Several young ladies from the Chu family covered their ears.
Grandma Yue's face turned ashen. She slapped Yue Jiaojiao across the face and roared angrily, "How much have you drunk to spout such drunken nonsense? Someone, Jiaojiao is drunk. Help her down and pour her several bowls of sobering soup!"
Suddenly, seven or eight strong old women came and managed to drag Yue Jiaojiao away.
Yue Jiaojiao kicked and screamed, wailing loudly while still shouting that she wanted to be the Crown Prince's consort.
Yue Chenkong was so frightened that his face turned green, and Grandma Yue was furious.
Originally, with Shi Minglang present today, she had planned to bring Jiaojiao before Shi Minglang later.
The Yue family's willingness to marry their precious daughter to Shi Minglang was a favor to him. Shi Minglang would surely be extremely grateful and join the Yue family's camp, spying on the Crown Prince's movements for them.
But Yue Jiaojiao had embarrassed herself in public. Even if Shi Minglang was desperate, he wouldn't marry a woman who was so shameless and vulgar!
Nothing had gone smoothly today, and Grandma Yue felt a dull ache in her head.
Now her only hope was that the Crown Prince and Song Wanchu would get closer.
Just as Grandma Yue was about to lead the others away, the Crown Prince suddenly asked, "Baizhi, where is Lu Cen?"
Baizhi and Lu Cen were the names of the two female officials he had sent to the Yue family.
The two female officials were summoned into the hall and knelt before the Crown Prince to plead guilty.
"Is this how you've taught Miss Yue? She speaks recklessly, is utterly shameless, and throws a tantrum in public without any grace. You're supposed to be the chief female officials from the Empress's palace. You're really bringing shame to the Empress!"
Grandma Yue and Yue Chenkong felt their faces burning. Dozens of pairs of eyes were on them, which was like a merciless judgment!
The Crown Prince's words were clearly not just a rebuke to the female officials but also a slap in the face of the Yue family!
Yue Jiaojiao had caused a huge mess!
Yue Chenkong regretted for the first time that he had been too indulgent towards his daughter and hadn't disciplined her properly.
Baizhi and Lu Cen prostrated themselves and pleaded guilty, "We're willing to accept whatever punishment the Crown Prince deems fit."
"Crown Prince, the two female officials have done their duty. It's our family's fault. I'll personally supervise and have Jiaojiao beaten thirty big boards when I get out, so that she'll learn her lesson!"
Grandma Yue quickly stated her position.
The Crown Prince's eyebrows were knitted with cold anger. "Then it shall be as Grandma Yue says."
After the farce ended, everyone left in an orderly manner.
Grandma Yue had specially arranged a resting room for the Crown Prince. The courtyard was exquisitely luxurious, but it was secluded and away from the main road.
Song Wanchu sat opposite the Crown Prince, holding a cup of sobering tea in her delicate hands and presenting it to him.
The fragrance of the tea wafted in the air. The Crown Prince looked a bit dazed. This peaceful moment of sitting opposite each other and sipping tea was what he had always dreamed of.
He was born at the top of the power pyramid, with a halo around him. As the Emperor's eldest son and an example to all the princes, he was well - versed in both literature and martial arts and was praised by everyone.
In the future, he would rule over the vast territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty. He could do as he pleased and obtain everything with his power. But when it came to Song Wanchu, he didn't want to use force.
He felt sorry for Song Wanchu.
He couldn't forget Yue Jiaojiao's words, "Song Wanchu is a woman who's been played with by men." He wondered what Wanchu was thinking, but he just couldn't let it go.
She should have been pure and innocent, but she had been trampled on by Liang Yuzhou and fallen into the mud.
"Wanchu, don't you have anything to say to me?"
She had offered to accompany him for tea, but she had remained silent all this time.
The Crown Prince's eyes on her face changed several times, and Song Wanchu's heart also fluctuated.
"Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
Since the banquet started, the Crown Prince had been protecting her.
Just now, he had even forced Grandma Yue to punish Yue Jiaojiao personally to avenge her.
Hearing her polite and distant words of thanks, the Crown Prince felt a wave of disappointment welling up in his heart.
"Wanchu, there's no one else here now. Could you, please, not call me the Crown Prince?"
