WARNING: A VERY BEAUTIFUL MAN, HOLD YOUR HEARTS. HEHEHE.
A young man, who looked as if he had stepped out of a hideously beautiful painting, stood at a black lacquer tea table, quietly sipping from a white porcelain tile cup with small images of herons and lilies drawn on the base of the cup, he sipped a sweet and smooth jasmine tea.
His hair was dark brown like mahogany, falling from his shoulder to his waist, which was swathed with a black sash with a green jade stone in the shape of a lotus, which was used as a belt. The cold winter breeze brought with it little flakes of snow, fluttering the long, wide sleeves of his violet tunic, the light winter sun intruded on the silver embroidery of beautiful peonies on his tunic, his black silk pants made a contrast between cold and warm against the soft red cushion.
The beautiful fox eyes with long dark lashes and thick lashes had a cold stare, the bright blue granite eyes were filled with disappointment for the person in front of them.
His thin, wide lips the color of ripe peaches were in a straight line, his pretty face just had a serious and cold expression. He looked more like a beautiful living statue made by a god who appreciates beauty, if it weren't for the exquisite, smooth motion of sipping tea every few minutes.
"Qiao'er, are you listening to me?" The woman's voice was soft and frivolous, reminiscent of an exuberant male bird trying to conquer the females with its bold song.
The woman's fox eyes narrowed dangerously as she took in her handsome son, who seemed to ignore her words.
"Chu Qiao, I am your mother! I did so much for you! I'm just asking you to bring your little brother for a walk, I'm not asking for anything more. Are you not a filial child? Shouldn't you listen to me, since I'm your real mother?" the woman said in a hurt tone, her pretty brown eyes filled with tears, she looked really very pitiful.
Chu Qiao just looked at his birth mother's acting and didn't bat an eyelash, of course, he didn't feel touched by such a performance. If it had been three years ago, he might have fallen for this trick of a poor concubine bullied by the first wife and ignored by her tyrannical husband.
Now, Chu Qiao just stared indifferently at this performance in front of him. After letting his birth mother put on her big show, he took another sip of jasmine tea, then spoke in a tone full of indifference:
"So, do you want me to go for a walk with little brother Wang (Chu Wang) right in the square next to the city's former brothel, which is now a noble inn, where the second imperial prince is staying?"
The woman stopped acting in a pitiful way, wiping her pretty fox eyes with an embroidered linen handkerchief, taking off some of her skin-lightening makeup, which made her frown in annoyance at spreading her makeup so carefully placed to make her look younger and fresher.
"Little Wang has been wanting to go out for some time as he cannot accompany the family to the party at the Shen Family's house. So isn't this a good opportunity for you to hang out with your little brother and develop feelings?" the woman said very softly, ignoring her son's nonchalant tone and the innuendo in his sentence.
"So I take little brother Wang to the square and most likely I'll be threatened to hand over little brother Wang, or maybe I'll be tricked by someone, while they kidnap little brother Wang. There are many possibilities, with only one outcome... Little brother Wang will be used as a bargaining chip to force younger brother Jiayi to commit to a meeting with the second imperial prince. Am I not right, concubine Liu?" Chu Qiao's nonchalant tone became more and more icy with each sentence.
Concubine Liu was silent as if transfixed, before smiling beautifully like a blooming flower full of charm. Another cool breeze passed through both of them, her dark brown hair got a little messy, but it didn't make her messy, instead she became even more beautiful, really like a nine-tailed fox.
This nine-tailed fox was the mother of such a noble and fair son, that such beauty was a waste in such a man.
"Qiao'er, you are my son. The Chu family has no future if Emperor Zhao decides to headhunt them. Also, that slut or rather your brother Chu Jiayi, he has the patriarch and his father in the palm of his hand. Who even allowed him to commit to a man! What's left for you? Isn't it better for you to earn the favor of the Second Imperial Prince and make a path for yourself?" said concubine Liu with a charming smile and her seductive voice.
She didn't feel ashamed of being discovered, on the contrary, she was pleased that her son was smart. It was a pity that Chu Qiao didn't have Chu Jiayi's charisma, nor Chu Yan's talent in the sword, let alone Chu Lifen's importance to the family, or Chu Fang's strength in martial cultivation.
Smart, but that was it. A beauty more beautiful than herself, but too fair to use his body to seduce anyone and not much martial talent to brag to his brothers.
To the concubine Liu, her son was nothing but a failure.
Chu Qiao was silent for a moment, looking at his beautiful birth mother. In the past, he resented the first wife and felt sorry for his mother who was just an ordinary concubine, unlike Chu Yan's mother who was an Honored Concubine.
Furthermore, Chu Jiayi's first wife after the birth of Chu Jiayi became harsher towards him and put him down. Chu Qiao had a lot of resentment against the first wife he had to call mother and his younger half-siblings, who because they were sons of the first wife received better resources and more "love" from the family.