She wanted Gu Xinyao to be utterly ruined, her name and reputation destroyed.
Even if the Chu family reluctantly acknowledged Gu Xinyao for the sake of blood ties, when it came to the marriage with the Prince of Yunan, they would absolutely never marry a defiled woman to him!
That way, even if she, Chu Lingqiang, was not of Chu blood, for the sake of not offending Grand Dowager Qin and the Prince of Yunan, and for the family's honor and interests, the Chu family would have no choice but to continue treating her as their legitimate daughter and marry her off!
Liu Shuixiang and Gu Quanfu were so overjoyed their mouths couldn't close, grinning foolishly at their daughter.
Their daughter had been the young miss of the Minister's residence for seventeen years, and now she was to become a prince's consort…
As her birth parents, if their daughter attained such immense wealth and honor, how could they not share in the glory and riches?
Before, they had feared the child-swap being discovered. Now that it had come to light, and the Chu family hadn't made things difficult for them, not only could they meet their daughter openly without sneaking around, they could even enjoy her blessings in broad daylight—how could they not be thrilled?
If not for the Chu family's order to keep the matter quiet, they would have beaten drums through the ten-mile village to announce it to everyone, letting all see that the two of them were about to become relatives of the imperial family!
Watching their greedy expressions, Chu Lingqiang felt nothing but contempt from the bottom of her heart. Glancing around this filthy, broken, and utterly destitute home, she rose, brushed off her skirt, and said disdainfully, "I should return to the residence. Tomorrow, act according to the situation."
Liu Shuixiang and Gu Quanfu paid no mind to her disdain—after all, they themselves despised this poverty-stricken home that clinked with emptiness.
The two of them saw their daughter off as if she were a priceless jewel.
…
A night of passion.
Chu Xinyao woke from pain.
Not the ache of physical indulgence, but the suffocating pain around her neck.
She opened her eyes in terror, and the first thing she saw was a devilishly handsome face.
Last night, by moonlight, she'd only known the man was handsome. Now, with daylight outside, his features were crystal clear—more than just handsome could describe. Those sharp brows and cold eyes, that chiseled nose and thin lips—he seemed carved and sculpted, every line like a painting, so beautiful he didn't look real!
But charming as he was, the man exuded a chilling murderous aura, his whole demeanor so sinister and dark that her heart and liver trembled in fear.
"Cough… let… let go…" She grabbed his wrist, trying to pull his large hand from her neck.
"Speak! How do you want to die?"
"I… I… I…" The force of his grip made Chu Xinyao feel the brink of death.
Thinking of her miserable transmigration experience—having barely seen this strange world before facing an untimely end—tears welled up in her eyes…
Just as she closed her eyes in despair, waiting for death to come, the suffocating grip suddenly released.
"Put your clothes on."
"…"
Chu Xinyao opened her eyes in astonishment, staring at him.
The man's body was covered in pinch marks and scratch marks, making his athletic physique look rather battered.
But her own body was no better—deep and shallow purple-red marks, most numerous on her neck and chest.
Recalling the wild scenes of last night, she finally felt a flush of embarrassment. She hurriedly picked up the half-torn clothes from the floor, handed his to him, then turned her back to dress herself.
"From now on, stay by my side as a tongfang maid." The man's cold, raspy voice came from behind her.
Her hands, fastening the frog buttons, froze abruptly.
A tongfang maid?
A personal bed warmer?
Just then, shouts came from outside—
"Rao'er!"
"Rao'er, where are you?"
"Rao'er, don't scare your mother, come out now!"
Chu Zhiyang took a deep breath, her face drained of blood, her eyes filled with boundless hatred.
She had nearly forgotten those two dogs, Liu Shuixiang and Gu Quanfu!
It wasn't surprising they'd found this place—it was less than two li from Crow Cry Village, and given her condition last night, she couldn't have gotten far.
She glanced at the window facing the river, and without a moment's hesitation, rose and slipped through it—
The sound of splashing water made the man's brow furrow deeply.
The next moment, with a bang, the wooden door was shoved open.
