Chapter 434 - Women Were So Scary

In the imperial study room, Prince Cheng and Prince Zhou were kneeling on the ground while Chu Liuchen was sitting in a wheelchair with his head tilting. The floor was full of broken glass pieces. The eunuch in the room didn’t dare to make any sound.

The current Emperor was sitting behind the desk while his face got pale with anger.

“Are you sure that you don’t want to marry anyone?” the Emperor scowled and asked angrily.

When Prince Cheng came in, he immediately told the Emperor that he didn’t want to marry anyone because all women were restless. He also said that he preferred a quiet and tranquil inner courtyard. Later he added that since he had always believed in Buddha, he had no intention of marrying any woman and of having any child. If the Emperor feared that he might be alone when he got older, he could also become a monk officially by taking the tonsure right now.

Although Prince Cheng had been claiming that he attempted to become a monk, he expressed his wish to Empress Dowager in a tactful manner. He never did things like this by heading to the imperial study room and telling the Emperor his wish in such a straightforward way.

The Emperor actually didn’t care about Prince Cheng’s consort selection because it was not a big deal. Prince Cheng just needed to choose a woman he liked while Empress Dowager and Empress would be in charge of the consort selection.

As he didn’t care about the selection, he didn’t pay much attention to the event which happened in Prince Cheng’s Mansion yesterday. He only knew from the Empress that a miss attempted to seduce Prince Cheng. When he knew this, he considered it as a dissolute joke as girls still liked Prince Cheng even though he was much older than them. However, he didn’t expect that Prince Cheng would raise a claim that he decided not to marry anyone!

“Your Majesty, I don’t want to marry anyone. If every woman were like that, then I would rather become a monk.” Prince Cheng answered firmly. Today he came to the Emperor and requested him not to let him marry any woman when kneeling on the ground in front of him.

“You agreed before!” The Emperor snarled with rage. His brother was going to become a monk? What would others think of him? Would his reputation be influenced negatively in history?

The Emperor had been unable to let go of his brother’s matter, so he didn’t want his brother to add another heart knot or an ignominious event in his life.

Becoming a monk? Others would not think Prince Cheng made this decision willingly but would think he was coerced by his brother, the Emperor. Since he had not appointed anyone to be the crown prince and he took over the throne from his brother, rumors started to spread among citizens. The Emperor was clear about this. If Prince Cheng became a monk officially, then there must be endless unpleasant rumors related to the Emperor.

Prince Cheng then tactfully indicated that he could not accept those women’s behaviors. “Your Majesty, I am scared by women. How, how can the woman be so profligate and dissolute!” Prince Cheng answered.

Chu Liuchen got a tired hand on which he rested his head so then he moved a bit and then rested his head on the other hand. His light turquoise clothes made him look handsome but also made him look much paler than usual.

He was here to watch the show!

In fact, Prince Cheng asked Chu Liuzhou to come without informing him. However, since he came here first because he had something to tell the Emperor, he then encountered them.

Since he had met them, then he decided to stay with them! Tilting his head and closing his eyes slightly, he looked more feeble and innocent.

The Emperor was amused by Prince Cheng’s answer even though he was still in a fury. “Profligate? Dissolute? Every young person has the right to like others! It is the same! How can you describe this as a bad thing?”

It was not a big deal in the Emperor’s eyes. A woman came to see the man she liked in a secretive manner. It was normal! If she could gain his favor, then she could marry into Prince Cheng’s Mansion.

There were many women in the imperial palace, so some of them tried their best to get the Emperor’s attention by applying different methods. The Emperor didn’t think these behaviors were sultry. If he was in a good mood, then he might take notice of them; but if not, then he would ignore them. In his mind, there was no need to become jittery at the mention of women, as if somebody mentioned a tiger.

“Your Majesty, that woman is engaged. How can she come to attract my attention when she is engaged to another man? It can’t be said that she tried to get my attention merely because she likes me. It is totally different!” Prince Cheng argued loudly as he got fed up.

“Engaged?” the Emperor asked with a scowl.

“Yes, she is engaged. If I didn’t know that and chose her, it would turn out that I take another man’s wife and it would become a much more terrible scandal! If you don’t believe me, you can ask Prince Zhou about this matter. He was there and today I invite him to come here because he is a witness!”

Prince Cheng said angrily.

If a woman was engaged, then it could say that she had been a man’s wife literally. If such a woman continued to get another man’s attention, it was appropriate to say that the woman was profligate.

Chu Liuchen’s long eyelashes fluttered but he looked calm. It was usual for him to look half asleep and weak in the imperial study room. Thus, nobody would notice him as everyone knew Prince Chen had always been weak and it was good enough for him to look energetic temporarily as he might get tired soon if he kept a spirited look a bit longer.

It was best for him to take a rest by closing his eyes.

The Emperor’s gaze fell upon Chu Liuzhou. He frowned tightly and said, “Tell me what was going on that day.”

“Father, you cannot blame uncle for this matter. That woman is quite sultry. I felt exactly the same way as you did just now. I had thought that woman came to us secretively and tried to get uncle’s attention merely because she likes uncle. If this is the case, I can only say that the woman is very brave. Since I didn’t know her identity, I sent my eunuch to ask her about her information. However, the woman let my eunuch give one of her earrings to uncle…”

Chu Liuzhou didn’t conceal anything and told them the whole story.

It was quite uneasy to let Prince Cheng agree to hold a consort selection and thus, Prince Zhou came to help him. They had never expected that they would encounter such a thing. There were many women who wanted to marry into Prince Cheng’s Mansion but only that woman who was engaged dared to seduce Prince Cheng and even sent him her earring.

