Chapter 427 Drunken Madness

Chapter 427: Drunken Rage

Chen Huaxiu's drowsiness was instantly jolted awake. A single bracelet could buy a house outside?

And Yueyue had a hundred and twenty chests—couldn't she just buy up the whole capital city?

Chen Huaxiu's heart raced with excitement. Perhaps because the gap between her recent fantasies and reality had been too wide—the carefree life of plenty she'd dreamed of hadn't come true, and the wealth and glory she'd imagined hadn't been enjoyed.

Little by little, it dawned on her that to make it in the capital, they needed a place to call home.

At the very least, they needed the money to buy a house out there. Ji Qingqing was about to get married—their whole family couldn't just spend their lives serving people here forever, could they?

Chen Huaxiu silently prayed, wishing she could get out of here!

As the girl's mother, she wanted to see with her own eyes just how lavish the Crown Prince's betrothal gifts were.

Just then, a woman's voice asked, "Hey, have you seen my keys? The key to the door seems to be missing!"

The man said, "No, maybe it fell on the way here. Let's go look for it!"

The footsteps faded, and both voices died out at the same time.

Chen Huaxiu had no idea this was all a one-woman show staged by Hua Feixue, meant to stir up the greed in her heart.

She peered through the crack in the door, squinting to see outside, and unexpectedly spotted what looked like a piece of iron on the ground.

Chen Huaxiu's heart leaped with joy—wasn't this the key they'd been looking for?

With the key, she could get out!

She didn't have many skills, but picking a lock was a piece of cake for her.

Chen Huaxiu grabbed a wooden stick, fished the key over from inside, and quickly unlocked the door!

She made a beeline for Ji Qingqing's courtyard.

Everyone was at the banquet in the front courtyard, so there weren't many people in the back. Besides, Chen Huaxiu was dressed as a servant, and quite a few people had seen her around over the past couple of days, so nobody stopped her.

Once inside, Chen Huaxiu indeed saw over a hundred redwood chests stacked neatly in the back courtyard, each one tied with a red silk bow.

She gulped and pushed open the door to Ji Qingqing's room.

On a tray in the room sat all sorts of gold and silver jewelry, and a five-piece jewelry set caught Chen Huaxiu's eye.

It was exactly the gold-inlaid jade five-piece set she'd overheard them talking about earlier.

She figured, since Ji Qingqing had so much jewelry here, nobody would notice if she swiped a piece or two, right?

Chen Huaxiu picked up a gold-inlaid jade bracelet and slipped it on her wrist, then grabbed a matching gold ring and slid it onto her finger. Instantly, she felt she looked absolutely regal.

Next, she opened Ji Qingqing's makeup box and started putting on makeup in front of the mirror.

She was acting like the place was her own home.

Meanwhile, Ji Qingqing, out in the front courtyard, had no idea any of this was going on.

Her eyes kept following Luo Jingshen. When she saw his wine goblet was empty, Ji Qingqing hurried over to pour him a cup, offering it with both hands and apologizing in a low voice.

"Your Highness, everything last night was this humble daughter's fault. This humble daughter offers her apologies and hopes Your Highness will no longer be angry with her!"

Luo Jingshen had had a few drinks and was already feeling tipsy, his resentment mostly gone.

Now that Ji Qingqing was personally pouring him wine in front of so many people, he couldn't very well turn her down, so he reached out and took the cup.

"It's fine. Just don't do that sort of thing again."

Ji Qingqing was thrilled, thinking Luo Jingshen had forgiven her. She quickly said, "Rest assured, Your Highness, this humble daughter promises she won't do it again!"

After several rounds of drinks, the atmosphere grew even more lively, with joy written all over everyone's faces.

The ministers got up one by one to toast Ji Nanchuan, offering their congratulations.

"Congratulations, Marquis, congratulations! Having such a beautiful and talented daughter is truly a blessing for you. When Second Miss Ji becomes the Crown Princess, don't forget about us old colleagues."

"You're too kind, Minister Yu, you flatter me. Your taking time out of your busy schedules to attend my daughter's and the Crown Prince's betrothal banquet is truly an honor for our marquisate!"

Ji Nanchuan replied with polite pleasantries.

But just as he finished speaking, a slurred, drunken voice rang out from behind him.

"That's my daughter! Today is the betrothal day of my daughter and the Crown Prince—why are you congratulating him, an outsider?"

"If you're going to congratulate anyone, it should be me! I'm the Crown Princess's real father! This Ji guy is just a phony who stole my daughter away!"

The crowd was stunned speechless by these words.

They turned around one after another to see who on earth dared to spout such reckless nonsense in front of so many bigwigs.

Turning, they saw a middle-aged man in coarse gray hemp clothes, clutching a wine jug, staggering toward them.

A pungent stench of alcohol hit them as Wu Jinxi staggered up to Ji Qingqing, smiling and waving at her.

"Yueyue, come here to your daddy! Daddy's got something good for you."

The moment she recognized Wu Jinxi, Ji Qingqing's face went pale with fright. She stepped back and suddenly shouted, "Guards! Guards! Drag this drunkard out of here!"

Her first instinct was to keep Wu Jinxi from ruining her betrothal banquet.

Ji Qingqing couldn't figure it out—she'd locked Wu Jinxi in his room that morning, so how was he here now?

But this wasn't the time to think about that. She had to get Wu Jinxi out of here.

Two guards came to drag Wu Jinxi away, but they hadn't expected him to be so strong from all the drink. He kicked them both over in no time.

"How dare you! My daughter is the Crown Princess, and I'll be the Crown Prince's father-in-law! The two of you dare show me disrespect? Believe me, I'll kill you right now!"

With that, he swung his wine jug, pointing it unsteadily at a large group of people.

"Before long, you, and you, and all of you—you'll all be kneeling before me, begging to curry favor with me!"

"My Yueyue is the Crown Princess bestowed by the Emperor himself, the future Empress! Even the Crown Prince doesn't dare treat me like this, and you dare drag me away? Do you think I owe you face?!"

Luo Jingshen's face darkened terrifyingly. He recognized in an instant that this middle-aged man was the same one who'd been leering at him by Taiye Lake that day.

At the time, he'd asked Ji Qingqing about him, and she'd said he was a newly purchased servant of the marquisate who didn't know the rules yet.

But what had he just heard?

This lecherous middle-aged man had called Ji Qingqing "Yueyue"? And claimed she was his daughter?

Would any servant dare to court death like that?

Luo Jingshen shot a sharp look at Ji Qingqing, who quickly explained, "Your Highness, this humble daughter is not called Yueyue, and she doesn't know him. He's just a drunk madman spouting nonsense in his cups. Please don't believe a word he says."

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