Chapter 25 Chapter 25 "Because I Want to Marry You"
Zhao Qingyi's heart skipped a beat.
Those were a pair of slightly upturned peach blossom eyes. The moment their eyes met, she could feel the depth in the other's eyes, as if they wanted to devour everything.
The next moment, he passed by lightly, "So, cousin, you have an honored guest today? Why didn't you tell me in advance?"
Chu Yuanhe smiled and calmly withdrew his gaze, as if he had really just met the Zhao family by chance.
Zhao Qingyi heaved a sigh of relief for some reason. The feeling of being targeted like a prey was not pleasant at all. However, after hearing Chu Yuanhe speak, she remembered this familiar voice.
It was the person who passed by her at Xiangguo Temple.
But she should have heard it earlier.
The eldest princess did not notice Zhao Qingyi's abnormality. The word "royal brother" was about to come out of her mouth, but was interrupted by Chu Yuanhe's "cousin". She was stunned for a moment, looked at Chu Yuanhe, then looked at Zhao Qingyi, and immediately understood.
So he introduced his identity to the Zhao family, "This is the Prince of Pingxi County."
Among the royal family, the only one who rarely appears in public and is familiar and close to the emperor is the Prince of Pingxi. And only the Prince of Pingxi calls the eldest princess "cousin".
Suddenly, she turned from a biological sister to a cousin. The eldest princess returned to the main seat and glanced at Chu Yuanhe subtly, wanting to see what tricks he was playing. The prince consort also lowered his head to drink tea and did not expose her.
Zhao Huaiyi and the others had no doubts at all, and greeted Chu Yuanhe solemnly, "So it's the prince."
It was the prince who lived next door to his house, but he seemed to have never seen him?
The princess seemed to have guessed it and explained with a smile, "My royal brother has no other siblings besides me. This Prince of Pingxi is my royal brother's closest cousin. In his early years, he accompanied my royal brother on his campaigns in the northwest and rarely returned to the capital. That's why Lord Zhao has never met him."
I see.
Zhao Huaiyi had no doubts.
Zhao Qingyi finally understood where that sense of familiarity came from. The Prince of Pingxi, who had fought in the northwest, was the person she had met in the northwest four years ago!
In the evening, the lights in the princess's mansion were already on. The dim candlelight cast a shadow between Chu Yuanhe's eyebrows. Zhao Qingyi looked at those familiar peach blossom eyes, and the bonfire in the northwest military camp gradually appeared in front of her eyes.
That happened in the fifth year of Dingxi. That year, the young emperor personally led the army to fight and allied with the northern barbarians to destroy the northwestern Tartars. However, because he was too radical, he fell into the enemy's trap and disappeared in the northwest. When the news was brought back to the capital, the entire court was shocked.
However, almost all the military officers who were capable of fighting were guarding the border. As for the civil officials, after learning that His Majesty was missing, they were all afraid of death and were thinking about which royal relative to nominate to succeed to the throne. Only her father, Zhao Huaiyi, took the initiative to ask for orders to go to the northwest to search for the missing His Majesty and negotiate with the Tartars.
At that time, Zhao Qingyi was not yet of age, but her father went to the northwest with the determination to die, and disappeared soon after. Her mother, Meng, was already weak, and she fell ill after hearing the news. Her younger brother was only eight years old at the time and still needed care. Apart from her, no one in the whole family could save her father.
So that year, Zhao Qingyi, who was only fourteen years old, hid it from everyone and, with the help of her cousin Meng Jiawen, traveled thousands of miles to the northwest to find her father. She had only one thought in mind: to see him alive or dead.
But for a young girl, even if she is accompanied by a brother, the consequences can be imagined.
When she was near the border, she encountered the Tartars. The enemy's arrows were flying straight at her face. A young general appeared in time, grabbed the arrow and saved her. After learning her identity and background, the man took her back to the military camp in Daliang and told her that he was the Prince of Pingxi.
It was also after returning to the military camp that Zhao Qingyi saw a map of the northwest in the tent of Prince Pingxi. The map was so detailed that she discovered at a glance that there was another hidden story behind "His Majesty's disappearance". At that time, she was eager to save her father and guessed that the so-called disappearance was just a means for His Majesty to play with people's hearts, but her father was really in danger because of him. She was so angry that she scolded His Majesty for being absurd and stupid on the spot.
