A scumbag husband fakes his death to escape his marriage? I'll burn down his funeral hall and s

Chapter 556 Chu Ruohan is tearing off her mask!

The old Princess Yong's face had turned from ashen to a deep liver color.

She was so choked by Chu Ruohan's words, which were soft yet firm, and every word was like a dagger to her heart that she almost couldn't catch her breath. Her hand, pointing at Chu Ruohan, trembled like a withered leaf in the wind.

"You...you...this is utterly unreasonable! It's an insult to civility!"

"Refined?" Chu Ruohan finally let out a soft laugh.

"Does Her Highness's so-called 'refinement' mean that instead of teaching her own child how to be embroiled in scandal, she is eager to drag an innocent family down with her to whitewash the situation?"

"You!" The old Princess Yong looked as if she had been slapped hard across the face, all color draining from her face.

The scandalous affair between the Yong Prince's siblings was an open secret in the capital's high society, yet no one dared to mention it to her face.

Chu Ruohan is tearing off her mask!

"enough."

Su Wan glanced at the pale-faced Princess Yong, then at the indifferent Chu Ruohan, her brows furrowing slightly.

"Today is the Begonia Banquet, a rare occasion for everyone to gather. Let's not let trivial matters spoil our harmony."

She turned to the old Princess Yong and said, "Your Highness must be tired. Why don't you go to the side hall to rest for a while?"

Even though the old Princess Consort of Yong was filled with resentment, she dared not disobey the Empress's wishes.

He could only glare fiercely at Chu Ruohan before fleeing in panic, supported by a maid.

The storm seemed to have subsided.

Su Wan pulled Chu Ruohan's hand and whispered, "Sister Ruohan, why are you doing this to yourself?"

Chu Ruohan lowered her eyes and looked at her daughter's still puffed-up face. She reached out and pinched her round cheeks, which were full of anger.

"Some people, if you treat them with respect, they'll think they can bully you even more. If I don't make things clear, who knows how many more hurtful things will come my way for Qingchen."

She raised her head to meet Su Wan's gaze, her expression calm. "Besides, everything I said is true, and it wasn't just said in anger."

Su Wan looked at her, the emotions in her eyes finally turning into a soft sigh.

She knew that Chu Ruohan was still the same Chu Ruohan.

She appears gentle, but is more resilient than anyone else. Once she's made up her mind, nothing can sway her.

Meanwhile, the Crown Prince, who had been silently observing the entire event, now had more than just admiration in his large, obsidian-like eyes.

He looked at Gu Qingchen, who was being protected in his mother's arms but still dared to bare his teeth at him, and then at Chu Ruohan, who spoke sharply and left Princess Yong powerless.

For the first time in his little mind, he developed a completely new understanding of "woman" besides "Mother Queen," a feeling called "awe."

The crabapple banquet ended on a sour note.

After the crowd dispersed, Su Wan did not let Chu Ruohan leave. Instead, she had a palace servant lead her back to the side hall she had been in before.

Xuan-ge'er was temporarily taken to another place to rest. In the side hall, only Chu Ruohan, Su Wan, and Gu Qingchen, who was still holding his head high and looking unconvinced, remained.

Chu Ruohan took a deep breath, pressed down on Gu Qingchen's shoulders, and made her kneel down.

"Your Majesty, I have failed to properly educate my daughter, who has offended the Crown Prince and disrupted the banquet. I beg Your Majesty to punish her."

Gu Qingchen bent his knees, but still refused to lower his head, muttering softly, "He pushed me first!"

Chu Ruohan was so angry that she raised her hand, but in the end she couldn't bring herself to hit him.

Su Wan quickly stepped forward and personally helped Chu Ruohan up.

"Sister Ruohan, how did things come to this between us?"

She sighed, then bent down and pulled Gu Qingchen, who was stubbornly kneeling, to her feet, patting the dust off her knees.

Instead of speaking harshly, Su Wan took Qingchen's small hand and spoke in a gentle voice like a spring breeze.

"Qingchen, tell me, why did you hit your brother, the Crown Prince?"

Gu Qingchen looked at her, seemingly surprised that the Empress would be so gentle. His arrogance subsided somewhat, but he was still quite self-righteous.

"He tried to steal my butterfly and pushed me!"

Su Wan nodded, listening attentively, before slowly saying, "Then when you hit him and he cried, were you happy?"

Gu Qingchen was taken aback, thought for a moment, and then shook his head.

“He cried, and the palace maids and eunuchs all surrounded him. No one wanted to play with me anymore, so it wasn’t fun at all.”

Su Wan smiled and patted her head.

"That's right. The Crown Prince is the heir apparent, the future emperor. He may not hold it against you for hitting him today, but what will others think?"

“They will think you are unruly, that your mother did not teach you well, and even that the entire Duke Zhenguo’s mansion is arrogant and domineering.”

"You made your mother suffer public criticism because of you today. Do you think you did the right thing?"

These words made Gu Qingchen's face turn red and white in turns. She secretly glanced at her mother's tense profile, and finally lowered her head, her voice barely audible.

"I...I was wrong."

Chu Ruohan felt a sense of relief.

After comforting Qingchen, Su Wan had a palace maid take her downstairs for some refreshments. Once again, only the two of them remained in the hall.

"Look at you, still so polite." Su Wan sat down again and personally poured Chu Ruohan a cup of tea, her tone tinged with helplessness.

"This child's temperament is just like the Duke's; he's fearless."

Chu Ruohan took the tea and said softly, "I'm sorry to have troubled you."

"It's not exactly troublesome." Su Wan shook her head, picked up her teacup, and looked at the rising steam, her gaze becoming somewhat distant.

She suddenly said softly, "The Crown Prince has been composed since childhood. Everyone in the palace flatters and indulges him, which has made him lose his childlike nature."

"Qingchen's outburst today was quite interesting to him. After crying, he even told me that Qingchen's fists were powerful."

As Su Wan spoke, a smile played on her lips, as if she had remembered something amusing.

But the smile gradually faded, and she looked at Chu Ruohan with an indescribable look in her eyes.

"Sister Ruohan, I won't say any more polite words between us."

Her voice was very low, carrying a solemn tone that only the two of them could hear.

"But with Qingchen's personality, if he enters the palace in the future..."

Before he could finish speaking, his words crashed into Chu Ruohan's heart like a boulder.

Chu Ruohan's hand holding the teacup tightened suddenly, and her heart skipped a beat!