Two major events had recently stirred the Capital.
One was a piece of imperial-family gossip that everyone relished discussing.
The young prince who had once run away from home rather than accept an arranged marriage had recently changed his mind and declared he would marry no one but the Wen family's daughter.
However, Princess Shun had already taken the Wen family's daughter as her adopted daughter, with the Empress Dowager herself as witness. That certainly could not be dismissed as a joke.
Miss Wen was now, in name, the young prince's elder adoptive sister. Naturally, the two families could not arrange a marriage, and this had driven the young prince frantic.
Rumor had it that he had even thrown a tantrum at Prince Shun's Manor, provoking Prince Shun into giving him another beating.
Anyone who knew the circumstances had to say, in all fairness, "Well done, Prince Shun!"
Back then, you refused to marry her no matter what anyone said. Fine, your mother found a solution for you. Now that the girl had become your adoptive sister, you suddenly insisted on marrying no one else.
Who else deserved a beating if not you?
Who wasn't saying now that Princess Shun had given birth to a debt-collecting little demon of a son?
Chu Yuxi, the subject of all this gossip, had been utterly miserable lately and could only ask his cousin, the Crown Prince, to meet him for a talk.
In a private room at a restaurant.
Chu Yuxi drained the fruit wine in his cup in one gulp and said miserably, "Cousin, how did things turn out like this? Why on earth did this happen?"
The corner of Chu Yuheng's mouth twitched. This fellow had already said that eight hundred times in front of him!
People spoke of drowning their sorrows in strong liquor, but who had ever heard of drowning them in fruit wine? Worse still, this fellow had only had a few cups and was already losing his senses!
Seeing him reach to pour more wine, Chu Yuheng hurriedly stopped him and coaxed, "Yuxi, stop drinking. Drinking alone won't solve anything!"
Chu Yuxi set down the wine jug in misery. "Cousin, my heart is bitter!"
Chu Yuheng nodded perfunctorily. He was already fed up and wanted nothing more than to get up and leave!
But Chu Yuxi still wasn't finished. "We were clearly meant to be a perfect match, yet Heaven played us for fools and brought us to this!"
Chu Yuheng finally lost his temper and ordered a guard, "Bring a basin of cold water."
The guard soon brought in a basin of cold water and placed it on the table as the Crown Prince instructed.
Chu Yuxi looked puzzled. "What are you doing?"
Chu Yuheng sneered. "Sobering you up."
With that, he mercilessly pressed Chu Yuxi's divinely handsome face into the cold water.
"Glug, glug... Cousin... what are you doing... let go of me..."
Chu Yuxi flailed a couple of times, and finally sobered up.
Only then did Chu Yuheng release him and elegantly wipe his hands with a handkerchief.
Chu Yuxi wiped his face and complained, "Cousin, why are you just like Father, so heartless toward me?"
Chu Yuheng scolded him. "All you do when trouble comes is run away and complain. No wonder my uncle beats you. Even I want to slap you a few times."
Chu Yuxi said bitterly, "But there's nothing I can do. Mother has already taken her as an adopted daughter, and Grandmother witnessed it. What power do I have to change that?"
Chu Yuheng reasoned, "As I see it, Grandmother and Princess Shun can wait for now. The most pressing concern is Lord Wen."
Chu Yuxi immediately pricked up his ears and listened closely.
Chu Yuheng continued, "You ran away from home to avoid the marriage before, so the Wen family must be very displeased. Even if you could marry Miss Wen now, she might no longer be willing to marry you."
Chu Yuxi pondered this. "Then I'll go apologize to Uncle Wen and make my feelings clear. But once I've mended our relationship, how am I supposed to marry her?"
Chu Yuheng said, "When the time comes, ask my father to decree the marriage. As for Grandmother and Princess Shun, go explain things to them and show them your resolve."
Chu Yuxi's eyes lit up. Clinging to Chu Yuheng's arm, he said ingratiatingly, "Cousin, I'll need you to put in a good word with my imperial uncle then!"
Chu Yuheng agreed.
After that, Chu Yuxi went to Marquis Yongding's manor every few days, shamelessly currying favor with his future father- and mother-in-law.
At first, Lord Wen flatly refused to let him through the door. With no other options, Chu Yuxi thickened his skin and came up with an underhanded trick.
He told a storyteller how Miss Wen had braved danger to rescue him from the brothel's thugs.
Once the storyteller recounted it at a teahouse, everyone in the Capital knew.
The fact that Chu Yuxi, a man, had been abducted and sold to a brothel, only to be rescued by a woman, certainly humiliated him, but it also put considerable pressure on Lord Wen.
For instance, whether they were colleagues, superiors, or neighbors, everyone who saw him had to say, "Lord Wen, a tiger father truly breeds no dog daughter!"
Unable to bear the constant pestering, Lord Wen hauled Chu Yuxi into his manor in a blazing fury and gave him a vicious tongue-lashing.
Chu Yuxi, however, savored it as though it were honey. He had finally made it through his father-in-law's door.
If he kept this up, the day his wish came true was practically within sight!
Setting aside the imperial-family gossip for now, the more pressing matter was a child-trafficking case.
Because Chu Yuxi had asked a storyteller to recount his experience at a teahouse, the case had also caused a tremendous stir among the common people.
Many people whose children had previously gone missing gathered outside the government office of their own accord, hoping for news of their children.
The young prince had been knocked unconscious, and the traffickers had mistaken him for a girl dressed as a boy. That was why they had sold him to a brothel.
The Green Jade Tower had been shut down in one fell swoop, and everyone connected to it had been thrown into prison, where the Ministry of Justice interrogated them daily.
Upon learning that the person she had purchased was actually the young son of Prince Shun's Manor, the madam knew she had no hope of surviving. To escape the torment of torture, she readily confessed everything.
Following the leads the madam provided, the Ministry of Justice soon captured the traffickers as well.
Under harsh interrogation, the traffickers revealed, one by one, where the abducted children had been sold.
These people were all refugees from Ji Province who had only recently slipped into the Capital. They had not been trafficking children for long, and most of the abducted children could still be traced.
With the authorities' help, the missing children were gradually recovered. At last, their families could be reunited, and the people were deeply grateful to the imperial court.
After this affair, Chu Siqing also received some extra points.
System: [Host, you have successfully helped recover the abducted children. Points +500]
Chu Siqing asked in confusion, [What do you mean, recovering abducted children?]
System: [The young prince publicized his abduction, so many people whose children had previously gone missing went to the government office to inquire. Then the Ministry of Justice uncovered those child-trafficking cases through interrogation, and the abducted children were subsequently recovered.]
Chu Siqing fell silent for a while.
She thought of the news reports about child trafficking she had watched on television before transmigrating.
Some parents searched for their children their entire lives, only to fall ill from pent-up grief and die young. Even if their children were eventually found, they could never see their parents again.
She could not help saying, [All child traffickers deserve to die! Thank goodness the children were all found this time.]
Then Chu Siqing thought of the points and asked the system, [A-Tong, wasn't this the young prince's good deed? Why did the points go to me?]
System: [Without your help, the young prince might never have been found, and none of what followed would have happened. So this counts toward your points too.]
Chu Siqing nodded and praised it, [I've finally realized that even if all you can do is munch on gossip, A-Tong, that's still an incredible talent!]
System: ...
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