Chapter 955 Zhaoyi Di Judges the Situation
Chu Liuchen usually returned to the mansion early. But today, it was late, and the moon was already high in the sky when he arrived home.
Hearing that Chu Liuchen was back, Shao Wanru welcomed him in the corridor.
“Why are you still outside at this time? Let’s go inside!” Chu Liuchen held her hands and asked with an unhappy face. Then he waved his hand, and the servant girls and Xiao Xuanzi stopped their feet.
The couple entered the room hand in hand. Shao Wanru stepped close to help Chu Liuchen take off the light gray cloak with a golden edge on tiptoes and placed it on the clothes stand.
“Did anything happen?” asked Shao Wanru, who felt uneasy. “He came back so late today! There must be something serious to deal with.”
“Duke Yong was accused of secretly operating a concubine market to bribe the officials,” Chu Liuchen said casually and pulled Shao Wanru to sit on the bed.
“A concubine market?” Shao Wanru was stunned for a moment and asked with her long eyelashes fluttering, “Was it only relevant to Duke Yong’s Mansion?”
“No! Duke Yong was not the only person behind. Chu Liuyue must have something to do with the dirty business of selling those young girls from poor families.”
She pulled her hands free from Chu Liuchen’s and poured a cup of tea for him.
“Nothing else but the concubine market thing was dug out so far. The Di family have been demoted to be plebeians and driven out of the capital!” Chu Liuchen said lightly. He took the teacup and took a sip. “They didn’t find that Chu Liuyue was related to the business but suspected him of having something to do with Duke Yong’s death because he couldn’t explain why Duke Yong once went to his mansion.”
When Duke Yong was paying visits to princes’ mansions, Chu Liuchen was right in the Imperial Palace. Besides, Duke Yong didn’t go to Prince Chen’s Mansion. There was no way that Chu Liuchen would become suspicious.
Though Chu Liuyue also entered the Palace, he was still in his mansion when Duke Yong went there.
They both entered the Imperial Palace, but Chu Liuchen did it earlier, so he wasn’t suspicious while Chu Liuyue was. If they hadn’t happened to do the same thing but at a different time, people might have never related it to Chu Liuyue. Unfortunately, Chu Liuchen’s early visit to the Palace made Chu Liuyue’s look like a deliberate trick.
“You don’t have to come back so late because Duke Yong’s Mansion lost its t.i.tle,” Shao Wanru felt confused and said softly.
The concubine market event had been minimized to the least. It was a serious crime to raise young women and sell them to the officials, but it was not severe enough to sentence the criminals to death. However, if it was figured out that Chu Liuyue was also involved, and those young ladies were actually trained to collect cla.s.sified information from the officials for Chu Liuyue, that would be something really huge!
Everyone in Duke Yong’s Mansion would be condemned to death!
“Don’t you think Duke Yong’s Mansion escaped from death this time?” Chu Liuchen said with a smile. Under the light, the beautiful young man looked a little lazy.
Shao Wanru thought for a moment and asked, “Someone helped them?”
That was right! If no one had interfered in the matter of Duke Yong’s Mansion, there wouldn’t have been an outcome so soon, the case wouldn’t have been closed so quickly, and the Di family wouldn’t have been let go so easily.
It seemed that Duke Yong died with all the blame!
Chu Liuchen pulled Shao Wanru to sit down again and asked, “Who do you think the person is, Zhuozhuo?” He cast a sidelong glance at her.
Shao Wanru didn’t think it was Chu Liuyue. “Chu Liuyue was busy enough with his own safety at that time, so how could he take care of Duke Yong? It has been good enough that he didn’t disa.s.sociate himself from Duke Yong.”
“The person must have something to do with Duke Yong. First, he has a reason to help Duke Yong. Second, he is communicative enough when facing the Emperor. Could it be...” Shao Wanru’s heart skipped a beat. “Zhaoyi Di?”
Zhaoyi Di was Duke Yong and Madam Di’s younger sister, but she was a child of a concubine. Zhaoyi Di had a bad relations.h.i.+p with Madam Di, so they didn’t often keep in touch in the past.
In her last life, Shao Wanru had never heard that Zhaoyi Di summoned Madam Di to the Palace.
On the one hand, Zhaoyi Di didn’t have a good relations.h.i.+p with Madam Di. On the other hand, she was a cautious person!
“Yes, Zhaoyi Di is a very cautious woman. When I met her in the Palace that day, she was delicate but looked very cautious. I am still confused why she waited there for me, but she must do that on purpose!
“However, I don’t know who her target was. Me or someone else?”
“Yes, it was indeed Zhaoyi Di! Clever girl, Zhuozhuo!” Chu Liuchen said with a smile and reached out to pinch Shao Wanru’s nose gently.
Shao Wanru felt pain from his pinch and hurriedly slapped his hand away. She rubbed her nose, eyes filled with pitiful tears.
Chu Liuchen couldn’t help laughing when he saw her behave like his cat.
When Xiao Xuanzi, who was outside the door, heard his master’s laughter, he breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank G.o.d! Master is in a good mood now!
“I shall show more respect to Princess Chen from now on!”
