After picking up the White Cut Black Prince

Just now, Wen Chu's body was mostly blocked by Song Yusheng, and Li Weiyan would not be idle to look at Song Yusheng's maid. When they passed by, he saw her covering her nose with her hands, and he couldn't help but be curious and take a second look.

But when he saw those eyes, he could no longer move.

He will never forget these eyes in his life, because they are the ones he watched grow up. When Wen Chu was born, Li Weiyan was only eight years old. Empress Xiaoyi told him that Concubine De was also a pitiful person, and he should treat them well.

So, eight-year-old Li Weiyan went to Deming Palace and secretly took a look at his newborn sister.

Later, I saw that she was ten years old.

He looked at Wen Chu in a daze and said, "Xiao Xi."

How could Wen Chu dare to admit it? She knelt down and said, "Your Highness, you must have made a mistake."

Li Weiyan said, "Admit your mistake? How could I admit my mistake? I have watched you grow up since you were a child. I can admit the mistake to anyone else, but I will never admit you! Are you still hating me and refusing to admit me? Take your hand away and let me see!"

Li Weiyan has always been gentle, and now he is obviously out of control.

Wen Chu felt the blood rushing to his head. His nose, which had just been hit, was still aching slightly, and two lines of blood flowed out of his nose.

Qi Ziyuan advised from the side: "Xiao Xi is already dead! Cousin, don't be like this. No matter how much she looks like her, she is not her anymore. Don't do such a mess!"

Qi Ziyuan quickly identified this as the woman who bumped into him on the street that day.

Song Yusheng appeared on the street with her that day, and now she has become his maid. It is obvious that they don't have a close relationship.

Li Weiyan didn't listen. He walked in front of Wen Chu, squatted down, and pulled her and said stubbornly: "Do you still hate your brother? That's why you don't want to recognize me! Xiaoxi, don't be like this! Your brother is wrong, he shouldn't abandon you!"

Li Weiyan's strength was so great that Wen Chu's shoulders were hurt, and she was in so much pain that tears were about to come out. She covered her nose with blood while crying, and finally the blood flowed into her mouth, as if she had just eaten a child.

She watched Li Weiyan becoming more and more crazy, and stood up to run, but he grabbed her shoulders and she couldn't move.

Song Yusheng came forward and pulled him away together with Qi Ziyuan. Wen Chu found an opportunity and rolled and crawled to hide behind Song Yusheng.

Song Yusheng took out a handkerchief from his bosom and handed it to Wen Chu, while saying to Li Weiyan: "Your Highness has recognized the wrong person. She is just my maid, not a princess."

After saying this, he turned around and left with Wen Chu without caring what Li Weiyan thought.

"Is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince just like this today or every day? This is too scary." After leaving the palace, Wen Chu said tentatively.

Song Yusheng said: "You are making irresponsible remarks about the Lord."

Before he finished speaking, Wen Chu answered first: "Ten more strokes! I know everything, so you don't need to say anything."

Song Yusheng smiled, but the smile did not reach his eyes. He said, "You interrupted the master and I will give you another ten strokes of the cane."

Wen Chu was so angry that his head was dizzy, and his body was unsteady and swayed twice. Ten boards, ten boards, and ten boards again! How could this be tolerated!
But facing Song Yusheng's half-smile, she finally got angry and didn't dare to make any move. She held her anger back in her stomach, which made the bleeding that had been stopped with great difficulty flow even more. The original color of the white handkerchief could hardly be seen.

Seeing her like this, Song Yusheng finally explained, "Maybe you look too much like the dead princess, and he couldn't control his emotions for a moment. Anyway, he is not like this normally."

This was the answer to Wen Chu's words just now. Wen Chu said: "I said it, the nobles in the palace would not be like this."

Song Yusheng showed no expression after hearing this. He just looked at Wen Chu deeply and said nothing more.

Later, Song Yusheng went to the government office, and Wen Chu returned to Yuhuitang.

Wen Chu returned to the back room where she lived last night. Chen Xiang lived next door to her. When she noticed that she was back and saw that there was still blood on her face, she asked in surprise, "What happened to you? Why is there blood on your face?"

Wen Chu casually lifted the lid and said, "Well, I accidentally bumped into the wall and had a nosebleed."