The Prince of Pingxi was standing by at the side at that time. He was stunned for a long time after hearing what she said. After she finished scolding, she looked up and met those peach blossom eyes full of astonishment.
To be specific, Zhao Qingyi had to thank Prince Pingxi for not letting His Majesty hear her treasonous words, otherwise she might have been charged with the serious crime of having her property confiscated and her family exterminated.
Thinking of this old event, the boy's face in his memory gradually became clearer, overlapping with the adult Chu Yuanhe in front of him.
Chu Yuanhe was holding a Ru kiln azure teacup. There was a scar on the base of his left hand from when he blocked an arrow for Zhao Qingyi. He took a sip slowly and noticed her gaze.
"Miss Zhao, are you thinking of me?"
The smiling voice broke Zhao Qingyi's memories, and he suddenly came back to his senses, with sweat already oozing out of his palms.
The eldest princess and her husband choked on their tea at the same time. In front of a room full of people, he actually said such words without hesitation!
Zhao Huaiyi and Meng looked at each other, surprised that Chu Yuanhe actually knew their daughter and even ignored his address as Zhao Qingyi.
Zhao Qingyi hadn't expected him to be so direct, but having lived two lives, she still said sternly, "How dare I forget the favor of the prince who saved my life?"
She hadn't told her parents about this, so Zhao Huaiyi asked curiously, "Banpan, did the prince really save you?"
Zhao Qingyi nodded, and Meng Jiawen also testified that this was indeed the case.
Zhao Huaiyi was about to kneel down and thank Chu Yuanhe, but Chu Yuanhe stopped him, "These are all things of the past. Sir Zhao, there is no need to be like this."
His frank attitude once again won the favor of the Zhao family. If the eldest princess had not known his identity, she would have been deceived by his appearance.
Because of this life-saving grace, the Zhao family treated the Prince of Pingxi in front of them with even more respect. The eldest princess suggested at an opportune moment that the Zhao family be invited to have a meal at her house.
There were no outsiders at the banquet, so Chu Yuanhe drank and chatted happily with Zhao Huaiyi. Except for the fact that Zhao Qingyi had scolded the emperor, he told almost everything about his acquaintance with Zhao Qingyi.
Zhao Qingyi sat below the eldest princess, her heart in turmoil, fearing that Chu Yuanhe would drink too much and reveal her unbearable words.
We stayed up until the night got dark and it was time to leave.
The eldest princess was serving the king, so she didn't need to come and see them off. Instead, Chu Yuanhe did it for her. After all, the two families were neighbors, so Chu Yuanhe walked back home with them very familiarly, chatting and laughing.
Zhao Qingyi and Meng Jiawen fell behind.
Meng Jiawen covered his mouth with his hand and whispered, "Cousin, what's going on with this prince?"
They were so familiar with each other that it seemed as if he and his uncle were a family.
After Zhao Qingyi made the most malicious assumption, she pursed her lips and said, "I should... never have offended him."
Meng Jiawen's eyebrows twitched twice.
He thought the Prince of Pingxi was too enthusiastic! What was his cousin thinking?
The cousins stopped talking and arrived at the gate of the Zhao Mansion. Just before parting, Chu Yuanhe turned back to look at Zhao Qingyi and asked knowingly, "Master Zhao, do you have any other daughters like the eldest daughter who are still unmarried?"
Zhao Huaiyi had a few drinks tonight and was slightly tipsy. He sobered up immediately after hearing this and said, "I have only one son and one daughter. My daughter is already married."
She has her hair tied up in a bun, can't he see that?
"Is that so?" Chu Yuanhe said with a hint of regret, "It's me who doesn't have this blessing."
A drop of sweat quietly slid down Zhao Huaiyi's forehead.
Meng's expression was rather strange. After Chu Yuanhe entered the palace, she could not help but mutter, "This Prince of Pingxi... is too reckless."
