Chapter 1034 - A Beauty Under Scrutiny
Chapter 1034 A Beauty Under Scrutiny
The courtyard door was opened, and Princess Yutao entered.
It was a very simple courtyard with only one ordinary tree inside. It was not big but somewhat leafy. Princess Yutao walked slowly through the open door of the main room and saw Chu Liuchen there. Uncontrollably, she took a deep breath.
Compared with his portrait, Prince Chen of the Kingdom of Dongcang seemed to be more graceful and handsome. Princess Yutao gazed at his perfect facial features in spite of herself. His light lips showed that he was in poor health, but the special light color made him appear even more attractive, like those men in books as beautiful as celestial beings.
He looked up, his long eyelashes fluttering. Then, Princess Yutao met his deep eyes.
When Princess Yutao looked into his eyes, the coldness there instantly woke her up from her infatuation for him. It was a pair of eyes utterly different from what she had imagined.
!!His eyes were clearer and lighter than people in general. However, there seemed to be no light in his pale eyes. She couldn’t see through his eyes without emotion and only felt suffocated and chilly in her back as if she were peeping into the ruthless and bottomless hell.
In her heart, he was supposed to be a mild and gentle man with a genial smile.
However, Princess Yutao couldn’t help shivering all over in the face of his sinister eyes with a bloodthirsty look. Immediately, she came to realize the reality: Prince Chen was nothing like the image she saw in the painting. The man before her was Prince Chen of the Kingdom of Dongcang, not the handsome youth of peerless beauty in that drawing.
“Princess Yutao?” Chu Liuchen’s insidious eyes fell on Princess Yutao, and he slightly tilted his chin at her. Gradually, the smile on his face faded away.
“Greetings, Your Highness!” Princess Yutao took two steps forward and bowed respectfully.
There was no need to say too much. Such a man was certainly not ordinary. His cold eyes and indifferent manner appeared more overwhelming than her father’s.
Such a man would never be weak, let alone allow himself to be ordered about.
A great many people in Xu State were wrong about Prince Chen!
Princess Yutao soberly realized that Prince Chen wouldn’t be a considerate husband but could be a good partner. Anyone who only saw his portrait but had never seen him in person would never know what kind of person he was.
Prince Chen was gentle and refined, who looked too frail to stand a gust of wind. How could anyone expect him to possess such a pair of eyes?
Of course, Princess Yutao didn’t think it was the painter’s fault. If Prince Chen was willing to put up such a smile to display his kindness, he should be the same person in the portrait. But at the moment, Prince Chen showed no goodwill but a warning.
Chu Liuchen let his eyes settle upon Princess Yutao, silently sizing her up.
Under his steady gaze, Princess Yutao got more and more uneasy. He didn’t see her in the way a man looked at a woman. Many guys were chasing after her, but none made her feel uncomfortable like Chu Liuchen: she wasn’t a young lady but more like a product in his eyes.
This made Princess Yutao even more unpleasant.
Although she had conceptualized Chu Liuchen as a partner in her heart, she had always been proud of her outstanding appearance. No man had ever looked at her with such picky eyes as if he were choosing goods.
Yes, he was picky!
She was such a perfect person. How could there be anything he was not happy about her?
Princess Yutao straightened herself up a little, revealing an impeccable smile on her lips. Once again, she said, “Greetings, Your Highness, I’m Yutao from the Xu State!”
“Take your seat, please!” Chu Liuchen withdrew his gaze from her and said casually.
“Many thanks, Your Highness!” Princess Yutao composed her thoughts, walked to the chair on the side, and sat down.
After serving the tea, Xiao Xuanzi stood behind Chu Liuchen, waiting on them.
“Your Highness, you sent a message saying you wanted to see me. I wonder what your purpose is.” Princess Yutao concentrated on the talk, raising her pink face, and went straight to the point.
“Don’t you know?” Chu Liuchen lifted his eyebrows and asked with a quiet easiness of bearing.
Princess Yutao hesitated for a moment before saying, “I really don’t know. Aren’t Commandery Prince Qing and Ningyuan Army General the envoys of your country? These days, the two honorable envoys have been busy negotiating with the important officials of my state. Do you also want to serve as an envoy abroad?”
Chu Liuchen leaned back lazily, with a gloomy look in his eyes. “If you feel like marrying into our state, I have no objection. But I have a legal wife and will never take any consort. No matter how this matter ends, I will not accept you.”
His remarks sounded ruthless and insensitive to the extreme. Even though Princess Yutao had thought it through, she was still smoldering with indignation, her face flaming with embarrassment.
No man had ever rejected her face to face so mercilessly.
She was the one to refuse others because no man could bear to turn her down.
On the way here, she had thought about what she should do if Prince Chen fancied her. Should she gloss over the matter or refuse him directly? She didn’t expect Chu Liuchen to refuse her bluntly as if she fully intended to marry him. In his mind, even if she couldn’t become his legal wife, she might accept to be his concubine.
“Prince Chen, please be careful with your words. The Emperor’s order is inviolable!” Princess Yutao said coldly.