Chen Xiang didn't say much after hearing this, and turned around and left. Before leaving, he told her some things. She said, "The prince is on duty at the government office on weekdays, so he doesn't need us very much. But when the master gets up in the morning and returns home at night, we must serve him wholeheartedly. Remember not to neglect your hands and feet, do you understand?"

Wen Chu nodded repeatedly, and after Chenxiang left, Wen Chu fell on the bed.

This was too tiring, even more tiring than fortune-telling for people in Zhaojia Village. Plus, she would run into acquaintances from time to time, which was also very annoying.

In her impression, her royal brother has always been humble and gentle, and has never lost his composure like this. Wen Chu did not expect him to be like this today.

I don't know when a strong wind started blowing outside the house, hitting the windows and making a lot of noise.

Falling on the bed, Wen Chu recalled the long-forgotten past in his memory.

In the 26th year of Linghui, her great-uncle, Prince Li, launched a rebellion. The mutiny was so sudden and rapid that no one could react for a while. At first, he led his troops from his fiefdom to Beijing, using the excuse of celebrating the New Year as an excuse, and then launched a mutiny just before the New Year.

The whole capital was immersed in the joy of the New Year, but little did they know that under the peaceful situation, there were murderous intentions everywhere. Everyone was caught off guard. Prince Li used the excuse that the emperor's will was granted by God and that Emperor Linghui doted on the concubine and was against the will of heaven, and he marched straight into the Forbidden City. The ministers were captured before they could resist. This farce of forcing the emperor to abdicate started too smoothly, and the gate of the Forbidden City was directly broken, and everyone kept fleeing.

Fortunately, Song Yusheng happened to be in the palace that day, in the Qianqing Palace. He led the secret guards to escort Emperor Linghui to escape through a small path. Emperor Linghui insisted that he send people to the Deming Palace to rescue people.

That day, Emperor Linghui said, "No! Rongyin and Xiaoxi are still in the palace! You have to take them with you! They have relatives and will not die! Rongyin has nothing, and no one can protect them! You go, you go and take them with you! Otherwise, I will not leave either!"

Emperor Linghui was an emperor, but at this critical moment, he acted like a child.

Those concubines and princes all had their mothers' families, so even if Prince Li really surrounded the harem, he would not easily hurt them. After all, if Prince Li wanted to secure the throne, he would need the support of the ministers in the court. But Concubine De was different. She was just a maid, and Prince Li used her as an excuse to start a coup. After catching her, he would definitely let her suffer the most severe punishment to appease the grievances of the people and show how wise he would be.

Seeing that the rebels were about to come, Song Yusheng had no choice but to obey his will and go to Deming Palace to bring people. Only then would Emperor Linghui be willing to follow him.

That day, Crown Prince Li Weiyan was also in Deming Palace, and the news that the rebels had entered the Forbidden City soon reached Deming Palace. When Concubine De was extremely frightened, the secret guards arrived.

The sound of the rebels fighting was close at hand, and they would break into the palace in the next second, but it was too late. Concubine De had no choice but to push the Crown Prince out first. This was the future heir of Da Zhao, and if he fell into the hands of Prince Li, he would definitely die.

Moreover, the queen treated them and their daughter well, so they should always give something in return.

She said to the secret guards, "Take the crown prince away quickly!"

If the mother and daughter were not in the palace, the rebels would surely surround them everywhere. They would not be able to leave and could only stay here. Besides, when Song Yusheng entered the palace, he only brought one or two people with him. They would be thankful if they could save even one person.

The palace gate was broken down, and Wen Chu watched with her own eyes as her mother gave up on her and chose her royal brother.

The sound of fighting continued, but at this moment she could hear no sound at all. She could not hear her brother crying, nor could she see her brother's eyes which showed extreme pain.

The Crown Prince could do nothing but follow the secret guards and leave.

Later, because the mother and daughter stayed in the palace, the rebels did not come out to hunt him down, and finally the Crown Prince and Emperor Linghui fled the palace together.

Wen Chu didn't make any noise, but just quietly watched Li Weiyan's back as he left.

Defei held her in her arms, her strength was so strong that she almost suffocated her. She kept saying, "Our Xiaoxi is the bravest and most powerful princess in the world. We are not afraid. We are not afraid, okay?"

