A Time-Traveling Mishap: I Became an Ancient Nobleman

Chapter 112 Everything will be alright.

After General Gu finished speaking, he was about to leave with Gu Qingfeng when Zhou Hanzhang stopped him.

"General Gu, please wait a moment. My father has gone missing. How can I, as his son, stand idly by? If it's convenient, may I go with you to search for him?"

Before anyone else could voice their opinion, the Empress Dowager objected to Zhou Hanzhang's statement.

“Zhang Zhang’er, you alone… sigh, how can you go like this? What if your father isn’t found and something happens to you? You are our royal family’s only… cough.”

The Empress Dowager did not continue speaking, but Zhou Hanzhang already understood her meaning.

As the only girl in the royal family, she had longed for this opportunity for many years, and the Empress Dowager naturally couldn't bear to see her suffer.

“Grandmother, my father is missing now. How can I, as his son, just stay at home like this?”

The Empress Dowager held her hand tightly, "What if something happens to you? You're our only child..."

The Empress Dowager looked at the Gu family members who were staring intently at her, and suddenly stopped speaking.

She changed the subject abruptly, "Sweetie, why don't you stay in the capital and wait for General Gu and his little brat to find your imperial uncle and father?"

The Empress Dowager treated Zhou Hanzhang like a child, coaxing her as if she were afraid that she would insist on going along.

Zhou Hanzhang was also quite helpless. She just didn't understand why her family always treated her like a child.

"Grandmother, please let me go with you. I will take good care of myself and I will make sure nothing happens to me."

Seeing that the Empress Dowager still didn't speak, she snuggled up to her and shook her hand, "Is it alright, Grandmother?"

The Empress Dowager couldn't resist seeing her act coquettishly, and seeing her act coquettishly now made her soften and want to agree.

She stared intently at her granddaughter, feeling a pang of heartache. The girl was as beautiful as a flower, yet she had to listen to that wicked Taoist priest and dress up as a boy.

It's one thing to dress up as a man, but to expect her to act like a man is another!

The Empress Dowager was not without resentment; in fact, her resentment ran deep.

The more she thought about it, the more depressed she became. Seeing her like this, Zhou Hanzhang knew there was hope. "Grandmother, please let me go. How could anything happen to me while I'm by General Gu's side?"

The Empress Dowager glanced at General Gu, but in the end, she couldn't bear to refuse her. She had no choice but to put on a stern face and say, "Then remember not to stand out when something happens. If there's trouble, stay behind Old Gu and Young Gu, understand?"

General Gu: ...

Gu Qingfeng: ...

Well, he is of royal blood after all. Although his father was demoted, he was not affected at all. He is indeed more noble than me.

What can I do?

They'll protect it.

But wait a minute, Gu Qingfeng suddenly remembered that Zhou Hanzhang was even more capable than himself.

If something really happens, you never know who will protect whom.

"Your Majesty, don't worry. Junior Brother Zhou's kung fu is excellent. Even if something happens, he will definitely not be hurt. Last time I fought with him, I lost in just a couple of moves."

Gu Qingfeng's original intention was to tell the Empress Dowager that Zhou Hanzhang was very good at martial arts, and he didn't want to worry her.

But after hearing these words, everyone present turned pale.

Gu Qingfeng looked confused. "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

General Gu slapped him on the head. "You fought with Hanzhang? And you lost? Did you really lose or were you faking it?"

“When you lose a fight, you lose. There’s no such thing as a real loss or a fake loss. He’s really strong. He threw me against the door with one swing and hurt my back. My back isn’t fully healed yet.”

Gu Qingfeng continued talking incessantly, completely unaware that the expressions on the faces of those present were growing increasingly grim.

The Empress Dowager glanced at Gu Qingfeng and asked, "Did you fight with Zhang Zhang'er? Did you bully her?"

Gu Qingfeng then noticed the Empress Dowager's face, which was as black as ink, and quickly waved his hands, "I'm innocent! How could I bully him? It's good enough that he doesn't bully me."

The Empress Dowager stopped looking at him and turned to Zhou Hanzhang beside her. "My dear, tell me honestly, did he bully you? Are you hurt?"

The Empress Dowager wished she could examine it herself.

Zhou Hanzhang was startled and quickly explained, "Grandmother, we were just having a normal sparring match. I'm fine. It's Young Master Gu who hurt his back because of me. I feel so guilty."

"What are you feeling guilty about? Do you think I don't know your personality? He must have started it. And you even slammed him against the door? Does your hand hurt?"

Zhou Hanzhang quickly stretched out his hands and showed them to the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager looked at them over and over, and only when she saw that her hands were still fair, tender, and smooth as before did she feel relieved.

"From now on, don't fight with people casually. Who knows if the other person is a human or a ghost? In the future, if you encounter someone unreasonable, just run away and come to your grandmother. Your grandmother will stand up for you."

Gu Qingfeng, who was accused by the Empress Dowager of being unreasonable, looked completely innocent. Was she talking about himself?

It's the first time I've ever been criticized like this, even though I'm the one who got hurt. It's one of the first times I've ever been criticized like this.

When Zhou Hanzhang was not around, Gu Qingfeng would use his sweet words to please the Empress Dowager, and she would dote on him. However, all of this was based on the fact that Zhou Hanzhang was not by the Empress Dowager's side.

With Zhou Hanzhang present, he was not even worth a blade of grass in the Empress Dowager's eyes.

Zhou Hanzhang's position in the Empress Dowager's heart had surpassed that of everyone else, even the Emperor.

This is a girl that their royal family has sought for five hundred years; they must protect her well.

The thought of her precious child having to travel with those two roughnecks in the middle of the night filled her with heartache. "My dear child, why don't you set off tomorrow? It won't make a difference if you travel a little longer."

The Empress was starting to have doubts about life.

Who was the person who had been silently grieving and weeping, filled with worry?

Who was it that called their father and brother over in the middle of the night?

Now that Zhou Hanzhang says he wants to go together, what's a little extra time?

"Mother, His Majesty and Second Uncle's fate is currently unknown. Why don't we set off as soon as possible?" Empress Gu asked tentatively.

But in the Empress Dowager's eyes, her son was no more important than her granddaughter. "It doesn't matter if there's a little more time. If they were going to get into trouble, they would have done it long ago. It won't be fine just because of a little more time..."

She wanted to continue speaking, but then Zhou Hanzhang received a helpless, pleading look from Empress Gu.

"Grandmother, it's alright. I'm young and healthy. We don't know what's going on with Uncle and Father right now, so it's best to set off as soon as possible."

Since the Empress Dowager had already agreed to let Zhou Hanzhang go, it wouldn't be appropriate to continue arguing with her about this.

Because she knew that even if she kept bluffing, Zhou Hanzhang would eventually give in with a little coquetry.

"Then...then you can take the carriage? You can rest in the carriage for a while and not ride a horse, okay?" The Empress Dowager tried to negotiate with Zhou Hanzhang, at least to prevent her from riding a horse at breakneck speed with those two roughnecks.