pjbooks Chapter 727 Why should she have to swallow her anger after suffering such a great injustice?
Chapter 727 Why should she have to swallow her anger after suffering such a great injustice?
Gu Qingchen's body stiffened for a moment, but he did not dodge.
She slowly lowered the bow in her hand, turned her head, and looked intently at his calm profile.
On the training ground, only the sound of the wind blowing through the flags could be heard.
"You did it, didn't you?"
Qian Zhenyun withdrew his hand, casually picked up the bowl of mung bean soup, and handed it to her. "The soup is almost warm now, drink it."
He tried to get away with it.
Gu Qingchen didn't answer, but stared at him and asked again, word by word: "You were the one who spread those rumors about the Yongding Prince's Mansion."
This is not a question, it is a statement.
"Money, don't play dumb with me." She took a step closer. "From the Crown Prince's visit, to the advice you gave my father, to the Duke of Ying's birthday banquet, the whole city is talking about the Prince of Yongding's residence. What a coincidence!"
Qian Zhenyun looked into her eyes, which seemed to see through everything, and knew he could no longer pretend.
He avoided her gaze, lowered his eyes, and looked at the patch of light and shadow in front of his toes. His voice was very soft. "I just can't bear to see you suffer."
A simple sentence can be more moving than any flowery language.
Gu Qingchen always thought that he was an impenetrable fortress, invulnerable to swords and spears, and that he did not need anyone's protection.
Her parents' doting love was her fearless support, and the power of the Duke's mansion was the source of her unbridled behavior.
But this time, faced with those underhanded schemes and power struggles in the court, she felt powerless for the first time.
The Crown Prince forced her to apologize, and Qian Zhenyun came up with a solution that satisfied both sides.
She was humiliated at the birthday banquet, but he used even more subtle and bloodless methods to get her revenge.
This seemingly mild-mannered and honest "money-grubbing" guy, who usually followed her around and was bossed around by her, actually held up a sky for her in places she couldn't see.
Unlike Lin Jiayou, he didn't adopt a "hero saves the damsel in distress" stance to seek credit and reward. Nor did he, like Zhao Chen'an, use the so-called "big picture" to pressure her.
He simply and quietly resolved all her crises in his own way.
Gu Qingchen's heart felt as if it were being gently gripped by a warm hand, a bittersweet, throbbing sensation.
At this moment, a corner of her heart, which had become hardened and cold because of Lin Jiayou and Zhao Chen'an, was completely melted.
She sniffed, her eyes feeling a little hot.
After a long while, she finally took the bowl of mung bean soup from his hand, tilted her head back, and drank it all in one gulp. The sweet, cool taste seeped from her throat into her heart and soul.
With a "bang," she put the empty bowl back on the stone table.
“Qian Zhenyun,” she looked at him, for the first time not calling him “Qian Gungun,” her expression more serious than ever before, “thank you.”
Qian Zhenyun suddenly raised his head, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes, which then turned into an undisguised smile.
He scratched his head, looking somewhat at a loss. His usual quick wit had vanished, and he reverted to his somewhat simple-minded self.
"Why are you being so polite with me?"
Seeing his silly expression, Gu Qingchen couldn't help but smile.
the other side.
"boom!"
A fine imperial porcelain vase was smashed to the ground, shattering into pieces.
"Too much deception! Too much deception!"
Princess Jiahe was so angry that she trembled all over, her chest heaving violently.
She sent people to investigate, and it turned out that the rumors originated from those low-class taverns in the west of the city.
Who were they? Porters, laborers, street thugs!
Her prestigious Yongding Prince's Mansion was slandered by these peasants, who accused them of embezzling military funds and living extravagantly!
"Gu Qingchen! It must be her! That bitch!" Princess Jiahe gritted her teeth, her pretty face twisted into a ferocious grimace. "She thinks she can do anything to me by hiring some thugs to spread rumors outside?"
The personal maid knelt on the ground, picking up the broken pieces while carefully advising, "Princess, please calm down. It's not worth getting sick over something like this."
"Calm down? How can I calm down!" Princess Jiahe kicked over the embroidered stool next to her. "She kicked me into the lotus pond and I almost lost half my life. Now, it's the fault of our Yongding Prince's Mansion!"
She was having a fit of madness when the maidservant outside the door rushed in and reported in a low voice.
"Princess, His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived."
The warmth in the room seemed to vanish instantly.
Princess Jiahe stopped all her movements.
She took a deep breath, quickly wiped her face, tidied her slightly disheveled hair, and straightened her clothes.
When she looked up again, her face was filled with a tearful, aggrieved expression.
She lifted her skirt and hurried out to greet him, her voice soft and gentle: "Your Highness..."
Zhao Chen'an had already entered the courtyard.
He looked into Princess Jiahe's red eyes and asked gently, "What's wrong? Who made you angry again?"
Princess Jiahe shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes, but she forced them back down.
"No, no one provoked me. It's just... it's just that the things people outside are saying are really nasty."
Zhao Chen'an helped her sit down on a stone bench in the courtyard, and they chatted about the weather for a few seemingly casual minutes.
Once she had calmed down a bit, he changed the subject.
"Jiahe, let's leave it at that."
Princess Jiahe's smile froze.
She stared blankly at Zhao Chen'an, as if she hadn't understood what he was saying.
Zhao Chen'an didn't look at her, but simply picked up the tea served by the maid, his tone calm but brooking no argument.
“Your father has already been reprimanded by the Emperor, and the Duke of Zhenguo’s mansion has also sent gifts and offered a way out. If this continues, it will not benefit anyone.”
Princess Jiahe's heart sank little by little.
She thought the Crown Prince was there to support her, but unexpectedly, he came to make her admit defeat.
She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails almost dug into her flesh, but she had to force a sweet smile onto her face.
"...Alright, Your Highness, I will do as you say."
After Zhao Chen'an left, Princess Jiahe could no longer hold back. She rushed back to her room, threw herself onto the bed, and burst into tears, clutching her pillow.
Why!
Why should she have to swallow her anger after suffering such a great injustice?
The personal maid stepped forward and gently patted her back.
"Princess, please don't cry. Take care of yourself."
She leaned close to Princess Jiahe's ear and whispered very softly.
"I have found something out. Gu Qingchen has been getting very close to a man lately, and he's been protecting her in every way."
Jiahe's crying stopped abruptly.
The maid continued, "Didn't she want to be the Crown Princess? But what if, before the wedding, rumors spread that she's of poor character, lacks self-control, and is flirting with other men..."
"Do you think the royal family would still want a woman with a tarnished reputation as the crown princess?"
Jiahe suddenly raised his head, and a vicious flame ignited in his bloodshot eyes.
"who is it?"
The maid's lips curled into a barely perceptible smile.
"I heard his name is Lin Jiayou, the son of that fake princess from the Yongwang Mansion back then."