Chapter 840 Where’s the Original Craftsman?
“As long as you want to see it, I will lead you and be in your company, Your Highness.” Old Madam nodded and agreed. She didn’t directly uncover Shao Caihuan’s crush on Prince Chen, nor did she take notice of what Shao Caihuan had said before.
Old Madam turned to ask Shao Wanru, “Wanru, are you going to stay here to enjoy the screen wall or accompany Prince Chen to visit your Second Uncle’s courtyard?”
Shao Wanru was still immersed in the sadness of the past. Quhuan Courtyard was not always accessible. Even it was she who wanted to enter it, she would have to get Old Madam’s permission. She was certainly unwilling to leave it now when she had such a precious chance to stay and pay a visit to her father’s courtyard.
Shao Wanru shook her head gently, hid the sadness in her eyes, and replied, “Grandma, I want to go on watching Father’s writings.”
“Well, then you stay here, and Caihuan and I will show Your Highness to your Second Uncle’s courtyard!” Old Madam said.
Shao Wanru nodded, meanwhile stealing a glance at Chu Liuchen beside her and noticing his slightly frowned eyebrows. Prince Chen seemed not to be happy.
On perceiving Shao Wanru’s look, Chu Liuchen suddenly smiled and said to her in a gentle tone, “Well, you stay here first. I have something to talk about with you later!”
“Yes, Your Highness!” Shao Wanru bowed and replied more respectfully in front of others. Of course, she did not refuse him with an excuse.
Chu Liuchen was slightly pleased by her attitude. He turned around and walked out. Old Madam winked at Shao Caihuan and immediately followed up.
At first, Shao Caihuan had fallen into a state of self-hatred after her words were totally ignored by Old Madam and Chu Liuchen. After the moment she received Old Madam’s hint, she immediately turned to be delighted in her heart and speeded up her pace to catch up with Chu Liuchen.
“Grandma leaves Shao Wanru alone there and chooses me to follow them. Does grandma intend to help me?” Shao Caihuan felt shy and excited, and her heart almost jumped out of her chest.
But on second thoughts, she suddenly felt aggrieved and started to complain in her mind. Why was it not Shao Wanru but her who was infectious in the palace at that time? If Shao Wanru had been infected and had scars on her face, she would have been kicked out of the palace. And she herself would have been the legal Princess Chen. Thinking of this, Shao Caihuan felt pretty excited.
She cast an obsessive look at Chu Liuchen’s straight back. What else would she ask for in this life if such a man married her?
Shao Caihuan was not daring to get too close to Chu Liuchen, nor was she reluctant to stay too far from him. She trotted behind him with a two-step distance and peeked at him with affection from time to time. All her mind was entirely occupied with Chu Liuchen so that she had no notice of Old Madam’s observation on her.
When seeing Shao Caihuan’s excessive infatuated expressions, Old Madam couldn’t help frowning, worrying that it might be not a good idea!
They arrived at the gate of Duke Xing’s courtyard which was called the Luofeng Courtyard. It was an independent courtyard in the outer court. There was no separate courtyard only for him in the inner court. If Duke Xing would like to live in the inner court, he would have to go to Madam of Duke Xing or other concubines’ courtyard.
When stepping in, they first saw an attic remote at a corner of the courtyard. If it weren’t for its prominent position, it would be very inconspicuous.
“What a tall building it is!” Chu Liuchen stood still and said with an exclamation.
“That is a place built for Second Uncle to do reading or take breaks, but he doesn’t often use it because it is a little too high. Second Uncle has another study!” Shao Caihuan quickly stepped forward and explained.
“Is it vacant?” Chu Liuchen raised his eyebrows and asked.
“Yes, it is. There must be some trashes in it now. I heard that very few people will go there and it’s basically a disused room. But anyway, it’s a room in Second Uncle’s courtyard, so it is still regularly cleaned by the servants.” Shao Caihuan tried her best to explain to Prince Chen in a flattering attitude. Receiving a question from Prince Chen, she was terribly delighted and excited.
Chu Liuchen gave an indifferent glimpse at Shao Caihuan. In his eyes, there was a trace of coldness, which seemed to be with the air of autumn and winter so that his remote attitude towards Shao Caihuan could be easily told from a merely short glimpse of him.
However, Shao Caihuan didn’t notice that Chu Liuchen’s expression had changed because her mind was busied with Chu Liuchen’s gentle appearance and voice.
Old Madam coughed in a low tone and then scolded Shao Caihuan, “Third Girl, come here! You don’t know about the truth, so don’t take your nonsenses as proper explanations and tell them to Prince Chen.”
Shao Caihuan was confused by the inexplicable blame and felt very aggrieved. But she had to step back and stay close to Old Madam. She lowered her head and played the handkerchief in her hand, feeling helpless and aggrieved.
“Old Madam, do you mean that this attic is used for some else activities?”
Chu Liuchen ignored Shao Caihuan again. He could never perceive other women’s shyness. He looked up at the tall building with a thoughtful look, “This building is really strange.”
