Chapter 216 Almost Ruined Innocence
Knowing that they would be performing in the palace, everyone had been rehearsing very hard during this period. Their performance today was "The Legend of White Snake". The snake catcher and the young actor went on stage first.
The actors performed the play vividly and the audience watched it with great interest.
Just when everyone was watching the show intently, Cai Lian, the maidservant beside Princess Ning Jia, quietly left.
After a while, Cai Lian came back and whispered to the princess, "Princess, I have inquired and found that Liang Qianhuan has indeed entered the palace with the opera troupe."
"Okay, then you follow the plan."
"Yes, I understand."
The play on the stage was still going on. During the touching parts, the concubines couldn't help but pick up their handkerchiefs to wipe their tears.
The Queen Mother was also deeply moved when she saw Xu Shilin kneeling down and begging God for mercy in order to rescue his mother from the tower.
Once a play is successfully performed, the performers on the stage will immediately leave.
The eunuch led them out of the imperial garden and back to the previous palace.
The eunuch said to Qianhuan and the others, "Your performance today is over. You cannot stay in the palace any longer. Take your belongings and leave the palace with me. If His Majesty has any reward, he will send someone to read the decree outside the teahouse."
Qianhuan nodded and agreed, "Yes, I understand."
Just as they were about to leave, a little palace maid suddenly appeared.
The young maid bowed to Eunuch Liu and said, "I am the maidservant of the Ninth Princess. The Ninth Princess said that the troupe performed very well and she was very satisfied. She wants to summon the owner of the teahouse to give him a reward. Eunuch Liu, please lead the others out of the palace first."
Eunuch Liu knew that this opera troupe was invited into the palace by the Ninth Princess, so even though he felt that the palace maid looked unfamiliar, he did not doubt it too much.
Eunuch Liu said to Qianhuan, "Then you go to see the princess, and the rest of you follow me."
So Eunuch Liu led the others out of the palace, and Qianhuan followed the little palace maid.
Meanwhile, in the Imperial Garden, the Queen Mother was very happy after watching the play. She couldn't help but praise it, "This play is so wonderful."
The Queen Mother looked at the Ninth Princess and praised her, "Shiyao, the troupe you invited this time is very good. I like it very much."
"Grandmother, as long as you like it, as long as Grandmother is happy, Shiyao will be happy too."
The emperor was also very pleased to see the queen mother happy. He said to the ninth princess, "Shiyao, you are usually so naughty and never do anything good. This time you performed so well. Tell me what reward you want and I will give it to you."
Seeing the emperor happy, the Ninth Princess quickly said, "Father, I want to learn martial arts, but I can't find a good master. Father, I heard that Commander Qian is very good at martial arts. Can you let him teach me martial arts?"
The emperor laughed out loud with joy when he heard this. "Well, it's rare that you are so motivated and actually want to learn martial arts. I will agree to your request."
The Ninth Princess glanced at Qian Bolin, then immediately knelt down to express her gratitude, "Thank you, Father."
The emperor looked at Qian Bolin who was sitting at the table and asked, "Qian Aiqing, are you willing to teach the princess martial arts?"
Qian Bolin never thought that rewarding the princess would involve himself. He politely declined, "Your Majesty, I am in charge of the security inside and outside the imperial city. I am afraid I don't have much time to teach the princess martial arts."
The Ninth Princess was immediately unhappy when she heard this. She pouted and looked at the emperor with grievance and said coquettishly, "Father, Commander Qian must despise me for being stupid, so he doesn't want to teach me martial arts."
The emperor usually doted on the Ninth Princess. Seeing the princess' aggrieved look, he immediately scolded her, "Commander Qian, are you dissatisfied with my order?"
Qian Bolin quickly bowed and said, "I dare not. I will definitely find time to teach the princess martial arts every day."
When the emperor heard his answer, he nodded and smiled with satisfaction.
The Queen Mother continued, "Emperor, I heard from Shiyao that this troupe is from a newly opened teahouse in the capital. The performances in this teahouse are so wonderful. You should also appreciate the owner of this teahouse."
The emperor nodded, "Well, what the queen mother said is right, they should indeed be rewarded. Then reward them with a thousand taels of gold and give them a plaque with the words 'The World's No. 1 Garden'. Li Dequan, you can send someone to the teahouse to announce the decree later."
"Yes, slaves follow the order."
The next step is naturally for the ladies to show their talents.
The Queen stepped forward and said, "I've heard that all the noble ladies in the capital are very talented. Next, I'd like to invite all the noble ladies to perform on stage. Which noble lady will perform first?"
When Zhao Yanran saw the prince was present, she immediately stood up and said, "Yanran is willing to perform first."
Having said that, Zhao Yanran asked her maid to fetch the guzheng and play it.
At this time, Qianhuan had been brought to a row of palaces by the little palace maid. Seeing that it was quite quiet here, Qianhuan could not help but ask, "Sister palace maid, where is the princess?"
The maid turned around and said, "The princess is in this room, you can go in by yourself."
As she spoke, the little palace maid opened the door. When Qianhuan had just stepped over the threshold, she suddenly felt a pain in her neck and immediately lost consciousness.
At this time, Cai Lian saw the little palace maid coming back and knew that the matter was done, so she quickly and secretly gave a wink to King Runan at the banquet.
