Qing Tai reported, “This servant has inquired. Chancellor Shen is twenty-six years old. He has numerous concubines but no children. It seems he’s deeply favored by the Emperor, holding a high position with considerable power and significant influence at court.”
Jiang Taohua’s eyes lit up. She blinked and asked, “Does this Chancellor have more power than the Prince Nan?”
“Certainly,” Qing Tai nodded. “Prince Nan is too young and lacks authority. He only has the title of prince and is the least favored among the imperial sons.”
Realizing she had missed out on a prince but landed an even more formidable Chancellor, Jiang Taohua perked up. This wasn’t a bad deal at all! She chuckled and glanced around the room.
“Go find me a rope,” she instructed.
Qing Tai frowned. “Princess, what are you planning?”
“Don’t worry,” Taohua said casually. “I’m just going to hang myself.”
Qing Tai was speechless.
“Ouch! Don’t pin me down like that!” Jiang Taohua cried out, amused by the maid’s panicked reaction. Pressed firmly against the bed, she managed to explain, “I’m not trying to die! But given the current situation, your princess has married the wrong man. If I don’t attempt to hang myself, people will think I’m trying to curry favor with the Chancellor and that I’m an opportunist!”
Qing Tai paused, giving her an odd look. Aren’t you trying to curry favor with the Chancellor? Aren’t you an opportunist?
Reading her expression, Taohua grinned slyly and patted her shoulder kindly. “Young lady, you have a long way to go learning from your princess. If you want to survive, you need to keep your true thoughts hidden and put on the right act. Understand?”
“…I’ll go find a rope,” Qing Tai conceded.
“Good girl.”
Sitting up on the bed, Jiang Taohua immediately got into character. She ran to the dressing table, applied some powder, and created a pitiful, haggard look. Then, taking the rope Qing Tai had found, she hung it from a beam.
“Stand outside and call out if anyone comes,” she instructed.
“Yes, Princess,” Qing Tai replied, eyeing the rope worriedly. “Princess, this rope…”
“Don’t worry, it’s a slip knot,” Taohua assured her confidently as she stood on a stool.
Nodding, Qing Tai turned to leave. Just as she closed the door, someone announced, “The Chancellor has returned!”
“What? So soon?” Startled, Qing Tai quickly shouted into the room, “Someone’s coming!”
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Taohua grabbed the noose, slipped her head inside, and kicked away the stool, swinging like a piece of cured meat.
However, after swinging back and forth three times, her face reddened, and still no one entered.
What was going on?
She struggled to hold on for a while longer, but when she could no longer breathe, Taohua quickly loosened the knot and fell to the ground, gasping for air. Unfortunately, at that very moment, she heard movement outside.
The door opened.
Jiang Taohua looked up, her mouth twitching, to find herself face-to-face with a man.
For some reason, although she had never seen this face before, she instinctively knew who it was.
“Chancellor Shen?”
The man before her raised an eyebrow slightly, his features becoming clearer. His eyebrows were straight as swords, his nose as prominent as a mountain ridge, and his phoenix eyes naturally alluring. If not for his upright posture, he might have looked like a frail scholar. However, his aura was incredibly strong. Despite the smile on his face, looking at him sent chills down one’s spine, giving the feeling of being stalked by a wild beast.
He was undeniably handsome, but not someone to be trifled with. As he approached, Jiang Taohua tensed up and instinctively backed away.
“Our last meeting was hasty and chaotic, preventing me from properly greeting you. Now we can finally meet formally,” he said, bending down and gently leaning close to her face, his eyes flickering with an indecipherable light. “I am Shen Zaiye, Grand Chancellor of Great Wei. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess.”
Shen Zaiye? What an interesting name, she thought. Despite his high position at court, his name suggested being “in the wilderness.”
Taohua managed a forced smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Chancellor Shen. Would you mind letting me get up first?”
“Of course,” he nodded.
He seems polite enough, Taohua thought skeptically. Is this the same brute from last night?
However, after saying this, Shen Zaiye simply reached out and lifted her into his arms. His eyes, now mere inches from hers, gazed deeply at her as he asked, “Was the Princess attempting to end her life just now?”
Her heart skipped a beat. Jiang Taohua averted her gaze, and after a moment, remembering the act she was supposed to be putting on, she quickly summoned some emotion. Covering her face, she choked out, “At this point, how could Taohua continue living shamelessly? What face would I have to show the world?”
“Yesterday’s incident was truly a misunderstanding,” Shen Zaiye sighed deeply. Still holding her, he sat down on the edge of the bed and glanced at Qing Tai, who was peeking through the doorway. The maid obediently closed the door.
Lowering his gaze, Shen Zaiye furrowed his brow, appearing quite remorseful. “I was drinking with Prince Jing at the Hefeng Dance House. The Prince said he had a beauty to present to me, and I accepted his kind offer. I never imagined that person would be… Alas, when I entered the palace last night, Prince Jing was severely punished by the Emperor, who then bestowed the Princess upon me. Would the Princess be willing to endure this humiliation for the sake of Zhao and continue living?”
What? The people who knocked her out were Prince Jing’s men. Jiang Taohua frowned. “That doesn’t seem right. How could Prince Jing mistake me for a courtesan to be given to you? I am a princess, after all.”
