Chapter 22 (Revised)
"Eh? Don't you want to think about it?"
Wei Zhen's answer was clear and crisp, without the slightest hesitation. This left Chu Miaomiao stunned, and she subconsciously asked back.
Wei Zhen blinked, revealing a rare hint of playfulness: "Now is the time for me to express my feelings, why should I consider it?"
"I." Chu Miaomiao hesitated to speak.
Facing Wei Zhen's unthinking answer, it would be a lie to say that she didn't feel any joy at all. This was the first time in her life that she had felt favored.
But this sudden joy was soon diluted by an intense sadness.
She lowered her head and murmured in an inaudible voice, "I, I'm not worthy of you doing this."
"Miaomiao."
Wei Zhen called out, his voice gentle yet cautious, as if he was holding a piece of fragile glass: "Lift your head up."
Chu Miaomiao did as he said and raised her head, this time her eyes were filled with tears again.
It was not the joy of having one's feelings confessed to, but an indescribable sadness.
Wei Zhen took her hand, led her to sit beside him, and said:
"When I was born, my family was already in decline and struggling financially. As the eldest son, I had to support my parents and take care of my younger siblings. Sometimes it was too tiring, and I felt resentful.
Then one day, someone from the palace suddenly came to me with an imperial decree ordering me to enter the palace as the heir. I was so happy that day, thinking my luck had finally turned and my family would live a good life. If I was lucky, I would become an emperor admired by everyone.
Wei Zhen laughed as he spoke, but the laughter sounded a little sad to Chu Miaomiao's ears.
"I was carried away, filled with surprise and blind confidence," Wei Zhen said self-deprecatingly. "But life in the palace is far from as simple as I imagined. The first batch of twelve heirs, every one of them, had their eyes fixed on the high seat in the court. Every day, they were either plotting how to eliminate their opponents or guarding against being ambushed. An unintentional action or a careless word could become a weapon for the other side to attack you."
Wei Zhen even smiled and emphasized to Chu Miaomiao: "This is the kind of criticism that could actually cost someone their life."
Chu Miaomiao, who was filled with sadness just now, shuddered at this moment, and her tears were about to shrink back: "Saints don't care?"
Wei Zhen smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I happened to hear him mention it. The sage said that what he needed was an heir to the dynasty, so he always just stood by and watched."
"That sounds a bit scary." Chu Miaomiao shrank her shoulders, and then, as if she had thought of something, she asked, "You just said, the first batch? What does that mean? Are there more heirs entering the palace later?"
Wei Zhen nodded and looked at Chu Miaomiao gently, with a look of pride on his face that said, "The girl I like is so smart."
"That's right."
"Then, now there are only you, Prince Su, and Prince Huai left." Chu Miaomiao's eyes widened in horror. "What about the others? Are they all-"
"Dead." Wei Zhen said calmly.
Chu Miaomiao was surprised.
"Those idiots should never have crossed the Saint's bottom line. I was also implicated by those idiots and nearly lost my life."
Wei Zhen spoke of past dangers with a calm and composed manner, as if he were describing someone else's experience. Chu Miaomiao gasped when she heard it.
"How could this happen?" Chu Miaomiao asked, "What did they do?"
Seeing Chu Miaomiao worried about him and curious about what would happen next, Wei Zhen felt both heartwarming and amused.
"That year, the Queen was pregnant."
The Queen was once pregnant, but no one in the palace has ever seen the Saint's child. This means that—
"Could it be that those people gave the Queen's child to—"
Chu Miaomiao didn't finish her words, she crossed her hand across her neck and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah." Wei Zhen replied softly.
"Some of them colluded with the court officials and tampered with the Empress's diet. The child was not born, and the Empress nearly died. The Sage was furious and had them all imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison. Within three days, they were executed for treason."
"and you--"
"Why am I still alive?"
Chu Miaomiao nodded vigorously.
"I am the one who found the mastermind."
Wei Zhen's image suddenly became taller in Chu Miaomiao's eyes, and even a sacred halo emanated from his body.
"Wow, you're so smart." Chu Miaomiao's tone was full of envy and admiration.
Wei Zhen was very pleased with Chu Miaomiao's attitude.
"If I were a little dumber, I wouldn't be alive today."
Wei Zhen reached out and wrapped Chu Miaomiao's hands with his palms, looking at her with eyes full of tenderness and sincerity.
He spoke softly, as if afraid of alarming his beloved: "For so many years, I have been alone in this deep palace, constantly fighting with others, and no one has ever worried about me.
Since I entered the palace as heir, my correspondence with Yejun has gradually ceased. I don't really want to know what expensive things they bought, or how much money they need to buy more luxurious toys.
The densely packed letters didn't even ask how I was doing. When I couldn't satisfy their desires, they filled me with words, each one blaming me for being greedy for wealth and fame, and for being an ungrateful person who had forgotten the kindness of my parents.
There was still a smile on Wei Zhen's lips, but sadness was revealed in his eyes.
"On New Year's Eve, when you said you were worried that Prince Su and Prince Huai were too close to the sage and that this would harm me, you had no idea how happy I was. I was like a traveler trapped in a snowstorm, and you reached out to me, led me out of the wind and snow, and drove away the gloom for me."
"You, don't be so exaggerated." Chu Miaomiao's cheeks flushed slightly. She wondered how Wei Zhen could say such disgusting things. She wanted to pull her hand away, but Wei Zhen held it tighter. "I, I just said it casually. Don't take it so seriously."
