“Miss Chu.” Prince Zhongshan looked at Chu Zhao again. “Are you certain you can succeed?”
Chu Zhao nodded, smiling: “Xiao Xun is both arrogant and insecure. He’s been defeated by me repeatedly. Seeing an opportunity delivered to his door, he definitely won’t let it pass.”
Arrogant and insecure? Prince Zhongshan looked at this girl, curiously asking: “You understand A’Xun very well.” He smiled again. “It seems Miss Chu isn’t as heartless as A’Xun claims. You quite care about my son—you even understand his true nature.”
“Of course I care—I don’t want to die at the Crown Prince’s hands.” Chu Zhao said, not dwelling on this. “What kind of person the Crown Prince is actually isn’t important. What’s important is that my people are very reliable.”
Prince Zhongshan laughed heartily: “Miss Chu, did I hear correctly? Reliable? If I’m not mistaken, these so-called reliable people are your uncle’s family, aren’t they?”
When Chu Zhao mentioned Xiao Xun, Prince Zhongshan had guessed what method she intended to use.
No wonder this girl said upon entering she wouldn’t drink his water, worried about being poisoned—because she herself was someone who used such underhanded methods.
But the method didn’t matter—the people were what mattered.
“What kind of people your uncle’s family are, you yourself are very clear.”
He shook his head with some sympathy.
“I think, Miss Chu, you have nowhere else to turn and are taking a desperate risk.”
“You understand my son, but actually don’t understand him at all. You’ve never been willing to let him get close. If you gave him a chance, you’d know what an honest and generous person my son is.”
“No one dislikes him.”
Hearing this, Chu Zhao fell silent, not objecting. Until she was poisoned and dying, she had still loved Xiao Xun.
……
……
Chu Lan stood at the hall entrance, covering his face and sobbing.
“I feigned madness and played the fool to survive, but now the court won’t tolerate my living.” He said. “In this vast world, there’s no place for me, Chu Lan.”
Xiao Xun looked at him and smiled: “Does Master Chu mean this is all my fault? So you’ve come seeking revenge?”
Though utterly wretched and barely surviving, there were some words this scholar Chu Lan still couldn’t say. Fortunately, Jiang Shi knew the situation. She was an inner quarters woman—at a moment of life and death, she could do anything, say anything.
“Crown Prince—” Jiang Shi cried out, kneeling down. “If it weren’t for the Crown Prince back then, we wouldn’t have fallen to such a state, but we’ve never resented the Crown Prince, much less come seeking revenge. My husband only hates that he accomplished nothing and made things worse. Today, we truly can’t survive any longer. Under heaven, only the Crown Prince can give us a way to live.”
Chu Tang knelt down to support her mother, joining in the pitiful weeping. Chu Lan stood covering his face, and the servants around them all began wailing as well. The sounds rushed into the hall in chaotic confusion.
Xiao Xun pressed his hand to his forehead: “Alright, alright, I understand. Stop crying.”
Tie Ying called out coldly: “Everyone be quiet!”
The chaotic confusion instantly stopped.
“Don’t worry. I, Xiao Xun, have never been a heartless, unrighteous person. Since Master Chu is willing to come, naturally I’ll take you in.” Xiao Xun said, looking at Chu Lan with a smile. “Master Chu, stay here with me at ease. When I enter the imperial palace and welcome my father as emperor, Master Chu will have even better days and prospects ahead.”
Xiao Xun had indeed once spoken of climbing the ladder to heaven together with him, but now—Chu Lan covered his face and sighed deeply: “That Chu Lan can remain alive is already fortunate. How dare I seek any good days or prospects?”
“The accident back then was because Master Chu, you weren’t prepared.” Xiao Xun said. “I can’t blame you. If you’d known you’d be so miserable today, back then you probably wouldn’t have needed my persuasion and would have directly—”
He made a chopping gesture with his hand.
If he’d known about today, Chu Lan thought, the first thing he would have done that day was lock Chu Zhao up—she’d seized the opportunity to leap to the position of empress, trampling their family into the mud.
“I deeply regret the past.” Chu Lan sighed deeply.
Yes, if he’d known about today, back then he wouldn’t have wasted words with Chu Lan either—he would have directly moved against that girl. Forget it, don’t mention the past. Xiao Xun said: “However, it’s not too late now—Miss A’Tang, are you willing to fulfill your father’s regret and lend me your assistance?”
Chu Lan, who’d been covering his face, froze and lowered his sleeve. Chu Tang, who’d been sitting on the ground wiping tears, also raised her head.
Hadn’t he been talking to Chu Lan all along? Why did he suddenly turn to her?
“Miss A’Tang, it was you who persuaded your father to come here, wasn’t it?” Xiao Xun said with a slight smile. “You moved among the powerful families of the capital, observing expressions and reading situations. You keenly discovered something was wrong and decisively fled the capital.”
Chu Tang said timidly: “I do travel outside and hear more news, but whether to leave or not still required my parents’ decision.”
Xiao Xun said with a smile: “Your family’s decisions have always been your decisions.”
Chu Tang nodded obediently: “Yes, my parents care for me greatly.”
With one sentence, she transformed controlling her parents into being loved by them, making it unrelated to her.
This girl was completely different from Chu Zhao, like a fish. But fish were simple—with bait, they’d take the hook. Chu Zhao could hook her, and so could he.
Xiao Xun didn’t debate this issue further with her. “That Old Master Zhou was willing to hide you and then send you out—that was also Miss A’Tang’s achievement, wasn’t it?”
Old Master Zhou wouldn’t spare Chu Lan a second glance.
Chu Tang lowered her head: “Actually, it’s because Old Master Zhou cares for his granddaughter. I begged Miss A’Jiang, and Miss A’Jiang righteously hid our family in secret. To avoid bringing disaster to the Zhou family, Old Master Zhou sent us out.”
Xiao Xun said: “Miss A’Tang is too modest.”
Jiang Shi and Chu Lan now roughly understood—Xiao Xun thought their daughter was extremely capable and wanted her to do something—
Their daughter was indeed very capable, even more formidable than that Chu Zhao. Chu Zhao had merely seized the advantage of having a father with troops to command. If Chu Lan were like Chu Ling with such power and authority, Chu Tang could be empress too!
“Crown Prince, A’Tang is very well-behaved and rarely gives us couple any worry. Whatever you need, just command her.” Jiang Shi said. “Our family will brave fire and water without hesitation.”
Chu Tang also nodded, but didn’t speak.
Xiao Xun looked at her and suddenly said: “My father will be emperor, I will be crown prince. Miss A’Tang can be the crown prince’s consort.”