Chapter 6
The King of Chu sealed off Pingzhou City for several days, but he couldn't find even a trace of the Tang family member from Changzhou. Knowing it was too late, the King of Chu could only pray that he was a wise man who wouldn't spread rumors and that the news wouldn't reach the capital.
The city was sealed off and the search was fruitless. Before the people could complain, Pingzhou City was finally opened. Chu Miaomiao finally had the opportunity to return to the palace to check on her brother's condition.
That night, in the secret passage behind the Prince Chu's Mansion, Chu Miaomiao climbed up the high wall on Chu He's shoulders. She told Chu He that she would wait for her there, but when she turned around, she saw someone already waiting for her at the foot of the wall.
"Princess."
Chu Miaomiao laughed dryly a few times: "Sister Lianyue, it's so late and you don't even need to rest."
Lian Yue smiled politely and replied gently, "Isn't this because I'm waiting for you, my princess?"
"How did you know I would come back?"
"You have always been close to the Crown Prince. When you heard that he was in a coma, you would definitely come back to check on him."
"..." Chu Miaomiao was stunned. "Is this fake news specifically to trick me?"
Lian Yue pursed her lips and smiled: "This is also what the princess meant."
Chu Miaomiao took a deep breath and felt very angry at herself for being fooled.
"Then why are you waiting for me here?"
"The Queen said this corner is very secluded and usually no one passes by. If you want to enter and exit quietly, this is the best choice."
Very good, very good. She was essentially in the palm of her mother's hand, being controlled so precisely. Chu Miaomiao's smile almost faded: "Then how did you know I was coming tonight?"
This question made Lian Yue pause for a moment, then she replied, "I originally planned to stay here for a few days. I didn't expect you to come back today just after martial law was lifted."
Well, it’s still too early to come back. Chu Miaomiao regretted it inwardly.
"The Queen has instructed you to see her as soon as you return."
Chu Miaomiao looked up at the sky helplessly, and stretched out her hand to pull Chu He up. After the master and servant jumped off the wall, Chu Miaomiao asked Chu He to go back to the yard first, and she and Lianyue went to see the princess.
After entering the residence of Princess Chu, Lianyue retreated, leaving Chu Miaomiao alone there.
As it was late at night and everyone was asleep, there were no lights on in the house. Only moonlight poured through the window lattices onto the ground, illuminating the furnishings inside.
Chu Miaomiao suddenly became nervous. She was actually not good at getting along with her mother.
As long as she could remember, her mother rarely smiled at her, and most of the time she was lukewarm. She couldn't remember the last time she was in her mother's arms, or what it felt like.
When she was little, she secretly asked her nanny if her mother didn't like her, or if she wasn't her own child at all. Her only response then was a tight hug, so tight it almost suffocated her.
Huh? Was it from being held so tightly that I couldn't breathe, or from crying so hard that I couldn't breathe? I can't remember, I just vaguely remember feeling extremely depressed and uncomfortable.
Just as she was distracted, Chu Miaomiao heard her mother's voice coming from the inner room: "Come here."
In desperation, I had to go ahead with it.
Chu Miaomiao walked into the inner room. Princess Chu was wearing her nightgown with her long hair loose. She was leaning on a large pillow, her deep eyes looking straight at her.
Knowing that she was in the wrong, Chu Miaomiao walked forward and knelt in front of the princess.
"Why are you coming back now that you're leaving?"
The Chu princess's voice was cold, and it was impossible to tell whether she was happy or angry. It was this indifferent attitude that was like a string of needles piercing Chu Miaomiao's heart.
For her, perhaps being scolded by her mother at this time would make her feel better.
"I heard that my eldest brother was seriously ill, so I wanted to come and see him." Chu Miaomiao explained in a low voice.
"If you really miss your elder brother, you shouldn't do one ridiculous thing after another to make him worry about you!" When the princess mentioned Chu Canglang, her emotions fluctuated slightly.
The princess' words made Chu Miaomiao feel even more guilty, and she lowered her head even lower.
"But you still care about your brother. At least you're not heartless or ungrateful," the princess said. "Do you realize your mistake now?"
"I know I was wrong."
"Tell me."
"My first mistake was forcing Tang Zhen to marry me in public, and my second mistake was running away from the marriage."
Her first mistake was her genuine reflection: forcing the marriage was indeed impulsive and rash. Her second mistake was that she only said it, but she didn't really mean it. If she didn't run away from the marriage, would she really marry a stranger she couldn't get along with? Besides, she had no intention of getting married.
She originally thought that she would come back to see her eldest brother and then leave, saying goodbye to this family completely, but unexpectedly this was actually a trick by her mother to lure her back home.
But everyone has returned, and she has no other choice but to bow her head for the time being.
After a long silence, Chu Miaomiao heard her mother sigh: "Go back to sleep."
"yes."
