Help! The innocent prince always tries to seduce me clumsily

"Your Majesty, the King of Han has arrived."

"pass."

"Yes."

The chief eunuch retreated silently.

When Chu Shihan came over, he saw Chu Shixuan standing alone in the garden.

The surroundings were silent, and the moonlight was cold, brushing across his cheek like silver light flowing. Even the gods could not bear to leave any traces of time on this handsome face.

After not seeing each other for a few years, Chu Shihan felt that Chu Shixuan looked much more haggard.

Ever since Chu Shitong failed to force the emperor to abdicate five years ago and ended up with thousands of arrows piercing his heart, the name of the third generation king of Beiqing has finally remained a mystery.

When it was heard that Chu Shitong was sentenced to death, Chu Shihan also submitted a petition to return to the capital, but Chu Shixuan refused to agree. As a result, until now, Chu Shihan's memory is that the last time he saw Chu Shitong was when he was granted a fief and driven away from the capital.

That was seven years ago.

At that time, he left the capital with the already meager belongings and servants of Prince Han's Mansion. The only person who was willing to see him off was Chu Shitong, who had harmed him to such an extent.

However, Chu Shitong did not get off the carriage. Through the cool and gorgeous jade bead curtain through the window, Chu Shihan could only vaguely see Chu Shitong's figure and half of his profile.

The smile on her face was so frivolous and arrogant. The forbearance of many years burst out unscrupulously at this moment. The curve of her mouth seemed to carry the mockery of a winner. Although her figure was buried in the darkness, her eyes like glass were sharp with murderous intent like a blade, and an ambition that she refused to hide any longer.

Chu Shihan was defeated by Chu Shitong and became the third person to leave the battle for the throne after Prince Rui and Prince Yu. Fortunately, he still survived and did not die in the capital.

He stepped forward and wanted to say a few more words to Chu Shitong.

But before he reached the carriage, the guard beside Chu Shitong, who was also Chu Shitong's most loyal dog, drew his sword and blocked him with an icy sword.

Chu Shitong's current status has changed dramatically. Protected by a group of loyal lackeys around her, she is so arrogant that she is like an emperor who has ascended to the heavenly palace. A defeated general like Chu Shihan is not even qualified to get close to her.

Chu Shihan stood there in a daze for a moment, and was in a trance for a long time before he realized the facts before him.

He turned around and left silently. Before leaving, he heard Chu Shitong say in that unique cold voice.

"Third brother, have a safe journey."

Chu Shihan paused for a moment, but never looked back.

Like a stray dog, he left the capital in defeat.

His thoughts turned back to his previous state, and Chu Shihan slowly walked towards Chu Shixuan, and finally bowed.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

It seemed that at this time, Chu Shixuan finally turned around and looked at Chu Shihan.

"No need to be polite, just get up."

Chu Shihan stood up and looked at his face quietly.

Chu Shixuan's attitude towards people and things has not changed over the years, and he is even as polite to himself as before. But what puzzles everyone is that Chu Shixuan, who has already held a high position, not only has he not established a queen, but his spirit is also becoming increasingly depressed. He is alone in the palace all day long, and would rather sit in the empty courtyard in a daze all night than find a lovely woman to accompany him through the long night.

Chu Shixuan asked, "Today is the Full Moon Festival. Why are you not celebrating with the princess in your own fiefdom? Why are you suddenly coming to the capital?"

Chu Shihan immediately bowed and saluted, saying, "I came here to ask for a favor."

"You say it."

Chu Shihan hesitated for a moment, then said slowly, "My mother has been in the cold palace for many years... The late emperor has passed away, and my mother's name is not among the concubines buried with him. I want to go to the cold palace to visit her."

When Chu Shixuan heard this, his brows unconsciously frowned slightly.

"If you want to go, go and have a look."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Chu Shihan left.

Chu Shixuan waved his hand and called the eunuch beside him over.

"Go prepare some wine and food. When Prince Han comes again, ask him to come to the Imperial Study to find me."

"The slave obeys the order."

The cold moon is bright and the fragrance of pear blossoms is strong.

Chu Shixuan was sitting alone in front of the window of the imperial study drinking. Just as he expected, Chu Shihan came back in less than half an hour.

As anxious as Chu Shihan was when he left, he looks as disheartened as ever when he returns.

Chu Shixuan was not surprised to see him like this, he just poured him a glass of wine and handed it to him.

"It's not that I deliberately made you go for nothing, but some things are easier to accept and believe if you see them with your own eyes."

Chu Shihan smiled bitterly, raised the glass of wine and drank it all.

"In fact, I have already guessed it. There has been no news about Mother for so many years. Even the list of concubines buried with her did not include Mother's name... I am too stubborn. I want to go look for her myself..."