Prince of Runan is the youngest son of the late emperor, and he is only in his thirties or forties. Prince of Runan is a well-known pervert in the capital, with countless concubines in his mansion. He is also very perverted, and women are often tortured to death by him.
The emperor also knew that the Prince of Runan was licentious and immoral, but seeing that he posed no threat to the throne, he turned a blind eye to his licentiousness and let him do what he wanted.
After Cai Lian left the table, King Runan also followed Cai Lian and left.
He followed Cai Lian all the way to a palace. After walking for a while, he asked impatiently, "Didn't the princess say that she had a peerless beauty to give to me? Where is the beauty?"
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. The beauty is in the lounge in front. Just follow me and you'll know."
When King Runan followed Cai Lian into the room, he saw that there was actually a person lying on the bed, with an abnormally flushed face.
When King Runan saw that the man was dressed in men's clothing despite his red lips and white teeth, he immediately became furious, "You are kidding me, you actually found a man for me."
Cai Lian immediately comforted him, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. How dare this servant play tricks on you?"
As she spoke, Cai Lian stepped forward and untied Qianhuan's hairband, revealing her long black hair that flowed down like a waterfall. Upon seeing this, King Runan's eyes lit up.
What a stunning beauty! This woman is hundreds or even thousands of times more beautiful than Zhao Yanran, the most beautiful woman in the capital.
But he was not a fool. Although the emperor turned a blind eye to his debauchery, he was now in the palace. If this woman was a concubine, he would be in big trouble.
He asked, "What is the identity of this woman, and why did the princess give her to me?"
Cai Lian said, "Your Majesty, just rest assured. This woman is just a lowly commoner. She offended our princess, and our princess just wants to ruin her reputation. Your Majesty, just enjoy her. The princess will bring people here later. If you are discovered, Your Majesty, you can say that this woman seduced you in order to get close to the rich and powerful. His Majesty will definitely not punish you, but will only execute this cheap woman."
"Wouldn't it be a pity to execute such a stunning beauty?"
"If the prince is reluctant to let her die, please let your majesty give her to you as a bed-warming maid. It won't be too late to kill her when the prince is tired of her."
"Okay, I will accept this great gift from the princess."
Cai Lian said with a wicked smile, "Then I will not disturb the prince's good deeds."
Having said that, Cai Lian left the room and considerately closed the door.
Qianhuan felt uncomfortable all over. She kept tearing her clothes off and kept shouting "It's hot, so hot."
The King of Runan walked up to her and said with a lewd smile, "My little beauty, I will treat you well now, and you will no longer feel uncomfortable."
As he spoke, Prince Runan began to reach out to take off Qianhuan's clothes. Perhaps he was a little impatient, and after a long time he failed to untie the clothes, so he simply tore open the collar of her coat.
It was summer at the time, and Qianhuan was not wearing much. After tearing open her outer clothes, her white bra binder was revealed.
King Runan looked at the girl's jade-white body in front of him and couldn't help swallowing. He quickly reached out to take off his clothes.
Qianhuan woke up when she heard the sound of clothes tearing. She opened her eyes and saw an old man taking off his clothes in front of her. She immediately realized that something was wrong.
She struggled to get up from the bed and ran under it, but she fell to the ground as soon as she got out of bed.
She was shocked. What was going on? Why did she feel weak and hot? Did someone give her an aphrodisiac?
King Runan was not afraid to see her wake up. He took off his clothes and said, "Don't be afraid, my little beauty. I will take good care of you."
Qianhuan crawled behind him and asked, "Who are you? What do you want to do?"
King Runan said, "I am the King Runan. We are alone in a room, a man and a woman. What do you think I am going to do?"
When Qianhuan heard the title of King of Runan, she became even more panicked. He was actually this pervert. It was said that he specialized in torturing women, and many women were harmed by him every year.
No, I must not fall into the hands of this demon, otherwise I will end up in a miserable state.
Unfortunately, she didn't have anything to protect herself, so she quickly looked at the objects in the room, thinking about how to escape.
King Runan had already taken off his outer clothes at this time, and he walked towards Qianhuan with a lewd smile.
Qianhuan had already stood up at this time. She held on to the table in the middle of the room to barely prevent herself from falling.
She deliberately said fearfully, "Don't come over here."
Prince Runan slowly walked towards her, then picked her up and pressed her on the table. He grabbed Qianhuan's legs and prepared to start taking off her pants.
Qianhuan bit her lips so hard that blood came out, which made her sober up a lot.
Just when Prince Runan was about to pull down his pants, Qianhuan immediately picked up the teapot on the table and smashed it on Prince Runan's head with all her strength.
The King of Runan immediately fell down. Qianhuan quickly put on her pants, and at this time, a lot of footsteps were heard outside the door.
Qianhuan was suddenly extremely panicked. If someone saw her and Prince of Runan in the same room, even if nothing happened between them, her innocence would be ruined.
The Prince of Runan was the emperor's younger brother, so naturally nothing would happen to him. But I was just a little peasant girl, and I would either be executed or sent to the Prince of Runan to be tortured. No matter which one I chose, I would not be able to escape death.
Thinking of this, Qianhuan quickly ran to the window. Fortunately, the window was not very high. The moment the door was pushed open, Qianhuan immediately opened the window and jumped out.