"Miao Miao, can you please look at me?"
"No, don't say these useless things, just think about how to get out of this predicament!"
"Miaomiao."
Wei Zhen's tone became a little heavier, and Chu Miaomiao finally quieted down awkwardly, but she still avoided his gaze and refused to meet Wei Zhen's eyes.
"You just said that you weren't worth what I would do for you. But I want you to know that you are."
Chu Miaomiao was stunned, her eyes slightly widened, and she felt a little dazed.
“Being ignored is not because you are not good enough, but because no one can discover your goodness. But don’t be sad, you still have me.”
Years of neglect have made Chu Miaomiao's world silent and gloomy.
She curled herself up in this colorless world, quietly watching her mother loving her eldest brother and her father doting on her second brother in the colorful world not far away. They seemed so close yet so far away.
She called out "Father, Mother," but they didn't even glance back.
She was the only one curled up in the darkness, shivering.
But at this moment someone rushed in and told her seriously that he had been watching her.
At this moment, Chu Miaomiao was heartbroken. The grievances of being ignored while growing up suddenly burst out, and tears fell uncontrollably again.
Wei Zhen is very good, but she really doesn't deserve it.
This is the truth.
*
While Chu He was struggling with sleepiness on the other side of the red wall, Chu Miaomiao finally climbed over the wall and came back.
Chu He saw that Chu Miaomiao looked gloomy and knew that she was in a bad mood, so she didn't ask any more questions. She just stayed by her side and followed her to the bedroom.
At this moment, Chu He heard Chu Miaomiao ask, "Chu He, how is the renovation of the manor going?"
"The house is habitable, but the yard is still a little lacking."
Chu Miaomiao nodded: "As long as it can be lived in. Pack up your things in the next two days, and we will move out of the palace after my brother returns to the Saint."
Although Chu He was a little surprised, she still nodded in response.
The next day, when Chu Miaomiao was still wondering how to bring up the matter of leaving the palace, Chu Cang called her over and handed her a letter.
"This was specially given to you by my father." Chu Canglang smiled with relief, thinking that his father had finally noticed his sister and started to care about her.
Chu Miaomiao frowned, thinking something was amiss. Her father, who had never taken her seriously, actually wrote a letter specifically for her? This wasn't filial piety; it was unnecessary attention—either treachery or theft.
Meeting Chu Canglang's expectant gaze, Chu Miaomiao gave a perfunctory smile, then opened the envelope and began to read it.
Look, she said it was no good!
Chu Canglang saw his sister's expressionless face turn into a cold smile, and he felt strange. He asked, "Did father write something to upset you?"
Chu Miaomiao snorted softly: "How dare I be unhappy with my father."
Chu Canglang took the letter from Chu Miaomiao and frowned, "Father actually asked you to go... to establish a good relationship with the Crown Prince!"
"Brother, you've summarized it so simply." Chu Miaomiao's eyes flashed coldly as she sneered, "It clearly says 'regardless of status, entering the Eastern Palace is paramount.' Brother, why do you think he's so eager for me to enter the Eastern Palace?"
Chu Canglang hesitated, then slowly shook his head.
Chu Miaomiao dismissed the palace servants, closed the palace door, and whispered to her brother.
"Brother, you seldom go out, so you may not know what our second son is busy with outside."
"Who in Pingzhou City doesn't know about his evil deeds outside?" A rare look of disgust appeared on Chu Canglang's face.
"If he were just a simple bully, maybe things wouldn't be so troublesome." Chu Miaomiao gritted her teeth, "The key is that he is a brainless and ambitious idiot."
Chu Canglang's heart trembled, as if he heard something else in these words: "What do you mean?"
"I've sent people to follow him before, and we've even followed him into the mountains once or twice. Why would a playboy run off into the mountains alone? I was puzzled at the time, so I followed him myself once. Big brother, guess what I saw?"
Chu Canglang swallowed, feeling something bad was going on. "What?"
"There's a weapons workshop. The idiot hired a group of people to smelt iron, forge swords, and create weapons there!"
Chu Canglang was so shocked by these words that he couldn't stop coughing, his face flushing crimson. Chu Miaomiao quickly rubbed her brother's back to calm him down, saying softly, "I think big brother understands what father means. They want to do something big, and they want me to enter the East Palace as an insider to gather information."
"Stupid! Stupid!" Chu Canglang, who was always calm, cursed angrily for a rare time.
"They want to do great things, but they want to take us to death with them."
Chu Miaomiao smiled bitterly.
Chu Canglang's expression suddenly changed, as he looked at Chu Miaomiao with a hint of panic, and asked anxiously, "Did the prince change his identity and go to Pingzhou last year? Could it be that...?"
Before Chu Canglang could finish his words, Chu Miaomiao nodded heavily, confirming his suspicions: "The imperial court has long been eyeing Pingzhou. Father thought he could conceal this from the imperial court, but he had no idea that his every move was already under the imperial court's scrutiny."
Chu Miaomiao bit her lip, her eyes icy cold: "As long as he dares to raise an army, the first to be sacrificed will be the three of us."
The empty hall fell into a dead silence.
Chu Canglang, with a worried look on his face, pondered for a long time before saying, "You bought a manor in the suburbs as soon as you arrived in Beijing, probably to prevent this kind of thing."
"It's a little further away from the capital, so it will be more convenient if we really have to escape."
Chu Canglang's eyes were firm: "Then let's leave the palace and live in the suburbs of Beijing."
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