Unparalleled Beauty

Chapter C075

All along the way, Wushuang pondered everything that had occurred at Zhilan Pavilion.

Upon returning to Yuxiang Pavilion, she said to Granny Gong, "Granny, I find Princess Consort Zhao's attitude very strange. Just now, she called me Third Sister-in-law and Princess Consort Qin Second Sister-in-law. On the surface, she seemed to be speaking up for Princess Consort Jin, yet she kept referring to 'Princess Consort Jin.' Shouldn't she be calling her Eldest Sister-in-law?"

Granny Gong smiled, saying, "Princess Consort, your ability to observe such things shows your meticulous nature. There are indeed reasons for this."

As she spoke, Granny Gong recounted Prince Jin's background to Wushuang.

In truth, not only were the younger brothers like Prince Qin, Prince Wei, and Prince Zhao unwilling to call Prince Jin their elder brother, but even their Princess Consorts were unwilling to call Princess Consort Jin their Eldest Sister-in-law.

It must be known that Great Liang also followed the system of succession by the eldest son of the legitimate wife, which was the so-called "establish the heir if there is a legitimate son, and if not, establish the eldest." Emperor Taihe had no legitimate son, and the position of Empress had been vacant for many years. Since there was no legitimate son, then the rule of establishing the eldest should be followed.

If Prince Jin, this half-way prince, were to be called elder brother, it would mean that everyone acknowledged him as the eldest son. If he became the eldest son, then would the throne be passed on to him in the future?

This was also the reason why Prince Jin had not been given an order of precedence for many years after returning to the palace. No one wished for him to be placed in the order.

Wushuang had not expected such an old matter to exist. After listening, she felt a sense of melancholy, and then she frowned, "Then, Granny, do you think that Prince Jin was left behind in the imperial villa and was not brought back until he was over ten years old, was it truly because of his birth mother, as the rumors say?"

Upon hearing this, Granny Gong's face showed a hint of anger.

"Those are all rumors spread by the foul-mouthed people in the palace, just to ruin the reputation of the Consort. Back then, it was indeed when His Majesty took the Consort to the imperial villa that he, in a drunken state, had relations with a palace maid, which resulted in Prince Jin. However, His Majesty did not bring that palace maid back to the palace, and it had nothing to do with the Consort. Rather, that night, His Majesty was drugged, and His Majesty was angered by this matter, which is why he took it out on others."

Back then, Granny Gong had served by Consort Chen's side, so she naturally knew some secrets that others did not.

At that time, Emperor Taihe and Consort Chen were deeply in love, but this incident happened, and because of this matter, a rift grew in their hearts.

At that time, Consort Chen was favored above all others, and many people wanted to bring her down, so they spared no effort in spreading rumors that were detrimental to Consort Chen, causing the entire palace to hear of them.

Wushuang pondered for a moment, then said, "Then, Granny, do you think that Prince Jin was left behind in the imperial villa and was only able to return to the palace when he was over ten years old, will he hold a grudge against his birth mother or His Highness because of this?"

Granny Gong's expression turned grave, "Princess Consort, are you implying—"

"That is what I am thinking. I always feel that someone seems to be deliberately ruining His Highness's reputation. You don't know, but I once heard that His Highness had the notorious reputation of killing his wife," Wushuang said, a slight smile appearing on her face, "This reputation is truly too absurd. And His Highness's two previous ones, one after another, had accidents, especially that Imperial Princess Consort Xi, her death was too strange, too deliberate, it seems someone is intentionally creating this kind of situation…"

Wushuang knew that the person behind the scenes wanted to provoke Prince Wei. She came to this conclusion based on what Song You had said in her previous life, as well as what Granny Gong had told her about the night Xi Fu had her accident. She was even eighty percent certain that Prince Wei was stimulated this time, which was why he developed two personalities.

If Prince Wei's expression had not been so cold when mentioning the other party, she would have suspected that Prince Wei and Xi Fu were childhood sweethearts, so much so that he was so affected by the stimulation.

But in reality, that was not the case. The other party clearly had some understanding of Prince Wei in his youth, perhaps they had long known that he suffered from headaches, or perhaps it was for some other reason, that they would use such cruel methods to provoke him.

At first, Wushuang suspected it was Prince Qin.

Prince Qin's behavior at the Qixi banquet that night was too obvious. At first, Wushuang did not understand the meaning of Prince Qin's words, 'Delicate flowers are not easy to nurture, when the flowers fall, the leaves wither.' It was only after learning about Xi Fu's matter that she suddenly understood that Prince Qin was actually alluding to this matter, which was why Ji Yang had a relapse that night.

