Chapter 877: The beloved cousin escaped from control (3)
No matter how many excuses Zhou Yizhuo had to coax Du Shichu to live with the Zhou family, Du Shichu could always use the emperor as an excuse to reject his proposal, which made Zhou Yizhuo feel aggrieved and annoyed. However, he could not object, so he was very anxious. He did not forget that before he came, his mother reminded him that he must keep this princess cousin firmly under the control of the Zhou family no matter what, so that she could bring benefits to the Zhou family. But now all his efforts were in vain, which made him very frustrated.
What made him even more frustrated was that he never found any opportunity to meet Du Shichu alone again until he entered Kyoto. Du Shichu was always surrounded by the emperor's people. He was extremely anxious, but there was nothing he could do.
Finally, Du Shichu returned to the Princess's Mansion and settled down. He thanked Zhou Yizhu and said that it was not appropriate for him to stay during the mourning period, so he sent him away politely.
Zhou Yizhuo was very upset that he failed to coax Du Shichu to go to Zhou's house, so he had to go home dejectedly.
"Brother Zhu, where is your cousin? Why can't I see her?" Zhou Yizhuo's mother, Liu, Du Shichu's aunt, had received the news early and was waiting in the living room. She naturally thought that Du Shichu would follow Zhou Yizhuo back to the Zhou family, but she didn't expect that she looked behind her son for a long time and couldn't find the princess, so she asked anxiously.
"Mom, my cousin didn't come back with me. She went straight back to the princess's mansion." Zhou Yizhu touched his nose and said embarrassedly.
"What? Didn't I remind you a long time ago that you must coax your cousin to live with us? How come you can't even handle such a small matter?" Upon hearing this, Liu's eyebrows raised, and the kind expression she had pretended to have before suddenly turned harsh.
"Mom, it's not that I didn't try to coax her, but she just didn't want to come. She said it was not good to stay at someone else's house during the mourning period and it would disturb others. I told her we wouldn't mind, but she just didn't want to. What could I do? Besides, I didn't have many chances to talk to her alone along the way. I tried my best, and you can't blame me if I didn't succeed..." Zhou Yizhui hurriedly explained.
"Do you know how important she is to our family? Your father is only a fourth-rank official! Fourth-rank officials are as common as dogs in the capital. If there is no special situation, he will only be a fourth-rank official for his whole life! And you, you can't even pass the imperial examination now. If you don't have opportunities, what will you do in the future? You are not even as good as your father..." Liu was very disappointed. "Your cousin is the opportunity I found for our Zhou family. Her father is the lifesaver of His Majesty. His Majesty will definitely pay attention to her. As long as she lives in our house, do you still have to worry about the future of your father, you and your brothers and sisters? But you can't even fool a little girl. I am really disappointed!"
Liu's words made Zhou Yizu blush and he lowered his head in silence. Of course he knew how important Du Shichu was to their family, but wasn't it because he failed to coax him over?
"But fortunately, she will live in the capital and will not leave, so we still have a chance. Tomorrow, as her cousin, I will visit her in person and get closer to her. I believe that as a girl who lost her mother at a young age, she still longs for her mother's love, and I will treat her as my own daughter and love her..." Liu squinted and said in a low voice, with a sharp light flashing in her eyes.
She had been jealous of Liu Jingshu since she was a child, because Liu Jingshu was the eldest daughter of the main branch of the Liu family and had been spoiled since childhood, while she was only a girl from the side branch and her parents favored boys over girls. The situations between the two were very different. She would only see this spoiled cousin during the New Year holidays, and she would be jealous every time she saw her.
Later, Liu Jingshu was noticed by the King of Qi, who was still the Crown Prince at that time. He fell in love with her at first sight and asked to marry her as his princess. After marriage, he only wanted her to be his wife and even refused to take a concubine even though she only gave birth to a daughter. As for Liu herself, she tried every means to marry a poor student and worked hard to be a good wife to her husband. However, her husband still wanted to take a concubine, and she had to fight with the concubine and the illegitimate son.
Fortunately, Liu Jingshu died early, and King Qi also died early, leaving behind an orphan girl who was only twelve years old. Then Liu Jingwen could finally hold her head high and could unceremoniously use Liu Jingshu's daughter as a stepping stone for her own success!
Liu Jingshu, if you want to blame someone, you can only blame the fact that you and your wife died too early. Your daughter happened to be favored by the emperor, so you can't blame me for taking advantage of her...
When Liu thought about how she would coax Liu Jingshu's precious daughter into obeying her in the future, she couldn't help but feel an incomparable sense of joy in her heart.
Liu Jingshu, it seems that I am the one who has the last laugh. So what if you are lucky? The only daughter left behind can only be a stepping stone for me? !
She seemed to have already seen herself stepping on Du Shichu.
Du Shichu didn't know that her cheap aunt had already arranged her future clearly. Even if she knew, if she didn't cooperate, what could she do?
The princess's mansion had been cleaned and arranged early by servants sent by the emperor, so when she arrived at the mansion, she felt that everything was in place, as if someone had always lived in the mansion. From this, she could see that the emperor still valued her very much.
After a night's rest, Du Shichu regained her spirit. The emperor did not let her enter the palace yesterday because he felt sorry for her fatigue from the long journey, but today she had to go to the palace no matter what.
Of course, she was not worried that something bad would happen to her after entering the palace. After all, anyone with a brain would not cause trouble for her. After all, she was just an orphan. Even if the emperor valued her, he would not harm the interests of others. On the contrary, if you make friends with her, you will get benefits.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May your Majesty be well and safe." Du Shichu paid great tribute to the emperor. The emperor quickly said that there was no need to be so polite, and had a chair brought to her and asked her to sit down. Then he asked about her situation with a caring look on his face.
"Chu'er, don't be nervous, just treat this palace as your own home. Your father is my savior. Before he left, he asked me to take care of you. I will certainly not let him down. Chu'er, why don't you move into the palace? I am worried about you living alone outside the palace. If you live in the palace, the empress dowager and the queen will take care of you. I also have several daughters who can accompany you. You can live in peace and contentment in the palace..." The emperor was very amiable. It was obvious that he sincerely hoped that Du Shichu would live in the palace so that he could take better care of her.
However, Du Shichu did not agree. Instead, he took a step back and said, "Your Majesty, I appreciate your concern for me, but I was used to being free and undisciplined when I was in the palace, and I may not be able to adapt to the life in the palace. Moreover, I am in the period of mourning now, and it would be bad if I offended the nobles in the palace. Of course, if Your Majesty is really worried, I can live in the palace for a few months a year, or a few days a month. What do you think?"
(End of this chapter)
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