Chapter 1235 - 1235 The Suspicious Pavilion
Chapter 1235 The Suspicious Pavilion
Chu Liuchen walked in slowly, looking elegant and n.o.ble.
After walking up to Shao Wanru, he slowly turned his head, reached out to hold Shao Wanru’s hand, and took a few steps toward Shao Jing. He looked up slightly, revealing a lazy smile. His eyes were as dark as ink. “Are you… going to fight with me, Marquis Xing?”
He waved his hand, and his guards stepped back.
When Shao Jing saw Chu Liuchen, he felt like he had been splashed with a basin of ice water and got sober. At the same time, he motioned for his people to step back and bowed to Chu Liuchen. “Greetings, Your Highness Prince Chen.”
“Did my lady offend you?” Chu Liuchen asked curiously.
“No… no. I went too far just now. Your Highness Princess Chen, please forgive me.” Shao Jing lowered his head and apologized to Shao Wanru.
“Second Uncle, I also went too far just now!” Shao Wanru said softly. Her gentle look was no longer as aggressive as before.
“Since it’s not my lady’s fault, what do you want, Marquis Xing? Do you dislike my lady? If so, you’d better tell me. I will definitely ask my lady to apologize to you,” Chu Liuchen said with a cold and gloomy face, which was completely different from his gentle expression just now. It was as if he had become another person in an instant.
Shao Jing had long heard that Prince Chen was temperamental. He could appear calm and charming a moment ago, but the next moment, he could be ruthless. Shao Jing really regretted it. Why did he fight with the guards of Prince Chen’s Mansion on the spur of the moment?
Shao Hua’an came over, bowed to Chu Liuchen, and said, “Your Highness, my father fought with your guards because he was deceived just now. I wish for your forgiveness for what he has done.”
Just now, he and Zhao Xiran had been standing in the back and didn’t come up to meddle in the fight. But now he couldn’t stand still and came forward to explain what had happened.
“He was deceived? By who?” Chu Liuchen raised his eyebrows and his face softened, as if he were not the gloomy one just now.
“It’s this woman. She said she was the daughter of the imperial censor. After my father had her enter the mansion, he found out that she was a liar. She turned out to be a servant girl who intended to pretend to be the daughter of the imperial censor. She wants to enter Marquis Xing’s Mansion and replace my mother.” Shao Hua’an lowered his head and looked very sad. His mother had just pa.s.sed away, but his father was going to let another woman marry into the mansion. As a son, he was certainly angry.
But no matter how angry he was, he couldn’t oppose his father.
“A fake daughter?” Chu Liuchen raised his eyebrows and looked at E’niang who had been trembling.
“She’s a fake. She’s just a servant girl,” Shao Hua’an said with a pale face and a little anger. Anyone who encountered such a thing would be very angry.
“Then take her away. The Ministry of Justice has dealt with a lot of this kind of thing!” Chu Liuchen ordered gently. This kind of thing should indeed be dealt with by the Ministry of Justice.
“I’m at your disposal, Your Highness!” Shao Hua’an took two steps back and bowed with hands folded in front.
Two guards came over and took E’niang away. She still wanted to struggle, but Shao Jing glared at her so hard that she didn’t dare to move and followed the two guards to leave obediently.
“Has the family tree been settled?” Chu Liuchen asked Shao Wanru this time.
“It will be done soon. Third Uncle’s branch will be separated from the family. Originally, this woman’s name would be recorded into the family tree, but now that won’t be necessary,” Shao Wanru answered softly.
“Marquis Xing, can we start now?” Chu Liuchen nodded and looked at Shao Jing. “I’m going to take my lady to the Palace to see Imperial Grandmother.”
Shao Jing couldn’t wait to see them leave, so he said in a hurry, “Okay, okay. I’ll do it right away!”
The following things were much simpler. Without E’niang, everything else was nothing serious. Shao Jing was now very well-behaved. He didn’t dare to say anything extra or ask anything more, for fear that he would accidentally provoke Prince Chen, who was ruthless. He really didn’t dare to provoke him.
The frightened elders didn’t dare to say anything extra either. They retrieved the family tree and changed all the members of the third branch into collateral members of the family. They also burned several incense sticks in front of the ancestral tablets. After all the members kowtowed, this matter was finished.
After following the process, Shao Wanru asked Chu Liuchen to wait in the Piaoyun Courtyard first while she went to the courtyard of Third Madam.
Third Madam was still lying in bed, but she was in good spirits. Seeing Shao Wanru come in, she struggled to sit up, but Shao Wanru reached out to hold her.
“No need to get up, Third Aunt!”
Third Madam lay down again, and the others in the room left.
“Third Aunt, Grandma has selected a few candidates. She will ask Nanny Gao to send them to your new mansion soon. You can choose two suitable ones to get engaged with Third Sister and Fourth Sister. These people are not from n.o.ble aristocratic families, but fortunately, they come from decent families and have good character. They are about the same age as Third Sister and Fourth Sister, and I’m sure they will be nice husbands.”
That was to say, if Third Madam’s daughters needed to get married urgently, it could be achieved.
