Chu Chi heard what Zhao Jie said, and she thought she had misheard. She paused and said, "Your Majesty, what did you say?"
Zhao Jie held Chu Chi's hand tightly and said, "I want to marry you and make you my queen."
Chu Chi said repeatedly: "Your Majesty, you must not do that. If you marry me, it will cause criticism in the court. My mother is the wet nurse of the little princess. If you marry me as your queen, I don't know how the court will discuss the Regent and Princess Qi!"
Zhao Jie was extremely angry and said, "I gave you the position of the Lord of the Six Palaces, but you were afraid of causing criticism to the Regent and Princess Qi?"
Zhao Jie was so angry that he laughed, "Princess Qi is so lucky to have someone as loyal as you. I know that my sincerity is better off being fed to dogs!"
Chu Chi held Zhao Jie's hand and said, "Your Majesty, I don't want to betray your sincerity. I just don't want to cause a stir in the court because of me, and I don't want to cause a rift between you and the Queen Mother. If you want to marry me, the Queen Mother will definitely not agree."
"I am really happy that you have appointed me as Consort De. I know that you have me in your heart, but the position of Empress... I really cannot bear it."
Zhao Jie leaned close to Chu Chi's pink lips and said, "If I say you can bear it, then you can bear it."
Chu Chi was filled with panic, but the sudden, fiery kiss gradually made him calm down.
She just indulged herself in this paradise where only she and Zhao Jie were present.
…
In a lakeside villa on the outskirts of Shengjing City.
When Chu Yan saw Chu Liuli coming back from the palace, he said, "Why would His Majesty send back all the concubines for no reason? He is already seventeen years old, and he should be eager to seize power himself. Why would he send all the concubines out of the palace at this time?"
"It must be because of that vixen Chuchi."
When Chu Yan heard the word Chu Chi, he frowned slightly and asked, "Who are you talking about?"
Chu Liuli said: "It is Chu Chi, the female official in the Shangfu Bureau. I heard His Majesty say with my own ears last night that he has feelings for her. His Majesty must have sent us concubines back because of her.
Chu Chi is not worthy at all. I have inquired about it. Chu Chi's mother is the wet nurse of the regent's daughter. She was a slave of the Qi family before. She was no longer a slave after she got married. Chu Chi is of such a lowly origin that she is not worthy to stay with Your Majesty. "
Chu Yan waved his hand and said to Chu Liuli, "You can go back."
Chu Liuli asked: "Uncle, can I still enter the palace as a concubine?"
Chu Yan said to Ning Wei, "Take Liuli to the Queen Mother's Palace tomorrow. The Queen Mother will never allow the daughter of a servant of the Qi family to be the Queen."
"Yes, husband." Ning Wei agreed.
Chu Yan looked towards the palace, then slowly withdrew his gaze.
…
At dawn, Queen Mother Zhou met Ning Wei and Chu Liuli who came to seek an audience.
Queen Mother Zhou was extremely satisfied with Chu Liuli being her daughter-in-law.
After Ning Wei and Chu Liuli exchanged greetings, Queen Mother Zhou called Chu Liuli to her side and said, "Come and sit next to me. The selection will be held in two days. When the time comes..."
Chu Liuli asked, "Empress Dowager, don't you know that His Majesty has cancelled the selection?"
Queen Mother Zhou really didn't know. She was not very sensitive to news from outside the palace. She knew nothing about such a big event. "What? What is the emperor doing? Why did he say that he would not select the emperor for the imperial selection?"
Chu Liuli said: "It's all because of Chu Chi. Your Majesty may have been bewitched by Chu Chi. The Qi family is really capable. They have designed a beauty trap around your Majesty a long time ago..."
Queen Mother Zhou was stunned and said, "Chu Chi? Is she the young lady-in-waiting that Qi Yuning arranged to work in the Shang Palace Bureau? How could she have charmed your majesty's mind? Impossible, absolutely impossible. I have seen that Chu Chi is an honest and obedient person."
Chu Liuli whispered, "Empress Dowager, I am truly doing this for the good of Your Majesty and I dare not lie. I saw Your Majesty come out of Chu Chi's bedroom late at night."
Queen Mother Zhou clenched the Buddhist beads in her hand, slammed the table beside her angrily and said, "Someone, go call Chu Chi."
Queen Mother Zhou waited for a long time before the eunuch came to report: "Your Majesty, Chu Shangfu is not in the Shanggong Bureau. I found out that Chu Shangfu went to the Taiji Hall yesterday and never came out again."
Queen Mother Zhou stood up angrily and said, "Let's go to the Taiji Hall."
When Chu Chi woke up, it was already noon. The warmth beside her was no longer there. As she stood up, she heard the voice of Eunuch Xu coming from outside.
"Empress Dowager, His Majesty has ordered that no one is allowed to enter the Taiji Palace without permission!"
"Is it not possible for Aijia?"
Queen Mother Zhou pushed the door open angrily and saw Chu Chi, who was still sleeping on the dragon throne with his long hair hanging down behind his head. There were scars on Chu Chi's exposed collarbone. Queen Mother Zhou narrowed her eyes slightly when she saw this.
"I always thought you were an honest man, but I didn't expect you to be a vixen. It was you who tricked His Majesty into giving up the selection?"
Queen Mother Zhou walked up to Chu Chi and told the maid beside her, "Chu Chi is disrespectful to me. Tell her that I have ordered her to be expelled from the palace and never allowed to return to Shengjing."
The maids around Empress Dowager Zhou came forward and dragged Chu Chi.
Chu Chilian put on her clothes, walked to Queen Mother Zhou, knelt down and said, "Queen Mother."
