CHAPTER 474: CHAPTER 473: ACCEPT WITH A SMILE? THIS PRINCESS CAN’T SMILE.

"Princess!" Yingtao saw Chu Yu about to follow and hurriedly called out.

"It’s alright. If they had any hostility towards this princess, they would have likely shown it in front of Yan Wanqing just now. To choose this time to invite this princess for a talk, it certainly wouldn’t be from an enemy," Chu Yu pondered.

She lifted her foot and walked forward, and just as Yingtao was about to follow, she saw the maid raise her hand to block Yingtao’s way.

"My master only invited Princess Wuyang alone; please wait here with this servant," the maid insisted.

Yingtao shook her head at Chu Yu: "Princess, this is not appropriate; you cannot go alone..."

"Wait here," Chu Yu said directly and then, without looking back, she followed the direction the maid had indicated.

Yingtao had no choice but to stay put.

She looked at the maid: "Who is your master?"

The maid was expressionless: "I cannot reveal that."

"How dare you!" As a head palace maid who always accompanied Chu Yu, Yingtao had never tolerated such insolence. Without a second thought, she raised her hand to teach the maid a lesson, but as soon as her hand was raised and before it could fall, the maid swiftly restrained Yingtao’s wrist, pinching painfully!

"Ouch ouch ouch!" Yingtao’s face turned white with pain.

The maid looked at Yingtao with a sly smile: "Be careful, Sister Yingtao, this secluded place would upset Princess Wuyang if a real fight were to take place."

A threat. This was an outright threat!

Yingtao became even more panicked. She should not have let the princess go alone.

"Princess Wuyang is the king’s most beloved sister. If you harm the princess, the king will not spare you!" Yingtao warned.

Hearing Yingtao’s words, the maid smiled faintly: "Our master’s mood is not something we servants can guess. However, given the princess’s intelligence, she should not easily cause actions that would irritate the master."

Chu Yu followed the overgrown path until she arrived at a pavilion.

The pavilion, nestled against a mountain and beside a stream, was surrounded by bushes as tall as a man, making it very secluded.

Someone in white sat in the pavilion. With the mist rising from the lake, they resembled a beautiful hermit lost to the world.

Upon seeing the person, Chu Yu was slightly astonished: "Qin Erya?"

The woman slowly turned around, revealing a serene smile: "I have seen Princess Wuyang. I didn’t expect that the princess would still remember someone insignificant like me."

Chu Yu hastened into the pavilion in a few strides.

"How could it be you!" she exclaimed in disbelief.

Qin Erya’s lips curved into a shallow smile, her eyes devoid of mirth: "The princess jests. Why couldn’t it be me?"

"The labor-inducing drug was taken by you." Chu Yu had considered many faces during her journey, including Yan Wanqing, but never Qin Erya.

The appearance of this woman was simply too surprising.

Indeed, she was well-concealed.

Qin Erya nodded: "Once I have reached an agreement with the princess, the labor-inducing drug will naturally be returned to you."

"Qin Erya, you’ve hidden yourself well," remarked Chu Yu.

Listening to the irony in Chu Yu’s voice, Qin Erya’s expression remained unchanged: "If the princess takes this attitude, then the labor-inducing drug can only be handed directly to the Crown Prince."

"Are you threatening this princess?" Chu Yu laughed out of sheer frustration.

Now every Tom, Dick, and Harry thought they could come up and threaten her.

Qin Erya remained composed, a breeze carrying raindrops swept through her hair, and she even found time to use her little finger to brush the strand from her lips: "Isn’t it obvious?"

"Fine, fine, fine." Chu Yu, driven to silence by her anger, said: "Get to the point, what exactly do you want to do?"

Chu Kingdom’s envoy had been in Dawei for so many days, and Grand Tutor Qin, comparable to Mount Tai in Dawei, had not shown his face.

Only today did Qin Erya, the legitimate eldest daughter of the Qin Family, truly make her first appearance.

"Work with me to bring down the Yan Family," Qin Erya articulated each word as she looked at Chu Yu.

