Chapter 1491: Her Highness the Princess (37)

Recently, Lü Qing had been deeply uneasy, and the source of that unease was his original wife, Lin Yuexiang.

Back when the children were still young, even if Lin Yuexiang had wanted to travel to the Imperial City to find him, she could hardly have crossed mountains and rivers while bringing two small children with her.

Later, as the children gradually grew up, Lin Yuexiang had tried several times to come to the Imperial City.

Fortunately, he had arranged for people to keep watch over her. Whenever Lin Yuexiang made any unusual moves, his men would create trouble for her.

Stopping her each time didn't mean she had given up on finding him.

Especially now that the children had grown older, her determination to seek him out was probably even stronger.

Lin Yuexiang was hot-tempered and straightforward. If she found out he had become a prince consort, she would definitely make a huge scene.

Once the matter became public, he would truly be finished.

Over the years, Lü Qing had not lived well.

He had once believed that Tang Xi genuinely loved him, but later realized that she had only been attracted to his handsome appearance.

Ever since he had spent those three months laboring in the fields years ago, his skin had become dark and rough. Although it had slowly recovered, it could no longer compare to how it had been before.

Nowadays, Tang Xi treated him with great indifference and frequently attended gatherings of poets and scholars, openly flirting with talented young men in the Imperial City.

As a result, despite being married for so many years, they still had no children.

Tang Xi had cuckolded him, and unable to swallow his anger, he had simply begun seducing the maids within the Princess Manor.

The first had been Juanzhu. He had originally thought that Tang Xi would fly into a rage upon finding out.

To his utter surprise, Tang Xi had said to him on the spot, “If the Prince Consort likes certain kinds of goods, feel free to choose anyone except those by my side. And as for my affairs, it'd be best if the Prince Consort kept his nose out of them.”

Originally, the two of them had been united in purpose, but as the Third Prince repeatedly failed to gain favor, Tang Xi could no longer see any hope. She had no desire to continue sacrificing her youth for the sake of some uncertain future as a Grand Princess.

She deeply regretted it now and couldn't understand what had possessed her to fall for Lü Qing in the first place.

Lü Qing had already been relatively old when he passed the imperial examination. He had been twenty-six back then. Nearly seven years had passed, and he was now over thirty. How could he compare with those young, fair-skinned scholars?

After that incident, Tang Xi became even more excessive, openly bringing her lovers back to the Princess Manor to enjoy themselves.

Seated beneath the candlelight, Lü Qing stared at the letter in his hand.

The message stated that Lin Yuexiang and the two children had disappeared. They were very likely secretly heading toward the Imperial City and were asking him what to do.

Lü Qing sat in his chair with a gloomy face and pondered for a long time.

In the end, he wrote a reply containing only a single word:

Kill.

“Yuexiang, I'm sorry. Who told you not to obediently stay put and instead keep insisting on coming to find me? I have no choice. If you really cause trouble in the Imperial City, the only one who'll lose his head will be me.”

As he sealed the letter into an envelope, he muttered softly, “In the years to come, I won't forget your death anniversary or the holidays. I'll burn paper money for you and the two children and make sure that in the underworld you'll never worry about food or clothing, nor suffer because of money. You can all be wealthy ghosts.”

“Prince Consort.”

Hearing Juanzhu's voice from outside, Lü Qing quickly hid the letter away.

“Come in.”

Juanzhu pushed open the door and entered, carrying a tray upon which sat a bowl of soup.

“Prince Consort, this servant noticed that you hardly touched your dinner earlier, so I specially brought you some soup.”

Juanzhu gazed at Lü Qing affectionately. Their eyes met, and the atmosphere in the study instantly became ambiguous