Lose My Heart to the Lovely Kitten Princess - Chapter 57
Chapter 57 His mother
“My eighth brother threw the calligraphy brush into the lake! Father didn’t even punish him! Father is so biased!”
“You can’t say things like that!”
“But he is! I told him so many times that it was the servant who broke imperial consort Su’s vase! I was wrongly accused!”
“Your father is tired enough managing state affairs. Shen’er, why don’t you stop being angry with your father over this?”
“Mother, you’re biased too! The only thing Father said to my eighth brother after he threw my brush away was for him to behave. But Father locked me up in a dark room after the servant accused me of breaking imperial consort Su’s vase! Neither of you like me!”
“That’s nonsense. Of course, I like you!”
“You simply don’t like me! You don’t like me at all!”
“There there, Shen’er! Stop crying.”
“Boo-hoo! Give me a hug, Mother.”
“Okay, I’ll give you a hug. You’re a grownup already. Don’t you feel embarrassed about wanting a hug from me?”
Despite her words, she hugged Chu Yunshen affectionately.
One of imperial consort Su’s servants accused him of breaking her favorite vase.
Then his father shut him in the dark room for an entire night.
His mother brought him back to Yihe Palace after he was released.
Chu Yunshen was too young to realize he was putting his mother in a spot. He kept kicking a fuss demanding his mother to get his father to explain things.
His mother didn’t allow him to go and kept consoling him.
In the end, he realized his mother was never going to talk to the emperor about it.
Instead, he went to Linde Hall on his own and knelt outside to beg his father to right this injustice. He simply didn’t break the vase!
He knelt for three days and three nights until Yuan Qing finally came out when he was about to pass out.
Yuan Qing told Chu Yunshen coldly that the emperor believed him. The servant would get punished immediately, and Chu Yunshen was told to leave.
The only thing that his father said was that he believed him.
Chu Yunshen could no longer keep kneeling. He stood up and wanted to thank his father for helping him seek justice.
Then he felt as though the world was spinning.
Yuan Qing got some eunuchs to carry him back to his mother at Yihe Palace.
Chu Yunshen didn’t know what transpired after that. He recalled feeling faint when the eunuchs carried him. Then everything spun before he lost consciousness.
He woke up to see his mother’s weary face.
His mother cried as she spanked his bottom. However, it was so gentle that it felt more like tickling and didn’t hurt at all.
“Why are you so stubborn? Why did you hurt yourself? Why didn’t you obey me?” scolded his mother sternly with her eyes red.
Chu Yunshen didn’t understand why his mother was angry back then.
He was clearly maligned!
Why did his mother scold him?
After hitting him for a while, his mother probably got tired and stopped. Then she hugged him tightly and repeatedly said by his ear, “How can I leave you with peace of mind? How can I leave?”
Chu Yunshen wiped his tears as he asked his mother where she was going.
His mother said nothing and only held him and cried.
Later that year, his mother suddenly died of illness.
Did his mother always know she was sick?
He was sent to the battlefield in such a hurry after she passed away. Also, he was too young. Despite finding his mother’s death suspicious, he was powerless.
Chu Yunshen slammed the dresser with a thud at the thought.
Xiaowu was startled. He immediately walked over to Chu Yunshen. “Master.”
“I’m fine!”
Chu Yunshen picked up the cleaning cloth and basin of water. He rinsed the cloth in the water before wringing it and heading towards his mother’s room.
Cheng Xiaoxiao hid behind the palace door and watched secretly for a long time.
She looked at Chu Yunshen’s tall silhouette from behind with complicated emotions surging through her heart. The mighty fourth prince of Chu lived a life of extravagance. When had he ever done chores?
However, he could empathize with why Chu Yunshen was doing it.
Her mother died too, and she knew how agonizing it was to lose a mother.
She knew that Chu Yunshen wanted to connect with his deceased mother by cleaning her room.
After Chu Yunshen entered the inner room, he bent over by his mother’s bed and wiped it thoroughly. However, the more he wiped it, the slower he became.
“Shen’er, ahem ahem! Take this dagger. Remember this. After I leave, you will be on your own, so you have to protect yourself!”
“Mother, mother, are you okay?”
“Ahem ahem! I can’t be with you anymore. Shen’er, Shen’er, I’m sorry.”
“No, Mother. Don’t leave me! Don’t go!”
“I’m sorry, Shen’er.”
Chu Yunshen could keenly remember his mother holding his hand tightly as she shoved a sharp dagger into his hands. She told him he had to live on his own from now on and had to protect himself.
“Master, are you okay?”
Xiaowu could see the prince’s shoulder’s trembling as he half-knelt by Consort Su’s bed.
Ever since the prince went onto the battlefield when he was 14 years old, it was the first time Xiaowu saw him in such a fragile state.
The prince’s mother kept telling him that in order to survive in the palace, he had to be tolerant.
Back then, even mere maids and servants dared to disrespect the prince. He tolerated it all the way until he was 14 years old when his mother died.
But…
Xiaowu clenched his fists tightly from the sides of his body as he contemplated. Imperial consort Su asked the emperor to send the prince to the battlefield when his mother died. In reality, she wanted him to die at war.
Shockingly, the prince didn’t die on the battlefield and even came back with military power.
Cheng Xiaoxiao saw how fragile Chu Yunshen was from behind the door. She wanted to curl into his arms. She wanted to hug him and console him.
