The marriage was something Consort Shu had painstakingly fought for, and the two initially had little affection for each other.
King Wu was initially attracted by the beauty of Queen Wu. Before their marriage, he sent her gifts and visited her at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion every day. At that time, the young couple had a good relationship.
However, unexpectedly, their marriage was not smooth. The Queen of Wu was afraid of pain, and the King of Wu was not gentle with her, which made it difficult for them to get along. As a result, the Queen of Wu later became very reluctant to have sex with him.
If it weren't for the wet nurse's earnest persuasion, emphasizing the importance of her son, Princess Wu would have long since stopped wanting to sleep in the same bed with the King of Wu.
She endured several attempts to have children, and when she finally became pregnant, she was truly relieved.
Then, on the grounds that the prince could not be without servants, she arranged for him to take in several beautiful concubines, and the Prince of Wu stopped bothering her so much.
Years passed, and the number of women in the Prince Wu's harem grew. The two beautiful maids soon fell out of favor; one died, and the other, though pregnant, never gave birth. The Princess Wu, recognizing her service to the Prince, promoted her to the rank of concubine.
Apart from these two, the concubines of the King of Wu were all brought in from outside the palace. They included ordinary girls from respectable families, daughters of minor officials, or illegitimate daughters of fallen noble families.
Princess Wu had told him long ago that he could have women, but he couldn't do whatever he wanted. He should tell her in advance who he was interested in, and she would make the arrangements.
As for how those women fought after entering the mansion, Princess Wu didn't care.
As the princess consort, she held absolute authority in the royal palace, and her word was law. No concubine dared to act in front of her.
Therefore, the Wu Prince's residence appeared to be peaceful in recent years. Apart from the son born to the Wu Princess, the Wu Prince had several other children. Everyone praised the Wu Princess for her virtue and generosity. She even had the reputation of being a model of female virtue in the capital.
However, the Queen Consort of Wu disliked sexual relations and despised the King of Wu's inability to control his sexual desires, so she hadn't let him get close to her for the past few years and didn't pay much attention to the women around him.
Unexpectedly, this act of letting go led to the maid climbing into his bed.
Princess Wu's gaze turned cold, and she turned her head away from him.
The King of Wu looked over pleadingly, but only saw the back of his queen's head, and immediately knew that she was truly angry.
But he had no way to express his suffering!
I was drunk at the time and don't know what happened, but when I woke up, the maid was right next to me.
King Wu didn't like Hongxiu either, feeling that he had been tricked. But since he had already slept with her, he couldn't just send her away, so he had no choice but to accept it.
He was still figuring out how to tell the princess, but to his utter surprise, the maid suddenly died.
The Crown Prince ignored the exchange of glances between the two, tapped the King of Wu on the forehead, and asked again.
"And then? How did she end up at the estate?"
Princess Wu was not familiar with this maid, which means that this maid named Hongxiu was not her personal attendant, but rather someone who came out with her.
That could only have been brought out by the King of Wu.
No wonder his expression changed drastically just now, and he looked terrified.
“I didn’t originally intend to bring her along, but she ran over on her own when we were leaving, saying that she knew people from your estate, Your Majesty.”
At the time, the King of Wu thought, "She's just a maid. Even if she has other ideas, surely so many people can keep an eye on her? If she can really help me, that would be a great deal."
So I didn't stop her and let her get in the car.
Of course, King Wu was accompanied by many maids and servants when he went out, so Hongxiu was not conspicuous. Therefore, when Queen Wu arrived, she did not notice anything amiss.
When they were preparing to return home today, no one noticed that Hongxiu was missing. Perhaps the maid who had come with the King of Wu had discovered it, but out of jealousy towards Hongxiu, she deliberately kept it a secret.
The Crown Prince could deduce these details without even asking.
Meanwhile, Princess Wu and her wet nurse carefully explained the matter of giving gifts, and then summoned the other maids and servants to confront each other. The Crown Prince quickly understood everything.
After arriving at the estate, the wet nurse was unfamiliar with the people and affairs there. After selecting the gifts, she randomly chose a maid to deliver them. The maid didn't know the way, so Hongxiu volunteered to lead the way.
Then, halfway there, the maid inexplicably twisted her ankle and couldn't walk anymore. Hongxiu offered to help her deliver the things, which made the maid extremely grateful.
"So, all of this was Hongxiu's own idea?"
Even the wet nurse herself didn't believe what she said.
“There is someone behind her, of course.” The Crown Prince said coldly, “Out of consideration for brotherhood, I will not pursue this matter for the time being, but the suspicion against your Wu Prince’s Mansion has not been cleared. I will ask my father to send the Imperial Guards to keep an eye on it.”
Princess Wu couldn't help but shudder.
The Inner Guard was a unit of guards belonging exclusively to the emperor. They were highly skilled in martial arts, capable of penetrating any obstacle, and were said to be adept at all kinds of horrific punishments.
"Your Highness, this is not fair! We certainly did not do this!"
The Queen Consort of Wu tried her best to argue.
For the first time, the Crown Prince looked at her properly: "If Princess Wu wants to clear her name, she should find a way to find the person behind Hongxiu."
Princess Wu was taken aback.
After thinking for a moment, she understood the Crown Prince's meaning and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
So, the Crown Prince actually wanted to use our Wu Prince's Mansion to uncover the person behind the scenes?
But they were already in a bind and couldn't refuse.
Princess Wu took a deep breath and kicked King Wu.
At this moment, the King of Wu seemed to understand her perfectly and hurriedly made his promise.
"Rest assured, Your Majesty, leave this to me! I will definitely help you find the murderer! To poison Your Majesty is an act despicable one!"
The King of Wu said a lot of nice things, but the Crown Prince's face didn't improve at all.
He discovered that his younger brother was utterly hopelessly stupid.
On the contrary, the Princess Consort of Wu was calm, reasonable, and more resourceful.
It's a pity, she's a woman confined to the inner quarters, she could never be of use to me.
Huh? Since Princess Wu is so capable, her younger brother must be just as good, right? If Princess Wu can't be relied upon, we can try to win over the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo.
The prince's thoughts drifted away.
Thinking back to what happened at the Prince of Wu's mansion before the New Year, he had helped the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo to some extent. With this favor, he could go to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion openly!
Thinking of this, the Crown Prince couldn't help but sigh: Qingqing is truly my wise and capable wife!
The thought of Song Xibai made him unable to stay any longer. Ignoring the subtle misunderstandings between the King and Queen of Wu, he left after saying a few words.
He practically jogged back to his lodgings.
After entering the gate, they didn't stop for a moment and went straight into the backyard.
Squeak!
The Crown Prince pushed open the door and saw Song Xibai sitting in a round-backed chair, reading a book, like a picture of tranquility. It fulfilled the Crown Prince's previous imagination of his wife and family.
Hearing the noise, she looked up, and her delicate face showed surprise, which instantly turned into joy.
"Your Highness is back?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
