Chapter 124
After being treated like this, Chu Huan was too embarrassed to go out.
The only thing to be thankful for was that there was no portrait of her in the storybook, so if she covered herself up when she went out, no one would be able to recognize her.
What is the relationship between the Chu Huan you are talking about and Miss Chu?
It doesn’t matter if you don’t know him. Don’t ask me. I won’t know even if you ask.
Chu Huan changed her mindset and stopped looking, listening, and thinking.
If you want to read it, just read it. Can she stop others from reading the storybook?
As long as you don't dance in front of her, just pretend that no one is watching. You will get used to it over time.
One night three months later, she went to Shang Lu to study astronomy and unexpectedly found "The Story of Chu Huan" pressed under his bookshelf. He had the first and second volumes that were selling well in the market, and he also had the third volume that had not yet been launched.
Chu Huan: “…”
Seeing her holding the storybook with a gloomy expression, Shang Lu felt uneasy and embarrassed.
He knew that Chu Huan didn't like others reading "The Story of Chu Huan", so he hid the storybook sent by the Jinyiwei, but he didn't expect it to be discovered anyway.
Chu Huan flipped over the storybook and looked at the four corners. It looked quite new, probably not flipped through many times. Maybe she hadn't read it yet?
It's okay for strangers to read the story with her as the protagonist, but it's a bit embarrassing for Shang Lu to read it too.
She held onto that little bit of hope and asked, "Did you see it?"
"Yeah." Shang Lu didn't dare to lie.
Chu Huan: "How many times?"
Shanglu pressed the tip of his nose uncomfortably: "Not many times."
Chu Huan's bad premonition grew stronger, and she insisted on a precise answer: "So how many times?"
Shang Lu coughed, and the tips of his ears slowly turned red: "Five times."
Chu Huan slowly typed a question mark.
You actually read this fabricated thing with little factual basis five times? Aren't you too idle?
This is outrageous enough, but I didn’t expect that even more outrageous things are yet to come.
The system was already anxious after watching their conversation. Seeing that things were not going well, it reported to Chu Huan in front of Shang Lu: "Sister Huan, Sister Huan, let me tell you, Shang Lu's five times refers to reading the beauty from beginning to end five times, not including the times he read certain passages repeatedly because he thought they were well written."
[For example, the opening scene of the storybook features a conversation between three-year-old Chu Huan and her mother, including the scene about the moldy oranges. There's also the scene where you see the low wheat yield and the farmers crying as they harvest, asking, "Mom, why are they crying?" and "Mom, is there anything in the world that can make wheat grow longer?" There are many other passages.]
Dongfang Heng fabricated these plots, firstly because he doesn't know what your childhood was like, and writing a biography requires ignoring childhood. Second, he wanted to pave the way for the subsequent emergence of penicillin and fertilizer, making the story more logical.
Because the author of the story, Dongfang Heng, has a personal fondness for you, he made you seem particularly adorable when writing these plots, practically a sequel to the "Trick Me into Having a Daughter Again" series, so Shanglu Meiren has read it repeatedly.
Shang Lu's face changed in an instant, turning blue and red.
What are the consequences of your loved one having an omniscient intelligence system?
A: You can't secretly read a story where your crush is the main character, or you'll be socially disillusioned :)
Chu Huan wasn't angry. There were so many people in Dasheng reading "The Story of Chu Huan", and Shang Lu was no more. She just felt it was a bit strange - Shang Lu was a man of clear mind and gentle demeanor, and no matter from which angle you looked at him, he had nothing to do with reading a storybook, right?
"Don't you know what's going on? Why are you still looking at this?"
Seeing that she didn't seem angry, Shang Lu pulled her to sit down and have some tea and talk slowly.
"Facts aside, it's fun to watch."
Is it interesting? Why don't I think so? Chu Huan downed the tea in one gulp, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.
Seeing this, Shang Lu pursed his lips and spoke his mind: "I know that it's not the real you in there, but the material for the storybook is provided by the Grand Tutor and the Grand Master. They know you better than I do. I want to find traces of familiarity in it."
The system was amused: [Let me translate: I know it's fake, but since there's no other way to understand your past, even if it's fake, I want to see more and find the real you.]
The entire study was so silent that only two breathing sounds could be heard, one slow and one rapid. The latter was naturally Shang Lu's.
Chu Huan's originally depressed mood suddenly brightened up. She even propped up her head and admired the beauty's awkward performance with interest.