Zhao Huaiyi disagreed. "The prince has been raised in the northwest. He's not as reserved as the people in the capital. He speaks frankly. I don't think he has any bad intentions."
The couple returned home together, but not long after, a servant came to report that Prince Pingxi had sent a lot of medicinal herbs. Meng took a look and found that they were all things that could treat deficiency of qi and blood, among which were some wild ginseng that were hundreds of years old and in good condition, which were particularly rare.
The one who came to deliver the gift was the young eunuch Fugui. "The prince saw that Madam Meng looked unwell and guessed that you were suffering from blood deficiency. It happened that there were a few wild ginsengs in your house, so I asked this servant to deliver them to you. I hope Lord Zhao and Madam Meng will accept them." After saying this, he left without giving them a chance to refuse.
Looking at the boxes of medicinal herbs, Meng immediately forgot what she had said about Chu Yuanhe and Meng Lang earlier, "...this prince is very observant and meticulous."
She cares about him more than her son-in-law.
"Yes." Zhao Huaiyi agreed, "It's really a pity. If we had another daughter..."
He paused, realizing something was wrong, and the rest of his words turned into a sigh.
In comparison, in terms of background, the Prince of Pingxi is much superior to Li Che, and is a good match for their Zhao family. In terms of appearance and character, Li Che has the title of Tanhua, and his appearance is not bad, but he is still a bit petty and not as generous as the Prince of Pingxi.
But since his daughter was already married, Zhao Huaiyi stopped talking and warned, "Hey, don't say this again in the future. If the Li family hears, they will have a grudge against Banpan."
At this time, Zhao Qingyi had returned to the courtyard where she lived before she got married. On the plaque at the gate of the courtyard were written three large characters "Lan Yue Pavilion" in a flamboyant style. The layout was almost the same as that of the Li family's.
With Qiao Yue's support, she walked through the gate and saw Li Che waiting in the yard.
He had been waiting here all night. When he heard the footsteps approaching, he slowly turned around, his expression flickering against the backdrop of the warm yellow lantern.
"Why didn't you call me when you went to the Princess's Mansion?"
He learned about this shortly after Zhao Qingyi and her group left, and hurriedly chased after them. However, as soon as he arrived at the princess's mansion, he was stopped by some prince and expelled far away, which made him lose face. After returning alone, he became angry and blamed everything on Zhao Qingyi.
It was such a rare opportunity to meet the eldest princess, but Zhao Qingyi deliberately left him behind!
Zhao Qingyi thought about the news reported by the housekeeper and found it funny. "Husband, instead of questioning me, why don't you tell me where you went at that time?"
"Don't change the subject!"
Li Che took a few steps forward, his eyes flashing with anger. "If I'm not good, can you follow me and live a happy life? Do you know how important it is for me to meet the princess?"
"Since meeting the Princess was extremely important to my husband, why did you go to the West Wing?"
Li Che's face froze. How did she know?
A sarcastic laugh escaped Zhao Qingyi's lips. "Husband, don't forget, this is the Zhao family. Even if the west wing belongs to the second branch, it is still the Zhao family."
What news could be hidden from her?
Li Che felt his back crawling with fear when he saw her stare at him, but seeing that she was not angry, he thought that Zhao Qingyi might just be deceiving him. If she really knew about him and Zhao Manyi, she shouldn't be so calm.
"I was just taking a stroll and ended up in the west wing."
Being caught with the handle, Li Che's momentum softened, but he scolded, "Let it go today, and it won't happen again." He flicked his sleeves and turned to go into the house.
Qiao Yue was anxious because that was their grandmother's boudoir.
"uncle……"
"Qingyi and I are husband and wife. We will sleep in the same bed after we return home." Li Che knew what this girl was thinking and said in a cold tone, "I don't need you to serve me here. Go down."
"But……"
Qiao Yue was about to say something when the housekeeper came over, grabbed her arm, and led her out of the courtyard. "Madam specially arranged for the master to rest in Lanyue Pavilion. You must not ruin this good thing."
The housekeeper didn't know that Zhao Qingyi had long wanted to divorce, and she had discovered Li Che's affair today. At this moment, she felt the same as Meng. She just hoped that Zhao Qingyi and Li Che would consummate their marriage as soon as possible and have a biological child.
