Chapter 155 The Dispute between Yang Chen and Lu
August 8th, tomorrow is the day Yang Chen is leaving the capital.

He is going to the capital today to pick up Zhu Chong and bring him to his residence so that he can take him on the road tomorrow.

When entering the palace, he held the customized token given to him by Lao Zhu and raised his hand, and the guards let him in.

Arriving at the imperial palace, Yang Chen looked at the purple wood carved plaque in his hand.

“This thing that’s half the size of a palm can actually be so useful. It’s worthy of being made by the royal family. The quality control is excellent.”

Playing with the token in his hand, Yang Chen said in amazement.

Walking in the spacious palace, he suddenly felt a little reluctant to leave. He knew that leaving the palace would mean that he would have little time to come back in the future.

However, this trace of reluctance soon disappeared, and in the blink of an eye a smile appeared on his face, without a trace of unhappiness.

“From now on, the sky is high and the birds fly freely. Even if Lao Zhu wants to monitor my every move, it will take some time. No more troubles will bother me!”

He was so excited that he quickly entered the Eastern Palace. When Zhu Chong was detained in the Eastern Palace, he had been released. But later, Old Zhu realized that Zhu Chong seemed reluctant to work under Yang Chen. In order to make his son restrain his arrogant and contemptuous nature, he ordered his men to detain Zhu Chong.

It wasn’t until today that Yang Chen appeared that he was saved.

“Madam, may I ask where is the place where Qin Wang Zhu Chong is imprisoned to reflect on his mistakes?”

The palace maid who was questioned by Yang Chen subconsciously froze in place. She was obviously a little surprised. She didn’t expect Yang Chen to call her.

Nowadays, Yang Chen’s reputation in the Eastern Palace can be said to be quite widespread. All the eunuchs and palace maids know that there is a young man who is the prince’s retainer. This retainer is even implicated in the house arrest of the Eastern Palace Crown Princess.

For this reason, the eunuchs and palace maids all made a tacit decision, which was to speak less when they met Yang Chen.

In order to avoid getting into unnecessary trouble, the palace maid was naturally very nervous now that she was called.

Yang Chen noticed that they seemed to be a little afraid of him, and suddenly a playful mood arose. He spoke again with a solemn tone that did not allow for any argument.

“come over!”

“Please forgive me, sir! I was just distracted just now!”

With that sound, the palace maid’s psychological defenses were completely broken. She quickly turned around, closed her eyes and knelt down. Before her knees touched the ground, Yang Chen anticipated and dragged her up.

During the process, the palace maids resisted repeatedly.

“Ahem. That’s enough. If you do it again, be careful or I’ll tell the Crown Prince about your bad deeds and punish you!”

In order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, Yang Chen’s palm did not stay on the other person’s arm for more than three breaths. After he stood up, he quickly withdrew his hands, put his hands behind his back, frowned and scolded.

Faced with the warning, the maid faced him fearfully, with tears in her eyes. Yang Chen didn’t waste any words and continued to ask:
“Alright, tell me where your prince’s brother Zhu Chong is imprisoned. I want to find him. It’s an important matter and there is no room for delay.”

“To answer your Excellency’s words, the King of Qin is being held captive by the Crown Prince in a wing room in the backyard. If you go there, you will see someone guarding the door. That is the room.”

The palace maid, who had finally mustered up the courage to answer the question, found that she received no response for a long time. She timidly opened her eyes and found that there was no one in front of her.

I looked around and saw that the other party was already walking towards the backyard.

According to what the palace maid said, Yang Chen found the official road leading to the backyard with ease and walked leisurely.

“Do I look scary?”

On the way he asked himself questions and answered them, thinking that even if he didn’t look like Pan An, he was at least amiable, so why did all these palace maids look at him as if he were the plague god?

“The palace maid just now said that the place where the door is guarded is where Zhu Chong is imprisoned. It should be here, right?”

Recalling the key words the palace maid said, he quickly found such a villa. There were four people standing outside the door, two young eunuchs and two young palace maids.

I don’t know why, but the palace maid looked towards the courtyard with extreme fear, as if there was some extraordinary person in the house. Yang Chen hurried over with the thinking of a materialist.

Once he finds Zhu Chong, he can leave here and go to Ningming County. No one will care what he does in the future.

There were less than a few dozen meters left when a chaotic noise came from inside the house.

“Get out! Get out of here! I want to see the Crown Prince! I want to see my son! My son! Where are you? I am the Crown Princess, and you dare to stop me from going to the Crown Prince! I will punish you!”

The sound was sharp and piercing, and Yang Chen felt something was wrong.

“Your Majesty! Please forgive us. This is the order of the Crown Prince, and we have no choice but to obey.”

“Yes, Madam, the Crown Prince has personally ordered that you must rest here for a year before you can leave. Otherwise, if you take a few steps outside the door, I will have to sacrifice several lives to make amends.”

“Please obey the orders of the Crown Prince and return to the study to rest.”

“Huh? Why is it a woman’s voice?”

Confused, he stood outside the door and looked into the house.

Coincidentally, the woman standing inside also looked at him.

