Help! The innocent prince always tries to seduce me clumsily

Xie Chuchu glanced at him, then turned around with an indifferent expression and led people into the restaurant.

Chu Shifan was like a fool. Even though the other person didn't give him a good face, he just watched them go in with a silly smile on his face.

Chu Shitong was watching in the crowd and suddenly felt that letting Chu Shifan come to the restaurant seemed to be a wrong decision.

The crowd gradually dispersed, and Chu Shitong no longer hid and walked over with Bishui.

Seeing Chu Shifan still standing at the door stupidly looking at Xie Chuchu, Chu Shitong walked to his side quietly and said sarcastically, "I haven't seen you for a while, cousin, it seems like you have finally found love."

Chu Shifan was startled by Chu Shitong out of nowhere. He was about to turn around in shame and anger to curse at some blind person for talking nonsense, but when he turned around and saw it was Chu Shitong, he immediately jumped for joy.

"Xiao Qi! You're back!"

He happily walked forward and hugged Chu Shitong with such force that Chu Shitong felt his shoulders were about to be crushed.

The main thing was that he was so happy that he jumped twice while holding Chu Shitong, and Chu Shitong felt like he was about to feel dizzy.

"Alright cousin! Let go! You're strangling me."

Chu Shitong no longer had any tolerance for this lovelorn man.

Chu Shifan then let go and laughed twice embarrassedly.

"Isn't it because I see Xiao Qi is happy?"

Chu Shitong rubbed his shoulders and subconsciously glanced in the middle. Xie Chuchu's slender figure was saying something to the people in the restaurant in the lobby.

"Cousin, are you having a good time in the restaurant?"

"It's OK." Chu Shifan said, "It was a little difficult at the beginning, but it got better later."

"It's all right." Chu Shitong said meaningfully, "Cousin, please don't put yourself out there when you run a restaurant."

Chu Shifan didn't realize what he meant and asked, "What do you mean by getting yourself involved?"

Chu Shitong shook his head. "It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't matter if my cousin doesn't understand."

"By the way, how is your injury? Can you use the blood ginseng I asked someone to send you? I heard that you lost a lot of blood, and the blood ginseng is best for nourishing qi and producing blood."

"It's nothing serious, just a false alarm. I also want to thank my cousin for the blood ginseng, otherwise my illness would not have been cured so easily."

Chu Shitong lied with open eyes. The blood ginseng was sent to Prince Qi's Mansion. She was treated in Jingzhou and just returned to Beijing yesterday. She didn't even see the blood ginseng at all.

Chu Shifan laughed twice and was very happy.

"Let's not stand at the door anymore. Let's go in and talk. It's a good time to have a drink. Thank you, Miss, for not letting me drink in the restaurant. I haven't had a drink in many days."

Chu Shitong: “…”

She looked up. It was still morning and the sun hadn't even risen yet.

Which good person drinks in the morning?

"No need, I just came to take a look. I just saw that my cousin and Miss Xie looked after the restaurant very well, so I felt relieved."

Chu Shifan looked at her with a little disappointment, "You are leaving now, but you just got here, right?"

"I just came to take a look. I have to go somewhere else soon. I don't have time to go in and rest. Thank you for your kindness, cousin."

"Ok."

Chu Shifan did not try to persuade him to stay.

Chu Shitong didn't leave directly.

"By the way, since there will be nothing to do in the restaurant in the future, my cousin doesn't need to come."

Chu Shifan was stunned.

"Xiao Qi, what do you mean by this?"

Chu Shitong silently turned her eyes away. What else could it mean? If she let Chu Shifan stay any longer, and if they really fell in love, wouldn't the princess just call her over and give her a lecture?

Although Xie Chuchu is a very good woman, no matter her character, appearance, temperament or talent, she is the best among the young ladies from aristocratic families.

If she were a girl from an ordinary family, it would be acceptable, but she was a widow with two children, which really did not qualify her as a marquis' wife.

"It's nothing, I just feel that the restaurant doesn't need any help. My cousin is of noble status, so don't waste your time and talent in the restaurant."

"What's the problem? I do it willingly!"

Chu Shitong finally understood. It was not that Chu Shifan did not understand the implication of Chu Shitong's words, he just stubbornly wanted to do what was in his mind.

Chu Shitong said helplessly, "I'm going to the princess's mansion to visit my aunt in a while. Would you like to come with me, cousin?"

Chu Shifan was silent for a moment, "I...will not go."

"It doesn't matter if my cousin doesn't come."

Chu Shitong had no intention of letting him come along, and he suddenly mentioned the eldest princess just to give her a subtle reminder.

"Then I'll leave first."

"Wait!" Chu Shifan took two steps forward and asked, "Can I still come to the restaurant in the future?"

Chu Shitong said: "My cousin and I are like brothers, so he can come whenever he wants."