But in this world, would someone do something bad and write 'I did it' on their face in plain sight?

Wushuang always felt that Prince Qin would not be so foolish, and that there might be someone else behind the scenes.

This person must be cunning and hypocritical, which is why they have not been exposed for so many years.

The other party's nature might be different from normal people, because the other party's schemes were so vicious and ruthless that it could no longer be called wisdom. Even in a struggle, one should use normal methods, rather than using such insulting and cruel means. To this day, Wushuang was still shocked by Xi Fu's method of death, which was truly shocking and unconventional.

Besides this, the other party should have a deep hatred for Prince Wei, because if the hatred was not deep enough, it would not be enough to support the other party's grudge for so many years.

Who would have such deep hatred for Prince Wei?

The previous time when she mentioned Prince Wei rushing out with his sword, although Granny Gong was vague and did not mention Prince Wei's madness, she did say, "It should be related to the other princes." At that time, Wushuang could see that Granny Gong had something she was reluctant to say, probably because she did not want her to know about Prince Wei's madness, but this sentence, "It should be related to the other princes," was clearly not without purpose.

Then, if it was not Prince Qin, which prince had such deep hatred for Prince Wei?

Based solely on her limited knowledge, Wushuang could think of no one else besides Prince Jin.

And then there was Prince Jin's Princess Consort, who always seemed to intentionally or unintentionally say that Prince Wei was hiding her away. In truth, Wushuang knew that the reason Prince Wei tried to keep her from leaving the Prince's mansion was because he was wary of the person who was secretly plotting against them.

What did it matter to others whether she met people or not? Who was so concerned about her going out to meet people? Was it to harm her if she went out?

This again pointed towards Prince Jin.

Wushuang was merely speculating, but Granny Gong was unaware that she already knew about Prince Wei's illness. Fearing that her continued speculation might expose the matter, she hastily said, "Princess Consort's conjecture is not without reason, but there are some matters that this old servant is not clear about, and thus dares not make a rash judgment. Why doesn't Princess Consort wait until Your Highness returns and inform him of this matter, and then consider it further?"

Wushuang saw that Granny Gong had something difficult to say, so she did not speak further about matters related to Prince Jin. Instead, she asked Granny Gong about some things concerning Prince Zhao's Princess Consort, such as her background, as well as some information about the other Princess Consorts and Secondary Consorts.

To these questions, Granny Gong answered without reservation, and it seemed she intentionally wanted Wushuang to become familiar with these matters. She spoke very thoroughly, knowing each family like the back of her hand. Clearly, given her previous limitations in the palace, it was impossible for her to know so much. The reason she knew so much was that someone had instructed her to tell Wushuang these things.

This person, without much guessing, was certainly Prince Wei.

He always did things so quietly, yet so flawlessly.

***

Only after everyone had left did Princess Changhe’s smile fade.

"Has my temper been too good in recent years, that so many people have recently begun to treat me as a fool?"

Seeing the princess reveal her anger, the attendants nearby all knelt down.

Chamberlain Ke stepped forward and advised, "Your Highness, please calm your anger. You came here to relax, why let some people spoil your mood?"

"You also know that my mood has been spoiled? What are their intentions, do they think I don't know? They are actually working together to use me as a stepping stone. If Prince Wei knew about this, how would he view me, his aunt?"

"This..." Chamberlain Ke gave a wry smile, unable to say any more words of comfort.

"I knew I shouldn't have come to this winter hunt, knowing that this kind of scene wouldn't be peaceful!"

In fact, Princess Changhe had initially planned not to come, but she had heard that some people were coming, so she came to join in the fun, but she had overlooked that this was a place of trouble.

"If these people come again tomorrow, block them directly at the gate."

"Yes."

***

Prince Wei did not return for the evening meal; it was said that he was feasting in the Yuhua Hall.

After Wushuang finished her evening meal, she had nothing else to do. After washing up, she leaned against the bed and read a storybook.

It was almost hai hour (9-11pm) when Prince Wei returned.

Wushuang saw him wave away Fusheng and the others, not allowing them to help him change his clothes, so she put on a light fur coat and got off the bed.

"Your Highness…"

He wrapped his arms around Wushuang's waist. Seeing his casual behavior and his unwillingness to be served by others, Wushuang knew that it was Ji Yang. She said softly, "Your Highness, why have you drunk so much wine? I'll have someone bring a bowl of sobering soup. Don't say you won't drink it; drinking it will prevent a headache tomorrow. I'll have someone prepare some hot water so you can wash your face before sleeping."