Qiao Yue was almost in tears, "This is not a good thing! You will hurt grandma by doing this!"
Since her grandmother wants a divorce anyway, she might as well go find the master and the mistress now and expose the scandal between Li Che and Zhao Manyi. With the master and the mistress in charge, they will definitely agree to her grandmother's divorce!
"I'm going to tell my wife about that bastard couple!" Qiao Yue wiped her tears and was about to go find Meng.
The housekeeper was shocked and said, "Don't be impulsive..."
"Don't pull me!"
The two argued further and further away, but behind them, outside the Lanyue Pavilion, a thick smoke suddenly rose into the sky from the Pingxi Palace, which was only separated by a wall.
The palace was in chaos. "There's a fire! There's a fire!"
When the two heard the noise, they subconsciously turned around and saw a fire starting from the palace next door. The fire spread rapidly, frightening Qiao Yue so much that she hurried back to Lanyue Pavilion.
"grandmother!"
If the fire in the neighboring palace could not be controlled, the first place to suffer would be Lanyue Pavilion.
When Qiao Yue rushed back, Zhao Qingyi had already run out. "I'm fine." She comforted him with a smile, sighing that the fire came at the right time.
Zhao Huaiyi and Meng Shi also saw the fire in the palace and quickly sent people to help next door. Meng Shi was worried, "After all, the prince has done us a favor, so it would be safer to go over and take a look."
The couple put on their clothes and went out, just in time to see Zhao Qingyi walking towards the door. She was in a hurry, with only one thought in her mind: as long as she didn't have to stay with Li Che, she would rather go to the palace next door to help.
When she got to the door, she found Chu Yuanhe already standing there.
"The palace has been flooded, and there's no time to repair it right now. I wonder if I could stay at your house for a while?"
Despite the raging fire in the palace, he came out wearing a well-fitting black round-necked brocade robe, his black hair tied up with a jade crown, and every detail of his appearance exuded meticulous refinement.
Zhao Huaiyi and Meng followed him over. Seeing that he was safe and sound, the couple breathed a sigh of relief. "Your Highness is so polite. If you don't mind, you can stay at our Zhao family first."
Zhao Huaiyi was very generous to his daughter's savior and immediately ordered his servants to clear out the best courtyard.
Chu Yuanhe smiled faintly, "No need to bother, I will just squeeze in with Lord Li."
Everyone, including Zhao Qingyi, was stunned. Prince Pingxi was going to live with Li Che? But right now, Li Che was staying in her Lanyue Pavilion.
We can't let Chu Yuanhe live in Lanyue Pavilion because he is an outsider.
Li Che declined without thinking, "Prince, I'm afraid this is not very convenient..."
"What's the inconvenience?"
Chu Yuanhe took two steps forward, pressing his large palm against his shoulder with a slight pressure, the smile in his peach blossom eyes undiminished. "I've long heard that Lord Li is a man of great learning and talent. Although I'm a military officer, I deeply admire your talent. I felt a strong connection with you from the moment I met you."
Chu Yuanhe squeezed it again.
After all, Li Che was just a weak scholar. His bones ached from being pinched by his hidden strength, but he couldn't show it in front of everyone, so he could only force a smile.
How could Meng not understand Chu Yuanhe's intention? He wanted to live in the same room with Li Che, so she couldn't refuse his favor. "It is a blessing for my son-in-law to be appreciated by the prince. How about this, I have someone clean up the Stargazing Tower. The courtyard there is beautiful and can be a place for the prince and my son-in-law to discuss poetry."
"Yes, yes, that's great." Zhao Huaiyi agreed repeatedly and asked the housekeeper to do it.
The prince bowed deeply to express his gratitude.
Only Li Che had an extremely ugly expression on his face. He had finally taken advantage of this opportunity to live in the same house with Zhao Qingyi during his visit, but then a prince showed up to mess up his plans. How hateful.
But when Chu Yuanhe looked at him, he still respectfully made a gesture of invitation.
Watching their backs gradually walking away, Zhao Qingyi took a long time to react. Her dilemma tonight was actually solved so... easily?
