Chapter 41: Your Male Consort Is Cheating
After understanding everything, the real Duan Rong, filled with hatred and courage, could not break through a narrow path that allowed only one person to pass.
Gan Qiongying also did not know how to win the chess game before her. The Empress Dowager’s Kou family was deeply entrenched, the Regent harbored wolfish ambitions, the other princes were no pushovers, Jingxi Wang was ambitious, and the neighboring state of Jinchuan had an insatiable appetite, attempting to annex Nánzhào… But did any of this matter?
Gan Qiongying did not know how to play chess, but she could flip the board and knock her opponents flying!
Gan Lin was inherently weak and unfit to be an emperor. She also could not pursue the Jinchuan Zhizi, who had a chin pointing skyward, just to prevent Jinchuan from allying with Jingxi.
They could run away.
The world was vast, and she had not dared to abandon her identity before. In ancient times, women were vulnerable, weak, and helpless, unable to protect themselves. But running away with her brother was different!
The eighteen monitors around her were no longer mere surveillance—they were people given to her by the Emperor. The Emperor’s gifts were surely the best and most loyal, and they would be the capital for their future escape.
Her loyal brother, who would drink poison for her as if it were water, would never betray her even if the sky fell. Wasn’t this perfect?
Gan Qiongying’s original plan was to find a way to escape the plot. Now, with her brother by her side, everything was ready… except for money!
The world was vast, but money was the greatest!
Given some time to plan and accumulate wealth, spreading their eggs across eight hundred baskets, who could stop the siblings from wandering freely across the vast world?
Gan Qiongying’s heart was as vast as mountains and seas, open and boundless.
She would wait, stir up the muddy waters of Yindu, fish in troubled waters, and then disappear with Gan Lin, living a carefree life like wild cranes and idle clouds!
To hell with the plot.
With a smile, Gan Qiongying pushed open the door, ready to get a good night’s sleep.
Then she saw Lihua sitting directly opposite the door, facing her.
Gan Qiongying froze.
Getting up and going out in the middle of the night did not look like she was up to any good… Although she had gone to burn paper for “herself,” it was not something she could easily explain, so she felt a pang of guilt.
“The Princess is quite busy,” Lihua said, holding a cup in his hand. His gaze swept over her as if it had substance, his voice soft but carrying an inexplicable pressure. “Was the Princess worried about Little General Qu’s condition and went to visit him in the dead of night?”
Clutching the cup, Lihua knew very clearly that he was losing control.
These days, he had been watching over Gan Qiongying every day, like a greedy vine absorbing her weakness, softness, and even her dependence.
The more domineering Gan Qiongying had been in the past, the weaker and more vulnerable she had become in these few short days.
With tears in her eyes, she had pressed her hand to her chest and burrowed into his embrace—not just into his arms, but into his heart, making it ache and itch.
On one hand, he reminded himself that she was Duan Rong, the arrogant princess who had nearly humiliated him to death. On the other hand, he could not help but soften, watching himself sink into her dependence and softness.
It was only then that Lihua realized how much he longed for someone to “belong to him” and “depend on him.”
He had never known that he yearned for a home to such a maddening extent.
Every tear shed by Gan Qiongying during this time, every moment she clutched Lihua’s hand and cried out in pain, struck like a massive hammer, shattering Lihua’s defenses, his pride, and even his bottom line, leaving them on the verge of collapse.
He even harbored a wicked thought—wishing she would suffer from this heart-palpitating pain for the rest of her life, so that… she would always depend on him, clinging to him tearfully and softly, calling him “husband.”
But in the end, Lihua restrained his dark desires and had San Jiu invite a renowned physician to stay at the manor to diagnose and prescribe treatment for Gan Qiongying.
After much difficulty, she had finally recovered somewhat over the past two days. Lihua truly never expected that she would have the strength to get up in the dead of night and sneak off to meet her little lovers.
In truth, the Little General Qu was still unable to get up; Lihua had asked that question deliberately.
When Gan Qiongying climbed out of bed in the middle of the night, carefully moving his arm from around her, he had already woken instantly.
He followed her all the way to the direction of the backyard but went no further.
He didn’t want to see whom she was meeting, or rather, he didn’t dare to see whom she was seeking out.
Lihua returned only a little earlier than Gan Qiongying, his body still carrying the damp chill from lingering outside under the starry night.
His palms were bleeding again, but he seemed to feel no pain as he stared at Gan Qiongying, who stood before him, clearly guilty.
He desperately wanted to ask her, “Didn’t you say you’d handle those people however I pleased?”
Why couldn’t you restrain yourself, sneaking off for a secret rendezvous in the middle of the night!
Lihua fixed his gaze on Gan Qiongying and said, “I forgot to tell the Princess, but Little General Qu was poisoned.”
Gan Qiongying was taken aback. “What?”
Lihua hadn’t originally intended to tell Gan Qiongying about this. He had planned to turn a blind eye and let the little general off the hook, going with the flow.
But after Gan Qiongying went out tonight to secretly meet her male consort, Lihua felt as if his heart had been brutally pierced, bleeding dark, poisoned blood that had long been deeply tainted.
Every drop of it was called Gan Qiongying.
He might as well let her see what kind of trash she had been coddling and keeping by her side!
Lihua placed a few thin sheets of paper on the table, gesturing for Gan Qiongying to look.
Gan Qiongying approached and picked them up. On them was the name of a poison called “Rebirth.”
Her eyelids twitched, and then she saw some records—statements from witnesses, including a pharmacy clerk and a servant who cleaned the backyard side gate.
On the last sheet was the signature of the purchaser: Silver Moon, whom Gan Qiongying had kept by her side for some time.
Gan Qiongying frowned deeply.
Lihua’s pleasant voice, tinged with malice, sounded beside her.
“Your maid colluded with your male consort, planning to stage a fake death and escape with you inside the manor.”
Lihua watched Gan Qiongying’s expression as he said, “Little General Qu’s sister offended a noble in the Government Courtesan camp. Little General Qu stole a great deal of your money, using your name to settle his sister in the outskirts of the city.”
“Silver Moon entered the manor at the age of seven. She was once a maid to Little General Qu’s sister. After the Qu family fell, she was bought into the Princess Manor.”
“Your maid bites the hand that feeds her, and your male consort betrays you behind your back.”
Lihua nearly lost control, like a resentful woman in a secluded household who had been wronged by her husband, enduring in silence for too long before finally erupting, exposing the unspeakable, shameful secrets of her “husband’s” inner chambers.
He said, “You still care about these people? Your body has just recovered, yet you sneak out in the middle of the night for secret meetings. How can you be sure of their true intentions? What if someone feigns affection, waiting for you to let your guard down, and then takes your life in the intimacy of the bedchamber? You…”
Lihua’s words trailed off as Gan Qiongying reached out and grasped his hand, his voice abruptly ceasing.
“Why is your palm injured again?” Gan Qiongying held Lihua’s hand, her expression tense with concern.