"Is it really as Tong'er said?"
Now that everything had been discovered, Shang Lu had no intention of hiding it anymore. He just responded softly and lowered his head to drink his tea.
Chu Huan asked again, "Even if this book was written by Dongfang Heng?"
Phlox: “…Hmm.”
His overly shy and reserved behavior made Chu Huan always feel that she was deliberately teasing and bullying the beauty.
It was obvious that they had both expressed their feelings and reached a consensus. All they needed was one more procedure to become an engaged couple.
Chu Huan thought for a moment and looked at the sky: "It's almost time, I should leave."
Shang Lu paused while drinking tea and put down the cup: "Well, I'll take it to you."
Having said that, neither of them was in a hurry to get up.
Chu Huan took out a small porcelain jar from her purse, opened it, and dipped her fingertips into some milky yellow paste.
"My hands get dry easily, so this is the hand cream I made myself."
"Ah, I took too much." Chu Huan naturally extended her hand to Shang Lu, "Give me your hand, I'll give you some."
Shang Lu obediently held out his hands, which were grabbed by Chu Huan. Chu Huan then used the motion of applying hand cream to wrap around the back of his hands, wrapping them around his fingers and interlocking theirs.
The fingertips were wrapped around the body temperature that did not belong to him, and his heart was pounding uncontrollably, as if the two people's heartbeats were connected.
As their eyes met, an atmosphere of ambiguity spread, and Shang Lu's cold face turned a thin layer of red.
After an unknown amount of time, Chu Huan said "good night" and left gracefully.
Shang Lu was the only one left looking at the bottle of hand cream that Chu Huan had not taken away. He always felt a sense of melancholy that both he and the hand cream were thrown away after use.
The system transformed into a screaming chicken in the private chat channel: [Ahhh, Sister Huan, you are so good!]
[You were clearly single in your previous life, so why are you so good at flirting with Shanglu Beauty? Is it true that women are born experts at flirting with men, and it all depends on whether you've met the one you like?]
Chu Huan: “…”
To be honest, I don’t know why, but every time I see him, I want to do something.
The system was horrified: [Hold on! This body is only fifteen years old!]
Chu Huan rolled her eyes in anger: [What are you thinking? I just want to see a different reaction from him. That would make me feel like he's still in the mortal world.]
The system knew it had misunderstood, so it chuckled and passed it off: [He used to live in seclusion in the mountains, but now that he likes you, he wouldn't abandon you and run off to live alone in the mountains, right?]
That's hard to say.
Ideas will change with age and experience. Maybe Shang Lu likes her now, but he may not like her someday. Maybe this feeling of liking her now can support him to stay in the capital, but he will leave someday because he is tired of the court struggles.
Chu Huan smiled and said, "If you like each other, then we can be together. If you don't like each other, then we can just be our own separate lives. It's that simple."
The system didn't know whether things would really be as simple as Chu Huan said. It only knew that it and the host were bound together, and that they were a community of shared interests.
If Chu Huan is doing well, it's happy. If Chu Huan is not, no one else can expect to live in peace! Humph!
The system angrily said: [If he dares to betray you, I will make him die in front of all the people of Dasheng!]
Since the system is so protective of its shortcomings, Chu Huan should be happy. However, when she thinks about how she would look like a complete idiot in front of all the people in Dasheng, her happiness becomes a little distorted - there is actually a second unlucky guy!
Shang Lu, please don't change your mind, otherwise she won't know what will happen to her:)
Shang Lu, who was still in the study, shuddered immediately. Could it be that he caught a cold again?
This body does seem a little weaker.
*
In order to prevent Shang Lu from wasting his precious time reading storybooks, Chu Huan let the system learn from her past life. She took a few glances at the structural diagram of the astronomical telescope, and then drew and modified it bit by bit according to the system's prompts.
Practicing martial arts and reading took up too much of her time, so she could only do it in her spare time. It took her nearly a month to draw this blueprint. However, all the hard work became worthwhile when she saw Shang Lu's surprised expression.
"I told you before that the telescope was just a deposit, and I didn't lie to you then. This is what I really want to give you." Chu Huan said with some regret, "It's a pity that I can only draw a blueprint and don't have time to make it into a finished product before giving it to you."
"It's okay. I know you want to learn martial arts and prepare for the imperial examination. It's already very good that you can give me this." Shang Lu really didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
The drawing was extremely detailed, being 1.6 meters long. All large and small parts were marked with their corresponding sizes and names, and even their functions were marked in small font.
