Chapter 774 Threat
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
Yuwen You heard the hidden meaning in Yuwen Chu’s words and furrowed his brow. It wasn’t a secret that he and the Wusun Princess had been married for several years and had consulted many doctors and taken many medicines in the capital. He had wanted to invite Jiang Zhouzi to take a look, but since Jiang Zhouzi had become his enemy, he couldn’t ask him. Besides, he didn’t dare to trust Jiang Zhouzi, as he was loyal to the Fu family and Yuwen Chu.
“The purple sandalwood cup bestowed by the late Emperor is indeed a rare treasure,” Yuwen Chu said indifferently, walking up to the Wusun Princess and glaring at her coldly. “There’s something I must inform the princess about.”
The Wusun Princess trembled with pain and hatred, glaring at Yuwen Chu. “Speak!”
Yuwen Chu said, “This spring, the Wusun suffered a famine and had to seek assistance from Great Xia. I’ve heard that the Wusun King has two sisters who are beautiful and gentle, suitable matches for some of our young princes. Perhaps with a more generous betrothal gift, the Wusun King would be very willing, I suppose?”
The implication was clear: if she continued to cause trouble, he wouldn’t mind using someone else from the Wusun as a bargaining chip for the marriage alliance. Then she would be completely worthless, whether staying here or returning to Wusun, she would have no future. Truly, they were a devilish couple. The Wusun Princess felt both pain and hatred, unable to catch her breath, and finally fainted.
Yuwen Chu passed her coldly without a glance and walked towards the entrance.
Zheng Momo was angrily instructing the servants at the door, “Bring a few buckets of water and wash the floor thoroughly to dispel the bad luck!”
She had taken quite a fall just now, scraping the skin on both palms, and injuring her left pinky, which swelled up into a big lump. Because of the pain, her temper was especially irritable. Besides ordering the servants to clean the floor to dispel bad luck, she also scolded the gatekeeper, “Are you here to daydream and gossip? Can’t you see someone rushing over to seek death? If it weren’t for the timely arrival of His Highness, today would have been a disaster!”
The gatekeeper was also aggrieved, “Who could have expected this? Who knew that offering an apology would lead to such a thing? It’s mealtime, some people were having their meal, the steward was delivering invitations inside, and Zheng Momo had to go out to open the door. Everything happened at once.”
Zheng Momo snapped, “Dare to talk back?” When she saw Yuwen Chu approaching, she didn’t dare to speak anymore and greeted him respectfully, “Old servant greets Your Highness.”
The servants didn’t dare to make a sound and knelt aside neatly.
Yuwen Chu said expressionlessly, “Working at the gatehouse requires full attention, to keep an eye on all six directions and listen to everything around. Otherwise, why do we always pick capable and smart people for this job? Unexpected accidents are not an excuse; negligence is the root cause. All of you are fined half a year’s salary and must kneel for three hours. If there’s another time, you’ll be beaten to death with a stick.”
The gatekeepers could only accept their misfortune. Zheng Momo limped behind Yuwen Chu, deeply reflecting, “It’s also my fault for not arriving in time, and my actions were slow and clumsy, or else it wouldn’t have been so dangerous.”
Yuwen Chu neither agreed nor disagreed and remained silent.
Zheng Momo wisely kept her mouth shut. After a while, Yuwen Chu asked, “Where is the Wangfei?”
Zheng Momo quickly replied, “After Your Highness left, Wangfei has been sitting in the courtyard in distress. If it weren’t for Zhuangzhuang and Millet being adorable and lovable, she would have cried. She’s too wronged.” She cautiously probed, “She’s afraid that Your Highness might misunderstand her because of this incident, and reject her and Millet.”
Yuwen Chu glanced at her, “Did Wangfei say that to you?”
Zheng Momo shook her head, “No, but the old servant knows what Wangfei is thinking.”
Yuwen Chu didn’t speak further and walked quickly inside.
The front porch was already lit with lanterns, and laughter from women and children faintly came from the hall. Yuwen Chu’s footsteps paused. This woman was quite forgiving. Where was the distressed look that Zheng Momo described?
Zheng Momo felt a bit embarrassed and said, “It’s true, Wangfei has been distressed for a long time. If Your Highness doesn’t believe it, you can ask Dong Hui and the others.”
“I didn’t say I don’t believe it. If there’s nothing else, you can go and tend to your injuries.” Yuwen Chu felt that Zheng Momo was overdoing it. Even if she wanted to show pity for Mingzhu, constantly emphasizing it was a bit much, with a hint of calculation, which he didn’t like.
Zheng Momo nervously bowed and quickly retreated.
Yuwen Chu continued to walk inside. When the maids saw him, they hurriedly passed the message inside. He expected to see Mingzhu and the two children coming out to greet him, but they didn’t. Instead, he saw Mingzhu crawling on the carpet with Zhuang Zhuang riding on her back, gripping her clothes nervously, his little face flushed with excitement, shouting, “Go! Go!” On the other side, Millet was lying on the ground, curiously observing Mingzhu’s movements, eager to try crawling forward.
“Nonsense!” Yuwen Chu’s face darkened immediately.
Zhuang Zhuang was too young and couldn’t ride steadily to begin with. Startled by his sudden reprimand, he fell off Mingzhu’s back and burst into tears, his mouth pouting, crying loudly.
When he cried, Millet, who didn’t understand what was going on, also started crying.
The room suddenly became chaotic, and Yuwen Chu felt as if thousands of ducks were quacking in his ears. He couldn’t help but pinch his brow.
Mingzhu tenderly picked up Zhuang Zhuang to check if he was injured, finding him unharmed, she breathed a sigh of relief, purely relieved that he was just scared. Smiling gently, she comforted Zhuang Zhuang, who glanced at Yuwen Chu and started crying even louder, while also burrowing into Mingzhu’s arms.
“Don’t hold him.” Yuwen Chu leaned down, picked up Millet, soothed her, and handed her to the wet nurse, then gestured for Mingzhu to release Zhuang Zhuang. “Let him stand up and walk out on his own.”
Mingzhu refused, “He’s still so young, and he didn’t do anything wrong. Why are you scolding him and scaring him? If you have anger, just direct it at me. Why take it out on the child?”
She had already learned about what had just happened and felt that Yuwen Chu was finding fault with her, letting Dong Hui break the Wusun Princess’s leg. Although Yuwen Chu’s threat to the Wusun Princess sounded imposing, it would be difficult to execute in reality. How could there be such an easy exchange for marriage alliances? Especially after being married for several years, having to change partners again was like slapping someone’s face. With the Xiongnu restless and relying on the Wusun to maintain stability, if they were pushed too hard, the Wusun might not cooperate.
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
