Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 267 - 266: Whirlpool

Chapter 267: Chapter 266: Whirlpool

Looking at Chen Afu’s inquisitive eyes, Chu Lingxuan did not answer right away, but continued. "When I was seven years old, my father came home and told me that I might be appointed as a companion to the six-year-old Ninth Prince. The Ninth Prince was not of high birth, and neither he nor his mother, Shan Jieyu, were favored by the emperor. My mother was extremely worried, as the Ninth Prince was often bullied by the Eighth Prince, who was born of the queen’s womb. She was afraid I would get implicated. At that time, my father was an army general ranked third-grade in the Imperial Forestry Army, responsible for personally protecting the emperor. His position was not high, but he was trusted by the emperor. My mother wanted my father to ask the emperor if I could be assigned to another prince, but my father scolded her mercilessly. That was the harshest scolding my mother ever received. She cried..."

Chu Lingxuan glanced at Chen Afu and changed the subject. "In our family, my great-grandfather was a highly strategic military and literary advisor, second only to Mr. Yuan. He was once a commander of the highest rank, but he resigned early. He did not place much emphasis on my grandfather’s education, believing that he just needed to maintain our family’s honor and it was not necessary to always be in the emperor’s good graces. Over the next 20 years, the Chus plummeted from being one of the top noble families in the Capital City to being mid-ranking. However, my father had been personally taught by him, reaching the position of the leader of the Imperial Forestry Army, while my grandfather was still a minor military officer of the third rank. So, my grandfather passed on the title of Marquis Yong’an to my father. Just when my father’s career was on the rise and the Chus were about to turn over a new leaf, we suffered a catastrophic disaster..."

Princess Rong Zhao was the only child of Lady Ma, who had no sons. She was the emperor’s eldest daughter and was favored by him. She was ten years younger than Marquis Chu Chu Guangche, and at the age of ten, she had vowed to marry no one but the eldest son of the Chus. At a young age, she often tried to manage seeing Chu Guangche when he was on duty, much to his annoyance. When she was fifteen, the emperor ignored her cries and decreed that she was to marry Prince Xue. Years later, Prince Xue died of illness, and she moved to Lady Ma’s Zixia Palace with her daughter.

At that time, Chu Guangche was 31 years old, and he was the youngest Marquis and leader of the Imperial Forestry Army in the Dashun dynasty. Every time Marquis Chu entered the palace, he would be nervous, always guard against Rong Zhao popping up from somewhere to encounter him and express her affection.

One day, the Second Prince called him over, saying that the Eighth and Ninth Princes had fought in his palace, and my head was injured. At that time, the Second Prince was still recovering from an injury, so he occasionally let the Eighth Prince lead a few other princes to come and play in his palace.

Chu Guangche went. However, as he was led into a room by the palace maid, he saw someone dressed in Chu Lingxuan’s clothes crawling on the table. As he approached, that person started to lift her head; it was Princess Rong Zhao. Chu Guangche quickly turned and tried to leave, but was held back by Rong Zhao from behind. At that moment, the Second Prince came in with a group of people...

That day was Lady Ma’s birthday. Queen Wang, Consort Zhou, and several conubines were celebrating Lady Ma’s birthday in Zixia Palace. When they heard that Chu Captain and Rong Zhao were caught in a private meeting in the Second Prince’s palace, they all rushed over.

The matter eventually reached the emperor. Such a low-grade plot, not to mention that the emperor knew Chu Guangche was set up, everyone else could guess what was going on.

The Second Prince even cried in front of the emperor, admitting he had set it up. He said it was out of his affection for his sister, unable to withstand her tears and even threats of suicide that caused him to commit such a foolish act. He regretted it and asked the emperor for punishment, and so on.

But Rong Zhao was the emperor’s eldest daughter and the only daughter of Lady Ma. The instigator was also the son of Queen Wang. Just as the emperor was wondering how to handle the situation, more bad news came.

The 13-year-old Ninth Prince and the 12-year-old Tenth Prince were playing when someone pushed the Ninth Prince from a rockery and broke his leg. One of the Tenth Prince’s eunuchs seemed to have gone mad and took advantage of the chaos to smash the Ninth Prince’s legs with a large stone, shattering his bones.

Three days later, the emperor decreed Chu Guangche and Rong Zhao’s marriage. The original Madame Chu, Mrs. Luo, was forced to leave the religious life. Chu Lingxuan was furious and left for the border to join the army under his third uncle Chu Guangkai.

"...Although there is no direct evidence, we all suspect that the Ninth Prince was also harmed by the Second Prince. We can’t figure out why our family, the Chus, have no grudges against the Second Prince. Although my father became the leader of the Imperial Forestry Army at a young age, our family was never powerful enough to be worth the Second Prince’s time to destroy. The Ninth Prince’s birth was low, and he should not stand in his way. He should have targeted the Third and Fifth Princes, who were born to Consort Zhou. Moreover, they had been opposing each other before, and it’s likely that the Second Prince was injured by the Third and Fifth Princes. But strangely, the Second Prince did not bother them but unexpectedly struck a surprise blow against us, the Chus... These questions have been haunting me, making me puzzled. It was not until the day before our engagement that my grandfather came to Dingzhou Mansion and I found out the answer. My grandfather also did not know about it until he went to talk to my father about our marriage..."

After bidding goodbye to Chu Lingxuan, Chen Afu felt extremely heavy-hearted. Both for the souls of the Yuans and for her own uncertain future. At first, she was a bit sheepish, thinking that bringing Dabao with his story into the Chus and marrying him brought trouble to Chu Lingxuan. She now realised, however, that the trouble the Chus brought to her was even greater.

At first, she was puzzled as to how her marriage to Chu Lingxuan could so easily receive approval from the Chu elders. People in ancient times attached great importance to family status, and she wondered why such a family would accept a bride of her status. It turns out she had been unwittingly pulled into a vortex.

The feeling of being used was not pleasant.

"Six years ago, the emperor got drunk and favored Shan Jieyu again. However, on the 27th of February of the following year, she gave birth to a stillborn baby..."

This sentence kept echoing in Chen Afu’s ears, unable to let go.

"Mother, why are you standing by the window all the time? Are you waiting for Jin Bao and the others? It’s so late, they won’t be back today." Chen Dabao, who was lying on the bed, said.

For fear that he might move around, his leg was propped up on a small wooden rack. Lying on his side, he looked at her, puckering his lips and staring with big eyes. He looked extremely cute.

In fact, it was this little brat who dragged her into the vortex. The moment Mrs. Wang brought him home to be her son, she was drawn into that plot.

If she were still the naïve Afu, being used and not even knowing it, would have been fine. If one day, this faction were to fail, and Dabao’s identity was not exposed, it would have been alright. If exposed, both naïve Afu and the Chen family would certainly perish. Furthermore, upon their deaths, they would not even know why they had died.