“So what? Chu Qing can’t decide whom he will marry, but I’m not like him.” Chu Liuchen disdainfully pouted his light-colored lips and said with an indifferent smile.
Princess Yutao’s eyes narrowed to slits as she looked at Chu Liuchen in great surprise.
She didn’t understand why Chu Liuchen said it with curt finality. According to the information she inquired about, Chu Liuchen, like Chu Qing, was the deceased emperor’s son. However, since their father had passed away, their uncle, who had sons, was in power. Then how could the present Emperor give special consideration to him?
How could he be practically certain that he was superior to Chu Qing?
“It’s a little hard to believe, isn’t it?” Chu Liuchen asked with a shadow of a smile. He reached out and patted the table gently. Then Xiao Xuanzi hurriedly fetched a memorial to the throne from behind and put it on the table.
“It’s from Chu Qing. He pleaded with the Emperor to decide my marriage, but I knew nothing about it.” Chu Liuchen said.
The memorial was placed on the table, which meant that Princess Yutao could check it out. In horror, Princess Yutao looked Prince Chen up and down, thinking she had to get to know him again.
How dare he intercepts the memorial? Moreover, it was from his half-brother, a royal family member like him. How could he have the guts to do such a thing? Wasn’t he afraid that the Kingdom of Dongcang’s Emperor would execute him because he challenged his authority?
“Is this the memorial that Commandery Prince Qing sent to the capital city?” Princess Yutao muttered in disbelief again.
“Yes, absolutely true. As early as when I just came here, someone on behalf of your country had said that their prince, Princess Yutao, would like to marry into the Kingdom of Dongcang. But I don’t know what your intention is. Do you want to marry into my country? If that’s what you want, I can help you marry into any places like Prince Yue’s Mansion, Prince Zhou’s Mansion, and even the imperial Palace!”
Chu Liuchen’s slender fingers tapped lightly on the table as if it was a mere trifle to him. If it hadn’t for the gory smile in his penetrating eyes, Princess Yutao would believe him more.
Cold sweat broke out on her back, and she felt inexplicably flustered.
Before coming here, she had thought that even if she was no match for Prince Chen, she was a beauty. In this regard, even if Prince Chen from the Kingdom of Dongcang was evil, he was a man. How could he not show pity and care for a beautiful woman like her? This was the most crucial reason why Princess Yutao dared to take risks to come here.
Living with her attractive appearance for many years, she was convinced that no man would be ruthless to her or have the heart to kill her.
But she was not sure anymore because she perceived no pity in Prince Chen’s eyes. There was only a gloomy and even insidious look. His hint of bloodthirsty aura cast a pall over his pretty face. But then, she felt she could easily read his face, which had an apparent merciless look. What shocked her more greatly was his domineering tongue. It seemed he could let her marry anyone and had the final say in her marriage.
For Prince Chen, she had never been a woman worthy of his pity and tenderness.
She was a commodity!
Yes, she was nobody but an item that could be dealt with at his will.
Princess Yutao had a bad feeling. Once again, she collected herself, stood up, and gracefully saluted Chu Liuchen. “Prince Chen, I don’t want to get married!”
“Are you unwilling to get married, or do you just have no intention to marry anyone in the Kingdom of Dongcang?” Chu Liuchen raised his eyebrows and asked while playing and appreciating the jade pendant in his hand.
“I don’t want to marry anyone in your country. Please help me, Your Highness!” Princess Yutao stood up straight and spoke earnestly with her eyes on Chu Liuchen, dare not hide anything from him.
She wouldn’t see the memorial on the table or need to do that. What she must do was state her position on this matter.
Princess Yutao knew she should be clear-cut in attitude.
“If you can help me, I will repay you for your kindness!”
“Brilliant!” Chu Liuchen nodded and reached out to point at the chair. “Sit down, please. Now that you asked me for help, I’ll have to do you this favor. Anyway, I can’t let others get this good deal. But since a national letter from your country has been sent to Uncle the Emperor, there will have to be a princess from your state marry into the Kingdom of Dongcang, won’t there?”
Chu Liuchen suddenly chuckled and said meaningfully.
The national letter had been issued, which meant the marriage between the two countries was cast in stone, though the two countries hadn’t yet decided who would be the groom and bride. If Princess Yutao chose not to marry, the princess from the Xu State had to be Princess Yuyan. Of course, the Xu State could also pick up a noble lady from the imperial family, give her the title of princess, and marry her into the Kingdom of Dongcang.
At present, it was up to Princess Yutao to decide who would marry or not. This was a benefit that Chu Liuchen gave her to show his sincerity.
Chu Liuchen demonstrated his good faith by this sinister and overbearing dealing as if he was the one who had the final say in this matter!
Princess Yutao became increasingly prudent. Without their previous confrontation, she would only think Prince Chen had high ambition but no real ability and consider their conversation an empty talk. But after their fight behind the scenes just now, Princess Yutao believed his words, thought they sounded wildly arrogant.
Then, who would marry into the Kingdom of Dongcang?