青春期撞上更年期第1部

Chu Liuchen separated from the others at the city gate, heading straight to Prince Chen’s Mansion.

Sitting on the horse, Chu Liuyue gazed thoughtfully after Chu Liuchen’s receding figure. Initially, he didn’t take Chu Liuchen as an opponent, but now he no longer dared to underestimate Chu Liuchen.

Second Princess from the Xu State was going to marry Chu Qing. Only then did he know the marriage had nothing to do with Chu Liuchen. None of the messages delivered to him was accurate. He had thought Princess Yutao, who had a special relationship with Chu Liuchen, would get married into his country. Before today, Chu Liuyue had planned to sound out his father’s intention with Princess Yutao’s marriage. At present, it seemed he didn’t need to do that anymore.

He was simmering with resentment. Chu Liuchen was not his father’s biological son. How could Chu Liuchen have the right to inherit the throne like him? How could his father pass the throne to his nephew?

His father must have done that under the pressure of circumstances! And there was Consort Lan in the imperial harem. As her nephew, it was perfectly justifiable for Chu Liuchen to accept the throne. Anyway, Chu Liuyue didn’t believe his father would be so selfless as to make such a decision.

“Your Highness, our master invites you in!” A servant of the Xu State came out and said to Chu Liuyue, who was still sitting on the horse, with a smile.

Chu Liuyue swiftly dismounted his horse and followed the servant inside.

People in the courtyard bustled around, busy sorting out their things. Only Princess Yuyan was in the living room, which greatly surprised Chu Liuyue.

“Greetings, Your Highness!” When Princess Yuyan saw Chu Liuyue walk in, she stood up and bowed, her watery eyes sparkling. As a princess from a small state, she should be respectful and courteous when meeting Chu Liuyue.

“Please don’t stand on ceremony!” When Princess Yuyan got out of the carriage, Chu Liuyue saw her face. So, he knew the woman before him was Princess Yuyan, who would marry Chu Qing.

The host and guest took their designated seats.

“If you feel anything improper living here, you can tell me. I’ll ask someone to make adjustments for you,” Chu Liuyue said with a light smile. Since he had accepted the task of welcoming guests from the Xu State, he was in charge of all affairs related to the Xu State in the capital.

“Thank you, Your Highness. I’m far away from my homeland. I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you in the future!” Princess Yuyan said softly. Slowly, she lowered her head, and the rims of her eyes turned light red. Even if she was a noble princess, so what? She had to get married and live in a foreign country. Chu Liuyue couldn’t help feeling pity for the outstanding beauty before him.

Worse still, her future husband, Chu Qing, was a good-for-nothing who could only remain a useless prince at best. Frankly, if Princess Yuyan was willing to marry him as a consort, he might as well accept her.

“You went far away from your homeland to marry into the Kingdom of Dongcang. We should give you a warm reception!” Chu Liuyue said mildly.

A servant girl served tea and respectfully retreated aside.

“Your Highness, could you…” Princess Yuyan flushed crimson up to her cheeks, appearing even more lovingly pathetic.

“Please go ahead, Princess Yuyan. I’ll do all I can to assist you!” Chu Liuyue promised.

“Commandery Prince Qing, in the Kingdom of Dongcang, does he…” Speaking of this, Princess Yuyan looked around hesitantly. Seemingly shy, she lowered her head and nervously pinched the handkerchief. “Does he remain in obscurity?”

“He is my father’s nephew and Prince Chen’s brother. How could he live in frustration? Where did you hear the rumors?” Chu Liuyue asked in surprise.

“Your Highness, please forgive my frankness, but… but Prince Chen and Commandery Prince Qing seem to be treated very differently. But they are brothers, aren’t they?” Princess Yuyan said with red eyes. As her tears finally fell, she looked fragile and frustrated. “My Eldest Sister was supposed to marry into your country, but… but… In the end, it was me…”

At this point, Princess Yuyan got emotional. Feeling pretty wronged, she wiped her tears with a handkerchief.

The Xu State didn’t choose Princess Yutao, who was First Princess. Instead, Princess Yuyan was sent to marry a foreign prince. Chu Liuyue was trying to find out why. After all, he heard Xu State King favored Princess Yuyan’s biological mother, and Princess Yuyan was younger. In principle, Princess Yutao should get married before her. But somehow, Princess Yuyan became the princess marrying into the Kingdom of Dongcang.

“If you have something to say, tell me. I also want to know the reason. Princess Yutao was supposed to marry, wasn’t she?” Chu Liuyue softened his voice and asked and looked at Princess Yuyan with warm eyes, showing her a little sympathy.

No one had shown her sympathy, even when she was in the Xu State. After such a scandal happened to her, even her father didn’t bother to see if she was okay and directly arranged for her to marry into the Kingdom of Dongcang. No matter how her mother cried and begged him, he didn’t change his mind.

Thinking of this, Princess Yuyan felt so wronged. She never intended to marry Chu Qing, whether in the past or at present. In her eyes, Chu Qing was useless. She was widely known as an exceedingly beautiful woman, but how could she be so unlucky? When Chu Liuyue treated her with a caring attitude and looked at her tenderly, she forgot to put on an act and felt sadness welling up.

“In the beginning, my father decided to let Eldest Sister marry first. However, my Eldest Sister secretly schemed against Commandery Prince Qing and me and forced me to marry him…” Princess Yuyan covered her face with a handkerchief, her tears falling like pearls and beans.

“Don’t cry. Commandery Prince Qing has a good character. He will be very nice to you!” Chu Liuyue took out a handkerchief from his arms, handed it to her, and comforted her.