As expected, God is helping her in this rebirth.
Meng was always observant and caught a glimpse of relief from her expression. Her eyes darkened and she took another look at Chu Yuanhe's back.
Why does she... always feel like something is weird?
The fire at the Prince of Pingxi's Mansion came at the perfect time.
—
The Stargazing Tower was not far from Zhao Qingyi's Moon-Lanyue Pavilion. Li Che made up his mind to wait until the prince fell asleep at night before returning to the Moon-Lanyue Pavilion. However, after the servants had cleaned up the yard and left, he entered the house and felt a chill on the back of his neck. Then he was knocked unconscious by Chu Yuanhe.
“…”
When he fell down, Li Che felt dizzy, his eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness.
The moment he fell to the ground, several dark shadows jumped out from the dense tree trunks, dragged Li Che into the room in no time, closed the door, and everything was fine.
One of them took off his veil after finishing his work, revealing an expressionless face. It was the current deputy commander of the imperial guards, Lin Feng, the son of the Marquis of Jing'an, who was a cousin of Chu Yuanhe.
He frowned, "Your Majesty, if he wakes up in the middle of the night, how will you explain it?"
"Do I need to explain to him?" Chu Yuanhe sat in the courtyard, pouring himself a cup of tea. "Besides, I will personally ensure that he sleeps until dawn."
"What about after daybreak? As far as I know, Madam Zhao will be staying at home for at least ten days or half a month."
As the eldest son of a marquisate and deputy commander of the imperial guards, Lin Feng has never done such sneaky things in his life. It is impossible for him to be transferred out of the palace just to deal with Li Che.
Chu Yuanhe took a sip of tea and nodded in agreement, "You make sense."
It’s time to find a way to solve this problem once and for all.
“Hmm…”
Chu Yuanhe rubbed his chin with one hand. "Minister Wang has been repeatedly mentioning the need to reinstate Li Che in the cabinet recently. Go back and tell Eunuch Huang to pass on my order tomorrow morning. Li Che is ordered to go to Wenyuan Pavilion to compile the history books of the previous dynasty. He is not allowed to leave until the work is completed."
This task was complicated and trivial, enough to keep him busy for a while.
Thinking of this, Chu Yuanhe was in a good mood. "Okay, you all should go back to the palace. Oh, remember to send more craftsmen to repair the palace next door, so that the prince won't come back to settle accounts with me."
At the same time, in the Purple Palace of the Imperial Palace, Chu Tianba, the Prince of Pingxi, who had temporarily exchanged identities with Chu Yuanhe, learned that his palace had been burned down. He knelt on the ground and beat his chest and stamped his feet, and his beard trembled with anger.
Chu Yuanhe, the tyrant emperor, actually burned down his palace for a woman!
Chu Yuanhe seemed to have imagined his cousin's expression and laughed out loud.
Outside the courtyard, Zhao Qingyi had just passed by the Observatory when he heard this sudden laugh in the quiet night.
She held the sheepskin screen lamp and looked in the direction of the sound.
The courtyard door was not closed in time, and she saw Chu Yuanhe sitting alone in the courtyard at a glance. The rooms behind him were dark and the lights had been blown out.
Zhao Qingyi was a little surprised. Li Che just rested like that?
In just this moment of stopping, Chu Yuanhe walked to the gate of the courtyard with a smile. Qiao Yue immediately stopped in front of Zhao Qingyi and stared at him vigilantly.
Chu Yuanhe raised his eyebrows. She was indeed a loyal and protective girl.
He didn't get angry either. He folded his arms and leaned against the door, his peach blossom eyes full of affection. "I don't lack anything here."
Zhao Qingyi paused for a moment before reacting, "...I was just passing by."
Not here to care about him.
"Oh." Chu Yuanhe was not embarrassed. "I thought you came here to ask about my living conditions."
Since he said so, Zhao Qingyi, in keeping with the upbringing of a noble lady, politely responded, "May I ask, Your Majesty, is there anything else that is not considered? Please feel free to ask, and I will order my servants to take care of it."
"Nothing." Chu Yuanhe switched to another door and continued to lean against it, as if this angle would allow him to see Zhao Qingyi more clearly. "I'm just a little bored and can't sleep."
