Chapter 15: Seduce My Husband If You Dare

The two sisters were talking when the Second Prince suddenly appeared. As soon as he showed up he asked how Tang Wanning was doing, as if he hadn’t even seen his new wife standing beside him.

Tang Wanlan clenched her teeth. She knew it! The Second Prince was nowhere to be found because he had come looking for that bitch!

“What does Your Highness mean? This is my sister’s home, Earl Xuanning’s household has never treated my sister badly.” She walked over and stood beside the Second Prince, her smile a little stiff.

Zhao Yan’s gaze skimmed past her and returned to Tang Wanning. His gaze warmed, “What I mean is, you were wronged this time, and it has affected you. Has anyone dared to whisper behind your back, to be disrespectful to you? Are you… very upset?”

Tang Wanlan twisted her handkerchief tightly, recalling Madam Zhou’s words, and forced herself to hold back. She said nothing, only fixed a dark glare on Tang Wanning. The legitimate wife was standing right here. Tang Wanning could try seducing her husband if she had the guts!

Tang Wanning didn’t need to look to know what Tang Wanlan was feeling. She could have played the wronged, fragile role, muddied the waters further and provoked the two of them so their future would be miserable, but she thought better of it. Why mix with trash? Wasn’t it foul enough just being near it?

“What do my affairs have to do with Prince Ping?” She kept her posture distant, her tone cold, making it clear by actions that the treasure Tang Wanlan cradled might be nothing but filth to others. “Since Your Highness has married, watch yourself and cherish the one beside you. Farewell.”

Tang Wanning left decisively. Her turn was sharp, her steps quick. Never mind seduction, her manner said she wanted to get as far away as possible, not to be tainted even a bit, as if contact would leave her smelling of filth.

Tang Wanlan was not quite sure how to respond.

Her feelings were complicated. Since the plan succeeded that night, every time she faced Tang Wanning she felt a peculiar absurdity, as if the effort hadn’t been worth it. The Second Prince was, in her mind, the best and most suitable husband. If she didn’t try to fight for him, she would feel unsettled. She would immediately regret not trying. But even after fighting and getting him, it didn’t feel that great or joyful. It was as if what she’d worked for was actually a heap of trash, and she had been blind to it, mistaking it for treasure.

The Second Prince watched the graceful figure walk away and sighed gloomily.

In the end, she still blamed him. It was his fault, after all. He’d truly wronged her in this matter. In the future…

“…Your Highness? Shall we go?”

Tang Wanlan’s delicate face was bright, her smile soft and gentle. The hand on the man’s arm felt as limp as a cloud at the horizon. “Sister was just very angry and couldn’t calm herself, it isn’t a sincere insult to Your Highness. I’ll advise her more in the future, she’ll surely resolve her resentment.”

The Second Prince’s gaze softened. Letting Tang Wanlan lead him, he reached out and lightly stroked the hair at her temple. “I know you’ve had a hard few days. Once the heat dies down, it’ll be fine. You are my wife, so we will walk side by side in the future. What is yours will not be lacking. But your sister was also wronged in this matter. You have always been generous and courteous, so indulge her a little more.”

“Yes, I’ll follow Your Highness’s wishes.”

Tang Wanlan smiled sweetly and leaned her head on the Second Prince’s shoulder, her gaze filled with venom.

Who cares if he likes you now? Just you wait! You can be arrogant for a few more days! After the Wang family’s banquet, you’ll be finished!

…

At the Court of Judicial Review’s cell for death row prisoners.

The candlelight along the wall only illuminated a foot or so ahead. The musty smell mingled with the damp air, and anyone unaccustomed would soon feel dizzy and short of breath.

In the deepest cell was the condemned Li Hongsu, his hands bound with shackles, fingertips muddy, hair disheveled, face sallow, clothes in tatters with spots of blood. The former Minister of Revenue, once so imposing and grand, now was utterly ruined and destitute.

Outside the bars, a man in a wheelchair with sword-like brows and dark, murky eyes, not a trace of light, asked, “Do you know why you deserve to die?”

Li Hongsu, knowing there was no way out, closed his eyes and tugged at the corner of his mouth. “…Greed.”

Zhao Cong continued, “For that bit of money, you acted against the proper course, lost all conscience, and disregarded the lives of others?”