This statement caused Chu Yu to raise her eyebrows slightly: "Has the Qin Family also incurred the enmity of the Yan Family?"

"I have not."

"Then why is that?" Chu Yu couldn’t understand.

Qin Erya turned around, looking out at the lake shrouded in rain, "Simply because I find those people from the Yan Family displeasing."

"Is that all?" Chu Yu scoffed coldly, "It seems that great minds think alike."

The people from the Yan Family love to be in the spotlight, especially that Yan Wanqing, who is simply nauseating to look at.

It just never occurred to me that this Miss Qin, who seemed so ethereal, could harbor such malice.

Seeing her dressed all in white, looking like a fairy, Chu Yu couldn’t help but inwardly roll her eyes. Do all Dawei people love to posture so much?

Qin Erya, too, was rather sickening.

"So, does Princess Wuyang want to collaborate with me?"

"What’s in it for me to work with you?" Chu Yu was someone who would not wake up early if there were no benefits, especially when dealing with someone who had threatened her the first time they met. She was even more resistant.

Qin Erya chuckled softly, "The main purpose of your visit to Chu Kingdom must be to seek a marriage alliance, right? Don’t you think that Yan Wanqing is way too bothersome?"

"Bothersome as she may be, she is now the Crown Princess Consort of Dawei, and it won’t be long before she is promoted to Empress."

"Princess Wuyang lacks confidence in herself. Without the Imperial Edict or a title, she is merely a Crown Princess Consort in name. Right now, the people of Dawei do not recognize her status. Since her status is not acknowledged, doesn’t that mean you still have a chance?" Qin Erya gently persuaded.

Chu Yu looked at the woman before her, whose eyebrows seemed to harbor deep schemes, "You want me to confront Yan Wanqing head-on? How do I know I won’t be the praying mantis, unwittingly making the bridal dress for the oriole behind?"

Those who managed to live to adulthood successfully in the Chu Kingdom’s Imperial Palace were not so foolish.

Chu Yu was arrogant and domineering but not stupid.

Unexpectedly, Qin Erya had no intention of hiding her motives, "You have no choice. Work with me, and I will help you fulfill your desires. If you refuse, then the labor-inducing drug will be placed on the Crown Prince’s study table tonight. It’s your call."

"That’s not a choice at all!" Chu Yu fumed.

Qin Erya spoke slowly and deliberately, "Or, to put it in your words, this is a threat."

"What is your purpose? What benefit does this bring you?" Chu Yu ground her teeth with anger.

"As I said at the beginning, I simply disdain the Yan Family. The current peace in Dawei is the result of my grandfather’s lifetime of safeguarding. Yet now, it is clouded in smoke all because of the Yan Family. The Crown Prince is young and impetuous and surely won’t listen to the heartfelt advice of his subjects. Therefore, someone needs to act as the villain to serve as a wake-up call. Erya is willing to serve Dawei, and that is all."

She hadn’t expected such a reason.

Chu Yu pondered for a moment.

She thought of something.

"It was you who released the aphrodisiac fragrance."

Upon hearing her words, Qin Erya turned her head, her pretty cheeks showing no concern, "I thought Princess was a smart person. Smart people should talk about evidence."

This statement was neither a denial nor an admission.

Chu Yu understood immediately and clenched her teeth.

"I understand now."

"Then let’s wish each other a pleasant cooperation." Qin Erya turned back, looking at Chu Yu with a smile that was not quite a smile, "I am sincere, and I hope the Princess will be sincere in return. If there happens to be a change of heart, it will not end with mutual destruction. Trust me, the only one who will get hurt will be the Princess."

The light rain gradually stopped.

Yingtao looked eagerly down the path, and as soon as she saw someone approaching, she immediately went out to greet them.

"Princess!"

Chu Yu nodded, walking up to the maid and holding out her hand.

Without a word, the maid pulled out a small purse from her sleeve, "Please accept this, Princess."

"Accept this?" Chu Yu scoffed coldly.

Leaving the place, she had been threatened by Qin Erya, and now she was holding back a stomach full of anger, naturally speaking with a bad tone, "I don’t feel like smiling."