Chapter 143 Actually, you and the Sixth Prince are quite a good match.
Pei Yuan exuded a chilling aura, causing Shen Chu's heart to tremble slightly, and a strange sense of bitterness welled up inside her.
She didn't even dare to look Pei Yuan in the eye, and said in a low voice:
"Although I may not look as tall and strong as Your Highness, I sincerely want to be a righteous and upright man who protects my country."
If my words or actions have misled Your Highness, I, Shen Chu, apologize to Your Highness.
After a pause, she gritted her teeth and said the harshest sentence: "I really have no homosexual tendencies. Please don't misunderstand, Your Highness, and please don't have any strange thoughts about me."
As soon as he finished speaking, the air seemed to freeze for a moment, with only the rustling of apricot leaves in the breeze.
Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the leaves, yet it felt inexplicably glaring and scorching.
Shen Chu nervously fidgeted with her fingers. Because she was looking down, she didn't see the surging coldness and embarrassment in Pei Yuan's eyes.
She just felt that Pei Yuan's gaze made her scalp tingle.
After a long while, Pei Yuan leaned forward.
A refreshing pine scent suddenly wafted over, and Shen Chu subconsciously stepped back, leaning her back against the apricot tree.
Her heart was pounding, and she clenched her fists to calm herself down. "What does Your Highness want to do?"
Pei Yuan's narrow, almond-shaped eyes narrowed slightly upwards, revealing a cold glint in them. "Young Master Shen is overthinking things. This prince has no homosexual tendencies, and I have no ulterior motives towards you."
How ridiculous! You think that just because you have a little talent and are a couple of times prettier than others, this prince will take a liking to you?
You overestimate your importance in my heart. I was just teasing you out of boredom.
Looking back now, it seems quite uninteresting, and has even caused you to misunderstand.
Just for fun?
These words made Chen Chu's hands, which were behind her back, tighten suddenly. Her heart felt as if it had been stuffed with cotton, leaving a dull ache.
She said softly, "That's for the best. It was I who was presumptuous."
"Heh, good to know." Pei Yuan snorted coldly and turned to leave.
As Shen Chu watched his tall figure disappear outside the courtyard gate, she leaned against the apricot tree, feeling utterly exhausted.
"The Sixth Prince is gone?" Hongxiu poked her head out from the doorway, her mouth still greasy from the chicken leg.
Chen Chu composed herself and said, "Yes, come and have dinner with me."
Hongxiu hopped out of the house with a grin, "Will I have to pretend to be pregnant every time I see the Sixth Prince? Should I stuff a pillow under my skirt in a few months?"
The thought of having to wear a fake belly made Hongxiu's face fall.
Shen Chu lowered her eyes and said softly, "We probably won't see him much in the future, so don't worry, there's no need to pretend."
Hongxiu patted her chest in relief, picked up a piece of beef with her chopsticks, and asked in confusion, "The Sixth Prince is such a proud person, why did you deliberately try to provoke him, young master?"
Chen Chu stirred the rice with her chopsticks and said sullenly, "You don't understand."
Ever since he brought her to Jingguo Temple the day before yesterday, she could feel that Pei Yuan was looking at her strangely.
Especially today, he kept bringing up what happened that night, which made her both panicked and terrified.
If she continues to get this close to Pei Yuan, with his intelligence, he will soon discover the truth about that night and then discover the secret of her true gender.
She has not yet sought justice for her father and the Shen family, and she must not let anyone discover her true identity as a woman, otherwise all her efforts will be in vain.
So she deliberately suspected Pei Yuan of being gay, deliberately mentioned the Third Prince, and righteously declared that she was not gay.
Pei Yuan harbored extreme disgust for homosexuals because of the Third Prince.
Her words struck a nerve with Pei Yuan. Given his pride, he would never look at her again.
She succeeded. Pei Yuan not only had no ulterior motives towards her, but all his previous actions were just to amuse himself.
