Chapter 248 Crushing His Pride
"Envoy Chen, Brother Changsheng's eyes are sick, and I suspect his health isn't great either. He stayed in the room to help Second Master detoxify, and he's been up all night for the past few days. I'm worried his body can't handle it."
Shen Qingtan said firmly, "If there's really something wrong with Brother Changsheng's health, we can get him treated if we get there in time. If he's alright, that would be even better, and I'd be relieved."
Chen Yuanshi couldn't persuade Shen Qingtan, so he sighed and left the house with her.
Shen Qingtan walked out of the Zhenbei Palace and saw Zhao Jue standing not far away. His face suddenly turned cold.
Zhao Jue stayed at the Zhenbei Palace for two days. His eyes were red from staying up all night, and he had stubble on his chin. He looked very haggard.
He saw Shen Qingtan leaving the house and walked towards her quickly: "Tan...Second sister-in-law."
Shen Qingtan gave a wink to the guard beside him.
The guard stepped forward to block Zhao Jue and prevent him from approaching Shen Qingtan: "This is a restricted area of the palace. No outsiders are allowed to approach."
Zhao Jue clenched his fists tightly, trying his best to suppress the humiliation that surged in his heart.
If he had married Shen Qingtan instead of being foolish enough to marry Shen Mingzhu, he would have been the son-in-law of the Zhenbei Palace. How dare these blind people bully him like this?
He regretted bringing Shen Mingzhu back to the capital. If it weren't for Shen Mingzhu, everything Zhao Yi had would have belonged to him.
Whenever he thought of the power he longed for, which was originally in his hands but was finally pushed away by his own hands, he would feel filled with remorse.
Living in pain every day, it is always difficult to let go.
"I came to ask for your help today." Zhao Jue took a step back, not daring to advance. "My mother is seriously ill. Please ask Chen Yuanshi or the palace doctor to treat her."
Shen Qingtan glared at him coldly: "You are no longer the Third Master of the Duke's Mansion, and I am not your Second Sister-in-law. We are not related at all, so why should I help you?"
Zhao Jue blurted out, "Tan'er, there are some grudges between us, but the friendship we've built over the past decade can't be erased with just one stroke. I beg you to please, for this favor, save my mother."
"Friendship?" Shen Qingtan looked up at the dejected Zhao Jue as if he had just heard a funny joke. He could no longer see the high spirits he once had. "Did you read the book you borrowed from me yourself?"
Zhao Jue suddenly felt panic in his heart and looked at Shen Qingtan inquiringly, trying to find a clue from her cold eyebrows.
But he only saw her indifference and the strangeness in her eyes, as if he was a stranger to her who had never met her before.
Even the noble demeanor that emanated from him invisibly widened the distance between the two people.
One is in the clouds, out of reach.
One is in the mud, humble and insignificant.
Suddenly, Zhao Jue felt uncomfortable. "Tan'er, if I didn't read, how could I express my views in front of you?"
Shen Qingtan smiled: "Those books are all works by great scholars that you like. Since you are familiar with them, you should remember which ones you read, right?"
Zhao Jue was stunned by the question and pursed his lips tightly.
Shen Qingtan said word by word: "All my past admiration and praise for you were stolen from the Second Master by you."
The implication was that without Zhao Yi, she would never look at him differently.
This sentence undoubtedly crushed Zhao Jue's pride.
Zhao Jue's face was gloomy, his fists were clenched so tightly that they made crackling sounds, and he was forcibly suppressing the anger raging in his heart.
He did not think that he was worse than Zhao Yi, and in many ways he was even better than Zhao Yi. In his heart, he always believed that Zhao Yi was just more fortunate than him, having been reborn in the eldest son's family.
Otherwise, how could he have the chance to sit on the throne of the crown prince?
However, Shen Qingtan belittled him as worthless and inferior to Zhao Yi in every way.
Zhao Jue was upset, but then he thought about Zhao Yi's illness and the end of his life, so he decided not to argue with a dying man.
How could Shen Qingtan not know what Zhao Jue was thinking? He was so persistent and lingering over her simply because she almost married him.
In the end, he married Shen Mingzhu in order to curry favor with the powerful.
Who knew that her family was powerful and influential, while Shen Mingzhu's family was impoverished, and Zhao Jue was just unwilling to accept this.
For someone like him who only cares about power, the word love is as cheap as grass in his heart.
Before leaving, Shen Qingtan gave him a piece of advice: "Instead of wasting your time with me, you should find another way out."
After saying this, Shen Qingtan sat in the carriage and raised the corners of his lips slightly.
Zhao Jue hit a wall with her today. If power was offered to him "actively", he would definitely seize the opportunity.
The carriage stopped at the gate of Gu's house and Shen Qingtan got out of the carriage.
Tingxue had already knocked on the door.
The doorman of the Gu family recognized Shen Qingtan and let her in immediately when he saw that it was her.
Shen Qingtan asked, "Is Brother Changsheng in the mansion?"
The doorman said respectfully, "The young master is resting in the yard."
After getting the approval, Shen Qingtan brought Chen Yuanshi and the court physician to Gu Changsheng's courtyard.
The gate happened to be open.
Seeing the person inside, Shen Qingtan quickly said, "Uncle, I'm here to visit Brother Changsheng." She looked into the courtyard and asked, "Brother Changsheng hasn't gone to bed yet, right?"
"Manman, Changsheng has fallen asleep." Gu Zongci forced a smile from his serious face: "Xiao Zhao's illness has just been cured, you should stay by his side."
Shen Qingtan made up an excuse, "I lost the prescription that Brother Changsheng gave me, so I came to him to ask for another one."
She seemed not to notice Gu Zongci's strange expression: "Uncle, I have nothing to do, so I'm waiting here for Brother Changsheng to wake up."
Gu Zongci was about to persuade him again when there was a "bang" and the sound of porcelain breaking was heard in the room.
Shen Qingtan no longer cared about etiquette, walked past Gu Zongci and quickly entered the house.
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