The one who burst in was about to charge inside when he suddenly locked eyes with the man within, and both of them froze in astonishment.
"Your… Your Highness?!" Chu Zhiyang recovered first, blinking hard before asking in confusion, "I heard you were about to return to the capital, Your Highness—why are you here?"
Li Yingfeng's cold gaze tightened, his icy stare shooting past the man's shoulder to behind him.
Chu Zhiyang understood at once, turned, and snapped, "All of you, disperse!"
When Liu Shuixiang and Gu Quanfu heard him call out "Your Highness," the couple was shaken, baffled as to why a prince would be in such a place.
Still, they obeyed, afraid of offending someone important, and promptly turned to search elsewhere.
Chu Zhiyang entered the wooden hut, shut the door, and caught an unusual smell in the air.
Besides the lingering, suggestive scent, there were traces of black, clotted blood on the ground.
But that wasn't what truly jarred his eyes—it was the Southern Yu Prince's robe, wrinkled and torn, bearing marks that looked like a struggle yet not from any blade…
Every trace reeked of the bizarre, sending inexplicable black lines and cold sweat down his brow. Steeling himself, he asked cautiously, "Your Highness, what kind of peril have you encountered?"
Li Yingfeng sat cross-legged against the wooden wall, ignoring the various suspicious looks on the man's face, and only stared at him coldly as he asked, "Whom are you searching for?"
Chu Zhiyang's eyes dropped unnaturally. "To answer Your Highness, it's not that I'm searching for anyone—I merely passed by, saw a couple looking for their daughter, and lent a hand out of kindness."
His grandmother and parents had instructed him that bringing his sister back to the manor was not to be publicized, lest it affect the engagement between the Chu family and the Southern Yu Prince.
Li Yingfeng didn't respond to that, only softening his tone slightly as he said lowly, "I am wounded. I'll trouble Young Master Chu to escort me back to the manor."
Southern Yu Prince Manor.
Two injured subordinates knelt before Li Yingfeng, and after reporting their ordeal, both spat with fury, "Your Highness, you and Qiu Mingwei have known each other since childhood. Leaning on his friendship with you, the Qiu family's business once flourished in the capital. Who'd have thought that after just a few years apart, Qiu Mingwei would turn his heart to wanting you dead—truly detestable!"
"Too bad he took poison and ended himself—that was letting him off easy. Otherwise, we'd have made him taste a fate worse than death!"
Their prince and Qiu Mingwei had known each other since childhood, their bond little short of brothers.
But no one could have imagined that after their prince left for his fief and returned to the capital, the first person to want him dead would be Qiu Mingwei!
And precisely because they never expected Qiu Mingwei's betrayal, their prince had let his guard down and drunk the poisoned wine Qiu Mingwei had long schemed to serve…
And so, to give the prince a chance to cure the poison, they lured away the assassins Qiu Mingwei had deployed, which left the prince with no one to attend to him.
"Your Highness, has the poison been cured?" Yang Xing asked with concern, carefully observing his master's complexion.
Li Yingfeng's handsome face suddenly turned cold.
At the thought of last night's scene, he wished he could strangle that woman!
He had been channeling his internal energy to expel the poison when, out of nowhere, that woman barged in, nearly causing him internal injury!
But then again, it was thanks to that woman's reckless palm strike that the accumulated poison was forced out of his body…
"Your Highness, is there any serious ailment?" Li Hui asked nervously when he saw the prince remain silent.
Their prince's medical skill was unparalleled, and they had faith that he could cure the poison. Moreover, judging by the prince's current appearance, aside from looking a bit pale, there seemed to be no other signs of illness.
They wondered what was troubling him so…
"I am no longer in danger, but I cannot use my internal energy for several months." Li Yingfeng parted his thin lips lightly, then his tone turned cold and sharp. "Yang Xing, Li Hui, go investigate who Chu Zhiyang sought today, and make sure to capture that person and bring them back to the estate!"
At this, Yang Xing and Li Hui exchanged a glance, both utterly bewildered.
What did Young Master Chu's search for someone have to do with their prince?