Chapter 21

How do you ruin someone's reputation, especially one as beloved as Prince Huai?

Although the prince was not very good at it, his subordinates came up with a vicious idea. They suggested that the prince attack from the perspective of personal morality first, such as letting Niu cry and complain to Prince Huai that he was "no". Otherwise, how could there be no little prince in Prince Huai's Mansion?

After the people accepted the fact that Prince Huai was "incompetent", they forged the bodies of some dead women and told everyone that Prince Huai was abusing decent women because he had a hidden illness, and even secretly captured beautiful women and brought them back to the palace.

The subordinates told the prince that at this point, Prince Huai's reputation began to tarnish.

The subordinate smiled smugly: "And the always high-handed Prince Huai was found to have such a secret bad habit. This is when he collapses in the hearts of the people. Then you can casually accuse him of treason and the common people will think you are getting rid of a pest for the people."

The prince also smiled with satisfaction, "Okay, it really is a good idea, just do it this way."

The subordinate agreed and left.

The prince's smile suddenly turned cold, "Xiao Dezi, do you also think this is a good idea?"

The eunuch standing nearby had already knelt down when the Crown Prince called out his name. Hearing the Crown Prince ask for his opinion, he broke out in a cold sweat. He replied tremblingly, "This humble servant... This humble servant is not as clever as Lord Wang. It's just, it's just, this humble servant feels that it's not thorough enough."

Hearing this, the prince smiled slightly, "Even you discovered it. It's indeed not thorough enough. Fake is fake. No matter how hard you try to forge it, it will eventually be exposed one day..."

The Crown Prince stood up from his desk, piled high with memorials, and walked over to Xiao Dezi. His voice was filled with murderous intent, "What I want is his death! For someone who has accomplished great things, what does a mere reputation mean? Xiao Dezi, tell me, does what I'm saying make sense?"

"I only know that my master has thought carefully and followed your orders." Xiao Dezi said firmly, kowtowing hard.

The prince laughed out loud, "Hahahahahahahaha... Well, even domesticated dogs know their limits. They all talk nice things, but none of them can actually catch that bastard. They're just full of talk."

Lord Wang thought his plan was flawless and that being praised by the Crown Prince was a great thing, so he immediately went to find Princess Huai to put on a show.

Niu had been tortured in the prison. To survive, she lied to the Crown Prince that day, hoping to get away with it. Unexpectedly, the Crown Prince threw her into the prison. Tortured day after day, she couldn't utter a word, and was left to die. It wasn't until yesterday, when she was paraded, that Niu felt a glimmer of hope.

The arrival of Lord Wang today further confirmed Niu's thoughts. She listened calmly to Lord Wang's intentions and said with a sad smile, "I know my crime deserves death. I am willing to cooperate with you in everything. I only hope to make meritorious contributions to my crime and live a miserable life."

So she wanted to live. Lord Wang gave Niu a look of pity and ordered the jailer to take her to a busier cell. Once he spread the news that Prince Huai was "not doing well," the jailer would undoubtedly ask about her. As long as Niu cooperated, the initial plan would be accomplished.

Lord Wang's plan was very successful. The rumors about Prince Huai and the palace having no heir soon spread among the people. Some gossipers sent people to inquire in the prison and actually heard Niu admit in person that Prince Huai was extremely brutal in bed. There were many beautiful concubines in Prince Huai's palace, and no matter how much Prince Huai was greedy for beauty, he was still childless.

Niu even told the visitor tearfully that if they didn't believe her, Prince Huai had a lovely wife and beautiful concubines, so why didn't he have a little grandson?

The words of the Princess Huai were a powerful reassurance. Even the common people, who had originally thought that Prince Huai was exceptionally brave, began to feel something was amiss. Yes, the Princess of the Huai Palace was a lady from a prominent family, and the palace also had numerous concubines. Hadn't they recently mentioned a beloved Lady Li? If that was the case, how could he possibly not have any children?

Gradually, Prince Huai's image was somewhat tarnished, but it was not fatal. People could only sigh and express regret at most.

When Wen Weili heard people on the street talking about Duanmu Huaixin's "no", she almost died of laughter. Why was Prince Huai's Mansion full of beauties but no children? Of course, it was because Prince Huai never slept with those women.

You know, under the influence of her mother, Xinxin and she both agreed that no matter whether it is a man or a woman, they should sleep together after the age of eighteen. According to her mother, the younger the age, the more harmful it is to the body, especially for women. Once they get pregnant at a young age, the damage to their body will be even greater.

However, Wen Weili fell into deep thought. This rumor couldn't be groundless; someone must be behind it. What could be their motive? Attacking Xinxin's personal morality, could it be a plot to set her up for evil? However, she was certain that the person behind this was definitely connected to the Crown Prince.

Two days later, a new rumor spread throughout the imperial city—Prince Huai had secretly captured and murdered beautiful, decent women! These women included not only the daughters of commoners, but also the daughters of minor officials.

When Jingzhao transported the bodies of the women into the city, the coachman accidentally shook off the white cloth on the bodies, and one horrific corpse after another was displayed in front of the onlookers. Some were relatively complete female bodies, and some were just some bones and limbs. It was simply outrageous. Everyone was filled with righteous indignation and cursed Prince Huai as worse than pigs and dogs.

For a time, Prince Huai, the former god of war, felt like his lackey if he didn't curse at his friends after dinner.

