Masquerade in Bridal Attire and Marry the Prince

188. Reward

Translator: Bryan

At the sight of the bracelet, Zhao Ling’er had an urge to make some sarcastic remarks, but when she held the bracelet in her hand, she could barely loosen her hold on it. Although the Zhao Family was powerful and influential, not everything they offered her was of good quality. Actually, many good things had ended up in Zhao Zheng’s hands.

However, she could tell at a glance that this jade pendant, which was of such pure color, was priceless. Even compared with her trousseaus, this thing was top-of-the-line as well. She instantly held back the derisive words on her lips, and there was no room in her mind for anything except how to keep this bracelet.

Du Chuxuan failed to notice the look on her face, but Dongxiang saw it distinctly. Dongxiang rolled his eyes, becoming much more well-disposed towards Fang Rui. He thought, “How could a highborn lady be such a money grubber? I should stay as far away from this woman as possible.”

Having perceived that there was nothing else to do, Du Chuxuan did not have the two women linger in the house. He promptly told them where their dwellings were and dismissed them. Although the official ceremony was scheduled for this afternoon, chances of these two women being chucked out of the East Palace were next to zero now, so Du Chuxuan would not make trouble for them at this point in time.

If he did that and anybody got word out about it, all the blame would be pinned on him, and his reputation would be badly compromised. Legs dangling, he was just about to close his eyes to get some rest when Luo Yi hurried inside. Having noticed that there was nobody else around, he cast a glance at the dark spot to check that the coast was clear before he pivoted around and halted.

“Master, all arrangements have been made. Our men chanced upon someone in a nearby city. I thought that you’d be interested, so I had them keep an eye on that person. Here’s the message,” Luo Yi said, handing Du Chuxuan a little bamboo tube used for delivering messages. The bamboo tube was not big, but it had enough room to contain a piece of paper.

Du Chuxuan glanced at Luo Yi curiously. In these circumstances, there were few things that could pique his interest, but he had indeed never been to any of the cities in the vicinity. Could it be that any of his old acquaintances was nearby?

As this thought crossed his mind, he quickly unstopped the bamboo tube. At the sight of the portrait, he got tensed up. Were he not certain that Luo Yi and his men would never betray him or Yuxing Tianrui, he would probably have held a knife to Luo Yi’s throat by now. After composing himself, he slowly leaned back against his chair.

He resignedly kneaded his eyebrows. Whatever he had expected, it wasn’t that this guy would be so bold as to come out without disguising himself. He came to realize that the reason why the Du Family had not found Du Chuyue after such a long search was not because Du Chuyue had been doing a good job hiding herself, but because nobody could have foreseen that she had been hiding in such a secluded spot.

“Western Donglin City? What is that place?” Du Chuxuan involuntarily asked, fingering the spot where the address was written. The western parts of many cities were where ruffians and thugs congregated. Even the government would have a hard job finding someone hiding in that place.

It was after a few moment’s hesitation that Luo Yi said, “According to the guy who reported on this, that area is where the impoverished families of Donglin City dwell. The living conditions there are rather poor. On top of that, the guy in your sister’s company seems to be a penniless college student.”

Du Chuxuan lowered his head, a thoughtful look on his face. Luo Yi, naturally, would not disturb him in these circumstances. It was about fifteen minutes before Du Chuxuan suddenly sighed, “Bring them to me. I want a word with her.”

Luo Yi responded, “Should I bring them directly to the imperial palace? Do you want me to tell them your name?” Luo Yi did not overthink it. He had been staying by his master’s side protecting him for such a long time, and he would be a fool if he had not found out whether the Crown Prince cared about his master more or it was the other way around.

“Tell them, or they probably won’t agree to come. Tell them that their cover would soon be blown unless they come here.” Du Chuxuan shook his head resignedly. The two of them were twins, which was a fact known to everybody in the capital city in that year.

Considering that members of Sect Luo had come across the two of them, a lot of others must have clapped eyes on them. Residents of Donglin City did not know him and his sister, but it wouldn’t take long for those with contacts in the capital to find out about it, which was, apart from anything else, a safety hazard.

Luo Yi, having cottoned on to what Du Chuxuan meant, turned around to make arrangements. Having come to know about Du Chuyue’s whereabouts, Du Chuxuan was somewhat relieved. Presently, he had no problem handling all set-ups, but no matter what, him disguising himself as a woman was a time bomb.

It struck him that only when his jealous significant other really sat on the thone would the two of them be absolutely safe, but from the vantage point of the present, the two of them still had a certain distance to go before achieving that goal.

“What are you thinking about?” asked Yuxing Tianrui, noticing the look on Du Chuxuan’s face on entry. Early this morning, he had gone to pay his respects to the Empress, but the latter had dismissed him on the pretext of him taking two women as concubines today. Unexpectedly, on his return, he’d heard from Dongxiang that the two concubines had entered the palace and proffered the tea, so he’d come here to check.

Not until Yuxing Tianrui interrupted him did Du Chuxuan come to realize that he had been sitting here in a daze for qutie a while. He raised his head to look at the man before him and felt somewhat embarrassed because a moment ago he had been picturing their good future life. He blushed at the thought of the erotic fantasy whirling around his mind a while ago.

“To be honest, today is your wedding day. You should at least share a bed with one of them tonight as a token gesture. Which one will you pick?”

Looking at the mischievous gleam in his eyes, Yuxing Tianrui shook his head resignedly and, glancing over his shoulder at Dongxiang in a seemingly casual way, then he asked, “Where do the two concubines live now?”

Dongxiang was stunned for a moment but soon caught on. “Princess Fang lives in Qixi Palace in the west, Princess Zhao in Yunxia Palace in the east.” One of them was living in a palace on the left, the other on the right, which meant that Yuxing Tianrui could get to neither palace without passing Du Chuxuan’s dwelling.

But it seemed that Du Chuxuan did not have a dwelling of his own. He had been living in the main hall with Yuxing Tianrui all along. It seemed that this arrangement was making it inconvenient for Yuxing Tianrui to do anything unfaithful. As this thought shot through his mind, Du Chuxuan could not help but cast a piercing glance at Yuxing Tianrui’s groin.

“Stop it.” Feeling uneasy beneath Du Chuxuan’s gaze, Yuxing Tianrui took a step backward and said, “Have them serve the lunch.”