Chapter 276: Chapter 203 The Simple Chu Yuqin_2

“Alright, go take a bath. I’ll have the maids change your sheets,”

Saying this, Chu Yuqin stood up and walked directly towards the door.

Seeing that Chu Yuqin didn’t seem to suspect anything at all, Chu Qingli finally breathed a sigh of relief. It was fortunate that her sister had not discovered anything; otherwise, she had no idea how she would face her in the future.

The thought of that demon made Chu Qingli involuntarily clench her fists.

She was a decent person herself, it was only because of that demon’s hypnosis that she had become like she was yesterday, and now just thinking of him made her body react in strange ways.

She might never be able to break free from this man for the rest of her life. Chu Qingli bit down on her lower lip, reassuring herself that as long as her sister could regain her freedom, everything would be worth it, and enduring some hardship was nothing.

It had already been two times, with only ninety-eight left…

At the thought of the ninety-eight times, Chu Qingli’s body couldn’t help but shudder.

Lu Chen had already broken through to the level of a Grandmaster. With ninety-eight times left, how was she going to manage…

At the same time.

In Chu Xiong’s courtyard.

Chu Xiong sat in the courtyard, sighing as he looked at the corpse on the ground.

The body on the ground was that of the assassin sent by the Chu Family to kill Lu Chen. Last night, Xuanyuan Chen had delivered the corpse and told Chu Xiong about the previous night’s events. Since then, Chu Xiong sat in the courtyard all night without sleep.

He had never imagined that after he left the Chu Family, they would actually send someone to assassinate his own grandson.

But then again, it made sense. His grandson had crossed the bottom line of the Aristocratic Families, and the Chu Family was also one of the South’s Aristocratic Families; they couldn’t tolerate Lu Chen, even if he was the grandson of the former Chu Family Master.

Now that he had lost his position as the Family Head, the Chu Family was completely out of his control.

Chu Xiong understood why Lu Chen had sent the body here—it was a reminder to him, the grandfather, that the Chu Family was now in a hostile state with him, and the North Prince Mansion and the Chu Family were bound to be enemies, forcing him, the grandfather, to make a choice.

Either choose the North Prince Mansion or choose the Chu Family.

Of course, there was another option: to take those in the Chu Family who supported him and leave Great Xia to go to the Da Yue Dynasty or the Great Qian Dynasty.

After pondering in the courtyard for the whole night, Chu Xiong finally made a decision.

He had been staying in the North Country for some time now and had come to understand Lu Chen’s North Country quite well. Although the North Country was still poor, he had noticed that following Lu Chen’s policies, within ten years, the North Country would definitely become the strongest feudal state within the Great Xia Dynasty.

The reason other feudal states couldn’t develop much was largely because their lands were under the control of the Aristocratic Families and local power groups, which meant the Seigniors could do nothing without being restrained by these families.

But the North Country was different. Currently, the North Country was dominated solely by the North Prince Mansion. Whatever the North Prince Mansion decided to do, the people below must strictly obey.

This had its disadvantages—if the North Prince’s policies were wrong, it could impede the development of the North Country. However, there was also a significant advantage: the commands of the North Prince could go directly to the common people. As long as the North Prince remained wise, the North Country would quickly grow to become a strong feudal state, perhaps even the most prosperous.

If the Chu Family moved to the North Country, they would face a significant issue—they would have no land there. Traditional Aristocratic Families were based on land ownership. Without land, an Aristocratic Family would be like a fish without water.

However, during his time in the North Country, Chu Xiong saw a different model of development.

If the Chu Family were to side with the North Prince to avoid extinction, they could also pursue commerce. Transitioning from a land-based Aristocratic Family to a commercial one was also viable, especially since the North Country had much uncultivated land they could take on lease at this time.

Although they would not own the land, they would have the right to use it. According to the North Prince’s regulations, the Aristocratic Families could utilize these lands during the lease period.

Most importantly, with the North Prince Mansion leading the way in commerce, the status of merchants was changing. In the future, in the hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, merchants would no longer be at the bottom.

The business environment in the North Country is very good now, with caravans from various countries constantly coming in and out of Yan County.

If the Chu Family can seize this opportunity, within less than fifty years, they’re bound to become a great family once again.

Of course, Chu Xiong was also aware that an aristocratic family in the North Country would inevitably be suppressed, and his grandson wouldn’t possibly allow the Chu Family to become the kind of family that could control the economic lifeline again.

At that moment, Chu Xiong rose from the stone stool and directly said to the servant in the yard, “Prepare the carriage, this old man is going to the North Prince Mansion.”

Right now, Lu Chen was enjoying the porridge personally made for him by Mu Zixuan, his face always wore a smile when drinking the porridge.

Seeing how good Lu Chen’s mood was, Mu Zixuan smiled and asked, “Prince, which sister served you so happily last night?”

Lu Chen replied with a smile, “My consort, take a guess.”

Mu Zixuan said, “Could it be Nanyan?”

Lu Chen took a sip of porridge and said, “It’s not.”

Mu Zixuan continued, “Isn’t it someone from Spring Sound Court?”

Lu Chen replied, “No, keep guessing.”

Mu Zixuan thought for a moment; there were only two people in Spring Sound Court, Yelv Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao. Since it wasn’t someone from Spring Sound Court, it must be from the northern court, but both Great Jue and Xiaozhou from the north court were already pregnant.

That left only Wang Qingci and Bai Qingqing.

Mu Zixuan said with a smile, “This consort guesses it’s either Wang sister or Little Bai.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen raised his hand and playfully flicked Mu Zixuan’s nose, then said, “Who guesses like you do? I don’t have that many women.” “However, unfortunately, you’ve still not guessed correctly.”

Hearing Lu Chen’s answer, Mu Zixuan was momentarily stunned.

If it wasn’t one of the women known to Lu Chen, could it be Chu Yuqin?

But Chu Yuqin had only come to the main courtyard to find Lu Chen this morning; surely last night Lu Chen wasn’t with Chu Yuqin. That left only Chu Qingli and the two women from Mysterious Moon Palace.

Those two from Mysterious Moon Palace likely hadn’t made their moves so quickly, so by process of elimination, the only one left was Chu Qingli.

But wasn’t Chu Qingli harboring some resentment towards Lu Chen?

Seeing Mu Zixuan seriously contemplating, Lu Chen chuckled and then said, “All right, my consort, don’t fret over it anymore, you’ll find out who it was in due time.”

Mu Zixuan snapped back to reality, her smile reappearing as she said, “Even if the Prince doesn’t say, this consort has already guessed. Congratulations to the Prince for acquiring another beauty.”

Just then, a maid entered the hall, “Prince, there is an elder outside looking for you.”

Hearing the maid’s words, Lu Chen instantly guessed who it was; he had anticipated that Chu Xiong would come looking for him last night.

Then Lu Chen put down his bowl and said, “Take him to the study.”

Yes, Prince.”