She placed him on the bed and turned to give instructions. Fusheng was standing just outside the door. Without Wushuang having to say anything, the sobering soup and hot water were already prepared.

Knowing that he disliked being served by others, the maids brought the things up, and Wushuang dismissed them.

She personally wet a handkerchief and brought it to wipe his face.

He sat on the edge of the bed with his legs spread apart, while she stood between his legs, reaching out to wipe his face. She had a light fur coat draped over her, but she was dressed thinly underneath, in a silver-red thin gauze nightgown. The nightgown was open at the front, revealing a light apricot-colored small undergarment. Her delicate collarbones and slender waist, which the light fur coat could not conceal...

Because she was reaching out to wipe his face, one particular line became even more pronounced, drawing attention.

"Is this how you usually serve him?" he suddenly asked, his voice low and husky.

Wushuang did not react for a moment, and it was not until he pinched her waist that she looked at him, slightly shocked.

It was actually Prince Wei.

His expression was still cold, his eyes deep, yet his hand was slowly kneading her waist. "What is it? The moment you realized it was this Prince, your face immediately changed."

The handkerchief fell to the ground, and she wanted to bend down to pick it up, but her waist was seized.

"Your Highness…"

"Could it be that this Prince is wrong? If this Prince has slighted you, you feel wronged. Then if this Prince were to take two secondary consorts into the household one day, how wronged would you feel?" Prince Wei said with a cold laugh.

"Take secondary consorts?"

Why would he mention taking secondary consorts? Was it because someone had said something in the Yuhua Hall earlier?

Wushuang immediately thought of secondary consort Bai, and the smiling yet barely concealed sarcastic and jealous look of Princess Consort Jin. Would she one day become like that? But why, just thinking about him embracing other women, did her heart feel like it could not breathe?

"Your Highness, I…"

Before the words could leave her mouth, tears uncontrollably fell.

Prince Wei, seeing this, could not help but frown.

"You neither wish to serve this Prince, nor do you wish for this Prince to take concubines?"

"No, Your Highness…"

Prince Wei's face grew colder, his voice hard, "So you are willing for this Prince to take concubines?"

"Your Highness, no…"

"Then do you, in the end, want this Prince to take concubines or not?"

A question that had never been asked before was suddenly placed before Wushuang.

Actually, it was not that it had never been asked, but rather that she had always refused to think about it. In her previous life, when she became Lady Fengtian, he had already ascended the throne as Emperor, with an Empress and imperial concubines. At first, she was forced, and she only thought about how to protect herself. Even later, when she slowly developed some affection, as a latecomer, she had no right to think about these issues at all.

Until she understood the matter of the dual-soul disorder, some of her previous doubts were answered. At that time, she thought very simply: Ji Yang was Ji Yang, and Emperor Qianwu was Emperor Qianwu. Emperor Qianwu would not force a minister's wife, Emperor Qianwu had an Empress and imperial concubines, and Emperor Qianwu would not come to provoke her. Ji Yang only had her. Actually, this was quite good.

Before her death in her previous life, she was in a stalemate where he wanted her to divorce and enter the palace, but she did not want to enter the palace as a concubine. During that time, the two had many disagreements because of this. He thought she still had feelings for Zhao Jianzhi, but only Wushuang herself knew that the reason she did not want to enter the palace was that she did not want to become one of those concubines.

This was also why, even though she could have divorced earlier, she waited until Zhao Jianzhi spoke up.

In fact, the essence of the problem was the same, but in her previous life, due to too many external influencing factors, she had never thought it through.

"So, in the end, do you want to or not?"

Her eyes were tearful, she wrung her hands, and shook her head, "No, I don't want it, this concubine does not want it..."

Prince Wei's expression softened, and he wiped away her tears, "Since you do not want it, then how do you plan to serve this Prince?"

At this point, she hesitated again.

Until she saw Prince Wei's eyes turn cold, she hurriedly reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Prince Wei, seeing her obedient and pitiful appearance, knew that he could not push her too hard today. Just as he was about to say something to her, his expression suddenly changed, and he rubbed his temples, saying, "He discovered it so quickly?"

Mei Wushuang, not understanding, looked at him with wide eyes.

Prince Wei released her, gazing at her deeply before saying, "This Prince will go out for a while, and will return shortly."