“Yes, Brother Bo is with me,” Chu Wan replied, “but he’s quite unreasonable!”
The future sister-in-law frowned, her dissatisfaction evident.
Wushuang held the teacup, listened intently, and finally understood the whole story.
When Chu Yao and his men found Chu Wan, she was fast asleep with her head on Wang Hongbo's lap. Since he had protected his younger sister, Chu Yao didn't react at the time. However, after returning to the camp, he demanded that Chu Wan keep her distance from Wang Hongbo from now on. He forbade any physical contact with her, and she could only speak with him present.
"Brother Bo is so good to me, but my brother treats him like a monster. Isn't that going too far?" Chu Wan was still indignant. "I just like Brother Bo, and I insist on getting close to him. Humph!"
like?
Wu Shuang raised her eyes, scrutinizing Chu Wan's face intently. Chu Wan looked completely innocent, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she hadn't said anything wrong. Clearly, the "like" she spoke of wasn't the kind of "like" between a man and a woman.
However, Chu Wan was twelve years old after all. As the eldest brother, Chu Yao certainly had to worry about more than just his sister's daily life. There was no way that the older brother didn't mind the strict separation between men and women.
Wushuang secretly decided to stand on Chu Yao's side, but she couldn't tell Chu Wan right now. Otherwise, if they disagreed, the little girl who came to seek refuge would be so angry that she would leave "her," and the consequences would be truly unimaginable.
“Of course Brother Bo is good,” Wushuang said, not finding anything wrong with Wang Hongbo, and spoke of him with exceptional ease. “Moreover, he’s ambitious. He said he won’t marry into a wealthy family or rely on his wife’s family; he wants to build his own career.”
Chu Wan had no concept of marriage or a man's future, but relying on her father-in-law's influence, she knew it wasn't a good thing as soon as she heard it, so she said, "I support Brother Bo!"
"I support him too, and I support you too!" Wushuang bent her elbow and gently bumped Chu Wan's arm, then leaned close to her ear and said, "You like Brother Bo, so wait until I... become your sister-in-law, and I'll help you find a husband, okay?"
Even in the dim light, Chu Wan's face could be seen turning red quickly. She protested, "I...I didn't mean that. I only see you as my brother."
"What if I cut ties with Brother Bo for your brother's sake? How would you feel?" Wushuang pressed on.
“Then…then I must advise you,” Chu Wan said without hesitation, “unless Brother Bo has done something terribly wrong and wronged you, but even then I will find a way to make him make it up to you…”
She was halfway through her sentence when she realized that she and her brother Chu Yao had only disagreed and exchanged a few words, which was not a big deal and did not warrant the point of "never talking to him again".
But the young girl is easily embarrassed. She just ran away from home in a big way, and it's absolutely impossible for her to go back on her own in a sorry state now.
“Brother Bo loves you, but my brother doesn’t love me at all.” She pouted, her expression a little aggrieved. “I packed my bags in front of him, saying I was going to run away from home to find you, and he didn’t even stop me… My brother doesn’t want me anymore!”
He came to visit his future sister-in-law with his luggage, which is no different from visiting someone's neighbor. Why should we stop him?
Wushuang found it increasingly amusing and coaxed her, "Because you came to find me, he knows I'll take good care of you. If you went to find someone else, well, like Brother Bo, he definitely wouldn't agree."
Chu Wan thought about it and realized that what Wu Shuang said was indeed true. Her brother even controlled how she talked to Brother Bo, so if she went to live with him, they would have to eat and sleep together, so of course he would never agree to it.
Her little tantrums were all soothed, and a bright smile returned to her face. However, she still refused to back down first, saying in a coquettish voice, "Anyway... if my brother doesn't come to pick me up, I won't go back."
"That's easy," Wushuang waved her hand, instructing Chaohua and Qiqiao to go cook a midnight snack and go to Chuyao to deliver the message.
Before long, a hot bowl of chicken soup and bamboo shoot noodles was served. Wushuang and Chuwan shared it, and after she washed up, the two of them squeezed onto a couch and slept together under a thick quilt until dawn.
The girls had nothing more to worry about, but Chu Yao still had to deal with the aftermath.
The serious injury to Gesang could not have gone unnoticed; if we did not strike first, we would be on the defensive.
So after Chu Wan "left", Chu Yao came to the front of the imperial tent. It was already close to midnight, and Emperor Deqing had already gone to bed. Liang Sansheng, the chief eunuch on night duty, thought it was an important official matter and was about to go in to report without even stammering. However, Chu Yao stopped him, saying that it was not urgent and that it would be better to wait until the emperor woke up. However, he refused to leave and just stood outside the imperial tent waiting.