"Actually, you and the Sixth Prince are quite a good match. Look, the young master is warm and righteous, while the Sixth Prince is calm and self-possessed; the young master is intelligent and quick-witted, while the Sixth Prince is steady and decisive."
It's a pity that you, young master, have many things to do and cannot return to your female form; otherwise, I think you two would be a match made in heaven.
Shen Chu tugged at the corners of her mouth, her eyes inexplicably stinging.
"Don't say that, it's impossible between us."
She was an orphan whose family was destroyed, while Pei Yuan was a prince of noble status. Moreover, standing between them was her identity as a woman disguised as a man.
That's fine, she has more important things to do, now is not the time to think about romantic feelings.
Shen Chu put down her chopsticks, took a deep breath, and said, "I'm not eating anymore. Let's go to the Inspectorate for my shift."
In order to retrieve the jade pendant, she specifically asked the Inspectorate for half a day's leave this morning.
"I'm not full yet," Hongxiu muttered softly, tearing off a chicken wing and stuffing it into her mouth. She then grabbed a few pastries and hurriedly chased after him.
Shen Chu arrived at the Inspectorate.
The Dali Temple sent over all the case files the day before yesterday, but she has been busy with the jade pendant matter these past two days and hasn't had time to look at them.
But Li Chengxuan and his men had already sorted and categorized all the files.
When she saw the case file on the shelf belonging to Liangzhou, which read "Case of Liangzhou Prefect Shen Zhixing's Collusion with the Enemy and Treason," she was so excited that her hands trembled.
Finally, they found the father's file.
This was just the first step, but she spent a full ten years preparing for it.
He practiced diligently for ten years, studied hard, and never wore women's clothing for ten years. He always trained and demanded of himself according to the habits of a man.
All of this was so that she could stand upright in the imperial court and openly clear her father's and the Shen family's name.
Father, Mother, don't worry, one day I will remove the traitor label from your head.
Grandfather, grandmother, uncle, aunt, please rest assured, one day I will put the Ning'an Marquis's Mansion signboard back up and let your memorial tablets enter the ancestral hall to enjoy incense offerings.
Shen Chu closed her eyes briefly, suppressing the tears welling up in them, and opened the file in her hand.
The first page is a copy of the emperor's edict: Shen Zhixing, the prefect of Liangzhou, betrayed the country by colluding with the enemy when the Northern Rong invaded. He secretly passed on the Liangzhou defense map to the Northern Rong, which led to the death of the entire Lu family, the Duke of Zhenguo, and the massacre of the entire Liangzhou city.
...All of Shen Zhixing's crimes have been verified. The Ning'an Marquis's family has failed in educating their sons and has betrayed the Emperor's grace. Their titles have been stripped, their property confiscated, all male members of the family have been executed, and the female members have been sold into slavery.
A thin sheet of paper, with just a few lines of text, determined the fate of the Shen family. The once illustrious Ning'an Marquis's Mansion vanished just like that.
She suppressed the sorrow in her heart and turned to the attached evidence, which was a defense map of Liangzhou from ten years ago, as well as six letters to the Northern Rong.
Besides that, there were my father's interrogation records and confessions.
It seems the only way is to start with letters.
After thinking for a moment, Shen Chu put away the files and went to Rongbaozhai.
This is the largest stationery shop in Beijing. In addition to stationery, Rongbaozhai also has a large library.
It is said that there is no brush, ink, paper, inkstone, or book that Rongbaozhai cannot find anywhere in the world.
She couldn't understand the Northern Rong language, so she planned to go to Rongbaozhai to find some books in the Northern Rong language to read.
Upon entering the library, the spacious and tall, spotless bookshelves, and the books piled high with books, truly amazed Chen Chu.
The bookshelves were clearly labeled, and he quickly found the bookshelf related to the Northern Rong.
Just as I was about to tiptoe to reach the book, I heard a low murmur coming from across the street, "Have you heard? Everyone's been talking about Lord Shen and the Sixth Prince all day."
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