“After escaping from the wolf pack, the Princess lost her phoenix crown and ceremonial robes,” Shen Zaiye explained. “Without anything to prove your identity, and having accidentally entered the Hefeng Dance House, it’s understandable that you were mistakenly captured.”
That’s right, she had discarded her crown and robes to make it easier to run. Taohua nodded, but then another thought struck her. Wait a minute!
“How do you know I lost my phoenix crown and ceremonial robes?”
Smiling slightly, Shen Zaiye reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “Because when the servants were searching for you, they found your phoenix crown and ceremonial robes.”
That seemed to make sense too. Taohua nodded, then glanced at him and asked in a softer voice, “The Emperor has given me to you, so what will happen to the Prince Nan?”
“Prince Nan is only sixteen; there’s no rush for him to take a primary consort,” Shen Zaiye said, absentmindedly stroking her hair as if petting a Persian cat. His voice was particularly mesmerizing. “I have already reported to His Majesty and compensated the Prince Nan generously.”
It seemed this situation had worked out well for everyone, except for the unfortunate Prince Jing. Everyone else had gained something. Taohua nodded, quickly assessing the situation, and decisively latched onto Shen Zaiye’s thigh!
“From now on, this concubine belongs to the Chancellor!”
Shen Zaiye raised an eyebrow, glancing at the rope still hanging from the beam, then looking down at the bright-eyed woman at his feet. With a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, he said, “Very well. From today on, the Princess will be the Niangniang of this Chancellor’s residence.”
“Thank you… Wait.” Feeling something was amiss, Taohua narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean by Niangniang? If I’m not mistaken, the Chancellor’s primary wife should be called Furen.”
“Indeed, the primary wife is called Furen,” Shen Zaiye looked at her sideways and said, “Unfortunately, I already have a primary wife from two years ago. As the saying goes, ‘One does not abandon the wife who has shared one’s hardships.’ His Majesty is very understanding of my situation, so I’m afraid the Princess will have to settle for being a secondary Niangniang.”
Jiang Taohua was speechless.
Why did she always feel that the man before her was somewhat sinister? Although he appeared regretful, his tone made her want to slap him across the face!
Lowering her eyes, she quickly analyzed the current situation.
In truth, her journey to marry Great Wei was already a shameless move by the Zhao royal family. Due to internal strife, Zhao’s national power had declined significantly, far from its former glory. The ruler hoped to strengthen the friendship between the two countries through this marriage alliance to prevent Great Wei from taking advantage of their weakness.
The Emperor of Great Wei didn’t want to go along with this plan, but she had traveled thousands of miles without giving them a chance to refuse. In his anger, the Emperor had assigned her to a young, unfavored prince.
Even without Shen Zaiye’s intervention, her life might not have been much better. Now, having the opportunity to be a secondary consort in the Chancellor’s residence offered better prospects than being the primary wife of the Prince Nan.
There were no other options left.
“Thank you for your kindness, Chancellor,” Jiang Taohua took a deep breath and wisely stood up to bow to him.
Shen Zaiye looked at her for a moment longer before standing up and saying, “No need for that. Soon, a steward will come to teach the Princess the rules of a Great Wei official residence. Just follow along and learn.”
“This concubine understands,” she replied, lowering her head as she saw the Chancellor out. Taohua stood at the door, watching Shen Zaiye’s figure disappear from the courtyard before pulling Qing Tai into the room and locking the door.
“Princess?” Seeing her mistress’s grim expression, Qing Tai was curious. “What’s wrong? Didn’t everything go smoothly?”
Taking a deep breath, Taohua collapsed onto the bed and said blankly, “We might have fallen into some kind of trap.”
“A trap?” Qing Tai was stunned. “How could that be? Isn’t the current situation more advantageous for you?”
Losing the Prince Nan but gaining the Chancellor seemed like a win-win situation.
Shaking her head, Jiang Taohua said, “Shen Zaiye gives me the feeling of a venomous snake, the kind that could strike at your neck at any moment. He just lied. I think he knows exactly why I ended up having intimate relations with him.”
“What?” Startled, Qing Tai quickly knelt beside her, frowning as she looked at her mistress. “How do you know?”
“Because I have a good memory,” Taohua narrowed her eyes. “Even though I was under the influence of an aphrodisiac yesterday, I remember what I said. At the time, I mentioned my identity, trying to intimidate him. His first reaction was to cover my mouth.”
Even if an ordinary person heard her claim to be a princess of Zhao, they would have treated it as a joke and mocked her. As a court official aware of the marriage alliance, how could he ignore it? At the very least, he should have paused to ask what was going on, given that violating an alliance princess was no small matter.
However, Shen Zaiye didn’t consider any of this. On the contrary, as soon as he heard her, he covered her mouth, preventing her from saying more.
At that time, it was just the two of them, and they were very close. Shen Zaiye didn’t smell of alcohol, indicating he wasn’t drunk, so he must have heard her words.
This could only mean one thing—his earlier claim of being unaware, that Prince Jing had mistakenly captured her, was a lie. Shen Zaiye knew from the beginning that she was the Princess of Zhao, and despite this, he still forced himself on her.
But why?
(End of Chapter)