gnovel Chapter 498 Chen Wanqing's inner choice: She wants to become Qin Mu's woman!
Chapter 498 Chen Wanqing's inner choice: She wants to become Qin Mu's woman!
The moment Chen Wanqing left Qin Mu's room, her legs suddenly went weak, and she leaned forward.
Her green-clad maidservant reacted quickly and reached out to support her arm, preventing her from falling to the ground.
"Miss, what's wrong...?"
The maid in green had just opened her mouth, but hadn't yet uttered the word "how".
Chen Wanqing suddenly turned her head, and a hand stretched out from under the light veil of her hat, making a "shh" gesture, her fingers trembling slightly.
The maid in green felt a sudden jolt, her pupils contracting slightly as if pricked by a needle.
She had been by her mistress's side for so many years and had never seen her like this before.
His face was deathly pale, his lips trembled, and his eyes were filled with barely suppressed shock and fear.
She quickly shut her mouth, not daring to say another word, and her hand holding Chen Wanqing's arm was trembling slightly.
The maid in blue was also stunned, her steps faltering, her mouth slightly agape.
Chen Wanqing took a deep breath, steadied herself, released her grip on the maid's hand, and walked towards her room.
Two maids followed behind, one on each side, heads bowed, not daring to utter a sound.
Chen Wanqing pushed open the door and strode inside, followed by her maid. The door closed slowly behind them.
She leaned against the door, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.
The breath, carried by the cool night wind, filled his lungs, but it could not extinguish the turbulent waves churning within him.
The maid in green stepped forward cautiously, her voice so low it sounded like an echo from underground.
"Miss, what happened? Why are you..."
Chen Wanqing opened her eyes, raised her hand, and stopped her from speaking.
"You all go and rest. Don't worry about me."
The two maids exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with curiosity and doubt.
They didn't know what the young lady had gone through in the next room, why she had suddenly become like this, or why she wouldn't tell them.
But they dared not ask, nor dared they disobey.
They nodded, their voices soft.
"Yes, Miss."
They retreated to the small bed to the side, spread out the bedding, and lay down, but none of them fell asleep. They kept their eyes open, staring at the top of the tent, and listening intently to the sounds coming from this side.
Chen Wanqing walked to the table and slowly sat down.
Her hands, resting on the table, were still trembling slightly.
The reason she didn't tell the maid was because the secret was too big, too shocking, so big that she dared not speak of it, so shocking that speaking of it would bring about her utter destruction.
She dared not gamble, dared not gamble on whether the maid's mouth was tight enough, dared not gamble on whether there were ears on the other side of the wall, dared not gamble on whether that man was watching her in secret.
It's better if this secret remains known only to her for now.
Chen Wanqing closed her eyes, her mind replaying the scene she had just witnessed in the next room.
She would never admit her mistake.
That was Xu Fenghua.
Xu Fenghua had already been forcibly taken as a concubine by His Majesty several months ago.
She was Consort Hua, a concubine of the Qin royal family, and one of His Majesty's most favored concubines.
Therefore, that young master is His Majesty.
Chen Wanqing took a deep breath and gradually suppressed the surging, turbulent waves.
She picked up the teapot on the table, poured herself a cup of cold tea, and drank it all in one gulp.
Subsequently,
She leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and the tangled mess in her mind gradually began to unravel.
She never expected that she would encounter the Emperor of Qin.
She didn't know why he was traveling so discreetly, only accompanied by a few women, and without even the Imperial Guards.
But she knew that His Majesty must have his reasons, his plans, and his purposes for doing this.
And for her to meet him and be saved by him, in a way, was also a kind of opportunity, a tremendous opportunity.
She just doesn't know how to handle it yet.
That's why she pretended to be calm and left, because she wasn't sure if she would be in big trouble if she discovered the other person's identity.
After all, the Qin emperor was traveling in such a low-key manner because he certainly didn't want to be recognized.
Chen Wanqing's mind raced.
She began to think about how to maximize this opportunity.
She thought for a long time, so long that she drank more than half of the cold tea in the teapot, so long that the moonlight outside the window moved from the east to the west, so long that both maids fell asleep, emitting even and long breaths.
She came up with a few possibilities.
The first possibility is to pretend you don't know the other person's identity, contact them, travel with them, become friends, gradually build rapport, slowly gain their trust, and eventually become someone close to them.
This method is the safest, most secure, and least likely to arouse suspicion, but it's also too slow.
He's leaving tomorrow. How much time does she have? One night? What can she do in one night?
The second possibility is to pretend you don't know anything, then act as if you're attracted to him, naturally get closer to him, naturally get his attention, and naturally... become his woman.
The moment this thought crossed Chen Wanqing's face, she blushed.
She quickly picked up the teapot and poured another cup of cold tea.
She found that she felt no resistance, only apprehension.
It's not a resistance to the act of "becoming his woman" itself.
Instead, it was anxiety about whether or not they could succeed, anxiety about whether or not he would see through them, and anxiety about what to do if they failed.
Chen Wanqing recalled the Emperor's face.
Lazy, composed, with a half-smile playing on his lips, like an ancient well with no bottom, nothing can be seen through, nothing can be guessed.
Those eyes were so deep, so deep that when she stood before him, she felt like an open book, every page of which could be seen clearly.
Chen Wanqing tapped her fingers lightly on the table twice, continuing to calculate in her mind.
To be honest, if she didn't know the other party's identity, she would definitely be disgusted and contemptuous of Qin Mu's behavior of traveling with five women, thinking that he was a playboy indulging in debauchery.
But everything changed after she learned that the other party was the Emperor of Qin.
She felt everything was reasonable, and even thought he hadn't brought enough.
After all, he was the Emperor of Qin, with three palaces and six courtyards, and three thousand beauties. He only brought five with him when he went out, which was already very low-key.
If the other party were just an ordinary rich kid, she would never have any feelings for him.
Although Chen Wanqing was just the daughter of a merchant, she had very high standards and looked down on all the so-called young masters and scions of noble families in Jiangnan.
It's not that she's picky, it's just that those people really don't meet her standards.
But if the other party is the Emperor of Qin, then everything is different.
That was no ordinary man; he was an emperor who ruled the world and reigned supreme over the nine provinces.
If she could climb up to him, if she could become his woman, then Chen Wanqing would no longer be just a merchant's daughter, and the Chen family would no longer be limited to the Jiangnan region.
With this identity, she can expand the Chen family's business throughout the Qin Dynasty, the Liyang Dynasty, the Western Liang, and the Northern Mang.
She can stand in a higher place, see a more distant view, and touch the sky that she never dared to even imagine before.
The temptation was too great for her to resist.
As Chen Wanqing pondered inwardly, her eyes flickered, her thoughts swirling.
Before long, she had made her decision.
She opened her eyes, and the hesitation and struggle in them were gradually fading away, replaced by a resolute determination.
Chen Wanqing took a deep breath, stood up, walked to the window, and opened it.
The night breeze swept in, carrying the chill of early winter, stirring the stray hairs at her temples and the light veil on her hat.
She gazed out the window at the deep night, at the bright moon half-hidden by the clouds, her eyes growing ever more resolute.
She had to find a way to get close to him. No matter what it took, no matter the cost, she had to find a way to be with him.
Only in this way could she have a chance to get close to him, a chance to get his attention, and a chance to become the person beside him...