The two palace maids standing behind Princess Yuyan remained motionless as if they had seen and heard nothing.

“A good character? “Doesn’t he have other merit points except that?” The more Princess Yuyan thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt. Frankly, Chu Qing was not a decent man. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have conspired with her. Of course, Princess Yuyan would never consider herself a woman of bad character. In her mind, Chu Qing wasn’t worthy of her. Marrying such a person would make the rest of her life utterly hopeless.

She reached out to take the handkerchief from Chu Liuyue’s hand. While looking up at him, she cried, “You know what, my request is very simple: I hope to marry someone who sincerely cares about me, but… but Commandery Prince Qing has another woman in his heart. I heard that she was recognized as his consort long ago!”

She cried so hard that her hand trembled a little. Her fingers happened to curl around Chu Liuyue’s, and their fingers rubbed against each other. Subconsciously, Chu Liuyue reached over and touched her hand. Princess Yuyan, deeply embarrassed, blushed scarlet and quickly withdrew her hand. Then, she stood up and darted inside, too shy to say anything more.

After bowing to Chu Liuyue, the two palace maids chased after her.

Chu Liuyue smiled pleasantly and rose to his feet, moving his fingers and savoring the intimate moment with obvious relish. Her tender hand impressed him. Sure enough, unlike the women of his country, those from the Xu State were more daring. If Princess Yuyan was willing to be his consort, he could benefit greatly.

Of course, the premise was that Princess Yuyan could accept the position as his consort. Otherwise, he would have to make Princess Yuyan his legal life. But Chu Liuyue was reluctant to give up the support from Prime Minister Zhang, so his legal wife could only be Prime Minister Zhang’s daughter.

It was a real blessing to have both of them. Then, he could be backed up by Prime Minister Zhang and the Xu State. It seemed like a good idea.

Before seeing Princess Yuyan, he didn’t have such an idea. Back then, he concentrated on plotting against Chu Liuchen. As long as any princess from the Xu State became his legal wife, Chu Liuchen would lose the right to inherit the throne. It had never occurred to him that Princess Yuyan was so charming and sweet. Chu Liuyue was attracted to her and wanted to let her marry into Prince Yue’s Mansion as his consort!

At most, he wouldn’t allow her to give birth to any children. Even if she did, he wouldn’t pass the throne to their son. The throne wouldn’t be passed on to any alien races. In this way, his imperial father and officials wouldn’t object to him.

In the twinkling of an eye, Chu Liuyue had come up with a new idea: he would like to take Princess Yuyan as his consort if she agreed. Princess Yuyan was very dissatisfied with Chu Qing. Most importantly, Chu Liuyue was confident that being his consort would be even better than being Chu Qing’s legal wife.

With this in mind, he suddenly became clear-minded and turned to leave, his face radiating with smiles. As for how to implement this idea, he had to discuss it with his aides. Of course, he would also consult Wen Xichi, just to be sure.

Just as Chu Liuyue got out of his mansion, he sent someone to invite Wen Xichi for a discussion in the Prince Yue’s Mansion. They had always been on good terms, so Chu Liuyue was not afraid of others gossiping about them.

When Chu Liuyue returned to the Prince Yue’s Mansion, the guard he dispatched to the Mansion of the Prime Minister returned. It turned out that Third Young Master Wen was not in the mansion but in the Huaguang Temple. Only then did Chu Liuyue remember that it was the first few days of the month. During this period, Wen Xichi would usually visit the Huaguang Temple. Thus, he didn’t think much about it. Back to his mansion, Chu Liuyue went to discuss the plan’s feasibility with his advisors…

Wen Xichi was not in the mansion because he had gone to the Huaguang Temple. At this time, he was sitting in the Zen room in the main temple of Huaguang Temple and enjoying tea. There, two people were engaged in a chess game between them. A chess piece landed on the chessboard, but after a long time, no other chess pieces joined — the chessboard remained unchanged.

“Master, I heard you delve into my future when I was little. You predicted that I would die young. I would become incurably sick, and no one could reverse this hopeless situation. Though I was profoundly learned and talented, I had no chance to carry out my ideals. Even worse, I couldn’t even protect the people I loved. In the end, I would be driven to my tragic doom!”

Wen Xichi put down the teacup in his hand, smiled slightly, and asked.

His fate revealed by the master sounded exceedingly horrible. Yet, Wen Xichi described it with a delicate touch, as if he were talking about someone else’s life. He looked up, his beautiful eyes without any emotion.

“Master, is it possible that you misjudged it?” At last, Wen Xichi asked lightly.

“Third Young Master Wen, in most cases, a person’s fate won’t change, but not absolutely. Sometimes, a subtle change will affect a person’s chess game and even the overall situation.”

The Huaguang Temple’s abbot raised his eyes and flashed him a kindly and amiable smile.

As the abbot put down a chess piece in his hand, the chess game coming to a deadlock immediately changed. He reached out, slightly rolled up his sleeves, and said, “Please have a look!”

Wen Xichi looked at the arrangement of chess pieces on the chessboard. “Master, what kind of chess piece do you think will change the whole situation? Is it possible? If so, can we relive the previous life and this life?”

He also picked up a chess piece and put it down, turning the game of chess into a killing game. Immediately, his arrangement of chess pieces outshone his rival’s.

“Each life, in the previous or at present, has its own fate. Likewise, you’re a different person in each life. Why are you so obsessed with the connections between the two lives?” The Huaguang Temple’s abbot didn’t put down his chess piece. Instead, he gazed at Wen Xichi with otherworldly eyes. Putting his palms together devoutly, he said, “You are so smart. Don’t you think you’ve seen it clearly?”

...