Chapter 51: The Secret of Murong Ying and Jiang Wan
“What fiancé?!” Chu Ziqian instantly flew into a rage. “Marriage is a major event, how can you trifle with it! You don’t have to provoke me like this!”
Jiang Yingnan smiled faintly. “How is it trifling? Both my father and Ruobin’s father have agreed. If you don’t believe me, go ask them.”
“…” Chu Ziqian’s chest heaved violently with anger, unable to utter a word for a moment.
After a while, he turned his cold gaze to Jiang Ruobin. “You dare to steal a man from me? Do you still want to survive in Chu?”
Jiang Ruobin replied calmly, neither humble nor arrogant, “Ah Nan has long been divorced from Your Highness the Crown Prince. He is no longer your person, so where does ‘stealing’ come from? Besides, if Your Highness truly cannot tolerate me in the court in the future, I will simply retire to a life of leisure.”
With a single sentence, he completely outshone Chu Ziqian again.
Jiang Yingnan smiled at Chu Ziqian again. “By the way, Your Highness, I want you to meet someone… Ah Min.”
“Your servant is here.”
With Jiang Yingnan’s call, Liu Min stepped forward holding a scroll.
“Why are you here?!” Chu Ziqian was astonished once again.
Jiang Yingnan smiled with pursed lips. “Ah Min is now my maidservant. We get along quite well, don’t we, Ah Min?”
“Yes, Young Master.” Liu Min also smiled faintly, seemingly casting a provocative glance at Chu Ziqian. “Your servant has realized the error of her ways. I now know how foolish it was to make life difficult for another pitiful person for the sake of a man. Those of us who have been let down should unite against a common enemy.”
They were telling the truth. Ever since they had cleared the air, Jiang Yingnan had stopped making things difficult for Liu Min. Even though she was now a maidservant, he treated her with due respect. Touched by Jiang Yingnan’s inner kindness, Liu Min also did her best to serve him.
“Also, Your Highness, did you know?” Fearing that she hadn’t provoked Chu Ziqian enough, Jiang Yingnan added, “Ah Min has been very close to Ah Jun’s attendant recently. Good news might be coming soon for them too. Everyone is living quite well after leaving you.”
“…” That last sentence was undoubtedly another heavy blow to Chu Ziqian.
He was speechless for a moment and could only turn and storm off, flicking his sleeves.
The moment Chu Ziqian turned around, the smile on Jiang Yingnan’s face vanished instantly, and he immediately let go of Jiang Ruobin’s arm.
Jiang Ruobin sighed, turning to look at Jiang Yingnan with a worried expression. “You still can’t let him go.”
“…I haven’t.”
Jiang Ruobin smiled bitterly. “Our usual interactions have strictly adhered to propriety. Today, you were so forward with me; wasn’t it just to provoke His Highness the Crown Prince? If there is no love left, where does the hate come from?”
“…” Jiang Yingnan couldn’t deny it, only feeling a dull ache in his heart.
Liu Min clicked her tongue. “Even I have truly let go. Why can’t you?”
Jiang Yingnan forced a smile and changed the subject. “When do you and Ah Wang plan to get married?”
“Just, next month, I guess?” At the mention of this topic, Liu Min blushed slightly. The usually valiant woman rarely showed such a shy, girlish demeanor.
Only now did she understand that although Ah Wang was just an attendant, he treated her with genuine sincerity, a hundred times better than Chu Ziqian, the perfect husband in the eyes of outsiders.
Meanwhile, someone was eavesdropping on their conversation not far away, revealing an envious expression. That person was Murong Ying.
Today, Chu Lianmo and Qi Xiaojun had also come to celebrate Jiang Zhenxiong’s birthday. Although Murong Ying had come with Chu Lianmo, the Jiang residence was full of people and guards, making it very safe. Since he didn’t need to follow Chu Lianmo closely at all times, he wandered off for a bit.
At this moment, Murong Ying felt that if even the Crown Princess could remarry so quickly after divorce, why couldn’t the Princess Consort of Prince Rui?
So, after returning, he began to urge Chu Lianmo to divorce Jiang Wan as soon as possible.
At this time, Chu Lianmo had already dismissed the other concubines in the residence, giving each of them some silver to send them away. Most of those people were from poor backgrounds and hadn’t been touched by Chu Lianmo, so they happily took the silver and left.
Only Jiang Wan remained, as Chu Lianmo hadn’t dealt with her yet.
“This is a major matter. Divorce isn’t something that can be done just by saying it. Even if I want a divorce, I need a reason. Can this Prince be like the Crown Prince, spreading rumors that Liu Min is fierce and jealous, acting as if he has no fault at all?”
Murong Ying said anxiously, “Is it hard to find a reason? Can’t you just say you don’t like her anymore and the relationship has broken down?”
Chu Lianmo looked at Murong Ying with suspicion. “Why are you so concerned about this matter?”
“…This… Subordinate… Subordinate…” Murong Ying lowered his head and mumbled for a moment. “Because this subordinate treats the Princess Consort as his own sister, of course I care about her affairs.”
“Own sister?” Chu Lianmo sneered, suddenly raising his voice. “Look up! Why do you dare not look into this Prince’s eyes!”
Chu Lianmo and Murong Ying had practically grown up together, so he knew him all too well. Murong Ying was straightforward and bad at lying, so every time he lied, it was painfully obvious.