“What do people like you know! Born into greatness, with a silver spoon in your mouth, never lacking money or food… Of course you don’t know how hard it is to have none!” Li Hongsu lunged forward, the shackles on his wrists clanking. “You don’t need money to eat? You don’t need money for clothes? You don’t need money to get married and raise your children? You don’t need money to be filial to your parents? As long as you’re alive, everything you do needs money! Because I’m a man, I’m the pillar of the family. Everyone can come to you for money and pour their grievances to you, but you’re the only one who can’t! Why did I become an official? I worked hard to climb up, to make things right, all for higher positions and more money! Who in the bureaucracy doesn’t do this? Who isn’t greedy? What did I do wrong!”

Zhao Cong’s voice was flat, “You probably forgot that the current sovereign declared himself king eighteen years ago and ascended the throne only eight years ago, and did not even come from a wealthy family. In every great war provisions were scarce. It was not uncommon for soldiers to go into battle hungry.”

Li Hongsu was choked speechless.

Everyone knew what the founding emperor’s campaigns were like. The military was very poor. The larger the territories, the greater the expenses. As the eldest son, Zhao Cong spent his time from heir apparent to crown prince mostly on the battlefield. Later, when the founding emperor focused on the court, Zhao Cong was almost alone supporting the external wars. How could he not have experienced these hardships? Lack of money, lack of grain, lack of clothing — he knew what that tasted like, even the flavor of the coarse rations on the border.

Li Hongsu railed on, “But all officials do this! I don’t think I’ve done anything to let you down, so why don’t you seize others instead of fixating on me? The money I took, no matter how much, passed through other people’s hands first, I never touched yours!”

Zhao Cong lightly tapped the arm of his chair with his fingertips and said leisurely, “The country is mine, the people are mine, and naturally so is their money. You took money that belongs to me, and you still claim you’re being wronged?”

Li Hongsu froze for a moment, then laughed loudly. “You, a deposed crown prince, a cripple with little time to live, are still dreaming? Which divine doctor can regrow bone and reverse fate? Or has the Second Prince fallen out of favor and the Xin family lost power? With such big talk, Prince Xiangyang, aren’t you afraid the wind will cut your tongue off?”

As if on cue, in the deep jail cell where no wind should be, a sudden fierce gust blew. With a whoosh, an extremely thin willow-like blade cut the air, flew over the bars, grazed Li Hongsu’s face, and lodged in the wall behind him.

The blade sank an inch into the wall, the hilt humming and trembling faintly.

A thin slice of Li Hongsu’s lip was shaved off, blood flowing… Wind could indeed cut a tongue, but whose tongue it silenced was uncertain.

The cut brought not only sharp pain but inner fear. Li Hongsu dared not speak recklessly now. Who knew if the next target would be his throat!

Zhao Cong twirled the willow blade between his long fingers, its sharp tip flashing coldly. It seemed extremely dangerous, yet he handled it with ease, as if such things were as simple to him as eating and drinking.

“I am always merciful to death row prisoners. Answer obediently, and you may choose how you die.”

Li Hongsu was terrified. “What exactly do you want to ask!”

Zhao Cong’s ink-black pupils looked over. “On the ninth day of the seventh month twelve years ago. Where were you and what did you do?”

Li Hongsu was even more terrified, his voice tight, “You actually… want to ask that? Has the Emperor approved of this?”

Zhao Cong paused, and the willow blade in his hand was aimed toward Li Hongsu. “Speak, and you’ll be allowed a quick death.”

An hour later, Zhao Cong left the Court of Judicial Review, with Eunuch Tian pushing the wheelchair, unusually silent. The journey was very quiet until they turned a corner and saw a little maid in a blue dress.

Because of certain secret thoughts, Eunuch Tian had investigated Tang Wanning and recognized her at a glance. “Oh? Isn’t that Miss Tang’s maid, Xiaoman?”

Zhao Cong said nothing.

Eunuch Tian studied his master’s expression. “She went to Zhang’s braised food stall… Old Master Zhang used to be a master chef at Fengwei Restaurant. He can’t be displaced in the kitchen, his spice skills are excellent. That little maid must have been buying food for Miss Tang. That night I noticed Miss Tang isn’t like ordinary people, she has quite an appetite…”

Zhao Cong snapped, “What does that have to do with me?”

