"Old minister, I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"
Xiao Meng was surprised: "Why did Mr. Chen come all the way to the capital in person?"
The Chen family is the most prominent family in Yuhang, and its influence is mainly in the south of the Yangtze River, not in Beijing.
Mr. Chen smiled and said, "The Crown Prince has such a happy occasion. I, an old minister, will go to the capital to offer congratulations in person."
As he spoke, he looked at Chen Qinghan again and said, "Congratulations to the Crown Princess as well."
Xiao Meng laughed heartily: "Mr. Chen is thoughtful."
Mr. Chen complimented Xiao Meng with some nice words, which made Xiao Meng very happy and he drank two more glasses of wine with him.
Mrs. Chen also came over to hold Chen Qinghan's hand, smiling lovingly: "Qing'er, I haven't seen you for a long time. Why do you look thinner?"
Xiao Meng was happy every day and was very generous to her. He waved his hand and said, "It's rare for your parents to come to Beijing to reunite with you. You should have a good talk with them."
Chen Qinghan's face stiffened slightly, and he bowed: "Yes."
Mrs. Chen warmly took Chen Qinghan out of the house, and the Chen family followed.
After leaving Ninghui Hall and entering the deserted side hall, Chen Qinghan withdrew his hand with a cold expression: "What do you want to do?"
She had been married in Beijing for almost five months, and her family had never visited her. She had come all the way here one day, so she must have something to tell them.
"You child, your parents are visiting you and you are not happy? If you are crowned as the Crown Princess, you will be in big trouble and will not even consider your own family members? You are not even the Queen yet!"
The person who spoke was Chen Qinghan's biological brother Chen Sheng. She didn't know how her brother, who had loved her so much when they were young, could become so mean.
Chen Qinghan pursed her lips and remained silent.
Madam Chen glared at Chen Sheng, then took Chen Qinghan's hand and said softly, "Of course we came here for you. What else could it be? Now that you've been appointed Crown Princess, the position of Empress is within your reach. You should also understand our good intentions towards you."
At first?
Chen Qinghan's face turned pale, and he twitched the corners of his lips: "How dare you tell me about the past?"
Mr. Chen's face immediately darkened, and he said sternly, "You look like this, are you still mad about being a slut? I knew you still can't let go of that..."
The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed hard and pointed at Chen Qinghan's nose, lecturing her, "You're the Crown Princess now. You should know that the honor of the entire family is tied to you. You can't afford to act so recklessly! It's a blessing for you that the Crown Prince has taken a liking to you. Do you know how many people in this world would fight tooth and nail to get the honor you have?"
Madam Chen advised earnestly, "We came this time because we are worried about you. You are already five years old in the palace and have not given birth to a child. That Zhuo has already surpassed you by giving birth to the eldest son. I heard that the prince is also doting on Jiang. Maybe she will be pregnant soon!"
"Qing'er, although you are the Crown Princess now, if you can't give birth to a child, your position will be in jeopardy when the Crown Prince ascends to the throne! You are a smart child and should understand the pros and cons of this."
Master Chen scolded, "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. You're saying you're not feeling well, but you were perfectly healthy when you were at your mother's house. You're clearly deliberately trying to go against me!"
Chen Qinghan, who had been silent for a while, suddenly spoke up: "Yes, I just want to go against you."
Mr. Chen's face froze.
Chen Qinghan looked up at them, pulling the corners of his lips together with a sad smile: "When you gave me to the prince, you didn't even ask for my opinion, did you?"
"Asshole! We're doing this for your own good. If you don't marry the prince, are you going to marry a poor scholar with no future?!"
"He's not a poor scholar with no future. He's the top scholar in Yangzhou, a man everyone admires! Didn't you agree to that? You promised me that if he could get into the top three, you'd let him marry me."
Chen Qinghan's eyes were red. When she was fourteen, she was looking forward to getting married and wanted to grow up quickly.
