She was clearly just smiling, and her tone was coquettish, but for some reason, Shen felt that her daughter's smile seemed a little sinister, and she didn't know what bad intentions she was up to.

This girl! Shen raised her hand and touched her daughter's rosy cheek. She knew that Chu Qianchen had done a lot of things in secret, and she also knew that her daughter was not as harmless as she looked.

Chu Qianchen has her own standard in her heart. Whether before or after her life story was revealed, she has her own set of principles when treating her biological mother, Chu Yunyi, Chu Yunmu, or other brothers and sisters of the Chu family. She will not vent her anger on them, nor will she treat them unfairly.

Be able to take it and put it down.

This was his father's evaluation of Chu Qianchen. Shen thought it was very appropriate.

Her daughter is fine, really fine.

Just by looking at her daughter, Shen felt her heart soften and wanted to be nicer to her.

She peeled an orange, removed the orange peel, and fed a slice to Chu Qianchen first, saying, "It's hard to go from extravagance to frugality. The New Year is coming soon, and I guess they will still be making a fuss. Even if the third branch officially gets the title of prince in the future, it will only be a superficial glory." Prince Jing's mansion had been emptied.

While Chu Qianchen was chewing the sweet and sour orange slices in his mouth, he thought to himself: Why is my mother just like the prince, always liking to feed her?

Chu Qianchen agreed with what Shen said: "Actually, the title is nothing."

The Great Qi Dynasty has been around for a hundred years. Jokingly speaking, apart from big surnames like Zhao, Qian, Sun and Li, the most common surname in the capital is Gu. There is no shortage of impoverished royal families, such as those who live in two- or three-story houses with their entire families, and the number of those mansions that rely on clan residences for their livelihood cannot be counted on one’s fingers.

In the past, Chu Qianchen didn't care about these things and didn't bother to pay attention to them. It was only recently when she heard from the Princess of Li that she realized that nearly half of the royal family members in the Great Qi Dynasty were having a hard time.

It's really boring.

Shen responded and stuffed a tangerine peel into her mouth. Her eyes became a little blurry, as if she was thinking about something.

Perhaps it was because Shen Wan said at the beginning that the divorce was too thrilling. Later, when Gu Jin proposed to resign his title, Shen and Duke Mu and his wife were shocked, but also felt that it was not a bad idea.

Later, it was another unexpected surprise that Shen Wan and Gu Jin received nearly 70% of the property when they divided the family business.

After Gu Jin resigned, the three of them were free from worries and lived better and better lives. Now when Shen went to see her sister, Shen Wan always had a smile on her face. Gu Zhiyan was also getting better. She had recovered from her addiction to talisman water. However, she still had to take care of her absence disorder, step by step.

Shen witnessed with her own eyes how her sister and brother-in-law's family worked together to overcome the dark difficulties. As they broke out of the cocoon, Shen's ideas began to change invisibly.

"The title" looks glorious, but is it necessarily a good thing? ! Shen said with emotion: "It is still more important to have a promising future than a title."

Given Gu Ming's character, even if the title of Prince was in his hands, it would be nothing more than an empty title. The decline of Prince Jing's Mansion was already doomed.

Therefore, Prince Li and his wife would not meddle in the affairs of this family.

Shen was biting the orange segments absentmindedly. She didn't remove the orange peel from the orange segments she ate, so after eating them, she felt a hint of bitterness in her mouth and frowned slightly, but she still swallowed it.

Whether it is the people from Prince Jing's Mansion or the people from Marquis Yongding's Mansion, they are all the same.

If the Chu family could raise the issue themselves, why would they dare not speak out in front of her, be humble and act like they were "compromising"?

Chu Qianchen also started peeling oranges, squinting his eyes and smiling at Shen.

Shen trapped her heart in an iron cage, and also trapped herself in the Yongding Marquis Mansion. Chu Qianchen could see that the hard cage in Shen's heart already had the slightest crack.

Shen gradually softened and was no longer as stubborn as before.

Well, take your time.

The prince is so patient. She was taught by him, so of course she can’t be inferior to him.

"Mom, open your mouth."

Shen, who was lost in thought, heard Chu Qianchen's voice and subconsciously opened her mouth. A plump orange petal was stuffed into her mouth. She took a light bite and the dry and juicy taste filled her mouth, without the bitter taste of orange peel.