Outside there were the sounds of swordplay. They wore helmets and armor, but they were powerless and were like fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of others.

What can she do? What can she do?

They were surrounded by the rebels and could not move. After an incense stick of time, Prince Li could not find Emperor Linghui, so he went to Deming Palace in person. He was furious when he could not find the emperor, and cursed his mother with the most disgusting words in the world, as if he wanted to vent all his anger on her.

Wen Chu was so scared that his whole body was shaking, and he could only curl up tightly in Defei's arms.

After he finished scolding people, he became evil-minded and fell in love with the woman of the emperor's nephew. Even though he was already over fifty years old, he still wanted to have sex with her.

De Fei was unwilling to be humiliated, and when no one reacted, she bumped into the sword. Prince Li was furious, and tore out her heart and lungs with his own hands, and finally threw her empty shell into a mass grave, leaving it to be eaten by wild dogs.

Wen Chu watched with his own eyes as his mother's body was hollowed out, and the whole world turned red.

He said that Wen Chu was the daughter of the evil concubine and should be punished by God.

He said he was God.

King Li ordered her to be locked in a pig cage, where she ate and slept with the pigs. For a whole month, she lived like a ghost, neither human nor ghost.

For a month, she thought her great uncle had forgotten her. But suddenly one day, De Meng was brought to her.

Defu and Demeng were the two senior maids beside her. Defu died when the rebels broke into the house, and Demeng was later cut into pieces by the order of the King of Li in front of her. He threw the meat cut from her body into the pigsty where Wen Chu was imprisoned, and more than a dozen pigs swarmed in.

Wen Chu wanted to protect the last of De Meng's flesh and blood, but how could she, a ten-year-old child, protect him? She was bumped around by the pigs and was almost trampled to death, but it was no use.

She couldn't protect herself, and in the end she could only watch helplessly as they ate all the flesh off her body.

Prince Li, however, found it boring. He thought that Wen Chu had been locked up with the pig for a month, so she should be like the pig! She should also eat the flesh of the palace maid like them.

Wen Chu did not let him do as he wished, and he was very angry. He got so angry that he beat Wen Chu again.

In the end, she was just hanging on to her last breath in the pigsty.

Prince Li did not dare to touch other princes and princesses because he still needed the support of their maternal families. As long as they supported him, he could keep his position.

As for the ministers, they didn't care who was the emperor. Besides, an emperor like Emperor Linghui should be allowed to fall.

It is God who wants him to die!
In the past, Wen Chu's brothers and sisters resented the fact that she was favored by Emperor Linghui, and during this period of time, they humiliated her wantonly.

Later, I don't know who suggested a plan to Prince Li, saying that he should use Wen Chu to lure out the missing Emperor Linghui. Didn't he love his little daughter the most? In this case, he couldn't just watch her suffer.

So the place where Wen Chu was humiliated was moved from the pigsty to the Meridian Gate.

The Meridian Gate is where every minister gathers before going to court, and Prince Li wants everyone to see him.

But in the end, Emperor Linghui did not show up.

In this way, Wen Chu no longer had any value to him.

He abused her and tortured her to the point where she was neither human nor ghost. On the day when he wanted to kill her, people from the Duke's Mansion came back with Emperor Linghui.

There was another chaos in the palace, and Wen Chu took advantage of the chaos to escape and hide. From then on, he lived in exile in the countryside. Later, he was picked up by Old Man Wen and brought home.

As for Prince Li, he was only emperor for two months before he fell. This struggle to seize the throne was like a farce, which came and went quickly.

Emperor Linghui could not find Huaihe, nor her body, so Prince Li deliberately lied that he had cooked and eaten Wen Chu. He did not want Emperor Linghui to suffer even if he failed to become emperor and died.

Later, Emperor Linghui disemboweled Prince Li.

This incident happened when Wen Chu was ten years old. Now she is sixteen years old.
She always told herself that it should be over. Who should she hate? Who could she hate?

Hate her great-uncle?
But he was already dead, tortured to death by her father.

Should she blame her mother? Blame her for choosing her brother, blame her for pushing herself into hell on earth.
But she died too.

Then she should blame her father, her brother, and all of them for saying they loved her but not one of them coming to save her?
No, it’s not strange, she’s not strange anymore.

It seems there's no point blaming anyone.

