Chapter 243 - Ninghua, Don't Cry

Hearing this, Shen Dong’s expression suddenly became much gloomier. Immediately after an accident happened in his mansion, the Emperor was informed and even sent the capital guards over. What did this mean?

This meant that the Emperor had been paying attention to this place and even knew everything that occurred here. If that was the case, then what chance did he have to return to the court?

Looking at Shen Dong’s devastated face, Shen Ninghua slightly lowered her eyes to conceal the mockery. Perhaps even now, Shen Dong was still dreaming of restoring his position as the Prime Minister. Unfortunately, he would never have the chance to resume his past glory.

Chu Junyi looked at the Governor of Capital Guards with a smile on his face and raised his eyebrows slightly. “Lord Sun, you came at the right time.”

Sun Cheng’s face was full of smiles. However, he secretly complained in his heart. If possible, he would rather investigate the princes than interfere in Shen Ninghua’s affairs. After all, during the investigation of princes, he had the support of His Majesty. As long as he didn’t go too far, he wouldn’t run into serious troubles. But if he went against Princess Zhaohua, as long as she was willing, with a slight movement of her finger, she could make his life worse than death. He had witnessed her ability before.

“Lord Chu, I am just obeying the order. The higher-up is urging me and I have to run the errands. Besides, this matter is of great importance to the higher-up. Therefore, I have no choice but to bring them back as soon as possible today. Please forgive me if I offended Her Highness and you.”

As he spoke, he carefully observed Shen Ninghua and Chu Junyi’s expressions. Finding that they didn’t look to be angry, he heaved a sigh of relief.

Seeing Sun Cheng’s appearance, Shen Ninghua smiled and said, “We won’t make things difficult for Lord Sun. These people are all here. I think you should know how to report to His Majesty.”

“Yes, I will definitely report the facts faithfully without any addition or omission.”

Shen Ninghua nodded. “That would be the best.”

Father Emperor was extremely busy. How could he care about such a trivial matter? There must be the Empress behind it. Moreover, Sun Cheng’s words were worth thinking about. After all, he said he was sent here by the higher-up, not the Emperor. There were many people who could be called “higher-up” by him, and the most suspicious one was the Empress!

Hearing Shen Ninghua’s agreement, Sun Cheng hurriedly instructed the surrounding guards, “Quickly, take these people away.” He should hurry up and get things done before this Princess Zhaohua got angry. Who knew if she would be unhappy later? By then, the sweet talks would not work.

Seeing Sun Cheng and his guards escorting the servants away, Shen Dong stood there in a daze, not knowing how to react. He felt that the faith that had kept him alive collapsed all of a sudden despite his great efforts.

To him, such a blow was almost unbearable. He felt a burst of blood surging in his chest and he couldn’t breathe. His eyes darkened as he fell backwards.

The servants were all taken away. Only a few people close to the Shen Family were left. Now that these people saw Shen Dong fainted on the ground, they did not know how to react. For a moment, the scene was exceptionally cold.

Shen Ninghua turned to Madam Su and said, “Auntie, Patriarch Shen fainted from grief. Please find two honest and reliable persons to take care of him. I’m not feeling well, so I’ll leave first.”

“Alright, I understand. Your Highness, hurry up and go back to rest.”

Madam Su agreed, but she secretly pondered what Shen Ninghua meant. Shen Ninghua said that Shen Dong fainted from grief, so no other bad rumors should spread out. With the Emperor’s intervention, no one dared to spread the rumors around. Finding two honest and reliable persons to take care of Shen Dong meant that they shouldn’t talk nonsense and keep an eye on him. It would be best for him to be obedient and stop causing trouble.

Qing Que and Hong Ling helped Shen Ninghua out of the Shen Mansion.

When Shen Ninghua stepped onto the carriage, she felt dizzy and almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, Chu Junyi had been worried about her and carefully watching over her. Seeing that she was about to fall, he hurriedly hugged her and directly carried her onto the carriage.

After sitting in the carriage, Chu Junyi still hugged Shen Ninghua and did not let go of her. He wiped the sweat off her forehead with a handkerchief and said, “Ninghua, how do you feel? Should I invite Uncle Chen to see you again?”

Shen Ninghua leaned against him and closed her eyes. “No need. There’s no big problem. After we are back, let Bai Ruo make some abortion prevention medicine for me. I’ll be fine.”

Chu Junyi tightened his hug, and the coldness in his eyes was intense. Shen Dong didn’t deserve to be a father! He would slowly settle this debt with him!

By the time the carriage arrived at the princess mansion, Shen Ninghua was already asleep. Chu Junyi did not wake her up. He put the cloak on her and carefully carried her out of the carriage to Huajun Pavilion.

Inside the Palace, Meixue knelt on the ground with a pale face. “Your Majesty, I didn’t do my job well and caused such troubles that you had to personally take care of this matter. Please punish me.”

Zhao Huiying sat on the top seat and stroked the slender and sharp nail armor on her fingers. The light in her eyes was exceptionally cold.

After a while, she slightly raised her head and said, “Meixue, I particularly reminded you that Shen Ninghua was different from those brainless imperial concubines. She is exceptionally intelligent and sharp, and if there is a slight misarrangement, it will make her suspicious and counterattack.”

