bayedsolid Chapter 140 If the Emperor forces me, I will give up my status as a prince and voluntarily become a
Chapter 140 If the Emperor forces me, I will give up my status as a prince and voluntarily become a
It has been a long time since I went to Taotao Garden. It is already April now, and the peach blossoms in Taoyuan should be in bloom. Xia Taoyuan really wants to go and see them. Chu Xingluo mentioned it, and she naturally agreed. As for other things, she will talk about it when she comes back.
Before dark, they arrived at Taotao Garden. Qingyun Longyan unloaded his things, and Chu Xingluo moved the food to the kitchen, rolled up his sleeves and started picking vegetables.
Seeing this, Xia Taoyuan smiled and said, "You want to cook?"
Chu Xingluo looked back and smiled: "Yes, you go and rest, I will cook today, let Long Yanqingyun help me."
"Forget it, you don't know how to cook, so let me do it!" Xia Taoyuan squatted down and was about to get the vegetables.
Chu Xingluo helped her up and said seriously, "I came to Taoyuan because I wanted you to rest and recuperate. Don't worry, I can learn if I don't know how to cook. If I don't do it well the first time, there will always be a second and third time. I will always do it well."
Xia Taoyuan was somewhat touched that the great Prince Jing of Beiyue actually cooked for her, the fake princess. She no longer insisted and pulled a chair to sit down: "I won't help, I'll just watch you here, and I'll remind you if there's anything wrong!"
Chu Xingluo replied "OK" and got busy.
Xia Taoyuan didn't know that when Chu Xingluo heard Emperor Ying ask him to marry Ye Linglong as the emperor, he knew he couldn't escape. At that time, he wanted to take Taotao to travel around the world. If he wanted Taotao to have a good life, he had to take on the responsibilities of a man and learn some basic things, such as cooking, doing housework, etc.
He remembered that his Taotao said that as long as she was with him, she didn't care about anything, and she was not afraid of any hardship. She could grow vegetables and raise chickens with him, and farm the land. She didn't know how shocked and moved he was by her words at that time. How could he bear to let a person who was willing to live a hard life with him suffer? He had to learn some basic survival skills from now on.
Xia Taoyuan smiled as she watched Chu Xingluo busy cooking, giving him some pointers from time to time. Finally, when she was starving, she ate the meal Chu Xingluo cooked. Although the taste was a bit strange, Xia Taoyuan was very satisfied.
In this way, the two stayed in Taoyuan for five or six days. Every day, Chu Xingluo got up early to clean the yard and cook. He also reclaimed a few plots of land outside the yard and sowed rapeseed. He did not let Qingyun Longyan help, but did it all by himself. In his spare time, he took Xia Taoyuan for a walk, which was quite free and easy.
That day, Long Yan said that when he returned to the palace, he heard from the housekeeper Xu Zhong that someone from the palace had been to the palace for two consecutive days, and the emperor had summoned His Highness to the palace. But the housekeeper did not know the whereabouts of His Highness.
Chu Xingluo knew that this matter could not be delayed any longer, so he decided to go to the palace and explain things to the emperor. If the emperor still insisted on letting him marry Ye Linglong, he would take Taotao away from Yunjun City.
They returned to Yunjun City. It was dark when they got home, and Chu Xingluo decided to go to the palace the next day.
The next morning, Chu Xingluo wanted to go to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion to bring Xiao Feng with him, but then he changed his mind and realized that his uncle would definitely support him in marrying Ye Linglong, so he simply went to the palace himself.
When Emperor Ying saw him, he snorted, "I thought you were hiding in that Taotao Garden and would not come back."
Chu Xingluo was shocked. It turned out that his father had been secretly monitoring him. He suddenly felt a little upset. If he wanted to take Taotao away, it might not be that easy.
"What do you think about what I said that day?" Emperor Ying looked at Chu Xingluo's face.
"Your Majesty, I do not agree. If you force me, I will give up my status as a prince and voluntarily become a commoner!" Chu Xingluo's voice was cold and it sounded like there was no room for negotiation.