She followed Old Man Wen to learn Taoism, but although she saw through all the people and calculated all the things in the world, she could not figure out her own fate.

Everything is determined by fate, and we have no control over it. Life is like grass, and life is like duckweed. Now, perhaps it is really her fate.

She thought she had let it go, but when she came back here, she realized.
She can't let it go. She just can't let it go.

*
Wen Chu continued to work as a maid for a few days. Fortunately, after the mistake on the first day, there were no major mistakes afterwards. However, the number of boards on her hand did pile up to one hundred.

Song Yusheng was on duty as usual that day, and Wen Chu was also lazing around in Yuhui Hall. The gauze on her hand had been removed long ago, and the wound on her hand had healed completely, without even a trace of it being visible.

Wen Chu looked at the wound on his hand and thought, this Song Yusheng must be extremely wealthy. He even used medicine for such a small wound. Does he have so much money that he has nowhere to spend it?
But after this injury heals, I will have to be beaten on the hand.

She sat on the stone steps in the courtyard of Yuhui Hall, her face full of sorrow. After a while, she heard Chenxiang teasing, "Your face is wrinkled like this, have you done something bad again and are being punished?"

Chenxiang was sweeping the yard. Wen Chu looked up at her and asked, "Chenxiang, have you ever been spanked before?"

The broom made a rustling sound, and Chenxiang passed by her. She replied, "The prince doesn't punish people often." She added, "But I'm talking about the maids. He rarely punishes them. I don't know about the secret guards."

Wen Chu said angrily, "It's not fair, it's not fair! I had just arrived, but he gave me 60 extra strokes of the cane on the first day! How can this be? Is there anyone like this? It's so cruel, so cruel!"

Seeing Wen Chu talking nonsense about the master again, and even speaking ill of him, Chen Xiang threw away the broom and was so anxious that she wanted to cover her mouth, "My aunt! You are speaking ill of the prince again, who else should I hit if not you?" Seeing that Wen Chu wanted to argue again, she quickly leaned close to Wen Chu's ear and reminded him in a low voice: "Walls have ears, there are secret guards guarding Yuhui Hall every day! What you said will reach the prince's ears."

When Wen Chu heard this, he suddenly became quiet, like a quail.

Seeing that she was finally quiet, Chen Xiang loosened his hand that was covering her mouth and sighed, "Look at you, just a few words and you got ten more punishments."

Wen Chu discovered that Chenxiang's words were quite hurtful.

She immediately lost her temper, stood up and took the broom from the ground. She said, "I'll sweep it, I'll sweep it, and do something to make up for my mistake."

Chenxiang was shocked. How could sweeping the yard be considered making amends? But she wanted to sweep the yard, so Chenxiang didn't stop her and turned around to do other things.

Wen Chu took the broom and started sweeping the floor for a while when he heard a burst of hurried footsteps coming from the entrance of Yuhui Hall.

Hearing this voice, Wen Chu immediately thought of the girl she had just met when she returned to the Song Mansion a few days ago. She had already learned the identity of this person from Chenxiang. She was Song Yusheng's biological sister, only fifteen years old, and the third lady of the Song Mansion.

There are four young ladies in the Song family.

The Song family has one daughter in the first wife and one daughter in the second wife, both of whom are legitimate daughters. The third wife has two daughters, one legitimate and one illegitimate.

Song Liqing's footsteps paused at the door, and no one knew what she said to the person at the door. After a while, they released the person, and Song Liqing ran to her.

Song Liqing quickly ran to Wen Chu and called out excitedly, "Sister Chu!"

Wen Chu was a little bit unable to adapt to the enthusiasm of this little girl for a while. She looked a little embarrassed and said, "Miss Song, that's not right." Realizing that she had said the wrong title, Wen Chu quickly changed it and said, "Miss San, you can just call me Wen Chu."

Song Liqing ignored Wen Chu's words and said, "I call you Sister Chu because I want to. It has nothing to do with you."

She did not argue with Wen Chu about this matter. She explained her purpose and said, "Sister Chu, my grandmother said she wants to see you."

Prime Minister Song died three years ago, but Old Madam Song is still alive.

Wen Chu was surprised. Old Madam Song was looking for her? Why?

Seeing her worried look, Song Liqing comforted her, "Sister Chu, don't worry, Grandmother is very kind. She only wanted to see you because she heard that you are my brother's savior. Maybe she wants to give you a reward!"

