Chapter 40 Hesitation in surrendering leads to chaos.
"Your Highness, the King of Thailand is requesting an audience."
The atmosphere inside was tense, and Zhu Yu entered and whispered a report to Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen looked at Chu Rou, whose hands, which were supporting her on the railing, were hanging limply at her sides, but her eyes were still fixed on him, as if she would not stop until he responded.
“Liangdi,” he knelt down in front of Chu Rou, his eyes filled with amusement and inquiry, “Sixth Brother is right outside right now. Tell me, now, do you want to protect Sixth Brother more, or that palace maid?”
Upon hearing this, Chu Rou's carefully maintained composure shattered instantly. Her pupils trembled slightly, unable to believe how the Crown Prince knew. She had only been married into the Eastern Palace for a little over a month. When exactly did this go wrong?
"Why isn't Consort Liang speaking?" Jiang Chen's voice was low, as if recounting a story: "That day, Consort Liang and the Crown Princess encountered danger and fainted. When I led men to rescue them, before anyone from my Eastern Palace could even step forward, my sixth brother was the first to run ahead..."
Spring was in full bloom, and the temperature inside the room was not low, but at this moment, Chu Rou's back was covered in cold sweat. With each word the Crown Prince spoke, she couldn't help but want to shrink back an inch.
"At first, I was also puzzled. As the granddaughter of Grand Tutor Chu, who was personally raised by him, you could have been a princess. Why would you be willing to come to my Eastern Palace as a concubine? Clearly, my sixth brother is of a more suitable age, and he was married a month before you entered the Eastern Palace. If the Grand Tutor had already planned your marriage, why would he abandon my sixth brother and choose me? Is it because I was once the Grand Tutor's student? Or is it because I am the Crown Prince?"
"It seems neither is the case. Then I wondered, could it be because Consort De coveted the Liu family's power and military strength? What a pity—"
Seeing the change in Chu Rou's expression, Jiang Chen slowly stood up and looked down at her, saying word by word, "Since you entered the Eastern Palace, you have been cautious in everything you do. Not only have you never competed for favor, but you have also never overstepped the bounds in your daily life. You have played the role of an orphan who lost her father at a young age very well. If it weren't for my sixth brother, I would have really believed it."
“No,” Chu Rou, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up: “Your Highness and I are not what the Crown Prince thinks.”
"No? If it wasn't him, why are you covering for him?"
“I am not covering for the King of Thailand, but for the sake of the Crown Prince’s reputation.”
Chu Rou spoke earnestly, but the Crown Prince scoffed, "Your Ladyship is truly eloquent. Do you still think I'm easy to fool?"
Seeing Jiang Chen raise his left hand, Zhu Yu stepped forward and said, "Master."
"Send that palace maid back to the capital as an assassin, and order the Censorate to investigate immediately."
After saying this, Jiang Chen stepped out of the room without looking back. Chu Rou froze for a moment, and then, with an unknown force, she rushed towards Jiang Chen. The servants waiting outside, fearing that the concubine would offend the crown prince, worked together to stop her.
"Your Highness! Your Highness! Everything I said is true. I know I was wrong. Please, Your Highness, spare A-Jun!"
Although Chu Rou's hands were bound by a strong old woman, she kept moving forward, as if she would not give up until she caught up with the Crown Prince. Jiang Chen heard her loud voice and nervously looked towards Shen Yujiao's window. Before he could go forward to cover Chu Liangdi's mouth, he was pushed hard by the person behind him.
"cousin!"
The King of Thailand burst in from the outer courtyard at some point. He strode forward and kicked over the old woman who was holding Chu Rou captive. He helped her up from the ground and glared at Jiang Chen with angry eyes: "Does the Crown Prince intend to kill someone? I am right here. Whatever the matter is, the Crown Prince can settle accounts with me. What kind of skill is it to bully a mere woman!"
"Jiang Yan!" Jiang Chen's expression darkened. "In my courtyard, when did it become your place to shout and act like a hero?"
"Can't you see how badly she's injured!" The Thai king's eyes were filled with ruthlessness. "If I don't come in, are you going to kill her?"
Jiang Chen sneered upon hearing this: "You keep talking about fighting and killing, where do you get the nerve? Who caused her injury?"
Seeing that both the Crown Prince and the King of Thailand were furious, Chu Rou's heart sank. The situation was getting out of control. She tried to push Jiang Yan away, but her shoulder was held down firmly.
“Yan is right here. You may punish her as you see fit, Your Highness. My cousin is just a weak woman. Your Highness really doesn’t need to treat her like this.” With that, the King of Thailand stepped forward, completely shielding Chu Rou behind him, clearly indicating that he was ready to confront her head-on.
Zhu Yu had already dismissed all the servants in the courtyard, leaving only three people inside. Jiang Chen and Jiang Yan both had their eyes wide open in anger, looking as if they were about to fight at any moment, and the scene became tense.
