Chapter 202 He's liked you for a long time
Chu Jichen looked at Shen Qingci with some surprise.
Shen Qingci smiled, her voice carrying a gentleness and understanding unique to women: "I am also a woman, perhaps... I can go and talk to her, say a few words, and try to persuade her."
Chu Jichen pondered for a moment, then a strange smile suddenly appeared in his deep phoenix eyes.
He looked at her, nodded slowly, and said with a hint of amusement in his voice, "Hmm, you... are good at giving advice."
Shen Qingci was somewhat bewildered: "What does 'habitual' mean?"
Chu Jichen shook his head without explaining, and simply took her hand: "It's okay. Let's eat first, and after we finish... I'll take you there."
After lunch, Chu Jichen indeed took Shen Qingci to a very secluded courtyard in the east of the city.
As soon as she arrived at the courtyard gate, Shen Qingci heard faint sounds of children's innocent laughter coming from inside.
Shen Qingci pushed Chu Jichen's wheelchair through the door.
Upon hearing the noise, Chu Yuening almost instinctively pulled the little girl playing beside her behind her to block her view, and looked warily toward the door.
Only when she saw that the person who came was Chu Jichen did her tense expression finally relax.
She pulled the child out from behind her and said gently, "Tuantuan, don't be afraid, your uncle is here."
Just as Chu Jichen was about to introduce Shen Qingci to Chu Yuening, Chu Yuening had already turned her gaze to Shen Qingci.
She looked Shen Qingci up and down for a moment, her eyebrows curving into a smile, and a bright and friendly smile appeared on her face: "This must be my sister-in-law?"
Upon hearing this, the little girl named Tuantuan immediately followed suit, calling out in her childish voice, "Sister-in-law!"
Chu Yuening laughed out loud at her amusement, and quickly squatted down, pinched her little nose, and corrected her, "I call her sister-in-law, you should call her aunt."
The little girl nodded as if she understood, and then obediently called out to Shen Qingci in a clear, sweet voice, "Auntie!"
Chu Jichen's lips curled up slightly involuntarily.
He turned to Shen Qingci and said, "I still have some things to take care of. You can stay here with Yue Ning for a while. I'll come back to pick you up later."
Shen Qingci nodded.
After Chu Jichen left, she stepped forward and softly introduced herself to Chu Yuening, "Greetings, Princess. My name is..."
Before she could finish speaking, Chu Yuening laughed and interrupted her: "I know! The eldest daughter of the Shen family, Shen Qingci."
She covered her lips with a handkerchief, her eyes crinkling with laughter, full of teasing: "My brother has liked you for a long time. Before I was married off, he often mentioned you. Now that you are finally together, it can be said that... true love has finally come to fruition."
Shen Qingci was completely stunned upon hearing this.
Before the marriage alliance? That means...it must have happened at least four or five years ago.
But she and Chu Jichen had never met at all four or five years ago, right?
How could Chu Jichen like her?
Chu Yuening... must have mistaken someone else for someone else?
Seeing the confusion on Shen Qingci's face, Chu Yuening belatedly realized what was going on, quickly covered her mouth, and asked cautiously, "Ah? Brother... didn't he mention it to you?"
Shen Qingci slowly shook her head, her voice carrying a hint of uncertainty: "Princess... you've probably mistaken me for someone else."
"Impossible!" Chu Yuening said firmly, "The person my brother likes is you! There's no mistake!"
Seeing that Shen Qingci still looked doubtful, she seemed to realize that she had let something slip and quickly waved her hand: "Oh dear, but I don't know the specifics either. Sister-in-law, you should... ask your brother yourself."
Shen Qingci's mind was in turmoil. She forcibly suppressed the strange emotions within her, knowing that now was not the time to pursue this matter.
I have come here today to comfort Chu Yuening.
Shen Qingci turned her gaze to the exquisitely beautiful little girl who was curiously examining her. Her eyes crinkled into a smile as she softly asked, "What's the child's name? How old is she?"
“Let’s call him Tuantuan,” Chu Yuening’s voice was full of maternal tenderness. “He’s over two years old.”
Shen Qingci took out the Huarong Road puzzle and rabbit lantern that she had bought on the way from her sleeve and handed them to Tuantuan.
Tuantuan happily accepted it, thanked her, and immediately called to the maid beside her and ran off to play.
Shen Qingci looked at Tuantuan's carefree back and slowly opened her mouth, her voice carrying a hint of barely perceptible melancholy: "Actually, I was pregnant before. However, when I was pregnant, I discovered that my ex-husband had faked his death and returned to the mansion as his elder brother to have an affair with his sister-in-law. So I made a decisive decision and... aborted the child."
"At that time, the pregnancy was still very early, and we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl."
“Looking at Tuantuan now,” a complex mix of nostalgia flashed in her eyes, “I feel… a little regretful.”
She turned to look at Chu Yuening and asked softly, "And you? Do you regret... giving birth to Tuantuan?"
Upon hearing this, Chu Yuening smiled.
“Our situations are different.” She shook her head, without a trace of resentment in her eyes. “I had no love for the emperor of Beiyou Kingdom. I only married him because of the Great Zhou.”
“My child was my only means of survival in Beiyou. I… had to live.”
"I wouldn't say I regret it." Her eyes instantly filled with endless tenderness and love. "Those days in the Northern You Kingdom were really tough. It was only because of Tuantuan that I was able to... get through it."
"Now, Tuantuan... is the reason I can live."
Chu Yuening turned her head to look at Shen Qingci, her clear eyes filled with sincere comfort.
“Sister-in-law, there’s no need to regret it,” she said softly. “Now that you have my brother, there’s no need to be sad and upset over such a scumbag. In the future, you will definitely have your own children, and they will definitely be… very lively and lovely children.”
Shen Qingci's eyelashes trembled slightly, uncontrollably.
Having a child with Chu Jichen?
She really... never thought of it.
As she was lost in thought, Chu Yuening suddenly changed the subject, a seemingly innocent smile appearing on her face. She blinked and asked curiously, "By the way, sister-in-law, is something... happening outside? Is it related to me? I feel like my brother... doesn't really let me go out."
Shen Qingci's heart skipped a beat!
She immediately realized that Chu Yuening... she did it on purpose!
Her seemingly casual question was actually... a ploy to trick her!
Shen Qingci's thoughts raced through her mind in an instant, but her face remained calm.
She slowly shook her head, her voice carrying just the right amount of helplessness and frustration: "Things have been too chaotic lately."
She scoffed, "I don't know if it was Liu Wenyuan or Emperor Yongming, but they actually arranged for some rabble to impersonate my Shen family's troops, shouting outside the city that they want to seek justice for the Shen family, otherwise... they will rebel."
"In addition, now that Emperor Yongming has taken over the reins of government, he has made a mess of the affairs of the court, and the city and the surrounding areas are in great chaos."
"Don't even mention that you have a child with you. Lately, your brother has been letting me go out quite a bit. You see, when he has to go out on errands, he always sends me here first."
She sighed, pretending to mutter to herself, "I'm not a child anymore..."
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