However, the woman was not in a very good condition. Not to mention that she was blocked by two eunuchs, just from her face, it seemed that she was not having a good time.

There was absolutely no other woman except Zhu Biao’s wife who could wear such gorgeous clothes and enjoy special treatment in the Eastern Palace, and there were only two women who gave birth to sons for Zhu Biao in his life.

The former passed away early, and this one is probably Mr. Lu.

It must be said that even though she had suffered some hardships, Lu’s appearance still made Yang Chen’s eyes light up.

Objectively speaking, Lu had a slender figure, a beauty that could make fish sink to the bottom of the water and geese fall to the ground, and a beauty that could make the moon hide and the flowers blush. She was definitely a woman worthy of a virtuous and talented man like Zhu Biao.

What a pity, the only thing about his eyes was that I don’t know if they were in bad condition or what, but they were full of unwillingness, and the corners of his eyes were sharp like a fox.

Normally, her eyes would be full of temptation, but now they seem to be filled with gloom.

“This woman is ambitious and smart.”

This was Yang Chen’s first impression of the Lu family.

The eyes of both parties met in the air. Yang Chen just took a look and prepared to leave. This was Zhu Biao’s family affair, and he was too lazy to get involved. It was difficult for an honest official to judge family affairs, and it was even more difficult for him who could not guarantee that he was an honest official.

However, when he wanted to leave, Lu would not let him go.

Not long after I turned my back, I heard Lu’s hysterical shouting from behind.

“Stop! You can’t leave! Stop right there! It’s you! It’s you! It’s you who made my son suffer so much neglect! It’s you who made me imprisoned here! How can you leave with the dignity you deserve!”

Yang Chen remained unmoved and planned to continue looking for Zhu Chong.

There was no movement behind me, but just after I took two steps, I heard the surprised voices of the eunuchs and palace maids behind me.

When he turned around to see what was going on, Lu broke through the layers of obstruction from the eunuchs and palace maids, appeared behind Yang Chen in a flash, and grabbed his long clothes.

He stared at Yang Chen with a look of resentment:
“Explain it to me! Why has Crown Prince Zhu Xiongying ignored me and ridiculed Yun Wen since he followed you? What did you say to the Crown Prince?”

Recalling that a month ago, Zhu Xiongying was summoned to the harem by Empress Ma without any warning. He and Zhu Yunhuan were taken care of by the Empress, which was beyond her expectations.

Originally, he planned to take advantage of the fact that he was still the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace to recruit all the palace maids and eunuchs to isolate Zhu Xiongying and Zhu Yunhuan. After all, she was the Crown Princess personally appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang. Therefore, almost everyone in the Eastern Palace became her subordinates and spies. Whether Zhu Xiongying lived a good life or not was entirely up to her.

Zhu Biao, who was busy with official duties, had no intention of being distracted to take care of his son personally. In his opinion, the new Crown Princess was very good and took good care of his two sons.

However, he had no idea that this was a compromise that Zhu Xiongying had to make with Lu in order to survive.

Zhu Biao asked him if he felt lonely, and he could only answer no, because if he dared to say no, Zhu Yunhuan would starve.

Zhu Xiongying still vaguely remembers what his biological mother Chang told him before she passed away.

His father is the crown prince and is often busy with official duties. As his father’s first son, he must be frugal and encourage people around him. He must learn to take care of himself and his younger brother and not let his father worry.

The sensible Zhu Xiongying kept these words in mind.

Later, he discovered that there was a “mother” in the palace where he had lived since he was a child. According to etiquette, he had to call her mother.

This mother gave birth to a younger brother for him, a brother who knew how to snatch his father’s care and love. Faced with such a situation, Zhu Xiongying was at a loss and panicked for a moment.

No matter how smart the child is, he can’t beat a scheming woman.

In this way, Zhu Biao did not ask about the affairs of the harem. He just wanted to come back and see that Zhu Xiongying and Zhu Yunhuan were still there.

He doesn’t care about the rest.

To some extent, Zhu Biao is actually very similar to his father Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang was willing to make every effort and pay every price for his sister and power.

The fact that he hasn’t taken any action against Yang Chen until now is a very direct example.

It was not any knowledge about the future that scared Zhu Yuanzhang. The only thing this founding emperor feared was losing Empress Ma.

Empress Ma was the ever-burning light in his dark life, the lantern that maintained Zhu Yuanzhang’s only humanity.

This is why he went berserk upon learning that Empress Ma had passed away several years earlier than himself, and why he calmed down the moment he saw that Yang Chen was not afraid of death and wanted to commit suicide.

If Yang Chen dies, his sister will also die!
Zhu Yuanzhang did not allow anyone or anything to affect his relationship with Empress Ma.

Similarly, Zhu Biao was also in the same way when it came to official duties. As Zhu Yuanzhang’s first son, Zhu Biao also knew how much expectation his father placed on him.

As the designated successor before the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Biao has been working towards becoming the successor his father expected him to be.

The process was very arduous and tiring. I don’t know if it was because he was tired for too long or what, but in Zhu Biao’s opinion, it was wrong for him to take time off.