Kind? Last time, Song Liqing seemed to have said that everyone in her family was very kind, and then the Duke appeared.

It really has nothing to do with the word kindness!
This time she said that Old Madam Song was kind?
Song Liqing saw her suspicious expression and quickly explained: "It was an accident last time!! My grandmother"

She really didn't know what to say, and finally said, "Oh! Just come with me! Grandmother will be waiting anxiously soon." After that, she pulled Wen Chu away.

*
There are three courtyards in the Duke's Mansion. The courtyard in the center is naturally where the eldest wife lives, the east courtyard is where the second wife lives, and the west courtyard is where the third wife lives.

Old Madam Song's residence is in Rong'an Hall, the main house in the main courtyard.

The Chengde Hall that Wen Chu had been to was different from the Yuhui Hall where he was now. This was the hall where the Minister of Revenue, who was also the Prime Minister of the dynasty, and a legendary figure who also inherited the title of Duke, once lived. After going through many gates, he arrived at the Rong'an Hall. As soon as he entered the door, he could find that the entire Rong'an Hall was more quiet and solemn than other places.

The Song family worshipped Buddhism, and the old lady was a devout Buddhist. She liked to worship Buddha when she had nothing to do. On the long table in the middle of the main hall, there was a kind-looking Maitreya Buddha. In front of the table, there was constant burning of incense, with only half of the incense remaining. The chaotic fireworks were entangled around the Buddha statue, and the whole room was filled with a faint scent of sandalwood.

An old lady with grey hair was sitting at the upper seat in the main hall. She had a string of Buddhist beads on her wrist, a Guanyin pendant around her neck, and was wearing a blue jacket with hundreds of gold butterflies on it.

This time Song Liqing really did not lie to her. Old Madam Song was over sixty years old and sat on the main seat. Her hair was gray and her body was a little hunched. She was indeed kind-hearted and had a gentle look in her eyes. Even when she was not speaking, she seemed to be smiling.

In addition to the old lady, there was also the eldest lady of the Song family sitting here. Next to the eldest lady sat a sixteen-year-old girl, who was the daughter of the eldest lady's younger sister. If we go by seniority, she would call the eldest lady aunt.

This man's name was Huang Ruotang, and his father Huang Jian was a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Rites and Ceremonies. Logically speaking, the eldest lady's maternal family, the Wang family, was also a noble family, but they married their daughter to a fifth-rank official.

Although the Huang family was not a low-class family, it was still a little different from the Wang family. The Wang family married their daughter to the Huang family, which was considered a real marriage of inferiority. Moreover, Huang Ruotang's mother and the eldest lady of the Song family were sisters. One married a duke of the current dynasty, and the other married into the Huang family. Such a contrast was extremely tragic.

But it was not because Mrs. Wang was partial to her younger daughter. Huang Jian was 23 years old at that time. He was ranked third in the imperial examination and entered the Hanlin Academy as an editor. In the imperial examination that year, among the top three, Huang Jian was so outstanding that he became famous in Kyoto. Later, Mrs. Wang happened to be looking for a man for her younger daughter at that time, and she fell in love with Huang Jian at first sight.

Old Lady Wang thought that although the Huang family was not prominent enough, it was still a noble family after all, and this man had won the third place in the imperial examination at the age of 23, so he must have a bright future.

But no one expected that the third place in the imperial examination was the peak of Huang Jian's career. He seemed to lose his energy at the end. Now he is over 40 years old and still only a fifth-rank official. Mrs. Song felt sorry for her sister. Her husband was not doing well. Mrs. Song wanted to help him, but Huang Jian was like a pile of mud that could not be helped up.

I will help you to the end. If I can’t help anymore, I won’t help anymore.

But she also felt sorry for her niece suffering in the Huang family, so from time to time she would ask her to stay at the Song family for a while and take good care of her.

Tomorrow is Madam Song’s 60th birthday, so she moved to the Duke’s Mansion today.

Huang Ruotang was born beautiful, with a dignified face. She wore a pink bodice and a sky-blue skirt, which made her look even more beautiful. She was a famous talented woman in Kyoto, and was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting.

Now he was sitting next to Madam Song, his every move was full of nobility, and his eyes were full of scrutiny when he looked at Wen Chu.