Only then did Chu Shifan feel at ease and let Chu Shitong leave.

The carriage went all the way to the princess's mansion.

Chu Shitong entered the princess's mansion with gifts that he had prepared in advance.

The extremely simple backyard was full of flowers and plants, and Chu Shitong was walking in the corridor.

Old wooden window frames, snow-white window paper, and the rich aroma of incense as soon as you enter the backyard. The sound of wooden fish knocking can be heard regularly in the quiet courtyard.

Chu Shitong entered the room. In front of him stood a Buddha statue as tall as a person. The eldest princess was dressed in plain clothes and kneeling on a cushion. She was beating a wooden fish with one hand and twirling Buddhist beads with the other. She closed her eyes and concentrated, reciting Buddhist scriptures.

Chu Shitong stood quietly aside, looking at the statue in front of him.

Previously, I had visited mostly at night, and always went to the back hall, which had a wall of portraits and a gold-plated Buddha statue in the center.

However, Chu Shitong had never seen the statue before.

The statue was as tall as a person, and it was obvious that it was a female fairy. She was wearing fluttering fairy clothes, had a cold and pure fairy aura, and a calm and indifferent expression. She did not have any of the compassion in the brows of other gods, which made Chu Shitong feel a little strange.

Chu Shitong had been to temples and Taoist temples before, but he had never seen the statue of this goddess.

After looking for a while, Chu Shitong discovered what was strange.

The features of this goddess...seem familiar, and her magic weapon is not a gourd fan or something like that, but a long knife, which she holds in her hand. With her cold expression, she seems to be full of murderous intent.

She always had an inexplicable feeling of being stared at when in front of the Buddha statue, but in front of the statue of this goddess, she didn't feel anything at all.

It was obvious that she was bigger than the Buddha statue in the back hall, but Chu Shitong always felt that the goddess seemed unable to see her, and although the Buddha statue was smaller, it was always looking at him.

While he was thinking, the sound of the wooden fish stopped and the chanting of scriptures also stopped.

The eldest princess slowly opened her eyes and said, "Xiao Qi is here."

Chu Shitong didn't even say a word, and the princess didn't turn around, but she guessed correctly every time.

Chu Shitong stepped forward, knelt on another cushion and said.

"Xiao Qi returned to the capital yesterday. I heard that your aunt was worried about your previous injury, so I came here today to report that you are safe."

The eldest princess raised her eyes and stared at the statue without blinking.

"Is Xiaoqi's injury serious this time?"

Chu Shitong said, "It's nothing, just a minor injury. I'm sorry to have made my aunt worried."

"It's good that nothing happened. Xiaoqi's birthday will be in a few days. After the birthday, Xiaoqi will be a big boy."

The princess said, "I heard that His Majesty intends to give Jingzhou to you as your fiefdom."

Chu Shitong was a little surprised.

The eldest princess's intelligence was so fast. Even though there was clearly no one from her family in the court, she still knew what happened in the morning court so quickly.

"Yes, Father has this idea."

"What does Xiao Qi think?" The eldest princess suddenly turned her head and looked at Chu Shitong, her eyes calm and deep, like ancient water without ripples. "Is Xiao Qi willing to do this?"

Chu Shitong laughed dryly and said, "If Father has this idea, Xiao Qi has no other choice, right?"

The princess looked away. "Although fate is determined by heaven, things are in our hands. If the late emperor hadn't founded the country, this would still be Tianxuan Country, right?"

"That's what my aunt said."

The eldest princess first asked Chu Shitong about his opinion on going to the fiefdom to be king. She was also asking Chu Shitong if it was because of Chu Shiyu's question that he gave up the idea of ​​​​seizing the throne. After all, Chu Shiyu's move would make it difficult for Chu Shitong to establish power in the future when he enters the court.

After all, Chu Shiyu's words were equivalent to directly telling all civil and military officials that Chu Shitong would never become the Crown Prince or succeed to the throne in the future.

Chu Shitong knew that the princess had already known his answer in the court, so he sent the question back directly.

Under the circumstances at that time, was there any other option for Chu Shitong except to agree?

The eldest princess's answer again was to tell Chu Shitong that even if Chu Shiyu said so directly, if Chu Shitong wanted to succeed to the throne, there were many ways to do it. After all, this matter had not been finalized, and she gave Beiqing and Tianxuan as examples.

If the former Emperor Beiqing had not changed the dynasty, the Chu family would have been at most a vassal family of the Tianxuan Dynasty.

It is precisely because our ancestors had the courage to defy fate and change their destiny that the Chu family is now the royal family of Beiqing.

"Some things are destined from birth. If you insist on getting them, no one dares to fight with you."

"Thank you for the reminder, aunt."

