Chapter 36

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Qiao Jinniang glared at Lu Chen through the veil. How could he…

Although everyone in the Duke Mansion was very nice to her due to their guilt for her, Jinniang believed that if his parents learned that that jerk was the Crown Prince, they would no longer stand on her side and scold him.

After Lu Chen finished speaking, he got into the carriage and Qiao Jinniang followed behind. When she got into the carriage, she asked Lu Chen, “How could you say that to my mother?”

Lu Chen looked at her, who had taken off her veil, and said, “Sooner or later, she will know. We’re a family. Why hide it?”

Qiao Jinniang certainly wouldn’t tell Lu Chen that she still wanted to find a new husband before the imperial decree was issued.

She had a headache, wondering how to explain it after returning home.

However, just as the carriage started, there was a loud face-slapping sound outside.

Hearing it, Lu Chen had a conditioned reflex and felt his face hurt…

Qiao Ruoshui felt as if being struck by a thunderbolt out of blue when she heard the Crown Prince say that the Duke Mansion had more than one daughter. She then glared at Qiao Ruoyi behind her and suddenly slapped her.

“Little b*tch, you’re as slutty as your mother! All you know is to seduce men. How dare you seduce His Royal Highness, you b*tch…”

Qiao Ruoyi covered her face and her eyes turned red.

The families of high-ranking officials and nobles who had not left all looked over.

The Duchess felt so ashamed and immediately said to Mammy An, “Ruoshui went crazy again. I am afraid that she hasn’t recovered. Bind her up and send her home.”

With that, the Duchess went over and wiped Qiao Ruoyi’s tears gently with a handkerchief. “Your sister is crazy. I apologize for her.”

Qiao Ruoyi covered her face and forced her tears back. “Mother, I did not… I never seduced His Royal Highness.”

The Duchess sighed helplessly. “After all, you’ve been calling me Mother for so many years, so I’ll definitely uphold justice for you. You’re famous for your talent in literature, which is known to almost everyone in Chang’an, so it’s not strange that His Royal Highness is interested in you.”

Qiao Ruoyi bowed her head and wringed her handkerchief. She looked at the carriage of the Crown Prince. It was obvious that His Royal Highness was talking about Jinniang.

She felt that she became Jinniang’s scapegoat, but thinking of Jinniang’s life-saving grace, she decided to keep it a secret for Jinniang.

In the carriage, thinking of Ruoyi who was slapped for nothing, Qiao Jinniang felt very guilty.

If she didn’t speak up for her, Ruoyi would definitely have a hard time. Qiao Jinniang decided to explain to the Duchess after she returned so as not to tarnish Qiao Ruoyi’s reputation.

If her parents insisted on marrying her off to Lu Chen as his concubine, she would rather go to a Taoist temple and become a Taoist priest.

When the carriage stopped in the East Palace, Qiao Jinniang found that Tuan’er had already fallen asleep in her arms. There was no ice basin in the carriage, so his forehead was full of sweat.

Lu Chen got out of the carriage first, took Tuan’er from Qiao Jinniang, and reached out, intending to help Qiao Jinniang get off the carriage.

Qiao Jinniang once again ignored him and jumped down the carriage herself.

The East Palace neighbored the Imperial Palace, but had its own gate and courtyard.

During the Dragon Boat Festival, the flowers in the courtyard rushed to bloom, and peonies, a flower rarely seen in the south, were also in full bloom.

Lu Chen took Tuan’er to a side palace and Qiao Jinniang followed in. There were luxurious decorations everywhere, and inside was a bed made of golden nanmu wood.

Seeing Lu Chen put down Tuan’er, she went to check the stitches of the quilt. Although she knew that the quilt in the East Palace must be carefully made, the bedding Tuan’er used to use was all made by her own hands. She was afraid that the quilt would cut Tuan’er’s skin if it was not soft enough.

Lu Chen ordered all the maids to leave and walked to Qiao Jinniang, saying, “This is made by imperial embroiderers, whose skills are better than yours, so don’t worry.”

Qiao Jinniang tucked Tuan’er in and said crossly, “Yes, my needlework is not good enough. Since it is not good, why are you wearing my sachet?”

Lu Chen said, “I’m not saying that your needlework is not good. If you’re worried about Tuan’er, when you enter the East Palace in two months, I will let you raise Tuan’er yourself.”

Qiao Jinniang took off her veil and glared at Lu Chen. “Are you saying that you planned to have someone else raise Tuan’er?”

Lu Chen said indifferently, “Tuan’er is my eldest son. If he is raised by the crown princess, it’s easier for him to inherit the throne from me in the future…”

Qiao Jinniang threw the veil onto Lu Chen and cursed unbearably, “Damn you, I never want to marry into the East Palace! Even if I wanted to previously, after hearing this, I would rather kill you than marry you!”

“Do you think my Tuan’er wants the throne? He has his mother. Why does he have to recognize another woman as his mother?”

“We were a legal couple for the past three years, but does it count for anything in your eyes?”

Lu Chen frowned and said, “Jin’er, your husband in the past three years is Lu Chen, not the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty!

“Although we were married, I used the fake identity that you made for me. It’s not my real identity…”

Qiao Jinniang clenched her hands, picked up the teapot on the side, threw it at Lu Chen’s forehead and cursed in a low voice:

“A*shole, didn’t you agree when you were asked to marry into my family three years ago? You are a man after all. If you didn’t want to marry me, could I force you?

“Isn’t Lu Chen you?”

The teapot hit Lu Chen’s forehead, causing it to immediately drip with blood.

Lu Chen clutched his forehead. Fearing to wake Tuan’er up, he said in a lowered voice, “Why don’t you learn to control your temper?

“You have repeatedly humiliated me. Do you really think that I won’t punish you?”

Qiao Jinniang’s eyes turned bloodshot and anger made her fearless. “If you have what it takes, throw me in jail and cut me into pieces!

“I’d like to ask the public to judge. I saved your life, gave you a well-to-do life for three years, married you and gave birth to a son for you!

“But you don’t even want to admit that Tuan’er was born by your wife? So you have never cared for him, right? That’s why you’re only willing to make me your concubine…”

Lu Chen covered the wound on his forehead with his hand. “Jin’er, calm down. If I don’t care for Tuan’er, why did I bother to tell you these?

“As soon as I returned to Chang’an, I immediately asked my father to designate him as my inheritor, but my grandmother felt it inappropriate.

“I have been holding Tuan’er every day since he was born. He is my most beloved child. Is it wrong for me to try to make him my inheritor?

“Jin’er, this is in Chang’an, in the imperial palace, not in Lin’an. If I’m only a common prince, I won’t make you my concubine, let alone let Tuan’er call someone else mother. But I am the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty!”

Qiao Jinniang spat on him. “Don’t be so high-sounding. If you really care about Tuan’er and I, you should just renounce your status as the crown prince.

“In novels, those emperors were willing to abandon the throne for the sake of the peasant girls they loved. Are you willing to give up the throne?”

Lu Chen helplessly said, “I told you to read less novels. How can I just renounce the status of crown prince so easily?”