Recently, busy with the grand drama at the Prime Minister's mansion, Wu Caiwei hadn't even properly checked the accounts. With that matter temporarily settled, she quickly attended to the pile of financial records before her.
After finishing all her tasks in one go, it was already late at night. She tidied herself up and went to bed.
The moon climbed quietly. As he slept soundly, he suddenly opened his eyes. His right hand slowly drew the sword from under his pillow, ready to face any combat.
Clearly, the opponent was a master. He had slipped into her room without making the slightest sound. If not for her keen nose, catching a faint whiff of blood, she wouldn't have detected a second presence.
The night was silent. She held her breath, pricked up her ears, and carefully tried to pinpoint the other person's direction. But apart from her own thumping heart, she heard nothing.
Unsure if friend or foe, she dared not let her guard down. As the scent of blood grew stronger and clearer under her nose, she knew the other person was slowly approaching.
Suddenly, the opponent accidentally bumped into a table. Although the sound was very light, it was still heard by Wu Caiwei, who was fully focused. Opportunity knocked but once; she immediately unleashed all her strength and attacked in that direction.
The opponent was stunned for a moment, not expecting her to react so quickly. In that fleeting instant, seeing the sword aimed directly at his vital spot, he hastily raised his saber to block. Unfortunately, it was already a bit too late. Having barely avoided a fatal blow, he still sustained an injury.
Wu Caiwei didn't give the opponent time to react and drew her sword again. This time, the opponent reacted promptly, and the sound of clashing weapons soon followed.
Wu Caiwei knew she had met her match. She frowned, contemplating a way to disengage, when she heard a name she had almost forgotten, "Weiwei."
She immediately stopped her attack, her body trembling as she asked, "Is that you?"
"It's me, but now is not the time to talk. Do you have a place for me to hide? Soldiers will be here to search soon." As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Caiwei heard sounds from the front courtyard.
Without further delay, she quickly opened the secret room that had been completed not long ago.
The commotion grew louder, and at the door, she could still hear the butler's cautious voice: "Esteemed constables, my young lady is resting. How could a young lady from the inner chambers possibly hide anyone? At this late hour, it would harm her reputation. Could you please spare us?"
"This is a task assigned from above. We clearly saw him run this way when we were outside. We've searched all the courtyards but couldn't find the person, only this one remains. If he's hidden here and something goes wrong, we won't be able to account for ourselves." The constables' attitude was relatively good. They had heard before coming that a young lady from an official family lived here. Searching a young lady's chambers in the middle of the night would indeed damage her reputation, but for their own lives, they had to proceed.
Wu Caiwei quickly lit an oil lamp, put on an outer garment, and as they entered, she portrayed a perfectly flustered and trembling young lady from an official family.
Seeing her fear, the butler quickly approached her and explained, "Miss, you don't need to be afraid. They are here to search for an escaped convict; they'll leave shortly."
Wu Caiwei nodded fearfully. Her room was sparsely furnished. Apart from the wardrobe and under the bed, there was nowhere to hide anyone. Finding nothing, the group reluctantly left.
Once she was sure they had gone far, Wu Caiwei released the handkerchief in her hand, which was clearly stained with a few drops of blood.
Fortunately, when she lit the oil lamp earlier, she had quickly scanned the room and spotted a few bloodstains on the floor. She had quickly wiped them with the handkerchief she was holding, otherwise, it would have been difficult to escape.
Thinking that the other person was injured, she quickly found some medicine, opened the secret room exit, and let him out.
Without a word, she examined his wound, applied the medicine, and bandaged it.
Zhao Yunfei looked at the woman's serious face, so close to him, and felt an overwhelming sense of happiness.
Heaven had not been unkind to him. Despite enduring much hardship and being unable to enjoy familial affection, the thought of her filled him with fighting spirit.
Wu Caiwei looked up after finishing the bandaging and met his doting gaze. She smiled sweetly.
Through their conversation, she learned that in this life, his identity was the Sixth Prince, born in the cold palace, a forgotten existence.
In his childhood, only a palace maid and a eunuch secretly cared for him. He was often harassed by consorts, princes, and princesses. He spent many years in a daze. Fortunately, he recovered his memories a few years ago, secretly practiced martial arts, and gradually developed his own network.
Although he didn't say it, Wu Caiwei could imagine how difficult life must have been for a child without support in such a place as the cold palace.
If she remembered correctly, his birth mother was the former Empress. Rumor had it that the former Empress was deposed for an affair and later it was discovered that her maternal family, the then Prime Minister Li, had colluded with the enemy, leading to the execution of his entire clan and the confiscation of their assets.
"What about your mother? I don't believe the rumors. There must be another story, right?" Wu Caiwei, having been his wife for several lifetimes, asked directly.
"It's all a cliché melodrama. When the Emperor was still a prince, he was not favored at all. To ascend the throne, he orchestrated various 'chance encounters' and 'hero saves the damsel' with the Prime Minister's daughter, who was my mother, causing her to fall in love with him." Zhao Yunfei sighed helplessly at this point. His mother had died when he was four, and many things had faded. In his memory, she was an intelligent and wise woman, but unfortunately, she had entrusted herself to the wrong person.
"The Prime Minister, who loved his daughter, couldn't resist her and married her off. With the Prime Minister's help, he finally ascended the throne. Once his position was stable, he kicked away the ladder." Wu Caiwei continued to weave the narrative.
Duan Yunfei nodded. "Things are pretty much like that. The accusations of cuckolding and treason are all false. It's just that whenever the Emperor remembered he owed his position to others, seeing the Empress and the Prime Minister reminded him of his sordid schemes. If they made even the slightest mistake, he feared being criticized behind his back, so he decided to go all the way and make them disappear completely from his world."
Well, hearing the story up to this point, Wu Caiwei knew they were about to undertake something big this time.
"What happened today? Your martial arts are so formidable, how did you get injured?" Wu Caiwei asked with some curiosity. Could there be someone in this world whose martial arts were even superior to his? Sudan Novel Network.
"It's a long story. I was injured by accidentally triggering a mechanism. Fortunately, my martial arts were good, otherwise, I would have lost my life there." Zhao Yunfei still had lingering fears when he recalled the danger at the time.
"Oh? There's such a place? Let's go explore it together another day." Wu Caiwei's interest was piqued upon hearing this. Places with intricate mechanisms either held treasures of gold and silver, or important items and secrets that one didn't want others to know. Regardless of which, she was interested.