“Thank you, thank you, Your Highness.” Third Madam was about to cry. She had thought that she would not get many benefits from the separation this time, but because of Shao Wanru’s proposal, the third branch got more benefits than she had imagined. At this moment, she was very grateful to Shao Wanru.
“You’re welcome. This is our deal, but that’s all I can do for you,” Shao Wanru said.
Third Madam nodded to show that she understood. What had happened at that time was a thorn in Shao Wanru’s heart. Even if Third Madam had not killed her father and Mother, she had guessed. “When that happened, she just stood aside and watched, didn’t she?
“In my last life, the third branch had watched me die, hadn’t they?”
Shao Wanru was not a saint. She had never been a saint. Not only that, but she was also a cold-hearted person. It was impossible for her to have no grudge against the third branch.
What she and Third Madam had done before was a deal, which had nothing to do with the kins.h.i.+p of the two branches.
In fact, it was best for the third branch to break away at this time. Since Marquis Xing’s Mansion was going down, anyone who had something to do with it would fall and even die.
After coming out of the courtyard of Third Madam, Shao Wanru didn’t go straight back to the Piaoyun Courtyard but went to the Quhuan Courtyard, where her father and mother used to live. The screen wall recorded the process of her father’s practicing calligraphy from childhood to adulthood, as well as the traces of her parents’ love for each other. But they were just traces.
She felt a bit like crying. “Everything here in my last life must have been destroyed!”
If Shao Hua’an moved in, everything here would inevitably be ruined. She felt inexplicably sad. She stood alone in front of the screen wall and raised her head for a long time.
“What’s wrong?” The voice of Chu Liuchen came from behind her. She fell into his broad arms, and the familiar breath made her relax.
“If Marquis Xing’s Mansion is destroyed, will this place remain?” Shao Wanru suddenly asked, her eyes still fixed on the screen wall. In the entire Marquis Xing’s Mansion, what she couldn’t part with the most wasn’t the Piaoyun Courtyard but this Quhuan Courtyard, which represented the family care she sought in her two lives.
“It won’t be destroyed.” Chu Liuchen said in a gentle but rea.s.suring voice.
“It won’t?”
“It definitely won’t!” This was not just an answer, but a confirmation.
Shao Wanru nodded with a smile. When she turned around and saw that he was alone, she couldn’t help looking back and asking, “Where is Hao’er?”
“I told him to go back to school!” Chu Liuchen said. He took her hand and walked out slowly while he asked with a smile, “Can we go back now?”
“Let’s go back!” Shao Wanru said with a nod. The mansion was in chaos, and Zhao Xiran was busy. She was the only official female lead in the inner court now. Old Madam couldn’t take charge in her current situation.
When the two walked out slowly, they pa.s.sed by Shao Jing’s courtyard. Shao Wanru stopped and looked at the tall pavilion. In fact, it was really eye-catching. She took a few more steps out.
After taking a few steps, she suddenly stopped and decisively took the hand of Chu Liuchen and walked inside.
“Your Highness, His Grace is not here. He’s in another study outside. If you ask for him, you should go there instead.” The old maid guarding the door hurried up to stop Shao Wanru.
Chu Liuchen snorted coldly. Two guards appeared behind him and pulled the old maid away.
The old maid still wanted to say something, but her head was. .h.i.t heavily and she fainted to the ground.
When the other servants in the yard saw this, they were all trembling and lowering their heads, for fear that Prince Chen’s guards would come at them. It was obvious that Prince Chen was not a reasonable person.
Shao Wanru walked to the bottom of the pavilion, gritted her teeth, and raised her head. She had always had a doubt in her heart. For some reason, she felt that this place was suspicious. She felt like going upstairs. She just wanted to go up and have a look for no reason. She just felt that if she didn’t visit it, she would miss something very important.
This feeling came inexplicably, but it was very real, which made her have an inexplicable sense of urgency. She bit her lip, and the corner of her mouth was red.
“Shall we go up?” Chu Liuchen pointed up, and Shao Wanru nodded.
She quickly turned to the front of the pavilion. When she reached the door, she was stunned. There was a big lock locking the door. If she wanted to go up the pavilion, she had to pa.s.s through this door. However, with such a wide lock, unless she unscrewed the lock, it was impossible to go up.
“Where is the key?” Shao Wanru asked. There was an old maid beside her who had been cleaning just now. When she saw the two coming over, she hurriedly lowered her head and stepped aside.
“The key is… is kept by His Grace,” the old maid stammered.
“No one has ever gone up there?” Shao Wanru asked.
The old maid didn’t dare to raise her head and said in a panic, “Very few people… go up. I heard… I heard that this place is full of sundries!”
“How many years has it been since someone went up there?” Shao Wanru was very disappointed. The impulse she had just had slowly faded away. Looking at the closed window of the pavilion, she felt very uncomfortable as if something was pressing down on her heart.
“Usually… we won’t go up… People only go up for… cleaning…”
“Let’s go!” Shao Wanru was extremely disappointed. She looked up at the window and turned around.
Seeing the reluctance in her eyes, Chu Liuchen said with deep eyes, “In fact, we can get there without the key!”