Chapter 631 Call Me Prince Chen
Shao Yanru got up early in the morning, took Shuqi to the closest Buddha hall to Shao Wanru’s courtyard, and then got up and walked out after spending a long time wors.h.i.+ping the Buddha there.
This was the place where Shao Yanru was stopped by the reception monk before, and she was not allowed to get closer to Shao Wanru.
As usual, she sat in the pavilion next to the hall for rest and stayed there for quite a long time. During this period, she had patiently waited here, where she could see Shao Wanru’s courtyard from a distance so that if anyone came from Shao Wanru’s courtyard, she could see it immediately.
Since she didn’t cross the boundary, the monks in the temple turned a blind eye to it.
Shao Yanru even only had some pastries for lunch so that she could spend more time watching over Shao Wanru more closely.
The area was close to the courtyards where the members of the royal family cultivated in seclusion, so ordinary people were not allowed to come here. Shao Yanru usually sat there for a long time, but only saw no one except for the monks in the temple.
However, things were different today. Shao Yanru saw some people coming from a distance, so she sat up straight in a hurry. When they got closer, she found that it was Commandery Prince Qing, Chu Qing, who was surrounded by a group of people. She, who was disappointed, lowered her head slightly in an attempt to pretend that she didn’t see him.
Unexpectedly, Chu Qing saw her and led a group of people to the pavilion where she sat.
When they arrived at the pavilion, Chu Qing waved his hand, and several attendants stood outside the pavilion.
“First Miss Shao!” Chu Qing came in, said politely, and bowed deeply to Shao Yanru with a smile. Shao Yanru stood up in a hurry to bow to him back.
“What are you doing here, First Miss Shao?” Chu Qing asked with a smile, while naturally sitting down on the stone stool opposite Shao Yanru. When they enjoyed the scenery in the Yuhui Nunnery last time, the wind raised her veil and he had seen her face.
“My Fifth Sister lives inside, and I want to meet her!” Shao Yanru sighed and said gently, and then sat down when Chu Qing smiled at her.
“Why don’t you go over?” Chu Qing asked in astonishment.
“The monks in the temple said that my Fifth Sister has been recuperating and cultivating in seclusion, so no one is allowed to disturb her!” Looking at Prince Qing in front of her, Shao Yanru suddenly had an idea and said with an increasingly gentle and helpless smile. Her delicate face was filled with bitterness, which indicated that she was extremely sad. “My grandma is worried about my Fifth Sister, so she asked me to come and have a look. But if I can’t see my Fifth Sister and confirm that she’s fine, how can I go back and tell my grandma about it?”
“So you keep waiting here?” Commandery Prince Qing said with displeasure, “How can the Fifth Miss be so rude? Since she can cultivate in seclusion, she should be able to receive guests. How can she decline visits? I happened to get in. How about if I take a message to the Fifth Miss for you?”
“Well, thank you, Your Highness!” Shao Yanru, who was overjoyed, got up excitedly, bowed deeply to Commandery Prince Qing, and said. Chu Qing’s visit turned out to be a bonus.
As long as her message was taken to Shao Wanru, she didn’t believe that Shao Wanru could refuse to meet her. It was one thing if Shao Wanru didn’t know that she came here, but it would be Shao Wanru’s fault if Shao Wanru still refused to meet her after knowing it. Moreover, she claimed to come on instructions from grandma. In this case, Shao Wanru could be considered “unfilial” if she still refused to meet her after knowing it. She didn’t believe that Shao Wanru dared to go against “filial piety”, the most important virtue.
It was okay if Shao Wanru really dared to do that. She could use it to make others doubt that Shao Wanru just pretended to be “filial”. Shao Wanru treated a living elder like this, let alone the deceased ones!
If Shao Wanru was proved to be hypocritical this time, she could be suspected to be hypocritical in other things. Shao Yanru could arouse people’s suspicion of Shao Wanru’s filial piety and clear her name!
“Don’t mention it. It’s no big deal. First Miss, please wait here. I’ll be back soon!” Chu Qing really didn’t think it a big deal. He stood up and said generously. That would be great if he could take this opportunity to win the First Miss Shao’s favor because he had coveted the power of Duke Xing’s Mansion for long.
If he could win the First Miss Shao’s favor, he could not only marry such a beauty but also had the support from Duke Xing’s Mansion. It was quite a rare opportunity.
It was inappropriate for him to visit Duke Xing’s Mansion even if he wanted to do that. After all, he had no connection with Duke Xing. Although he socialized with the crafty man with a smile when meeting him in the imperial court, the crafty man kept a distance from him and acted indifferently. He was wondering how to get close to Duke Xing. Doing Shao Yanru a favor offered him a great opportunity.
The consort selection was coming, so he had to do something!
“Thank you, Your Highness!” Shao Yanru thanked him again in a sweet voice and looked expectant. In front of such beauty, Chu Qing was in high spirits. He strode gracefully to Shao Wanru’s courtyard, followed by a group of people, while Shao Yanru watched them from a distance.
Chu Qing came here today to meet Chu Liuchen. He had always wanted to visit Chu Liuchen, but usually didn’t go at the right time. Chu Liuchen was either taking medicine or seeing a doctor or had just fallen asleep and couldn’t be disturbed. Until now, he had visited Prince Chen’s Mansion several times, but he was declined every time with a sufficient reason.
It made Chu Qing feel aggrieved and angry.