"Concubine Hui is a good mother." Chu Shixuan said, "At least when Concubine Hui was around, she doted on you so much."

Chu Shihan's face gradually turned red, "The Queen Mother is also very good to my brother."

Chu Shixuan just smiled but didn't say anything.

Chu Shihan knew that he could get drunk after just one drink, but he didn't know if it was because he finally learned the truth about the cold palace today, so he drank a lot even though he knew he was already drunk.

After drinking a jar, my neck turned red and I felt dizzy.

Chu Shixuan and Chu Shihan didn't have much interaction in private. Even when they drank together, they would only say a few words occasionally and then start drinking in silence.

That night, the imperial study was even quieter than the huge palace outside, except for the sound of drinking.

Chu Shihan didn't know how much he drank, and his words were a little unclear, but fortunately he acted and spoke according to the strict rules when he was sober, so he didn't make any mistakes: "Royal brother...where is Xiaoqi buried? I want to go and see."

Chu Shixuan's hand holding the wine glass suddenly trembled.

Even the eunuch Xiao Dezi who was serving beside him trembled.

Chu Shixuan was silent for a long time before he said, "Prince Qi has made so many mistakes. Everyone in the world knows that she has long been removed from the royal family tree. Those who have been removed cannot be buried in the royal mausoleum after death. Perhaps... her body has long been lost in the mass grave..."

"Really?" Chu Shihan looked at him with dazed eyes.

"Ah."

Chu Shixuan lowered his head and started drinking.

After Chu Shihan got this affirmative answer, he felt even more dizzy and painful.

He kept rubbing his eyebrows, trying to make himself more awake, and only stopped when his eyebrows turned red.

"Why did you insist on killing her?"

This sentence really made Xiao Dezi unable to stand. He walked forward and his smile was uglier than crying.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness Prince Han must be drunk. I will order someone to escort him out of the palace first..."

Chu Shixuan refused, "No need."

For a moment, Xiao Dezi didn't know whether he should stop him.

He knew this since he first came to serve Chu Shixuan.

Ever since the death of Prince Qi, his name has become a taboo in the entire palace, and even in the court.

The Seventh Princess committed numerous crimes of disrespect, but no one in the court dared to mention her name. Even when occasionally mentioning the examples of treacherous ministers and traitors, no one dared to mention the two words "Seventh Princess".

Because whenever it was mentioned, Chu Shixuan's expression would instantly turn cold.

The only taboo for such a truly good-tempered and wise monarch is "King Qi".

Now that Chu Shihan mentioned this matter, Xiao Dezi was truly frightened.

Chu Shixuan sighed, with a look of helplessness between his brows.

Xiao Dezi had never even seen why Chu Shixuan was so worried. He was never like this even when faced with a mountain of memorials.

"She has committed too many sins. Even if the final punishment is a thousand arrows piercing her heart, it is the only way for me to do my best to keep her body intact."

Chu Shitong's crimes were indeed too many. In addition to the crime of treason such as forcing the emperor to abdicate, there were also the crimes of privately monopolizing the business of several states in Beiqing, the crime of forming a clique for personal gain and protecting officials, the crime of deceiving the emperor by deceiving the previous emperor with a woman's body, and the crime of cruelly killing his brothers...

The charges, plus the crimes of her subordinates, could fill an entire book!

The people under Chu Shitong were not good people either. They did all the bad things they could, including land invasion, privatization, corruption, bribery, murder, and disobedience to imperial orders. They did everything from burning, killing, and looting.

Leaving the body intact is a great grace.

To be frank, Chu Shitong deserved death a thousand times. If she were not a member of the royal family, any ordinary person would have at least ten clans implicated! Anyone who had any connection with her would have to die!

Chu Shihan's expression was filled with sadness, and he asked vaguely, "You, you knew she was a girl a long time ago, right?"

"Don't you know that?"

Chu Shihan said very seriously: "I don't know."

Chu Shixuan was slightly surprised, "Don't you know why your mother was sent to the cold palace?"

Chu Shihan felt dizzy and could not sit still. He lay on the table for a long time before saying, "I only remember... Mother went to the Imperial Study to deliver snacks to Father that day. I pestered her to take me with her, but Mother told me to finish practicing calligraphy first, and then she left with the food box...

Not long after, she came back in a panic. I asked her what happened, but she didn't tell me. That night, my father came to my mother's palace. He was nothing like usual. He no longer smiled at me and spoke to me harshly...

He asked someone to take me down, but I was afraid of upsetting my father, so I followed the servants. Since then, I have never seen my mother again..."

He was a man in his thirties with a usually sullen face, but when he talked about the last time he saw his mother in his childhood, his voice couldn't help but choke up.

Who could have known that that separation would be our last?

He never even said goodbye to Concubine Hui, and never even saw her body.