A gentle smile appeared on Shen's lips again, and then Chu Qianchen said, "Mother, is Brother Yi not here today? I remember that the Imperial College should be closed today, right?"

Shen said helplessly, "The Imperial College is closed today, but Brother Yi won't give himself a day off."

"Every spring, the emperor will review the imperial guards. This time, the Ministry of War plans to recruit several students from the Imperial College to participate in the spring military exercise. Brother Yi is very concerned about this matter. Today, he has made an appointment with his classmates from the Imperial College to practice horse riding and archery together..."

"The candidate should be decided before the New Year. Recently, Brother Yi has been training every day and comes home very late every day."

"Brother Yi works too hard. Sometimes I can't help but want him to slow down and learn from Brother Mu."

Shen couldn't help but sigh and jokingly mentioned Chu Yunmu.

"Learn what from me?!"

A loud and somewhat childish voice floated in from outside the curtain. The next moment, the door curtain was rudely lifted up and then dropped down, and a hurried figure rushed in like a curtain rolled up by a gust of wind.

The boy, wearing a mink-lined jacket, is full of energy. His cheeks have a healthy blush from running. He looks high-spirited and smiling. He is as energetic as he can be.

As soon as Chu Yunmu came back, it was like there were several more sparrows in the room. The room suddenly became lively and full of energy.

"Mother, this is Chu Qianchen." Chu Yunmu greeted the two of them warmly and asked impatiently, "What do you want to learn from me?"

When he asked, his eyes were particularly bright, even a little proud, as if to say, I knew I was your favorite Brother Mu.

Chu Qianchen stretched out his finger and flicked his forehead lightly, teasing him: "I will learn how to be playful like you, how to play with cats and birds like you."

Chu Yunmu felt that he was more wronged than Dou E, and defended himself seriously: "I don't have a cat or a bird!" The most he did was to set up a bird trap to catch sparrows, but after catching one, he would play with it for a while and then let it go.

Chu Yunmu blinked his black and white phoenix eyes and looked at Shen with anticipation on his face.

Or did his mother finally change her mind and allow him to have a cat similar to Yueying?

Shen understood the look in his eyes and stuffed two orange peels into his mouth, making his cheeks puff up like a goldfish.

What I mean is, if he indulges in these things, he should forget about it.

Chu Yunmu ate an orange while mumbling, "When I came here just now, I saw my elder sister coming over here too, and I even said hello to her."

He thought Chu Qianhuang was walking too slowly, so he ran over first.

As soon as Chu Yunmu shut up, the warm room became quiet, and the only sound was the crackling of the red charcoal fire in the charcoal basin.

Shen: “…”

Chu Qianchen: “…”

Shen took a sip of tea from her cup, then turned her gaze to the door curtain that was still trembling. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she ordered, "Dongmei, have someone wait outside. If the young lady really comes, I will disappear."

Shen didn't want to see Chu Qianhuang.

She had already said many times what she should have said, and she also said the nonsense that she shouldn't have said just now after the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict left.

As I said, if Chu Qianhuang wants to get married, then just get married.

"Yes, ma'am." Dongmei immediately took the order and went out.

Dongmei walked around several screens and passed through several door curtains and came to the main room. As soon as she stepped over the threshold, she saw a familiar figure appear at the entrance of the yard, walking towards her on a pile of fallen leaves.

The girl has an elegant posture and a bright smile, just like a lotus emerging from water. One can't help but admire her for her graceful demeanor and elegance.

Dongmei greeted Chu Qianhuang with her eyes, and Chu Qianhuang's eyes flashed faintly and he also looked at Dongmei.

When Chu Qianhuang walked down the stairs, Dongmei also walked down the stairs lightly and bowed: "Miss, please go back. Madam doesn't want to see you."

Even though the mother and daughter are now at odds, Dongmei and the others still treat Chu Qianhuang politely and never show the slightest disrespect.

But the speaker may not have any intention, but the listener may take it to heart.

When Chu Qianhuang's status in the Marquis' Mansion changed, she developed a natural hostility towards the servants in the main courtyard. She felt that all the servants here looked down on her and were laughing at her.

Chu Qianhuang stared at Dongmei quietly for a while, without intending to force his way in, and without saying anything, he turned around resolutely and left.