Chu Huan's intentions and feelings for him are visible to the naked eye.
Not to mention the finished product, even this blueprint is a rare treasure that is not found anywhere else in the world.
If all the astronomy enthusiasts in the world knew that there was an instrument that allowed them to see real stars with their naked eyes, they would definitely faint with happiness.
Shanglu now felt dizzy with happiness: "I can do it myself."
Chu Huan knew that with the ability of the Gongshu family's children, they had obtained the most detailed drawings, so it shouldn't be difficult to do this.
What she was worried about was never the technical aspects. If it really didn't work out, she could just think about it for a few more years. What she was worried about was: if the identity of the son of Gongshu family was exposed, would it mean that Shang Lu would have to work in the Ministry of War in the future and provide Dasheng with highly lethal weapons?
"Shang Lu." Chu Huan held Shang Lu's hand, looked into his eyes, and said slowly, "Making this is not easy. I think you should go to the Ministry of Industry to discuss it with them."
Shang Lu remembered that the last time he wanted to reveal his identity to Chu Huan, he was interrupted by Chu Huan.
Sure enough, she already knew it, and she also knew that he was unwilling to get involved, and she was willing to help protect his secret.
Shang Lu didn't want Chu Huan to worry about him too often: "Okay."
The drawings were Chu Huan's gift, and Shang Lu wanted to keep them forever so that he could take them out and look at them from time to time. He didn't want to hand them over as they were, so he took the time to copy one before handing it over to the Ministry of Works.
The Minister of Works was surprised when he saw the blueprints: "Isn't it a waste to use such a good thing only for looking at the stars?"
Shang Lu's eyes immediately turned cold: Waste? Say that again?
The Minister of Works knew he had made a mistake and laughed it off: "This was invented by Lord Shang, wasn't it?"
Shang Lu's icy brows melted instantly, and his voice became gentler: "It's Huan... It's a gift from Lord Chu."
Minister of Works: “…”
Do you think I am old and hard of hearing, and didn’t hear the word “Huan”, and didn’t guess that it should be “Huan’er”?
His expression and tone were so gentle, as if he was just saying: This is a gift from my sweetheart.
The Minister of Industry should have kicked over the bowl of dog food on the spot, but after thinking for a moment, he pointed to the sky and kindly reminded her: "With Lady Chu's ability, she will marry into the royal family."
So you should cut off the inappropriate thoughts as soon as possible.
Shang Lu's smile slowly disappeared.
Which emperor wouldn't want to master such a magical system?
If Chu Huan had not been only thirteen years old when she bound the system, if she had been one year older, she would have been married off to the royal family by the emperor at an early age.
Chu Huan is now fifteen and a half years old and can get married next year. The imperial decree granting her marriage may come down at any time.
Shang Lu didn't know why the emperor hesitated. Was it because he hadn't found a good opportunity, or was he worried that Chu Huan would disobey his order, or maybe... he hadn't decided on the final candidate yet.
The eldest prince and the second prince are both married, the third prince has been deposed, and the fifth prince is still young. Only the fourth prince is a suitable candidate.
For this reason, the fourth prince was supposed to marry a wife two years ago, but the royal family kept delaying the process.
If you choose the fourth prince, the imperial decree granting the marriage will come down soon. If you choose the fifth prince, you can wait a few more years.
But he felt that since the imperial edict had been delayed for so long, there might be a turning point.
Within a few days, the news that Chu Huan had given Shang Lu a blueprint of an astronomical telescope spread.
The Second Prince's wife and Concubine Wu were worried.
They had noticed the ambiguity between Chu Huan and Shang Lu as early as the night of the Lantern Festival this year. They thought that both of them were smart people and would give up their inappropriate thoughts as soon as possible.
Who would have thought that more than four months had passed, and not only had the two not broken up, their feelings seemed to have grown even stronger.
Seeing that the emperor is about to issue an edict to grant the marriage, if a sweetheart who shares the same feelings with me appears at this time...
The Second Prince's wife couldn't bear to think about what would be the final fate of these two people.
She was worried for several days and talked to the sisters in the backyard, but no one had any good ideas.
It was the Second Prince who noticed their abnormality and asked about it. When he learned that it was this matter, he was speechless but also helped to think about it.
"If she doesn't want to marry into the royal family, she should settle the marriage with Shang Lu as soon as possible."
