Ever since the strange people in the main courtyard had been cleared out and the reverse yin-yang soul-binding formation at the head of the bed had been broken, Xiao Chenghuai’s health visibly improved.
In just five or six days, the deathly aura on his face had completely faded, and the amount of time he could stay awake each day grew longer and longer.
That afternoon, the sunlight was warm and pleasant.
Xiao Chenghuai leaned halfway against the bed, playing with a fine-quality white jade pendant in his hand. His quiet gaze rested on Jiang Zhaoxue, who was sitting by the window.
Her long hair was loosely tied up. At this moment, she was sitting cross-legged, holding several copper coins in her hand and making them clatter on the small table as she calculated something. From time to time, she muttered:
“Make money… make lots of money…”
Xiao Chenghuai’s eyes and brows softened with amusement.
“Jiang Zhaoxue.”
The copper coins landed on the table. Jiang Zhaoxue turned her head and raised an eyebrow at him.
“What does Your Highness need? Let me say this first, one fortune reading costs ten taels of silver. I don’t accept credit.”
Xiao Chenghuai let out a quiet laugh and casually tossed the white jade pendant in his hand toward her.
Jiang Zhaoxue’s eyes lit up. She caught it steadily, and the moment her fingers touched its warm, smooth texture, the smile on her face became completely sincere.
“Good jade! What does the prince want to ask?”
“Your future, or fortune and misfortune?”
“I don’t ask about the future, and I don’t ask about fortune or disaster.”
Xiao Chenghuai looked calmly into her eyes.
Jiang Zhaoxue’s eyes were truly beautiful—clear and transparent, as if they could see through everything in this world.
He coughed lightly and took the initiative to ask:
“I’m only curious. I heard that you grew up in an old temple beside the burial grounds outside the city. What happened?”
In Shengjing’s wealthy families, even daughters born from concubines were still raised with care and luxury.
Yet the girl before him was decisive and ruthless, with a love for money that bordered on obsession.
She carried the rough, worldly aura of someone from the streets, yet possessed mystical abilities far beyond what ordinary people could ever reach.
She was like a mystery.
The hand that was playing with the jade pendant paused slightly. Jiang Zhaoxue then shrugged indifferently.
“How else could I have grown up? Fighting ghosts for food and fighting dogs for meat, of course.”
When she said this, her tone was cheerful, and her eyes curved into a smile, as if she were truly telling a funny story.
Jiang Zhaoxue casually poured herself a cup of tea and moistened her throat.
“My blind master had a terrible temper. When he had no money to buy wine, he would throw me alone into the mass graveyard and make me recite rebirth chants for the dead in exchange for copper coins.”
“You don’t know, there were several times when wild dogs that had gained some spiritual power came to steal the offerings. To protect even half of a cold steamed bun, I nearly had my neck bitten off.”
“Later, when I grew older, I learned how to observe spiritual energy and draw talismans from that old blind man, and life became a little easier. But that old man often said that my fate was too tough, that I was destined to be abandoned by my own family, and that in this life I was just a debt-collecting evil spirit.”
Jiang Zhaoxue chewed on her pastry and looked at Xiao Chenghuai with a bright smile.
“What family affection? In my eyes, it’s not even worth a single copper coin. The Jiang family threw me away like I was already dead for thirteen years, and now they want to use me to exchange for their own future. Sooner or later, I’ll settle every single debt with them.”
“So, Your Highness, isn’t that why I came to borrow your power?”
The room fell completely silent.
Xiao Chenghuai’s hand holding the thin blanket tightened slightly, and complicated emotions surged deep within his eyes.
Her tone was teasing and carefree, as if she truly did not care about the dangers and hardships she had endured all those years.
But if she really did not care, why would she still want revenge?
She was truly a contradictory person.
For the first time, Xiao Chenghuai felt genuine curiosity toward this wife of his in name only.
He gave a soft laugh and said:
“Then the situation around this prince is even worse than you imagine.”
He looked at Jiang Zhaoxue.