The moment she turned around and took another step, her expression became cold, her eyes froze into ice, and a faint chill emanated from her whole body.

That’s right. Chu Qianchen had just arrived. The Shen family puts their two children first in everything. How could they let me go in and cause trouble for Chu Qianchen? That’s how human nature is.

She came here just to sound out Shen's intentions and see what kind of "dowry" Shen would prepare for her. She was about to go to Hao State, and she would have some money in her hand, so she could settle down there as soon as possible when she arrived in Hao State.

The journey was a long one, and Nan Hao was unfamiliar with the place, so she had to prepare a lot of things...

Chu Qianhuang quickened her pace against the wind and walked out of the courtyard at a brisk pace.

In the winter courtyard, camellias and plum blossoms are in full bloom, and the green bamboos are still lush and green. Although it is not as lively as spring and summer, it does not appear bleak either.

But Chu Qianhuang just wanted to leave this place as soon as possible. She felt that every object and scene here would arouse the resentment in her heart, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.

Everything here is fake.

She was not Shen's daughter, and the family affection that she once felt warmed her heart was also false.

She rushed out of the courtyard in one breath, then stopped at the entrance of the courtyard, looked up at the slightly gloomy sky, took two deep breaths in succession, and the feeling of almost suffocation was dispelled a little.

After a long time, he slowly withdrew his gaze and turned to look towards the main courtyard again.

Outside the main room, it was empty and Dongmei was no longer there.

The courtyard was silent.

Chu Qianhuang touched his chest, where there was still a slight dull pain and unwillingness.

Her "dowry" had been prepared long ago, but Shen gave it all to Chu Qianchen, saying that Chu Qianchen's wedding date was too urgent.

If their identities were reversed, would Shen "move" Chu Qianchen's dowry to herself? !

The answer is obvious.

Shen was indeed partial! Since Shen didn't care about the relationship between mother and daughter and treated her like this, then she didn't need to be polite.

Chu Qianhuang clenched his fists and made up his mind.

She was leaving soon, and before she left, she should also make things difficult for the Shen family, lest the Shen family, who was now so powerful and powerful in the mansion, even ignored her grandmother, which was simply disrespectful! Thinking of the lady's love for her, Chu Qianhuang's heart softened by three points, and she sighed quietly.

The ties between people are ultimately inseparable from blood. The Lady Dowager is her biological grandmother, so naturally she treats her differently than Shen.

Chu Qianhuang's eyes were cold and she turned her head back.

She walked forward slowly, but this time she went towards Yueluyuan.

She silently calculated in her mind: when she arrived in Nanhao, she would have to buy a house, hire servants, do some small business, and also look for someone... She would need to have at least 10,000 taels of silver on hand.

besides--

That compound bow wasn't enough.

Chu Qianhuang knew clearly that she had to show greater value, otherwise, after taking away the blueprints and testing the compound bow, the people of Nanhao might really treat her as a concubine and trap her in the East Palace of Hao State. Then she would become a canary with clipped wings.

She would never allow herself to fall into that lowly position.

Just thinking about it, Chu Qianhuang felt a sense of suffocation spreading in her heart again, but her eyes burst into a burning edge and her eyebrows were fiery.

The cold wind blew her hair back in a messy manner, adding a sense of awe-inspiring and inviolable beauty to her.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Suddenly, a maidservant not far away shouted excitedly: "It's snowing! It's snowing again!"

It had indeed begun to snow again. Goose-feather-like snowflakes fluttered down, landing on the treetops, the eaves, the walls, and on Chu Qianhuang's raccoon fur-studded cloak.

The snow was getting heavier and heavier, and it was white outside. Soon, a thin layer of snow accumulated on the ground, and the weather became even colder.

When Chu Qianchen had lunch and left the Marquis' Mansion, she had a gourd-shaped enamel sleeve stove in her hand and was wearing a white mink cloak given to her by Shen. She was wrapped tightly like a big fluffy white rabbit.

The carriage was also warm, with charcoal being burned in the charcoal stove in advance.

As soon as Chu Qianchen got on the carriage, he closed his eyes and rested. His head nodded slowly as the carriage moved, and he seemed to have fallen asleep for a while in a daze.

It was not until the carriage slowed down and lost its rhythmic shaking that Chu Qianchen suddenly woke up.