When Emperor Deqing awoke, he ordered someone to come in and serve him as usual. Liang Sanxing seized the opportunity to tell him that Prince Ying had been waiting outside all night. Emperor Deqing immediately summoned Chu Yao in, and after hearing his explanation, he smashed his teacup in anger.
In terms of closeness of affection, even a nephew you've just met, let alone an elder sister who was married off to a distant land for political reasons, cannot compare to a nephew who has grown up by your side and been personally nurtured. Furthermore, Chu Yao's marriage to Wushuang was personally decreed by him. Fuya's childish capriciousness, expressing her wishes in front of her uncle and even demanding a contest to try and change the engagement, was not a major issue. However, after the contest, Emperor Deqing spoke again, essentially guaranteeing Chu Yao's marriage once more. Fuya and Gesang's secret plotting and scheming to break them up was no longer a simple matter of character, but a deliberate act of defiance, a direct slap in the face to Emperor Deqing.
"Any man would be willing to help a young girl who hasn't even reached marriageable age, even if he were in a situation where she's plotting against someone. In such a fight, it's easy to lose control of one's strength. Even if you accidentally kill her, it would be just an accident, let alone injure her tendons." Emperor Deqing's words set the tone for the matter, effectively declaring that Chu Yao would not bear any responsibility.
He had Chu Yao have breakfast in the imperial tent, and then they went together to Gesang's residence.
The imperial carriage had just stopped outside the Gesang tent, and before the imperial guards could even announce its arrival, the tent flap was lifted, and a slender young woman ran out with her head down.
At that time, it was still dark, and her appearance was not clearly visible in the hazy light. Everyone assumed that she was a maidservant who served Gesang.
But she was in a panic, seemingly distracted, and didn't even notice the people in front of her. She rushed straight towards the imperial carriage without thinking.
Two guards stepped forward to block him, and Liang Sansheng followed, ready to reprimand her. But as soon as he got closer, he froze: this woman was not a maid at all; she... she was the real Princess He Yao.
Through the gauze curtain, Emperor Deqing saw the whole process clearly, including Liang Sansheng's unfortunate appearance as he took a deep breath, ready to teach someone a lesson, but suddenly deflated like a punctured ball.
He asked casually, "Liang Sansheng, what's wrong?"
Every imperial guard recognized He Yao, but it was one thing for others to recognize her, but it was quite another for him to call her name in public. Liang Sansheng, who had managed to rise to the position of chief eunuch of the imperial guards, was quite shrewd in his calculations. He quietly approached the imperial carriage, pressed against the gauze curtain, and whispered in a voice only he and Emperor Deqing could hear: "Your Majesty, it is the County Princess."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Deqing frowned and got out of the sedan chair. He walked over to He Yao in a few steps and saw that her hair was slightly disheveled and the second button on the left of her double-breasted pipa jacket was fastened to the first button on the right, which affected all the other buttons below, making them crooked. It was clear that she had rushed out and hadn't even bothered to tidy up her clothes.
As a county princess, He Yao had been served by more than a dozen maids and wet nurses since she was a child. If she had gotten up early and come from her own tent, this situation would never have happened.
Emperor Deqing, having become emperor, was naturally quick-witted and understood all of the above in a single glance.
The Gesang siblings hadn't even calmed down after getting angry, and then this inexplicable incident involving He Yao happened. He didn't care about saving face for his granddaughter and asked directly, "A Yao, what's wrong with you?"
He Yao was trembling with fear, and answered in a trembling voice, "I...I don't know. I was sleeping soundly in my tent, and when I woke up...when I woke up I was here."
"That's utter nonsense!" Emperor Deqing retorted. "Do you think you can move around while you're asleep?"
“Everything I said is true,” He Yao said. “Perhaps someone framed me…”
She was telling the truth, but Emperor Deqing misunderstood.
The first thing he heard when he opened his eyes this morning was the younger generation arguing about marriage, so he assumed that He Yao was also swayed by romantic feelings. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it was because she heard Gesang was injured and came to visit him in the middle of the night, meaning He Yao had developed feelings for Gesang.
Emperor Deqing put on a stern face—Gesang is his nephew, and He Yao is his granddaughter. They are from different generations, and the beautiful story of a talented man and a beautiful woman has turned into a scandal. As the head of the family, it will certainly not look good on him.
"You have no sense of propriety in your own actions, yet you blame others and shirk responsibility. Who taught you to be so irresponsible?" he scolded, his beard bristling and eyes wide.
Chu Yao stood to the side with his arms crossed, watching the scene unfold with great interest.