Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Fifth Prince would rather be a dog than live a proper life with me.

I gave up entirely on the idea of having children with him.

Still, life as a Princess Consort was much better than life back home.

At home, I received twenty taels of monthly allowance. Between eating, drinking, and buying this and that, I was always running a deficit by the end of the month.

My mother used to laugh at me. “Just look at your account book. At first, you kept your records so carefully. Later on, you actually started falsifying them. Tell Mother, if you’ve already spent thirty-five taels, how can you still have five taels left over?”

Once I was exposed, I would simply burrow into her arms and act spoiled.

My mother would hold me and kiss my forehead fondly.

Then she would sigh and say, “Oh, forget it. It’s fine if you’re a little silly. In any case, Mother never expected you to marry into some royal or noble family. You can stay home as Mother’s little girl forever, and I’ll look after you.”

My mother was not making empty promises. Though she was only a concubine, she had quite a bit of silver saved up.

My father was a third-rank military official. Our family was upright and strict, and my mother was his only concubine.

My legitimate mother came from an old aristocratic family. Though her temperament was somewhat cold, she never made things difficult for us.

There were only two daughters in the household: my legitimate elder sister and me.

Although my elder sister was always calling me foolish and muddleheaded, whenever outsiders criticized me, she always protected me.

After I was betrothed to the Fifth Prince,

my elder sister held me and cried for a very long time.

After wiping away her tears, she said, “At least it’s you. That’s still better than someone else. Xiao Shuo is cold-faced, and his heart is even colder. I grew up with him for so many years, yet I never managed to warm him. After you marry him, if he neglects you, don’t hurt yourself over it. Spend plenty of his money and live your own life well.”

But I did not quite understand those words.

Curious, I asked my elder sister, “Sister, if you like him so much, why didn’t you refuse the Third Prince back then?”

My elder sister stared blankly for a while, then said with some resentment, “When the Third Prince asked to marry me, I wrote him a letter and asked Xiao Shuo about it. But he only replied with two words: As you wish. Tell me, with a man like that, even if I insisted on marrying him, what would be the point? Between love and power, I had to obtain at least one.”

The more she spoke, the more frustrated she became. “Forget it. You’re an unawakened blockhead. Even if I tell you about all this love and romance, you won’t understand.”

But in my heart, I thought: I do understand.

Love is like a thunderstorm in the seventh month.

One moment, the sky is clear for ten thousand miles; the next, dark clouds cover everything.

The rain seems about to fall, yet it never does, leaving only a stuffy unease in one’s chest.

Then, without warning, the downpour comes. Your body is drenched, and your heart turns damp as well.

In short, I do not want to understand it. I want my life to be sunny forever.

The Fifth Prince did not want to have children with me.

Then according to what my mother said, I was bound to fall out of favor in the future.

The most important thing now was to take advantage of the fact that I was still the Princess Consort and fatten up my little private treasury.

On the day we separated, I would have stolen enough to fill my basin to overflowing. Who cared who he favored after that?

I hugged a box full of gemstones and happily rolled around on the bed.

Hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

I looked up and saw Zi Xiao carrying Xiao Shuo on her back into the inner chamber.

Xiao Shuo’s face was flushed, but his lips were pale.

Zi Xiao explained anxiously, “The Empress tried to frame His Highness for illicit conduct in the harem, so she drugged him. Fortunately, Lei Shan discovered it in time and brought His Highness back to the estate. His Highness’s legs were crippled because he was poisoned, and he has been taking medicine recently. There has already been some slight improvement. But this love poison clashes with the medicine. If it isn’t neutralized, I’m afraid His Highness’s legs will be ruined completely!”

Seeing that she was so anxious tears were about to fall, I hurriedly said, “Don’t cry, don’t cry. It’s just love poison. I’ll neutralize it for him.”

When Zi Xiao heard that, she immediately lowered the bed curtains and left.

I stared at the half-conscious Xiao Shuo and froze.

Hey! Zi Xiao, you didn’t tell me how to neutralize the poison!