Chu Shitong didn't know why, but it seemed that the princess always felt that as long as Chu Shitong wanted that position, he could get it.

After a moment of silence, the eldest princess suddenly asked, "It seems that Afan has been running to a restaurant during this period of time."

When smart people speak, they naturally don't just speak simply. What the eldest princess meant by this was that she was already asking what was going on with the matter.

Moreover, after asking this question, it means that the investigation has basically been completed and we just need to ask Chu Shitong.

Chu Shitong felt that this matter was not easy to explain.

It was clear that before Chu Shifan left, he said something like he was afraid of ruining Xie Chuchu's reputation. Now Chu Shitong felt that Chu Shifan was the one who was best at ruining people's reputations, and he was the kind of person who would not leave unless he was persuaded to do so.

"It's hard for me to explain this to my aunt." Perhaps because he was in the wrong, Chu Shitong couldn't help but speak slower. "Originally, I saw that my cousin was idle, so I wanted to find him something to do, but I didn't expect it to turn out like this."

"Have you seen Afan since you came back?"

"I went to the restaurant to meet him before coming here, and I found that the situation was a little unexpected. I wanted to let my cousin find something else to do, but he seemed to like staying in the restaurant. If my aunt doesn't want to, I can find a way to make my cousin give up the idea."

The eldest princess suddenly laughed with an ambiguous tone.

"Why not? If Afan likes me, so what even if I'm a widow?"

Chu Shitong stared at the eldest princess. The look on her face when she said this, the calmness on her face, and the coldness in her eyes when she closed her eyes, seemed as if she didn't care about the matter at all.

This made Chu Shitong suddenly start to doubt the eldest princess.

As a mother, doesn't she want her son to marry a good woman?

Not to mention that her child was a marquis with a royal surname, and the woman was a widow with a child.

This kind of situation would never happen, let alone in the royal family, even in an ordinary official family.

What the princess said was a bit cruel.

However, Chu Shitong would definitely not ask directly, so he had to keep the matter to himself and investigate secretly.

Chu Shitong was silent for a while, his eyes accidentally fell on the statue, and he changed the subject.

"What god does Auntie worship? Xiao Qi seems to have never seen one before."

The eldest princess looked at the Buddha statue and raised the corners of her mouth silently.

"It's right that Xiao Qi has never seen her. This is Qinglian's Nine Heavens Goddess. Few people in Beiqing know her."

Qinglian?

Thinking of Qinglian, the first person that popped into Chu Shitong’s mind was Song Nian.

I don’t know what happened to Song Nian after he returned home.

When they became sworn brothers, the three of them all mentioned their birthdays. When it’s their birthday in a few days, they don’t know whether Song Nian will send them gifts.

"I always feel like this goddess is familiar, as if I've seen her somewhere before."

"Maybe Xiao Qi has seen it in his dream."

Chu Shitong talked with the eldest princess for a while, and as it was approaching noon, he declined the eldest princess' invitation to have lunch.

When they returned to Prince Qi's Mansion, Huaying had already been sent over by Chu Shifeng. Chu Shifeng had nothing to say, so he sent someone into the palace to inform Wang Zexu, and then sent the person to the villa.

Wang Zexu came late that night to pick the person up.

But the next day, Rushuang said that Wang Zexu did not bring anyone back to his house in the capital, but gave Huaying some money and ordered a carriage to take Huaying back to her hometown to see her parents first.

......

October 11th.

Birthday of Chu Shitong.

There was singing and dancing in the Qingyue Palace, and almost every banquet followed the same process. Chu Shitong was no exception. The only difference was that he could receive quite good birthday gifts at his adult birthday banquet.

As the birthday girl at the banquet, Chu Shitong wore a scarlet robe for the first time. The red color did not look tacky on her but made her skin look even whiter.

The silky black hair was neatly tied up, revealing her white neck and small, jade-like ears.

Han Zijun was brought in by Chu Shitong as an exception to see the world and was placed in a corner.

Ji Shu personally drove the carriage to take Chu Shitong to the palace, which surprised Chu Shitong because Ji Shu had always been reluctant to go to the palace or go out, and had always been busy in the mansion or in the restaurant.

What made Chu Shitong happiest about this banquet was that Chu Shixuan had not yet returned from Jingzhou.

Since Chu Shixuan was not there, the gifts were sent directly to the second princess first.

The second princess, who was so stingy, unexpectedly gave a peace tree carved from the finest agate.

It seems that she has not had a good life after getting married in this life. She has lost a lot of weight in the past few years, and even her sharpness has been worn away.

It is said that it was because the mother-in-law of the family she married into had too many rules for her daughter-in-law. Even though the Second Princess was a princess, she was so angry that she had no choice but to obey the rules. After all, she had to observe filial piety. Chu Shiyu did not allow her to divorce, so she could only endure it and was restless every day.