I Transmigrated and Already Had a Wife - Chapter 43

Jiang Zhou’s expression was one of surprise, her gaze fixed upon him.

However, she was thinking that what Zhao Shigao said was fundamentally consistent with what she already knew. It seemed the two were undoubtedly mortal enemies. Their sudden joint appearance this time meant either the ledger touched upon their shared interests or the person who obtained the ledger was their common foe.

Xiao Qi?

Xiao?

Wait, isn’t that the national surname of the Boisheng royal family?

“I rank seventh in my family’s generation. You may simply call me Xiao Qi.”

Seventh in generation, Xiao Qi—this was not her real name at all. She had previously treated her as a stranger encountered by chance and hadn’t cared what her name was.

Thinking about it now…

It seemed very likely that this Xiao Qi was a member of the royal family!

Jiang Zhou’s heart jolted with alarm.

Seventh in generation… could she be the Seventh Prince?!

The novel mainly depicted the struggle between the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince for the throne, mentioning the other princes only in passing. This Seventh Prince had not been mentioned at all. However, after the Crown Prince failed and the Fourth Prince became emperor, he used ruthless methods, having all other princes poisoned to consolidate his rule.

For this Seventh Prince to suddenly appear here, was she also eyeing the throne?

The novel’s plot seemed to have completely diverged from its original setting.

She swallowed hard. In that case… changing the ending was not impossible, for example, helping this Xiao Qi become the emperor.

She thought this Xiao Qi was excellent; her heart was full of concern for the common people, making her infinitely better than the Fourth Prince, who wouldn’t even spare his own siblings.

Wait…

The Fourth Prince?

Suddenly, as if realizing something, she abruptly put down the fishing rod and stood up.

Zhao Shigao looked at her in confusion.

“I have something to attend to. I’m leaving first.” As soon as the words were out, a gust of wind-swept past, and she had already turned out of the courtyard, rushing straight toward Mother Lin’s residence.

“My wife.” She took a deep breath and steadied her breathing. She called out the moment her foot crossed the threshold of Mother Lin’s room.

She absolutely did not want Lin Muwan to have any opportunity to meet that Fourth Prince. Although she knew their destined ending had already changed, she still felt deeply uneasy.

It caused her unavoidable worry.

She had to nip this potential problem in the bud. At this moment, she needed to be constantly by Lin Muwan’s side.

Mother Lin put down her teacup and looked up. Although more than two months had passed, her leg still prevented her from moving independently. Seeing Jiang Zhou rush in anxiously, she raised her hand to signal her, “Slow down, don’t trip.”

Despite being so grown up, her personality was still like a child’s. Mother Lin shook her head, admonishing her with a gentle smile.

After Jiang Zhou stood still, she realized her recklessness. She respectfully bowed to Mother Lin and quickly scanned the room. In the square hall, besides Mother Lin and the two attending maids, Lin Muwan’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

Where is she?

Mother Lin seemed to have understood her intention and shook her head with a smile.

“Wanwan was called to the study by her uncle,” she sighed. “Since you’re here, why don’t you keep me company and chat? Wanwan will likely be back a little later.”

Jiang Zhou froze, a premonition of disaster washing over her.

She was too late!

Lin Muwan had already met the Fourth Prince, and Jiang Zhou felt completely distraught.

Mother Lin only assumed she was disappointed at not finding Wanwan and smiled helplessly. How could she possibly guess the intensely jealous thoughts bubbling up in Jiang Zhou’s mind at that moment?

As for what Mother Lin was saying, Jiang Zhou didn’t hear a single word of it.

She sat quietly to the side, giving distracted and noncommittal answers to whatever Mother Lin said.

She felt utterly restless.

Finally, seeing that her mind was elsewhere, Mother Lin sighed, deciding that forcing her to chat with an old person was too much for a young person. It would be better to let her go back early; she would not play the villain.

She waved her hand at Jiang Zhou. “You go back. I’m old and get tired just from sitting for this little while.”