Queen Mother Zhou lowered her eyes and looked at Chu Chi and said, "Qi Yuning is very cunning. I was too unprepared to let her place a vixen like you beside His Majesty. You'd better leave Shengjing City immediately and honestly, otherwise I will not spare your life..."
Chu Chi knew in her heart how difficult it would be for Zhao Jie to make her the queen, and she couldn't even get past Queen Mother Zhou.
Chu Chi whispered, "Empress Dowager, I don't want to cause discord between you and your Majesty..."
Queen Mother Zhou fiddled with the Buddhist beads in her hand and ordered: "Hurry up and drag her out of Shengjing City. Don't let her enter Shengjing City at all."
When Chu Chi was still trying to persuade Queen Mother Zhou not to have a bad relationship with His Majesty, her mouth was covered with a handkerchief by a maid working under Queen Mother Zhou. Chu Chi did not expect that there was a sleeping pill in the handkerchief and she fell into a deep sleep.
Chu Chi had only one thought, which was to hope that Zhao Jie could arrive sooner.
Chu Chi woke up in a turbulent ride. She saw that the nanny beside the Queen Mother was no longer there. After she got up from the donkey cart, she found herself on the mountain. The leaves were falling in early winter.
A group of men in black appeared in front of her, led by Chu Liuli.
Chu Liuli held a knife in her hand and said, "How dare you snatch my position as queen? Don't you know that I, Chu Liuli, am the only eldest daughter of the Chu family? His Majesty actually sent me out of the palace because of you. I must avenge this humiliation."
Seeing this, Chu Chi tried to grab the knife from Chu Liuli's hand. She didn't want to die. Her younger brothers and sisters were not married yet, and she still needed to help her mother take care of them.
Also, Zhao Jie was willing to make her the queen, and Chu Chi didn't want to die either, which made Zhao Jie sad.
But Chu Chi, who had just been drugged, tried her best to grab the knife, but she couldn't muster the strength. During the struggle, she fainted from weakness.
Chu Liuli put the knife against Chu Chi's face and said, "How dare you, a lowly person like you, fight with me! I will scratch your face that has humiliated me."
Chu Liuli's knife landed on Chu Chi's face, and blood immediately flowed. However, before she had made one strike, she was pulled away by two burly secret guards.
Chu Yan rode to the post and saw Chu Chi, who was bleeding from his face but still unconscious. He held Chu Chi in his arms and said, "Chi'er, Chi'er?"
Chu Yan glared at Chu Liuli and asked, "What did you do to her?"
Chu Liuli was afraid of Chu Yan. She trembled and said, "Uncle, uncle, this Chu Chi..."
Chu Yan picked up Chu Chi and saw the one-inch scar on Chu Chi's face. He ordered his men, "Cut Chu Liuli's face 100 times."
"Uncle, uncle...I am your niece, you..."
Chu Yan ignored the crying Chu Liuli and carried Chu Chi into his carriage.
Eunuch Xu was filled with anxiety outside the Purple Palace. Inside, His Majesty, the Regent Prince Qi, and the two prime ministers were discussing important court matters, but Miss Chu Chi had already been taken away by the Queen Mother's men.
Eunuch Xu went in with a stiff head and said, "Your Majesty..."
Zhao Jie frowned and said, "If there is anything important, please report it later."
Eunuch Xu said: "Yes, it was Chu Shangfu who was given by the Queen Mother..."
Qi Yu'an asked, "Chu Chi? What happened to her?"
Zhao Jielian stood up and said, "I have something important to do, so we can discuss this later."
Lu Ze did not stop Zhao Jie. Seeing Zhao Jie's panic, Lu Ze sighed.
Qi Yu'an asked Lu Ze, "Isn't Chu Chi the eldest daughter of A Li? Why did the Queen Mother deal with her?"
Lu Ze said: "Your Majesty wants to make Chu Chi the queen."
Qi Yu'an frowned and said, "Isn't this nonsense?"
Even though Zhao Jie rushed to the Taiji Hall without stopping, he got the news that the nanny beside the Queen Mother had taken Chu Chi out of the palace. Zhao Jie even called Chu Qing and the palace guards to chase after him.
But after chasing them out, they only found the maids around the Queen Mother. Zhao Jie asked in a deep voice, "Where did you take Chu Chi?"
The leading nanny said, "Your Majesty, Chu Chi has already left Shengjing City."
Zhao Jie asked the maids, "Where did you take Chu Chi? If you don't tell me, I will exterminate all nine generations of your clan!"
The maids then panicked and said, "After we took Miss Chu Chi out of the city, we handed her over to Miss Chu Liuli and left. We don't know where they went."
Zhao Jie and Chu Qing rode out of Shengjing City with whips raised.
Zhao Jie and his guards set up numerous checkpoints and searched for a long time, but there was no trace of Chu Chi.
…
Chu Chi listened to the sound of dripping water and slowly woke up. In front of her was a white marble bed, which was extremely luxurious.
She could tell at a glance in the clothing department that the bed curtains were made of the finest cloud-mist gauze.
The charcoal burning in the room is also the best agarwood charcoal. Only Your Majesty can use this agarwood charcoal in the palace, and only a few pieces are used every day.
But here it is a full basin.
Chu Chi looked at the screen. There was a man's figure vaguely visible behind the screen. She asked cautiously, "Who are you?"
The man behind the screen said with a guilty tone: "You can stay here to recover from your injuries first. There will be maids to serve you with food and clothing."
Chu Chi felt the man's voice sounded familiar. "Who are you? What do you want to do by bringing me here? Are you Chu Liuli's man?"
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