It must be said that Chu Qiao had always had a poor impression of Jing Han. From their first encounter on the training grounds, this evil man had formed an irreconcilable enmity with her. In their subsequent meetings, both maintained tense relations. This prince of considerable power seemed to be at odds with Yan Xun and consequently had always glared at Chu Qiao, repeatedly opposing her and causing trouble.
During the Da Xia Emperor’s birthday celebration, he wasn’t in the palace, avoiding that turmoil. Regarding the relationship between Prince Jing and the court, Chu Qiao had always been unclear, so she had never fully understood this young prince’s background. Just like now, she couldn’t comprehend why this man had impulsively decided to stay with the Zhan household, and despite knowing who she was, hadn’t exposed her. But one thing was certain—this man’s intentions toward her were not good.
After setting out all his belongings, arranging them one by one, the sky had already darkened by the time she finished, and the ship had docked. Chu Qiao’s inner frustration was imaginable, but she still forced herself to turn around, looking at Jing Han’s punchable face, restraining herself to ask, “Young Prince, is there anything else you need?”
“Yes,” Young Prince Jing smiled crookedly, with a mischievous expression. His hair was set upright with a white jade crown, making him look neat and handsome. “Pack everything up again and put it back where it was.”
Chu Qiao didn’t move, not even bothering to smile. She stood there, throwing down what she held with a thud. The young woman frowned, coldly looking at him, and said in a deep voice, “Tell me, what do you want?”
Jing Han snorted arrogantly through his nose: “Is this how a servant speaks to their master?”
“Is there such an unreasonable master like you?”
“Hmph!” Jing Han stood up, walking forward while smiling and shaking his head: “Little Qiao, you should be grateful that you’ve encountered an unreasonable master like me. If it were Zhao Che or Zhuge Yue, you wouldn’t be alive now to stand here arranging things.”
Chu Qiao raised an eyebrow, “Why haven’t you exposed me?”
“Why should I expose you?”
“I heard the bounty outside has risen to five hundred gold pieces. Besides, killing a traitor like me would be a great achievement, wouldn’t it?”
“Not interested,” Jing Han shook his head, smiling, “I’m just curious, how did a slave picked from the garbage heap by Yan Xun grow to become such a treasure?” He looked Chu Qiao up and down, smiling, “You look quite good in men’s clothing. Little girl, in these few months we haven’t seen each other, not only have you given the Zhao family a bloody nose, but you’ve also made this prince’s heart flutter.”
Jing Han suddenly stepped forward, putting an arm around Chu Qiao’s waist, his eyes looking down, “I especially admire this pair of legs of yours.”
Chu Qiao frowned, leaning slightly backward, and said in a deep voice, “Let go.”
Jing Han smiled mischievously, the hand on Chu Qiao’s waist even giving a slight squeeze as he shook his head, saying, “I won’t.”
“If you don’t let go, I won’t be polite.”
“What do you want to do?” Jing Han chuckled, “Want to beat me up like you did to Li Ce?”
Jing Han’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, with a playful gleam. He raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Don’t you think comparing me to that tasteless stallion is a great insult to me?”
Chu Qiao snorted coldly, immediately raising her leg to kick. Jing Han had anticipated this, moving as fast as lightning, his right hand grabbing her raised thigh, lifting it to his waist, squeezing hard, then appearing intoxicated: “Feels good.”
“Hmph,” Chu Qiao was immediately furious. This man usually played the fool but was hiding his true skills. He often stirred up trouble and created discord, but she hadn’t expected he was quite skilled. She had underestimated him before. She struck forward with a small hand chop, but unexpectedly, Jing Han suddenly threw himself at her. Chu Qiao was too close to him to push him away in time and was pushed down onto the bed with him pressing heavily on top. Jing Han leaned forward, opening his mouth to kiss her earlobe, but Chu Qiao nimbly turned to the left. Jing Han missed, but his expression was unchanged, he took a deep sniff and said, “Smells good.”
“You’re asking for death,” Chu Qiao snorted coldly, bending her leg to kick his groin. Jing Han blocked it with his hand, exclaiming in surprise, “Little Qiao, do you want to ruin my happiness for the rest of my life?”
“I want you dead.”
Jing Han countered every move. Whether because Chu Qiao had been frequently injured recently and lacked strength, or because he was well-versed in this kind of entanglement, in this persistent grappling, he didn’t seem to be at a disadvantage.
