A Beautiful Duchess with a Dark Heart – Chapter 90

Chapter 90

Princess Wu had been standing outside the whole time. Regarding Yang Ruishi’s death, she wasn’t actually happy.

She didn’t die last time, but she’s dead now.

This is troublesome…

Seeing that the Hu family had finally taken the person away, she quietly walked in.

Prince Wu sat there dejectedly, without a trace of kingly demeanor on him.

“Your Highness.”

Prince Wu turned his face, his eyes fierce. “This is the matter you’re managing?!”

Princess Wu had no way to deal with what he was criticizing, so she could only kneel and salute. “It was this concubine’s negligence in managing the household. Please punish me, Your Highness!”

Prince Wu had a thousand words to scold her with. He wanted to hit, punish, and discipline her, but he knew he couldn’t be too harsh.

Lightly…then what use would that be?

“Enough of this. Make all those people get out of Orange Garden!”

“…Your Highness, there are still some things that haven’t…”

“You didn’t hear this Prince’s words?! Everyone disperse! Quickly! Chen Shi, don’t force me to turn against you!” His face was ugly, like a tiger encountering a powerful enemy.

Princess Wu was startled and quickly agreed, retreating.

Thus, today’s banquet ended here.

Wen Jiao and the others whispered, “We didn’t even get to eat the Prince’s residence’s food…”

“Yeah! What a pity.”

Wen Yu, however, felt like she had received a pardon and almost laughed out loud.

And Old Madam Wen was even more regretful! She didn’t get to see the Princess, so she didn’t know what the Princess wanted to see her for…

Sigh, she sighed countless times in her heart.

Wen Yu returned to her residence, but her heart didn’t relax. As soon as she entered the door, Qing He and Xiao Ji greeted her, reaching out to help her take her bag.

She was so scared that she shouted, “Don’t touch!” Her voice was sharp and loud, startling the two maids.

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing. Someone died at the gathering today. I was scared to death. I’ll take my things myself. You guys prepare some hot water. Don’t talk, and don’t disturb me…”

She was usually always smiling, so Qing He and Xiao Ji weren’t afraid of her. At this moment, when she became serious, it actually intimidated the two maids, who didn’t dare to move. They even walked quietly.

Wen Yu hugged the package and didn’t open it to look.

Originally, she planned to burn it as soon as she came back!

But now, she changed her mind.

Although she didn’t look at what was inside, it must be something important…

Mr. Hu and his wife were like a celestial couple, leaving a good impression on her. If this was useful to him…

Then how could she…both deliver this into his hands and benefit from it, without letting him know who she was?

So difficult!

After going through a crazy ride of thoughts, she was extremely nervous. Now that her mind was at ease, she actually fell asleep.

Old Madam Wen returned to her room and started complaining to Nurse Song. “There’s actually such a thing…” Her previous excitement and happiness vanished.

“If the Princess really has the intention, she’ll contact us again. Moreover, those from the Prince’s residence, sometimes they don’t even need to discuss with us, they’ll directly send someone to give instructions.”

“Sigh, then should we wait for another two days?”

“Old Madam, did you see the way Magistrate Zhang’s son, Jiang Qing, looked at our eldest daughter today?”

“Oh? I didn’t notice.”

“Young Master Zhang used to be chubby and always smiling. I didn’t really think much of him. Now, after experiencing some things, he’s actually quite outstanding.”

“Humph, if Wen Yu can marry into the Zhang family, it’s her blessing!”

Before, this granddaughter was eager to get close, and she found it annoying.

But now she wasn’t trying to get close anymore, and yet she was good with Madam Song, good with the Zhang family’s daughter, and that day, she was very gentle to Madam Qi. But she became distant from the people in her own （family）…

Humph! The marriage is still in my hands. Good or bad, it depends on my mood!

For Old Madam Wen to have reached this point with her husband, it definitely wasn’t just one person’s fault. Look, she’s being difficult again.

In the evening, she sent someone to inquire, and the news came back: Prince Wu and Princess Wu had already left, leaving only people behind to deal with the aftermath.

Magistrate Zhang had also left.

She also heard that the Hu family had left…

Old Madam Wen was even more disappointed, so she decided: Let’s go, we’ll go home tomorrow morning!

…

The journey was smooth, and when they arrived home, Yan Zhu was overjoyed.

Looking at her, it seemed like she couldn’t wait to hear Wen Yu talk about everything from the moment she left the house.

Wen Yu said, “Let me sleep for a while first. When I wake up, I’ll tell you everything, I promise.” After saying that, she stuffed the package under her pillow.

