Chapter 1457: Her Highness the Princess (3)

Everyone simply believed that he had devoted himself to studying and pursuing success, leaving no time to think about marriage.

Thus, when the Empress sent people to investigate, the result they brought back was that Lü Qing was unmarried. Satisfied, she petitioned the Emperor to summon Lü Qing as the prince consort.

Naturally, Lü Qing was overjoyed to marry the princess.

Yet deep down, he remained troubled. His first wife, Lin Yuexiang, was a thorn lodged in his heart.

Once the truth came to light, he would be guilty of deceiving the Emperor—a crime punishable by death.

Having finally climbed to such heights, Lü Qing naturally had no desire to see everything reduced to dust.

Therefore, after marrying the princess, he secretly sent trusted men to watch Lin Yuexiang.

Should she ever attempt to come to the capital in search of him, they were to stop her.

He hid all of this from the original host.

As for Juanzhu, she had become the maid assigned to conduct the pre-marital trial and was effectively half a concubine to Lü Qing.

To avoid arousing the original host's suspicions, he quietly won Juanzhu over and turned her into his woman.

Juanzhu was hopelessly infatuated with Lü Qing and always sided with him.

Whenever the original host harbored any suspicions, Juanzhu's words would quickly dispel them.

Since Juanzhu had been chosen by the Empress herself and had grown up alongside the princess, the original host trusted her more than anyone.

Everything happened seven years after the original host married Lü Qing.

During those years, Lin Yuexiang had repeatedly wanted to travel to the capital and find him, but Lü Qing's schemes had thwarted her every attempt.

Until one day, Lin Yuexiang's father returned from a journey and brought back some news.

Among the things he had heard was that Lü Qing had become the prince consort.

Lin Yuexiang was devastated and deeply disappointed in him, resentment beginning to grow in her heart.

No matter what, she had to ask him what was going on.

After all, hearing something was one thing; seeing it with her own eyes was another.

What if Lü Qing had not married willingly? What if the Emperor had forced him to become the prince consort through an imperial decree?

Such thoughts were perfectly natural for ordinary commoners.

The Lin family advised her to let it go, but Lin Yuexiang was stubborn.

She refused.

She had to hear the truth from Lü Qing himself.

One day, she secretly set off for the capital with her son and daughter, Lü Yufan and Lü Yuzhi, carefully avoiding other people's eyes.

Yet their whereabouts were eventually discovered.

When Lü Qing learned of it, he panicked.

He could not bear to part with his current wealth and glory.

If Lin Yuexiang came to the capital and exposed everything, not only would his reputation be ruined, but his head might roll as well.

Therefore, he decided that this hidden danger had to be eliminated.

Since things had come to this, he simply hired assassins to hunt down Lin Yuexiang and her two children.

During their escape, Lin Yuexiang died protecting her son and daughter.

Before dying, she instructed the children to find their father and demand an explanation.

Otherwise, she would never rest in peace.

Later, during their flight, the brother and sister became separated.

Lü Yufan eventually became the book attendant of a young master from a wealthy family. Impressed by his intelligence and talent, the young master favored him greatly and even gave him the opportunity to study and pursue official success.

But Lü Yuzhi, being a girl, suffered a far crueler fate.

She fell into the world of courtesans.

Even so, she never forgot her determination to go to the capital and question her father—Lü Qing.

Several years later, Lü Yufan became the top scholar, while Lü Yuzhi rose to become the most celebrated courtesan in the capital.

On the very day Lü Yufan attained first place in the imperial examinations, he accused Grand Prince Consort Lü Qing before the court of abandoning his wife of humble beginnings and even attempting to murder her.