Chapter 27 I married you with a purpose.
Although Shen Qingci wrote a letter to arrange a meeting with Chu Jichen, she was still startled when Chu Jichen suddenly appeared in her room again that night.
"Why has Your Highness come?" This time, Chu Jichen did not come in the middle of the night. She had not yet completely rested, and the lights in the room were still on.
Under the dim light, Chu Jichen's already outstanding face appeared even more profound.
Shen Qingci's heart trembled slightly, and she quickly turned her eyes away, thinking to herself that Chu Jichen's audacity was a bit too much.
"Didn't Madam send a message requesting a meeting?"
Wanqing's gaze darted back and forth between Shen Qingci and Chu Jichen several times before she quickly lowered her eyes and said, "Your Highness and Miss have important matters to discuss, so this servant will take her leave now."
Shen Qingci bit her lip: "I did indeed arrange to meet with the Prince, but that's not it..."
This isn't how you break into her room at night!
Chu Jichen seemed to know what she wanted to say, and only smiled with the corners of his mouth: "You are currently in mourning, so you cannot attend any banquets. It is not appropriate to go to restaurants and teahouses, and it is impossible for you to come to my residence without a reason."
"So, only I came."
That's true," Shen Qingci glanced outside subconsciously.
But then Chu Jichen continued, "Huo Yunting and Liu Ruolan are not at home."
"When Consort Shu got into trouble, Prime Minister Liu was detained in the palace by the Emperor. Huo Yunting and Liu Ruolan went to the Liu residence to discuss countermeasures."
Shen Qingci immediately turned her head away; Chu Jichen even knew their whereabouts perfectly well.
"Was the matter concerning Consort Shu your doing?"
"Yes." Chu Jichen didn't hide anything: "It's me."
"As I said before, Liu Ruolan dared to hurt you again and again, and I will definitely not let her get away with it."
Chu Jichen lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes casting a shadow beneath them.
"Liu Ruolan's reliance is nothing more than the Liu family, Prime Minister Liu, and her elder sister who is a concubine."
"If that's the case, then I'll just cut off their supply line from the root."
"If something happens to Consort Shu and it implicates the Liu family, let's see how long she can remain arrogant!"
Chu Jichen's expression could be described as ruthless.
But it gave Shen Qingci a sudden jolt, a feeling that was hard to describe.
Her throat tightened slightly, and her eyelashes trembled: "Thank you, Your Highness."
She paused for a moment before continuing, "However, there's something I don't quite understand. I shouldn't have met the Prince before, right?"
"Your Highness holds a high position and wields great power. If you wish to marry, you should be able to have any woman you desire. Why then would Your Highness be willing to marry someone like me... a withered flower?"
"And I am not even married to the prince yet, but the prince is helping me like this?"
Chu Jichen's brows furrowed almost immediately. He simply couldn't stand Shen Qingci using such words to describe him.
"In my eyes, you are the best."
As he said this, he understood that Shen Qingci was testing him.
Having just experienced Huo Yunzhan's betrayal and scheming, she probably doesn't have much faith in men or love anymore.
He needed to find a reason that would be enough to convince Shen Qingci to give him.
His mind raced: "I'm marrying you for a reason."
He paused for a moment: "You and I have actually met before, but that was a long time ago, Miss Shen should have forgotten."
"When I was young, my mother hid my identity and sent me to the army for training. At that time, I happened to be sent to General Shen's army."
"Although General Shen did not know my identity at the time, he took good care of me because I was young and taught me a lot."
"Later, I left, and for some reason, I lost both my legs. When I met General Shen in the court later, I did not hide my identity."
"But General Shen did not show too much surprise, nor did he become too close to me because of it. However, three years ago, before the late emperor passed away, he took the initiative to stand up and support my regency."
Chu Jichen's eyes were dark and brooding: "I even think that the Emperor held a grudge against General Shen and used the charge of treason to have the entire Shen family executed because of this incident."
"That's why the emperor deliberately created some trouble for me before dealing with the Shen family, and lured me away from the capital."
"By the time I received the news and rushed back, everything had already been settled, and it was too late."
Shen Qingci couldn't help but clench her hands tightly; all of this was completely unknown to her.
But thinking about it carefully, it seems that her father did mention some matters of the court three years ago, before the late emperor passed away.
Her father said that the emperor's condition was not good, but among the princes, apart from Chu Jichen, none of them were capable of shouldering the great responsibility. Unfortunately, Chu Jichen had a crippled leg, which meant he was destined to be out of the running for the throne.
If Your Majesty wishes to establish a new emperor, it would be best to have Chu Jichen as regent. Only in this way can the stability of the Great Zhou Dynasty be ensured.
She was still young at the time, and she only overheard these words by chance, and then forgot about them.
But unexpectedly, this happened.
But she was certain that her father and Chu Jichen had absolutely no vested interests in each other.
He would support Chu Jichen's regency, but only for the sake of... the country and its people.
How did it come to this... that the new emperor held a grudge against her?
Shen Qingci's throat tightened: "But...didn't you say that your title of Regent was personally bestowed by the new emperor?"
Chu Jichen chuckled: "Yes, the new emperor personally bestowed the title, but it was not of his own volition."
"It was the support of many ministers in the court, and the late emperor's consideration for the stability of the country, that led him to include the appointment of me as regent in his will."
"The late emperor sent the new emperor to bestow this title of regent upon me only so that the new emperor would grant me a favor. He wanted me to be grateful for the new emperor's kindness and to assist him well, nothing more."
"But unfortunately, this new emperor... is incredibly stupid!"
Chu Jichen's eyes were dark and deep, but he quickly took a deep breath and got back to the point: "But after the Shen family's incident, I received a farewell letter left by General Shen."
“In his farewell letter, he said that he had never asked me for anything, but this time, he hoped that I could take good care of you after he passed away.”
Shen Qingci trembled. Although she had some vague guesses in her heart, when she heard Chu Jichen say it with her own ears, she couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat and tears quickly rolled down her cheeks.
Her father...
It turns out I've always been thinking of him.
"General Shen said that although he had entrusted you to Huo Yunzhan before he left, Huo Yunzhan seemed to be deeply in love with you, but he felt that Huo Yunzhan was too ambitious and somewhat unscrupulous, and was not a good man."
"So, he hopes that if you are safe and happy in the Huo family, he will pretend that farewell letter never existed. But if you are being bullied and having a bad time in the Huo family, he hopes that I can help you."
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