"I'm not." Chu Yuanyi shook his head desperately, his eyes were red, and he sobbed, "Brother, please don't think so badly of me, okay? I didn't know you would be hurt, I just wanted my parents to reconcile."

He kept saying the same thing, and Chu Yuanchen became even more disappointed.

If Chu Yuanyi admitted it directly, maybe Chu Yuanchen would think more highly of him. At least he dared to admit it, so he was not too useless.

However, he gave himself so many excuses to wash away his mistakes and refused to admit his mistakes. Perhaps until now, he still felt that he was not wrong. He attributed everything to an accident.

Chu Yuanchen looked down at him, and curled his lips with a smile: "If you really think you are right, why do you do it secretly instead of openly." He said bluntly, "Chu Yuanyi, don't make excuses for yourself. Even you know that you can't do things in a decent way, just like Jiang Ting."

Chu Yuanyi and Jiang Ting are really alike. They look alike, have similar personalities, and act alike. They only ever think about themselves.

His voice became a little sharper: "What do you think of your mother?!"

Chu Yuanyi forgot that he was still kneeling. He was so scared that he subconsciously shrank back and almost fell down.

Chu Yuanchen didn't even change his expression. He shook his sleeves and said, "You can choose between going to the Northern Frontier Palace for three years or staying in the Jiang family from now on. I won't give you a third way. You have to understand one thing. I have the final say in the Zhenbei Palace now."

Chu Yuanyi was full of confusion, and even more so, he was uneasy, afraid... terrified!

Born in the Chu family, he had heard too many stories about how his ancestors died on the battlefield. Even his grandfather's body was not even intact.

He is afraid.

When he was just enlightened, his mother told him to learn martial arts well. Now his older brother is in the northern border, but he is also a boy and cannot always live under his older brother's wings. He should also help his older brother so that the brothers can be of one mind.

But he was afraid. He was afraid that he would die. His elder brother was already there, so why did he have to go?

His father told him that as long as he didn't learn martial arts well, they would not push him to die in vain. His father also asked him to get closer to the eldest prince when he entered the palace. Later, the emperor took him into the palace.

Why do they want to send him to the army now that Big Brother is back? ! Big Brother is enough to lead the troops to fight.

Chu Yuanyi blurted out: "I won't go to the army!"

He bit his lip, his handsome face showing weakness, fear, and persistence.

Chu Yuanchen sighed secretly.

He had originally hoped that Chu Yuanyi could be a little more courageous, but he was overthinking it.

He shook his head and sneered, "No one in the Chu family has ever been afraid of going to the battlefield. Are you a member of the Chu family?"

Chu Yuanchen just said this casually, and Mrs. Jiang quickly said, "Ah Chen, alright, alright, you have scolded him and scolded him. Your brother likes to study. Let him take the imperial examination and become a high-ranking official in the future. It will be the same."

Chu Yuanchen kept his word: "Since this is your own choice, I won't force you."

Even though he just said that Chu Yuanyi should remove his surname Chu and join the army, he would not really ignore him completely.

As long as he was willing to go to the military camp, Chu Yuanchen would naturally have someone take good care of him in private. Chu Yuanchen had the final say over the entire Northern Frontier Army, so it would be easy for him to have people protect him without leaving any trace.

What's more, the war in the northern border has ended, and Chu Yuanyi will basically not be in any major danger in the army. This means that he can use these three years to hone his character.

However, Chu Yuanyi didn't dare to go.

Not only did he not consider joining the army, he also never mentioned going to apologize to his mother, which made Chu Yuanchen very disappointed.

Since he likes the Jiang family so much, there is no need for him to return to the palace.

"Ayan, let's go."

He no longer looked at Chu Yuanyi and the other people in the yard. He turned around without hesitation, matched Sheng Xiyan's pace, and walked out side by side with her.

As soon as Chu Yuanchen left, Mu Bai put away his sword and followed him.

Old Madam Jiang heaved a long sigh of relief, rushed over and pulled up Chu Yuanyi who was still kneeling on the ground, hugged him in her arms and called him "my dearest sweetheart", cursing: "Why is your eldest brother like this? He doesn't even recognize his own brother. It's all because of that Chu family who taught him bad things!"

"Our brother Yi is the young master of the palace, he is honored with his wealth, how can he go to a dirty place like a military camp!"

