Chapter 18 Reasons
Fang Xuren had never seen such a shameless person who actually said that the prince had someone bring her here. Then he changed his mind and realized what was going on.
"The prince asked you to bring Miss Xu here. Your last name is Xu. Although the two characters are very similar, if you listen carefully, you can still distinguish them. I think you just want to cling to the rich and powerful!"
"Your Highness, this... this is unfair!" Xu Zhaodi finally understood that she and Zhang Sancao had heard it wrong.
"Unfair?" Xu Zhao spoke up at this time: "Did you hear it wrong, or are you just trying to curry favor with me? I could have been in the kitchen at that time."
When Xu Zhao spoke at this moment, Xu Zhaodi finally noticed her.
"You are just a little cook, don't talk nonsense." Xu Zhaodi said loudly.
"Cook? Who is the real cook?" Xu Zhao asked back.
Chen Yu was completely confused. Xu Zhao had only been out of his sight for a few hours, yet such an outrageous thing could happen.
"What happened in the kitchen?"
Xu Zhao had never expected that in ancient times, this gossip could spread so quickly in just one night. After people followed suit, the version turned out to be completely different from the real situation.
"Now the rumor in the military camp is that the prince favored a cook last night. Naturally, everyone in the kitchen knows about it too. Xu Zhaodi pretended to be this person."
Xu Zhao patiently told Chen Yu what she heard and saw in the kitchen.
It would be so boring if you just eat melons by yourself. Good melons are meant to be shared.
After telling his own experience, Xu Zhao finally said jokingly: "Our Prince Shen is handsome and elegant, there are so many women who admire you!"
"There are so many women who admire me, I wonder if Miss Xu is one of them?"
Xu Zhao paused and smiled faintly, "Your Highness, you are so good-looking. Everyone loves beauty. I am naturally happy to see you, Your Highness."
I think if a grown man is told that he is good-looking, he will get angry.
But Chen Yu was different from ordinary people, "Oh, this prince is so handsome, if you are happy when you see me, then look at me more, so that you can be happier."
Fang Xuren on the side was shocked. Is this something his serious prince would say?
"Your Majesty, how should we deal with Xu Zhaodi?"
At this moment, Xu Zhaodi already knew that the person standing next to the prince was the Miss Xu mentioned by the soldiers, but she was most likely the cook favored by the prince last night.
Unexpectedly, she met the real owner while impersonating someone else. She kowtowed repeatedly, "Please spare my life, Your Majesty. Please forgive me this time. I was forced to impersonate Miss Xu. I have my reasons."
"Tell me who forced you to pretend to be the culprit. The prince will never let that person go!" Xu Zhao said indignantly, as if he wanted to help Xu Zhaodi.
"This..." Xu Zhaodi stammered.
"What? Could it be that no one forced you at all, and you came up with this idea just because you were greedy for wealth and fame?" Xu Zhao walked towards Xu Zhaodi, becoming more and more imposing as he spoke.
Xu Zhao's awe-inspiring aura frightened Xu Zhaodi so much that she shivered and crouched even lower.
"Please spare my life, Your Highness. My parents want to marry me to a 40-year-old man in the village. He is a widower. How can a grown-up girl like me marry a widower?" Xu Zhaodi said this and started to cry.
If she had a choice, she would also like to marry someone like the prince, but she can't!
"Look at your age, you should be in your twenties. It is really inappropriate for you to marry a forty-year-old man." Chen Yu did not expect that Xu Zhaodi had such a miserable life.
Xu Zhao asked, "Why did your parents marry you off?"
"I have a younger brother, and my family has no money, so my parents want to marry me off to get this gift so that they can help my brother find a wife and have children in the future."
What a common reason.
"Even so, does this have anything to do with your clinging to the prince?"
"If I can marry the prince, my parents will naturally not marry me to that forty-year-old man," Xu Zhaodi retorted to Xu Zhao.
"But the prince has nothing to do with you."
Xu Zhao explained the facts, but was refuted by Xu Zhaodi again. She said sternly: "That's my business. I can go home and tell my parents that the prince just pities me and doesn't like me. As long as the prince is there, my parents will naturally not force me to get married!"
"Then you don't even want your own reputation anymore?" Fang Xuren didn't expect that this girl was so crazy that she would disregard even the things that women value most.
"Clean reputation..." Xu Zhaodi sneered, "The widower's last wife was beaten to death by him. If I marry him, I might not even be able to save my life. What use is this clean reputation to me?" She asked the people present.
Xu Zhao and Shen Yu were both stunned.
Chen Yu felt that since ancient times, marriages were arranged by parents and matchmakers, and girls really had no chance to choose for themselves. However, he always felt that children were a piece of flesh and blood in their parents' hearts, and they would go to the extent of selling their daughters just for a few taels of silver.
If it were a war or famine, this would be understandable.
But under his protection, the people at the border have not been displaced and are still living their original lives.
Xu Zhao didn't expect that Xu Zhaodi had such a reason. It is said that there must be something hateful about pitiful people, but sometimes the opposite is also true.
"Your Majesty, since this is extenuating circumstance, should this woman be released?"
Fortunately, Xu Zhaodi has not done anything against the law. She has only ruined her own reputation and the prince's innocence, making it seem as if the prince really had something unspeakable with the cook last night.
Chen Yu pondered that even if Xu Zhaodi did not do anything substantially bad, she could not stay in this military camp.
"Drag her down and give her ten strokes of the cane. Send her home and do not work in the barracks. Also, tell her that Miss Xu is only my friend. I have nothing to do with her. If I hear any more rumors, I will punish her by military law."
With just one simple sentence, Xu Zhaodi was dealt with and the rumors were also resolved.
"Yes." Fang Xuren raised his hand, and the soldiers standing beside him carried Xu Zhaodi out of the tent, one on each side.
Xu Zhaodi still refused to give up and cried, "Please spare my life, my lord. I will never dare to do it again. Please let me go!"
If she were beaten with these ten military sticks, she would be crippled if not killed.
Fang Xuren waved his hand again, and the soldier next to him understood and directly covered Xu Zhaodi's mouth.
After Xu Zhaodi was dragged away, Chen Yu said, "Send five taels of silver to her family and ask them not to marry their daughter to that old man."
If her parents had not forced her like that, Xu Zhaodi probably would not have taken such a risk.
"Your Highness is merciful, but it's a pity that the women here cannot read and are ultimately ignorant. All they think about is clinging to a nobleman so they can live a better life." Xu Zhao sighed. Perhaps Xu Zhaodi's reason was indeed the main reason for her actions, but fake is fake. If she had read books and had insight, she would not have done such a fake thing.
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