“This is the building first established in our mansion as the main house of Duke’s courtyard, where the master once dealt with official affairs and received guests. That attic is also a good place to enjoy the scenery. But later, it was considered to be improper, so another study was built to replace it!” Old Madam explained.
“Why was it considered improper? You can receive guests, have a rest and even enjoy the scenery there. Isn’t it a good room?” Chu Liuchen raised his eyebrows and asked in a casual tone.
“Yes, it was. But later…” Old Madam was about to say something but hesitated. She had no idea what to say.
“Oh? Any particular reasons?” Chu Liuchen was interested. He fixed his eyes on that attic again, which appeared to be a bit deserted.
Since he asked so, Old Madam had to go on. “Nothing particular! This courtyard was at first prepared for my eldest son. Even some of his furniture had been moved here at that time for it was convenient for him to move in later. However, he was, unexpectedly… in the end…”
Old Madam said in a bitter voice, which was followed by a sad sigh and a helpless shake of her head. When it came to her eldest son, she could not help feeling mournful. “Later than that, my second son moved in. It was against my wish that my eldest son’s belongings were thrown away, so I advised my second son to remove them into the attic of this tall building. Then, this attic was vacant. There was nothing wrong with such an arrangement, and my second son also didn’t like this attic, which was located at a remote corner of the whole courtyard. He preferred to build a new one as the study!”
“The stuff of the former Heir of Duke Xing?” Chu Liuchen was quite surprised by such an explanation. “Can’t they be kept in his Quhuan Courtyard?”
“Quhuan Courtyard was the common courtyard shared with his wife Infanta Qinghua. She had lived there since she married in. And she had brought a lot of her belongings from her home. So my eldest son moved some of his things here. After that, Quhuan Courtyard was mainly taken up by Infanta Qinghua’s stuff!” Old Madam explained.
That was a reasonable statement. At that time, the former Duke Xing, as a father, often taught lessons to the former Heir of Duke Xing. So it was normal that the former Heir of Duke Xing moved some things to where his father was living and left them there. In such a case he didn’t have to go back to the inner court to fetch what he needed every time.
Chu Liuchen nodded to respond to Old Madam and stopped asking more questions. Satisfied with the explanation, he walked into the courtyard.
Two servants were guarding the gate. After seeing Old Madam and Chu Liuchen, they knew that the man was not an ordinary guest, so they hurried forward to salute both of them.
“Is the Duke here?” Old Madam asked.
“No, he isn’t. Duke Xing is not in the courtyard. We haven’t seen him since today!” one of the servants answered immediately.
Old Madam frowned. “Why did Shao Jing not come back after such a fire happened last night?” But she wasn’t able to ask them directly in front of Chu Liuchen. She could only say, “Open the door. Prince Chen wants to go in to have a visit!”
The servants dare not refuse Old Madam’s request and did what she asked. As Chu Liuchen walked in at a slow pace, he found that there was also a huge screen wall facing the door, and it was similar to the one in Quhuan Courtyard, which was quite surprising.
Could it be a convention of each heir of Duke Xing’s Mansion?
Chu Liuchen went close to the screen wall and took a glance, and he found it the same as any other screen wall. Nothing else but a painting was drawn on it. He went to the backside and saw another painting.
Chu Liuchen stood still and started to appreciate the painting, during which he kept a faint smile on his face. With the belief that he was in a good mood, Old Madam let out her breath. She was so afraid that Prince Chen was angry and she couldn’t tell it. At this time, Prince Chen looked pleased, so Old Madam thought that there was nothing to be worried about.
Old Madam was clear that Prince Chen should have noticed how she bullied Shao Wanru in the flower hall before. But he smiled for a painting, she began to think that maybe Shao Wanru was not so important for him.
She was unable to leave because Chu Liuchen had not left yet. She could only stand still and wait for Chu Liuchen to finish his appreciation.
Shao Caihuan stood on the side of Chu Liuchen. Catching the sight of the conspicuous smile on his face, she smiled. She kept fiddling the handkerchief in her hands, with a little shyness and a wish of talking to him in her heart. However, she was afraid of being scolded by her grandma. She racked her brains on how to get a chance to stay alone with Prince Chen!
“Old Madam, whose work is this painting?” Chu Liuchen asked after he watched it for a while. His attention was all gathered on the painting.
“I have no idea, Your Highness. When this courtyard was rebuilt, it was the former Duke who customized the screen wall. It was not in my charge!” Old Madam shook her head. Indeed, she didn’t know about it and couldn’t give an answer even she wanted to.
Duke Xing’s Mansion had existed for a long time, and it was one of their ancestral estates. But later some places of it were destroyed in a war, and this courtyard happened to be one of them. So this courtyard was a rebuilt place. Old Madam only knew that it was rebuilt, but she didn’t know how it was rebuilt!
However, Chu Liuchen didn’t take much notice of Old Madam’s words. After carefully watching the drawing style, he asked again, “Do you know where are the craftsmen who built this courtyard?”
“Those craftsmen…” Old Madam hesitated for a moment and answered, “Your Highness, I don’t know who they are, but the old housekeeper may know something. If you wish, I can ask someone to call the old housekeeper over!”