With a creak, the door opened and Mu Jin stepped out, curtsying to the people in the courtyard: "Lady, Her Highness the Crown Princess invites you in."
"yes."
Upon hearing this, Chu Rou nodded respectfully. Just as she was about to leave, Jiang Yan grabbed her wrist. She turned her head to meet Jiang Yan's worried eyes, twisted her wrist, and forcefully broke free from his grasp. Then she curtsied to Jiang Chen and turned to enter the main hall where the Crown Princess resided.
The noise outside was completely shut out. When Shen Yujiao saw Chu Rou following behind Mu Jin, she couldn't help but sigh: "Mu Jin, put a cushion on the chair for Liang Di."
After Chu Rou bowed and sat down, Shen Yujiao asked, "What exactly happened? You two were arguing outside, and it was giving me a real headache."
"Crown Princess..." Seeing Chu Rou hesitate, Shen Yujiao gestured for Mu Jin to leave first. After the two of them were left in the room, Chu Rou bowed deeply to Shen Yujiao. Although Shen Yujiao gestured for her to get up, she insisted on kneeling on the ground and explaining the whole story clearly.
The story between Chu Ryu and the King of Thailand dates back to the generation of Queen Qi De.
The Qi family was a prominent military family in the capital, having fought alongside the founding emperor in the early years, making them a powerful and influential family in the capital. Chu Rou's birth mother was from the eldest branch of the Qi family, while Consort Qi was from the third branch of the Qi family. Originally, the two families did not have a bad relationship, but the two girls did not get along well.
Although Chu Rou's mother was a few years younger than Consort Qi, she was superior in every way, and her family had high hopes for her. When she came of age, she married the top scholar of that year, while Consort Qi was just a concubine of a prince in the prince's residence.
If we're talking about dignity and prestige, then Consort Qi, who married into the royal family, would naturally be the one. But it's clear to everyone that Chu Rou's parents were a young couple, deeply in love. Moreover, at that time, Grand Tutor Chu had already entered the cabinet, and Chu's father's future was bound to be limitless. It's really hard to say who would be more glamorous in the future.
At first, such talk only circulated privately among the wealthy ladies. However, at a banquet, someone deliberately stirred up trouble and hinted at the matter. Since there were many people in the capital who loved to watch the drama unfold, they kept talking back and forth, making the situation awkward for both sides. In the end, the banquet ended with the two Qi sisters parting on bad terms.
From then on, the feud between the two families deepened.
But fate is truly wondrous. Although Consort Qi disliked her cousin Chu Rou no matter what, her son Jiang Yan had always been fond of her since childhood. When he was seven or eight years old, he told the emperor that he wanted to marry his cousin when he grew up. On that day, Consort Qi sat at the head of the table, and her face was frozen with a smile.
Time flies, and now the two cousins have both married. It's not hard to see the intentions of their elders regarding their marriages. Chu Rou has never had any feelings for Jiang Yan since childhood, so she wanted to use her status as a concubine to sever the relationship between the two cousins.
"That day, His Majesty the King only wanted to inquire from A-Jun about how I was doing, and A-Jun was also trying to sever ties with the King on my behalf. But unexpectedly, she went out in the morning and never came back. I don't know how, but this whole thing happened..."
At this point, Shen Yujiao finally understood that Chu Rou's evasiveness and unreasonable actions that day were all to cover up the trouble caused by the Thai King. After all, the two of them were now married, and there was a Crown Prince between her and the Thai King. From Chu Rou's perspective, she did not know that Jiang Chen was not the Crown Prince, so she refused to explain this matter.
It's not that they don't want to, but that they dare not. The Crown Prince's concubine has an inextricable entanglement with the King of Thailand, and once this gets out, no one can escape the public scrutiny unscathed.
After figuring things out, Shen Yujiao was at a loss for words. She felt a mix of sadness and emotion. On one hand, she felt that the royal children were truly tragic, as all the people they loved were destined to be apart. On the other hand, she felt sorry for Crown Prince Chen, wondering how he could have ended up with so many of these problems.
Faced with such a complex mix of love and hate, Shen Yujiao didn't know how to comment. She only asked, "You just told me such a big secret like that? Aren't you afraid of bringing trouble upon yourself?"
Chu Rou sighed softly, "Hesitation only leads to trouble. To be honest with Your Highness, I am speaking frankly today to prevent future problems."
“His Highness the King of Thailand… although he has a bad temper, he is kind-hearted by nature. Over the years, he has caused a lot of trouble by being caught between Consort De and my grandfather. Now that I have married into the Crown Prince’s palace, I will have to think more about the future.”
