Chapter 24: Do You Want to Marry Me?

As soon as Bi Zhu was back to Tranquility Courtyard, Hong Ling quickly stepped up and asked, “How was it? How was it? Was the first lady pissed off?”

Bai Ruo frowned and coughed. “Hong Ling, where are your manners?” If this girl continued to act recklessly like this, who knew what kind of trouble she would cause for the miss.

Hong Ling shuddered and hurriedly retreated. With her head askew, she looked at Shen Ninghua’s face. Seeing that Shen Ninghua was smiling at her, she became more embarrassed. She quickly went up to massage Shen Ninghua’s shoulder and stuck her tongue stealthily. “Miss, I was wrong.”

Shen Ninghua smiled and said, “No more massaging. I have rashes on my shoulders and I can’t stand your massaging.”

“Ah, Miss, I forgot. Are you alright?” Hong Ling flushed with anxiety.

“Nothing.” Shen Ninghua shook her head. Of the four maids, Hong Ling was the liveliest and did not like to be constrained by rules. Her character was exactly the same as that of Si Qin. Whenever she thought of Si Qin’s tragic death, her heart would ache with pain.

Therefore, she was willing to indulge Hong Ling. Although indulging Hong Ling couldn’t make her feel less guilty, at least it could prevent her heart from being inflicted with deadly stillness.

Bi Zhu covered her lips and smiled for quite a while. “Miss, both lists have been handed over to the first lady.”

“Good.” While Zhao Yunxiang wanted to fool her, she sent the dowry list to see how the first lady could gloss things over.

Bai Ruo came over with a jade bottle of medical cream and helped Shen Ninghua apply the medicine with clean cotton cloth towel. “Miss, there are many ways to frame up the first lady. Why did you choose to let yourself suffer?” The rashes spread wide on the body and looked very shocking. Although she knew this was the miss’s plan, her heart still ached greatly.

Shen Ninghua took the cloth towel from her hand and gently pressed it on the neck. Her eyes were quite calm. “Don’t underestimate the first lady even if we made a successful counterattack this time. Although she was born by a concubine, she was also a daughter raised by the Zhao family. This time, Madan Zhao underestimated me too much so that I caught her by surprise. After learning today’s lesson, she would definitely make her plan more carefully. And there is also grandma, who doesn’t want me to be out of control.”

Old lady Xiao had been contending with Madam Zhao for many years without getting the upper hand. Shen Ninghua’s success this time made old lady Xiao happy, but if she appeared too strong, old lady Xiao would become suspicious of her motivation. After all, as a chess piece, the more obedient Shen Ninghua was, the easier it was for old lady Xiao to control her. Therefore, she must make a sign of weakness for the time being. By doing so, she could not only test the first lady and others but also make old lady Xiao feel safe.

Bai Ruo paused her thoughts for a while and closed her eyes in worry. The Shen family was full of dangers. The miss would face more difficult situations in the future.

After applying the medicine, Shen Ninghua dismissed the maids and lay on the bed alone. She slowly fell asleep in a daze. In the dream, she wandered around like a ghost. By and by, she saw the Fengyi Palace where she lived in her previous life. The palace was beautiful, but it was like a deep cage and she in her past life was imprisoned in it. For a while, she saw Shen Linghan standing in front of her, speaking with a voice clear like a sparrow, “Sister, I didn’t want to be selected into the imperial palace, but I am pregnant with the emperor’s child. You can’t have your own children. How about I give birth to this child for you, sister? Father also said that you are still the empress, whereas I can only be an imperial concubine.”

After a while, she saw Baili Jinze holding her hand and looking at her affectionately. “I would not marry anyone else even if I will have no children. Because there are plenty of royal relatives to choose as our heir, but you are the only one.”

Slowly the two figures disappeared, and heavy rain poured down from the dark sky. She knelt on the ground, listening to Shen Linghan’s proud laughter.

“Here is the imperial decree. Shen Ninghua, a humble female servant, plotted against the Emperor’s heir and gossiped about affairs of the imperial state. She is immediately deprived of the title of Empress and put into the Cold Palace.”

Then came the purgatory life in the Cold Palace.

“Ah!” Shen Ninghua exclaimed and woke up suddenly, sweating heavily all over. She felt waves of chilly coldness in her back and a morbid air kept surging in her body. Today was her first attempt to fight back. It was also her first success in the confrontation with Shen Linghan and Madam Zhao. She felt relieved but was also in a trance at the same time. Life in the Cold Palace destroyed many of her emotions. Only in her dream could she cry out freely.

It was dark in the room and there was the sound of rain outside. She didn’t even know when the rain started.

Shen Ninghua gasped for a while. Then she put on a dress and gently pushed open the window. The damp and hot air made her hold her breath. Now it was July. Despite the rain, it was still very stuffy. She held her arms unconsciously. After she was imprisoned in the Cold Palace, the bones of her limbs were all broken. On rainy days, the broken bones hurt like a dull knife cutting her flesh. Therefore, she hated rainy days very much. Even though she was not hurt now, she felt painful dumbness when she saw the rain.

Raindrops fell on her face, making her eyesight slightly vague. Her trembling eyelashes were like butterfly wings wet by the rain, lonely, fragile and helpless.

“Miss Shen, how very refined it is for you to enjoy the rain in the middle of the night.” A joking voice broke the silence. Shen Ninghua was shocked and suddenly turned to look at the dark room. The fragile expression she accidentally revealed suddenly disappeared.

