I Transmigrated and Already Had a Wife - Chapter 59

She gripped Lin Muwan’s hand in surprise. “My wife is so clever.” This was followed by a loud, exaggerated kiss on the cheek.

For a while, the sound seemed to echo in the quiet carriage.

Lin Muwan’s cheeks suddenly burned. Ignoring her shyness, she raised her foot and kicked Jiang Zhou’s thigh, leaving a small, distinct footprint on the hem of the moonlight-white clothing.

The kick wasn’t enough to quell her anger, and she glared fiercely at her, her face flushed red.

This scoundrel.

The more Lin Muwan thought about it, the angrier she became, so she turned her face away, resolving to ignore her.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhou quickly pulled her into her arms, and it took a long time of coaxing before Lin Muwan’s expression slightly improved.

Sigh, what is she going to do with a wife who blushes so easily?

After finally calming her down, Jiang Zhou dared not fool around anymore. She helped Lin Muwan onto the bed to rest, and then went to instruct the maids to prepare some light snacks for her. She was a little tired herself after a long day, let alone Lin Muwan who was pregnant.

Lin Muwan adjusted her position in Jiang Zhou’s arms, obediently turning to rest on her side in the crook of her arm. Her body was slightly curved, her cheeks still faintly pink, making her look exceptionally delicate and lovely against Jiang Zhou’s moonlight-white clothes.

Seeing that she could only sleep on her side because of the pregnancy, Jiang Zhou felt heartbroken, wishing she could endure the suffering for her.

While Lin Muwan slept, Jiang Zhou was wide awake, her mind replaying Lin Muwan’s words from earlier, leaving her heart unsettled for a long time.

The list was fake, which meant the person who framed her father-in-law was not the Crown Prince. That person was most likely the Fourth Prince. In the novel, Lin Muwan used this so-called evidence to bring down the Crown Prince, rescue her father, and eventually help the Fourth Prince become Emperor. Although she hadn’t dreamt of the final ending, she was sure that Lin Muwan ended up with the Fourth Prince.

Didn’t this make the whole situation utterly ridiculous? The evidence Lin Muwan had struggled so hard to obtain, almost losing her life in the process, was nothing more than a calculated move in a game of power.

Jiang Zhou’s eyes darkened. This time, she would absolutely not let such a thing happen.

In the end, it was the author’s warped morality. A person with such poor character and a brutal nature was actually the male lead. Although the female lead had sound morals, she was a ‘love-struck fool’

Yes, Lin Muwan in the novel was a textbook ‘love-struck fool.’

If she hadn’t transmigrated, would Lin Muwan still have been that same ‘love-struck fool’?

Jiang Zhou felt extremely uneasy. She quietly glanced at the woman nestled securely in her arms, as peaceful as a kitten.

Heh~

After sorting out her thoughts, Jiang Zhou informed Xiao Qi of the situation. She trusted Xiao Qi to know how to investigate. Even if she hadn’t been involved in these matters before, having a chance for revenge meant that not being proactive would be foolish.

A few days later, three vice-ministers from the Ministry of Revenue were found guilty of embezzling public funds. Coincidentally, all of them were the Fourth Prince’s people, and the person who reported them was from the Crown Prince’s faction.

This made the situation very delicate.

The spring sunlight was bright, streaming through the window lattice and scattering across the floor. Jiang Zhou raised an eyebrow and looked at Xiao Qi, who was seated opposite her.

“Seventh Prince, are you perhaps having second thoughts?”

Xiao Qi poured a cup of tea and pushed it towards Jiang Zhou, her face full of helplessness. She couldn’t do anything about this matter. The Emperor had originally agreed to release the person, but during the investigation, the trail suddenly went cold. All those men had committed suicide by taking poison in prison. Enraged, the Emperor decreed a thorough investigation to find the mastermind behind it.

Bo Sheng was a country governed by law. Three vice-ministers simultaneously committing suicide by poison in prison meant a full investigation was needed: where the poison came from and who gave it to them.

She was in a difficult position. Minister Lin was a suspect in the case, and he definitely couldn’t be released without conclusive evidence, especially now that people had died.

Xiao Qi said, looking troubled, “Brother Jiang, you performed a great service this time, and Father is very pleased. Although the men have been caught, the person behind the scenes…”

She paused, the corners of her mouth drooping, making her look extremely distressed.

