Chapter 11 Jiang Huai King of Chu, Huai, burned with the emperor.

Chapter 11 Jiang Huai

The King of Chu, Huai, was burned with the emperor.

The King of Chu seemed not to hear her at all, feeling only that he was being disturbed. He lifted his eyelids slightly and waved his hand aimlessly in the air, "Who’s this kid? Don’t ruin my nap." After saying that, he closed his eyes again.

Jiang Congyan didn't mind the King of Chu's feigned madness and continued to take a step forward, her gaze falling on his face.

The King of Chu had fair skin and a good appearance. Jiang Congyan's eyebrows and eyes resembled his by six or seven parts, both having a dignified and elegant appearance. His broad robe and sleeves, along with his thin figure, gave him a somewhat down-and-out yet charming literati air.

He drank and got drunk all day, but there were dark circles under his eyes, and a very faint 'mountain' shaped wrinkle between his eyebrows, which would not be noticed unless one looked deliberately.

Having started the conversation, Jiang Congyan did not intend to return empty-handed and continued, "Father, when you sent me to Liangzhou back then, it was because that was the only way you could save my life, right?"

"Maybe you hoped I’d stay in Liangzhou forever and never come back to Chang'an. Unfortunately, heaven did not follow your wishes. The emperor’s paranoia was worse than you thought. Even though I am a daughter, he was not at ease with me staying with the Zhang family, which is why Zhao Shi repeatedly wrote letters urging me to return to the capital."

"And you, by acting clueless and defeated, managed to ease his suspicions a bit. Therefore, even to me, your daughter, you dared not show too much closeness."

"If you know all this, why did you come back?!" The King of Chu suddenly turned over from the ground, kicking over a wine jug that hit the sandalwood table leg, making a dull collision sound in the otherwise silent attic, like a flash of thunder in the sky.

He finally opened his eyes, which had been shut for ten years. His eyes were still cloudy, but his gaze was so intense it was hard to meet, as if there were abysses within, or like the hell described in the Buddhist scriptures of the monks in the stupa, where evil spirits are suppressed.

Jiang Congyan suddenly met these eyes, was stunned for a moment, but did not retreat. Instead, she stared directly back at him.

In the dim attic, a slender beam of light leaked through the window gap, crossing between the two of them, illuminating each other's eyes.

One stood, the other sat—father and daughter, silent for ten years, their eyes finally meeting.

They were silent.

They should’ve been the closest of kin, but after ten years, all that remained was distance.

Jiang Congyan had come to see how her father, the King of Chu, felt about her, and also wanted to ask him about the specific events that happened back then. She hadn’t meant to be so sharp, but she’d cut through all of Jiang Huai’s pretenses.

At a loss, Jiang Congyan paused, gathered her thoughts, and pursed her lips. Without caring about the wine stains on the floor, she lifted her skirt and knelt down, sitting face to face with her father at eye level.

"Because I don’t want the Zhang family to suffer more because of me," she slowly began. "My grandparents took pity on my frailty and treated me like a gem. When I was sick, they took care of me without undressing. I couldn’t handle Liangzhou’s climate, so they redid the courtyard, brought in southern delicacies, and found the best doctors... There’s too much to list. Personally, they’ve spent ten years caring for me with such devotion. Even if I can’t repay them, I won’t let them suffer because of me; publicly, the emperor is already very wary of the military power of Liangzhou. If my grandfather openly defies the emperor’s orders for me, I’m afraid he will use this as an excuse to deal with Liangzhou. As his daughter, all he’s worried about is me marrying my Zhang cousin. As long as I return to the capital, he will not deal with me."

"Actually, I’d already struck a deal with Huan Jun, Huan Qilang, to fake a marriage. I just didn’t expect..."

"I didn’t expect Tuo Baxiao to set his sights on you!" Jiang Huai said, his tone already carrying anger.

He regretted his tone as soon as the words left his mouth, but it wasn’t directed at her but at Tuo Baxiao. But they were too distant, and he, a neglectful father, didn’t know how to act around the daughter he hadn’t seen in ten years. He peeked at her face, saw she wasn’t upset, and let himself relax.

Jiang Congyan took a deep breath, nodded heavily with helplessness, "I truly don’t know why he picked me. If I’d known, I’d have stayed far away."

Jiang Huai thought of the news he received, that at the banquet the night before last, Zhao Shi and Noble Consort Zhao colluded with Zhao Zhen, deliberately designing for her to go to the banquet so that Tuo Baxiao could see her.

Was it really just one meeting?

Jiang Huai's eyes flashed with thought, and then looking at his daughter, he suddenly realized that she had already grown into a beautiful young woman.

Before, he only felt that her facial features were becoming more and more like her mother's, and seeing her always reminded him of Yiniang’s sorrow, without thinking of anything else. Now, seeing the light spots fall on her face, illuminating her delicate and beautiful eyebrows and eyes, her skin as white and tender as the finest agarwood without any flaws, even the faint down was shimmering with a slight glow, charming and lovely.

She was radiant and noble, yet her eyes held a rare mix of strength and solitude—a contradiction that made her utterly captivating. He vaguely understood why Tuo Baxiao set his sights on his daughter. But this still did not hinder his anger.

He hated both Tuo Baxiao and Zhao Shi and Noble Consort Zhao. If it weren’t for them, how could his daughter have been seen by Tuo Baxiao.

Jiang Huai felt indignant for a long time, and his thoughts slowly returned to Jiang Congyan, feeling proud of her for what she had just said. She, a daughter, could not touch the court, but she could see the situation so clearly, and deeply understood the emperor’s nature, able to come up with a plan to escape and successfully start it, truly surpassing even men.

But there was a problem—

"How did you figure out that I’ve been pretending all these years?"

Jiang Huai prided himself on his meticulousness, sometimes even fooling himself. Except for a few trusted confidants, no one could see through his disguise. He never expected his daughter, who had only met him a few times, to immediately expose it.

"Well, you see..." Jiang Congyan dragged out her tone, tilting her head, "I was just bluffing!"

"Huh?" Jiang Huai widened his eyes.

Jiang Congyan chuckled, "I was just teasing you."

Her face grew serious as she said, "It's because I believe that the person my grandfather was willing to send his ten-year-old daughter to Chang'an just to protect would not be someone weak-willed or easily defeated. If you were truly so easily crushed, the one sitting on the throne wouldn't have been wary of you for so many years."

Jiang Huai was deeply shaken, and an indescribable feeling surged within him. It was as if, after walking alone in the dark for ten years, a hand suddenly reached out, guiding him forward.

What Jiang Congyan didn't mention was that she had read a passage in historical records from the future.

"Jiang Huai" neither led troops nor engaged in politics, and he didn’t stand out much in this chaotic era. It was only because of his royal lineage that the historian briefly wrote a biography, but much of the information was lost in the later turmoil of the era. Only one passage survived, and Jiang Congyan hadn't paid much attention to it at the time, skimming through it quickly, but she remembered one particular sentence—

"King Huai of Chu, perished in the fire with the Emperor."