"What exactly do you want to do by telling me all this?!" A look of displeasure flashed across Consort De's face.

No one would be in a good mood if they spoke ill of their own son.

What exactly is this palace maid plotting?

"Besides, Consort Nan is from Beiliang. How could she be so kind as to treat my child's illness?!" Consort De said with disbelief.

The repeated power struggles within the harem aroused Consort De's suspicions. She couldn't see which concubine was plotting and directing Ah Xiang's schemes.

"I have always been dutiful in the palace, unlike Consort Chen who is aggressive and decisive. I have never mistreated anyone, let alone harmed anyone. Why would anyone be my enemy?!"

After a moment of silence, Ah Xiang poured Consort De a cup of tea, seeing that she had calmed down a bit.

“Your Highness, I have no reason or need to fabricate these words to deceive you. The Third Prince has come to visit you this time, and I'm sure you can see the changes in him.” Ah Xiang continued to explain in response to the Consort De’s retort.

"Your Majesty is kind and generous, but if the Third Prince blocks someone's path, even if Your Majesty has not offended anyone, some people will inevitably be unable to restrain themselves." Ah Xiang said somewhat anxiously, but as soon as she spoke, she realized that she should not have said these words.

"I misspoke." She covered her mouth with her hand and sighed.

"The little princess and the third prince are very close, and this servant naturally does not wish for anything to happen to the third prince."

"I am telling you this only to remind Your Highness to be careful in the future."

"Your Majesty must have heard about the incident at Fu Shuang Palace where they caught the assassin at night."

"That assassin was none other than the sleepwalking Third Prince."

"Shu'er, sleepwalking?!" Consort De looked at A Xiang in surprise, she had never noticed that Shu'er had gone out in the middle of the night.

"The Third Prince has entered Fushuang Palace late at night on several occasions, and this is the purpose of the person who cast the curse: to use the Third Prince to assassinate the little princess."

"Your Majesty must also know something about this witchcraft. Those poisoned by Gu will gradually become irritable. Once the last Gu worm is inserted, they will become puppets, like walking corpses, at the mercy of others."

Ah Xiang was unaware that the Third Prince had once sleepwalked to Fu Shuang Palace late at night. After Consort Nan came to see the Third Prince off that day, when Ah Xiang returned to Fu Shuang Palace after seeing Consort Nan off, Jin Jinzhi told her about the Third Prince's sleepwalking.

"What?!" Consort De covered her mouth in surprise, looking at Ah Xiang in disbelief.

"This servant has come not to ask for anything, nor for any other purpose, but simply to give Your Majesty a reminder for the sake of the little princess and the third prince."

"After Her Majesty is released from confinement, we must be careful. This person who used the Gu poison will try again if they have done it once. If it fails this time, they will probably do it again."

"Your Majesty, please think carefully about who is behind this poison, so that you can take precautions in the future."

"The little princess and the third prince are very close siblings. I am only saying this for the sake of the two children."

After a long silence, Consort De nodded, her grip on the handkerchief tightening. "I understand. I know what I'm doing."

...

In the Western Capital of Northern Liang, inside the Right Wise Prince's Mansion, a middle-aged man dressed in a dark brown brocade robe, with small eyes and a hooked nose, was lying on a rattan chair, enjoying the massage and gentle words of his beautiful wife and concubine beside him.

"Your Highness, come, have a grape." A beautiful concubine placed a peeled grape into the Right Wise King's mouth.

The beautiful woman had fair skin, willow-leaf eyebrows, and phoenix eyes; every move she made exuded charm.

Her voice was sweet and delicate, sending a shiver down the spine of the Right Wise King. The guards standing to the side in the room also tried their best to restrain themselves from looking at the beautiful woman's face and smooth skin.

"Hmm, so sweet." The Right Wise King smiled lecherously, his eyes fixed on the beautiful woman. He took her hand and stroked it vigorously.

The beautiful girl blushed appropriately and lowered her head, expressing her shyness.

Women from brothels and entertainment venues know best how to strike the right balance and how to bewitch men.

"What are you being shy about? Raise your head for me!" The Right Wise King grabbed the beautiful concubine's slender waist and his hands roamed restlessly over her body.

"Your appearance makes me even more unable to restrain myself." The Right Wise King held the back of the beautiful woman's head, and his lips were about to press against her red lips.

"Your Highness!" A general in full armor rushed in, appearing suddenly before the Right Wise King like a gust of wind.

Only after the general knelt down did he notice that a beautiful concubine was posing in an indescribable position on the Right Wise King's body.

The general hurriedly lowered his head, deeply regretting that he shouldn't have barged in at that moment.

But in broad daylight, who would have thought the Prince would do such a thing in front of everyone?!

"Damn it! What's going on?!"

"I didn't see Grandpa...you spoiled Grandpa's mood!"

"A bunch of idiots!" the Right Wise King cursed, spitting all over the beautiful woman's face. He did not let go of her, still holding her in his arms to cover his lower body, as if trying to use the gentle and soft-spoken beauty to suppress the anger surging within him.

"Your Highness, yes, yes..."

When the Right Wise King saw that the general was stammering, he knew that there was something important to say. He pushed the person in his arms away and kicked the general in the stomach.

"Every time I see you, it's never good news!"

"Spit it out already, don't ruin Grandpa's fun!"

Seeing that the Right Wise King was very angry and seemed to have something important to discuss, the servants who were attending to him tactfully withdrew.

The beautiful woman's eyes sparkled as she straightened her clothes and slowly walked out.

"Your Highness, the assassination attempt has failed..."

"Assassination?"

The Right Wise King's head throbbed. He rubbed his temples, trying to recall which assassination attempt it was. He had sent out too many people, and there were too many people to kill.

"Explain it more clearly."

"Yes, we sent men to kill Consort Nan, but unexpectedly, His Majesty suddenly appeared halfway there and rescued her." The general said tremblingly, afraid that the Right Wise King might displease him and chop him up.

"What?! You useless idiot, you stupid bastard!" The Right Wise King's eyes widened in anger as he smashed the jade cup containing grapes on the table onto the ground.

"You can't even handle something this simple!"

"Yes, it is my incompetence. Please punish me, Your Highness."

The generals, seeing the irritable and furious Right Wise King, dared not utter a sound.

"The original intention of this assassination was to kill Consort Nan on the northern border of Nanyang. The assassin has already disguised himself as a swordsman from Nanyang. As long as Consort Nan is dead, our king, who is hot-blooded, will surely come to Nanyang to demand an explanation." Wang Youcai, the strategist of the Right Wise King, stepped out from behind the general and said in a low voice.

"This will inevitably lead to a dispute between the two countries."

"But now that Consort Nan is still alive, it might not be a bad thing."