I Really Like the Male Supporting Character (Quick Transmigration) - Chapter 23
Gu Xiuyan’s eyes widened. In disbelief, he exclaimed, “Wenren Jin!”
Wenren Jin was covered in blood, and his hair was disheveled. Seeing his appearance, Gu Xiuyan instantly realized that Wenren Jin must have forced his way into the palace. In a panic, he ordered the guards beside him, “Stop him! Hurry!”
But it was already too late. In the blink of an eye, the man in white leaped from his horse. He listened intently to the chaotic sounds around him and, like a gust of wind, appeared before Gu Xiuyan before pointing his gleaming sword directly at him.
No one saw his movements clearly—one moment he was standing away, but the next moment, his sword was pressing against the crown prince’s forehead. His refined, handsome face was grim with murderous intent.
The guards finally reacted and hurriedly raised their weapons as they cautiously surrounded the two men.
“Tell me, where is my wife?” Wenren Jin coldly demanded.
Gu Xiuyan didn’t dare to say anything in reply. He knew that Wenren Jin had sharp ears, so he carefully held his breath and cautiously edged backward.
However, as soon as he stepped back, Wenren Jin’s sword thrust forward, stabbing through Gu Xiuyan’s foot and pinning it to the ground. Gu Xiuyan’s body wavered in shock.
Gu Xiuyan collapsed to the floor as he screamed and clutched his leg in agony.
Gu Xiuyan, who had spent two years in military training, was fit but had never truly learned the art of war, let alone set foot on a battlefield.
Today’s encounter with Wenren Jin left him utterly defenseless, reduced to helpless cries in front of everyone.
Wenren Jin followed the sound of his cries and leaned down. He grabbed Gu Xiuyan by the collar and said, “Speak! Where is my wife!? Where have you hidden her!?”
Gu Xiuyan gritted his teeth and refused to answer. Instead, he shouted to the guards, “Seize him now!”
Wenren Jin’s sword was no longer in his hand, so this was their chance. The guards exchanged glances before charging in. Wenren Jin dropped Gu Xiuyan and stood still—he could feel them moving to attack him, and he sent a flurry of strikes that sent everyone flying.
The blood-stained figure returned to approach Gu Xiuyan. He had bloodshot eyes and seemed like an unstoppable grim reaper. Gu Xiuyan was overcome with terror and shouted, “Wenren Jin, stop! If you kill me, Su Luoyan will die as well!”
Wenren Jin froze in place.
Meanwhile, Gu Xiuyan let out a breath of relief. He knew that he had found a bargaining chip—now, Wenren Jin could no longer threaten him.
No matter how strong Wenren Jin was, Gu Xiuyan had uncovered his weakness and rendered him powerless.
Gu Xiuyan had been reduced to an embarrassing state on the ground, but he still looked up at Wenren Jin with a smug expression. “Yes, Su Luoyan is with me, along with your daughter. Oh, and there’s that other child, the one she’s carrying. They’re all locked away. Do you want to know where?”
Wenren Jin’s body wavered slightly. He was slender and pale, and his white robe gave him an almost ghostly appearance. His clothes billowed in the wind, and he seemed as if he might drift away with it.
Before the crowd in front of the Zichen Hall, Gu Xiuyan reveled in his moment of triumph. He laughed and said, “You stabbed me once—why not stab yourself twice, and I’ll tell you where she is?”
He had long stopped caring about others’ opinions. From when he was young, Gu Xiuyan had come to understand that fear was commanded by power alone. Through ruthless methods and violent purges, he established dominance, ensuring that no matter how despised he was, people would bow before him.
After a brief silence, Wenren Jin slowly stepped forward and reached for his sword.
“No, don’t—!”
Ah Luo tried to scream, but her voice was muffled as she was restrained and held firmly behind a pillar. From a distance, she watched that lone figure in white with tears streaming down her face.
Song Rulan, who stood beside Ah Luo, also stared at Wenren Jin. She murmured, “I once thought you called off the engagement out of pride. But today, I see it was all for him. Everyone misunderstood; your marriage to the marquis’s son was no act of desperation—it was planned all along, wasn’t it?”
Ah Luo’s tears continued to fall and blur her vision.
“Never mind,” Song Rulan said before she quietly sighed. “Some things in this world can only be envied from afar.”
Just as she was about to order the servant to release Ah Luo, the sound of hooves pounding drew closer. In the distance, a reddish-brown horse sped toward them, its rider shouting, “The crown prince has committed treason and murdered the late emperor! The evidence is irrefutable! Do not resist—surrender immediately!”
The crowd was thrown into chaos, and those who recognized the rider—a warrior clad in golden armor—were shocked to realize it was none other than the marquis of Yuanting!
When they took a closer look, they realized that marquis, who was known for his reckless antics, was today holding a head in his hand. Blood dripped all over the ground beneath it.
Gu Xiuyan’s face turned pale. “Impossible!”
Several riders followed closely behind the marquis, including the seventh prince and his wife, as well as Grand Commandant Zhao and other officials loyal to the seventh prince, who had recently been imprisoned by the crown prince.
The marquis tossed the bloody head in front of Gu Xiyuan. The face was unmistakable—it was that of the general of the Northwest Army, Song Renzhou!
The marquis laughed heartily and said, “Once, he was only a soldier under me! Even at my age, I can still cut him down myself!”
In fact, Wenren Song’s arrival had caused many of the Northwest Army soldiers to lay down their weapons. This had expedited his victory over them.
While all this unfolded, Wenren Jin remained where he was. His sword was lowered, and his head was bowed, as if he was listening to something from within.
The marquis was about to ask his son if he had found his daughter-in-law and granddaughter when Wenren Jin suddenly turned his head in a particular direction.