“They say a woman’s heart is most venomous, and today I’ve truly experienced it.” Just as the two were engrossed in their struggle on the bed, the door was suddenly pushed open without warning. The two were startled and raised their heads from the messy bedding, looking up in disarray to see the Zhan family’s Sixth Young Lady, Zhan Zi Yun, and Liang Shaoqing standing at the door, frozen like wooden chickens, looking in disbelief at the scene within.
Young Prince Jing, after all, was accustomed to a position of authority and didn’t quite recognize the identity of this young girl who always stood behind Zhan Zi Yu. Somewhat annoyed, he slowly frowned and said in a deep voice, “Who let you in?”
“You two? You two?” Zhan Zi Yun’s delicate white fingers trembled as she pointed at them, her eyes immediately reddening. Suddenly, she cried out loudly, “How could you do this?”
Liang Shaoqing, filled with righteous indignation and extraordinary courage, pointed at Jing Han and shouted, “You beast!”
As soon as these words were spoken, Chu Qiao was startled. Indeed, Jing Han’s expression immediately changed, his eyes gloomy as he said coldly, “How bold!”
Jing Han was different from Li Ce; he couldn’t be casually joked with. At this moment, her life was in his hands, so when there was no way to escape completely, Chu Qiao didn’t dare to use her full strength for fear of provoking him. Now this bookworm Liang had suddenly jumped out with such a statement—wasn’t he seeking death?
“She is the Zhan family’s Sixth Young Lady, and he is my friend. You cannot harm them!”
Jing Han slowly turned his head, looking coldly at Chu Qiao, smiling wickedly, “Give me a reason why I shouldn’t harm them?”
Indeed, Chu Qiao was immediately at a loss for words, because even she was like a lamb awaiting slaughter in someone else’s hands at this moment.
Chu Qiao took a deep breath: “Because they are my friends.”
The young woman’s gaze was firm as she calmly looked at Jing Han, saying slowly, “Unless you kill me now, even if you hand me over to Da Xia’s Zhao royal family, as long as I’m alive, I will come back for revenge. I keep my word.”
Jing Han looked at Chu Qiao seriously for a while, then suddenly smiled, “Little Qiao, I find myself increasingly reluctant to part with you.”
At this moment, Zhan Zi Yun suddenly covered her mouth and ran out. Chu Qiao frowned, wanting to follow her, when she heard Jing Han’s voice calmly saying from behind, “You’d better not think about escaping. My men have already closely guarded this ship. Even if you could leave, you absolutely couldn’t take your scholar friend with you. Moreover, the Zhan young master has been good to you; don’t implicate him.”
Chu Qiao stood in place, slightly turning her face, looking at Jing Han’s enchanting eyes with the corner of her own. The man sat on the bed, smiling irritatingly.
“As long as you obediently stay by my side and accompany me to Tang Jing to join in the excitement, I’ll guarantee your safety.”
Chu Qiao said nothing, turning to walk out the cabin door.
At this moment, she suddenly understood Jing Han’s intentions.
Yan Bei’s independence was a heavy blow to the Da Xia Empire, but for the various feudal princes constantly facing the danger of being stripped of their power, it was a fortunate event. Prince Jing possessed great power and had always been a thorn in the side of the Zhao royal clan. Now with Yan Bei taking the lead, they could breathe a sigh of relief and wait for opportunities while watching from a distance. And Chu Qiao happened to be an important figure between the two sides. Having her in hand could both restrain Yan Xun when Yan Bei was in power and earn merit when Da Xia prevailed—a win-win situation. But why did he want to take her to Tang Jing? Wasn’t he afraid of being discovered harboring a wanted criminal? Shouldn’t the best way to handle this be to secretly imprison her in Prince Jing’s fief?
By now, Chu Qiao had walked onto the deck, looking around but not seeing Zhan Zi Yun.
However, the servants passing by all cast strange glances at her, and when they saw her looking, they hurriedly lowered their heads, afraid of being seen by her.
Chu Qiao smiled bitterly and helplessly. It seemed the news of her being Jing Han’s male lover had already spread and taken root in people’s minds.
“Little Qiao.”
A voice suddenly came from behind. Liang Shaoqing approached with a strange expression, asking in a low voice, “Did he do anything to you?”
Chu Qiao impatiently pushed him away, saying, “Don’t bother me.”
Chu Qiao was already upset, and her words carried no other meaning. But to Liang Shaoqing’s ears, they took on a completely different interpretation. The bookworm suddenly became as grieved as if someone had stolen his money, pacing back and forth. His eyes lit up as he grabbed a stick, turning to walk toward Jing Han’s room, saying as he went, “I’ll fight him to the death!”
