青春期撞上更年期第1部

Chu Liuchen, standing at the entrance, looked worn out by the long journey. His light-colored brocade robe was not as bright and tidy as usual. His handsome face looked a little weary. His pale skin was almost transparent, and only the corners of his mouth were light red, which made him look more indifferent than others.

At this moment, his eyes looked gloomy, as if he were a diabolical devil from hell. The Empress, who turned around to see him, couldn’t help but take a step back in horror. Subconsciously, she clutched her chest in fear, her heart beating wildly.

Chu Liuchen, known to be treacherous and ruthless, might suddenly turn hostile. He was gentle and cheerful a moment ago, but the next moment, he might become cold and cruel. But at least in front of the Empress, he was usually very refined and elegant. However, he inexplicably made people feel that he was gloomy and frightening. The Empress had never seen him like this before.

!!

Not just the Empress but also these princesses and imperial consorts spontaneously stepped back cautiously to avoid Prince Chen’s eyes. His bloodthirsty gaze made them feel suffocated.

Only the Empress Dowager stood up in surprise and said, “Chen’er, you finally come back!”

According to the message from the Emperor, Chu Liuchen couldn’t attend the Empress Dowager’s birthday party in time, which greatly upset the Empress Dowager. So, when Chu Liuchen cropped up before her, she was joyfully surprised. But immediately, she felt guilty. After all, Princess Chen, lying on the couch, had just had an accident.

She hurriedly took a few steps forward, trying to stop him from looking inside.

“How can I not care about your birthday? I hurried back to the capital at top speed. I just went to report to Uncle the Emperor, and now I’m here to see you, my Imperial Grandmother!” Chu Liuchen said and withdrew his cold eyes. His eyes turned soft only when he looked at the Empress Dowager.

After that, he lifted his robe and knelt before the Empress Dowager. “Imperial Grandmother, I wish you long life and happiness. May you have prosperity every year, and may blessings descend upon every house!”

“Great… good, blessings descend upon every house!” The Empress Dowager was so excited that she helped Chu Liuchen up. As she examined his gorgeous face, the rims of her eyes turned red. Then, holding his hand, she exclaimed with emotion. “It’s good that you’re back. I’m so happy that you’re here!”

“Imperial Grandmother, if I don’t come back, I may not see Zhuozhuo one last time, right?” Chu Liuchen’s face suddenly turned cold again, and his eyes darkened. His clear eyes hardened and looked as spooky and deep as the bottomless hell.

Several imperial consorts, who had just gotten over the shock, immediately lowered their heads in horror, not daring to look at his extremely good-looking face again.

Men could also be pretty, but this beautiful man was not gentle and refined. On the contrary, he had a bloodthirsty aura, as if he could destroy everyone here in an instant.

“Princess Chen, Princess Chen, she… she…” Rui’an Great Elder Princess slowly regained consciousness from her shock. She was not frightened by Chu Liuchen and only felt very aggrieved and furious. Taking a step forward, she walked up to Chu Liuchen and angrily denounced, “What did you promise me? You said that you would take good care of Zhuozhuo, but how could she end up like this under your protection? You… you…”

Rui’an Great Elder Princess felt angry and annoyed, and her breath came in convulsive gasps.

Chu Liuchen put down the Empress Dowager’s hand and bowed deeply to Rui’an Great Elder Princess. Then he raised his head and said, “Great Elder Princess, don’t worry. I will catch the murderer who came after her.”

“What’s the point of doing that? Just now, already… Someone poisoned the food and hurt Zhuozhuo.” Rui’an Great Elder Princess lost control and cried out loud.

Chu Liuchen pursed his lips tightly, and there seemed to be a storm forming in his eyes. After a long while, he slowly asked, “Who did it?”

“It was… it was said the Empress’s people delivered the message to the imperial kitchen…” Rui’an Great Elder Princess was distressed and said with tears in her eyes, “Zhuozhuo is a wretched child. She lost her parents when she was a child and had been wandering outside. Even if she had returned to her original family, no one loved her sincerely. Finally, she married you, and I thought her misery ended and her happiness began. I didn’t expect that… I didn’t expect that she would end up like this. If I had known… If I had known it, I wouldn’t have allowed her to marry you. At least she could have stayed alive and lived a peaceful life!”

Her granddaughter was merely a woman who had spent most of her time at home. How could anyone bear such a big grudge against her and want to kill her? Anyway, she died in the Imperial Palace. Everyone knew that the ultimate reason for her death was Prince Chen. If some people aimed at Prince Chen, they would deal with Princess Chen first.

Thus, it was reasonable for her to say that Shao Wanru died because she married Prince Chen!

Some soft-hearted people couldn’t help lamenting Princess Chen’s miserable life. What had happened to her in the Marquis Xing’s Mansion was widely known. The elders there had been unkind to Princess Chen. At present, Old Madam was sent to live a secluded and hard life. Although there was no specific reason for that, those well-informed people learned that Old Madam was punished for her cruelty to Shao Wanru.

If nothing had happened, how would an Old Madam have chosen to live an austere life instead of enjoying a comfortable life in her mansion?

“Please rest assured, Great-aunt. I will find out the truth!” Chu Liuchen said. His eyes fell on Shao Wanru, who was lying on the couch inside. At this time, Shao Wanru was still lying on the wide couch, soundless and stirless.

“Imperial Grandmother, you should return with my great-aunt first. Just leave the imperial physician here,” Chu Liuchen murmured. Though he said this to the Empress Dowager and Rui’an Great Elder Princess, his eyes were still fixed on the person lying inside.