Seeing her expression, Jiang Zhou curled her lip. They were incompetent at handling the matter, and now they were blaming her, the person who provided the clue?

She was utterly speechless.

She knew who the mastermind was but had no way to convict him, watching helplessly as he brazenly committed murder while an innocent man suffered imprisonment.

If they couldn’t find evidence, couldn’t they at least deal him a blow?

A thought suddenly struck Jiang Zhou. She stared into Xiao Qi’s eyes and, after a moment, quietly asked, “Does Your Highness have someone you are fond of?”

“Hm?” Xiao Qi was stunned.

Jiang Zhou suddenly recalled that in the novel, besides Lin Muwan as an aid, the Fourth Prince’s greatest reliance was the Zhenbei Marquis, who held military power.

The Fourth Prince eventually married Xu Yuning, the Zhenbei Marquis’s beloved daughter, in order to gain the Marquis’s support.

What if…

She assessed Xiao Qi. The Seventh Prince before her was handsome, with a gentle and refined temperament. Even ignoring her family background, she could charm a great number of young maidens just by standing on the street. More importantly, she hadn’t married a Princess Consort.

If…

If she married the Zhenbei Marquis’s daughter, wouldn’t the novel’s ending be directly rewritten?

After her initial surprise, Xiao Qi shook her head. “This Prince is still young.”

Young my foot!

Jiang Zhou thought, Others don’t know, but don’t I? Aren’t you just afraid of people discovering you are a woman?

She didn’t expose her but went straight to the point. “What does the Seventh Prince think of the Zhenbei Marquis’s daughter?”

Xu Yuning?

Xiao Qi was stunned again. A flash of the cold, red-clad woman who stood beside her Imperial Brother in her past life crossed her mind. She had been executed under false charges, and no one dared to collect her body after death. It was that woman who found people to bury her, preventing her body from being devoured by wild beasts and thus preserving her dignity as a prince.

But marry her?

Xiao Qi’s expression darkened. Her Fourth Imperial Brother had relied on the military power held by the Zhenbei Marquis to gain the throne in the past. In this life, her Fourth Imperial Brother had not yet requested the Emperor’s decree for the marriage.

Xiao Qi hesitated. After all, that woman had shown her kindness in the previous life. Would doing this be considered repaying kindness with enmity?

Jiang Zhou watched her indecision. She had her own selfish motives, or perhaps, their goals were aligned now.

Therefore, she added fuel to the fire at the right moment. “The Zhenbei Marquis holds great military power. If that power falls into someone else’s hands…”

Xiao Qi instantly awoke to the danger. The hatred from her past life was too profound. Her rebirth was for the purpose of changing her fate and firmly grasping power in her own hands. She clenched her fingers, and veins faintly protruded on her forehead from the intensity of her resentment.

If she hesitated again and allowed her Fourth Imperial Brother to seize the advantage, wouldn’t she have lived this life in vain?

Leaving Mingpin Tower, Xiao Qi immediately headed to the Imperial Palace.

The Emperor sat on the dragon throne, watching his son kneeling in the hall. The look in his eyes changed several times. After a while, he asked, “Do you truly intend to marry the Zhenbei Marquis’s daughter?”

His majestic voice was cold, echoing throughout the hall, completely devoid of the usual warmth between father and son. The oppressive pressure of a supreme ruler bore down directly.

She was not surprised by the Emperor’s sudden shift. She knew that from the moment she proposed marrying the Zhenbei Marquis’s daughter, her Father would no longer see her merely as a son, but as a contender for power.

The Emperor was suspicious by nature. Even if she was his own blood, he would absolutely not show mercy if she threatened his power.

The Zhenbei Marquis held two-thirds of Bo Sheng’s military power. Whoever married his daughter would undoubtedly hold that two-thirds of military power.

How could the Emperor casually allow two-thirds of the military power to fall into the hands of others?

Now that his son suddenly wanted to marry the Zhenbei Marquis’s daughter, the Emperor’s expression grew increasingly grim.

He had watched the seventh prince grow up. While his other sons were busy courting court officials and consolidating their power, only she seemed to have no desires.

