Chapter 1288 Jealousy or Crush?
Chu Liuyue was called here in a hurry, and he did not know why. When he saw Chu Liuchen sitting upstairs lazily with gloomy eyes, Chu Liuyue was stunned.
Usually, the “good brother” of his often put on a gentle smile on his face, which made Chu Liuyue feel disgusted. However, what was the situation now? Especially when Chu Liuyue saw Zhang Qilan standing on the side with a pale face, shivering, he felt something bad.
“What’s going on? Why are you here?” Chu Liuyue strode to Zhang Qilan and asked with a frown.
“Your… Your Highness… I… I just happen to be here… It has nothing to do with me,” Zhang Qilan said while wiping her tears with a handkerchief. Previously, Zhang Qilan was afraid, but she had been holding back and trying to deal with Chu Liuchen. Now when she saw Chu Liuyue, she couldn’t hold back her tears and immediately shed tears with a grievance.
“Third Brother, what’s going on? If your sister-in-law did anything wrong, I would apologize to you.” Chu Liuyue fixed his eyes on Chu Liuchen.
“Eldest Brother, aren’t you curious about what your good wife has done?” Chu Liuchen raised his eyebrows, and the blood red in his eyes faded away and was replaced by a little more vicious look.
“What can she do as a woman? She’s just going shopping. What else can she do?” Chu Liuyue said carelessly. He held Zhang Qilan’s hand and was about to sit on a chair aside. In front of others, they were an affectionate couple, unlike Chu Liuzhou and Infanta Yuan’an.
“Since she can’t do anything, what she has done is as per your instruction. Is that right, Eldest Brother?” Chu Liuchen raised his eyebrows, and a dark aura made Chu Liuyue look grave. Chu Liuyue took a glance at Zhang Qilan, who was still shivering as if she was frightened. Chu Liuyue thought for a second and put down Zhang Qilan’s hand.
Chu Liuyue asked gently, “What on earth is going on? What did you do?”
Even though they were husband and wife, Chu Liuyue did not fully trust Zhang Qilan. Chu Liuzhou had just gotten caught, and Chu Liuyue didn’t wish to have an accident at this critical moment.
“I… It’s not me, I swear. I don’t know anything. I just … just played with a child for a while…” Zhang Qilan’s lips trembled a few times, and she said with a depressed look. She could tell from Chu Liuyue’s behavior that he was not willing to share the burden with her. Thinking of how Chu Liuchen held Shao Wanru in his arms in a daze just now and seeing Chu Liuyue shrink back, she felt a heavy blow to her heart.
Like Chu Liuchen and Shao Wanru, Chu Liuyue and Zhang Qilan were husband and wife, too, but they only pretended to be a happy couple in front of others, and they would separate once something happened. Zhang Qilan married into Prince Yue’s Mansion because she wanted to be good to Chu Liuyue, but why did she end up like this?
“A child? What child?” Chu Liuyue became more and more confused.
“Prince Yue, to put it simply, your wife has Changxing Grass. I wonder where she got it. She secretly rubbed the crumbs of Changxing Grass onto a ball of a child and pushed the child to the front of my wife’s carriage. The horse was startled and ran, hit the high wall in front, and the carriage was destroyed.”
Chu Liuchen told the whole story briefly and accurately.
“Is Princess Chen alright?” Chu Liuchen asked with a frown.
Zhang Qilan smiled with tears all over her face. As expected, the first person he asked was Princess Chen.
“My wife jumped out of the carriage in time. Fortunately, she escaped with her life. She has returned home to rest. Surprisingly, we have found Princess Yue here. Prince Yue, how will you handle this matter?”
Chu Liuchen skipped the topic of Shao Wanru and said coldly. His beautiful eyes fell on Zhang Qilan’s seemingly crying and smiling face with strong disgust.
“Your Highness, please believe me. It has nothing to do with me. I don’t know anything about it. It’s just that my servant girl saw the child was cute and played ball with him for a while. There is nothing else.” Zhang Qilan burst into tears.
“Prince Yue, I have reported this matter to the Palace, and Uncle the Emperor has known about it. What will happen next depends on how Uncle the Emperor deals with it! If you believe that Princess Yue is innocent, let’s go to see Uncle the Emperor together.” Chu Liuchen stood up lazily and glanced at Zhang Qilan’s face coldly.
Zhang Qilan was so scared that she hurriedly lowered her head. She was at a loss about what to do.
Zhang Qilan could not regret more now. Shao Wanru was fine, and Prince Chen arrived so quickly. At that time, she wanted to leave as soon as she saw Prince Chen. Unexpectedly, the guards of Prince Chen’s Mansion worked so efficiently that they found out her in a few minutes and even detained her.
“Where did you get the Changxing Grass? Why did you hurt Princess Chen?” After a moment of silence, Chu Liuyue turned to look at Zhang Qilan with an unhappy expression.
“I don’t know about the Changxing Grass, and I didn’t hurt Princess Chen either. Her carriage had an accident, and it had nothing to do with me. Your Highness, please believe me. I… I have no reason to do such a thing. Princess Chen and I have no conflict of interest. She and I are living in two different mansions. Why should I deal with her?”
Zhang Qilan cried and kept explaining.
Chu Liuyue looked at Zhang Qilan’s expression. She didn’t seem to be acting. He couldn’t figure out whether it was true or not at the moment. It was true that Zhang Qilan and Shao Wanru had no connections. The two Prince Mansions were separate. If Zhang Qilan were not out of her mind, there would be no reason for her to hurt Shao Wanru.