As soon as she lay down, she fell into a deep sleep.

✿✿✿

How could Yan Zhu agree?

She pulled Xiao Ji along, and it just so happened that Xiao Ji had brought a lot of snacks. The two of them hid in the room and chatted for a long time.

Wen Yu actually didn’t sleep for long. She was awakened by a nightmare.

In her dream: The woman in black, Prince Wu, Princess Wu, and that masked man in black were all chasing her.

And Yang Ruishi was walking towards the sky on her own…higher and higher.

In the end, she ran for a long time, but she was still caught by that jade hand. Someone laughed contemptuously and said, “See where else you can run!”

That voice was actually very familiar…it startled her awake.

She hurriedly opened the small package. Inside, there were more than a dozen sheets of paper densely filled with elegant small regular script.

The first letter expressed admiration for Mr. Hu, as well as her unrepentant feelings.

Then, it detailed Mrs. Hu’s past…to show that Mr. Hu treated Yang Ruishi so well and even gave her the Hu family’s important “inheritance,” but she didn’t deserve it at all!

This passage was filled with black sorrow, making Wen Yu’s eyes well up with tears…

She didn’t have the woman in black’s unwillingness and resentment. She just felt that such a beautiful woman, how could she be so tragic? Prince Wu and the Princess, such noble people, why would they hurt a woman like this?

A suffocating sadness filled her heart, making her think of her previous life…

Why would anyone have to go through this?

Sadness arose from her heart, tears streamed down her cheeks…

Yan Zhu cared about Wen Yu the most. Hearing the noise, she quietly came in, sat by her bed, and asked worriedly, “Ah Yu, what’s wrong?”

So Wen Yu told Yan Zhu about this matter.

Yan Zhu cried even harder than Wen Yu. “Mrs. Hu is so pitiful! Prince Wu and the Princess are too evil! They have such noble identities, yet they act so viciously and despicably!”

She wiped her tears and said, “This Mr. Hu…is also so pitiful. He watched his beloved wife leave, wu wu…I can feel his pain. If it were me…I would probably die.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

“It’s true, Ah Yu. While death is painful, once you’re dead, you don’t know anything anymore. But the living have to suffer…He loved his wife so much, how sad he must be!”

“I understand.” Wen Yu wiped her tears and also helped Yan Zhu wipe hers.

Yan Zhu held her hand and said, “Ah Yu, how about we really think of a way to give this to Mr. Hu? Let him know how tragic his wife’s past was and avenge her!”

“Do you think…if Mr. Hu knew about his wife’s past, would he look down on her?!”

“How could he? According to what you said, Mr. Hu is a man of noble character. How could he be so narrow-minded in his actions? Moreover, Mrs. Hu had no choice. She was bullied by others, it’s not like she wanted to be like that! If he looks down on her because of this, I’ll look down on him even more!”

“Good Zhu Zhu, you’re right.”

“What about the rest? What do they say?”

Wen Yu then continued reading.

It turned out that after the woman in black was driven away by Mr. Hu, she married Mu Qi.

But she was still not satisfied, so she thought: Yang Ruishi is so beautiful, how could she be an ordinary person?! Investigate!

At first, she thought she might be a kept woman or something like that, so she went to investigate, but there was no information at all.

Later, she thought, looking at Yang Ruishi…she didn’t seem to have any talent.

Those kept women were trained from a young age and had many talents. Although their waists were soft, they weren’t as weak as her. Hands that had practiced playing the guqin, even without calluses, would still have strength, not as soft as hers!

So, she changed her direction of investigation.

As a result, she discovered: Someone else was also investigating Yang Ruishi…

Then she followed those people, spending several years…before finally figuring out Yang Ruishi’s origins.

The third part was about Prince Wu…

Wen Yu scanned through it quickly, her expression becoming serious. How could this Mrs. Mu be so capable?

She could even find this out?

（Actually, she didn’t know that the truly capable one was Mu Qi. ）

Heavenly Dharma Temple…actually belonged to Prince Wu?

Without Mrs. Mu saying it, Wen Yu could understand. The incense, the monks, the people working in the temple’s properties. Well, well! Silver and people! He’s really good at this!

Iron mines, copper mines…

Salt fields, and land under other people’s names…

These were just simple lists.

And the evidence, she looked further down, there was an address, in the mountains.

These things were truly important and dangerous.

I’m going out to play today, I wrote this yesterday and hurriedly posted it. I’ll correct any mistakes later.

I suddenly had a thought, how about making our Zhu Zhu and Mr. Hu a couple?