Help! The innocent prince always tries to seduce me clumsily

Lu Jiushang was very angry at Chu Shitong's words. She pursed her lips and said with a cold brow, "Why do you say that, Your Highness Prince Qi?"

Chu Shitong said, "My rice shop is right next to yours. It's been a long time since your shop has been doing worse than mine. Some time ago, you secretly found my rice supplier in Jiangzhou and cut off my business, but I didn't even ask you to settle the score. Later, you sent people to put red rice in my rice warehouse, and the entire warehouse of several thousand kilograms of grain cannot be eaten. You did something immoral, and you don't let me burn down your shop?"

Red rice is spoiled rice because it cannot be eaten after it turns red and will cause poisoning if eaten. Even if rice contaminated by red rice does not change color, it still poses a risk of poisoning and cannot be eaten.

Lu Jiushang denied it almost immediately.

"Your Highness Prince Qi has misunderstood. How could I send someone to do this? Does Your Highness Prince Qi have any evidence to prove that I did it?"

Chu Shitong sneered and said, "Do you really think I don't have evidence? You sent people to sneak into my rice warehouse in the middle of the night. There are people guarding our store every night. Several people saw it. Otherwise, why would I burn your store?"

Lu Jiuchang said to Chu Shifeng as if he was wronged: "Please check it out, Your Highness. I have never done this. If I really did this, why didn't Your Highness Prince Qi report it to the authorities? You want to burn my shop directly. I suspect that Your Highness Prince Qi has no evidence at all. The so-called witness is just fabricated by himself."

It actually makes sense when you hear this.

If you have evidence, can't you just report it to the police? Why do you want to take revenge privately?

Chu Shifeng looked at Chu Shitong nonchalantly, with a faint smile on the corner of his mouth, but the coldness in his eyes was surprisingly obvious.

"How come I didn't know that Xiao Qi had a store in the capital? You didn't tell my brother about this. I'm afraid you treat my brother as an outsider."

Chu Shitong knew that Chu Shifeng would definitely become suspicious of him because he concealed these things.

But she had already thought of a reason.

Chu Shitong showed an awkward look and said, "It's not that I don't want to tell my brother, it's because that shop really doesn't make money. I know that my brother's businesses are all very profitable, but my rice shop is next to the one owned by Lord Lu, and the competition is very fierce. In order to make a profit, I can only lower the price. The price of rice has dropped to only three cents per catty. Telling this... don't I have any face?"

The last sentence is quite complaining.

Chu Shifeng laughed twice, but the suspicion in his eyes did not dissipate. "You earn three cents per pound, so how many taels of silver can you earn from this whole warehouse of rice?"

Chu Shitong said: "If my brother doesn't believe me, I will send someone to get the account book now."

"No need, you and I are brothers, how can I not believe what you said."

I said this with no intention of leaving.

"No, I must let my brother see it, otherwise he will think that I bullied Lord Lu."

Chu Shitong immediately stood up and called Bishui to get the account book.

Lu Jiushang was getting a little impatient. He was afraid that the current situation would change after Chu Shitong really brought the account book.

"Your Highness, no matter how profitable His Highness Prince Qi's shop is, it has nothing to do with him burning my shop. Competition is inevitable in business, and it is normal not to make money."

Chu Shitong just came back and heard this, and couldn't help but want to curse, "What does this have to do with you sending people to put red rice in my rice warehouse?"

"Your Highness Prince Qi has no evidence to prove that it was me who did it, right?"

Lu Jiushang looked at her, his eyes were cold and gloomy, water seemed to drip out of them.

"Besides, His Royal Highness Prince Qi burned my shop, not because he didn't know that the shop was mine. His Royal Highness Prince Qi has such a good relationship with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, maybe he burned my shop deliberately to get revenge because of a few words from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Lu Jiushang suddenly turned the topic to Si Jingli.

On the surface, it seems that Chu Shitong did it deliberately for Si Jingli, but in fact it is implying that Chu Shitong is too close to Chu Shifeng and also too close to Si Jingli, and perhaps he is trying to please both sides by using the information of both of them.

Chu Shifeng naturally heard it as well, and there was a hint of thoughtfulness in his eyes for no reason.

Chu Shitong frowned, a little angry, "If I had known that it was your shop, why would I have sent people to burn it? Then why did I ask you at the beginning, and why did I admit it? If it weren't for my brother's face, I could have told him the truth after you left, why would I have wasted so much time and effort."

Every word Chu Shitong spoke was like a pearl, hitting Lu Jiushang's sore spot.

That is, she could have just not admitted it in front of Lu Jiushang.

