The Gilded Cage - Chapter 122
Promise – I Can’t Help It If It’s Come To This (2)
He killed her father and her family, but still treated her as if he were his benefactor, and kept deceiving her while imposing everything he liked on her. How could such treatment be called “good”?
Fortunately, she was very clear-headed, quietly pinching her fingertips while avoiding his question. She softly asked, “What’s wrong, Your Highness, suddenly asking this question? These few days, Your Highness seems to be a little out of sorts…”
Xiao Yu paused and looked at her beautiful unpowdered face. He struggled with his words, and it was a long time before he said with difficulty, “A few days ago, you said that you would never disobey anything I ordered, right? A’Ning, now, there is one thing, only you can help me.”
Chu Ning said softly, “Your Highness, please speak.”
“A’Ning, you know that I have been operating in the court for many years in order to one day ascend to the throne so that I can vindicate your father. However, my sixth uncle colluded with the Qi family, took advantage of my father’s illness and the void in the court to bring troops into the city and seize the throne that should have belonged to me. Now, I am struggling to rise again, and the only way to do so is to secure a military force that can stand up to it.”
“Your Highness wants military power. What does it have to do with A’Ning? A’Ning is just an orphan girl with no one to depend on.” She lowered her eyes and waited to hear his next words.
When he heard the word “orphan girl,” Xiao Yu’s eyes flickered as if he felt a little guilty, but it was only for a moment, and then it passed.
“A’Ning, now the Zhao family wants to join forces with me to help me ascend to the throne. I know you are smart. You must understand that the strength of the Bozhou army in Zhao Lun’s hands is extraordinary, enough to compete with the Ganzhou army. If I have their help, I will naturally be like a tiger with wings and will soon be able to rise to power.”
“Does the Zhao family have any conditions?” She raised her eyes and looked at him quietly, but her heart was beating very fast.
“The Zhao family – they want the position of Crown Prince’s Consort.” He was silent for a moment before he spat out this sentence with difficulty.
Chu Ning laughed lightly, slowly shifted her gaze, and said softly, “I understand, Your Highness wants me to give up the position of the Crown Prince’s Consort and leave it to the Zhao family’s Second Lady.”
“A’Ning!” Xiao Yu held her hand tightly and didn’t let go, “It’s only temporary. I won’t let you be aggrieved. You… What do you think?”
Chu Ning held back.
She knew how Xiao Yu was. If she agreed to his request without hesitation at this time, it would make her suspicious, and it would be difficult for her to do the next thing, so she said lightly, “What does Your Highness think I think? I have already lost the rest of my family and become the daughter of a sinful minister, and now I am going to be an abandoned woman?”
As expected, Xiao Yu looked at her reluctantly, but he did not feel as guilty and nervous as he did just now and seemed to be relieved.
She was right to be reluctant. In the end, he saved her, and spent two years together. How could she let him go?
“A’Ning, you are not an abandoned woman. This is only temporary. When I become successful in the future, you will still be the empress. Your father’s matter, I will also help you – Once I have promised you something, I will never go back on my word!”
Chu Ning sat aside and did not say a word, with her head bowed. He looked both guilty and reassured, and could not help but gently embrace her, coaxing up in a good voice.
“A’Ning, do not blame me. I cannot help it.”
“That Second Lady Zhao, a widow who does not keep her virtue… I loathe her from the bottom of my heart. Even if I let her be the main consort for the time being, my heart is still for you as my wife.”
His words rang in her ears one by one, causing a chill to run through her heart.
If she were still in the dark and did not know the truth about her father’s death, she might have been fooled into thinking that he truly loved her and would have even given herself up to help him and ended up being abandoned.
Fortunately, she found out in time!
She closed her eyes, adjusted her mind, pushed him away gently, stood up, and turned her back to him, bowing her head and said, “Your Highness, allow A’Ning to think it over, okay?”
Xiao Yu’s arms were empty and he felt a sense of loss and dissatisfaction, but when he thought that she was being aggrieved, his heart softened and he did not reproach him, nodding his head and saying softly, “Okay, A’Ning. I will not force you. Think about it.”
Chu Ning didn’t say anything more. After a brief salute, she hurriedly left and went back to her own bedchamber.