“Are you insane?” Chu Qiao grabbed him, frowning as she scolded, “Is there something wrong with your head?”
Liang Shaoqing’s eyes were red, and he looked as if he was about to cry: “He bullied you.”
“He didn’t bully you!” As soon as these words were out, Chu Qiao realized they were problematic. She took the stick from his hand and said, “How can you fight him? What can you fight him with? You can’t even beat me, how can you fight against all his men? He’s a prince!”
“So what if he’s a prince? He should be reasonable! Even the emperor is subject to the same law as common people, let alone a mere prince.”
Chu Qiao shook her head, feeling it impossible to communicate with this man. She wanted to ask him if, throughout history, he had ever seen an emperor who had been beheaded or imprisoned for breaking the law, but felt discussing such issues with a bookworm lacked constructive value. She shook her head, returned the stick to his hand, and waved tiredly, “Go fight him to the death then. One less is one less.” With that, she turned and walked toward her cabin. However, just as she turned a corner, she saw the maid named Xiao Yun slap Jin Lian in the face. Jin Lian, carrying a bucket of water, dropped it with a bang, the water spilling all over her, leaving her in a sorry state.
Chu Qiao, who had been holding in her anger all day, was already fuming. She could no longer restrain herself. She stepped forward, grabbed Xiao Yun by the collar, and delivered three quick slaps, leaving the arrogant little maid seeing stars with a bruised face.
“If you dare bully her again, I’ll kill you.”
With a kick that sent Xiao Yun to the ground, Chu Qiao pulled Jin Lian up and turned to walk back to her cabin, leaving a buzz of discussion behind.
Back in the room, Chu Qiao was full of anger. She washed a face cloth and gave it to Jin Lian to wipe her face. Without Zi Su present, Jin Lian seemed afraid of this sister who was disguised as a man, skilled in martial arts, whom she hadn’t seen for a long time, and who was rumored to have an unusual relationship with the Young Prince. She just cautiously observed Chu Qiao, not daring to say a word. After sitting angrily for half a while, Chu Qiao gradually calmed down. Her temper was very bad today, and her mood was very poor. She hadn’t been like this for many years. Perhaps because life had been peaceful recently, without so many worries and intrigues, she had relaxed her vigilance toward this fallen Yan Tang noble, never considering what obstacles she might face if she wanted to leave. So under the sudden disappointment, she became so angry. The current situation was very bad, so bad that she felt somewhat helpless. She raised her eyes to look at Jin Lian opposite her, and a wicked thought suddenly emerged in her mind. Perhaps she should disregard everything here and slip away quietly, hurrying back to Yan Bei. This idea hissed and tempted like a crazy venomous snake in her heart, making her palms sweat. They were now at the shore, and it would soon be dark. She didn’t believe that with her abilities, in familiar terrain, she couldn’t escape Jing Han’s guards. But then she thought of Jing Han’s ruthless methods. If she escaped, Zhan Zi Yu might not be affected greatly, but Liang Shaoqing would suffer. Thinking of this, she took a deep breath and suppressed the idea again. Even if she were to leave, she would find an opportunity to take Liang Shaoqing with her.
Just then, suddenly someone knocked on the door. Chu Qiao was startled, opened the door, and was surprised to see the frightening smile of the Zhan family’s Eldest Young Lady. Zhan Zi Fang stood before her with a smile, holding a large tray, and said cheerfully, “Young Mr. Liang, I’ve long seen that you are a talented person. Old Qin has been gone for so long, and our household still doesn’t have a steward. I’ve discussed it with the others, and we all agree that this position is meant for no one but you.” With that, she pulled off the red cloth covering the tray, revealing a heavy set of keys and account books.
Chu Qiao was stunned. She turned back to look at the equally dumbfounded Jin Lian, then turned back, pointing at her nose and asking, “Me…?”
“Yes,” Zhan Zi Fang, accompanied by several servants, with even Gu Gong’en and others visible in the distance behind her, said, “Besides you, who else could handle this position? Please don’t decline.”
Placing the tray in Chu Qiao’s hands, Zhan Zi Fang smiled, “This way, I can rest assured. Strange things happen every year, but this year seems particularly abundant in them.” Zhan Zi Fang smiled brilliantly, and for a moment, with the lights shining behind her, there was even a hint of sacred radiance. From a distance, a sudden cheer arose. Zhan Zi Fang turned and smiled, “It’s Fifth Sister returning. Steward Liang, let’s go welcome the Fifth Young Lady.”
Chu Qiao picked up the tray, intending to decline, when a series of urgent shouts came closer and closer, “Young Master, something terrible has happened!”