“Third Brother, could it be a mistake?” Chu Liuyue turned to look at Chu Liuchen.
Chu Liuchen said, “Prince Yue, do you think it’s a mistake? I don’t think so. As I heard, Princess Yue tried to send someone to my mansion. Those who don’t know the truth may think that Princess Yue has a crush on me. But even if she does, my wife can only be Princess Chen. It doesn’t matter how much Princess Yue does. What’s more, I’m really curious about how you got the Changxing Grass? Who gave it to you, Prince Yue or Prime Minister Zhang?”
With that, Chu Liuchen swung his long sleeves and strode away, followed by his guards one by one, leaving the mess here to Chu Liuyue.
Zhang Qilan’s face turned red and then ashen. She was scared. She had never thought that Chu Liuchen would be so shameless as to involve her and him. Chu Liuchen was a man, and he was a Prince. Even if he had another woman, others would not care. Instead, they would only say that he was a romantic prince, even if the woman was his eldest brother’s wife.
Prince Chen’s elder sister-in-law, Princess Yue, fell in love with him, but Prince Chen didn’t like her, so Princess Yue schemed to hurt to Princess Chen. The passers-by, who heard Chu Liuchen interrogating Zhang Qilan just now, immediately had such an idea in their minds. The way they looked at Zhang Qilan was with some disdain. So what even if she is the daughter-in-law of the royal family? How could she do such a humiliating and immoral thing?
Hearing what Chu Liuchen said before he left and seeing everyone’s gloomy eyes on Zhang Qilan, Chu Liuyue had two blue veins bulging on his forehead. “Zhang Qilan, tell me, what the hell is going on?”
If what Chu Liuchen said was true, only Prince Yue’s Mansion would be disgraced, that was to say, Zhang Qilan and him.
As Zhang Qilan’s husband, Chu Liuyue would also be laughed at for being cuckolded, and this cuckold was given by his wife. Chu Liuyue wished to strangle Zhang Qilan on the spot. He once thought that although his wife was not his favorite, she was at least much smarter than an idiot like Infanta Yuan’an. However, he did not expect that Zhang Qilan was as stupid as Infanta Yuan’an.
No, she might not even compare to Infanta Yuan’an. At least Infanta Yuan’an was sincerely concerned about Chu Liuzhou.
Thinking of this, Chu Liuyue became stern-eyed. Zhang Qilan’s lips were trembling, but she did not speak. Seeing that, Chu Liuyue hated her deeply. He took two steps forward, pinched her throat with one hand, and asked in a low voice, “What would you say? Why did you do this?”
If Zhang Qilan did have a crush on Chu Liuchen, Chu Liuyue thought that he would kill her so as not to embarrass himself, even if Prime Minister Zhang intervened.
“Your… Your Highness, don’t listen to him. I don’t like … Prince Chen… You are … the only one…” Zhang Qilan cried and felt so wrong. She took action to hurt Shao Wanru wasn’t because of Chu Liuchen at all. It was all because of Chu Liuyue that she did it, of course.
“Where did you get the Changxing Grass?” Chu Liuyue asked through his teeth.
“Changxing Grass? I have no idea what you are talking about. Your Highness, please believe me. You must believe me, please!” Zhang Qilan was still crying, but Chu Liuyue had already lost his patience.
Since Chu Liuchen had done this, it seemed to be true. Chu Liuyue would not speak for Zhang Qilan so as not to get himself into trouble. Even though Prime Minister Zhang was an important official in the court, he would probably be implicated this time. After all, the matter of the Changxing Grass was not simple, involving a great deal.
“Your Highness…” Zhang Qilan wanted to say something more, but she was mercilessly interrupted by Chu Liuyue. Chu Liuyue walked to the door and told his subordinates, “Take Princess Yue back to the mansion. I’ll go to the Palace.”
Chu Liuchen should have gone to the Palace first, so Chu Liuyue couldn’t fall behind at this time.
In Chu Liuyue’s opinion, it was none of his business, and how to deal with it depended on the Emperor. Chu Liuyue was already quite unhappy with Zhang Qilan’s dealing with Shao Wanru. Moreover, he didn’t want to get involved in it. Since what Zhang Qilan had done was confirmed, it was better not to stay with her any longer at this time, lest his father would misunderstand that he knew about it.
Did Zhang Qilan really have a crush on Chu Liuchen?
When Chu Liuchen said this, Chu Liuyue didn’t take it seriously. But now, the more he thought about it, the more possible he felt. Why not? Except for being in bad health, Chu Liuchen was always favored by many young ladies from aristocratic families before. It was possible that Zhang Qilan always had a crush on Chu Liuchen. Now that Chu Liuchen had recovered his health, she was jealous of Shao Wanru and started to deal with Shao Wanru.
Probably, that was the case.
Chu Liuyue cursed in his mind, “What a bitch! I actually misjudged her. I thought that even if she was ordinary, at least she was Prime Minister Zhang’s daughter, who was gentle and dignified. I didn’t expect that she was a slutty woman.”
Chu Liuyue had never thought he had something to do with this matter. Zhang Qilan was jealous of Chu Liuyue’s mind on Shao Wanru, pursuing but failing to get. Therefore, she tried to kill Shao Wanru.
After Chu Liuyue told someone to take Zhang Qilan away, he went straight to the Palace, ignoring Zhang Qilan’s crying. Since things had come to this extent, it was not up to him to decide whether to keep Zhang Qilan as Princess Yue or not. Now it depended on what the Emperor could find out to judge whether it was a fact or just a guess…
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