Chapter 103 I'll Take You as My Concubine

Qingyun Building.

As soon as Xiao Qingyuan stepped in, he sensed that this place was different from usual.

In the past, Qingyunlou was a thriving business. No matter what time it was, people would come to eat and drink, and many would also order dishes to be delivered to their homes.

Today, Qingyunlou Restaurant was very quiet, with hardly anyone coming to eat.

Xiao Qingyuan frowned slightly: "What happened? What's wrong with Qingyun Tower?"

A guard stepped forward and whispered, "Your Highness, ever since Qingyunlou partnered with Miss Chu to offer a few expensive snacks and desserts, its reputation has plummeted. Now nobody comes here to eat; everyone goes to the more trustworthy and ethical Zuixianlou."

"What? Just because of a few of Yanluo's pastries, Qingyunlou has become like this? How is that possible!"

The guard didn't dare to speak his mind. How could it be impossible? That Chu Yanluo was just that vicious; whoever got involved with her was doomed!

On the second floor of Qingyun Restaurant, the manager's eyelids twitched when he saw Xiao Qingyuan. He was still alive? Wasn't the rumor that he had been beaten to death?

Oh no! Yuan Zheng, the young master behind their restaurant, has taken over Chu Yanluo, Xiao Qingyuan's favorite, and beats her up all the time. What will happen if Xiao Qingyuan finds out?

The shopkeeper whispered to the waiter to inform Yuan Zheng that Xiao Qingyuan was still alive, then greeted him with a beaming smile: "Young Master Xiao, you've finally arrived! There were some bad rumors circulating when you didn't come these past few days! Now that you're standing here safely, those rumors have all been dispelled! I knew it, Young Master Xiao is blessed with good fortune, there's no way anything could have happened to him!"

Xiao Qingyuan ignored his flattery and asked directly, "Is Yanluo staying with you?"

"this……"

"If you refuse to talk, I'll have my guards turn this place upside down!"

The innkeeper glanced at the dozen or so guards following Xiao Qingyuan and dared not deny it. He quickly said, "Yes, yes, Miss Chu is staying at our restaurant!"

"lead the way!"

The shopkeeper dared not resist and could only obediently lead the way.

As he led the way, he muttered to himself that since Xiao Qingyuan met Chu Yanluo, he had stopped acting like the young master of the Ning Prince's Mansion. He said he was afraid of making Chu Yanluo uncomfortable, so he not only dismissed the servants around him, but also only took one servant with him when he went out.

Why did you bring so many guards this time?

It seems he really was beaten, which is why the Prince Ning's mansion sent so many guards to escort him out.

The innkeeper stopped in front of a room at the end of the corridor, smiling obsequiously, and said, "Young Master, Miss Chu is staying here. She's currently busy researching medicine..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Qingyuan pushed him away.

Then, Xiao Qingyuan opened the door and went inside.

A foul smell of medicine wafted over, and the room was cluttered with all sorts of odds and ends, clearly a storage room that was no place for anyone to live!

Hearing the voice, Chu Yanluo turned around and was immediately shocked: "Xiao... Xiao Qingyuan?"

Xiao Qingyuan felt a pang of pain in his heart as he looked at the injuries on her face: "Yanluo, who hit you? Tell me, and I'll avenge you!"

Chu Yanluo threw herself into his arms, crying, "It really is you! I thought you were dead. Everyone outside was saying you were beaten to death. I cried for so long!"

A hint of mockery flashed in the shopkeeper's eyes. She was crying because Yuan Zheng had hurt her, not because of Xiao Qingyuan.

But Xiao Qingyuan obviously didn't know that he was holding Chu Yanluo tightly. Feeling her trembling, he felt even more heartache: "I'm not dead, I'm alive and well. I promised to take care of you for the rest of my life, how could I die like this? Don't cry, I'll take you home right now!"

Chu Yanluo said, "Can I really go back with the young master? I heard a few days ago that you were beaten to death. I went to the Prince's mansion to look for you, but the Prince's mansion wouldn't let me in. They said I wasn't a member of the Prince's mansion and told me not to go there again."

Xiao Qingyuan frowned deeply: "Is that so? But I asked Shen Wantang, and she said you haven't returned to the Prince's Mansion."

"She's lying! She's deliberately deceiving you. She's just jealous that you like me, so she's deliberately trying to drive a wedge between us!"

Xiao Qingyuan subconsciously said, "No, Shen Wantang is not jealous at all, and she will not sow discord between us."

Hearing him siding with Shen Wantang again, Chu Yanluo was so angry that she forgot to cry. She pushed Xiao Qingyuan away and her cold and arrogant expression returned: "Your Highness, you can go back by yourself. I won't go to the Ning Prince's Mansion. I have no official status and it's easy for people to laugh at me if I stay there. Your Highness doesn't care if people gossip about me, but I don't want to hear it anymore. You can leave!"

Xiao Qingyuan stepped forward: "Yanluo, don't be willful. Come back with me first. What kind of behavior is it for you to stay in a restaurant? Is this a place for a human to live?"

"So what if I live in a restaurant? So what if it's not a place for humans to live? I'd rather live here than live in the Prince's mansion without any status or identity! I, Chu Yanluo, would rather be a proud wandering ghost than ever step into the Ning Prince's mansion again with such a stigma!"

Xiao Qingyuan clenched his fists. Chu Yanluo living in the Ning Prince's mansion without any official status was indeed a big problem.

After thinking for a while, he finally said, "Yanluo, I will take you as my concubine. That way, you will have a legitimate status."

Chu Yanluo's eyes widened in disbelief: "What did you say? Xiao Qingyuan, you want me to be your concubine?!"

"Don't be in a hurry, this is only temporary. When I inherit the title of the Prince, I will make you my concubine."

"A concubine?!"

"Yes, a concubine."

"Isn't that still being a concubine? Xiao Qingyuan, you kept saying you loved me and would take care of me for all eternity, but in the end, you want me to be your concubine?"

Xiao Qingyuan's face was a little pale. His injuries had not yet healed, and he had come to find Chu Yanluo while enduring great pain. Hearing that Chu Yanluo was so uncooperative, he felt pain in his body and pain in his heart.

“Yanluo, I already have a Crown Princess. She has worked hard these days, even if she hasn’t done anything particularly good. My father and mother both like her very much. I can’t divorce her, otherwise I would be completely ruining her.”

"But don't worry, even if you become my concubine, you will still be the best in my heart. As long as you are willing to stay with me, my heart will always belong to you alone."

"I can assure you, I will never take another concubine. You are the first and the last. I swear, I will never like anyone else."

Chu Yanlu never expected that after fighting for a title for so long, all she would get was a concubine!

In his past life, Xiao Qingyuan never said such a thing! He always said he wanted to divorce Shen Mingxuan and wanted her to be his Crown Princess!

Why did things change after I was reborn as Shen Wantang?

How long has he been married to Shen Wantang? Two months!

In just two months, he went from fighting against his family by becoming a monk in order to marry her as his legal wife, to taking her as a concubine in order to maintain Shen Wantang's position as his legal wife!

Being a concubine meant she would have to kneel and serve tea to Shen Wantang, the mistress of the house! It meant she would be subject to the mistress's discipline and beatings for the rest of her life! In fact, selling a concubine was just a matter of the mistress's word!

Moreover, if she has children in the future, they will be illegitimate children, and her children can only call her aunt, not mother!