“So Master Chu is addicted to climbing over the wall in the middle of the night?” Her five senses were extremely sharp, so she could easily recognize Chu Junyi’s voice.

Chu Junyi came out of the dark corner and looked at Shen Ninghua, who was standing by the bed. The room was too dark to see her expression at all. He only saw her eyes clear and bright like a cold jade. “I did you a big favor today, and shouldn’t you say thanks to the man who saved your life?”

Shen Ninghua lit the candle and went to sit down on the side of her bed. She said slowly and softly, “Thank you, Master Chu, for what you did today.”

Chu Junyi raised his eyebrows. “It there anything else than ‘Thank you’?”

Shen Ninghua raised her eyebrows. “Then what do you want?”

Chu Junyi came close to her. He raised her chin gently with his fingers and looked down at her beautiful face shining in the light. “How about a lifetime engagement?”

Shen Ninghua suddenly smiled and looked at him with smiling eyes. Her eyes were like clear water and moonlight. “Do you want to marry me?”

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Chu Junyi paused and was dazed. Her eyes were exceptionally beautiful. It seemed that whether she was happy, angry, coquettish or annoyed, they all had a particulate taste. He now seemed to understand the meaning of the meaning of her name “Ninghua.” Somehow he couldn’t continue with his joking words.

Shen Ninghua repeated, “Do you want to marry me?”

Her voice was very clear, even with a little coldness. However, it miraculously struck Chu Junyi’s ears like silk, wrapping his mind tightly and forcing him to nod involuntarily.

“Do you want to marry me?” Shen Ninghua asked for the third time, smiling like flowers.

Chu Junyi frowned slightly. A moment ago, she was looking at the rain with loneliness, but now she was smiling so splendidly and immaculately. What else characters did she have that he had never seen in her? Intelligent, calm, indifferent, fragile… and, cunning! At the thought of this word, Chu Junyi suddenly bit his tongue and woke up.

“I don’t dare to marry and keep an ancestress in my family.”

“Haha.” Shen Ninghua covered her lips and chuckled, astonished at Chu Junyi’s reaction. She had applied some hallucinogens that could easily hypnotize people. Unexpectedly, Chu Junyi regained his normal state with so much ease. “Master Chu is really extraordinary.”

“Thank you for your compliment,” Chu Junyi glared at her and said roughly. The girl was so crafty, and he should feel pity for her a moment ago!

This episode made Shen Ninghua’s mood relax a lot. “What are you here for today?”

“I’m here to bring you a gift.”

“What gift?”

With a swift wave of his hand, Chu Junyi blew the candle. He then took out a jade box from his sleeve and slowly opened the box.

Brilliant colors poured out of the jade box. The light was soft as water, but the whole room was lit up.

Shen Ninghua was amazed. “A luminous pearl?” Although luminous pearls could emit light, their light would not be so bright.

Chu Junyi curled his lips. His beautiful face was more stunning in the soft light. “This was the most valuable treasure of the Xia family. The ancestor of the Xia family helped found the country, and this pearl was a trophy when he recovered the Ming City at that time. The first emperor of the dynasty conferred this pearl to him in recognition of his achievements. Later, it was said that the pearl was passed on for several generations and finally became a part of Miss Xia’s dowry.”

Shen Ninghua’s eyes were shining, “What do you want from me in exchange for the pearl?”

Chu Junyi smiled and said, “What are you saying! I’ve told you I’m here to give this to you.”

“Let’s be frank with each other. If you don’t give me your condition clearly, I dare not accept it.” Shen Ninghua was unmoved.

“Haha, you are really a sensible person. But now you don’t have anything that I want. I will let you know later.” After that, Chu Junyi closed the box directly and threw it to Shen Ninghua.

Shen Ninghua swiftly caught the box. When she raised her head again, Chu Junyi was nowhere to be seen in the room.

After a long pause, she called. “Qing Que? Hong Ling?” She called twice but got no response. She lit a lamp, put the box away, and walked to the outer hall. Then she saw Qing Que and Bi Zhu in a deep slumber. She checked them and was relieved to find that they were just under the influence of sleeping drugs. She got the antidote for them, and very soon, they woke up.

“Miss, we deserve death for our negligence.” When Qing Que woke up, she immediately realized that she had been drugged. She quickly knelt down to plead guilty. Bi Zhu also knelt on the ground speechlessly with a pale face.

Shen Ninghua knew Chu Junyi was not a simple person, and she naturally would not blame them. “Get up. It’s not your fault.”

“Miss, please punish us.” Qing Que knelt on the ground motionless. In her mind, ensuring Shen Ninghua’s safety was her biggest mission. This time Shen Ninghua was not hurt, but if something happened, she couldn’t make it up even with her death.

Shen Ninghua knew her temperament. “I’ll let you do something later as a redemption. Don’t make any mistake again.”

“Yes, miss.” Qing Que and Bi Zhu then got up and walked into the room with Shen Ninghua.

Shen Ninghua took out the box and looked at the pearl in the box carefully. Her lips were slightly raised. “Bi Zhu, I remember that in my mother’s dowry list there was a pearl, right?”

“Yes, miss.” Bi Zhu saw the pearl. She was shocked for a moment before she replied.

“Well, since they took so much trouble to set me up, I should have them reciprocated.”

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