Eunuch Tian said, “For a night you were in the same estate as her…”

Zhao Cong snapped again, “Shut up, move on.”

Eunuch Tian sighed inwardly. His master still had a heart of stone. That Miss Tang… was really not suitable? Had his old eyes misjudged her?

But after a few steps, the sunlight falling on his master seemed noticeably brighter. No, sunlight falls the same on everyone. It was that previously his master had seemed cold and gloomy because of a bad mood, but now the sunlight seemed much more radiant. Did that mean his master’s mood had improved?

Eunuch Tian continued his train of thought, “Zhang’s braised food is good: clean, fresh, and tasty. I hear it’s hard to buy. Your Highness, would you like to try it? If Miss Tang likes it, the flavor can’t be bad!”

Zhao Cong muttered, “If she likes everything, it means she probably hasn’t eaten much good food.”

Eunuch Tian sighed, “Who can say otherwise? General Tang’s daughter can’t even get a bite of good food… I suddenly remembered the Wang family banquet hired the current head chef from Fengwei Restaurant, so the food must be excellent. Your Highness, would you like to go? Maybe Miss Tang will be there too!”

Zhao Cong refused, “Father ordered me to shut my doors and not associate with outside ministers.”

Eunuch Tian tried to persuade him, “The Emperor said to close the doors and not let outside ministers in, but he didn’t forbid Your Highness from going out. Xiaoman lingered longest at the braised duck neck, so it’s surely something Miss Tang likes!”

Just as Zhao Cong looked over, a metallic sweetness filled his throat. He covered his lips with a handkerchief and coughed up crimson blood.

Holding the handkerchief in his palm, he closed his eyes. “If you mention women to me again, you don’t have to work for me anymore.”

Eunuch Tian felt a pang in his heart. “…Yes, Your Highness.”

…

Soon, rumors circulated outside, telling the story vividly that on the Second Prince’s wedding day the bride had been swapped, that the younger sister married in place of the elder. They said Tang Wanning had gone to the manor that night, was captured by bandits and lost her chastity, so the Second Prince didn’t want her anymore. But with the wedding imminent and things hard to change, they switched the bride to the younger sister…

Xiaoman nearly dropped the large porcelain dough bowl when she heard it. “What are these people doing, do they have any brains?! Does this even make any sense? They happened at the same time, so according to the timeline it’s impossible! Are these people unable to think because their mother has died and their father is too busy mourning her that they don’t have the time to scold their children for being so foul mouthed?!”

After berating all these people and worrying she’d anger her mistress, she took out the braised food she’d just bought. “Miss, don’t mind them, we have delicious things! Zhang’s braised food is always hard to buy, when it’s sold out they close. Lately, for some reason, every time I go there, they can pull a freshly braised duck neck from the back kitchen…”

Tang Wanning happily munched. “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

She had long known Madam Zhou and Tang Wanlan wouldn’t just let things be and would surely make trouble. In the original book, when their statuses switched, the mother and daughter could conjure all sorts of mischief. Weren’t things even more convenient now? Before she didn’t know what move they’d make and stayed on guard. Now that she knew what they were up to, she was more at ease. She didn’t care about reputation, anyway. If she wanted to get married, she could choose a husband for herself. And if she didn’t want to, she had plenty of ways to foil their plans. It wasn’t that she couldn’t just leave the house, it was that she wanted to make sure she annoyed the people who tried to harm her, and to make sure she left with sufficient money for the future…

She comforted her little maid, “Be good, you’ll soon be able to follow your lady to get more delicious food. The head chef from Fengwei Restaurant! Wouldn’t that be great!”

Xiaoman didn’t understand. “Huh?”

Not long after, someone from the main courtyard came to notify them that they were to attend the Wang family’s banquet the next day, and Tang Wanning should prepare and go early.

Xiaoman excitedly looked at Tang Wanning. “Miss! Miss, you’re amazing! We must quickly pick an outfit! And headpieces and jewelry! Miss hasn’t been out in ages! We can’t lose in terms of presence!”

Tang Wanning watched her lively little maid and happily took another bite of the duck neck.