Noticing that she was awake, Amber immediately said softly, "Princess, we have arrived at the palace. You can close your eyes for a while."

Chu Qianchen yawned sleepily, tears welled up around his eyes. He rubbed his eyes and heard the sound of the corner door opening outside the carriage.

The wheels slowly turned forward two or three times, then suddenly stopped.

Chu Qianchen's body swayed again, and Amber silently put her hand between the back of Chu Qianchen's head and the wall of the car, fearing that she would hit her head.

A corner of the curtain was lifted up by someone from the outside, and the calloused honey-colored hand was obviously Jiang Yuan's.

"Princess, it seems to be Princess Jingle." Jiang Yuan's voice, which was usually calm, now revealed a rare indescribable tone.

Chu Qianchen blinked again, and all his sleepiness disappeared in an instant, and he woke up completely.

"Where are the people?" she asked, moving towards the car window.

Jiang Yuan took a step back, opened the curtains a little more with one hand, and pointed to a stone lion in front of the palace gate with his other hand.

A stone lion, as tall as a person, squatted majestically beside the doorstep, its eyes like copper bells wide open, its mouth slightly open, looking very imposing.

Chu Qianchen looked carefully and realized that Jiang Yuan was not referring to the stone lion, but a person hiding behind the stone lion.

Jingle, wearing a black cloak, sat behind the huge stone lion. She had on a hood and no umbrella. She just sat there quietly, alone, with neither a nanny nor a palace maid by her side.

She huddled up in her wide cloak, her hands hugging her calves, her chin resting on her knees, her eyes in a trance.

It was obvious that she had been sitting there for some time. Her black cloak was covered with a thin layer of white snow, and her body was mostly hidden by the huge stone lion.

If Jiang Yuan hadn't always had a sharp eye, he might have missed it.

Chu Qianchen looked at Jingle's profile and felt that she looked like a wounded cub, so pitiful.

After Chu Qianchen gave an order, he got off the carriage with the help of Jiang Yuan and walked into Jingle.

"Jingle."

When the two were less than two meters apart, Chu Qianchen called out softly.

Jingle didn't move at first. After a long while, he seemed to come to his senses and slowly turned his head to look over, as if he was rusty.

When Chu Qianchen looked at her carefully, he found that Jingle's eyebrows and eyelashes were covered with snowflakes.

"..." Jingle's eyes were a little dazed, and there was no blood on her pale face. She pulled the corners of her mouth and wanted to smile, but this smile seemed extremely tired and bitter. She shouted, "Ninth Emperor's sister-in-law..."

As soon as she uttered the last word, her body swayed slightly, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted from exhaustion, falling to one side...

Jiang Yuan moved very quickly and caught Jingle before she fell to the ground.

Chu Qianchen ordered: "Help her onto the carriage."

Jiang Yuan did not call anyone else. Although she looked slender, she was actually very strong. She easily picked up the unconscious Jingle by the waist, and the cloak hood on Jingle's head fell off.

In less than half a cup of tea, the carriage carrying Chu Qianchen and Jingle entered through the east corner gate of Prince Chen's Mansion.

Jingle was placed by Jiang Yuan on a thick leather mattress, lying on her side, but she still did not wake up.

"Amber, help Princess Jingle wipe her face." Chu Qianchen ordered.

Jingle's face looked pale and haggard, with a deep dark shadow in her eye sockets. The snow on her eyebrows and eyelashes turned into water droplets when it met the heat in the carriage, and flowed down her cheeks, as if she was crying silently.

The snow melted on her cloak, making it wet, icy and cold.

Amber first helped Jingle take off her cloak, then lifted a few strands of hair covering Jingle's cheek, took out a frost-white handkerchief and carefully wiped her face, only to see that there was a swelling on her smooth forehead, and a dried blood mark.

Amber took a breath and exclaimed: "Princess, look at His Highness's forehead..."

Chu Qianchen leaned over to look at Jingle's forehead and roughly guessed that she must have bumped into the corner of a table or chair to get injured like this.

"Princess, is it..." Amber stammered.

The first reaction was to speculate whether the prince consort had hurt Jingle. After all, the prince consort had a history of assaulting others, and Jingle was the eldest princess. How many people dared to lay hands on her? !