She spat and wiped the dirt with the tip of her shoe: "We let Yi Ge'er take the surname Chu. We gave them a son for nothing, but the Chu family didn't cherish him. They deserve to be extinct."

Chu Yunyi's knees were sore and numb from kneeling, and he lowered his head and said nothing.

Jiang said indignantly, "Mother, maybe he was afraid that Yi Ge'er would compete with him for the title, so he deliberately took the opportunity to drive Yi Ge'er out of the house. My... our Yi Ke'er is so pitiful."

She took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears, saying, "Chu Yuanchen is still only a prince, so even the emperor must be dissatisfied with him. Our Yi Ge'er is different. He was brought up by the emperor. The title should be given to Yi Ge'er. He must be anxious, so he has to make a big deal out of this trivial matter."

Chu Yunyi raised his head from Old Lady Jiang's arms, his eyes confused, as if asking: Is that so?

"Yes, yes! It must be like this. He wanted to seize the title so he drove Yi'er away. In order to please the Chu family, he even disowned me as his grandmother and betrayed his ancestors." Old Madam Jiang said angrily, "Yi'er, he didn't let you go back, but you refused to go back. Over the years, you have spent more time with Chu than your elder brother. Both parents favor the youngest. As long as you don't go back, Chu will definitely come to find you. Then, we can let her reconcile with your father and let you become a prince. You won't have to live under the control of your elder brother anymore..."

The two of them chattered back and forth.

Chu Yuanyi was a little uneasy at first, but after hearing what they said, he finally calmed down. He wiped away his tears and said angrily, "I'm not going back."

"Yes, brother Yi, don't go back." Old Madam Jiang happily pulled him aside and said, "Let's go in and sit down. Grandma will have someone prepare delicious food for you."

Mrs. Jiang pulled him to the main hall affectionately, and said to Jiang: "Hurry up and prepare dinner, and ask A Ya to tidy up Yi'er's room. From now on, Yi'er will live in our house."

Jiang was overjoyed: "I'll go now!"

"Aya! Aya!"

As soon as Jiang came out of the main hall, she started shouting loudly, so loud that the whole house could hear it.

Chu Yuanyi felt a little embarrassed, and his fingers were tightly clenched together.

"Brother Yi, you haven't seen Ah Ya yet, right? She is the same age as you, and she is your..." As Mrs. Jiang was speaking, Jiang rushed in from outside again, and said in a panic, "Mother, Ah Ya is missing."

"What!" Old Mrs. Jiang's face changed.

Because Chu Yuanyi was coming, they locked Jiang Ya in the woodshed in advance. How could she suddenly disappear?

Old Madam Jiang slammed the table and said angrily, "I asked you to keep an eye on her."

"I watched her! I never let her go out alone after we arrived in the capital." Jiang felt very wronged. "This little bitch must have taken advantage of the chaos just now when no one was watching her, so she ran away. When I catch her back, I will break her legs."

"Go find her quickly!" Mrs. Jiang said anxiously, "You didn't say anything nonsense in front of her, did you?"

"Mom, don't worry, I didn't say anything, she won't get far!"

Jiang did not delay and ran out in a hurry. After going out, he looked left and right and saw a black flat-roofed carriage turning around the alley and disappearing from his sight.

Jiang thought about it and looked in another direction.

After turning out of the alley, the carriage took Sheng Xiyan back to the Sheng Mansion and stopped in front of the door.

Chu Yuanchen jumped off the carriage, pulled Wuti over and said, "I'll go back first."

"Your shoulders." Sheng Xiyan pointed at his shoulders, "And your back, remember to see a good doctor."

The bones are not broken, but there will definitely be bruises, so I still need to apply medicated wine.

Chu Yuanchen responded happily and waved to her.

He watched the gate of Sheng Mansion close, then he rode his horse back to the mansion, told Jingle everything, and said, "When I saw Jiang Ting appear, I knew that the carriage incident was related to him. He is not in the palace now, and the only one who can do something to the carriage is Chu Yuanyi. He came here at such a coincidence, he must have been keeping an eye on the palace, I remember you told us last night that you would go out today."

Jingle was originally planning to go out, but changed her mind because Sheng Xiyan came.

"After doing something like this, Chu Yuanyi must be too guilty to come back. Where can he hide?"

Therefore, Chu Yuanchen simply went straight to the Jiang family. Otherwise, if Jiang Ting went back first, he would not be caught red-handed.

