Crowned by the Treacherous Big Shot
Chapter 200 - 184: Proposing Marriage on the Spot

Chapter 200: Chapter 184: Proposing Marriage on the Spot

Meng Qianqian froze. "Why would they bet on something like this? Who made the bet—"

Before she could finish, she suddenly felt a large hand clasp around her waist.

He lowered his head, and a gentle kiss landed softly at the corner of her lips.

Meng Qianqian’s eyes widened instantly.

Her breath caught; the world around her turned silent, leaving only the pounding of her heartbeat echoing in her ears.

His palm was scorching hot, the heat seeping through her thin summer garment, pressing against her cold skin.

She dared not move, standing there frozen, her mind blank.

It wasn’t until the sound of the Imperial Guards’ patrol footsteps reached her from a distance that Meng Qianqian suddenly snapped back to her senses. She stumbled backward in a panic, her face flushed, and fled as though escaping.

Returning to the inner hall, her heart was still pounding wildly, and her cheeks and the corner of her lips burned uncomfortably.

"Really, what kind of ridiculous bet did those two make this time?"

"And him—Lu Yuan doesn’t know either? How could he... do something like this to me at a time like this?"

That night, it was Han Ci who was on duty. After finishing his patrol of Zhuanghe Hall, he delivered a message to Lu Yuan, who was temporarily staying in Taihe Palace.

"Little Nine asked me to tell the Grand Commander that she’s angry."

Lu Yuan frowned. "A man kissed a woman, and the woman got angry. Why is that?"

Han Ci replied, "She said she’s been in contact with plague patients. If the Grand Commander acts this way now, there’s a risk of being infected! Wait, hold on—Grand Commander, what did you just say? Who kissed whom?"

"It’s nothing."

Expressionless, Lu Yuan walked out.

Han Ci reached out a hand. "Grand Commander—"

"Don’t call me."

Bang!

Lu Yuan slammed straight into a pillar, the collision leaving him seeing stars.

Han Ci said, "The new pillar—you didn’t let me remind you."

-

Meanwhile, after Meng Qianqian returned to the inner hall, she realized she had been so preoccupied with fleeing that she had forgotten the porridge meant for the Supreme Emperor.

The Supreme Emperor looked at her flushed face with amused eyes. "Looks like you’ve made peace."

Meng Qianqian muttered under her breath, "Even you act like an old rascal sometimes."

Porridge, once left unattended, could not be served to the Supreme Emperor again, so Meng Qianqian had to make a fresh batch.

Halfway through preparing the porridge, she abruptly turned her head and was startled to see a shadowy figure standing at the door.

Her heart jumped, and she almost grabbed a butcher knife.

Princess Wanping said coolly, "I’m hungry too."

Meng Qianqian calmly covered the butcher knife with firewood. "Ten taels of silver per bowl."

She expected Princess Wanping to explode in rage, but to her surprise, the princess simply threw her a money bag. "Two bowls."

Another bowl was meant for her female official.

Meng Qianqian opened the bag and gasped. Good heavens, two large gold ingots!

"Deliver it to my chambers."

"If you want to eat, come and take it yoursel—"

Princess Wanping tossed her another gold ingot.

Meng Qianqian said, "Fresh off the stove, I’ll bring it to the princess immediately."

It would be criminal not to earn this kind of money.

When the porridge was ready, Meng Qianqian took out a food container and packed four bowls of porridge: two for Princess Wanping, one for the Supreme Emperor, and one for herself.

After that fiasco with Lu Yuan, she was starving.

The Supreme Emperor sat on the bed eating porridge, while Meng Qianqian sat a short distance away on a meditation cushion, eating her own. As she ate, she occasionally glanced at the Supreme Emperor.

The Supreme Emperor chuckled. "Girl, you have something to ask me?"

Meng Qianqian blinked. "It’s a bit of a serious matter."

The Supreme Emperor said, "Speak. You have my pardon."

Meng Qianqian hesitated and said, "I’ll wait until you’re done eating."

