So once she gains favor, she will definitely find a way to get rid of her.
Her remaining self-respect prevented her from being kicked out; she would rather bring it up herself than wait until she was universally disliked and kicked out like a drowning dog.
However, the princess did not immediately agree, but said that she would ask the prince first.
This was different from what Chu Yan had expected.
Yao Youqing replied, "Whether the prince inquires or not is his business, and whether I greet him or not is my business. If you were just an ordinary servant, it would be fine, but you are his concubine. Even if I could deal with you, I should still ask him first."
"and……"
She paused halfway through her sentence, carefully considering whether it was appropriate to say what she was about to say. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zhou Mama and remembered how she had stopped her from speaking earlier. In the end, she swallowed back what she was going to say and only said, "In short, we still need to ask the Prince about your decision regarding whether you stay or leave. I will ask him when he returns and then send someone to reply to you."
Chu Yan nodded blankly and left the main courtyard to walk towards her own small courtyard.
Wan'er followed behind her and whispered, "My lady, the princess didn't send you away. She even said she would ask the prince for you. Maybe if she mentions you to the prince, he will remember you and let you stay!"
Chu Yan gradually came back to her senses at her voice, but her eyes were even more dim than before.
"The prince will not spare me; he will let the princess decide."
"Isn't that a good thing too?"
Wan'er said, "The Princess Consort doesn't mean to send you away, so why don't you just stay?"
Chu Yan chuckled lightly, her voice mocking herself.
"If I had any shame at all, I should have left on my own initiative, instead of taking advantage of the prince's benevolence and the princess's kindness to stay here."
"Besides... if I stay, the prince will be angry."
Wan'er frowned, completely unable to understand.
"Why is Your Highness angry? Didn't you just say that Your Highness would let the Princess decide? If the Princess decides that you should stay, what does that have to do with you? Why is Your Highness angry with you?"
The fact that the princess didn't send her away shows that she doesn't care about her status or appearance, and that she doesn't care about the prince's feelings either.
If you don't care about the prince's feelings... of course the prince will be angry.
Not only would he be angry with the princess, but he would also take his anger out on her.
It may sound unreasonable, but he's never been a reasonable person to begin with.
Because in this place, in Shangchuan, he is the reason.
Chu Yan didn't answer Wan'er's question, but instead muttered to herself, "The Prince has never stayed overnight at my place..."
Not even once.
She was depressed for a time because of this, feeling that to the prince she was just like a courtesan in a brothel, someone to be used and then leave.
But since she was the only concubine in the entire palace, she always comforted herself with this thought, believing that one day she would be able to keep him.
But she knew the day she met Miss Ji that it was all just a dream from the beginning, and dreams always end eventually, it's just a matter of time.
Wan'er thought that this was why she wanted to leave, and advised, "The princess is the prince's legal wife, so it's naturally not appropriate... not appropriate to leave in the middle of the night. It doesn't necessarily mean that you stayed overnight because you like her."
Chu Yan nodded: "That's what I thought at first too."
Wan'er was puzzled: Don't you think that way now?
Chu Yan naturally wouldn't think that way, after she had just met Yao Youqing.
Wan'er was too young to understand or see anything, but Chu Yan saw and heard clearly that the princess's initial statement was clearly, "My relationship with the prince is not what you think."
It wasn't what she thought. So why did the prince stay overnight in the main courtyard?
After a moment's thought, Chu Yan understood the crux of the matter, which only fueled her despair.
The prince himself wanted to live in the main courtyard; it had nothing to do with the princess's status, only with her as a person.
He wanted to stay by her side, so he stayed, regardless of whether she was his legal wife or not, or anything else, simply because the one living there was the princess, the one who had truly entered his heart.
The reason he hadn't stayed at her place before was because she had never entered his heart, never.
Chu Yan took a deep breath and said to Wan'er, "I know you're worried that Chi Zhu will bully you after I leave, so you don't want me to leave."
"Don't worry, the Prince and Princess are good people. I'll tell them before I leave to arrange a suitable place for you, and then..."
"Be careful, my lady!"
Before Chu Yan could finish speaking, Wan'er suddenly exclaimed and pulled her back forcefully.
A flowerpot that fell from the artificial hill grazed her cheek, hit her shoulder, and then crashed to the ground with a crash, shattering into pieces.
Chu Yan clutched her shoulder and cried out in pain, her expression pained, and collapsed against Wan'er's shoulder, almost fainting.
Wan'er cried out in a panic, "Help! Help!"
...
"Your Highness, it was a potted plant that wasn't placed properly on the artificial hill. It happened to fall down and hit Lady Chu when she passed by."
The servant who went to the scene to investigate the cause of the accident returned and reported back.
Yao Youqing nodded and inquired about the condition of the doctor Chu Yan, whom they had invited.
The doctor touched Chu Yan's shoulder and said, "You've injured a bone. You'll need to rest for a while. Until it's fully healed, you must avoid putting any force on this arm, or it might be useless in the future."
After saying that, he sighed with lingering fear, "Luckily it didn't hit my head, otherwise I'd probably be collecting corpses by now."
