At this moment, Dantai Yunhan had already walked out of Chu Qiao’s Palace. Actually, he was well aware that Chu Jiao was born sly and had her own secret plans although she seemed very fragile and harmless.
However, he couldn't blame or punish Chu Jiao openly, for she was his Attendant Consort after all. Otherwise, setting her against Chu Qiao would make him a laughingstock if anyone heard of it.
Even as the Prince Regent, he still had so many secrets that he doesn’t want to reveal.
At dusk, Dantai Yunhan went to Chu Jiao's place, while she was overjoyed seeing him here, for she had been neglected and had not seen him for so long and now he finally came to visit her.
Surprised as she was, she still went forward to greet him.
"Your Highness, what brought you to my place today?"
Dantai Yunhan answered Chu Jiao with a smile instead of words. In fact, he figured that Chu Jiao took revenge on Chu Qiao out of jealousy, so if he could treat Chu Jiao better, maybe the two sisters would bury the hatchet gradually, which was what Dantai Yunhan would like to see.
After all, he was so occupied by national affairs that he had no spare time for his own domestic ones, so he hoped that his concubines could live in peace instead of finding fault with each other.
"I have been missing you, that’s why I came."
Hearing this, Chu Jiao immediately beamed with a smile. It seemed that her recent efforts were not wasted and Dantai Yunhan finally came back to her.
Dantai Yunhan didn't go on with the conversation, instead he found a seat for himself and sat down. He smiled gently, although deep down he felt worse than melancholy at the sight of various delicious dishes on the table.
As his Attendant Consort, Chu Jiao wasn’t leading a care-free life. She and Chu Qiao used to dine together when their relationship was still on good terms.
But he inevitably neglected Chu Jiao ever since the birthday banquet because of what she did. Although he didn’t want to get involved in this, his guard was up.
However, as Dantai Yunhan's legal wife, Chu Qiao could always dine with him. Naturally Chu Jiao felt lonely when dining alone even though there were various delicate dishes.
In this Prince Palace, what people feared most was not leading a bitter life, but feeling lonely. Such a life was as plain as water, which was meaningless.
"In fact, I'm here today to have dinner with you."
Chu Jiao was absolutely ecstatic, so she whispered to the servant girl next to her.
"Get a pair of clean chopsticks for the Prince! And also, ask the chef to prepare some more dishes. These are not enough!"
Hearing this, Dantai Yunhan smiled. He was somewhat moved at the thought that Chu Jiao still loved him with all her heart, although she had gone too far recently.
However, merely being moved would not keep his Palace in good order.
"I think you know what I am trying to say, even if I don’t tell you explicitly. Now that the servants are away to prepare the dishes, I'd like to warn you that I’m aware of all the things you have done, and I hope you can behave from now on."
Dantai Yunhan knew very well that Chu Jiao was the younger sister of Chu Qiao, so her intelligence was no less than that of Chu Qiao, so she would definitely catch his drift.
But he didn’t expect that Chu Jiao would beg for his pardon in a low voice as if she had been wronged.
"I don't know what Your Highness is talking about. I have been behaving myself all the time and I have nothing to hide. Since I became your Attendant Consort, what I've been thinking about is you, Your Highness! "
Then she even pretentiously wiped away her tears.
Hearing this, Dantai Yunhan frowned. He thought his kind reminder would make Chu Jiao reflect on what she did.
It turned out that his Attendant Consort was very stubborn and wouldn’t listen to his advice.
"Everything I said was supported by facts and evidence. I hope you can stop and don’t go any further. Otherwise, you will hurt yourself by burning your own bridges!"
Chu Jiao was so frustrated that she couldn't even speak. She was hoping that Dantai Yunhan would be moved by what she had done for him, but it turned out that he was still trying to protect his legitimate wife, the Princess.
The more Dantai Yunhan wanted to protect Chu Qiao, the more Chu Jiao was determined to get rid of her romantic rival. She kept her head low, so that Dantai Yunhan wouldn’t notice the hatred in her cold eyes.
Dantai Yunhan knew what was going on in Chu Jiao’s mind even though he didn’t see her expression, because she was cut from the same cloth as her sister. He knew that Chu Jiao wouldn’t have retorted if she had accepted his implicit advice.
But now she was just pretending to be wronged and kept defending her "innocence", which showed that she hadn’t realized what she had done wrong and was even attempting to fool him.
Dantai Yunhan was about to say something when the maid came up with two dishes, and Chu Jiao quickly diverted the conversation:
"Your Highness, we can talk about this after dinner. These are two new dishes that I specially asked the chef to cook for you. I don't know whether they will suit your taste. Please try it!"
Dantai Yunhan sighed. None of his concubines was easy to deal with. It seemed that there would be more trouble coming up soon enough.
At the thought of Chu Jiao's attitude, Dantai Yunhan was even more infuriated. At first, he didn't want to embarrass Chu Jiao, but now it seemed that she would not repent at all without tough measures.
If his headstrong Attendant Consort really stirred up some serious trouble, at that time, it would be possible that the situation could not even be remedied at all.
Dantai Yunhan carefully observed the patterned bowl placed in front of him, which was different from other ones. It seemed that Chu Jiao had prepared it specially for him, which showed her genuine care.
However, only with tough measures could she understand how ridiculous she had been.
Dantai Yunhan smashed the bowl on the ground. Hearing the crack, Chu Jiao was startled. She stared at the broken pieces for a long time and couldn't even utter a word to beg for his forgiveness.
It took a long time for Chu Jiao to come to her senses, and she went down on her knees to beg for mercy humbly.
"Your Highness, what is this all about? Please, simmer down! "Seeing this, the servants were also frightened. They knelt down one after another and repeated what Chu Jiao had said, begging for mercy.