Qiao Yue stared blankly when she heard this.
No, he is very familiar with the grandmother, right? So they started chatting right away?
Zhao Qingyi had almost the same idea as Qiao Yue.
Although he had saved her life many years ago, she didn't think she was familiar with the prince. But if she left now, she was afraid she would offend him.
"If the prince can't sleep, shall I ask someone to send over a few volumes of military books?" she asked tentatively.
Chu Yuanhe thought for a moment, "Forget about the military books. I think I've read all the books you have in your house. Why not get some storybooks?"
He raised his chin slightly to signal Qiao Yue, "It's you, go ahead."
Qiao Yue cried out "Ah!" She was the Grandmother's personal maid. If she left, wouldn't the Grandmother be left alone to face the Prince?
Zhao Qingyi thought that there was Li Che in the room, and Chu Yuanhe should not do anything out of line, so she sent Qiao Yue to find the storybook.
"Your bold nature hasn't changed at all."
Chu Yuanhe was in a better mood. As soon as Qiaoyue left, he started to joke, "To be honest, Li Che was knocked unconscious by me. If I did something bad to you, he wouldn't know. You don't have a maid by your side, so be careful that you will be helpless."
Zhao Qingyi was startled and subconsciously took two steps back.
Then Chu Yuanhe continued, "However, I did all this tonight to help you. You won't repay me with evil and go out and complain, right?"
"I will always remember the Prince's life-saving grace and will never do anything ungrateful." Zhao Qingyi tried to remain calm. "But how do you even begin to understand this 'help'?"
Chu Yuanhe glanced sideways and said something shocking again, "Don't you want a divorce?"
Zhao Qingyi suddenly raised his eyes, his face no longer pretending to be docile, but very serious, "Prince, please be careful with your words."
She had only told her two maids about the divorce, and Tan Yue Qiao Yue would never betray her, so how did the Prince of Pingxi know about it?
Zhao Qingyi instinctively felt that she could no longer continue talking to this person. "A maid will come to deliver the storybook to the prince later, so I will go back first." She bowed and was about to leave.
"I can't hide Li Che's little things from you, and naturally I can't hide them from this king either."
Chu Yuanhe finally stood up straight, staring at her back with deep eyes, "I am just curious. Now that you already know, don't you want to change it?"
"If you had the chance to do it again, wouldn't you want to change?"
The word "start over" struck Zhao Qingyi's heart heavily. She stopped. Although she had her back to him and people couldn't see the expression on her face, her shoulders rising and falling due to her quickened breathing betrayed her.
After a long while, she turned around and said, "Whether to change or not is a private matter for me."
Zhao Qingyi clenched her slender fingers holding the lantern, and her tone turned completely cold. "And what exactly do you want, Prince? Why not tell me directly?"
In her previous life, she had no connection with the Prince of Pingxi, but things suddenly changed in this life. She naturally thought it was because of her father Zhao Huaiyi. If so, it must be related to the new policy.
And ahead of her, someone had already attempted to rob and kill her family.
Zhao Qingyi's body was covered with barbs and he looked defensive.
Chu Yuanhe had expected her to be on guard. He frowned, as if hesitating, and asked, "Do you really want to know?"
Zhao Qingyi stared at him silently, looking like a cat with its fur standing on end, as if she would show her sharp claws and tear her face off with him at any time if he dared to say that he was going to harm the Zhao family.
This was really embarrassing, and he had wanted to take it slow.
Chu Yuanhe simply stretched out his long legs and walked towards her.
Zhao Qingyi's heart tightened and she wanted to retreat again, but the other party stopped at the perfect position, only one step away from her, and his tall figure almost covered her entire body.
"If I tell you, don't be afraid."
Chu Yuanhe leaned forward slightly, his voice deep and magnetic, a hint of bitter fragrance mixed with a faint pine scent lingering at the tip of Zhao Qingyi's nose, sometimes strong and sometimes weak.
He said slowly in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "I sincerely hope you will divorce me."
"because……"
"I want to marry you."
The lamp in Zhao Qingyi's hand trembled and suddenly fell.
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