Yao Youqing asked with a worried expression, "What about the injury on her face? How serious is it?"
The flowerpot fell and hit Chu Yan's shoulder. The flower stems inside grazed Chu Yan's face, leaving a wound about an inch long that was still bleeding.
"It's a minor injury, nothing serious."
The doctor said, "Although the wound is a bit long, it's not deep. Once the bleeding is stopped and some medicine is applied, it will be fine. Even if it leaves a scar, it won't be very noticeable."
Will it leave a scar?
Wan'er was shocked, her voice shrill and piercing, making the doctor frown.
"If you use some good medicine and take good care of it, it won't leave a scar. Besides, what's a scar compared to life? You're lucky you didn't get hit on the head!"
He then instructed the accompanying apprentice to prepare paper and pen for prescribing medicine, ignoring Wan'er completely.
Wan'er, her eyes red, almost burst into tears: "Our wife is a woman, how can she have a scar on her face?"
Besides, the prince only took a liking to the lady because of her face. If her face were ruined, then...
She turned to look at Chu Yan, but Chu Yan didn't show any unusual reaction. Apart from being pale from the pain in her wound, she didn't show any other reaction.
The doctor prescribed medicine, gave instructions on how to recover, and arranged for a follow-up visit every three days before leaving with the apprentice.
With Wan'er's help, Chu Yan stood up to take her leave. Before she left, Yao Youqing had someone hand her a delicate little porcelain box.
"This is a face cream recipe passed down from my mother's ancestors. I've been using it since I was a child. It works very well and is also very effective in removing scars."
"I just had someone take a look at the doctor, and he said you can use this after your wound heals. As long as you take good care of it, it won't leave a scar."
"That's wonderful!" Wan'er said happily, reaching out to take it from Chu Yan. "My wife, there won't be any scars!"
Chu Yan stared blankly at the porcelain box, nodded and thanked Yao Youqing, then took her leave with Wan'er.
Chapter 37 Letting Go
After the two left, Zhou's mother sighed to Yao Youqing.
"Your Highness, do you really intend to keep this Lady Chu here?"
If Chu Yan doesn't mention it herself, and the prince doesn't mention it either, then they'll just pretend this person doesn't exist.
But now that Chu Yan has brought up leaving herself, why not just agree?
Mother Zhou just realized that their young lady really wanted to keep Chu Yan.
Yao Youqing nodded and whispered, "Now the Prince's mansion only has this one concubine. If she leaves, then... if the Prince wishes to..."
She blushed slightly as she spoke and lowered her head: "We need someone, right?"
Wei Hong is now living in her room. Although he hasn't done anything to her these past few days, if the only concubine in the Prince's mansion leaves, he will have no one by his side when he wants to do something. Then... wouldn't she, as his wife, become the first choice?
Madam Zhou understood, and, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, asked in a low voice, "Does the Princess not want to consummate her marriage with the Prince?"
The girl blushed even more upon hearing this: "He is my husband, and this kind of thing... there's no question of whether I want to or not. I'm just... a little scared."
She still remembers how Wei Hong looked when he tried to consummate their marriage last time. His gaze was unfriendly, his words were cold, and he even bit and nibbled at her. It was definitely not a pleasant experience.
"Besides, I'm also afraid that after Madam Chu leaves, he'll take a fancy to the people around me. What should I do then? I really can't bear to let Qiongyu and the others become his concubines."
She wanted all the maids she brought from Shangchuan to marry in style, not to become Wei Hong's concubines and ruin their lives.
"Of course, this is just my personal opinion."
"Now that Lady Chu has decided to leave, if I ask the Prince and he agrees, I will not force her to stay. I will give her some money and let her find a place to settle down properly."
Mrs. Zhou smiled and patted Yao Youqing's head: "Okay, I'll do whatever the Princess says."
When Wei Hong returned in the evening, Yao Youqing asked him about Chu Yan.
Just as Chu Yan had expected, Wei Hong said that Yao Youqing could handle it as she saw fit, and he wouldn't interfere.
Yao Youqing sighed: "Alright then, once Madam Chu has recovered from her injuries, I will have someone remove her from slave status and give her a sum of money so she can settle down properly."
Wei Hong frowned, thinking to himself, "What's with that disappointed look on your face?"
"You can't bear to part with her?"
He asked in a deep voice.
Yao Youqing muttered under her breath, somewhat annoyed, "Chu Niangzi is a really nice person."
He sighed again after saying that: "But since she wants to leave herself, and Your Highness has agreed, then so be it."
I really can't bear to part with her!
If he wasn't reluctant to part with it, why should she be reluctant?
Wei Hong wasn't stupid; how could he not understand why she didn't want Chu Yan to leave?
His face turned ashen, and he slept even more restlessly that night than he had in the previous days.
The next day, Yao Youqing woke up with dark circles under her eyes. She felt even more grateful to Chu Yan and hoped that the front courtyard could be repaired soon so that she could go back to her original life of living in a separate courtyard with the prince.