“Stop it!” Shao Wanru slapped away Chu Liuchen’s mischievous hand. “Did Zhaoyi Di confess everything Duke Yong’s Mansion had done?”
“If she didn’t do so, there shouldn’t have been an outcome of the case so soon,” Shao Wanru thought in her mind.
“According to Zhaoyi Di, Duke Yong once left something to her and asked her to hand it over to His Majesty if something bad happened to him. The stuff was still sealed when it was given to His Majesty, so Zhaoyi Di should not know what it was!” said Chu Liuchen, whose eyes became deeper.
“Zhaoyi Di is a crafty person. She took out an envelope with an unbroken seal of Duke Yong’s name, proving that no one else had ever opened it and that she knew nothing about the letter inside. What’s more, it is well known that she is a daughter of a concubine and has lived in the Palace for years, so she was never informed of what had happened in her original family,” Chu Liuchen thought.
“Zhaoyi Di got away from the trouble, didn’t she?” Shao Wanru couldn’t help asking.
It was amazing that Zhaoyi Di could cover herself and escape the penalty when her original family declined and fell for committing a crime.
“Nothing happened to her, and she was even credited with providing evidence. Indeed she helped Uncle the Emperor spare a lot of effort! In addition, Uncle the Emperor always favors her.” Chu Liuchen said lightly, “If you meet her in the Palace next time, stay away from her. That woman is dangerous!”
Shao Wanru curled her pink lips and said indifferently, “She is just a Zhaoyi, and I am Princess Chen. I have a higher status. I am not afraid of her even if we meet!”
“If Zhaoyi Di keeps her nose clean, I won’t go to provoke her. But if she tries to frame me, I won’t resign myself to death,” Shao Wanru thought.
She blinked her watery eyes and suddenly realized something. “Did anything else happen?” Shao Wanru didn’t believe that the one thing of Duke Yong’s Mansion was the only reason why Chu Liuchen came back so late.
A trace of coldness flashed in his eyes. “Chu Liuyue was implicated in the case. When he was defending himself, he took Chu Liuzhou down with him. Then they had a quarrel again. Uncle the Emperor was infuriated and rebuked them. Unfortunately, it alarmed the Empress and Imperial Grandmother. Everything became out of control at that time. Uncle the Emperor couldn’t even deal with a family affair. How can he rule a country?”
Shao Wanru hurriedly pulled the corner of his robe with a nervous face. What he said was a sacrilege against the Emperor, the ruler of the country!
“Don’t panic. Rest a.s.sured. I won’t say it outside!” Shao Wanru’s panicked look made Chu Liuchen smile. He held Shao Wanru in his arms and patted her gently.
“Do... do you...” Shao Wanru bit her lip, not knowing how to speak out the question in her mind.
“If you have anything to say, say it to me. You are not an irresolute person,” Chu Liuchen looked down at her and teased. The girl in his arms was not an ordinary woman. It must be a very difficult question.
“Do... do you hate the Emperor?” Shao Wanru stayed in his arms and asked in an extremely low voice.
“No, I don’t hate him. But I think he is kind of annoying,” Chu Liuchen said in a natural tone as if he were talking about what they ate for breakfast. He didn’t sound like he was talking about the most powerful man in the country!
“Annoying?” Shao Wanru repeated in surprise. “The Emperor stole his throne! He doesn’t hate the stealer but just thinks he is annoying?”
However, his answer also made her relieved. Since she had married Prince Chen’s Mansion, she couldn’t avoid worrying about things like that. For Shao Wanru, annoyance was much better than hatred.
At least she could be a.s.sured that there wouldn’t be too much blood because of it.
“He can never handle his family affairs well. He gets a harem of women who fight with each other every day. All of his sons compete and argue like gamec.o.c.ks. Did he regret doing that? Has he ever thought whether it was worthwhile or not to make such decisions at that time?” said Chu Liuchen coldly.
Not a trace of happiness could be found in his voice.
Shao Wanru gently put her arms around his waist and buried her head in his chest.
It was quiet in their room. Their breath intertwined together and warmed the atmosphere.
Chu Liuchen kept silent for a long while. Then he reminded her in a soft voice, “I’m leaving in three days. You must tell Imperial Grandmother if you need anything. As for the others, you can ignore them if you want to! Chu Liuyue and Chu Liuzhou will behave much better in the next few days.”
It was not the first time he had said things like that, but Shao Wanru always felt touched in her heart by his sweet words.
If he didn’t care about her, he wouldn’t have repeated them!
“Yes. I’ll turn to Imperial Grandmother and be cautious. Don’t worry!”
“Don’t take the front door if you go to the Palace. It is faster and more convenient to take the side door. The building in front of Chuxiu Palace is mine. You can go there to enjoy the scenery or take a rest when you are tired. The servants there are my people!” said Chu Liuchen again.
“I knew it.” Shao Wanru nodded and closed her eyes. She had never ever felt as comfortable as she did now in Chu Liuchen’s arms. Only his hug could make her no longer panicked and alert. With Chu Liuchen’s company, she could ignore everything and be a soft and delicate girl!