Chapter 214: Invite
Chu Liuyue purposely didn’t lower her voice when she said that sentence. Not only did Si Yang hear it, but even Rong Jin and the rest had heard her clearly.
Everyone instantly held their breaths.
Chu Liuyue is really gutsy to say such a thing in front of the Crown Prince!
But Rong Jin, unexpectedly, only furrowed his brows when he heard it; he did not rage. He looked at Chu Liuyue with deep meaning before turning away.
The crowd was dazed. The Crown Prince is actually not intending to cause trouble for Chu Liuyue? How can he actually tolerate Chu Liuyue’s humiliating words?
Rong Jin was really tolerant. Since he had already made up his mind to get Chu Liuyue back, a minor thing like this did not count for much. After all, Chu Liuyue had suffered quite a lot of grievances from his side in the past. Hence, it was normal for her to hate him.
Doesn’t this also prove that she still cares? Thinking of this, not only was Rong Jin not angry at all, but he was even faintly hopeful. He knew that Chu Liuyue had liked him for many years.
He was seduced by Chu Xianmin at the start, which caused him to dissolve the marriage agreement between him and Chu Liuyue.
How can feelings that have lasted for so many years disappear just like that? As long as I put down my pride, Chu Liuyue will definitely come back to me. Father is currently very upset with me, but if I can get Chu Liuyue back, Father will definitely change his view of me.
Even though Rong Jin initially regretted dissolving the marriage agreement with Chu Liuyue, he did not want to do anything about it in consideration of his status and reputation. However, Chu Liuyue was very famous now, and she had become a genius that everyone envied.
Even if he reconciled with her, it would not harm his reputation. The only thing he had to do now was find a suitable time to express his intentions toward Chu Liuyue.
…
Chu Liuyue naturally did not know that Rong Jin had thought so much in such a short period of time. She just felt disgusted by Rong Jin.
This man is manipulative and selfish. He initially felt that the original owner was a good-for-nothing that tarnished his reputation as the Crown Prince. Hence, he dissolved his marriage agreement with her. After Chu Xianmin’s face was disfigured, and she lost her worth, he ditched her without hesitation. Another look from a person like this will cause my stomach to flip over.
“Hey, Liuyue, why do I feel that the Crown Prince is a little bit… weird toward you?” Si Yang softly questioned as he looked at Rong Jin and glanced at Chu Liuyue.
Chu Liuyue looked at him strangely.
Si Yang obediently drew a line across his lips and kept quiet.
Si Ting—who had been closing his hands and memorizing Xuan formations—opened his eyes and glanced at Rong Jin before looking down and hiding the look in his eyes.
Actually. he had already stopped memorizing Xuan formations long ago, so he had heard the commotion around him very clearly.
Rong Jin was very selfish and petty. Now that his att.i.tude had changed, it proved that he had some ill intentions toward Chu Liuyue.
Si Ting originally wanted to remind Chu Liuyue to be careful of Rong Jin, but he swallowed the words back in just as the words were at the tip of his tongue.
She’s so intelligent; she can definitely handle this. I shouldn’t think so much about it. Si Ting took a deep breath in, closed his eyes, and suppressed his messy thoughts.
…
As time pa.s.sed, the compet.i.tion became increasingly intense.
The names inside the warrior boxes in front of the three academies were gradually decreasing.
In the afternoon, Chu Liuyue was once again picked. This time by a young girl from Nan Feng Academy.
This young girl was a stage-three warrior, but she just decided to surrender. Perhaps it was because she knew that she was not Chu Liuyue’s match.
She was the first person that gave up on fighting since the start of the Qing Jiao Compet.i.tion. Before this, n.o.body would have expected a stage-three warrior to give up when they picked a stage-one warrior.
However, this person was Chu Liuyue, so everything seemed to make sense. Chu Liuyue had already beaten two stage-four warriors consecutively—which was more than enough to prove her abilities.
A stage-three warrior was not worth anything in front of Chu Liuyue.
From a certain point of view, choosing to surrender was a good choice. After all, Chu Liuyue was extremely decisive with her moves, and every move of hers was merciless. What would happen if she got injured and fainted like Lei Mingwei?
Even though Nan Feng Academy’s people felt uncomfortable, they did not say anything. This was because they were very clear that they might not have the courage to fight with Chu Liuyue if it were themselves.
Thus, Chu Liuyue advanced to the next stage again.
…
When the second day of the Qing Jiao Compet.i.tion ended, only the last ten warriors were left.
Sun Zhongyan picked up the last few paper b.a.l.l.s in the three boxes and read out their names respectively.
Amongst the ten, Tian Lu Academy had three people, Tai Yan Academy had three people, and Nan Feng Academy had four.
Chu Liuyue’s name was also on the list. She was the only freshman in the group of ten.
When they heard Chu Liuyue’s name, the crowd burst into commotion. Everyone was shocked, but they felt that it was reasonable.
Even though Chu Liuyue only competed in two matches, she was really capable. Hence, n.o.body would doubt her abilities.
Chu Liuyue indeed had the right to be in the top ten.
