newbobooks Chapter 613 Received the Imperial Gift and Presented it to the Crown Prince
Chapter 613 Received the Imperial Gift and Presented it to the Crown Prince
Gu Qingchen gave Qian Zhenyun a wink, and Qian Zhenyun immediately put on a bitter face. He and Lin Jiayou carried the heavy sandalwood box to the front of the hall.
The moment the exquisite and luxurious long box appeared, it attracted everyone's attention.
A hint of curiosity flashed in the young prince's eyes. He stood up and walked down the steps himself. "What is this?"
"Your Highness will know once you open it and take a look," Gu Qingchen said with a mysterious smile.
The young prince reached out and gently pushed open the box lid.
In an instant, a series of faint gasps rose from the front of the hall.
A longbow lay quietly in the box, its body gleaming with a deep, eerie light, and the cloud and thunder patterns carved on it exuded a chilling aura of someone who had been through countless battles.
"What a fine bow!" The little prince's eyes lit up instantly. He tried to pick up the bow, but it was too heavy.
Seeing that he liked it, Gu Qingchen felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders and proudly raised her chin.
See? She knew this gift would definitely please the Crown Prince!
"The Duke of Zhenguo's mansion is indeed a grand affair."
A gentle voice, tinged with a hint of mockery, came from not far away.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw that Emperor Zhao Yunci had somehow appeared under the palace corridor, watching the scene with a smile.
The students panicked and immediately knelt down, chanting "May Your Majesty be well."
Gu Qingchen's heart skipped a beat, and she knelt down as well, a sense of foreboding rising within her.
Zhao Yunci waved his hand, "Get up, everyone. Today is the Crown Prince's birthday banquet, there's no need for formalities."
He stepped forward, his gaze falling on the longbow, his expression becoming somewhat intriguing.
He took the bow from his son, his fingers gently tracing the patterns on the bow's limbs, his smile deepening.
"Qingchen, do you know the name of this bow?"
Gu Qingchen panicked. She had no idea what the bow was called, so she could only bite the bullet and shake her head.
"This bow is named 'Jinghong'." Zhao Yunci's voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears. "It was personally bestowed upon your father by me after the great victory in the western expedition."
With a loud bang, Gu Qingchen felt as if a firework had exploded in his mind, and his vision went black.
Finished!
She secretly took her father's treasure, which was actually a gift from the emperor! Isn't this the same as stealing the emperor's things and then giving them to the emperor's son?
She secretly glanced up and met Zhao Yunci's eyes, which seemed to see through everything. Startled, she quickly buried her head back down.
The young prince was also stunned. He looked at Gu Qingchen, whose face was pale, and then at the mischievous smile on his father's face, and immediately understood what was going on.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something in defense of Gu Qingchen, but he didn't know where to begin.
"The Duke of Zhenguo is actually willing to give away the 'Jinghong' bow that I bestowed upon him to the Crown Prince?" Zhao Yunci asked leisurely, but his gaze remained fixed on Gu Qingchen.
"I appreciate his kind intentions."
Gu Qingchen felt a chill run down his spine and wished he could faint on the spot.
Just when she thought she was going to die, the Crown Prince suddenly spoke.
“Father,” he stepped forward, a slight smile appearing on his face as he looked at Gu Qingchen, “Gu Qingchen, I accept this generous gift from you.”
He paused, then changed the subject, speaking in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for everyone to hear.
"However, this bow is too valuable for me to accept. Consider it a loan from you. Once I have mastered archery and horsemanship, I will personally return it to the Duke of Zhenguo."
borrow?
Gu Qingchen suddenly raised her head and looked at Zhao Chen in disbelief.
He actually said "borrow"?
This completely changed the nature of the crime. It went from "stealing national treasures and deceiving the emperor" to "temporarily borrowing treasures."
Seeing the sly smile on the Crown Prince's face, Gu Qingchen suddenly understood.
He was trying to extricate himself from the predicament, but in doing so, he returned the problem to her exactly as it was.
She naturally wants to get what she lent out back.
But once this bow enters the Eastern Palace, how can she get it back and return it to her father?
This crown prince is no pushover either!
The banquet ended in an odd atmosphere.
Gu Qingchen entered the palace with a smile, but left with her head hanging low.
Holding a pile of ordinary gifts from the Crown Prince in his arms, he felt as if they weighed a ton.
Her legs trembled at the thought of facing her father when she got home.
Zhenguogongfu.
As Chu Ruohan listened to the steward report on the invitations sent by various families, her personal maid, Haitang, hurriedly entered from outside, her face bearing a strange expression of wanting to laugh but not daring to.
"Madam," Haitang whispered in her ear, recounting the news that had come from the palace in detail.
From how Gu Qingchen presented the "Jinghong" bow, to how His Majesty revealed the truth, and then to how His Highness the Crown Prince "borrowed" the bow to extricate himself from the predicament, the story was told vividly.
Chu Ruohan's expression went from initial surprise to nervousness, and finally to barely suppressing a smile.
With a "pfft," she finally couldn't hold back and almost spat out a mouthful of tea.
Haitang quickly handed over the handkerchief.
Chu Ruohan took the handkerchief and wiped her mouth, laughing so hard her shoulders shook.
"That little devil! He's incredibly audacious!"
She chuckled and cursed, but there was no anger in her eyes, only helplessness and amusement.
"Let her use her clever tricks all the time, and now she's met her match." Chu Ruohan shook her head and sighed, "This Crown Prince is quite cunning. Evil people will be punished by other evil people, so it's good."
Let her daughter experience what it's like to be schemed against and have to swallow the bitter pill.
On the other side, in the Imperial Palace, inside the Imperial Study.
The young prince stood obediently below, looking at his father with some unease.
"Father, I acted on my own today, you..."
“You did a great job,” Zhao Yunci interrupted him, a satisfied smile on her face.
He stood up from the dragon throne, walked to his son, and patted him on the shoulder.
“An’er, you have been protected and cared for by your mother and me since you were a child, and you are unaware of the wickedness of people’s hearts.”
Zhao Yunci's gaze deepened. "That Gu Qingchen is like a disobedient little wild horse, his head is full of wicked ideas."
"You've shown improvement by handling things this way today, without embarrassing her or causing yourself any loss."
He picked up the "Jinghong" bow and handed it to Zhao Chen'an.
"Take this bow for now. I want to see how she's going to 'take' it back from you."
Zhao Yunci's lips curled into a smile, her tone full of anticipation.
“My son, the future monarch, cannot just read the classics. He should also experience the ‘wickedness’ of this world early on, so that he will not be deceived in the future.”
The young prince held the longbow in his hand and nodded as if he understood but not quite.
His mind was filled with Gu Qingchen's face, which went from smug to panicked, and finally to someone who dared not speak out in anger.
He suddenly felt that the "dangers of the world" his father spoke of seemed...quite interesting.