Huh? The Tyrant Cries After My Inner Thoughts Were Exposed!-Chapter 164: Living Things Are More Interesting
Having already eaten quite a bit in the palace, Su Juan forced herself to eat a couple of bites from the table full of food and then stopped using her chopsticks.
Seeing that she barely touched her food, Chu Guang asked, "Miss Su, is it that these dishes don’t suit your taste?"
Su Juan forced a laugh, "How could that be, they’re delicious."
As she spoke, she picked up a lot and stuffed them into her mouth. Her colleagues beside her looked on, full of sympathy.
Chu Guang’s intentions were actually quite obvious; Su Juan was essentially trapped in a den of wolves at the moment. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to help her, but the Southern Country delegation had been looking for trouble and making things difficult from the start. Now that the Prince of Southern Country had other thoughts and wasn’t making difficulties anymore... it wouldn’t hurt for Su Juan to stay in the den for a while.
Su Juan kept stuffing food into her mouth while being forced to listen to Chu Guang’s heroic stories, occasionally nodding and smiling to agree, offering a few compliments.
[Help, someone save me, my face feels like it’s going to freeze from all this forced smiling.]
[Doesn’t this Prince Chu ever get tired?]
Su Juan cast a pleading glance at the two Honglu Temple officials accompanying her, but saw that both of them were looking around, pretending not to see her in distress.
Her heart felt cold as ice, [Damn the Old Emperor!]
The two officials ’shut’ their ears tightly, pretending they couldn’t hear anything.
Su Juan could curse, but they dared not listen.
[She doesn’t get any favor from the Empress, and just makes trouble for others all day long!]
Officials: Can’t hear, can’t hear...
At this time, the Old Emperor in the Imperial Palace suddenly sneezed, and the Eunuch beside him quickly offered a handkerchief, "Your Majesty, should we summon the Imperial Physician to have a look?"
The Old Emperor waved his hand, "No need."
Just a sneeze, no need to be so nervous.
"Did the Vice Director enter the palace today?"
The Eunuch responded with a smile, "Yes, he did, Your Majesty. I heard he stayed in the Empress’s palace for more than an hour before being called away."
In the capital, there are many Vice Directors, but the one Your Majesty mentions frequently is indeed this one.
The Old Emperor snorted coldly, "She really knows how to complain."
No need to think deeply to know that girl went to the Empress to slack off, speaking with no guard and blabbering everything out. Who knows what grievances she aired out to the Empress this time.
Whatever it is, it can’t be good.
The Eunuch smiled silently, sensing that Your Majesty felt somewhat unjust.
Yesterday, when Your Majesty visited the Empress’s palace hoping to stay for a meal, the Empress declined with the excuse of not feeling well.
Today, the Vice Director entered the palace, and it’s heard that the Imperial Kitchen sent quite a lot of food over. Unluckily, a chatty Palace Attendant let it slip, leading Your Majesty to find out, which supposedly made him feel somewhat sour.
...
Xie Xun followed beside Liu Xuan, because Su Juan had been very busy these days, leaving him with free time.
As they reached a certain restaurant, suddenly, Liu Xuan stopped, and Xie Xun wondered, "What’s wrong?" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎
Following Liu Xuan’s gaze, Xie Xun saw on the second floor of the restaurant, Su Juan was dining with the Prince of Southern Country, with two Honglu Temple officials standing as decorations beside them.
"It’s Su Juan, seems like she’s indeed been busy these days attending to this Prince of Southern Country."
Liu Xuan appeared unperturbed, "Every day?"
Xie Xun fanned himself, "Yes, every day I hear her complaining about trouble, saying this Chu Guang is very annoying, endlessly talking."
After thinking for a moment, he added, "She never liked people who are too talkative."
Liu Xuan watched for a while, and then was urged away by Xie Xun.
At that moment, upstairs in the restaurant, Su Juan’s ears were almost calloused, and the meal finally ended.
As she got up, she heard Chu Guang say, "You’ve been accompanying this prince for the past few days, as a thank you, I have a gift for you."
Su Juan didn’t even blink, directly refusing, "Hosting the delegation is Honglu Temple’s duty, no need for a thank-you gift, but I appreciate the prince’s kindness."
However, Chu Guang took out a box in front of others and opened it, revealing a ring with a red jade gemstone, exquisitely crafted and brilliantly colored, likely unobtainable even with money.
"This prince’s sincerity, are you really going to refuse?"
Su Juan frowned, "According to our laws, officials are not allowed to privately accept gifts from foreign delegations. I ask the prince not to put me in a difficult position."
Upon hearing this, Chu Guang was slightly startled and looked at the other two Honglu Temple officials, "Is that true?"
Receiving Su Juan’s warning glance, the two officials nodded, bracing themselves, "Indeed, it is so."
Only then did Chu Guang have no choice but to retract the gift, "Today, this prince was presumptuous. This gift, I’ll give it to you another day."
While speaking, the determined glint in his eyes made Su Juan feel uneasy.
The two officials exchanged a glance; in truth, there was no such legal provision—it was Vice Director’s fabricated lie.
They just hoped that no trouble would arise, as this Prince of Southern Country was truly no easy character.
...
That night, in the mission’s guest house, a shadow slipped into Chu Guang’s room, "Subordinate greets the prince."
Chu Guang sat up from the couch, pulling on an outer garment, "How is it, have you found everything?"
The subordinate replied, "Reporting to the prince, it’s all found. This Miss Su is the daughter of a wealthy Su Family merchant. About two years ago, she was betrothed by the Da Jin Emperor to the eldest son of Prince Jing, later they divorced, and now she works in the Ministry of Revenue in Da Jin."
Chu Guang’s eyes flickered with surprise, "Just a merchant’s daughter?"
Subordinate: "Just a merchant’s daughter."
He’d investigated everywhere, confirming that this Su Juan was just a wealthy merchant’s daughter; her mother was also an orphan with no family background, nothing else to her origins.
This was unexpected to Chu Guang, as he knew that in Da Jin, only children from noble families could enter the court as officials, and it was even more difficult for women to become officials, let alone being just a merchant’s daughter.
He originally thought this Su Juan might have some secret identity, but didn’t expect she was really just a merchant’s daughter.
In Da Jin, merchants held a low status and had always been looked down upon by noble families. What was special about this Su Juan that made the Da Jin Emperor pay so much attention?
Recalling the day at the racecourse, her three arrows on horseback was not something ordinary women could achieve in Da Jin; truly, this Su Juan was interesting.
Even today she outright refused the gift he presented.
Thinking of this, Chu Guang frowned and asked, "Does Da Jin have any law stating that officials cannot accept gifts from foreign delegations?"
The subordinate remained silent for a moment, then responded firmly, "Reporting to the prince, there is no such legal provision in Da Jin."
Chu Guang burst into hearty laughter, realizing it almost let that little girl deceive him; it’d indeed been a while since he encountered such an interesting little girl.
He was determined to take this interesting little girl back to the Southern Country.
"Go and pack those rare treasures I brought, and bring them along when we enter the Jinren Palace tomorrow."
Chu Guang’s long, narrow eyes squinted slightly. Those rare treasures were meant to "broaden the horizons" of the Jinren, but tomorrow he could use them to win over this interesting little girl and take her with him.
After all, dead things are ultimately just dead things, how could they compare with something as lively and interesting?
Subordinate: "Yes, I will handle it at once."