Sun Zhongyan looked at his surroundings. “These ten people will battle tomorrow, and the top combatant in the warrior compet.i.tion for this year’s Qing Jiao Compet.i.tion will also emerge amongst them. Everyone, please rest well when you go back today and prepare for tomorrow’s exciting matches.”
The crowd answered in unison as they were unwittingly excited. It was as if they could imagine how intense tomorrow’s battles would be.
Chu Liuyue stood up with the crowd and planned to return to the academy. However, someone blocked her path after she took a few steps.
It was Rong Jin.
When the surrounding people saw the situation, they wisely avoided him and made way for him. However, their eyes were glued to the two of them, afraid that they would miss out on something.
Chu Xianmin—who was walking with the crowd—also saw this scene, and her heart hung high. She could not help but walk two steps forward to hear what they were talking about.
Rong Jin looked at Chu Liuyue. His voice was unusually gentle as he said, “Liuyue, I have something to talk to you about.”
Chu Liuyue looked nonchalant. “I don’t think there’s anything to talk about between Your Highness and me.”
Rong Jin did not mind being ignored by her and took it as if Chu Liuyue was throwing a tantrum. He smiled and said, “I won’t take up too much of your time.”
Chu Liuyue lazily looked up. “Your Highness, my time is very precious, and I don’t wish to waste my time on you.”
Her words were harsh.
Rong Jin was embarra.s.sed.
Chu Liuyue then tried to walk around him and leave.
Rong Jin hurriedly blocked her again and did not care about anything else as he said, “Since this is so, I’ll just say it here. After the Qing Jiao Compet.i.tion, the osmanthus flowers in Golden Osmanthus Garden will blossom. Do you want to come and admire the flowers?”
Golden Osmanthus Garden was a garden under Rong Jin’s name. It was given to him by Emperor Jiawen when he turned 16.
There were countless osmanthus trees in the garden, and the flowers would bloom around this time every year, allowing its flower scent to permeate the yard. The park was a famous scenic location in the Imperial City.
Chu Liuyue raised her brows slightly. Golden Osmanthus Garden? Isn’t that where the original owner went to attend the Crown Prince’s banquet and was eventually chased out because she was mocked for her torn and tattered clothes?
What is Rong Jin thinking? How dare he have the cheek to invite me to the place where I was humiliated?
“I’m not going,” rejected Chu Liuyue decisively.
“Why?” Rong Jin did not understand. “Didn’t you really like that place in the past? You said that the osmanthus flowers were very fragrant, and it was perfect—”
“It must have been hard for you to remember this, but do you remember what you said back then?”
Rong Jin was stumped, and he looked terrible.
“You said that golden osmanthus had a meaning of elegance and that a poor beggar like me had no right to enter.” Chu Liuyue smiled lightly, but the smile did not reach her eyes.
Of course, Rong Jin remembered. At that time, he felt that Chu Liuyue was very lowly. He felt terrible when taking even another look at her, let alone let her step into Golden Osmanthus Garden.
After that, he had never invited Chu Liuyue again.
“T-that was all in the past… There’s no point in saying these things anymore… Liuyue, times have changed, and I really am genuinely inviting you over.”
Chu Liuyue enunciated every single word properly and said, “Your Highness, I genuinely don’t want to go. How many times must I reject you for you to understand?”
Rong Jin felt as if he had been slapped in front of the public, and he felt humiliated.
“The marriage agreement between you and me has already been dissolved. Hence, we have no relations with each other anymore. We never were and never will be related, so please find someone else for this matter.” Chu Liuyue’s gaze lightly swept across Chu Xianmin—who was nearby. “After all, there are people still waiting for you to dote on them.”
After saying this, Chu Liuyue did not look at Rong Jin and walked away.
This time, Rong Jin did not stop her. He had already reached his limit for talking so much in front of so many people.
He was even mercilessly rejected by Chu Liuyue, putting him in an awkward position.
Chu Xianmin bit her lips and suppressed the jealousy and hatred in her heart with much difficulty. She walked up and softly asked, “Your Highness, should we go back first?”
Rong Jin glanced at her and felt hatred when he saw the veil Chu Xianmin wore. If it weren’t for Chu Xianmin instigating me, my relations.h.i.+p with Chu Liuyue wouldn’t have ended up like this.
Rong Jin harshly whipped his sleeves, flung Chu Xianmin’s hand away, and left in big steps. He didn’t say any comforting words at all.
Chu Xianmin staggered backward and fell on the ground.
“Si-ah!” Excruciating pain came from her hand, which caused her to groan in pain instinctively. Today, she was unlucky during the compet.i.tion and went against a stage-four warrior. Needless to say, she lost the match and was even injured.
This fall had also coincidentally scratched her wound.
The crowd watched her silently and had all sorts of weird expressions.
If it were in the past, quite a few people would immediately go forward and help Chu Xianmin up when they saw her in this state. But now that her face was disfigured, was an unloved concubine after marrying the Crown Prince, and her parents were in a whole lot of trouble…
Who would dare to risk offending Chu Liuyue and the Crown Prince to help Chu Xianmin?