"I thought you knew."

"I don't know." Chu Shihan raised his head, his slightly red eyes, fragile as if he could not withstand a single blow. "Why did she die?"

Chu Shixuan was silent for a long time, so long that Chu Shihan lost his patience and kept repeating himself.

"Why? Brother, tell me? Why?"

"When did my mother die? Was she in the cold palace? Or was she killed by my father's order before she even went to the cold palace?"

Seeing that Chu Shihan was getting more and more excited, Xiao Dezi stepped forward to stop him.

"Your Highness, you are drunk."

"I'm not drunk! Get out of here!"

Chu Shihan pushed Xiao Dezi away, without any of his usual strict and rule-abiding attitude. He rushed directly to Chu Shixuan, grabbed his collar hard, and questioned him with red eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me? You know why you didn't tell me? Aren't they all dead? I don't want to find out who's guilty. I just want to know the truth. I've been kept in the dark for so many years. Can't I even know the truth?"

Chu Shixuan just looked at him calmly as usual.

He grabbed Chu Shihan's wrist and forced him to let go, but Chu Shihan seemed more stubborn than he thought. No matter how hard Chu Shixuan used, he refused to let go even though his wrist had turned blue and purple.

Xiao Dezi said anxiously, "Your Majesty, I will call the Imperial Guards right away!"

"Need not."

Chu Shixuan stopped Xiao Dezi again.

He raised his eyes and said calmly, "I don't know when your mother died. Maybe she died in Yingchun Palace that night, or maybe she died in the cold palace. I don't know about this kind of thing, but I can tell you that she died because she peeked into the taboo of the late emperor. This is correct."

Chu Shixuan was stunned and continued to ask: "What does this have to do with Xiaoqi?"

"It doesn't matter." Chu Shixuan's undisguised perfunctory response made Chu Shihan completely unwilling to believe it.

"Why is it okay? If it's okay, why were you surprised that I didn't know that Xiao Qi was a girl? And when did you know about this?"

This time, Chu Shixuan refused to say anything more.

"Why are you silent again? Are you afraid to mention her? Because you know you are sorry for her?"

This was the first time Chu Shihan got angry in all these years.

"Chu Shixuan! You clearly had thousands of ways to save her life! But you still chose to kill her! Did you do it on purpose, or are you really so cruel and heartless!"

Xiao Dezi held Chu Shihan's arm and tried to persuade him with tears and shouts.

"Your Highness the King of Cold - please let go - I beg you -"

Chu Shixuan did not resist at all and let Chu Shihan threaten him by pinching his neck. It seemed that he was facing this matter head-on for the first time in so many years. Just a few words from Chu Shihan were enough to make him look painful.

"Xiao Qi really misjudged you! She was closest to you at first! But why is it you who became the most distant after she fell into the water?! Was it you who pushed her into the water?"

Hearing this, Chu Shihan finally couldn't bear it anymore and exploded.

"I don't!"

The two men finally glared at each other, as if they had torn off the masks that had been hidden for so long after drinking.

"You still dare to say you didn't?! If you didn't, why did you let Concubine Yun come out and reveal the truth that she was a woman when you knew she was a woman?! You just want to kill her! Are you worthy of her? Are you worthy of her sincerity towards you? Are you worthy of the words carved on the pear tree?"

After Chu Shihan finished saying these words, Chu Shixuan didn't know what had been touched, and he couldn't help but hit Chu Shihan, and the two of them fought each other instantly.

The scene was extremely chaotic. Both of them were quite skilled and had learned martial arts. The fight turned the entire imperial study upside down.

Xiao Dezi was trying to stop the fight and was kicked here and punched there.

After the fight, Chu Shihan and Chu Shixuan only suffered minor injuries, but Xiao Dezi, who was trying to stop the fight, was almost beaten to death.

After this day, the two parted unhappily.

Chu Shixuan did not hold Chu Shihan responsible for attacking him.

Chu Shihan never came to the capital again.

But...Chu Shixuan still did not have a queen, and his reign was not long, only seventeen years.

People still find it strange that he was only 47 years old when he died. He had no one in his harem and he had no illness. It was said that he died of exhaustion and overwork.

Only the eunuch De, the chief steward of the imperial palace, knew that Chu Shixuan had not had a good sleep since he ascended the throne. He often woke up from his dreams with tear marks at the corners of his eyes. He would sit alone under the pear tree in the yard for a long time, sometimes even in a daze until dawn.

Eunuch De tried to persuade him for a long time, but it was of no use.

Eunuch De didn't know what Chu Shixuan was thinking about when he sat under the pear tree during those difficult nights.

But looking at his sad and lonely look, Eunuch De guessed that he must be thinking about something, something so sad that it made him toss and turn all night and unable to sleep.