The late emperor took the concubine of the prefect of Jiangnan as his concubine and was reviled and despised for many years. The emperor hated the late emperor's actions very much at that time, and it is unlikely that he would make a similar choice.
The Second Prince's wife and the others had also thought of this method, but they were still worried: "What if something unexpected happens?"
She didn't explain it clearly, but everyone knew what she meant: if Shang Lu died "accidentally", Chu Huan would still be able to marry into the royal family.
The Second Prince was shocked by their audacious idea. "Shang Lu was the Minister of Rites who had been invited out of retirement after three visits to his thatched cottage and several rejections. How could the Emperor possibly harm him?"
Concubine Wu said coldly, "Back then, we were looking for someone who could accurately predict celestial phenomena. Now we have a system. As long as Chu Huan is alive, the system can provide a weather forecast. The presence of Shanglu is actually not that big of an impact."
The Second Prince's Consort: "As long as the Jinyiwei and the secret guards are more careful, who knows how Shang Lu died?"
The other sisters were even more worried:
"Yes, didn't the Jiangnan prefect die unexpectedly?"
"If the Bai family hadn't acted early, he would have died at the hands of the secret guards."
"The Emperor is the late Emperor's biological son, he is the very image of his father."
"What kind of medicine can make him die quietly?"
The second prince had no idea what happened after he left Beijing. He always felt that the girls in the backyard were becoming more and more daring, and they would even speak ill of the emperor and the late emperor in front of him.
I guess it's because I've been eating too much melons with the system in the past two years and I'm used to it.
Forget it, I won’t bother with them, the second prince rubbed his eyebrows.
"Shang Lu was not only an imperial astronomer who observed celestial phenomena, he was also a disciple of Gongshujia. Yes, that Gongshujia you are thinking of, whose legacy spanned thousands of years. He was also the great-grandson of the late General Jinwu."
"When Shang Lu was taken away, his name was removed from the family tree. He is no longer a legitimate descendant of the Shang family, but the Shang surname still exists. Prince Fu Rui learned martial arts under General Jinwu when he was young. It is impossible for my father to kill him."
The relationship between master and disciple in martial arts may not be enough for Prince Fu Rui to protect Shang Lu who left his family, but if the emperor dared to send someone to assassinate Shang Lu, Prince Fu Rui would never agree.
The late emperor had the idea of assassinating the prefect of Jiangnan because he had no other way and no melon-eating system.
188 has such a high liking for Shang Lu, maybe as soon as the emperor gives the order and the secret guards haven't taken action yet, the system will let everyone know about it, which would be really funny.
The system brought countless intelligence advantages to the imperial court, while Chu Huan brought endless advantages to Dasheng in strengthening the country and enriching the people.
Not to mention penicillin, cowpox vaccine, quinine, sweet potatoes, telescopes, and compound bows, just the dozen or so kinds of fertilizers are enough to make the people of Dasheng worship her.
Chu Huan has many more of the same things in her hands - the astronomical telescope is proof of that.
Dasheng currently cannot do without Chu Huan and the system.
Everyone knew that Chu Huan and Shang Lu were in love with each other, and they had even given each other a telescope and an astronomical telescope as tokens of their love. It was impossible for the emperor to take such a big risk and break up the couple.
What's more, Chu Huan submitted herself to the system and prepared to take the imperial examination to enter the court, making it clear that she wanted to dedicate everything to Dasheng and the people.
At this point, even if she marries into the royal family, it will only be a symbolic meaning.
The second prince narrowed his eyes. Perhaps this was the reason why his father had not issued an edict yet.
If Chu Huan had planned every step in advance, then she is really a terrible woman.
No, he has to persuade his father.
The second prince hurried into the palace, and the father and son discussed for a long time. The emperor then summoned the old Grand Tutor, the old Grand Preceptor, and Prince Furui to the palace for discussion.
That night, the system informed Chu Huan of the final negotiation results: [Sister Huan, the Emperor has given up on allowing you to marry into the royal family, but he hasn't given up on granting you a marriage. He's just replacing the Fourth Prince with the beautiful Shang Lu. Hehe.]
The Emperor also wants to adopt you as his adopted daughter, and has already decided on a title. This way, you won't have to marry into the royal family, and you'll become a member of it. Incidentally, this idea was suggested by the old Grand Tutor, and the title was suggested by the old Grand Tutor. Prince Furui suggested issuing an imperial decree after the fertilizer shows results.
Chu Huan: "..." You guys are having a pleasant cooperation, huh?
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