After a long time, he suddenly looked up and looked at Chu Qingniang with an accusing look.
"Why? Why didn't you tell me earlier? If I had known your identity earlier, how could I have married Gu Yanran? How could you and I have come to this point today?"
"You could have said it earlier..."
"Qi Che!"
Chu Qingniang, no, now she should be called Chu Qingluan, interrupted him calmly, her voice as cold as ice, "Do you think you can change your ways after knowing my identity? If you had known that I was a princess, you would have replaced your thoughts of clinging to Prime Minister Gu with how to please the royal family."
Qi Che's face suddenly changed, and he tried to explain with trembling lips.
"What you covet is never me, Chu Qingniang, but the convenience that comes with my status. If I were just an ordinary merchant woman today, I would have been abandoned by you with a divorce letter, or even killed."
There was deathly silence in the courtroom. Qi Che looked ashen and beads of sweat the size of beans dripped from his forehead.
"I……"
He opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't find a word to refute.
Zhixia sneered at the side and said, "Miss, why bother talking to such a person? Such a person always thinks that others have wronged him. When he gets promoted and becomes rich, he thinks that he is very capable. When he is down and out, he blames others for not telling him earlier."
"I didn't..." Qi Che wanted to step forward to argue, but was pinned to the ground by the imperial guards.
"If you had explained it to me earlier, I wouldn't have..."
"So you admit it?" Chu Qingluan interrupted him: "In your heart, your wife is just a decoration to add icing on the cake. You hold her in your hands when she is useful, and discard her like a worn-out shoe when she is useless! Qi Che, your fate today has never been because of concealing your identity, but because you are a selfish, ungrateful villain in your bones!"
"No, it's not like that!"
Qi Che was still trying to struggle. Suddenly, he thought of something. His pupils suddenly dilated and became extremely red as if they were congested. His knife-like eyes shot towards Chu Qingluan.
"I know! It's you! You planned all this, right?"
First, the news that the legitimate princess was found in Qingshui County was released, luring me to Qingshui County, where I met the so-called "princess".
It's all a trap!
It was a trap that Qi Che had dug specifically for him!
After figuring it out, Qi Che felt as if struck by lightning, and a chill quickly spread from his tailbone to his entire body.
It was clearly a spring day, but at this moment he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, trembling all over, and he didn't know whether he was angry or afraid.
Suddenly, he didn't know where he got the strength from, and broke free from the two imperial guards who were holding him, and complained to Chu Qingluan:
"You say I'm ungrateful, but what about you? What did you do?"
"First you spread false news to lure me in, then you found someone to pretend to be you and made some specious promises to me, all in order to get me to take the initiative to divorce you. Then you attacked me in public in court..."
Qi Che became more and more excited as he spoke, his face twisted to the point of being almost hideous: "Chu Qingniang! Why are you pretending to be so noble? You are actually more despicable than me. At least I dare to do what I do and take responsibility for it, but you - you use such a low-brow method to lure me into the game!"
His voice was hoarse and broken, as if he had truly suffered a great and unexpected disaster.
The onlookers were all stunned and forgot what to say for a moment.
Chu Qingluan turned around slowly, her movements calm and composed.
She looked at the hysterical Qi Che and a trace of pity flashed in her eyes.
"Qi Che!"
Her voice was very soft, but it made the whole court silent.
"Don't you understand yet?"
"I never set up a trap, nor do I need to. The news from Qingshui County is true, but I delayed it for three years."
"As for the 'promise' you encountered." Chu Qingluan shook her head, with a mocking arc on her lips: "That just reveals your inner greed. When did I send anyone to seduce you? Didn't you say those words yourself?"
Zhixia also sneered at the side: "Master Qi, have you forgotten that it was you who took the initiative to find that girl and kept saying that you wanted to divorce your wife and marry again?"
Qi Che's face turned from red to white, and then from white to blue.
He suddenly remembered that it was he who took the initiative to find out the information, to show his courtesy, and to... make those promises.
It was obvious that he didn't agree to divorce at all from the beginning.
It was Du Youwei who told him that the legitimate princess had been found, and hinted that if he hadn't married, there was a high possibility that...
That’s right!
Du Youwei!
Qi Che's gaze shot towards Du Youwei like a knife, his eyes full of questioning and disbelief.
Du Youwei was stunned by his stare, then met his gaze calmly with a faint smile on his lips.
"Master Du, it's you...it's you who hinted to me..." Qi Che's voice was hoarse.
Du Youwei straightened his robe and said slowly, "Master Qi, you are wrong. I just mentioned 'the princess was found in Qingshui County' when we were chatting. How could I have hinted at you anything?"
He stroked his beard, shook his head and sighed, "It's obvious that you heard that the princess was unmarried, so you wanted to get close to her."
"you--"
Qi Che's eyes were bloodshot and he struggled to rush forward, but was held down by the imperial guards.
"Du Youwei, you are despicable!" Qi Che roared hysterically.
Du Youwei turned around and bowed respectfully to Chu Qingluan: "Princess, I didn't know that Lord Qi had such thoughts at that time, and I didn't know that he would abandon his wife in order to curry favor with the rich and powerful."
Chu Qingluan raised her hand to stop him from speaking, and looked at Qi Che with a bit of pity in her eyes.
"Master Du, you don't need to explain. Greed is like a swamp. Once you step into it, you will only sink deeper and deeper. Master Du just said a few words. The one who really makes the choice is you."
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
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