chapter 5
That’s right.
Liu Ruo was pretending.
Her “mute” act was a pretense, her pitiful demeanor was a pretense, and even in her previous life, her “shameful suicide” was an act.
On the deserted corner of Changan Street in Chang’an, I personally heard her oriole-like voice.
She sobbed as she pleaded with a masked person:
“Master, I am but an orphaned girl. If I don’t use some bitter trick, how could Your Highness the Crown Prince ever pay attention to me?”
“Master, please give me another False Death Pill!”
“Master, Ruoruo truly admires Your Highness the Crown Prince. I know my status-being his concubine would already be reaching above my station.”
“But His Highness once promised me the position of principal wife. I must make something of this matter, so that His Highness will always feel guilty toward me.”
“Master, please grant Ruoruo this wish!”
“As long as I fake my death once, His Highness will remember his debt to me for the rest of his life!”
How skilled she was at pretending.
She deceived Chu Heng, she deceived me.
She deceived all the high officials and nobles in Shangjing.
I once asked Chu Heng why he was so enamored with Liu Ruo.
“I was born the Crown Prince. Everyone flatters me, lifts me up.”
“They respect me, love me, but only because I am the Crown Prince.”
“Even you, Shuyin-if I were not the Crown Prince, would you still love me?”
That question stumped me at the time.
If he were not the Crown Prince, there would be no engagement between us, nor would we have grown up together. How could there be love or not?
“Only Ruoruo, when she did not know my identity, was willing to give her life for me.”
“Shuyin, how could I resist such pure love?”
I was almost convinced by him.
As a daughter of a noble family, I have always thought twice before acting.
I have to consider my parents, my family. I truly would not easily give my life for someone.
We all overlooked another possibility.
Even if Chu Heng fell off a cliff, just by the clothes on his back, his noble status would be evident.
Whether as a young master, an heir, or the Crown Prince.
From the very beginning, Liu Ruo had made up her mind.
She was determined to climb this high branch.