For this, he had to work very hard, and he even ended his wife’s funeral early, in the hope that he would not be affected by things other than official duties.

Yang Chen had also discovered a long time ago that the Zhu family was stubborn and would not turn back until they hit a wall.

This may be the reason why the emperors of the Zhu family always did strange things.

Facing Lu’s questioning, Yang Chen looked calm, as if he was not affected at all. He raised his hand and wanted to knock away the other person’s hand that was grabbing his collar.

Once, twice, Lu’s slender five fingers were still tightly clenched, and she would never let go.

The palace maids and eunuchs around were so anxious that they wanted to take Lu away by force, but they did not dare to do it. Who knew whether Lu would be able to regain her status as the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace in the future.

If they take action now, their lives will be miserable when the Lu family regains their status in the future.

“My queen, please listen to me for once and go back, okay? I will go and ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to speak to you and ask him to stop nagging this gentleman.”

“Yes, my lady, you are so magnanimous, please let us go and don’t embarrass us, otherwise the prince will punish us.”

The eunuch and the palace maid talked while crying.

He still did not give up trying to persuade Lu, but Lu was like a beast that had bitten its prey and was unwilling to give up.

Seeing that the other party wasted his time, Yang Chen sighed and said helplessly:

“Let her go.”

As soon as he opened his mouth, everyone around him was stunned. Of course they knew Yang Chen’s identity, but the current situation was special and they didn’t know what to do for a moment.

Helplessly, he had to take out the token given to him by Lao Zhu from his arms. The moment they saw the token, the eunuchs and palace maids retreated and dispersed, not daring to look at it directly.

After taking back the token, Yang Chen lowered his eyes and looked at Lu indifferently:
“I will call you Madam for now. May I ask why you are holding on to me like this? If the prince misunderstands you, you will be in big trouble.”

When Zhu Biao was mentioned, Lu was startled and let go, but then she quickly reacted and looked at Yang Chen with complicated emotions and asked:

“Tell me! What did you say to the prince? Ever since you appeared, the prince has been treating me badly. Yun Wen has also fallen out of favor with him. The only variable in the entire East Palace is you. Only you can speak to the prince. Did my Lu family offend you in some way? Why would you want to kill me!”

On the first day Yang Chen appeared, she found out his identity from his servants. It was very special and his origin was unknown. Then she learned that she had no authority to look after Zhu Xiongying and Zhu Yunwen. Then she just asked a few questions why Zhu Xiongying could accept lessons from other teachers, but her own son Zhu Yunwen could not?
“Your Lu family has not offended me.” Yang Chen responded indifferently. This result made the Lu family even more puzzled.

I quickly asked:
“Why did the prince treat me like this?”

As she spoke, her hands loosened. Yang Chen fiddled with his clothes, waved his sleeves, and put his hands naturally behind his back.

He glared at the other person coldly and said in a slightly cold tone:

“Your Lu family has never offended me. As for why the prince treated you like this, don’t you have any idea?
On the day I first came to the Eastern Palace, Zhu Xiongying, as a child, had to hold his younger brother and ask me, a stranger, for help to find his father, just to ask for a drink of milk?
As the head of the East Palace, there are no concubines competing with you for favor, but you bring everyone together to isolate a child? Should I say you have a heart of a snake or a heart of a woman! “

Faced with such sharp and heart-piercing words, Mrs. Lu looked at Yang Chen with wide eyes in disbelief. The eunuchs and palace maids around them also sensed that something was wrong and wisely stayed away from the two.

There was no one else within a radius of dozens of meters except Yang Chen and her, so Lu kept backing away with no one to support her.

He finally recovered and stopped walking. Yang Chen took a step forward and said a word.

“Ms. Lu, oh Mrs. Lu, don’t you think that everyone in the world is a fool? Ah Biao is busy with official business and has no time to take care of Zhu Xiongying and Zhu Yunhuan. He entrusted them to you out of trust. I didn’t expect that as the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace, you not only failed to fulfill your duties, but also used some shameful means.

Do you have the nerve to play tricks on a child?”

Hearing this, Mrs. Lu suddenly raised her head and looked at him with a sinister gaze. Her original dignity and elegance were gone, and what was left was endless resentment.

“You know everything, so you told the prince, and that’s why he treated me like this, right?”

Yang Chen ignored the opponent’s counterattack and changed the subject:

“I didn’t tell Ah Biao about these things. Your current situation is entirely your own fault. Good children never worry about being checked. Only bad children are so resistant to being checked. Even a three-year-old child knows this. How could you, a woman, not know it?

Now you still have the nerve to cry out for injustice here? Ah Biao didn’t destroy you, I really don’t understand what he was thinking. “

After saying that, Yang Chen turned around and walked away in big strides. Lu, who was left standing there, could only bite her lip and look forward unwillingly.

When Zhu Biao arranged her here, she thought it was just because she made the other party unhappy, and that this happened because Zhu Biao was busy with official duties.

Now it seems that her tricks have long been known to everyone, and she has only herself to blame for ending up like this.

(End of this chapter)