Chapter 269: A Single Thought to Conceal

Sure enough.

Sure enough.

Chen Weifang said, "Why can't the Young Emperor marry the Spring Day Clan?" Upon saying that, Du Shanü finally understood why the other had dragged her into saying all that.

Perhaps, urging her to accept this deal before her is false, urging her not to worry about the Spring Day Clan is also false......

Chen Weifang today wanted to say, wanted to test, from beginning to end there was only one matter——

That is, to probe whether she could abandon Yu Baobao.

Du Shanü, under the other's care for a long time, had actually forgotten this person Chen Weifang, who usually appeared as if covered with a layer of gentle beauty......

But beneath the skin, the flesh has always been ruthless and vicious.

In his whole life, it seems he only ever had some genuine feeling for Chinu; besides that, everything is illusory.

Boarding her pirate ship was Chinu's idea.

Wandering tumultuously with her everywhere was Chinu's idea.

Even now that she is pregnant, he still cannot help but want to scheme for even more for Chinu.

She is pregnant; let alone for the child, for her own body it is utterly impossible to sleep with Yu Baobao.

And when the day comes and the child is born, her nature will not let her stay too far or too long from the child.

Du Shanü and Yu Baobao are destined to meet rarely and part often.

Thus, as time goes on......

In others' eyes, at least in Chen Weifang's eyes, her past affection with Yu Baobao naturally became a flower in the mirror, a moon in the water.

Everyone makes mistakes when young; but as long as one is set back on the right path, it is merely a 'mistake' after all.

Someone like Chen Weifang would not care about fate, nor about the 'primary star' or 'secondary star', let alone the fact that Chinu had forcibly taken her favor from beside the Young Emperor......

He would only feel that what Chinu has obtained is still not enough.

Du Shanü remained silent for a long, long time before finally speaking:

"Afang, I don't like you saying that."

"I can only tell you that back then I first chose Yu Baobao and let him marry into my family; it was not without reason."

Du Shanü had also once dreamed that if she were someday allowed a glimpse of the supreme position, how would others likely judge her——

Perhaps, everything would be just like that dream of losing Chinu.

She has a very powerful natal clan, an imperial husband who cannot be easily deposed, and also a low-born but wonderfully tolerant noble consort who is truly her beloved.

Moreover, she even has several bosom friends who are blue‑faced confidants.

For example, Chen Weifang, who can pull her ears and scold her; for example, someone humble in speech, earnest in gaze, who insists on sleeping on her lap......

And after Chinu's death, in order to pursue that irrepressible beloved, she might also take in many attendants similar to Chinu.

She need not remember their names, after all that group is constantly present and constantly changing year after year.

No one stays young forever, but as long as she holds power, there will always be younger people standing before her.

Just that, however, does not mean she will not be lonely.

Losing Chinu, loneliness seems already settled.

Before being seized by fate, how much she loved Chinu; after being seized by fate and losing Chinu, she will feel that much heart‑rending anguish.

However, what she had not said before——

Fortunately, she still has Yu Baobao.

If we say what Chinu represents is an ever‑boiling, surging tide, the limit of a beautiful dream.

What Yu Baobao represents, however, is the baseline that keeps her from being swept into an undertow; as long as she is by his side, she will at least never again fall into a nightmare.

Everyone knows to pursue beautiful dreams, but no one tells her what to do if she has inadvertently fallen into a dream.

But Yu Baobao seems to know.

He knows, he knows.

Heaven and earth are unkind; sun and moon make no distinction.

Yu Baobao held her, catching her before the darkness could invade that grand hall, before her soul could fall together with the dream.

His tears fell drop by drop onto her temples.

One day when they first met, while grinding acorn flour, the sweat that dripped from his fingertips.

His love has never been intense; everything lies hidden in the realm of half‑understood, where everything is learned and there is always something to learn.

But he is not wrong.

He is not wrong.

If we say Chinu is her upper limit of perceiving worldly affairs, then Yu Baobao is the lower limit guaranteeing she will not come to ruin.

What Afang said earlier seems quite reasonable.

But do the people of the world need such a ruthless ruler?

One can use intrigue for a time, but to walk the great way and seek lasting peace, can one rely on intrigue for a lifetime?

The trend of the world, clearly recorded in the histories——

Those emperors who achieved great exploits, even if their early methods were not honorable, afterwards who did not strive desperately to display their virtue?

Intrigue is the art; upright strategy is the way.

Blind partiality is a dead end.

Therefore, no matter whose plan is offered, one must still have the ability to decide for oneself.

Afang may not be acting ill‑will toward Chinu, or toward Chinu's unborn child......

Even, it may be for her own good.

But one's own days are lived by oneself, and one knows oneself best.

She simply couldn't discard Yu Baobao, she simply had no way to discard Yu Baobao.

Otherwise, should the tide ever turn against her, she would have nowhere to seek refuge and recuperate, and would likely become a 'hero who refuses to cross the River East', taking her own life.

Du Shanü......

Du Shanü is unwilling to do so.

With Yu Baobao by her side, she always has a retreat, always has a reference point, telling herself that as a person she must hold fast to her final bottom line.

Otherwise, today she could harm the Spring Day Clan for a sum of grain, and tomorrow she could harm another potential ally for a sum of silver......

Perhaps, as the stakes rise, she will have to abandon those who have followed her all along—selling Chunri Jian, selling Afang, selling...... selling Chinu, selling Yu Baobao, selling her children.

Some rifts, if not opened from the start, will bring endless trouble if opened later.

Although the earlier disturbance in Cang Cheng had multiple causes, part of it was due to Yu Baobao's inability to exercise authority and fulfill her supervisory duties.

But ultimately, back in that small mountain village, what Du Shanü had taken a liking to at first sight was precisely Yu Baobao's innocent kindness......

If she were to abandon him for that reason, it would be putting the cart before the horse.

Du Shanü will not abandon him, just as she cannot abandon Chinu nor bring herself to stop loving Chinu......

This is actually the same principle.

Love wishes for its life; hatred wishes for its death.

Love and hate, no one can ever explain them clearly.

Even now, when she quarrels with Chinu and Afang, she occasionally feels like going to Cang Cheng to listen to Yu Baobao recite poetry.

I don't know if Yu Baobao is still writing poems, but I hope it's not another 'Jiang Cheng Zi: Salty Duck Egg Yolk Wanting to Save It for Last, Ends Up Falling on the Ground'......

"Let's just let it go for now."

Du Shanü came to her senses, and did not look again at Afang's faintly disappointed gaze from her own household:

"Our territory is still too small, our influence not yet great enough; seeking allies now is not the best timing. Moreover, the Spring Day Clan is overly top-heavy, its internal forces mixed and chaotic, making it a poor choice for alliance."

"Once we take Zhoufu and sweep Yongzhou clean, we might yet encounter better allies; when the time comes to seek partners, we'll have more confidence."

"Sigh, I wonder how Guai Nunu is doing these days......"

"?? Coming soon, lately why is everyone so quiet in the comments section—can anyone raise a hand today?"