Now, even the Seventh Prince was going to get involved in the court’s turbulence?

After his initial shock and anger came a sigh. Being in this position meant being destined for loneliness. He rubbed his eyes and said, “You may withdraw for now. Allow me to consider this matter further.”

Xiao Qi raised her head to look at the man on the dragon throne, then lowered her eyes, composed her emotions, and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, “Yes, Your Imperial Son takes his leave.” She then withdrew from the Imperial Study.

After she left, the Emperor’s straight back slumped slightly. He put down the brush in his hand and stood up. Wei Fu quickly supported him. “Your Majesty, your servant will immediately have a bowl of ginseng soup brought in.”

The Emperor waved his hand. “Come walk with me outside.”

“Yes.” Wei Fu bowed, supported the Emperor, and walked outside the hall.

“Wei Fu, you’ve been serving by my side for thirty years, haven’t you?”

“Replying to Your Majesty, your servant has been serving by your side since entering the palace, which has been thirty-three years now.”

The Emperor nodded.

“I truly am getting old,” he sighed.

Wei Fu quickly knelt on the ground. “Your Majesty is in the prime of life. How can you speak of being old?”

The Emperor smiled. Everyone liked pleasant words, and he was no exception.

Having served the Emperor for so long, Wei Fu naturally knew the root of the Emperor’s concern. He said, “Your servant watched the Seventh Prince grow up too. Her nature is pure and kind. When she was little, the Seventh Prince was always punished by her Grand Tutor. I remember one time Your Majesty was angry and even gave the Seventh Prince a beating. Later, we found out…”

“Hahaha, later we found out that the Grand Tutor assigned them impossible tasks. The homework of the other princes was completed by their study companions or personal servants. Only hers was written by herself, and she couldn’t finish it every time, so she was punished by the Grand Tutor daily. Ah, that child has always been pure and honest.”

After speaking, he sighed. Rather than letting the Zhenbei Marquis’s daughter marry someone else, it would be better for her to marry the Seventh Prince. “The older one gets, the more one worries. Forget it, Wei Fu. Go summon the Zhenbei Marquis. For a matter of this importance, I must also ask for his opinion.”

Wei Fu accepted the order and sent a young eunuch to the Zhenbei Marquis’s manor to relay the imperial decree.

A few days later, the Emperor’s decree of marriage came down. Xiao Qi looked languid, leaning weakly in a horseshoe armchair, her wispy hair gently lifted by the wind, and her cheeks flushed with an unnatural redness.

“Come, have another cup.” She raised her wine cup, drank it in one go. The pale green fruit wine spilled over the corner of her lips, and she wiped it directly with her sleeve, leaning back into the armchair with her head tilted up.

Jiang Zhou scratched her head. She looked at the cup in her hand, then at Xiao Qi. It wasn’t that she wanted her company for a drink; she clearly wanted to get her drunk. But this was probably for the best; what would happen if she got drunk and angered her wife?

She wasn’t like Xiao Qi, who didn’t even have a wife.

Oh, wait, she was about to have a wife, and she was currently troubled by this very matter.

Jiang Zhou smiled. Although she hadn’t met Miss Xu, her own wife spoke highly of her. Xiao Qi marrying her was practically a huge bargain.

Jiang Zhou teased, “Instead of fretting here, why don’t you just invite her out and ask her what she thinks?”

“Hmm?” Xiao Qi swayed as she straightened up, her eyes clouded with confusion, pondering the feasibility of that suggestion.

Suddenly, she slammed her hand on the table. “You… you’re right!” She turned and commanded towards the door, “Someone!”

The next moment, the door was pushed open, and a guard walked in from outside.

“You, go invite Miss Xu from the Zhenbei Marquis’s manor here for this Prince. This Prince has something to ask her.”

?!

Jiang Zhou stared at Xiao Qi with wide eyes. What was going on? She was about to speak up to stop her, but it was too late; the guard had already acknowledged the order and left the room.

This…

The efficiency was too fast. In the brief moment she was stunned, the person had already left.

“No, you—” Jiang Zhou rubbed her forehead and slumped back weakly into the armchair. She just hoped that Miss Xu wouldn’t pay her any mind, otherwise this girl would definitely want to find a hole to crawl into once she sobered up.