On the day when the corpse was transported, Wen Weili also disguised herself and went to watch. After seeing the whole thing, she was dumbfounded. No way, could she not see through such a simple conspiracy?

There was obviously something wrong with the bodies of these corpses. Not to mention the scattered limbs, the few intact bodies were in completely wrong condition if they were really tortured to death and then buried hastily.

But did the people care? They didn't care. Ever since Prince Huai had beautiful women but no children, they had already concluded that he was a disabled man, an incomplete man. They were the first to object to an incomplete man wanting to take over more women. Furthermore, these women were forced into it and abused, which only made them more furious, believing that Prince Huai should be punished.

Amidst the clamor for Prince Huai's arrest, some people remembered the crime of fleeing. As word of mouth spread, the calls for Prince Huai's arrest grew louder and louder.

Wen Weili fell down laughing beside Duanmu Huaixin's bed. She imitated how those people cursed Prince Huai to Duanmu Huaixin, while picking vegetables in her hand.

"...Xinxin, that's how they framed you," Wen Weili smiled and then fell silent. "If you woke up, you'd be so angry your face would turn red, right? Or you could come to me and act like a spoiled child, but lying there like this won't do any good."

Wen Weili put her ear to Duanmu Huaixin's chest, listening to his usual weak heartbeat, and slowly stood up.

"Okay, be good these few days. Sister is going to rescue Zhiyun."

Wen Weili tucked a strand of Duanmu Huaixin's hair behind her ear and said with a smile, "If you wake up secretly, don't run around."

Pushing open the door, a black-clad guard appeared silently beside Wen Weili, "Greetings, Madam."

"Let's go." Wen Weili had contacted the secret guards a few days ago. She sent the secret guards to investigate around the imperial prison. Zhiyun was indeed imprisoned inside, but the specific location inside could not be clearly determined.

In order to get Zhiyun out of the imperial prison safely, Wen Weili asked the secret guards to take away a prison guard in charge of prison meals. He asked about the specific route and also heard that the prison wanted to recruit a cook because a group of powerful people were imprisoned recently.

There are many cooks, but there are very few cooks in the imperial prison. Especially those who can cook food that suits the tastes of those prisoners who are obviously prisoners but are still picky. There are almost no such people. Proper cooks will not work in the imperial prison, so in the past, the whole process relied on the help of an old lady. However, as the prince imprisoned many people, the old lady was also unable to do so.

Fumiuri and Inui looked at each other, this was their chance.

With the help of the secret guards, Wen Weili applied makeup more naturally, looking like a young woman in her thirties, yet appearing immature and uneasy.

The hidden guard was responsible for pretending to be the jailer, and Wen Weili was his distant relative. Because she had good cooking skills but a strange personality and high demands on her husband's family, she had never married. She combed her hair herself, vowed never to marry, and then set up her own family and joined the hidden guard, and was recommended by the hidden guard to work.

As for whether the fake identity would be discovered, that was of course inevitable, but this relative's hometown was far away and she had never left her room, so it would not be easy to find out.

Wen Weili wanted to take advantage of this time difference and use the jailer's connections in the prison to get in first. Once the time was right, she would immediately bring Zhiyun out. Even if they were investigated afterwards, they would not be caught.

According to the agreed plan, the hidden guard disguised as a jailer gave a generous gift to the jailer and gave Wen Weili a chance to try out the job, while the aunt only needed to taste the cook's cooking skills to see if they were up to standard.

Fumiuri was confident. Faced with the prisoners' request to eat delicious meat dishes and the prison boss's desire to save money, she found red tomatoes from the kitchen, which were often used as a seasoning in meals.

Red persimmons are very easy to grow, and one plant can often produce many fruits, so the price is very cheap. However, red persimmons taste sour and astringent, and can only be used for seasoning. When the old lady saw the cook's choice, she shook her head, thinking that if this girl only wanted to make cheap dishes, she would never let her pass.

Wen Weili's choice was unexpected; she chose a few eggs. Could she be making boiled eggs? The old lady sighed. While boiled eggs were considered a meat dish, they were tasteless and wouldn't satisfy the prisoners.

To her surprise, Wen Weili cut the persimmons into even pieces and set them aside. Then she cracked an egg on the side of a bowl, poured it into the bowl, added a pinch of salt, chopped green onions, and water, stirred everything together, and heated the oil in a pan.

"Could it be that she wants to make fried golden powder?" the old lady asked doubtfully. Fried eggs are also called golden powder, which is a meat dish with attractive color, but those people would complain that it is too greasy and they have no appetite.

Wen Weili's method was the same as that of Golden Powder at the beginning, which was to fry the eggs over high heat, but she did not fry them apart. Instead, she fried them until both sides were golden brown and then served them.

"This...?" The old lady became more and more confused. She even thought that the woman was joking.

The next moment, Wen Weili poured the prepared small pieces of red persimmons into the pot, added a few drops of vegetable oil, and stir-fried over high heat until the juice came out. Wen Weili poured in some water and sweet sugar, sprinkled a little salt, poured in the fried eggs, and used a fan to fan the fire in the stove to make it more vigorous. Taking advantage of the fire, she tossed the pot, stir-fried, shook the spoon, and took the food out of the pot, all in one go.

The old lady shook her head slightly and said, "How is that possible? How can this be delicious?"