Chu Qianchen remained silent. After checking the wound, he took Jingle's pulse.

After the usual three breaths of effort, Chu Qianchen withdrew his hand and said calmly, "It's nothing serious."

Jingle just hit his head and suffered some external injuries, and then his qi and blood were deficient and he was extremely angry. In addition, he was caught in the snow and caught a cold, so now he has a fever.

"Go to Xieyue Pavilion." Chu Qianchen instructed Jiang Yuan, and then the carriage went straight through the inner and outer ceremonial gates and stopped at Xieyue Pavilion in the northeast corner of the inner courtyard.

Several servants and maids were already waiting in the yard.

After the carriage stopped, Jiang Yuan personally carried Jingle down from the carriage and took her to the warm room.

Amber was always smart, so without Chu Qianchen's instructions, she ordered the maid to prepare hot water, and worked with a maid to help Jingle take off her wet outer clothes.

By the time Amber had wiped Jingle's body, applied the Shiquan ointment, and changed her into clean new clothes, an incense stick of time had passed.

After all this trouble, Jingle still didn't wake up, his eyes were closed, his pale and dry lips were moving slightly, and he seemed to be mumbling something incoherently.

To Chu Qianchen, Jingle's injury was just a headache or a fever, so minor that it was not worth mentioning. Chu Qianchen gave her three injections and prescribed a prescription.

Amber sent someone to get and boil the medicine, while she stayed in the warm room to help Chu Qianchen take care of Jingle and put away the golden needles, ointments, etc.

Chu Qianchen took Jingle's pulse again, and the pulse began to stabilize, but the person still had a fever and did not wake up.

"She should wake up in about an hour." Chu Qianchen roughly estimated the time and said, "When she wakes up, feed her the medicine and let me know."

Amber responded respectfully. Chu Qianchen left her to take charge of the overall situation here and took Jiang Yuan back to the main courtyard.

In order to settle Jingle, all this trouble took nearly an hour, and it was almost three o'clock in the afternoon.

The snow was still falling, and the snow on the ground was thick enough to leave clear footprints on it.

Chu Qianchen was originally walking slowly, but when he heard the little maid guarding the corridor of the main courtyard say that Gu Jue had returned, he suddenly became energetic as if he had taken a panacea, and rushed to the west warm pavilion in two steps, with a smile on his face.

Gu Jue was leaning on the kang reading a book. When he heard the noise outside, he put the book down. Chu Qianchen, still wearing a cloak, flew in, bringing with him the sweet fragrance of fallen snow on plum branches, which instantly brought a bit of vitality to the quiet room.

Gu Jue held her slender shoulders with one hand, and the first thing he did was to help her take off the cloak that was slightly stained with snow water, and then threw it casually onto the armchair on the side.

When the cloak was thrown up, it stretched out like a roc spreading its wings, and the snow water on it flew up and fell like raindrops, like a drizzle, wetting the tables, chairs and the ground.

But no one paid any attention to it. The maids knew that Gu Jue was inside, so they didn't follow in.

As for Chu Qianchen, he had already taken off his shoes and was happily leaning against Gu Jue with his usual sweet smile.

Gu Jue knew of Jingle's visit to the palace, so he asked, "Is Jingle okay?"

He raised his hand and gently helped Chu Qianchen to tidy up his messy hair. A familiar fragrance wafted from his hair and clothes, faint and warm, lingering around his nose.

"She hasn't woken up yet. I see she looks haggard and tired, with a wound on her forehead. I wonder if it was done by that prince consort again." Chu Qianchen couldn't help but play with Gu Jue's hair, wrapping his hair around his fingers and rolling it in circles.

"When I found her just now, Jingle was soaked all over. I think she must have been sitting at the door for at least one or two hours without even knocking."

"If I hadn't gone out today, I don't know when someone would have found her."

Chu Qianchen said whatever he thought of, and chattered on about all kinds of family matters.

She just enjoyed the process of talking to him.

She just wanted to stay with Gu Jue, even without saying a word. She would be satisfied just snuggling up to him and feeling his body temperature and breath.

Chu Qianchen squinted his eyes and smiled, and the two of them chatted casually.

Gu Jue stroked her back with one hand, gently, slowly, as if comforting a child, and occasionally responded.

(End of this chapter)