At that same moment, Ah Luo bit down hard on the hand covering her mouth and forced the person to let go. She cried out, “Husband!”
Song Rulan, who was still stunned by her uncle’s death, hadn’t even had time to grieve when she saw the blood-stained Wenren Jin dart towards her like a ghostly apparition.
She had remembered him as a graceful and gentle young master, but now he appeared like a vengeful, deadly spirit.
Instinctively, Song Rulan tried to pull Ah Luo back. She hoped to use her as a shield, just like Gu Xiuyan had.
Her maids—young girls accustomed to palace schemes but untested in true danger, were terrified. Some had collapsed in fear, especially after hearing of the crown prince’s defeat and seeing Wenren Jin’s menacing presence.
Ah Luo was the calmest among them. She freed one of her hands to pull a hairpin from her hair and stab the maid holding her.
The maid cried out in pain and released her. Ah Luo shouted, “The crown prince conspired to murder the emperor! Aid him any further, and the seventh prince will not spare you!”
Her words caused even more hesitation. No follower, no matter how loyal, could be unafraid of death.
Ah Luo seized the opportunity to grab Suisui, who was also being held, and embraced her tightly. She put a distance between herself, along with her daughter, and Song Rulan, along with her maids.
Song Rulan was angry and frustrated. Since she couldn’t order her maids, she attempted to act on her own.
However, she was too weak. As she approached Ah Luo, Ah Luo gave her a hard shove and sent her tumbling from the veranda into the nearby garden.
By then, Wenren Jin had stumbled close to Alo. He was unfamiliar with the palace’s layout, he had bumped into several pillars along the way.
“Ah Luo! Ah Luo!” He called her name in a hoarse voice.
After her struggle, Ah Luo felt a dull ache in her abdomen, and although she wanted to answer him, she couldn’t find the strength to speak.
Suisui, who had been quiet and well-behaved since being arrested, opened her mouth and shouted, “Daddy! Mommy is here!”
Her clear, childish voice echoed far.
The brave little girl looked at her mother’s pale face with tears brimming in her wide eyes.
Wenren Jin quickly followed the sound, and before he could approach, Suisui ran to him. She wrapped her arms around his leg.
“Daddy, Mommy’s stomach hurts!” she sobbed while pulling him over to Ah Luo.
In her dazed state, Ah Luo felt a pair of familiar, strong arms lift her. The embrace carried a faint scent she recognized, but now it was mixed with the strong smell of blood, which made her nauseous.
“Ah Luo, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… It’s all my fault. If only I hadn’t left that day…” he murmured softly near her ear while gently brushing his cheek against her forehead, like a long-lost cat yearning for its master’s warmth and scent.
Ah Luo was curled up in his familiar embrace, and she felt a comforting sense of safety wash over her. Right now, even her aching abdomen seemed to ease. She looked at Wenren Jin’s thin, pale face and his trembling lashes, and her heart ached. She whispered, “Ah Yu… I feel like throwing up.”
Wenren Jin froze, but he quickly realized what Ah Luo wanted. He anxiously shed his blood-stained outer robe and held her in only his inner garments.
Suisui knew that her father couldn’t see her, so she ran ahead with her little steps, just like she had seen her mother do in the past—to lead the way for her father.
The palace maids trembled as he passed, and only after he was gone did they notice Song Rulan lying unconscious in the garden, having hit her head in the fall.
On their way inside the Zichen Hall, Ah Luo clung to Wenren Jin’s neck. Her tightly strung emotions finally loosened. She rested her head near his ear and whispered, “It’s not your fault, Ah Yu. You’ve done everything you could to protect me and Suisui. The wrongs belong to others.”
Wenren Jin remained silent, but his breathing calmed little by little.
He hugged her tighter and gave her a low hum as a response.
They went straight inside the Zichen Hall, where the imperial physician who had recently treated the emperor was kneeling. He checked Ah Luo’s pulse and said that she had merely been frightened, which had disturbed her pregnancy slightly. A few medicinal concoctions would suffice for her recovery.
Hearing this, Wenren Jin instinctively wanted to take her to drink the medicine, but Ah Luo said, “I don’t feel uncomfortable now. Let’s wait a little longer, shall we?”
Wenren Jin paused. His gaze dropped as he pursed his lips and stood still.
Ah Luo glanced at him, then again. She moved closer to him to plant a soft, unnoticed kiss on his ear as she whispered, “It’s not that I care for him. I just want to see him in his final, miserable state.”
At the center of the hall, Gu Xiuyan knelt. He had a lifeless expression on his face as the seventh prince ordered him to be held in place and forced to kneel before the dragon throne to repent for his sins to the late emperor.
Despite his position, Gu Xiuyan spat defiant words. “Gu Qilou, I know I’ve lost, but do you think you’ve truly won? I am the crown prince, chosen by our father as his heir. Unless he officially removed me, I remain the rightful crown prince. Even if you seize the throne today, history will remember that you usurped it by plotting against your elder brother—all you will have is a throne stolen without legitimacy!”
One of the imperial elders responded, “The throne will be rightfully inherited with the presentation of the emperor’s will. Your Imperial Highness the Seventh Prince, the late emperor once spoke to me of this will’s existence. Do you happen to know where it is kept?”
The seventh prince thought for a moment, then shook his head regretfully. “Imperial Father never shared its location with me.”
Upon hearing this, Gu Xiuyan burst into mocking laughter. His voice was filled with malicious glee.
Grand Tutor Su hurried in just then. He heard the exchange, then paused. He deliberated for a moment before stepping forward and saying, “I may know where the late emperor’s will is hidden.”