Sh-she’s finished talking?

Excitement flashed across Jiang Zhou’s eyes. She immediately stood up from the chair, wishing she could rush out at once. However, the person in front of her was her mother-in-law, so she respectfully bowed again.

Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly remembered something she had forgotten to tell Mother Lin.

Jiang Zhou: “Mother…”

She glanced around, hesitating to speak.

Mother Lin, being the astute person she was, immediately saw that Jiang Zhou had something to say that was inconvenient to discuss with outsiders. She found an excuse to dismiss the maids.

The two maids bowed and withdrew from the room. As competent maids, observing their mistress’s mood was paramount. They naturally realized the mistress had private matters to discuss, so they closed the door before leaving and stood guard outside, maintaining a distance from the doorway.

Jiang Zhou pondered for a while, then braced herself and said, “Wanwan and I will be heading to the capital in a few days. Would it be possible to have my mother come and take you back to Jiang Family Village first?”

Go back to Jiang Family Village?

Mother Lin frowned slightly, then relaxed and smiled. “You arrange this. I really do miss your mother after being away for so long. We left in such a hurry back then and didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye. Thinking about it now, I truly wronged her.”

Jiang Zhou: “…”

She felt a stab of guilt, as if she had been subtly chastised.

She seemed to have left a note when she left, too.

She wondered how her own mother was doing?

Would she be angry with her?

She definitely would be, and probably want to beat her up.

She suddenly missed her mother.

Jiang Zhou scratched her head, hiding her inner disappointment. “Mother won’t blame you. If that’s the case, I’ll go make the arrangements.” She hesitated, then continued, “However, could you please not mention this to anyone else for now?”

She planned to quietly arrange Mother Lin’s departure. Zhao Mao absolutely could not know about this, or none of them would be able to leave.

Once they returned to Linyang County, even if Zhao Mao’s influence in Qingzhou was great, he wouldn’t be able to reach Linyang County. At worst, they could hire more people to protect Mother Lin.

If they didn’t leave, Zhao Mao would surely use Mother Lin to threaten Lin Muwan in the future, and both of them would likely fall into danger.

Mother Lin smiled without a second thought, saying, “I thought it was something serious. I won’t say anything. Besides, if I did, my elder brother wouldn’t allow me to leave. As an accused person, it’s better for me to depart.”

She shook her head while smiling. “Alright, you go outside and check. Wanwan should be out by now.”

“Okay, I’ll be leaving then.” Jiang Zhou’s eyes lit up, and her tone was somewhat impatient.

Mother Lin’s expression showed a slight trace of disdain. She simply closed her eyes to rest and waved her hand, “Hurry up and go.”

Seeing her reaction, Jiang Zhou belatedly realized her little thoughts had been seen through long ago. Her face flushed slightly, and she awkwardly emphasized, “Mother, I truly came to see you.”

“If you don’t leave now, stay and chat with Mother a little longer.”

When else should she leave if not now?

Jiang Zhou answered “Go!” without hesitation, speaking so quickly as if afraid she would be held back if she delayed for a second.

Mother Lin pressed her hand to her forehead. No wonder Jiang Zhou’s mother often wanted to beat her. Looking at her now, she was indeed very exasperating. She restrained herself and said, “Ask them to come in before you go.”

“Huh?” Jiang Zhou was startled, then immediately realized, “Oh, okay.”

Saying this, she breathed a sigh of relief and quickly backed out of the room.

She had originally thought it would take some effort to persuade Mother Lin, but she hadn’t expected Mother Lin to agree so readily.

Just as she stepped out of Old Madam Zhao’s courtyard, she ran into Lin Muwan. Her eyes lit up. She stepped forward, took Lin Muwan’s hand, and said somewhat plaintively, “My wife.”

Lin Muwan was startled, then curved her lips, “Yes.”

“I was looking all over for you. Mother said your uncle called you away.”

“Yes, someone came from the capital, and Uncle asked me to go over.” She flinched, instinctively wanting to hide this matter.

