Chapter 108 - Miserable Qiao Ruoshui

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Qiao Jinniang thought about it and sighed. “Why are you the Crown Prince?”

She knew from a young age that she was just a small shopkeeper of a restaurant.

‘When she was studying in school, some girls from dignitary families would make fun of her for being just a restaurant shopkeeper in the future.

But Qiao Jinniang never felt that there was anything wrong with being a restaurant shopkeeper. She could eat a lot of delicious food and meet a lot of interesting people.

Now, for Lu Chen’s sake, she couldn’t even be a restaurant shopkeeper?

Lu Chen noticed her sadness and immediately said,

“It’s okay if you want to open a restaurant. I’ll have my men help you.”

Qiao Jinniang raised her eyes and asked Lu Chen, “By the way, what about Xi’er? Why didn’t you bring him out? I haven’t seen him for a long time.”

Lu Chen said, “If you want to see him, you can come and see him in the East Palace.”

Jinniang said, “Under what name shall I enter the East Palace now? What if I can’t come out once I enter it?

“Can I buy a house in Chang’an? It just so happens that I don’t want to live in the Duke Mansion anymore, and you can let Xi’er come to live in my house.”

“Did someone in the Duke Mansion bully you?” Lu Chen hurriedly asked, “How dare they?”

Qiao Jinniang shook her head and said, “I went back to the Duke Mansion in order to live with my biological parents, but they are different from my parents anyway.”

Lu Chen knew that the “parents” that Qiao Jinniang spoke of were her adoptive parents in Lin’an.

Although he didn’t have much contact with them, he knew how much they loved Jinniang.

Everyone in Chang’an said that the Duke and the Duchess doted on Jinniang, but they were not as good to her as her adoptive parents were.

Qiao Jinniang said gloomily, “The Duke kept saying that he feels guilty about me, and everyone says that he was very good to me, but I really can’t feel it.

“If he is really good to me, how could he have a child with a woman who looked like that concubine so soon?”

“I don’t think I can bear to call their child brother or sister and hear that child call me sister. That’s too disgusting.

“It’s best if my mother is willing to divorce with him, but if she isn’t, I don’t want to stay in the Duke Mansion either.”

Lu Chen tried to persuade her. “Duke Anyuan can be counted as a good man. He only has a wife and a concubine now.

“Whenever he returns to the Duke Mansion, the Duchess cold-shoulders him, so there is nothing wrong with him finding a woman outside.

“It’s not worth it for you to leave the Duke Mansion for this.”

Qiao Jinniang glared at Lu Chen. “There is nothing wrong? Not worth it? So you think what the Duke did is right?”

Lu Chen said, No, but if you leave the Duke Mansion because of this, everyone will say you’re stupid.

“Jinniang, you should know that this is Chang’an, not Lin‘an.

“Besides, your father is Duke Anyuan, who is in charge of the military of the country. If he shows no interest in women, the first one who can’t sleep will be my father.”

Qiao Jinniang murmured in a low voice, “Yes, this is Chang’an. It’s not the Duke who made a mistake, but me. I just don’t fit in here.

“Now that you think the Duke has done nothing wrong, will you think that it’s a matter of course to take a concubine since you are the Crown Prince?

“Besides, everyone will be on the men’s side.”

Lu Chen clenched Qiao Jinniang’s hand and said, “I won’t. I’m not Duke Anyuan.”

Qiao Jinniang said, “If my mother can’t be the exception, why can I be the exception?”

Lu Chen took Qiao Jinniang into a room and said, “What are you talking about? I didn’t even have a concubine and you almost wanted to kill me. Do I still dare to take a concubine?”

“Tm not Duke Anyuan, and you’re not your mother. After my father met my mother, he has been devoted to her.”

Qiao Jinniang said, “If His Majesty is really wholehearted with the Queen, how are there Imperial Concubine Xian and the other imperial concubines?

“You know how much the Queen yearns for life outside the imperial palace. She is willing to compromise because she loves His Majesty, but I…”

She liked Lu Chen, and in Lin’an, everyone envied her for having a husband who was as handsome as a banished immortal.

‘When they went out, everyone would praise Lu Chen for being so handsome.

But she didn’t think she loved him like the poem described “be your love to me as strong as the rocks and be my love to you as tough as the creeping vine’.

She was not a creeping vine, and Lu Chen was not a rock.

Lu Chen abruptly lowered his head and blocked her mouth with his lips. He didn’t want to hear those words he didn’t want to hear from her mouth.

‘The door was suddenly pushed open.

Princess Fulu looked at the two of them. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry to disturb you!”

Qiao Jinniang blushed red and glared at Lu Chen, saying to Fulu, “Princess, wait a minute. I haven’t seen you for a long time.”

Fulu chuckled and said, “Please continue. Don’t mind me.”

Qiao Jinniang awkwardly changed the subject. “Princess, I happen to have something to ask you.

“Lwant to open another restaurant in Chang’an, but I don’t know where to open it. I don’t want it to be too close or too far away from Tasty Pavilion.

“Do you have any suggestions?”

If it was too far away from Tasty Pavilion, it would be inconvenient for her to go to the restaurants to check the account, and she wouldn’t be able to arrive in time in case of any emergency.

Fulu said, “It’s easy. Junior Duke Rong’s casino is closed.

“His casino is at an intersection with a lot of traffic, there is a market nearby, and there are many merchants from outside Chang’an, so it’s a suitable place to run a restaurant.”

Qiao Jinniang said, “Thank you, Princess. I’ll talk to the Junior Duke about the transfer of the shop right away.”

Lu Chen took Qiao Jinniang’s hand. “Why talk to him? That shop belongs to me.”

Qiao Jinniang laughed. “It turns out that the shop is mine. I’ll have the carpenters refurnish it now. It’s best to open the restaurant by the end of September.”

Princess Fulu wondered. “Isn’t that shop owned by my imperial cousin? How did it become yours?”

“Even he is mine.” Qiao Jinniang said, “Of course his shop is mine too!”

Fulu snorted. “I remember someone still called him a jerk not long ago.

“But now you’re playing lovey-dovey with him! Women are really unpredictable.”

Qiao Jinniang was not annoyed at all. “Princess, you’ve lost a lot of weight. What would you like to eat? I’ll make something for you.”

Fulu said angrily, “The shopkeeper of the Guest Welcoming Building is simply a b*stard! I can’t fall asleep, and I don’t have any appetite these days.

“Why hasn’t he been convicted yet? He deserves to be executed!”

Lu Chen said, “The Ministry of Public Security will tend to this matter. Jinniang, just let the cook cook for her. You don’t have to cook.”

Qiao Jinniang said, “I’d like to thank the Princess for kicking Zheng Bo.

“If it weren’t for that kick, I wouldn’t have known my sister had died long ago. ”

Fulu said, “I didn’t know about your sister until today. I can’t imagine there is such an evil person in this world!

“Qiao Ruoshui always puts on a high air, acting more like a princess than me.

“It’s a pity that she is locked in Prince Mediocre Mansion, so I can’t see how miserable she is now.

“But I hate Prince Mediocre. Otherwise I would have gone to Prince Mediocre Mansion to visit her!”

Qiao Jinniang smiled, “Prince Mediocre cherishes his reputation, so he may not abandon Qiao Ruoshui now.

“But now Qiao Ruoshui is of no value to him. I’m afraid her life in Prince Mediocre Mansion won’t be easy.”

As soon as Qiao Jinniang finished speaking, Yuyan hurried over and said, “Miss! Concubine Qiao, no, Concubine Zheng murdered Concubine Jian’s unborn child and was given a glass of poisonous wine by His Highness Prince Mediocre!”