She curtsied and responded, gentle and soft as always.
“Wangfei is most considerate. This humble concubine obeys. This humble concubine takes her leave.”
Watching Lin Nong depart, Zi Sangli glanced at the pastries beside her, picked one up and slowly ate it.
She was in a rather good mood.
But she didn’t trust Lin Nong completely, after all, her husband was handsome, had a good temperament, and was the Zhonggong Dizhi—very likely to inherit the throne in the future!
She couldn’t believe any woman would truly be indifferent to her husband’s favor!
“Keep an eye on her. Report her every move to me! If she dares to play any tricks, I’ll make sure she tastes a living hell!”
Her personal maid acknowledged the order and added, “I doubt she would. I heard that if the palace hadn’t suddenly issued the decree, the Helan Family would have gone to the Lin Family to formalize the betrothal! The two families have been close for generations, and they’ve known each other since childhood. Perhaps Consort Lin had already given her heart to him, only to be torn apart. She must be grieving deeply now!”
Zi Sangli’s eyes flickered. “Where did you hear that?”
The personal maid replied, “From the young lady of the Helan Family! Helan Gongzi watched Consort Lin enter the palace yesterday, then went back and vomited blood from illness.”
“He vomited blood?” Zi Sangli was astonished.
Could a man truly be so deeply devoted?
She suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for Lin Nong.
“If that’s the case, then Your Highness and I have truly ruined her marriage!”
…
Lin Nong knew Zi Sangli would be watching her.
After returning, she secluded herself and warned all her attendants to avoid Xiao Chengyan and anyone associated with him!
She had expected Xiao Chengyan to visit a few times, if only to maintain appearances for the palace.
But for over half a month, he never came once.
Still, Lin Nong wasn’t anxious. She remained quietly in her own courtyard.
Until one day, Xiao Chengyan stormed in furiously!
He yanked Lin Nong out from behind her desk as she was bending over painting.
“Lin Nong, you’re truly cunning! Just because I haven’t favored you, you’d resort to harming A Li!”
Lin Nong, frail and slender, stumbled from his pull. Her wrist ached from his tight grip, and her delicate face paled slightly.
Her beautiful eyes lifted, filled with confusion and helplessness. “Your Highness, I don’t understand what you’re saying. You’re hurting me.”
Xiao Chengyan didn’t loosen his hold in the slightest, his phoenix eyes blazing with fury. “You don’t understand? Did you never think of bearing a child? Mother chose you—didn’t she insist you must climb into my bed?”
Lin Nong bit her lip, unable to refute.
Regarding heirs, the Empress had summoned her repeatedly before the wedding, urging her to conceive within a year.
Her silence made Xiao Chengyan think she admitted it, fueling his anger and a tinge of disappointment.
How could she be such a person!
“You spoke so sweetly about not disrupting my relationship with A Li, yet you turned around and poisoned her pastries with medicine that destroys fertility and harms the body! Lin Nong, how could you be so treacherous!”
With that, he flung her away violently.
Lin Nong fell to the ground.
Her wrist struck the edge of a low table, sharp pain shooting through her.
Frowning deeply, Lin Nong was seething.
In all her years since transmigrating into this book, she had never been humiliated or injured like this!
This debt was recorded against this dog of a man!
She would repay him someday!
She pushed herself up, kneeling properly on the floor, and met his furious gaze directly. “The imperial decree bestowed this marriage upon me to bear heirs for the palace. It is the Empress’s expectation and His Majesty’s command.”
“Does Wangye truly wish to hear this consort say ‘I don’t want heirs’ to prove my innocence, or does Wangye want this consort to bear false witness and die for deceiving the sovereign?”
Xiao Chengyan: “Sophistry and deceitful arguments!”
Lin Nong’s gaze remained stubborn: “This consort has done no such thing. Even if Wangye wishes to condemn me to death, I beg Wangye to summon witnesses and evidence to confront me, so I may die with clarity!”
Xiao Chengyan: “Who else would do this besides you?”
Lin Nong let out a laugh filled with the sorrow and disappointment of being isolated and helpless: “Even government investigations cannot condemn and execute someone simply because they appear most suspicious, can they?”
Xiao Chengyan froze.
Two glistening teardrops rolled from the corners of Lin Nong’s eyes, her voice trembling lightly: “Jiangyan Lou is my private property. I personally instructed the pastry chef to deliver pastries to Wangfei every three days – everyone inside and outside knows this!”
“If I wanted to harm someone, there are countless discreet methods. Why would I place myself in such an obvious position, waiting to be accused? Moreover, each pastry delivery comes in two identical portions – Wangfei’s people choose first, and I take the remainder.”
“I’ve consumed the pastries every time they were delivered. The people Wangfei placed in my residence should have witnessed this. If I were poisoning Wangfei, wouldn’t I be poisoning myself as well!”
Xiao Chengyan stared into her eyes.
Beyond the tears containing restrained grievance, there wasn’t a trace of guilt.
This gradually calmed him from the fury of learning his wife had been poisoned, leaving him slightly stunned.
But with the matter still unresolved, he maintained his stern expression: “You’d better not be the one!”
He turned and strode away.
Hearing the soft exclamation of the maid behind him.
“Master, your hand is injured from the fall!”
His jaw tightened, quickening his departure.
“Summon the physician to tend to her!”
“Accompany me to investigate at the restaurant!”
…
In less than two hours, news arrived.
Miss Xu had been beaten and sent to Jingxin An.
That was the place specifically for confining errant officials’ female relatives.
The truth couldn’t be clearer.
Lin Nong smiled faintly: “Rather efficient.”
When Xiao Chengyan returned, he found her standing beneath the corridor gazing into the distance.
Dressed in a moon-white gown with a light greyish-blue sheer outer robe, her raven hair loosely tied with just a hair ribbon, she appeared ethereal and solitary. The ribbon fluttered gently in the breeze, swaying as if she might ride the wind away at any moment…
The maid reminded her.
Lin Nong turned around.
Their eyes met.
Xiao Chengyan saw her slightly reddened eyes – clearly she had been crying – with evident sorrow in her gaze.
Guilt stirred in his heart.
Lin Nong approached him and performed a formal bow.
Without speaking, she waited for him to impose false accusations upon her.
Xiao Chengyan reached out as if to help her up personally, but after reconsidering, withdrew his hand: “Rise!”
Lin Nong remained motionless, simply looking up at him.
Xiao Chengyan realized for the first time that even seemingly gentle and submissive women could have tempers.
Indeed, a woman who cherished freedom should possess the sharpness of winter!
But since he had wrongfully accused her, she deserved an explanation: “Previously, the Empress intended for Miss Xu to also enter the Wang residence. For unknown reasons, only you were selected. To secure another chance to enter, she bribed someone to drug you and A Li, hoping to render you both infertile.”
“I wronged you. I shouldn’t have accused you without investigation or inquiry.”
Lin Nong gently bit her lip, her eyes shimmering with aggrieved tears that she stubbornly refused to shed, maintaining her last shred of dignity while still appearing fragile and docile: “Wangye cherishes Wangfei deeply. It is only natural for him to feel worried and enraged when Wangfei falls victim to schemes.”