“Who was it?”

“Hmm?” Lin Muwan paused, pursed her lips, “A friend Uncle made while he was in the capital.”

A friend?

Hehe~

What a “friend”—one who simultaneously had the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince as companions.

Jiang Zhou’s heart tightened. She bit the soft flesh inside her lip, her gaze fixed on Lin Muwan’s eyes. A suffocating feeling spread from her chest throughout her body.

Lin Muwan was actually concealing things from her!

She was furious!

Lin Muwan looked back at her, her lips curved into a smile, “Do you want to come in with me and keep Mother company?”

Jiang Zhou closed her eyes, felt the slightly cool skin of her palm, suppressed the suffocating feeling, and forced a smile, saying, “Mother said she’s tired and went to rest.”

Lin Muwan pursed her lips, “Uncle just said the soldiers outside the gate have withdrawn. Let’s go out for a walk.”

Jiang Zhou: “Oh, was the thief caught?”

Lin Muwan raised her eyelids, looked at her, and after a moment, chuckled softly, “Uncle didn’t mention that.”

Jiang Zhou nodded, looking at the faint smile on her face. Ha~

Her mood looks really good. Is it because of that Fourth Prince?

She pursed her lips, feeling completely consumed by jealousy. Her gaze grew darker and darker.

What a load of nonsense from the System! Saying the female lead would eventually be hers. Now, as soon as she meets her destined true love, she’s already starting to lie to her.

Resentment boiled in her heart.

She held back, truly not wanting to ruin the hard-won trust between her and Lin Muwan over these matters.

Bah!

Jiang Zhou felt like she was about to explode from anger.

What trust? This wretched woman right here! She deceived her feelings, pretending to be affectionate, when in reality, she didn’t care about her at all.

The more Jiang Zhou thought about it, the more wronged she felt.

Watching her expression become increasingly mournful.

Lin Muwan: “……”

What’s wrong with her?

Lin Muwan watched Jiang Zhou’s constantly shifting expression and suddenly had a guess: Jiang Zhou actually knew who she had gone to meet.

In that case, what she had just told her…

Lin Muwan pursed her lips, then quickly grabbed the hand that was trying to pull away. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell her; it was just that this wasn’t the place to talk, considering the servants coming and going, not to mention the two maids her grandmother had sent who were behind her.

She sighed, afraid that the person might truly run off if she got angry, so she held her hand tightly and coaxed softly, “Can I tell you when we get back?”

Tell her what?

Tell her that she met her destined true love and doesn’t want her anymore.

Jiang Zhou turned her face away. Unable to pull her hand back, she simply stopped looking at her.

“This matter is a long story. Do you really want me to talk about it here?” Lin Muwan’s expression turned serious. She dropped her smile and looked at Jiang Zhou sternly.

Jiang Zhou: “……”

She actually yelled at her!

Jiang Zhou, feeling both jealous and wronged, immediately lost control of her emotions. She forcibly yanked her hand back, covered her eyes, and turned her face to the side.

Lin Muwan felt both exasperated and amused. Looking at the pouting Jiang Zhou, she sighed internally.

This person always had a way to tug at her heartstrings. She stepped forward and gently pulled away the hands covering Jiang Zhou’s eyes. In an instant, she froze, her heart clenching. Jiang Zhou’s eyes were red, and her ‘peach blossom’ eyes were brimmed with tears, ready to spill at the slightest movement.

Jiang Zhou was actually crying.

“The two of you, go arrange a carriage. I’ll be going out in a little while.” Lin Muwan sent the maids away, leaned close to Jiang Zhou, pulled out a handkerchief, and gently wiped away her tears. “This isn’t the place to talk. When we get back, can I tell you the whole story, completely and truthfully?”

“Really?” Jiang Zhou stared into her eyes.

“Really,” Lin Muwan replied.

I was just called to the study by my uncle. In the study, I saw the current Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince. Both of them verbally expressed their willingness to help clear Father’s case.