towards his fiancée—"
When she reached this point, she suddenly glanced back.
Tao Fen instinctively touched his nose.
Why did the Fifth Miss Gu’s little look seem as if she was sympathizing with him?
...
This incident at the kicking field caused no stir.
Because the commotion was taking place at the court.
Tao Fen’s fellow disciple from the academy, Qin Xiao, suddenly transformed into the Crown Prince, Li Mu.
And on the same day Qin Xiao became Crown Prince, Prime Minister Wang Maozhao was assassinated at his doorstep.
Amid such earth-shattering changes, the "accidental" fright of the Fifth Miss Gu’s horse seemed trivial.
Yuwen Hao and the Yuwen Family were nothing to fear, but behind them were Yuwen Zhaoyi and Prince Qing, Li Dong.
For the sake of stability, the Gu Family seemed to have no intention to antagonize the Yuwen Family for the time being.
Yet, Tao Fen occasionally remembered the trembling young girl he caught in his arms that day, and couldn’t help but feel a pang of compassion.
After much thinking, Tao Fen sought out Zhong Chuchu.
"You want me to visit Fifth Miss Gu on your behalf?" Zhong Chuchu was extremely surprised.
Tao Fen nodded, "Fifth Miss Gu always seems to run into trouble on my turf. As a man, it’s not convenient for me to visit her, could you go for me instead?"
Zhong Chuchu was his fiancée, so the request was quite reasonable.
But Zhong Chuchu showed great reluctance: "That little girl doesn’t like me. Wouldn’t my visit just upset her?"
Tao Fen disagreed, "Are you overthinking this? I think Fifth Miss Gu is quite sensible."
Zhong Chuchu rolled her eyes at him, "Yes! I’m just overthinking! I’m not going! You go if you want!"
Miss Zhong had always had a willful temper, refusing to go if she doesn’t want to, leaving Tao Fen with no choice.
Among the girls he knew, aside from Zhong Chuchu, there was only Second Miss Tang left.
But despite her young age, Second Miss Tang always involved herself in major affairs and was very busy, so he didn’t want to bother her with this matter.
Tao Fen was a bit troubled.
If only he could run into Fifth Miss Gu by chance, like the previous two times—
...
"Fifth Miss?" Tao Fen was stunned for a long time, suspecting he was seeing things.
He had wished for a chance encounter yesterday, and today it happened for real.
However, the time and place of this encounter seemed somewhat inappropriate.
The Fifth Miss Gu before him also appeared very out of sorts.
In the late afternoon at Wulou Temple, there were hardly any tourists or pilgrims left, especially in this seldom-visited back mountain.
Tao Fen himself was there to meet someone, and upon hearing a woman’s cries while passing the back mountain, he came over.
Yet how could Gu Qinglan, a lady of distinguished family, be here at this time?
Could the cries he heard have come from Fifth Miss Gu?
Holding onto these suspicions, Tao Fen waited for a while, but the young girl, who turned her back upon seeing him, didn’t turn around. So he called out again, gently asking, "Why is Fifth Miss here alone? Did you get separated from your family? Shall I escort you back?"
This manner of coaxing a child instantly infuriated the teenage Fifth Miss Gu.
She couldn’t care about hiding anymore and quickly turned around, glaring at Tao Fen with embarrassment: "No need!"
Her eyes were moist and red, clear signs of crying.
Tao Fen was taken aback for a moment, then solemnly asked, "Did Fifth Miss encounter any trouble? If there’s anything you need my help with, just say the word!"
Gu Qinglan was still remorseful for her earlier fit, and hearing his kind inquiry, she felt even more ashamed.
Stepping back half a step, she bowed and said, "There’s no trouble, thank you, Master Tao," then paused, "and about last time..."
Tao Fen waved his hand, "It was all within my duties," and asked again, "Was Fifth Miss hurt that day?"
Gu Qinglan shook her head.
"Rest assured, Fifth Miss, it’s a troubling time, and some matters must be delayed. But come the 15th, these things will be rectified eventually." Tao Fen comforted.
Though the little girl’s grievances couldn’t compare to the bigger picture, to her, those grievances were still significant.
Yet the little girl was sensible, and hearing Tao Fen’s words, she was somewhat surprised.
After the surprise, a hint of gratitude appeared in her bright eyes: "Thank you... please don’t tell my Cousin Tang!"
Tao Fen nodded.
He understood the implications.
Little Junior Sister Tang was protective; if she knew, she would surely stand up for Fifth Miss Gu.
But the Gu Family had decided to temporarily stay silent, and bringing it up later might seem as if Fifth Miss Gu sought out Second Miss Tang herself.
Indeed, it was inappropriate.
Seeing his agreement, Gu Qinglan let out a small sigh of relief, softly saying, "Thank you, Master Tao, you... you’re a good person."
Tao Fen chuckled, thinking to himself, he couldn’t just accept the compliment without doing something, maybe... get someone to teach Yuwen Hao a lesson?
While he pondered, Gu Qinglan remained silent.
Not only silent, but motionless, her eyes showing a faint unease.
Tao Fen noticed and found it tricky.
The reason the little girl was hiding here crying wasn’t something an outsider like him could easily ask about.
He thought it over and cautiously said, "It’s getting late, shall I escort Fifth Miss home now?"
Gu Qinglan bit her lip as if making a major decision, then nodded firmly.
At the moment she nodded, tears gathered rapidly in her beautiful eyes.
Tao Fen sighed, "If you don’t speak, how can I help you?"
