Not Your Typical Villianess - Chapter 196

The two days at the Emperor’s palace

*Clack!!!*

“Your Majesty!” Cuihong shouted as he ran into the Emperor’s Study. He glanced from the Emperor to Lu Yaozhu and the shattered teapot on the ground next to the wall opposite the Emperor’s table. He moved closer and looked down at the letter Emperor Zhong threw on the table. He didn’t need to read through the letter to understand what got the Emperor angry.

Emperor Zhong saved him the trouble as he exclaimed, “you want to retire and leave the capital to live a simple life? Why? Why would you make such a foolish decision? What would you possibly achieve by leaving a successful career? Please don’t tell me it is to start a family because we both know that you are not even expecting a child. You have been married for months without any happy news, yet you won’t go quit and do what? That wife of yours is a bad influence maybe I should get you, proper wife. An ambitious maid like that cannot be worthy of a Prince!”.

Chief Eunuch Cuihong glanced at the Emperor’s annoyed expression and sighed. Even a blind man can see that prince Wu and his wife were very much in love. Isn’t his majesty acting too stubborn by threatening to get him a new wife? The while thing few wrong on every level. The Chief eunuch bent low by the wall to pack up the broken teapot.

Lu Yaozhu balled up his feet as he heard the Emperor’s word, he glanced at him and looked away. His majesty was acting completely out of character, he had expected the Emperor to jump up at his retirement. The Emperor has seen him as an eyesore for as long as he could remember, his leaving should be a dream come true for his majesty.

He waited for the Emperor to get his breathing under control before replying gently, “my decision to retire comes in response to the last medical check-up I had after my injuries. Your majesty, my retirement is the best for my current health conditions.”

“Your retiring from the military may be a good health decision but you completely abandoning your duties for the easy life in the countryside is unacceptable. I will never approve your retirement!” Emperor Zhong picked up the abandoned letter and tore it into pieces.

Lu Yaozhu glanced at his destroyed later, he had submitted this letter to the minister of War today for formality. The response was too quick which was unexpected he had been taken aback when the Emperor called him over after morning court ended.

“Your majesty is busy with official duties, this general will take my leave,” Lu Yaozhu said, he waited to receive the Emperor’s nod before he walked out of the room.

Chief Eunuch Cuihong led palace maids in to clean the broken shards of the teapot. He supervised them until everything was cleaned up then dismissed the maids. Emperor Zhong stood by his desk looking out of the open window while his chief eunuch dismissed the maids.

Emperor Zhong turned away from the window to face Cuihong a few minutes after the maids were gone. He walked to his desk and picked up the cold cup of tea, “look into everything you can about Yaozhu and the Lu family. I need to know what he is up to, he can not leave the capital until I say so!”

“Yes,” Chief Eunuch Cuihong said.

**********

The Jiang family mansion.

Madam Jiang leaned forward on the top seat at the main room of her well-furnished living room, her head resting gently on her upraised hands. She ran her hand through her face, sighing heavily. For the past two days, she had been searching for her runaway niece. A young unmarried lady running away from home was a big scandal that could affect her family.

Madam Jiang couldn’t report her missing because of the implications and sent it would put on the reputation of her family. Her son had just started moving up the ladder, a scandal like that would affect his chances of marrying a girl from a reputable family. While her daughter, although engaged to the last so of the Lu family, could lose her engagement if a scandal like this broke.

Everyone would look down on her and her entire family, they would assume that her Goddaughter deliberately running away from home was due to her home training and assume that her children were untrained. Since they couldn’t openly report Chen Yao missing, Madam Jiang could only secretly send out servants secret to search for Chen Yao.

The social calendars would soon begin, it was only a matter of time before the invitations began to avoid. Everyone would notice if Chen Yao was missing at the events, even if she lied about her absence by claiming Chen Yao was sick. They would get suspicious when she was absent for too long finding her unruly gd daughter was imperative.

Madam Jiang looked up from the small wooden table as she heard hurried footsteps, she sat straight as she saw her daughter Jiang Hua rush into the room in hurried steps. Her daughter’s ladies maid and their steward uncle Bo rushed in behind her daughter.

Her heart sank when she saw her daughter’s worried expression, she held the arm of the chair tightly, “Hua’er, what is wrong? Have you found that unruly girl? Don’t tell me that she is dead…. No_ she had better be dead. That way I won’t have to deal with her mess”.

Jiang Hua rushed up to the high seat at grasped her mother’s hands tightly. “Mother, this is not about Sister Yao! It is about the Lu family, they are here mother. Uncle Bo informed me on my way here that Madam Lu and Prince Wu is at the door asking to see you!”

“See me” Madam Jiang glanced at the plump steward who nodded. She gasped and Belcher daughter’s hands tightly, “Hua’er the Prince just got bestowed his title which elevated the Lu family high that all other families. So you think that they found out about that missing skank, is his Highness here to cancel your wedding. Oh no no this can not be happening”.

“I don’t think they are here for that mother, I asked uncle Bo and he said that they came over with some gifts. It is just the what are we going to do if they ash about Sister Yao?” Jiang Hua said in a shaky tone.

“Don’t worry about that, I will distract them as best as I can.” She caught the steward’s eyes and instructed, “let them into the side room and serve them some snacks.”

“Yes, mistress” the steward bowed and left the room leaving mother and child to discuss between themselves.

Jiang Hua squeezed her mother’s hands gently, “mother what are we to do”.

“You stay calm, mother will handle everything. Just stay calm, I will just tell them that Chen Yao is ill. If we control the number of servants that interact with them, no one would ever find out about our situation. When u find that unruly girl, I will make her regret trying something like that”.

“Mother, Sister Yao isn’t the type to do something like this. Maybe we should look into this, she could have been kidnapped” Jiang Hua said softly.

“Kidnapped? Why would anyone kidnap her when you are here? She has nothing to her name apart from a small fortune, the more profitable person to be kidnapped would be you not her. You are at least what something especially since you are engaged to third young master Lu. Did you see her well-arranged her room was? I think that she eloped with someone, uncle Bo found some clues which point to the fact that she has been exchanging letters with a young man”.

“That doesn’t sound like sister Yao, mother. Could uncle Bo be wrong? Maybe she was exchanging letters with her cousins, the Tong family is in the capital and she once mentioned that she was close to her aunt”.

“Don’t be so naive Hua’er if she was indeed close to her mother’s family how come she is staying with us? The Tong family are comfortable thanks to the Crown Prince, how come they don’t take care of her? Please her mother was just a concubine born daughter of the Tong family. Her standing in that family was lower than hers in the Chen family. Chen Yao wasn’t being honest, at all”

“If you are right then this must be her plan. She wants to drag us down with her” Jiang Yao said, eyes stinging with tears.

“Yea darling” madam Jiang held her daughter’s cheeks gently. “Don’t let all this worry you, I will handle it”.

Madam Jiang consoled her daughter until a maid reported that the Prince and madam Lu were waiting at the side room. She separated from her daughter once she heard that and left for the side room to meet with Madam Lu and Prince Wu.

************

Meanwhile, at Yu’an temple.

A fire broke as Zhu Fengyin arrived at the temples with Su Liya and Chonglin.. The fire was already under control but the meditation room at two close by pavilions was destroyed by the fire.