Anyway, she has a closer relationship with Chu Shifeng. After Lu Jiushang leaves, no matter what Chu Shitong says, it will be preconceived.

The atmosphere was tense for a moment.

Chu Shifeng nonchalantly picked up the wine glass and drank it all, then he breathed a sigh of relief. No one knew what he was thinking, and he was silent for a long time before he slowly spoke.

"It's just a shop. You're both hurt. What's there to argue about?"

Chu Shifeng wanted Lu Jiushang to suffer this loss in silence.

It has already been burned, and the rice in Chu Shitong's warehouse has also been wasted. If you really calculate it, the losses are not that big.

Even if we compensate each other, it doesn't make sense.

Lu Jiushang was unwilling to do so. "Your Highness, I only have that rice shop that is profitable. Besides, I have never sent anyone to put red rice into Prince Qi's rice warehouse. Your Highness's loss has nothing to do with me."

What he wanted to emphasize was that Chu Shitong's loss was not caused by him, but his loss was caused by Chu Shitong.

Chu Shitong also realized that Chu Shifeng wanted to muddy the waters. After all, these things were not a big deal to Chu Shifeng.

The life-saving industry that Lu Jiushang needed was not as much as Chu Shifeng's daily pocket money.

The situation remained at a stalemate until Bishui and his men rushed back with the account book.

The account book was delivered to Chu Shifeng. Chu Shifeng saw it with his own eyes and flipped through it a few times. His expression became more and more confused and reluctant.

"Xiao Qi, your rice shop is losing so much money, why don't you close it?"

"..."

Chu Shitong said with an embarrassed look: "It's because Lord Lu's store has been competing with me, and I don't want to lose, so I keep lowering the price."

Chu Shifeng smiled helplessly and put down the account book.

"You don't have the brains for business. You should have told me about this at the beginning. At least you wouldn't have to earn a few taels of silver in half a year, which is not even enough for a meal."

The account book was processed by Chu Shitong in advance. Basically, after deducting the capital and manpower, only a few dozen cents were left from the daily turnover.

After hearing the conversation between the two, Lu Jiushang became impatient.

"Your Highness, the matter of my shop being burned down..."

After reading the account book, Chu Shifeng was in a good mood and said, "It's all a small matter. If Xiaoqi likes it, just burn it."

Lu Jiushang opened his eyes wide in disbelief. Could it be that Chu Shifeng really let him suffer this loss?

Chu Shifeng: "If you care, I will have someone repair it for you. Xiao Qi is my brother, I won't ask her to pay you."

Lu Jiushang stood there blankly, without responding for a long time.

Chu Shitong could even feel the resentment emanating from him, but now was not the time to lend him a hand.

Chu Shifeng was a little annoyed. "Go with the accountant to calculate the money for the repairs. This is the end of the matter. Don't come to me for these trivial matters in the future."

Seeing that there was no way back from the incident, Lu Jiushang had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept it.

"Yes."

He followed the accountant.

When I opened the door, the cold wind outside blew in.

Chu Shitong took off his cloak and warmed it by the stove. When the room became quiet, he could not help but complain.

"My royal brother treats Lord Lu so well. Lord Lu destroyed all the rice in Xiaoqi's warehouse, but my royal brother didn't even take care of Xiaoqi, and even repaired the shop for him."

"Didn't you burn his shop in revenge?"

Chu Shifeng also sat down by the stove and coaxed softly, "I don't want to waste time on such a small matter of money. No matter how this matter is resolved, one of you and Lu Jiushang will suffer. I'll send him away so that we can drink together."

Chu Shitong seemed very dissatisfied with this. She couldn't help but mutter, "How many people can be fed with thousands of kilograms of grain? Lord Lu directly poisoned the rice. What a bad person he is. My brother still protects him. He said that about my brother and me in private, and he also..."

Halfway through her speech, she suddenly shut her mouth.

Chu Shifeng's face looked a little bad.

"What else happened to him?"

Chu Shitong pretended to be tight-lipped and said with lowered eyes: "No, nothing."

Chu Shifeng sensed something in his heart. Seeing that Chu Shitong refused to speak, he slowly approached and asked patiently, "Xiaoqi didn't tell me, is it because he doesn't trust me? Or is he angry about the rice shop incident?"

"It's not that I don't believe my brother...it's just that this matter is hard to say."

Chu Shitong knew that Chu Shifeng was suspicious, and the longer he kept him in suspense, the more uncomfortable he felt.

Chu Shifeng asked indirectly, "Xiao Qi seems to dislike Lu Jiushang very much, but is it because of Si Jingli?"

