“Okay.” Sun Yun agreed without hesitation.
Zhao Shu curtsied and said, "Thank you, Lord Huo, thank you, A-Yun." Fortunately, they helped us today, otherwise it would have been really troublesome.
"No need to thank me, I didn't help you for nothing." Huo Baichuan spoke in a serious businessman's tone, "Your Highness, please go and prepare quickly." He urged him again.
She beckoned, and Duozi walked in from the courtyard, curtsied, and said, "Please come with me, Your Highness."
Prince Yong remained unmoved. He was not used to being alone with his beautiful maid and did not know what Huo Baichuan was up to.
"Duozi has a nickname in the martial arts world: Thousand-Faced Beauty. Your Highness, rest assured, with Duozi around, no one will recognize you." Huo Baichuan was at his wit's end with this silly and adorable prince. The last time he heard that the prince had come to the manor, he was supposed to be asking for a marriage proposal, but instead he went drinking with his teacher. His teacher was completely drunk, but the prince seemed to be able to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk. It was hard to even define this person.
With this explanation, Prince Yong was relieved and obediently went to the side room with Duozi. Sun Yun also went down to prepare, leaving only Huo Baichuan and Zhao Shu in the hall.
Finding a chair to sit down, Huo Baichuan raised an eyebrow at Zhao Shu, "What can I say about you?" He asked this out of the blue.
Zhao Shu also found a place to sit down, saying, "Make yourself at home."
"Have you always been puzzled as to why Consort Hao is the most favored concubine in the palace? Have you also been puzzled as to why the Emperor turns a blind eye to your fourth brother's ambiguous relationship with Consort Hao?" Huo Baichuan stood up, walked up to her, and smiled condescendingly.
It's inexplicable.
Huo Baichuan is now more mature and composed. He possesses all the qualities that only mature men have: a steady and reliable demeanor, and a strategic and commanding presence.
Her features are so exquisite they're more captivating than a woman's, yet not effeminate, that one can't bear to be jealous; all one can do is look up to her.
"Do you always like to look down on people like that?" Zhao Shu lowered her head and looked towards the door.
Huo Baichuan chuckled and sat down in the chair to her right. "Zhao Bi is the son of Empress Yide, so don't go against him. The Emperor won't let him obstruct the reforms, but he will also never let you touch him, understand? You have everything now, you lack nothing. Grandma, I beg you, if you want to deal with him, wait until your uncle passes away, okay?"
He could only be serious for three seconds, mature for three seconds, before reverting to his unruly and spoiled ways. Zhao Shu rolled her eyes at him and said disdainfully, "Which eye of yours saw me actively provoking him? He's the one who's always going against me, okay?"
"Fine, fine, whatever you say, but can we wait a bit? You're still so young. Can't you wait until your uncle passes away?" He pretended to be afraid of you.
"Can't you speak more politely? That's my uncle." This kind of person, who is clearly there to help, says things that are annoying, making people lose all sense of gratitude.
Huo Baichuan poured her a cup of tea himself, gave a fake smile, and said, "Yes, I was wrong. I shouldn't have spoken so disrespectfully. Alright, really, you're so old and still so willful. You've finally made your mistake. Old Peng said you were poisoned by a poison called Weiwei a few days ago. Don't you know medicine? How come you didn't even realize you were poisoned? You're so careless, you might not even know how you died one day."
Although Zhao Shu knew in her heart that she had been careless and had not known when she was poisoned, she felt very uncomfortable being told this so bluntly. She glared at him fiercely.
However, the response was a raised eyebrow and a mocking laugh, as if to say, "I'm going to laugh at you, what can you do about it?"
"However, do you think Consort Ning would raise someone else's son?" He suddenly changed his expression and spoke very seriously about the topic they had just discussed.
After all this time, we've come full circle. That's the fundamental point. Zhao Shu shook her head slightly. "If the Emperor truly loved Empress Yide so much and even gave her the posthumous title of Yide, then she must have been an intelligent and virtuous woman. Zhao Bi, on the other hand, was a bit too despicable."
“Not too stupid,” he praised. “Your mother is a student of the hermit Jiecao; she should be willing to see you.”
"You want to transfer me away, don't you? What if someone stabs my brother, the Crown Prince, in the back if I leave?"
"If you want my help, just say so. There's no need to test me with words. Don't tell me you don't plan to go to Jiangnan?" He seemed to have everything under control, seeing through Zhao Shu's thoughts, and innocently raised his eyebrows with a forced smile.
Zhao Shu retorted, not to be outdone, "I thought you were on the Crown Prince's side. Was I wrong?"
"You'll never get married like this." The gentlemanly demeanor of not arguing with women was completely absent from him, once again showing Zhao Shu what shamelessness truly meant.
Well, it seems I really am destined to never get married, but that's okay. As long as I can achieve my goal, I don't care about anything else.
"Today the Emperor asked me if I had any plans with Xiao Weizi. I was merciful and covered it up for him. How do you plan to thank me?" He was serious for no more than five seconds, and his unruly playboy behavior returned.
Zhao Shu stood up and bowed deeply to him. "Are you satisfied?"
"How boring, easily amused, the older you get, the less cute you become." He looked Zhao Shu up and down. "It's time for you to get married. I heard the Empress Dowager wants to give you to our Xian'er. Let me tell you, Xian'er is innocent, don't go and ruin him."
This was a rejection, Zhao Shu thought, suppressing her anger. "Coincidentally, I don't want to get married either."
"Alright, how about we make a bet? If you marry someone, I'll give you 100,000 taels of silver; if you don't marry, I'll give you 100,000 taels of silver," he said enthusiastically, with a "dare you?" look on his face.
Zhao Shu rolled her eyes at him. "Childish."
With Huo Baichuan's promise, Zhao Shu was relieved. Soon, Prince Yong and Sun Yun were ready. When Duo Zi returned to report, Zhao Shu looked at her father, who looked almost thirty years older, with mixed feelings. She was stunned and could only give Duo Zi a thumbs up. The woman with a thousand faces was indeed quite capable.
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