The next day, the King of Chu learned that Chu Miaomiao had returned. Without saying a word, he picked up a stick and kicked open her door, and started beating her with the stick whenever he saw her.
"Evil boy! I'm going to beat you to death today!"
Seeing that the heavy stick was about to fall on his princess, Chu He rushed forward and took the blow head-on, spitting out blood from his mouth.
Miaomiao was startled and quickly pushed Chuhe away. She was the one who was hit by the stick, and the piercing pain almost made her scream.
"Sooner or later, our Chu family will be implicated by you. It's better to kill you now! So that you won't cause a disaster in the future and bring disaster to our ancestors!"
The thought of Tang Zhen, who knew their greatest secret, running away without a trace, filled the King of Chu with rage. The person he had sent to Changzhou to investigate hadn't returned with any news, and he had been worried for days, fearing that person would inform on him in the capital.
The King of Chu blamed Chu Miaomiao for this and this evil anger. He did not blame Chu Xinxiu for being careless, but only blamed Chu Miaomiao for provoking Tang Zhen and bringing him back to the palace.
In his opinion, Chu Miaomiao was the culprit who caused his secret to be leaked.
Thinking of this, the King of Chu swung his club with even more force. Fortunately, Chu Miaomiao dodged it and only smashed the vase on the table.
"Run?" The King of Chu was furious. "You dare to run! How dare you run!"
The stick swept across, and Chu Miaomiao, who had no time to react, was hit in the abdomen again. The pain made her face pale, and she curled up on the ground, covering her abdomen and groaning in pain.
Seeing that Chu Miaomiao couldn't run, the King of Chu hit her with one stick after another. She gritted her teeth and rolled away, avoiding the heavy sticks.
Chu He, who had recovered, was furious. He wiped the blood from the corner of his lips and threw himself directly at the King of Chu without caring about status. He used all his strength to hold the stick tightly.
But her strength was no match for that of a tall and strong man, and she was soon knocked to the ground by the King of Chu, with her head broken.
Fortunately, as early as when the King of Chu broke in, a little girl ran to the princess to report the news. Before Chu Miaomiao was beaten unconscious, the princess of Chu sternly stopped the King of Chu's brutality.
"Your Highness! Although Miaomiao is your daughter, she is also a princess personally appointed by the imperial court. If she was really beaten to death, wouldn't the imperial court be curious?"
The King of Chu paused, but another stick fell heavily on Chu Miaomiao, and Miaomiao let out a muffled groan.
He glared at Chu Miaomiao and said bitterly, "Even if I beat such a shameless daughter to death today, I can at least exchange her for a reputation of strict family traditions!"
What a strict family tradition!
The princess sneered, "Your Highness, are you thinking of rectifying your family traditions now? Why didn't you mention the strict family traditions when you angered your mother to death in order to marry an actress? Why didn't you mention the strict family traditions when Chu Xinxiu was being domineering and committing evil deeds? If the father does not do well, how can the children learn from him? Your Highness, why don't you reflect on yourself first?"
"you!"
The King of Chu glared at the princess angrily, but the princess was not afraid at all and just looked at him coldly.
The princess once again struck a chord with the King of Chu, leaving him speechless. Furthermore, her words were not without reason. If the princess died inexplicably, it would be disastrous for the court to notice her. He had to keep a low profile and not let the court notice him.
"Rebellious son!!"
The King of Chu cursed loudly, swung the stick in his hand, and walked away. Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief, and Chu Miaomiao finally couldn't hold on any longer and fainted.
"Go and call the doctor!" the princess hurriedly ordered Lianyue.
It was already midnight when Chu Miaomiao gradually regained consciousness. Because the injuries were mostly concentrated on her back, she was afraid that lying flat on her back would cause her pain, so she was turned over and made to lie on her stomach on the bed.
In a daze, she felt someone applying ointment to the wound on her back. Wherever the coolness reached, the burning pain was much lessened.
"Chu He, have you taken the medicine?"
Chu Miaomiao felt the action of applying the medicine pause, and only heard a "hmm" sound as thin as a mosquito.
Chu Miaomiao, who didn't pay much attention to it, immediately said, "You are also injured so badly. Why are you applying medicine to me instead of taking a good rest? Go to sleep."
Perhaps it was the ointment that was working, but the pain subsided, and fatigue crept back in. Chu Miaomiao closed her eyes again, still urging Chu He, "Go to sleep..."
It wasn't long before the sound of steady breathing could be heard.
After carefully applying medicine to the crisscross wounds on her back, Princess Chu left, leaving Lianyue behind and asking her to take good care of her before leaving.
This beating revived Chu Miaomiao's previously unhealed whip wounds, forcing her to bedridden for nearly a month. Because the King of Chu had struck her so harshly, she also sustained internal injuries that required careful treatment, and she was given medicine for a long time. By the time she was able to move about freely again, it was already the beginning of summer.
It was during the summer of that year that people came from the capital.
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