The Gilded Cage - Chapter 131

Taoist Temple – What a Day It Is (1)

In the East Palace, Xu Rong waited restlessly outside the Guangtian Hall, walking back and forth from time to time with a serious expression on his face, as if he felt that something unexpected was about to happen.

After an unknown amount of time, the guard came to report, “Master, Her Highness—Her Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s Consort is back!”

Xu Rong jolted and hurried forward. Sure enough, he saw Chu Ning approaching at a leisurely pace, but seeing that her face was very calm, he couldn’t see any clues from his expression. His heart pounded as he asked, “Your Highness, is everything going well?”

Chu Ning smiled and bowed. She said warmly, “Duke Xu, now you can no longer call me ‘Her Royal Highness’.”

As soon as Xu Rong heard this, he knew that the matter was over, so he relaxed and prepared to comfort her. He was about to speak, but saw that she had already told Cuihe, “Go and pack the things. We will leave soon.”

“Leave?” Xu Rong was stunned, “Your Highness—er, Lady Chu, where are you going?”

Even if she was not the consort, she should still be a woman of the Eastern Palace, and the crown prince pities her, how could he let her go?

“Duke Xu, I have pleaded with the Emperor to give up the position of consort and become a nun. Naturally I can no longer live in the East Palace. Is the Minister satisfied?”

Chu Ning stepped into the hall, looked around, and took a closer look at the room that she had lived in for more than two years.

The furnishings were very similar to her original boudoir, but without the slightest warmth.

“Bring just our own things.”

Cuihe nodded in agreement, then quickly stored away the huanghuali wooden box, inlaid with seven-color mother-of-pearl, which contained the land deeds of lands that had been saved for her since she was a child. Next was the loose change, then several kinds of jewelry in a treasure box, and a few sets of plain clothes that had been placed by the cupboard.

“Lady Chu, this—” Xu Rong realized that things seemed to have changed, and immediately followed them to the door in surprise and wanted to ask, but he was interrupted by Xiao Yu, who rushed back from the Taiji Hall.

“A-Ning! What is the meaning of this!” His face was smoldered as he stood outside the bedroom door, blocking her way and his tone full of questioning.

Chu Ning took a step back, opened the distance between them, lowered her eyes, and said, “Your Highness asked A’Ning to give up the position of consort, and A’Ning gave it up. Isn’t His Highness satisfied?”

Xiao Yu paused, his gloomy eyes remained cloudy, as if he was trying to suppress his anger, “How can this satisfy me? I-I never thought that you would leave!”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As if he remembered something, he suddenly sneered and said, “A’Ning, you have resentment in your heart, don’t you?”

“Your Highness is worrying too much, A’Ning doesn’t dare.” She put away her gentle and docile face, revealing her cold face underneath. She didn’t look at him, instead just walking around him, but he grabbed her wrist.

“A’Ning, don’t blame me, okay? You know, I had no choice!” Seeing her indifferent look, he felt more and more that he had guessed right, and his original anger subsided a little, trying to coax her with soft words

Impatientness flashed across Chu Ning’s heart, but she didn’t show it outright. She was still cold, and wanted to pull her hand out of his grip, but he held it tighter.

“Your Highness, please let go.”

“A’Ning—”

Xiao Yu wanted to say something else, but a few servants had already arrived from the Taiji Palace. They stopped at the bottom of the stone steps and rushed to salute the two above, “It’s inconvenient for Lady Chu to live in the East Palace. The Emperor ordered these slaves to come and invite Lady Chu to enter Guizhen Temple.”

“Your Highness, I should go.” Chu Ning calmed down and said coldly.

A twist flashed across Xiao Yu’s face.

To him, sending someone directly to take the princess away was ridiculous and humiliating!

The veins on his forehead twitched, wishing he could break into the Taiji Palace directly and pull his uncle who had robbed him of his throne and his consort.

“A’Ning, don’t forget about your father. No one can help you except me.”

He held her hand tightly, lowered his voice, and whispered the last words in her ear. Whether it was comforting or warning, in short, he gritted his teeth in an indescribable way.

When he mentioned her father, Chu Ning turned her face away, then glared at him, saying the words “Let go” silently.

For some reason, a guilty conscience flashed in Xiao Yu’s heart, and his originally tightened fingers unconsciously loosened.

She withdrew her wrist, saluted briefly, then turned and left.

There were swallows passing by in the sky, and the fragrance of grass and trees in the wind. Xiao Yu stood on the high steps, staring blankly at Chu Ning’s receding figure that didn’t even look back once.

“Your Highness, what… what on earth is going on here?” Xu Rong waited for a while, and finally couldn’t help asking him.

Annoyance flashed across his pale face, and the hand holding the door frame was also tightened, making the knuckles more prominent, “I acted according to your arrangement, but she suddenly asked the Emperor to leave the East Palace and enter the Daoist temple as a nun! The Emperor agreed and is now escorting her to Guizhen Temple.”

“I’m afraid this move has been planned a long time ago. It seems that the Lady has made up her mind to leave Your Highness.” Xu Rong was surprised for a moment. He did not expect that the always gentle and docile Crown Prince’s Consort Chu would be so unexpectedly tough. “This minister didn’t think carefully and didn’t notice the abnormality in advance. Please forgive me, Your Highness.”

“Forget it. She was the person next to my pillow. Even if I haven’t noticed it, how can you?” Xiao Yu covered his forehead with one hand, blocking the extraordinarily bright sunlight in his eyes.

Once he calmed down, the suspicion and panic that had been suppressed in his heart spread like weeds.

In the past two years, he never really let go of his guard against Chu Ning, and now that she suddenly left, it made him even more uneasy.

Fortunately, Zhao Yanzhou was still there, and he knew the whereabouts of the two young men left in the Chu family.

He knew her weakness clearly.