"I asked Chu Yuanyi to choose between going to the military camp or staying in the Jiang family. He refused to go to the military camp, so I told him not to come back."

Jingle's mind had calmed down. Hearing this, she just nodded and said nothing.

"Mom." Chu Yuanchen said soothingly, "Chu Yuanyi should also experience some hardship. He can't be raised to be so naive."

"It's up to you." Jingle smiled and said, "I believe you."

Her Ah Chen was not a cold person, he was rational, sensible, and knew what to do. She didn't need to say more.

Jingle felt a little uncomfortable, not because of Chu Yuanchen, but because of Chu Yuanyi.

Jingle smiled bitterly and said, "I didn't teach him well..."

She couldn't understand. She really taught Chu Yuanyi very hard, hoping that Chu Yuanyi would become Chu Yuanchen's arm and helper one day. From courtesy, righteousness, honesty and shame to filial piety, brotherhood, loyalty and trustworthiness, she taught him everything she should have. Except for the three years he spent in the palace and the most difficult years after his father's death, she really did her best.

Teach him right and wrong, black and white, tell him about the Chu family’s predicament, their loyal and brave ancestors, and his responsibilities.

Why did they raise him to be like this, irresponsible and self-righteous!

It would be a lie to say that Jingle didn't feel sad.

She calmed down and said, "Achen, I have thought about it carefully these days...why Jiang Ting knew that the emperor wanted us to die in the Zhenbei Palace."

Four years ago, after the news of the old prince's death reached the capital, Jingle knew that the Zhenbei Palace would have an extremely difficult time for some time.

At that time, she had a long talk with Chu Yuanyi, telling him all about the difficulties of the palace, hoping that he could understand and grow up.

"Maybe that's what Yi Ge'er and Jiang Ting said."

Many thoughts flashed across Jingle's peach blossom eyes, and her expression became a little more bitter.

In their more than 20 years of marriage, she had never deliberately concealed the truth from Jiang Ting, but she had never spoken to him seriously about it either.

The other people in the mansion had already reached a tacit understanding and would not talk about this matter casually.

It was at that time that she had a frank talk with Chu Yuanyi.

Four years ago, Jiang Ting poisoned her with the Heart-Eroding Grass.

These days, she thought about it carefully and couldn't help but think about the connection between the two things. Then, the more she thought about it, the more heartbroken she became.

Now Chu Yuanyi tampered with her carriage, called the Jiang family grandmother, and would rather stay in the Jiang family than go to the barracks...all these things didn't seem so difficult to accept.

"Forget it, let's not talk about him anymore." Jingle calmed down and said, "Go and ask a good doctor to take a look. You need to apply some golden medicine on your shoulder."

Chu Yuanchen responded with a smile.

Jingle said helplessly: "Don't take it lightly. You'll be getting married in a few months. If you get all blemishes on your body, be careful that your wife will dislike you."

Chu Yuanchen suddenly became serious, quickly responded "Okay, okay", and ran out.

The curtain was lifted high and then dropped heavily, and in a moment, he disappeared.

"Princess." Nanny Lan said comfortingly, "At least we still have the prince."

"Yeah. At least we still have Ah Chen. I don't expect Chu Yuanyi to figure it out. If he really wants to go back to the Jiang family..." Jingle closed his eyes and said in a heavy tone, "Then go back. I can't force him to do anything."

Jingle felt that she was no match for her father. Her father had raised Chen so well all by himself, but she had failed to teach Yi well. If her father were still alive, he would be very upset with her.

Nanny Lan didn't know what to say, she just filled her cup of calming tea and urged her to drink a few more sips.

Chu Yuanchen told Chu Yuanyi not to go back to the Chu family, and he really didn't come back for three days. At the beginning, Jingle was a little lucky that Chu Yuanyi would understand, but later, she was extremely disappointed.

To use Jingle's words, since he looks down on the surname Chu, then he doesn't deserve the surname Chu!

In the past few days, although the emperor returned to Beijing, he still did not attend the court. If you count carefully, he has been absent from court for four days. No one has seen the emperor for four days, which really makes people panic. In the court, there are more and more discussions, and some people even secretly collude in private. The court is shrouded in an atmosphere of uneasiness.

Sheng Xingan's enthusiasm for following the emperor had long been extinguished by Sheng Xiyan's cold response. He went to the government office with an indifferent face every day. He ignored all the hints from others and acted like a loyal patriot. He was really annoyed, so he simply took a day off and stayed at home to ease the pain of missing out on the opportunity to follow the emperor. He also checked the dowry that Liu had prepared for Sheng Xiyan.