“In my hands, I hold half of Great Jin’s military command tokens. Those imperial uncles and brothers in court all want my life. As for the manor… there are many people here who wish for my death as well. Staying by my side means danger at every turn. If you want to borrow my power, do you understand how dangerous that is?”
After hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue not only wasn’t afraid—she became even more excited.
She stared straight at Xiao Chenghuai, completely open and without even the slightest bit of the shyness expected from a sheltered young lady.
“Your Highness, listen to yourself. If it wasn’t dangerous, if you weren’t on the verge of death, would this kind of fortune falling from the sky ever have landed on me? How would I have gotten the chance to marry into the prince’s manor?”
Jiang Zhaoxue patted the money pouch hanging at her waist.
“Great wealth comes from great risks! You provide the money, and I’ll provide my life. Right now, the two of us are grasshoppers tied to the same rope. You protect the military command tokens, and I protect you. Whoever dares come for your life, I’ll send them to meet the King of Hell first.”
“As for this position of princess consort, I’m keeping it!”
Xiao Chenghuai was stunned.
Looking at her straightforward and arrogant appearance, a long-lost feeling of exhilaration suddenly surged in his chest, and he couldn’t help but let out a low laugh.
“What a saying—great wealth comes from great risks.”
Xiao Chenghuai’s gaze softened.
“Jiang Zhaoxue, this prince trusts you.”
While the atmosphere in the main courtyard was unusually harmonious, the situation in the Dowager Princess’s Shoukang Courtyard on the other side was already filled with storm clouds.
Meng Dowager Princess lay on the imperial couch, a forehead band wrapped around her head as she painfully gasped.
Over the past few days, she had first seen Biyu, whose hands and feet had been broken and who was thrown outside her gate. Then she learned that Xu Bo, the old pawn she had planted beside Xiao Chenghuai, had suddenly gone insane and become completely useless.
She had sent people to investigate the situation, but they couldn’t even get a fly inside.
Meng Dowager Princess had literally been angered into a headache.
“Your Highness, please calm down. It isn’t worth damaging your health over some country girl.” Nanny Sun stood to the side, carefully massaging her temples.
Meng Dowager Princess gritted her teeth.
“I originally thought she would be an easy-to-control jinx, someone who could bring that sickly ghost to his death. Who would have thought she’d actually be a shameless little rascal!”
“The sickly man has actually been able to sit up these past few days. If this continues, sooner or later the power of the prince’s manor will be taken away by them.”
Nanny Sun rolled her eyes and leaned closer, lowering her voice.
“Dowager Princess, if force doesn’t work, why don’t we use gentleness instead?”
“Gentleness?” Meng Dowager Princess opened her eyes.
“Yes. That Jiang woman was raised in a rundown temple by a Taoist shrine. She hasn’t seen much of the world. We’ll send some good things to the prince.”
“Also, a while ago this old servant found two exceptionally beautiful maidservants outside. Not only do they understand medicine, but their figures and skills are also unmatched. What man doesn’t like to sneak a taste?”
Nanny Sun’s eyes lit up.
“As long as we get them inside, are we still afraid we won’t find a chance to make our move?”
A vicious glint flashed in Meng Dowager Princess’s eyes, and she let out a cold laugh.
“Good! We’ll do exactly as you said.”
An hour later, someone knocked on the main courtyard’s gate.
Nanny Sun led two maidservants with alluring figures and beautiful faces into the courtyard. Behind them followed several old maids carrying brocade boxes. The group entered in a grand and imposing manner.
“Greetings, Princess Consort.”
Nanny Sun put on a fake greeting, her face filled with a smile.
“The Dowager Princess heard that the prince’s health has been improving and was extremely pleased. She specially ordered this old servant to send over several top-quality old mountain ginseng roots and blood bird’s nest for the prince and princess consort to nourish their bodies.”
As she spoke, she pulled the two beauties forward.
“These two are Chun Xia and Qiu Dong. Both are skilled in medical knowledge and massage techniques. The Dowager Princess was worried that Princess Consort would find serving the prince alone too tiring, so she specially sent them here to assist you.”
The two beauties gracefully bowed, their fragrance spreading through the air, their voices soft and charming.
“Your servant greets the Princess Consort\~”