Li Junche was reviewing military documents. “What is it?”
Butler Li bowed his head. “Reporting to Your Highness, the Princess Consort told this servant to arrange two guards for her—skilled in martial arts, and… handsome.”
Li Junche’s hand, holding the brush, froze in midair. Ink dripped onto the white paper, spreading into a blot. After a long moment, he said, “Give her two who are skilled in martial arts but… average-looking.”
“Yes.” Butler Li wiped the sweat from his forehead as he left the study. The Prince seemed a bit displeased just now.
Inside the study, Murong Nie asked with some confusion, “In the Princess Consort’s dowry, there were two hundred guards. Why would she ask Butler Li for more?”
Li Junche lifted the ink-stained sheet of paper and set it aside. “She managed to kill her own personal maid. How could she possibly trust those guards? Keep an eye on them. It wouldn’t be surprising if some among them were spies sent by Lin Yue Kingdom.”
Murong Nie asked, “Your Highness doesn’t suspect the Princess Consort herself might be a spy?”
Li Junche raised his eyes. “Whether she is or isn’t… we’ll watch and see.”
Butler Li arrived at the rear courtyard with two guards. “Princess Consort, I’ve brought the men.”
Wen Jinhe was lying on the bamboo chaise in the courtyard, while Manqiu and Mandong stood beside her serving attentively.
“Why do they look so plain?” At a glance, they could only be described as utterly ordinary.
Butler Li quickly explained, “Though their looks may not be exceptional, these two are the most skilled fighters.”
Wen Jinhe nodded thoughtfully. Appearance aside, martial skill was more important. “What are your names?”
“Reporting to Your Highness, subordinate Zhao Bi.”
“Subordinate He Shi.”
Seeing that the Princess Consort accepted them, Butler Li finally withdrew.
On the way, he ran into Li Junche and was stopped. “Which two guards did you assign to the Princess Consort?”
“Reporting to Your Highness, Zhao Bi and He Shi.”
“You may go.”
“Yes.”
The next day, Wen Jinhe took her two maids and two newly assigned guards to the storeroom to inspect the dowry she had brought from Lin Yue Kingdom.
After opening a few chests, she suddenly erupted in anger. “These don’t match the dowry list! The guards responsible for watching over them must have stolen from me. Arrest them all, interrogate them under heavy torture. If nothing is extracted, kill them all.”
Standing outside the storeroom, Zhao Bi and He Shi exchanged a glance. Their Princess Consort was… ruthless. Not one bit inferior to their Prince.
With Wen Jinhe’s order—
Soon, all two hundred guards from Lin Yue Kingdom were thrown into the dungeon.
After rounds of harsh interrogation, each one cried injustice. Nothing was discovered.
Butler Li watched them, troubled. They didn’t look like people who would steal the Princess Consort’s dowry.
Unsure, he went to the rear courtyard to ask Wen Jinhe. “Reporting to Your Highness, the guards won’t confess a single word. All insist they’re innocent.”
Wen Jinhe signaled Mandong, who was fanning her, to stop. She sat up. “Along the entire wedding escort, they were the ones guarding my dowry. Now it’s missing—if not them, then who? They stole their mistress’s property and still refuse to admit it. Execute them all.”
The white hair at Butler Li’s temples trembled. He cupped his hands. “As you command.”
When he reached the dungeon entrance, he paused. This was the Princess Consort’s dowry matter; there was no need to inform the Prince.
So he stepped inside and ordered, “By decree of the Princess Consort, all of these men are to be executed. When it’s done, throw their bodies into the mass grave.”
Murong Nie found out about the matter only at night.
He hurried into the study, pale-faced. “Two hundred men executed at once—only a few days after the wedding?! The Princess Consort acts too fast, too viciously!”
Li Junche stood and walked to the window, looking toward the rear courtyard. “She is very clever. If she wishes to avoid being restrained or monitored, she would rather kill the wrong person than let the right one slip.”
Murong Nie said with lingering fear, “Subordinate no longer suspects that she is a spy sent by Lin Yue Kingdom. This… is pure vengeance, killing to satisfy her anger. The Princess Consort’s methods are so ruthless, I worry—what if even you can’t control her?”
Li Junche glanced back at Murong Nie. “If Lin Yue Kingdom finds out about this, they will certainly abandon Wen Jinhe. Apart from me, she has no other support.”
From beginning to end, she had no one to rely on.
From being abandoned in the Cold Palace at birth, to being sent to marry into Bei Di, she had always been a forsaken child.
That night, Wen Jinhe took out hand cream and body lotion from her storage space to rub on her skin.
The skin of this body was indeed rough, even bearing whip marks on her back from past punishments.
The next day, Butler Li arrived at the rear courtyard with two attendants, carrying a stack of ledgers. “Princess Consort, these are the Prince’s household accounts.”
Wen Jinhe, still full from breakfast, sipped several bowls of tea to settle her stomach. “Did the Prince tell you to give these to me?”
“Yes, Your Highness. The Prince ordered it first thing this morning.”
Wen Jinhe signaled Mandong to place the ledgers on the table.
She picked up the top one, intending to flip through a few pages casually, but her expression grew increasingly grim.
Frowning, she examined every ledger in turn.
Butler Li, standing by, watched her expression anxiously.
After finishing the last page, Wen Jinhe looked up at Butler Li. “Why is there so little silver in the Prince’s accounts? Doesn’t he have a salary? Did he not receive rewards for his military achievements from the Emperor?”
The monthly expenditures and income were almost equal; there was less than ten thousand taels in the accounts—a truly baffling state.
Butler Li hesitated, then replied, “The Prince’s salary is only enough to cover the household’s daily expenses. Over the years, with frequent battles on the frontier, whenever soldiers fell in battle, the Prince issued compensation. The Emperor’s rewards were used for that purpose. During times of tight military funding, the Prince would even supplement from his private treasury. So the household accounts don’t show much surplus.”
Wen Jinhe’s eyes widened. “Compensation and military funding? Shouldn’t those come from the national treasury?”
Butler Li stammered, “Sometimes it’s just not enough. As the Cavalry General, the Prince cannot avoid using some of his own silver to supplement.”
Wen Jinhe took a deep breath, suddenly realizing something. “You just said the Prince’s salary only covers household expenses—then what about my future expenses?”
Butler Li handed her a sheet of paper with both hands. “The Emperor gave some rewards when the Prince married. This list should cover a period of time.”
Wen Jinhe opened the paper. Her brows knitted tightly. With so little, how long could it last? The Bei Di Emperor was indeed stingy.
“A grand household, yet the storerooms are empty. Soon, I will have to use my dowry to sustain myself—ridiculous. Take these ledgers back; the household affairs are still yours to manage. Report to me once every half month.”
Wen Jinhe had hoped to live a comfortable, leisurely life as a wealthy princess consort. Instead, she found she had married a pauper.
Li Junche had the looks, but he was a spendthrift.
He kept reaching into his own pocket. The household’s private funds were not the national treasury—why did he have to supplement them personally?
“Yes,” Butler Li replied, seeing Wen Jinhe’s iron-faced expression, clearly angered.
Was she planning to be a hands-off manager?
Judging from the dowry brought from Lin Yue Kingdom, it seemed there wasn’t much anyway.
In the past few days, he had noticed that this Princess Consort was not frugal.
She liked good food, good drinks, and even indulged herself in some luxuries.