Liu had reviewed this dowry list many times, and it had been rejected by him at least three times. This time, she was extremely cautious, and considered everything carefully several times, including what to pay attention to and what not to pay attention to, before carefully handing it over.

Sheng Xingan took the dowry list, read it carefully twice, and finally nodded when Liu looked anxious.

Liu heaved a sigh of relief. According to the list, the dowry would cost at least 20,000 taels of silver.

The Sheng family was not wealthy to begin with, and they had only just risen to prominence since the old lady of the previous generation. These 20,000 taels of silver plus the 20,000 taels that Sheng Xing'an gave to Sheng Xiyan a while ago, even if they did not empty the Sheng family, at least half of it was gone. Liu felt distressed just thinking about it.

However, Sheng Xingan has been interested in Sheng Xiyan recently. She has suffered several losses and doesn't dare to have any bad thoughts.

Mrs. Liu put away the dowry list and said with a smile on her face: "I will buy it according to this." She paused and then said, "Master, I heard that yesterday the Queen Mother sent an aunt to the Yongning Marquis Mansion. Today. Mrs. Yongning Hou said that the last appointment was due to Sheng's serious illness and Zhao Yuanrou was filial. She has chosen a new auspicious day and will go to the Zhao family for another appointment. "Sir, do you want to go?"

Sheng Xingan raised his eyebrows.

"You go ahead." Sheng Xingan said, "They do things without rules, but our Sheng family is different."

Liu actually didn't want to go because she felt it was embarrassing.

The news that Zhao Yuanrou was entangled between Prince Zhao and Zhou Jingxun had spread all over the capital. The last time Zhao Yuanrou stayed in the palace for a few days, she received a lot of gifts, and there were also some rumors in the capital that she was going to enter the palace. As a result, now she is going to marry into the Yongning Marquis's mansion. With such a constant coming and going, it has quickly become a topic of conversation.

Mrs. Liu is now somewhat thankful that she did not let Zhao Yuanrou inherit the throne, otherwise her children's future marriages would definitely be affected.

"I have prepared gifts," she had prepared them the last time the Yongning Marquis's residence went to propose marriage, but unfortunately they were not used, "I will go there early tomorrow morning."

This auspicious day was set in such a hurry, it was obviously picked at random. If Zhao Yuanrou ran away secretly again this time, the Empress Dowager would most likely be angry and might even punish him with a ten-foot-long white silk.

Liu didn't know whether she wanted to see Zhao Yuanrou run away or not. Anyway, when she arrived at Zhao's house that day, Zhao Yuanrou was sitting in the main hall of her own courtyard. There were two strange maids standing on both sides who were not smiling. It was said that they were sent by the Queen Mother.

Zhao Yuanrou had a blank expression on her face the entire time, without any sign of joy. Seeing her lifeless look, Liu muttered in her heart: People who know will know that she is proposing marriage, and people who don't will think she is mourning.

Zhao Yuanrou had a stern face and said nothing. The relatives who came to congratulate him were somewhat at a loss as to what to do and sat there awkwardly until someone came to report that the betrothal gift from the Yongning Marquis's Mansion had arrived.

In order to ease the embarrassment, they went to Yimen in twos and threes to see the betrothal gifts.

"aunt."

Finally, Zhao Yuanrou spoke, called Liu, and said her first words of the day.

The others continued to go out, and Liu stopped and looked at her in confusion.

"Please tell Cousin Yan when you go back," Zhao Yuanrou said, "My fate is in my own hands."

Her chin was raised high, and her face without makeup looked a little haggard, but her eyes were still proud and intimidating.

The emperor was untrustworthy, the empress dowager was aggressive, and Zhou Jingxun was incompetent and cowardly. The reason she had come to this point was not because she was inferior to Sheng Xiyan, but because she was not lucky enough.

"She doesn't have to rush to see my jokes."

Liu: “…”

At this moment, even Mrs. Liu felt a little speechless. Sheng Xiyan had no time to watch her laugh. She had wanted to ask Sheng Xiyan if she wanted to come along today, but Sheng Xiyan was busy accompanying Cheng Chuyu to register for the girls' school and had no interest at all.