As she spoke, she solemnly kowtowed to Shen Yujiao: "Your Highness, I have no intention of competing with you. I have seen the deep affection between Your Highness and me and have no other intentions. My father has been on good terms with many colleagues in the court. Today, I, Chu Rou, am willing to pledge my allegiance to Your Highness. I only ask that Your Highness persuade the Crown Prince to let the matter rest."
Chu Rou had exhausted herself with all the exertion today, and now, kneeling on the ground and bowing to Shen Yujiao, she could barely stand. Seeing her trembling arms, Shen Yujiao felt a mix of emotions. After a moment's thought, she sighed and said, "Get up. Go back and rest. I will discuss this matter with the Crown Prince."
"Your Highness..." Chu Rou wanted to say something more.
"I will advise the Crown Prince that as long as the King of Thailand does not provoke him again, this matter can be put to rest, and A-Jun's life can be saved. However, through this incident, you can see that although she may be competent as the maid of the second young lady of the Chu family, she is not clever enough to be by the side of the Consort. You should make plans as soon as possible."
"yes."
Chu Rou looked up at the Crown Princess again, her eyes filled with gratitude. Seeing her swaying figure, Shen Yujiao couldn't bear it and turned to call Mu Jin to take her back.
The King of Thailand didn't know how Jiang Chen had sent him away, but when Shen Yujiao saw Jiang Chen again in the evening, she saw that he looked displeased.
"What’s wrong with you?"
When Shen Yujiao showed concern for him, Jiang Chen, unusually, did not smile. He gritted his teeth and said, "That little bastard Jiang Yan couldn't beat me in a fight, so he bit me hard on the arm. If I hadn't been wearing two layers today, he probably would have bitten off a piece of my flesh!"
"Pfft—" Shen Yujiao couldn't help but chuckle, "How old are you two?"
Jiang Chen was even angrier when he saw that she could still laugh: "You saw it today too, and this is the second time, including the wedding banquet! Did I provoke him?"
"Alright, alright," Shen Yujiao said soothingly, "Now that you mention it, I understand what happened at the wedding banquet that day. It really wasn't your fault..."
She paused for a moment, then continued, "I spoke with Consort Chu this afternoon and promised to come and persuade you."
"Advice me?"
"Yes, she confessed the whole story about the King of Thailand to me and hopes that you can let the King of Thailand and her palace maid go."
Jiang Chen asked with some doubt: "You mean, she confessed to you?"
If these words hadn't come from Shen Yujiao, he wouldn't have believed them at all.
Although Chu Liangdi has Chu Rou's face, her behavior and conduct are completely different from the Chu Rou that Jiang Chen knows. Chu Liangdi is far more cunning and shrewd than Chu Rou. In the afternoon, he tried to get information out of Chu Liangdi through roundabout conversations and various threats and inducements, but he couldn't get her to give in. But now Shen Yujiao says that she is being honest?
"Try to understand," Shen Yujiao said helplessly. "In her eyes, you are not only the Crown Prince, but also her husband. How can you expect her to explain to you that her cousin likes her?"
Moreover, the King of Thailand is the Crown Prince's younger brother. If Jiang Chen weren't sitting here, Shen Yujiao would have thought that Chu Rou's surrender was a hot potato. After thinking for a moment, she told Jiang Chen everything she had learned that afternoon.
After listening to Shen Yujiao's account, Jiang Chen fell into a brief silence. Then, as if thinking of something, he asked, "Do you think this is believable?"
“Even if Consort Chu is untrustworthy, there is still the King of Tai. His reaction just confirms what Consort Chu said. Besides... as a woman myself, I can understand her thoughts to some extent. Since she has already surrendered, why don't we accept her? In any case, we will still return to the Eastern Palace together after the spring hunt.”
Although the Crown Prince's palace cannot be completely at ease, it is still their territory after all.
Hearing Shen Yujiao say this, Jiang Chen nodded in agreement, then turned his concern to Shen Yujiao's injury. Shen Yujiao chatted with him casually, but her mind kept wandering to Chu Rou.
Miss Shen was a victim of a political marriage, but what about Miss Chu? Thinking of her pale and fragile appearance that afternoon, Shen Yujiao squeezed Jiang Chen's arm tightly, accidentally pressing down on the spot where the Thai king had bitten her, causing Jiang Chen to let out a wail.
"Shen Jiaojiao! What are you doing?"
“I’m sorry, I suddenly remembered that I had some precious medicinal herbs left over from a few days ago. This afternoon I saw that Consort Chu was seriously injured. After all, she did it to save me, so I have to ask Mu Jin to take the herbs to her.”
As she spoke, Shen Yujiao called Mu Jin over and gave her detailed instructions. Seeing the two of them discussing things, Jiang Chen turned his head away speechlessly.
See? I told you long ago that no new concubines should enter the Eastern Palace. Well, it's come true. Someone has come to compete for my favor.
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