Later, he intended to leave with Chu Liuchen from the imperial court, but he did not expect that Chu Liuchen to gently told him that he was going to the Empress Dowager’s palace to take medicine. He had just reclaimed his ident.i.ty, and the Empress Dowager had always been indifferent to him. He did not dare to visit the Empress Dowager at will, so his plan failed.
This time he managed to find out that Chu Liuchen had come to the Huaguang Temple for cultivation in seclusion. It was late last night, so he got up early this morning and came to visit Chu Liuchen with a group of people.
The reception monk led him to Chu Liuchen’s yard. When they arrived at the gate door of the courtyard, Chu Qing waved at the reception monk, and the reception monk put his palms together and left.
After the reception monk left, Chu Qing turned around and headed for the courtyard beside Chu Liuchen’s courtyard. Just now, Shao Yanru had told him clearly that Shao Wanru cultivated in seclusion in the courtyard next to Chu Liuchen’s courtyard.
When they arrived at the door, Chu Qing put his hands behind his back and instructed the manservant to knock on the door. However, no matter how hard the manservant knocked, the door remained tightly closed.
Inside the room, Shao Wanru had gotten up. She walked to the window, looked at the courtyard door, and heard the loud knocks with her long eyelashes fluttering. She had learned that the person outside was Commandery Prince Qing, Chu Qing. Just now, Qing’er had told her that she saw Chu Qing and Shao Yanru talk and laugh intimately in the distant pavilion.
Of course, Qing’er also told Shao Wanru that Chu Liuchen had his own way to deal with it and she just needed to have a good rest inside and ignore what was going on outside!
“Climb over the wall and open the door!” Seeing that the door remained closed with no one answering as if there were no one inside, Chu Qing said in displeasure. The beauty was watching him from a distance. The door remaining closed was just like a slap in the face for him.
“Yes!” A guard took two steps forward and jumped onto the wall. When he was about to jump into the courtyard, he suddenly saw another guard show up on the wall of the courtyard beside Shao Wanru’s courtyard, wave the long sword, and stab him in the chest.
The guard of Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion reacted quickly. He turned over and jumped off the wall in a hurry, drawing the long sword. The guard showing up later on the wall also jumped down and fought with him.
Noticing the bad situation, the guards around Chu Qing drew their swords. Some of them stood in front of Chu Qing, while some joined in the fight, which became fierce at once.
Although the guard jumping down later was skilled at combat, he couldn’t resist a group of guards. After being stabbed a few times, he turned over, fell to the ground, and was captured.
“Who are you? Why do you a.s.sa.s.sinate me?” Chu Qing, who came up to the captured guard surrounded by several guards, asked with unkind eyes.
“a.s.sa.s.sinate you? You think highly of yourself. You dared to instruct your guard to climb over the wall and so many guards to fight with my guard. This is the Huaguang Temple, not the Yuhui Nunnery. How dare you do something like that!” A cold voice came from the side, suppressing Chu Qing’s voice.
Chu Qing looked back hurriedly, only to see that the door of the courtyard was opened and Chu Liuchen showed up with a gloomy face followed by a group of guards.
“I… Big Brother, I didn’t…” Chu Qing thought to himself that he got into trouble and hurriedly explained.
“Call me Prince Chen!” Chu Liuchen said with a sneer and walked over slowly with a slight smile, which was so gloomy that it made the guards following Chu Qing take a step back involuntarily.
“Prince Chen, I need to talk to the Fifth Miss Shao. I didn’t mean to offend her and didn’t know that the guard works for you!” Chu Qing didn’t dare to argue. He waved at his guard as a hint for them to leave and explained.
“Talk to the Fifth Miss Shao? Why don’t I know that you have a connection with the Fifth Miss Shao?” Chu Liuchen said coldly, glanced at Chu Qing with disdain, and then turned his gaze to Shao Yanru, who was in the distant pavilion, “Is it the First Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion who asked you to come here?”
“Yes, the First Miss Shao asked me to take a message to the Fifth Miss Shao!” Chu Qing said in an aggrieved tone and clenched his fists hard. He didn’t have the strength to confront Chu Liuchen yet and even had to please Chu Liuchen.
He was considerably reluctant. They were both the sons of the late emperor. Why should he be inferior to Chu Liuchen? He was much healthier than Chu Liuchen, who was an invalid. He should be a more decent prince than Chu Liuchen!
“What’s the relations.h.i.+p between you and the First Miss Shao so that you met here and she asked you to disturb my cousin sister? My great-aunt once told me to take good care of my cousin sister and not to allow those rash people to offend her. My great-aunt does have a prophetic vision. I run into this kind of people just a day after my arrival!”
Chu Liuchen said and stared at Chu Qing’s face gloomily. The feeling of being targeted by a ghost made Chu Qing take a step back uneasily. When he realized it, he felt furious and thought, “Why should Chu Liuchen scare me away off?”
“Prince Chen, since the First Miss and the Fifth Miss are sisters, it’s no big deal for me to pa.s.s on a message for the First Miss!” Suppressing the jealousy in his heart, Chu Qing said with a flattering smile, while clenching his fists under his sleeves. He could accept other princes’ contempt for him, but why should such an invalid look down on him and even frighten him off overwhelmingly? How could he not get furious?
“Prince Qing, you certainly don’t think it a big deal with the intention of pleasing the beauty and intended to disturb my cousin sister in her cultivation even if you had to be against the world and filial piety. I’m wondering what you are up to. The First Miss Shao does have the infinite charm of the first beauty in the capital. I hope you could win her favor as you wis.h.!.+”
After finis.h.i.+ng speaking, Chu Liuchen turned into the yard with a group of people, leaving Chu Qing alone!