The next day, Li Yishu returned. She was clad in silks and satins, her hair adorned with a full array of pearls and jade ornaments. Two maidservants followed behind her, and she was escorted back by the Grand Prince’s most favored page.
When they knocked on the door, Wang Qi was utterly stunned.
When had this woman slipped out?
The page arrogantly looked down his nose at Wang Qi. “Listen up, all of you. Sister Shu now belongs to His Highness the Grand Prince.
If you dare neglect her again, His Highness will not be lenient!”
Wang Qi was rendered completely speechless.
He had never seen a proper woman from a decent family sneak out at night for a clandestine meeting, only to be returned with such fanfare the next day.
But since this person invoked the Grand Prince’s name, it wouldn’t do to be impolite.
He plastered on a smile and stepped forward. “Well, if it isn’t His Highness’s favored one. My apologies, my apologies.
Cousin Li, look at you, such a big matter and you didn’t even inform your aunt, Dowager Huo.
With such distinguished guests at our door, we could have prepared.”
—So you sneak out, engage in illicit relations without a proper matchmaker, and still have the nerve, huh?
Li Yishu wasn’t unaware of shame, but shame couldn’t give her a good life.
What she wanted was glory and wealth.
If discarding face could achieve that, why not do it?
Looking at the pair of high-quality jadeite bangles on her wrist—bangles the Grand Prince had personally put on her this morning before leaving for court after a night of intimacy—she felt justified.
Had she clung rigidly to propriety, she’d still be suffering in the side courtyard of the General’s Manor!
Thinking this, she straightened her back and looked triumphantly at the bowing and scraping Wang Qi.
What use was his sarcasm?
He still had to grovel before her!
Seeing that the person before him had utterly abandoned any sense of face, what more could Wang Qi say?
“Since Cousin Li now belongs to His Highness, may I ask when His Highness plans to take her into the palace?
Please inform us, sir, so we can prepare accordingly.”
—Take her away quickly! Our General’s Manor doesn’t house filthy people!
The page’s expression shifted. He brushed it off casually. “Don’t pry into His Highness’s affairs!
When the time comes, he will naturally send for Sister Shu. What’s your hurry?”
With that, he left in a hurry.
Li Yishu cleared her throat lightly and put on airs. “Well? Aren’t you going to escort this Prince’s Consort inside?”
Wang Qi’s mouth twitched.
The man wouldn’t even grant you the status of an official mistress, and you’re already dreaming of being a Prince’s Consort?
Saying one more word could be a capital offense!
He snorted coldly and turned to enter the manor.
Li Yishu was so furious she nearly toppled over backward.
“You stop right there! Don’t you believe this Prince’s Consort can have you killed?”
Wang Qi ignored her completely, instructing the maids and pages instead. “Hurry up and sweep the entrance thoroughly.
Such an unlucky sight first thing in the morning.”
Li Yishu felt profoundly insulted. She stormed into the front hall and ordered the two maidservants. “Smash it all!”
The maidservants, relying on their status as the Grand Prince’s people, rolled up their sleeves without a word and began smashing everything breakable in the front hall.
Looking at the scattered porcelain shards and broken-legged chairs and tables, Wang Qi’s lips curved into a smile.
How is Cousin Li still this foolish?
Foolish and malicious.
“Oh! The General’s favorite blue-and-white porcelain!
Isn’t this the ancestral rosewood carved stool?
Good heavens, this is the golden nanmu screen inlaid with jadeite and mica, carved with cloud and dragon patterns!”
Wang Qi’s look of heart-wrenching distress made Li Yishu’s heart swell with satisfaction.
“This is the fate of those who look down on others!”
Wang Qi wiped away non-existent tears from the corner of his eye, his voice trembling. “Since Cousin belongs to His Highness, this humble servant can only roughly tally these items and send the list to the palace for His Highness’s review and compensation.”
Since ancient times, only princes who had been enfeoffed could establish their own separate residences.
Thus, even if the Grand Prince married and had children early, he still had to reside within the palace.
Li Yishu was foolish, but not foolish enough to dig her own grave.
If this inventory reached Xiao Mingxu, the image of a simple, unadorned woman she had painstakingly crafted for him would instantly collapse.
“Such trivial matters aren’t worth disturbing His Highness. Name a figure, and this Prince’s Consort will compensate you.”
A shrewd glint flashed in Wang Qi’s eyes.
The once ostentatiously adorned Li Yishu was stripped down to the bare branches.
Looking at the various pieces of jewelry the maids and pages presented, only that pair of high-quality jadeite bangles was of the finest quality.
Wang Qi looked up at Li Yishu, who now resembled a plucked chicken, and sighed. “Originally, these items wouldn’t cover the debt.
But who let our Cousin Li now belong to His Highness?
This humble servant will just have to swallow this loss and await the General’s punishment upon his return.
Someone, escort Cousin back.”
Burly guards promptly flanked Li Yishu, lifting her by the arms, and tossed her, along with the two accompanying maidservants, back into the side courtyard.
Li Yishu shrieked hysterically. “You dog of a servant! I will be the Grand Prince’s Consort in the future! How dare you treat me with such disrespect!”
The ones experiencing the greatest落差 were undoubtedly the two maidservants.
They thought following this Sister Shu would allow them to throw their weight around. Instead, they ended up imprisoned in this wretched place.
Even the dog kennels in the palace were more comfortable than this!
“Well, well. Did you get used and then kicked out?”
While Li Yishu was smashing things in the front hall, Dowager Huo had gotten the gist from the guards changing shifts.
She knew Li Yishu seemed to have climbed onto a high branch, but not completely.
Gloating, she waited eagerly in the courtyard to mock her own niece.
Already seething with pent-up anger, Li Yishu completely erupted. She lunged forward, hands going straight for Dowager Huo’s hair.
“I’ll kill you!
If it weren’t for you, this old witch, would I have fallen to this state?”
Seeing this, Baozhu and Yuzhu hurried to rescue their mistress.
Not wanting to be left out, Yinzhu led her troops and joined the melee.
The two newly arrived maidservants trembled in fear, clinging to each other and shrinking into a corner, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.
A death guard hidden in the shadows yawned.
You’ve said you’ll kill someone so many times. Why don’t you actually show me one?
Boring!