Inside the woodshed, Chu Fengge was going through hell, and no one knew it.
Even if some commotion came from the woodshed, no one would come to Chu Fengge's aid.
Everyone in the Prince's Manor believed Chu Fengge deserved to die.
Meanwhile, Mo Qianhan had already returned to Moyu Pavilion.
Mo Zilou had woken up, and his spirits had recovered considerably.
Lying in bed, he asked Mo Qianhan, "Imperial Father, where is Sister Hua An? And my new mother? Tonight is your wedding night with my new mother—why are you staying by my side?"
Mo Zilou had no idea that he had been poisoned.
He simply thought he had eaten something wrong at the wedding banquet and gotten an upset stomach.
At the thought of gaining a little sister, Mo Zilou felt happy inside.
"Imperial Father, can I bring Sister Hua An to live at Moyu Pavilion in the future? Then I'll have a companion. And my new mother—I don't feel that she's mad and foolish like people say. She just doesn't like to talk, but I can tell that she loves Hua An very, very much. She's been quite kind to me too. Imperial Father, please don't hold anything against her and Hua An. I feel they're not as bad as everyone says."
This was what Mo Zilou had observed during his time with the original owner, Chu Fengge.
He didn't understand how adults thought.
He only knew that the Chu Fengge and Hua An he knew were different from what others described.
But in Mo Qianhan's eyes, Chu Fengge feigned madness, was selfish and self-serving, disregarded the safety of the children, and set fires in secret.
How could someone like that deserve to be Zilou's mother? How could he ever feel at ease entrusting Zilou to her care in the future, when she couldn't even look after her own daughter?
He pulled up the blanket over Mo Zilou. "I'll allow Hua An to stay. The skilled physician says you need rest these next few days. It's getting late—close your eyes and sleep now. Imperial Father will stay by your side tonight."
"But…"
"One more word, and I'll take back what I just said."
Mo Zilou quickly shut his eyes.
He knew his Imperial Father never went back on his word.
Before long, Mo Zilou's breathing grew slow and even.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
Mo Qianhan's brow furrowed, and he rose abruptly and walked out of the room, his handsome face as cold as ice and snow. "What is it now?"
"Your Highness, it's the Princess Consort. She beat Nanny Yang and several of the gate servants and escaped from the woodshed. She's also taken hostage Miss Hongling, the Cousin's head maid," Steward Wang reported.
"Chu Fengge!" Mo Qianhan enunciated her name coldly, word by word. "Where is she now?"
"Miss Hongling is leading the Princess Consort to find her daughter."
"Stay and watch over the Shizi." Mo Qianhan strode out of Moyu Pavilion.
Chu Fengge was truly driving him mad.
On other people's wedding nights, there was love and tenderness, bodies pressed close together.
His wedding night had become a "battlefield."
And his new Princess Consort was the most dangerous weapon of all.
Peach Snow Courtyard.
Hua An had been placed in a courtyard across the lake from Moyu Pavilion.
When Mo Qianhan entered the courtyard, the sound of crying filled the air.
Bai Ruoshui, having heard that Hongling had been taken hostage, had rushed over from Fangting Courtyard ahead of time and was now standing in the courtyard.
As Mo Qianhan arrived, Bai Ruoshui wiped her tears and called out in a soft, delicate, frail voice, "Your Highness, please don't blame the Princess Consort. She must have missed her daughter so desperately that she beat Nanny Yang and took Hongling hostage. Please speak with her gently."
"Ruoshui, why have you come out? Didn't I tell you to rest more?"
Senior Maid Yang, her face bruised and swollen from Chu Fengge's beating, came forward on her knees and said, "Your Highness, if it weren't for the Cousin, this servant and the others would have been beaten to death by the Princess Consort. The Princess Consort is truly fierce! Your Highness, you must seek justice for us servants. We dare not go near her to attend her anymore—this servant is afraid of being beaten to death by the Princess Consort."
At that moment, Chu Fengge, holding Hua An in her arms, limped out of the room.
The three wicked servants and Senior Maid Yang had indeed been soundly beaten by Chu Fengge.
But Chu Fengge had not emerged unscathed either. Her arms, legs, and body were all covered in wounds. If she hadn't fought back, she would likely have been beaten to death by the wicked servants long ago.
Chu Fengge now stood in her wedding dress, red as blood, her clothes torn and her hair disheveled.
Disheveled and wretched, she stood before the house, a trace of blood staining the corner of her cherry-red lips. Though her body swayed as if about to collapse, her back remained ramrod straight.
Step by step, she descended the stairs, her voice desolate and mournful as she denounced the Prince Regent's evil deeds: "If you wish to accuse someone, there is no lack of pretexts. The Prince Regent would rather believe the words of servants than spend the slightest effort to uncover the truth. He wrongs the innocent, sends men to set fires and assassinate a helpless mother and child in the dead of night, and when the fire fails, he sends wicked servants to beat me to death under the pretense of punishment. Ha… The Prince Regent's Manor has endless tricks and base, petty conduct. A grown man of seven feet, yet he cannot tolerate me and my innocent child."
Mo Qianhan's dark eyes sank almost imperceptibly, his sword-like brows knitting faintly.
When had he ever sent anyone to set a fire and burn mother and daughter to death?
When had he ever sent the manor's servants to beat her to death?