Chapter 247

During ancient times in China, women in the family weren’t usually very close with their relatives, especially within the families of the nobility abundant in female servants. Ever since entering the imperial palace, the original host had suffered through countless drastic changes. Now that she has been praised to the skies by the Prince of Qin, the change in her personality seemed rather understandable. Although the members of the Chu Family had yet to discover that another person had taken over Chu Xiang’s body, they were nevertheless overjoyed that their family could reunite peacefully.

Now using the alias Chu Wenyuan, Chu Xiang’s eldest brother turned rather serious after going through the past ordeal. Compared to before, he appeared to be exuding a more calm and composed aura. He then said to Chu Xiang with a solemn manner, “It was all thanks to you, my little sister, that we ended up being rescued. I also understand your grievance now that I’ve learned of everything that happened to you back in the capital.”

Chu Xiang shot a glance towards him for a moment. “Big Brother, you’re not going to blame me? If I had not suffered a loss and ended up being thrown into the doghouse, none of you would’ve been imprisoned and Sister-In-Law wouldn’t have passed away…”

Raising his hand, Chu Wenyuan indicated her to stop and said in an earnest manner, “The entire fault lies on the incapable emperor’s hands. My Chu Family are faithful patriots of the kingdom, but we would never fawn on anyone in particular. Whenever we’re not in favor of a certain matter, we tend to remain silent. Perhaps that was what displeased the emperor. Besides, we had long since anticipated that he would take action on our Chu Family. Your sister-in-law falling ill was but a mere unfortunate event. Thus, you don’t need to brood over something that cannot be controlled.”

At that moment, Chu Xiang’s second brother, Chu Wensong, was holding onto a folding fan as he said, “Little Sister, Father had already arranged an escape route for our family several years ago. When we arrive at the destination of exile, someone would have taken our place, and we’d have to live in hiding for the rest of our lives. On the other hand, since getting you out of the palace would be extremely difficult, with how abruptly things happened, Father only had time to arrange for someone to set the imperial palace on fire and rescue you from the palace.”

“Only after the Prince of Qin rescued us did we find out that the person whom Father had arranged had accidentally angered Concubine Hui and ended up being beaten to death. Thus, that person never ended up getting the chance to save you, causing you to experience countless bitter hardships. Now that our family has finally reunited and seeing how the Prince of Qin is worthy to take the throne, we will definitely fight alongside the Prince of Qin and allow Little Sister to sit next to him as Royal Concubine Qin. When the time comes, you would ascend to the position of empress and be able to clear your tarnished reputation.”

Families during ancient times were extremely united. If even one member of the family were to prosper, the rest of the family would too flourish. But if one of them were to be harmed, on the other hand, the other family members would also go through the same suffering. Looking at the attitudes of other members, Chu Xiang could tell that the Chu Family was a harmonious family that knew how to put the matters of the past down and stand back up. As such, she was extremely supportive of them.

At that moment, Chu Xiang said deliberately, “The Prince of Qin and I are only putting on an act as husband and wife.”

Her words jolted through the room like a sudden clap of thunder and shook the minds of everyone present. Chu Yiru knitted his brows and asked in a deep voice, “What do you mean by that?”

Chu Xiang stood up and took several steps with the posture of a man. She then looked back at them and said, “I’m Lin Mu, the shadow handling matters for the Prince of Qin behind the scenes. At that time, the Prince of Qin and I got to know each other from an unexpected turn of events. I used the idea of receiving assistance from the Chu Family as bait in order to rescue us from the capital.”

“Afterwards, he accidentally made me Royal Concubine Qin and things just escalated from then onwards. In return for helping him handle the affairs back at the royal palace, he would prevent anyone from bullying me while allowing me to carry out commercial activities and rake in more money by dressing up as a man. Over these past few months, rather than staying in the royal palace, I had been traveling here from the capital using the land route and had only arrived recently.”

“You! You’re far too bold!” Chu Yiru stared at her in utter disbelief. “What do you plan on doing now? Continue acting as Lin Mu? Your two older brothers and I will assist the Prince of Qin with all our heart. You should establish your position as Royal Concubine Qin. In the future…”

“What about the future?” Chu Xiang replied without hesitation. “Father, you want me to become the empress while relying on your positions in the court? How would I be any different from a mere plant at that point?”

“The Prince of Qin dotes on you… Even aside from that, Xiang’er,  you’re a woman. You won’t be able to last long dressing up as a man to carry out commercial activities outside. If you end up getting discovered being someone, how would the people around you see you? If any information happens to leak out, how would the Prince of Qin cover you up? Father understands that you feel rather uneasy regarding this situation. However, you’re already suffered through a terrible ordeal. From now onwards, your father and brothers will definitely protect you. When you finally ascend to the position of empress and give birth to a son, Father will do whatever he can to help him rise up to a high ranking position. When that time comes, no one will be able to bully you or look down on you anymore.”

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