It was totally correct for them to describe the woman as profligate and dissolute.

“Which mansion does she come from?” The Emperor’s face turned livid. If his brother did become jittery at the mention of women because of this sultry woman, the Emperor would intend to kill her.

“She is the First Miss of Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion and she is engaged to the Heir of Duke Yong as they are cousins. It is said that when this First Miss was in Jiangzhou, she had once been engaged to another man. However, because she attempted to marry up by marrying into Duke Yong’s Mansion, she not only plotted against her second sister, but even went to the capital city and engaged herself to the Heir of Duke Yong after she canceled her first engagement!”

Hearing the Emperor asking about the woman’s information, Prince Cheng hurried to answer. Yesterday, he sent people to get information about Qin Yuru carefully again, but it turned out that Qin Yuru was a woman with such a low reputation, which even scared Prince Cheng who had been mentally prepared. At that moment, he thought the woman was too scary and how could she be so unashamed!

For the first time, he thought his idea before was right.

Woman was the source of all evils. Thus, it would be better for him not to marry any woman! Although he was a bit self-dramatizing, it was partly what he thought or felt sincerely.

“Qin Huaiyong is a very righteous man but how can he have such a daughter?” The Emperor was satisfied with Qin Huaiyong but he frowned tightly when knowing Qin Huaiyong got such an unashamed daughter. He had seen various kinds of women in the inner courtyard, but he had never known a woman could be so profligate and dissolute like this.

“She is Ningyuan Army General’s only daughter and Second Miss Qin is adopted by him in the war.” Chu Liuchen spoke drawlingly without opening his eyes.

His answer well explained the reason why Qin Huaiyong would have such a daughter and why he would spoil her.

Stunned, Prince Cheng asked in surprise. “Second Miss Qin is not his biological daughter?” As he found out Qin Yuru’s background, he knew Qin Wanru was Second Miss Qin.

His counselor at that time once told him that if he had to choose wives, he had to select some young and capable women who might support him in the future. In addition to some mansions which had been decided, one of those potential misses was Qin Wanru who was the best choice. Even though he was not clear how influential Qin Huaiyong was, it seemed that the Emperor favored him very much.

However, the most important premise was that Qin Wanru had to be favored by Qin Huaiyong. Now since she was not Qin Huaiyong’s biological daughter, then what role could she play?

Prince Cheng once thought it was a pity for him not to be able to choose Qin Wanru but now the feeling vanished! He felt lucky that he didn’t choose Second Miss Qin. She could do nothing and she was only an orphan adopted by others in the war, even though she was quite lucky to be adopted by Qin Huaiyong. Since Qin Huaiyong had his own daughter, he would not get emotionally attached to Second Miss Qin.

The information which his secret agent gathered before now was completely explained by the fact. If Qin Wanru was his second biological daughter, no matter how Qin Huaiyong was partial to his eldest daughter, he would not allow his eldest daughter to ruin his second daughter.

The information was not confirmed before. So was the information confirmed now? Although Prince Cheng had been mentally prepared, he had to pretend to be surprised.

As for why Chu Liuchen was clear about this information, nobody in the imperial study room was doubtful. Although others didn’t know what happened in Jiangzhou, he knew clearly because he had temporarily stayed in Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion in Jiangzhou for a time. It was at that time that Qin Yuru was planning to cancel her first engagement.

“Third brother, does the First Miss of Qin’s Mansion really ruin her reputation by plotting against her second sister?” Prince Zhou turned to look at Chu Liuchen and asked.

Since he was in Jiangzhou at that time, he must know this matter very clearly. Besides, it was inconvenient for them to mention this matter, so he asked him about this thing when it came to Qin Yuru.

Chu Liuchen nodded and gesticulated towards Xiao Xuanzi slightly. The moment Xiao Xuanzi understood, he stood out from behind Chu Liuchen and told people in the imperial study room what he had witnessed and what he had heard in Jiangzhou.

Xiao Xuanzi told them all he knew from the matter of smashing the bridal sedan chair to that of finding those letters that Qin Yuru secretly wrote to Di Yan. It was obvious that Qin Yuru had plotted against Qin Wanru again and again and Madam Di even tried to kidnap Qin Wanru! When Xiao Xuanzi finished, the whole imperial study room became quiet.

Prince Cheng actually knew these matters but he didn’t know these things very clearly. When Xiao Xuanzi finished telling those stories, Prince Cheng thought calmly for a while and then he quickly kowtowed to the Emperor in a really bad sweat. “Your Majesty, please allow me to accept the tonsure and become a monk! I cannot bear this! If this is the case, I would rather be a monk than ruin my reputation!”

Chu Liuzhou also got astounded as his eyes became rounded. There were many women in his mansion. Although he knew these women would usually fight for his favor, he considered these as the spice of life. He had never known that a woman could be so vicious, and quickly he felt a chill crawling up his spine. Would those accidents which were caused by the so-called carelessness be all fake? Would those women make these events look like accidents?

Many so-called accidents did happen in his mansion. Chu Liuzhou’s face turned pale in astonishment.

Although he was only fifteen now, he had known about things in the bedroom since he was fourteen. Empress gave him a lot of pretty ladies and he also found a lot of beauties on his own. However, he had never been aware of the fact that these women would be so complicated and horrible.

For the first time, he thought it was reasonable for Prince Cheng to decide to become a monk when being scared by a woman! Women were so scary!