Meixue prostrated with her forehead on the ground. “Yes, my mistake deserves the death penalty. Please punish me for making you annoyed.”

Zhao Huiying sighed. “Punish you? What’s the use of punishing you now? It’s more important for me to think about how to deal with the aftermath.”

Upon receiving a report from the Eagle Division that the plan did not succeed and that Shen Ninghua was safe and sound and interrogating the servants, she knew that something awful was going to happen. She quickly arranged for the news of Shen Ninghua being framed to be secretly passed to the Emperor’s agent who was keeping an eye on the Shen Mansion. She also vaguely reminded him that Shen Ninghua was pregnant and that if she saw blood, it would be extremely unlucky. That was why the Emperor ordered the capital guards to escort the servants away.

If Shen Ninghua was allowed to continue the interrogation, it was hard to tell what would happened.

Meixue gritted her teeth and said, “Your Majesty, I indeed underestimated Princess Zhaohua. Under the current situation, it is better for us to wait and see. Please be patient for the time being and rest assured. I will definitely kill Shen Ninghua to vent anger for you.”

Zhao Huiying raised her eyes. A bright light flashed in her eyes, and a smile appeared on her lips but was quickly gone. “Meixue, get up quickly. I’m not really blaming you. I was just too angry. Shen Ninghua is just an insignificant foster daughter, but she has a status higher than many people. Even I dare not offend her. I’m really not willing.”

Meixue’s expression became even more resolute. “Don’t worry, Your Majesty. Princess Zhaohua will be pregnant for a long time. Let her feel at ease for a while now. When the time comes, I will definitely trample her on the ground.”

Only then did Zhao Huiying start to laugh. “Alright, Meixue, you have always been capable. Back then, Qingxue was ranked higher than you. Unfortunately, she betrayed me and I had to activate the poison in her body to kill her. Don’t worry, as long as you stay loyal to me and bring down Shen Ninghua, I will remove the poison from your body and give you freedom.”

Meixue’s face turned pale. “I do not dare. I’m willing to serve Your Majesty for the rest of my life.”

“You don’t have to be afraid. I’m telling the truth. I also know that you have someone you like. Once you complete this mission, I will truly set you free.”

The hope in Meixue’s eyes was ignited bit by bit like a flame. She kowtowed and her forehead heavily touched the ground. “Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Zhao Huiying observed her expression. However, she felt extremely regretful in her heart. Two years ago, the person who ranked first in Biyun Pavilion was Qingxue. That girl’s martial arts skills were excellent and her personality was cold. She always meticulously completed her missions. If it weren’t for her disloyalty, she really couldn’t bear to kill her. The people she had now were not bad, but no one was as good as Qingxue.

When Shen Ninghua woke up again, it was already dark. She got up slightly and felt a burst of nausea in her chest. She couldn’t help but retch.

Chu Junyi hurriedly took the spittoon and stroked Shen Ninghua’s back to help her breathe. His eyes were filled with care.

After suppressing the nausea, Shen Ninghua leaned on Chu Junyi’s knees, and her eyes were filled with tears due to the nausea. Her dark eyes were like the sky that had been washed by clean water and looked exceptionally clear.

Bai Ruo brought some fresh oranges over. “Miss, have some oranges to relieve the nausea.”

Chu Junyi held a piece of peeled orange and saw that Shen Ninghua didn’t have any other reaction after she ate it. Then he felt relaxed and said, “Ninghua, eat something first, and then drink the medicine.”

Shen Ninghua leaned against Chu Junyi and felt weak. She didn’t know whether it was because she felt uncomfortable. She felt waves of grievances in her chest that made her suffocated but was unable to vent them.

After Chu Junyi finished speaking, he received no response from her. He hurriedly helped her up carefully and asked, “Ninghua, what’s wrong with you?”

Hearing Chu Junyi’s gentle voice, Shen Ninghua felt even more aggrieved. Tears gradually gathered in her eyes. She clearly did not want to cry, but she could not hold the tears. She avoided the hand Chu Junyi reached out and buried her head in his embrace to prevent him from seeing her face.

Chu Junyi was so sorry for her that he forcefully lifted her head and saw the tears lingering on her cheeks.

“Ninghua, what’s wrong with you? Do you feel uncomfortable?”

Realizing he had found her tears, Shen Ninghua didn’t suppress her emotions anymore and she started shedding tears.

Big drops of tears rolled down her white jade-like cheeks like pearls and shattered on the back of her snow-like hands, creating waves of rainbow-colored ripples.

“Ninghua, what’s wrong with you? Why are you crying?” Chu Junyi was stunned by her tears. He had never seen Shen Ninghua crying like this before. She had always been very strong, and she could even be said to be resourceful and unyielding.

Now, seeing her aggrieved appearance and efforts to hold back her tears, Chu Junyi suddenly realized that she was like a scallop, which used a strong shell to protect its inner softness and tempered all the tribulations into pearls. People were attracted by the sparkling light of the pearls, but only the scallop knew the pain.

Shen Ninghua hugged Chu Junyi and buried herself in his arms. She couldn’t help but cry loudly.

“Ninghua…honey, don’t cry…” Chu Junyi hugged her in his arms and felt a dull pain in his heart. She must feel extremely bitter in her heart. Otherwise, she wouldn’t behave like this.