Because Wen Chu had offended Madam Song last time, Madam Song was not in a good mood when she saw Wen Chu this time.

Wen Chu pretended not to notice the first lady's look full of disgust, bowed to Old Madam Song, then lowered his head and waited aside.

When the old lady saw Wen Chu, her face was still friendly and she didn't look down on him. She smiled and asked, "Why, aren't you Qi'an's savior? Why did he ask you to be a maid?"

This was also the first time that Wen Chu met Old Madam Song. She was quite different from her husband and son, and she spoke quite kindly.

Wen Chu knew she was in the wrong in this matter. After all, selling people was not a fair thing to do. She lowered her head and answered honestly, "I did something wrong, and I deserved it."

She betrayed Song Yusheng and angered him again and again. Her kindness to Song Yusheng had already been repaid by him with five hundred taels of silver.

Old Madam Song chuckled when she heard this, and stopped talking about this topic. She said, "Please sit down. Although I don't know how you offended Qi'an, you saved him. Logically and emotionally, you should be the benefactor of our Song family. There is no need to be so reserved."

How could Wen Chu dare to sit down? Just when she was about to refuse, Song Liqing pushed her onto the chair. If she tried to refuse again, it would not be good.

Madam Song scolded Song Liqing, "Can you behave yourself? Why are you hanging out with those questionable people all day? Why don't you learn from your cousin and be more obedient and sensible? I don't ask you to do anything for me. Come here and sit next to me."

Mrs. Song always liked to compare Huang Ruotang with Song Liqing, always praising Huang Ruotang for being well-educated and sensible, while Song Liqing was not as good as she thought. She had said this more than ten times since she was a child, and she couldn't count them on one hand.

Song Liqing was so angry that she was even more unwilling to go. The eldest lady glanced at her and said, "You don't want the monthly salary for next month, right?"

Song Liqing could no longer bear it, and complained to the old lady in tears, "Grandma! Look at mother, she is always like this!"

The old lady finally spoke, the smile on her face faded a little, and she glanced at the eldest lady.

The old lady was well-known for her majesty in the Duke's Mansion. Seeing her like this, the eldest lady did not dare to continue speaking.

It was getting dark outside as evening approached. Wen Chu sat on the chair and dared not speak. He felt uneasy. Suddenly, Huang Ruotang, who was sitting opposite him, asked, "I heard from my aunt that the girl has no one at home. Doesn't that mean she is an orphan? Forgive me for offending you. I'm just curious about what kind of business the girl does. She saved her cousin, took care of him, and made money to buy medicine. Her energy is really amazing."

Song Liqing spoke before Wen Chu and said, "Since you know it's an offense, don't ask anymore. Why are you still talking nonsense here?"

Huang Ruotang was choked by these words and stopped talking, her face flushed. Old Madam Song scolded, "My dear, don't be so rude." She turned to Wen Chu and said, "If the young lady doesn't want to say it, then don't say it."

Wen Chu had nothing to be shy about about his livelihood. After all, everyone earned their living based on their own abilities, and there was nothing shameful about it.

She said, "I used to tell fortunes for people in town."

Madam Song sneered, "Isn't that just a charlatan?"

Fortune telling and physiognomy, perhaps these words reminded Old Madam Song of the fact that the current emperor likes Taoist culture and favors alchemists, and for a moment the amiable look on her face faded a little.

Wen Chu showed no emotion and deliberately said sarcastically, "Yeah, what can I do? I saved the prince by swindling money bit by bit. Otherwise, where would I get all this money for no reason?"

Although she said this, her expression was very sincere. For a moment, Madam Song was speechless. She just pointed at her and kept saying, "How dare you!"

Huang Ruotang was busy trying to calm her down, and the old lady sitting above finally looked at Wen Chu seriously.

He is eloquent, neither humble nor arrogant, and seems to be a good kid.

If you just stand out without being humble or overbearing, you will be disrespectful to your elders and have no sense of hierarchy.

At this moment, a person walked in from outside the main room, and everyone looked up.

The man standing at the door was wearing a crimson official uniform that made his figure look even taller. He had starry eyes, sword-like brows, and a handsome face, like a white jade god or Buddha.

It was Song Yusheng who was on duty.

(End of this chapter)