“Chen’er… you… don’t be too sad…” The Empress Dowager tried to appease him. She was really worried about Chu Liuchen.

“Don’t worry. I’m fine!” Chu Liuchen said, his eyes still glued to her beloved woman inside.

The Empress Dowager still wanted to say something, but she didn’t know where to start. Helplessly, she sighed and left with the others. At first, Rui’an Great Elder Princess felt reluctant to leave. But when she saw Chu Liuchen’s look, she could do nothing but walk out while crying. As she walked to the tent entrance, she abruptly said, “Tell the imperial physician to examine her carefully. She was fine. How could she not get up after falling asleep? Maybe she can be saved!”

After saying this, she walked away with the help of Nanny Gao behind the others.

The Empress Dowager also heard her words. In astonishment, she turned around and saw Rui’an Great Elder Princess, who was sobbing too bitterly to speak. She had wanted to say something to her, but on second thought, she thought Rui’an Great Elder Princess couldn’t answer her questions anyway. So, the Empress Dowager could only give up, shaking her head. Rui’an Great Elder Princess might have cried so hard that she couldn’t think straight. How could the imperial physician bring the dying back to life?

After all, Rui’an Great Elder Princess only had one granddaughter, and she had always doted on her the most. Perhaps, she believed that her granddaughter still had a feeble thread of life.

It was good for the imperial physician to see her. The Empress Dowager didn’t take Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s words seriously. However, she completely forgot that Rui’an Great Elder Princess was the only one who had touched Shao Wanru when they came in. Thus, only Rui’an Great Elder Princess knew that Shao Wanru was still breathing, though she was lying there motionlessly.

The Empress, those imperial consorts, and other princesses had the same idea as the Empress Dowager. They all thought that Rui’an Great Elder Princess must have been in a confused state of mind after suffering such a great blow. She was full of wild talk. How could a dead person come back to life?

No one cared about Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s words.

The Empress didn’t even look up and just lowered her head with anxiety. It had been difficult to deal with this matter, and it became even more tricky now. Somehow, she was deeply involved in this matter. When Chu Liuchen was not around, she could hardly get rid of it. Now that Chu Liuchen had come back, she knew it was almost impossible for her to be cleared of suspicion.

Infanta Yuan’an, next to Ruiping Great Elder Princess, had been in a good mood. With pleasure, she deliberately looked back at the sheer curtain hanging behind her and silently raised the corners of her mouth. “Shao Wanru is dead. That’s great!”

It was better for a woman like her to die. No matter how much Prince Chen loved her, she was ill-fated. How could she compare with her, who was blessed with a wealthy and distinguished life?

Infanta Yuan’an was born at the best time and was blessed with an honorable fate. In contrast, Shao Wanru suffered a grim fate. So, how could she stand in comparison with Infanta Yuan’an? Besides, Shao Wanru had turned Infanta Yuan’an down without considering her feelings. Infanta Yuan’an’s grandma had asked her to curry favor with Shao Wanru and make friends with her. But now, Shao Wanru died, which was great news for Infanta Yuan’an.

Though all these people looked solemn, they had different thoughts. The Empress Dowager returned to the big tent. There wasn’t a trace of a smile on her face.

The Empress was also in a state of preoccupation. Since the two remained silent, no one else dared to speak. Only Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s sobs could be heard from time to time in the big tent.

In the small tent, the imperial physician carefully reached out to feel Shao Wanru’s pulse. Feeling the faint warmth coming from her hand, he finally relaxed and looked surprisingly at Princess Chen, who was lying on the bed. “She is not dead?”

He came here later than others. As soon as he entered, he saw that Princess Chen was lying there stock-still and that Rui’an Great Elder Princess had burst into loud sobs. For a time, he thought Princess Chen was dead. When Prince Chen asked him to feel her pulse, he was terribly frightened. How could he feel the pulse of a dead person? But he didn’t dare to refuse this frightening Prince Chen, so he touched her hand while shivering.

Now he took a deep breath of relief and felt that he had come back to life. Fortunately, Princess Chen was still alive, and Prince Chen was not crazy. Back then, Princess Chen lying on the couch seemed to have died, but Prince Chen still ordered him to feel her pulse. He had feared that Prince Chen might madly slaughter him if he could not feel her pulse.

After calming down, he carefully felt the pulse and frowned.

After a long while, he put down her hand.

“How is she?” Chu Liuchen asked coldly, with his steely eyes on the imperial physician.

The imperial physician shivered and hurriedly said, “Her Highness should be fine!”

She had suffered a significant loss of Qi and blood, so she was very fragile. Princess Chen had a delicate body. It was a miracle that she survived after suffering such a severe injury. But nothing else had happened to her: she had no poisoning symptoms and was unimpaired by the drug that could invigorate blood circulation. The imperial physician felt pretty strange!

“Since it’s not a big deal, why doesn’t she wake up?” Chu Liuchen asked with a chill in his dark and fathomless eyes, “If you only made a perfunctory effort and talked nonsense to get rid of this matter, I’ll kill you!

Though his tone was calm and unhurried, his eyes looked ice-cold and sinister, which made the imperial physician’s heart race with fear. He understood that Prince Chen was serious and didn’t threaten him in a fit of anger.

Initially, the imperial physician wanted to tell the truth, but now he began to doubt if he had made the correct judgment. “Could it be that something bad happened to Princess Chen but I failed to see it?”