"It seems it really is a serious matter." The Supreme Emperor smiled, finished his bowl of porridge, and asked, "Now, can you say it?"

Meng Qianqian set down her bowl and spoon, straightened her posture, and said solemnly, "What I want to ask about is the Chu Family case."

The Supreme Emperor’s expression faltered slightly, but only for a moment.

"What you really want to ask is whether I was involved in the Chu Family case, isn’t it?"

Meng Qianqian set aside her bowl and spoon, turned to kneel facing the Supreme Emperor, and said, "Please forgive me."

The Supreme Emperor said, "You’re part of the Twelve Guards. Investigating the Chu Family case is not surprising. Tell me how much you’ve found out."

Meng Qianqian replied honestly, "So far, I’ve only reviewed the autopsy report of the Chu Grand Marshal. There are numerous inconsistencies, yet the court hastily concluded the case, firmly claiming it was the Chu Lady who killed him."

The Supreme Emperor nodded. "You believe the court’s resolution was too hasty, and that someone of significant authority intervened to halt the investigation. You’re correct—it was I."

Meng Qianqian was shocked. "It was you?"

In her time spent with the Supreme Emperor, she had begun to see him as a man who did not seem to harbor malice. She had almost ruled out his involvement, but now he was confessing to ordering the case’s conclusion?

The Supreme Emperor closed his eyes briefly. "It was I who ordered the case to be closed, but as for the destruction of the Chu Family... it was not by my hand."

When he mentioned the Chu Family, a flicker of deep sorrow crossed his face, almost imperceptible.

Meng Qianqian suddenly felt that this case might be heading in a direction she had never imagined before.

The Supreme Emperor said despondently, "King Chu was my son. His mother was accustomed to the unrestrained life at the border; she refused to follow me back to the palace and would not allow her son to be entangled in the endless conflicts of the Imperial Family."

Meng Qianqian asked, "Did King Chu know about his lineage?"

The Supreme Emperor shook his head. "He didn’t know. I looked forward each year to his visits to the capital for official duties, for only then could I see him."

So, King Chu was the Supreme Emperor’s son, and the Chu Grand Marshal was his biological grandson. Even if the Twelve Guards only obeyed the Chu Grand Marshal, the Supreme Emperor wouldn’t need to worry.

The Supreme Emperor said painfully, "But his lineage... was discovered by the Crown Prince."

"The Crown Prince annihilated the Chu Family?" Meng Qianqian frowned. "That’s why you rushed to close the case."

The Supreme Emperor admitted with shame, "At that time, the Great Zhou stood on the brink of collapse, unable to withstand a scandal within the Imperial Family. Furthermore, with the Chu Family lost at the border, the Twelve Guards were leaderless. If the Crown Prince were revealed as the perpetrator, I feared they might ally with Beiliang, jeopardizing the Great Zhou."

From the Supreme Emperor’s perspective, it was conceivable that the Twelve Guards, loyal only to the Chu Grand Marshal, could take such action.

The Supreme Emperor sighed. "Later, the Crown Prince fell ill and was tormented by nightmares each night, claiming his brother was seeking revenge in his dreams..."

Was that how the Crown Prince fell ill? Meng Qianqian fell silent.

The Supreme Emperor’s eyes reddened, his throat constricting with overwhelming pain. "The greatest sorrow in this world is an elder burying their children. I lost two sons... lost a daughter-in-law, and lost my grandson and granddaughter-in-law..."

Meng Qianqian had never imagined the truth could turn out this way.

Did Lu Yuan know as well? Was that why he tried to stop her from investigating further?

As she processed the truth, another thought struck her, and she asked the Supreme Emperor, "Was there someone named Little Nine in the Chu family?"

The Supreme Emperor replied, "No. King Chu had only one son. While the Chu Grand Marshal was married, he was still young and preoccupied with warfare; he never had children."

So she wasn’t a member of the Chu Family?

Then what were those memories?

And her knowledge of the Twelve Guards and the Chu Family—how could that be?

It seemed she would have to ask Chen Long.

Only Chen Long knew who she truly was.