Cheng Xiaoxiao couldn’t help walking over to Chu Yunshen as she contemplated.
But a thought crossed her mind after she took two steps forward.
Chu Yunshen didn’t want her in the palace. If he found out she was here, he would definitely get Xiaowu to send her home.
She ran up to the partition which separated the inner room from the outer room and reached her head out to look at Chu Yunshen worriedly.
Sunlight scattered into the palace through the open doors and windows, making the dank smell dissipate.
The warm flickering light enshrouded the palace with a sense of mystery.
Time passed bit by bit in this peaceful afternoon.
By the time Chu Yunshen had cleaned the palace spick and span, the sky had already started to turn dusky.
The color of twilight cloaked the palace walls and the night breeze left the leaves rustling.
Chu Yunshen hastily headed out of the palace with Xiaowu. Cheng Xiaoxiao shivered in shock as she sat at the partition and quickly concealed herself under a rack.
She heaved a sigh of relief and craned her head out when she heard Chu Yunshen and Xiaowu’s footsteps going further and further.
Cheng Xiaoxiao glanced at the glass bottle on the table. Chu Yunshen held the bottle and looked at it for a long time when he was here.
So it must mean a lot to him.
Just as Cheng Xiaoxiao was about to leave the room, she suddenly caught sight of a woman’s painting hanging on the wall.
She must be Chu Yunshen’s mother, right?
Cheng Xiaoxiao walked up to the painting and raised her head to study the woman in the painting.
Her makeup was done in a plum style, and she had smiley eyes. She was dressed in light pink lavish garments with a white gauze outer robe while a lock of hair went over her chest, and she appeared divine.
She finally realized whom Chu Yunshen inherited his striking good looks from.
However, this woman looked awfully familiar.
Where had Cheng Xiaoxiao seen her before?
Cheng Xiaoxiao scratched her head with her paw as she thought.
Oh yes!
Wasn’t she the female ghost who rose from the River Styx and gave her a fright when she attempted to get reincarnated?
Hei Wuchang and Bai Wuchang were bringing Cheng Xiaoxiao to Meng Po pavilion to reincarnate when the woman reached her head out of the river and looked at her like she had something to say.
After Hei Wuchang shouted at her, she went back into the river.
Why didn’t Chu Yunshen’s mother get reincarnated? What was she doing waiting at the River Styx?
And what was she trying to tell Cheng Xiaoxiao when she reached her head out?
All these questions gave Cheng Xiaoxiao a headache. Forget it. She didn’t want to think about it anymore.
Cheng Xiaoxiao realized that the entrance was closed tight when she left the palace.
She looked up to see that it was already evening. The sun was slowly disappearing behind the clouds and transforming into a red disc.
And the sun would completely set before long.
So the victory banquet was about to commence!
Cheng Xiaoxiao jumped onto a tree at the thought. Then she leaped up the wall and checked around for people before she jumped down.
She could hear Chu Yunshen and Xiaowu’s footsteps coming from the left after she placed her ear on the ground and listened carefully. Then she instantly whizzed towards them.
5:45 pm at the Qimeng Garden.
Chu Yunshen brought Xiaowu to a garden by a lake.
Cheng Xiaoxiao raised her head to see the words, ‘Qimeng Garden’, engraved on its arched doors.
The structures were made of white stone, and intricately carved banisters surrounded the garden.
Since it was located near a lake, the sound of water was distinctly audible. It was clear despite the distance and sounded a lot more serene.
Cheng Xiaoxiao didn’t dare go in through its main entrance. Instead, she climbed in through a low wall by the side.
Cheng Xiaoxiao sauntered around the garden and did some reconnaissance after she entered before picking a secluded spot where she could transform later.
Cheng Xiaoxiao found a picturesque spot surrounded by beautiful greenery where the moon and stars were visible. Then she headed towards the location where the servants were busy working.
Cheng Xiaoxiao darted into the hall when no one was looking to see a gold dragon banquet table.
Seats were placed on the east and west sides of the table.
Boys and girls between 12 to 17 years old were seated on the west side. Judging from their outfits, they were princes and princesses.
Government officials dressed in their official robes sat on the east side.
From the looks of their robes, only officials who were fourth grade and above were invited.
Two women dressed in court attire were seated on the left and right of the main seat at the center of the hall.
On the left was the evil woman who liked to stir trouble whom she saw at Linde Hall in the day.
She was dressed in a minimalistic, elegant silk robe with tasteful orchid embroidery.
It was matched with a floor-length flowy yellow skirt.
She wore a gold gauze robe on the outside with purple embroidered patterns on the broad sleeves’ edges.
Her hair was in a simple updo with some hair flowing from both sides of her neck while a small ruby perfectly adorned her face hanging from her forehead.
A gold phoenix hairpiece with beads dangling from it embellished her hair.
Cheng Xiaoxiao hadn’t seen the woman on the right before. She was dressed in a light green court dress with flowers on it.
She had a heart-shaped face, flawless complexion, and dimples on her cheeks. The light touch of red rouge on her fair cheeks made her look like a blossoming hydrangea.
Her perfect long curved brows and bright, beautiful eyes were enticing and charming.
The milky white jade bracelet on her wrist gave off a bright warm luster.
The empress expressionlessly sat up straight next to the main seat.
The victory dinner seemed to be a rather grand affair.
Where was Chu Yunshen seated?