Originally, Chu Lianmo also thought that the relationship between him and Jiang Wan was truly sibling-like affection. But seeing today’s situation, it seemed that wasn’t the case!
“This subordinate deserves to die!” Murong Ying knew he couldn’t hide it anymore, so he could only kneel and kowtow. “This subordinate truly has feelings for the Princess Consort…”
“What did you say?!” Chu Lianmo interrupted him angrily. “You still know she’s the Princess Consort? This Prince has always trusted you deeply. You said you treated her as a sister, so this Prince allowed you to be alone together. Who knew you would treat this Prince like a fool, spinning me around in circles? Have you already conceived a child in secret?!”
“Your Highness, we haven’t! But since you don’t like the Princess Consort anyway, why do you insist on keeping her…”
“Shut up!” Chu Lianmo was even more furious upon hearing this. “You still think you’re justified, don’t you?! This Prince must teach you a lesson today! Men, drag Murong Ying down and beat him severely for this Prince!”
“Yes.” Two servants immediately stepped forward. “Your Highness, how many strokes?”
“Just beat him!”
At this moment, Chu Lianmo felt only raging anger filling his mind. He had no rationality left to consider these questions; he just wanted to teach Murong Ying a harsh lesson.
The servants pressed Murong Ying onto a bench and began beating him with heavy planks.
Everyone could see that Chu Lianmo was truly enraged. Therefore, even though Murong Ying used to be his favorite, they showed no mercy. Within twenty strokes, his skin was torn and his flesh was lacerated, a miserable sight.
The commotion here quickly alerted Qi Xiaojun and Jiang Wan.
“Your Highness!” Jiang Wan cried anxiously, tears streaming down her face. She knelt by Chu Lianmo’s legs and kowtowed repeatedly. “Please spare Ah Ying. If you want to beat or punish someone, take it out on me! It’s all my fault!”
Chu Lianmo sneered and roughly lifted Jiang Wan’s chin. “It seems it wasn’t just his wishful thinking. You have quite deep feelings for him too.”
Through her teary eyes, Jiang Wan said, “We do have feelings for each other, but we have always stopped at propriety and never crossed the line! As long as I am the Princess Consort for a day, I know my boundaries clearly. Ah Ying would never do anything improper to his master’s wife… I beg you to spare him this time!”
Qi Xiaojun also spoke up to plead for Murong Ying, “Lianmo, if you continue beating Ah Ying like this with such heavy hands, he might lose his life! You can’t do something you’ll regret because of a moment of emotion!”
“…” Chu Lianmo glanced at Murong Ying. His buttocks were already a bloody mess. He endured silently through gritted teeth. Initially, it was because of the rules for guards receiving punishment, but now, his consciousness was fading, and he barely had the strength to cry out.
“Alright, stop.” Chu Lianmo finally gave the order.
“Ah Ying!” Jiang Wan couldn’t control herself and rushed over. “Are you okay?!”
“…I… I’m fine…” Murong Ying struggled to squeeze out a smile for Jiang Wan, then his vision went black, and he fainted.
“I’ll go get Ah Hua to treat his injuries!” After saying this, Qi Xiaojun hurried out.
Chu Lianmo stood there and sighed silently.
The real reason for his immense anger wasn’t that he wouldn’t allow others to touch someone he didn’t love, but that he felt Murong Ying had betrayed his long-standing trust.
When he heard that the two had always stopped at propriety, his anger dissipated considerably.
After Ji Hua arrived, he examined Murong Ying seriously, his expression somewhat grave.
This expression made Chu Lianmo’s heart skip a beat. He hurriedly asked, “Ah Ying’s life isn’t in danger, is it?!”
“That’s not the case.” Ji Hua shook his head. “However, his left leg bone is cracked. He might walk with a slight limp in the future.”
“What?!” Chu Lianmo was instantly filled with regret and anxiety—Murong Ying was a guard; how could he be left disabled?!
He turned to the servants and roared, “Who told you to hit him so hard!”
“Slaves deserve to die!” The two executioners immediately knelt down. “But, it was Your Highness who ordered us to beat him severely…”
Moreover, his instruction to just beat him without counting clearly meant that they didn’t need to worry about killing or disabling him.
Qi Xiaojun said, “It’s true, Lianmo. When you stopped them, they had already beaten him at least seventy or eighty times. Injuries and disabilities were inevitable. You can’t blame them.”
“…It’s all my fault…” Chu Lianmo held his forehead in frustration. “Ah Ying will definitely hate me to death…”
Compared to Chu Lianmo, who was deeply emotional, Qi Xiaojun was relatively calm. “Ah Hua, you just said he might limp, which means he might not, right?”
“Yes. Fortunately, the fracture isn’t too severe. I will naturally do my best to treat him, but it also depends on his recovery in the future.”
“Ugh…” At this moment, Murong Ying opened his hazy eyes.
“Ah Ying, how do you feel!” Chu Lianmo hurriedly asked. “I just applied pain-relieving medicine for you. Does it still hurt badly?”
“Your Highness…” Murong Ying said with red eyes, “Have you forgiven me?”
Chu Lianmo’s nose instantly soured.
The question now wasn’t whether he forgave Murong Ying, but whether Murong Ying would ever forgive him in this lifetime.
“I knew it,” Murong Ying broke into a faint smile. “Your Highness is always soft-hearted.”
“Ah Ying, listen to me… The doctor just said your leg is broken. In the future, you might—of course, you might not—limp a little…”
“What?” The smile on Murong Ying’s face instantly froze.
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