"How outrageous!" Emperor Ying slammed the desk hard and said angrily, "I have been too indulgent to you!" He was really angry. The third son would rather not be a prince than marry Ye Linglong.
Eunuch Liu, who was standing next to Emperor Ying, kept winking at Chu Xingluo, but Chu Xingluo ignored him.
"Your son has made his attitude clear. If Your Majesty has nothing else to say, your son will take his leave." Without waiting for Emperor Ying to speak, Chu Xingluo turned around and strode out of the imperial study.
After getting on the carriage, he felt a little annoyed. Their private residence outside the city had been discovered by his father's men. His own palace was probably under his father's surveillance.
"Although the third son has a cold personality, he never went against my wishes before. He always listened to whatever I said and was a good and obedient child. After all, this kid has changed as a father. After all, I, as a father, cannot compare to Wei Zhiying!" Emperor Ying sighed heavily.
"Your Majesty, I think Prince Jing is very filial. No matter what you asked him to do in the past, he never disobeyed you. Prince Jing has been lonely since he was a child, and no one has ever really won his heart. I have never seen him smile. It was not until he got engaged to Miss Wei that I saw Prince Jing smile. Now that he has grown up and is married, I think it is better to let Prince Jing decide for himself!" Eunuch Liu also sighed. He really felt sorry for Chu Xingluo, who had been helpless since childhood. It was not easy for such a little person to come this far.
"Just speak for him!" Emperor Ying closed his eyes angrily.
When they returned to the palace, Lu Qing'er and Wei Jinghe were already there. They asked Xia Taoyuan about her health and asked her about her concerns. Xia Taoyuan happily held Lu Qing'er's hand and said, "Brother and sister-in-law, you don't have to worry. Go back and tell father and mother that I am fine now. I can eat and sleep well now." She stood up and turned around.
Seeing Chu Xingluo coming back, Wei Jinghe pulled him aside and asked, "I heard that the emperor asked you to marry Ye Linglong from Xiling Country. Does Zhiying know about this?"
Chu Xingluo looked back at the smiling Xia Taoyuan and shook his head: "I didn't tell her."
"Whether Zhiying accepts it or not, I hope Your Highness will not hurt Zhiying." Wei Jinghe said.
"I know." Chu Xingluo said in a low voice.
Wei Jinghe and Lu Qing'er sat for a while and then returned to the mansion. In the afternoon, Wei Qing and the Southern King came together.
Wei Qing took Xia Taoyuan's hand, tears rolled down her cheeks, and she was so distressed that she couldn't speak. Xia Taoyuan smiled and patted her shoulder, "Your sister is blessed with a long life, and I won't die easily!"
Wei Qing then burst into laughter and stayed with Xia Taoyuan in the palace for the whole day. In the afternoon, she was sent back to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion by the King of Nan.
In the evening, Chu Xingluo stroked Xia Taoyuan's face and said, "You must be exhausted. You just talked to them all day."
"I'm not tired. I'm not made of paper. I have fully recovered now." Xia Taoyuan said with a smile.
Chu Xingluo sat up again until Xia Taoyuan fell asleep. He felt a little uneasy in his heart. He didn't know how long he could keep it a secret. He was afraid Taotao would be sad if she knew.
Although Taotao had never discussed with him about the prince taking a concubine before, he knew that Taotao did not want him to take a concubine because Taotao said that her hometown was monogamous, a man could only marry one woman, and a woman could only marry one man, and anyone who violated the rules would be arrested.
In the next two days, Prince Huai, Princess Huai, Chu Xinghai and Ye Yiyi, the princess and her husband all came to visit Xia Taoyuan.
Seeing that Ye Yiyi and Chu Xinghai had reconciled, Xia Taoyuan said nothing. She could understand Ye Yiyi. In ancient times, it was not easy to divorce a husband, not to mention that the other party was a prince. She just hoped that Ye Yiyi would not regret it. Of course, she hoped that Chu Xinghai would treat Ye Yiyi well in the future.