Chu Shitong shook his head, then suddenly looked up, gazing at him with his clear light brown eyes.

"Brother, you and I are brothers?"

When she asked this suddenly, Chu Shifeng was stunned for a moment.

"Yes, Xiao Qi, is there anything you can't say?"

Chu Shitong lowered his head and sighed, "It's not that I don't want to tell my brother, it's just that this matter is a little difficult to talk about."

It was also the first time that Chu Shifeng saw Chu Shitong so worried about something. He couldn't help but touch her head and said like a sensible brother, "Xiaoqi, just speak directly. If you feel uncomfortable about the rice warehouse, I will make the decision for you now."

"It's not because of the rice warehouse."

The rice warehouse was just a bait thrown out by Chu Shitong. If he wanted to lead to something serious, he had to throw out something less important first.

"When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked me to play with him a few days ago, he gave me a portrait..."

This is true. If it weren't true, Chu Shitong wouldn't dare to say anything.

"His Royal Highness lost a bracelet. I heard it was left by the late Princess. In order to find the bracelet, he searched the entire Rong Palace. When he came to Lord Lu's study, Lord Lu's servants stopped him and refused to search. My brother should also know His Royal Highness's temper. The more he was not allowed to search, the more he wanted to search."

Chu Shifeng said: "It seems like something Si Jingli would do."

"Lord Lu was not there at the time, so His Royal Highness sent someone to force his way in and search. They didn't find the bracelet, but accidentally found a portrait on the bedside."

Chu Shitong took out the folded portrait from his sleeve, and Chu Shifeng's eyes became deep.

"Why did Xiao Qi bring it with him?"

Chu Shitong handed the portrait to Chu Shifeng and said cautiously, "Because I wanted to tell my brother about this, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it."

Chu Shifeng opened the portrait and took a look. When he saw the face on it, his expression changed almost instantly.

The handsome and suave man in the portrait is exactly him.

Under the portrait is his personal seal.

Chu Shitong said, "Your Highness has checked the rumors about my brother and me before. It was indeed Si Xunhuan who said it, but Lord Lu secretly met with Si Xunhuan once, and then the rumors spread. After seeing this portrait, I guess that maybe what Lord Lu did was directed at me."

Chu Shifeng's expression was extremely ugly.

His eyes seemed to be able to spit fire, and his sinister and dark brows were as cold as a knife.

Chu Shitong suppressed the smile in his heart and said with a worried look: "Maybe he doesn't want me to get too close to my brother."

Chu Shitong couldn't hint any further.

There were rumors before that the two were gay.

In addition, Lu Jiushang secretly kept his portrait.

Furthermore, Lu Jiushang had just deliberately mentioned Si Jingli, which seemed like an attempt to sow discord between the two.

Chu Shitong wanted to tell him that Lu Jiushang had worked so hard because he felt that Chu Shitong and Chu Shifeng were too close, and wanted to drive them apart so that he could take the position.

Chu Shitong felt that with Chu Shifeng's personality, he would definitely not be able to stand the fact that there was a man secretly in love with him.

The rumor actually happened.

The portrait was not fabricated by Chu Shitong. Instead, it was really in Lu Jiushang's study, but it was not hung up on weekdays. It must have been obtained accidentally and sandwiched between a book.

In the officialdom, because there are so many people, newcomers are afraid of making the wrong official position, so they will look for portraits of high-ranking officials or princes to identify. Regardless of whether they have the chance to meet each other or not, at least they will recognize these people when they see them, so as not to offend others due to ignorance.

But no one knew where Lu Jiushang had found such a beautiful portrait, the one he painted of Chu Shifeng was so handsome that it was unbelievable.

I am not afraid if the painting is ugly, but I am afraid if it is too beautiful, which will arouse suspicion.

If you don't have any other thoughts, why paint such a beautiful picture?

Chu Shitong asked Rushang to get Lu Jiushang's personal seal and deliberately stamped it on the portrait to create the illusion that Lu Jiushang cared a lot about the portrait, and then lied that Lu Jiushang hung it on the head of the bed.

Both explicit and implicit hints indicated that Lu Jiushang had rebellious intentions towards him.

Chu Shifeng was so angry that he almost exploded. As soon as Chu Shitong finished speaking, he tore the portrait into pieces in two or three strokes and threw it into the fire, burning it to ashes.

Veins bulged from his clenched fists, and his red eyes were filled with murderous intent at being insulted.

"Lu Jiushang! How dare he covet this king?!"

Chu Shitong secretly pinched his arm, suppressed his smile, and acted innocent.

"Brother, what do you think Lord Lu means by this? You two are both men, does he really like you?"