But when she was about to reach the age of 15, King Xuan came to Yuhang to inspect the salt industry. Her father hosted a banquet at home and deliberately let King Xuan see her, so King Xuan asked to marry her.
Her parents also happily agreed to the marriage.
"No matter how talented Meng Yan is, he's just a poor scholar with no family background. How can he compare to the Crown Prince? How can you be so willful?"
"Was I willful? You forced me to marry King Xuan and threatened me with Meng Yan's future, but didn't I still obey and marry King Xuan as you wished?"
"I listened to you, gave up all my thoughts, and peacefully married King Xuan. So how did you treat me?"
Chen Qinghan's eyes were covered with tears, and she smiled bleakly: "After I got married, you unjustly imprisoned Meng Yan, stigmatized him, stripped him of his title as a candidate, and he can no longer serve as an official. His future is ruined!"
Master Chen's face froze, and he cursed through gritted teeth, "We're doing this for your own good. He and you had a secret affair in the past. If he really passed the imperial examination and became an official, and then spread rumors about your past, would King Xuan still tolerate you?"
"So you destroyed him! Do you care about me? You only care about the future of the Chen family."
Chen Qinghan's eyes were red. "He studied hard for twenty years and has already passed the imperial examination. The teacher said he was a top scholar and would have a bright future. But you ruined his life so easily!"
"I've already listened to you and married someone, but you still want to force him to death! You broke your promise. You ruined Meng Yan, and you still want me to continue to serve the family obediently?"
Chen Qinghan laughed sarcastically, "Just because I'm obedient, you don't take me seriously. You can wantonly abuse the people I love, wantonly manipulate my life, and wantonly tease me. So why should I fight for your family's honor?"
"You!" Mr. Chen's face changed with shock. He never expected that his usually obedient daughter would be so disobedient.
"I will never give birth to the prince's child," Chen Qinghan smiled, tears already streaming down her face. "The Chen family will never have the glory they desire."
"You beast!" Master Chen was so angry that his face turned red and his neck became thick. He raised his hand and slapped her in the face.
Chen Sheng was also very disappointed: "You disregarded the family's future and honor for a man, so you don't even care about yourself? The prince has both the favorite concubine Jiang and the Zhuo who gave birth to his eldest son. Do you think you can have an easy life in the future? They will trample on your face sooner or later!"
She looked at them with a cold look in her eyes: "From the day I married into Prince Xuan's mansion, I haven't had a good day."
Since she is not having a good life, no one else can have an easy life.
"Bastard! Bastard!" Master Chen was so angry that he had a heart attack.
Suddenly, a panicked voice from a palace servant was heard outside the door: "Oh no, oh no!"
Master Chen froze for a moment. The palace had strict rules. How could someone make a palace servant shout in such panic?
At this moment, a palace servant rushed into Ninghui Palace and knelt on the ground: "Oh no, Your Highness, the rebels are attacking the capital!"
Xiao Meng was still being toasted and feeling proud when he suddenly heard these words. He was stunned for a moment and didn't react.
"Rebels? Where do these rebels come from?"
Before, the rebels in the north were indeed very violent and their troops were growing stronger. His Majesty ordered Cai Zhong and Xie Xianyu to lead troops to suppress the rebellion. At that time, Cai Zhong was defeated by Xie Xianyu, and the subsequent suppression of the rebels was actually due to Xie Xianyu's efforts.
However, Xie Xianyu gave up this honor and gave it to King Xuan and Cai Zhong.
The palace servant kowtowed hurriedly, saying anxiously, "It's indeed the rebels! They're flying the banner of the uprising army, no doubt about it! They've already invaded the capital and are almost at the palace gates!"
"How is that possible? The rebels were wiped out long ago. How could it be..."
The prince took a long time to react before he suddenly turned his head and looked at Xie Xianyu.
Xie Xianyu was still sitting calmly behind the low table. He took a sip of wine from the golden cup, then raised his eyes and met the prince's gaze. His dark eyes were filled with murderous intent.
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