Chapter 185: You Want to Destroy My Entire Lineage?
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.
Grand Duke He Shu trembled with rage, his face contorted in fury.
“I only broke one of your bowls!” he roared, teeth clenched. “And you dared to hide under my bed!”
From beneath the bed, Lu Chao Chao slowly crawled out. Her expression was one of injured pride as she protested, “Me was looking for food… Then you kicked and broke my bowl! You made me lose face!”
Pouting, she added, “Me’s Fierce Bun, no face, very bad!”
“You’re only two! Why do you care about face?” Grand Duke He Shu exclaimed, baffled, catching sight of his wife who was glaring at him, her face flushed with anger.
Quickly, he picked Chao Chao up by her clothes and set her aside.
“Kids’ face is still face!” Chao Chao retorted defiantly.
Grand Duke He Shu’s head spun with frustration.
“You won’t be getting any food. What can you do about it? My biggest secret has already been exposed to Wan Wan! There’s nothing you can use to threaten me with!” declared Grand Duke He Shu, a man grown accustomed to indulgence and rebellion, weary of Chao Chao’s persistent threats.
He prided himself on having no exploitable secrets.
Chao Chao fixed him with a penetrating stare.
And continued to stare.
Under her gaze, Grand Duke He Shu felt unnerved as if she could see right through him.
“Why are you looking at me like that? I have no secrets from Wan Wan!” he asserted, trying to appear dignified.
Chao Chao, now lying beside the flowers, occasionally nodded off, yet she kept shooting him curious glances.
“You hide money,” she finally said, her gaze unwavering.
Grand Duke He Shu rolled his eyes. “What man doesn’t hide money?!”
“In the beam.”
“Under the bed.”
“Under the third tree in the garden.”
“And in the outhouse!” Chao Chao listed all his secret stashes without missing a beat.
Grand Duke He Shu clenched his jaw. “Fine, give it all to Wan Wan! I won’t hide anymore! Let’s see what you can do to me!”
Chao Chao scratched her head, puzzled.
Grand Duke He Shu raised an eyebrow. “Anything else you want to say?”
“Little beggar, get out of the manor!” he commanded sharply. “I’m not one of those officials who give you face!”
Grand Duke He Shu scoffed. Never before had he been slighted; even the former king had treated him as a son, being his youngest brother.
Chao Chao hesitated. “Actually, I just wanted some food… I didn’t mean to destroy your family.”
Grand Duke He Shu laughed bitterly.
“You think you can destroy my family just by begging for food?” he sneered, oozing arrogance.
Chao Chao started cautiously, “You…”
Grand Duke He Shu remained calm, showing no fear.
“When you were at war, the previous king died, and he wanted to pass the thr… mmph!” Her words were suddenly muffled as Grand Duke He Shu leapt up and clapped a hand over her mouth.
“Mmph mmph!” Chao Chao struggled, her voice stifled.
Grand Duke He Shu’s body shook, a flicker of terror in his eyes, his teeth chattering.
“Ancestor! You are my ancestor!” he stammered, holding Chao Chao close.
He felt his blood run cold, a chill shooting up his spine, breaking out into a cold sweat as his teeth chattered.
He tried desperately to conceal his fear from the secret guards.
Having fought on battlefields for years, he knew the king had spies around Princess Sunshine.
Taking a deep breath, he carried Chao Chao into his study to regain his composure.
Once inside, he leaned against the wall for support, feeling faint.
Chao Chao slipped from his grip, her expression innocent.
“You told me to…” she said, her eyes wide and pitiful.
Grand Duke He Shu collapsed to his knees.
“Beg for food all you want, but why must you threaten to destroy my house!” he whispered desperately, despair written all over his face.
(How does she know everything?)
“Please, Ancestor, you are my Ancestor! I won’t argue with you anymore. Just don’t bring it up again!” He was truly terrified now, his forehead beaded with sweat. “Don’t tell anyone. My children are young. Please, Princess Sunshine, have mercy. And please, don’t talk in your sleep.”
If she weren’t Princess Sunshine, he might have strangled her to keep his secret buried forever.
His clothes were soaked through with sweat.
He deeply regretted it.
Why had he kicked her bowl?
Why had he brought this disaster upon himself?
He loathed himself for provoking her and challenging the power of a secret that could obliterate his lineage.
Though he and the king shared the same father, he had his own descendants to think about.
“I can keep my mouth shut, but I can’t control my sleep-talking,” Chao Chao remarked, appearing exasperated.
Seeing Grand Duke He Shu’s pale face, she paused. Her big brother once told her that you should pause to exert psychological pressure when negotiating.
Grand Duke He Shu wondered, [who had taught her all this?]
Despite knowing she was pretending, he was genuinely scared.
This secret could wipe out his entire lineage!
“Unless… be kind, give me some food…” Chao Chao’s voice softened.
“If I’m full, I won’t talk in my sleep.”
“And give me back my bowl.”
“I just wanted some food! You kicked my bowl first!”
Grand Duke He Shu felt a surge of frustration. All this trouble over a kicked bowl!
A broken bowl leading to a disaster that could annihilate his clan!
“Take it, take everything,” Grand Duke He Shu said weakly, gesturing resignedly.
Yes, he harbored a great secret.
One that could lead to the massacre of his entire bloodline.
He was his father’s youngest son. Soon after his birth, his father passed away.
The former king, his eldest brother, had raised him with more affection than even King Xuan Ping had received.
When the former king fell gravely ill, Grand Duke He Shu was at war.
The king sent three desperate summonses, each more urgent than the last.
Tied up on the battlefield, he couldn’t respond.
Until the third summons arrived.
A young eunuch delivered it and then bit his tongue, dying on the spot after handing over the message.
Inside was a jade pendant, a personal item from the deposed king of the Xue clan.
The former king had kept it as a memento after toppling the Xue dynasty.
In that instant, Grand Duke He Shu realized the three summonses’ grave importance.
The former king had intended to pass the throne to him!
After three days and nights of relentless travel, exhausting several horses along the way, he arrived in the capital only to find the king had already died.
King Xuan Ping had smoothly ascended to the throne.
Afterward, he ground the jade pendant into powder and scattered it into the moat himself.
He dared not speak of it to anyone.
If this secret were exposed, his entire bloodline would be exterminated.
Grand Duke He Shu wept.
After decades of toughening up on the battlefield, the iron-willed younger brother of the king sobbed uncontrollably.
“Lu Chao Chao, you are my nemesis.”
…
In the Lu Manor.
“Did Chao Chao realize her mistake the next day?” Madam Xu inquired.
“Did Lord He Shu drive her out?” Deng Zhi, her expression vacant, hesitated before responding.
“Lord He Shu invited her little beggar friends into the manor for a feast,” she mumbled.
“Oh, she has already unified the beggars.”