Liu was actually a little confused. Didn't Zhao Yuanrou want to get close to Zhou Jingxun? Otherwise, why would she want to snatch her cousin's marriage? Now that she got what she wanted, why is she unhappy? She looked like everyone owed her something, but she didn't feel guilty.

Liu curled her lips and said with a smile: "Cousin, if you are well-behaved, this marriage has nothing to do with you. You know best how this marriage came about. Our sister Yan will be a high and mighty princess in the future. How can she have the time to watch you make fun of her? Cousin, you should behave yourself and don't make a fool of yourself in the whole capital like you did last time."

Zhao Yuanrou: "You..."

As a result, Liu's words hit the mark. As soon as she finished speaking, a maid ran over in a hurry, panting and saying, "Miss, His Royal Highness Prince Zhao is here."

Liu's eyes lit up and she thought: Is this going to be fun?

Zhao Yuanrou was stunned and couldn't believe it: "What is he doing here?"

The maid said hesitantly, "King Zhao said that you are not allowed to sign a marriage certificate with Prince Zhou."

The two maids in the main room looked at each other, unable to believe their ears.

They were both sent by the Queen Mother to prevent Zhao Yuanrou from making any more mistakes and to ensure that the marriage certificate could be signed smoothly today. But why did His Royal Highness Prince Zhao come here?

Zhao Yuanrou was a little moved. Everyone was forcing her, but Qin Wei was the only one who protected her. Only Qin Wei was devoted to her.

She stood up suddenly and said, "I'll go out and take a look..."

"Miss Zhao, please stay."

The nannies called her with a wry smile, one of them walked over quickly, grabbed her shoulders and pushed her onto the chair, while the other one held a ruler and watched from a distance.

A fierce look flashed across Zhao Yuanrou's eyes, and she struggled desperately.

The nanny was much stronger than her and she was a foster nanny from the palace. She pinched the acupoint on her shoulder with her fingers. The next moment, she felt numb and weak all over.

"girl!"

Another maid came in in a panic: "Miss, Miss! Prince Zhou is here."

Zhao Yuanrou was even more surprised. She laughed at herself and murmured, "Why is he here? Doesn't he want to ignore me anymore?"

The maid gasped and continued, "Prince Zhou...he, he and King Zhao had a fight."

Mrs. Liu was simply dumbfounded. What was going on?

The maids were too embarrassed to listen. They had done their job in such a disgraceful manner, and they would surely be punished by the Queen Mother when they returned to the palace.

Liu couldn't help but look at Zhao Yuanrou again. Zhao Yuanrou was good-looking, but she was not the kind of woman who could conquer a country or a city. How could she be so charming to two men?

She couldn't figure it out, so she gave up thinking about it and couldn't wait to go to the front to see the excitement.

It is conceivable that after today, there will be a lot more negotiating materials in the capital, and she has to go and take a look.

Liu was too lazy to care about Zhao Yuanrou anymore, so she picked up her skirt and ran out without stopping.

Just as Liu had expected, the farce at the Zhao Mansion became widely known that day, attracting many people to come and watch the fun. The gate of the Zhao Mansion was surrounded by a crowd of people.

Word spread quickly, and soon it spread throughout the capital. Even Cheng Chuyu, who was enrolling in a girls' school, heard about it.

Cheng Chuyu was very excited. With the spirit of "seeing the excitement", she didn't even go to the street with Lian Hua. After graduating from the girls' school, she got on the carriage and ran straight over.

There were already quite a few people gathered in front of the Zhao residence. Cheng Chuyu poked her head out to take a look and asked with great interest, "Sister Yan, are you really not going?"

"No."

Sheng Xiyan thought it was too crowded and had no interest in Zhao Yuanrou's affairs. She came here to accompany her, so she just said, "You go. I'll wait for you here and make some flower tea."

Cheng Chuyu clapped his hands and smiled, jumped off the carriage, took his maid with him, and went to watch the excitement happily.

Sheng Xiyan lowered the curtain with a smile, asked Xigui to light the small red clay stove in the corner of the carriage, and took out a small jar of scented tea that she had made herself.

Just as she was about to open the scented tea, the curtain of the carriage was suddenly opened forcefully from the outside. A little girl of about eleven or twelve jumped onto the carriage quickly while looking vigilantly behind her, and then lowered the curtain again.

She was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when she turned around and discovered that there was someone else in the carriage!

The two looked at each other, and the little girl's beautiful peach blossom eyes widened.