He put down the teacup and slid his hand a little along the table, then held Song Wanchu's hand. "The person in front of you now is just an ordinary man with emotions. I call you Wanchu. Could you call me Sihong?"
Lu Sihong was the Crown Prince's given name. Except for the Emperor and the Empress, no one else in the world dared to call him by his name.
Maybe in the future, there would be someone, and that would be the Crown Prince's consort.
Song Wanchu felt the warmth of the Crown Prince's palm, which was a mixture of tenderness and heat, as if he was trying hard to restrain something.
She lowered her eyes and slowly shook her head. "In my heart, Your Highness will always be the holy and unattainable Crown Prince, like the bright moon in the sky, whom I can only look up to."
The Crown Prince gave a self - deprecating smile. "Wanchu, you're always rejecting me from getting close to you."
Her words were so beautiful, but they didn't comfort his heart. Instead, they made him feel like he was falling off a cliff, cold all over.
He tightened his grip on Song Wanchu's hand.
"Why? Is it because I'm the Crown Prince that I don't deserve true love?"
His tone was calm, but to Song Wanchu's ears, it was like a mournful cry.
For some reason, looking into the Crown Prince's eager eyes, she felt a wave of helpless bitterness welling up from the bottom of her heart.
Why did the men who loved her always make her bear such a heavy responsibility?
It was Liang Yuzhou before, then her elder brother, and now the Crown Prince.
Her hand tightened into a fist in the Crown Prince's palm.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, you're extremely noble. Countless noble ladies admire and look up to you. They will love you, and you will receive a lot of true love. But I'm as ordinary as a green leaf. The position you're in is a high branch that I can never reach in my whole life. I don't dare to have any wild thoughts, let alone expect the high branch to look down on me."
"They are them. They're not you!"
The daze in the Crown Prince's eyes disappeared, and his dark eyes were gradually filled with possessiveness. "Wanchu, if I can't have you, I'll be alone for the rest of my life!"
Suddenly, his tall and slender figure stood up. Song Wanchu felt a tightness in her arm and was pulled by a powerful force into the Crown Prince's arms.
The Crown Prince didn't give her a chance to escape and pressed her body against the screen.
Two entangled figures appeared among the ink - painted landscapes.
Song Wanchu held her breath. Her heart was beating wildly out of rhythm. The man's heavy breathing, tinged with the smell of alcohol, fell by her ear.
"Wanchu, how did you feel when Yue Jiaojiao cursed you like that just now? Her words were so venomous. The difference is that she was stupid enough to say it in public. How many other people think the same way but just haven't said it out?
How many such verbal slurs have you suffered? And the culprit of all this is Liang Yuzhou!"
Song Wanchu felt a dense and stabbing pain in her chest, attacking her from every pore.
"Wanchu, are you still going to forgive such a man?"
There was a heart - rending and reluctant interrogation in the Crown Prince's tone. "A man who has never understood love. Can he really learn to love you? Does he pursue you relentlessly because he sees you as his property that can't be taken away, or is it his innate stubborn pride that makes him think he can only achieve a perfect life by winning you back?"
Song Wanchu bit her lips tightly, and her eye sockets felt sore and swollen.
The Crown Prince was doing it on purpose. He knew that her heart was too painful to be touched, but he just had to tear open those scabbed - over wounds and peek at her battered heart.
"I don't have to be with a certain man in my whole life."
"Liang Yuzhou is chasing you relentlessly. How can you get rid of him with your own strength?"
The Crown Prince retorted.
Song Wanchu fell silent.
She didn't expect the Crown Prince's emotions to be so intense. She couldn't control the direction of the conversation. The Crown Prince couldn't listen to her calmly. Whatever she said, the Crown Prince would interpret it emotionally.
The Crown Prince's gentle palm held her cheek and gently stroked it. His voice by her ear seemed to be full of temptation. "Wanchu, come to my side. I'll give you supreme honor and make all those who talk about you shut up. I'll make Liang Yuzhou not dare to look you in the eye for the rest of his life."
Song Wanchu's heart was trembling. She didn't dare to confirm her guess. She didn't want to listen, but she couldn't stop the Crown Prince.
"Wanchu, come back to the capital with me. I'm the Crown Prince, and you will be the Crown Prince's consort. If I become the Emperor in the future, you will be the Empress."