Chapter 205 I Only Like You
Looking at his face, which was even paler from exhaustion, she spoke with an undeniable tone of advice: "Your Highness, Physician Li just told you to start practicing for half an hour each day, but you... have already exceeded that. Haste makes waste; this matter... must be done step by step."
Chu Jichen remained silent for a long time, but finally listened to the advice and slowly nodded.
Shen Qingci took out an embroidered handkerchief from her sleeve and carefully wiped the sweat from his forehead. Then she instructed the servants to prepare hot water so that he could take a bath and change his clothes.
As Chu Jichen was bathing in the washroom, Yuanbao's figure appeared silently behind Shen Qingci, like a ghost.
He bowed and reported in a low voice, "Your Highness, the arrangements you made regarding those rabble outside the city have all been completed."
Shen Qingci nodded, and seeing that Yuanbao had not yet left, she asked again, "Is there anything else you want to report?"
Yuanbao nodded: "Yes, Liu Ruolan... has gone to the palace."
Shen Qingci was not surprised and said in a calm voice, "Wasn't it the Prime Minister's wife who sent her to the palace? To ask Consort Shu about the child, and by the way... to help Consort Shu dispel Emperor Yongming's suspicions."
"Even if... we can't dispel Emperor Yongming's suspicions, we can at least gloss over the matter and delay for a while, saying... we'll make a decision after Consort Shu gives birth."
"This is what the Prince told me; it's the result of the Prime Minister's wife's discussion with Liu Ruolan."
“That’s true,” Yuanbao replied, “but… there’s only one unusual place.”
He paused, his expression turning somewhat strange: "Liu Ruolan did not immediately enter the palace after the Prime Minister's wife left."
"She actually had her maid go to various shops on the street to buy new clothes, new jewelry, and cosmetics... She put on the new clothes and jewelry, and was completely refreshed from head to toe before... entering the palace."
Shen Qingci's gaze instantly sharpened!
She slowly turned around, her clear phoenix eyes fixed on Yuanbao: "You said... Liu Ruolan dressed up in her finest clothes before entering the palace?"
After receiving Yuanbao's affirmative answer, Shen Qingci finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Seeing this, Yuanbao became even more puzzled.
Just then, the sound of a wheelchair came from behind, along with Chu Jichen's slightly lazy, hoarse voice:
"What is Qingqing laughing at?"
Shen Qingci turned around and recounted to Chu Jichen exactly what Yuanbao had just reported.
Chu Jichen raised an eyebrow slightly. He maneuvered his wheelchair slowly to Shen Qingci's side, met her gaze, and asked with knowing interest, "You think..."
“It seems,” Shen Qingci’s sarcasm deepened, “that Liu Ruolan… has already chosen her target.”
“I never imagined,” her voice was filled with endless sarcasm, that “Liu Ruolan, after all her careful selection, would actually choose…her own brother-in-law.”
"The Emperor Yongming has been chosen."
A thought flashed through her mind, and she understood.
Although Emperor Yongming was her brother-in-law and his behavior was dissolute and absurd, for Liu Ruolan now, he was... a top choice.
After all, Liu Ruolan had always harbored resentment towards her for suddenly leaving the Huo family and remarrying Chu Jichen. She must have felt that by remarrying, she had gained a higher social status than her.
Moreover, she used her status as "Regent's Consort" to repeatedly find fault with her.
If she could seduce Emperor Yongming, become pregnant with his child, and eventually give birth to the child and enter the palace as a concubine, then she... would no longer be inferior to her in status.
Shen Qingci was quick-witted, but Yuanbao was completely confused and became increasingly anxious.
He couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, Your Highness, what... what kind of riddle are you playing?"
Chu Jichen and Shen Qingci both fell silent again, as if their conversation had been nothing more than casual chatter. Chu Jichen simply waved his hand casually at Yuanbao: "Continue to have people keep an eye on things and report back regularly."
Yuanbao pursed his lips and had no choice but to bow and agree.
He went outside and couldn't help but mutter to himself as he looked at an old locust tree in the yard.
"Sigh, he really has forgotten about me now that he has a wife. He used to say that I was interesting and that he liked my interesting soul. Now, he doesn't say anything to me at all."
"He used to say that he was his confidant, but now he's almost become a major threat."
Inside the study, Chu Jichen raised his hand to press his throbbing temples, while Shen Qingci couldn't help but chuckle.
She looked at Chu Jichen, her eyes filled with undisguised mockery: "So... this is what Your Highness likes?"
Upon hearing this, Chu Jichen immediately turned his head, his deep phoenix eyes filled with complete innocence and seriousness: "No."
"I only love you." He looked at her, his voice low and solemn. "I will love whoever you are."
Chu Jichen has become increasingly adept at uttering such sweet nothings, and Shen Qingci has long since taken them for granted.
However, she had heard it before and dismissed it, always thinking it was just a bunch of nice-sounding words to fool people.
But knowing that she and Chu Jichen had a long history, and even learning from Chu Yuening that Chu Jichen had liked her for a long time, hearing these words again made her heart flutter uncontrollably.
Could it be that Chu Jichen's previous words were... all sincere?
Shen Qingci felt her heart pounding, and she forced herself to focus her attention back.
She had always felt that Yuanbao was a bit eccentric and often said surprising things.
But now, looking at Yuanbao's lively appearance, she seemed... to understand a little bit why Chu Jichen would keep such a seemingly unreliable person by his side.
Chu Jichen was suspected in his youth and had to cut off his own legs. He also experienced so many dark schemes and betrayals before finally climbing to his current position.
If I didn't have someone like Yuanbao by my side, I'm afraid... it would be really hard to get through this.
Chu Jichen was unaware of the several twists and turns in her mind that had occurred to her in an instant. He simply raised his hand, casually tidied his slightly disheveled hair, and asked, "Then do you think Liu Ruolan... can succeed?"
Shen Qingci laughed, a laugh filled with endless mockery and disdain: "If it were before, perhaps it would have been possible."
“But given the current situation,” a glint of all-knowing wisdom flashed in her eyes, “Liu Ruolan… clearly hasn’t understood it.”
"She still thought that His Majesty trusted and relied on the Liu family as before."
"It will be difficult for her to succeed now."
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