Chapter 32: The Unscrupulous Scumbag Woman

Yan Bei became a father-to-be with a complex heart, and then officially became a father.

After A-Li was born, he personally changed the baby's diapers and personally coaxed him to sleep.

As a Prince of the current dynasty, one hand holding the golden seal of the Prince's Mansion and the other wielding the Fangtian Ji, he mastered everything regarding childcare in less than half a month.

In the blink of an eye, the child grew. According to custom, the child's hundredth day coincided with the day she would finish her postpartum confinement.

During those three months of living together day and night, he had actually secretly instructed his shadow guards to investigate her again.

After all, she was someone who would eventually become the Princess of Jingyang; since the marriage process had been so absurd, he had to ensure there were no issues.

Ultimately, he confirmed that her household registration was authentic. Through undercover inquiries in the surrounding area, he found nothing suspicious about her. There was no evidence linking her to the imperial court. Many locals could testify that she truly had no parents, with only a few distant relatives from hundreds of miles away occasionally visiting.

On the day of the child's full month, Wang Huan told him early on that she wanted to celebrate privately.

He had planned it too—to lay his cards on the table at the dinner table.

But early that morning, a shadow guard suddenly brought him news: the late Emperor had issued an imperial decree in the early hours, ordering guards to ride at full speed to the northern lands to urge him to enter the capital immediately to face His Majesty.

At that time, Gao An and the others were still mid-journey; they had many men and much luggage, making them slow, and they were still three hundred miles from the capital.

Yan Bei sensed that something might have gone wrong in the palace. After weighing his options, he decided to enter the palace first to investigate.

Although he had always remained wary of the late Emperor, over the past year, he had seen no signs of any moves against the Jingyang Prince's Mansion. On the contrary, news of the late Emperor's terminal illness arrived from time to time.

In short, the Imperial Family had no intention of removing him, so it was his duty to maintain the stability of the court.

When he arrived at the palace gates and was about to announce his name to enter, he learned that during the previous night, an urgent dispatch had arrived with the bad news that both the First and Second Princes had encountered storms on their way back to the capital.

The palace city was under martial law in all directions.

Following them were Prince Duan, Grand Tutor Chu, Vice Minister Shen, and other pillars of the court, all rushing into the palace.

Yan Bei did not dare to leave, but it was also inconvenient to show his face rashly.

It was not until the palace gates opened after nightfall and Grand Tutor Chu and the others emerged one after another, bringing news that the late Emperor's condition had stabilized, that he finally returned home.

With the political situation such as it was, he had to make an appearance in the capital at dawn under the pretext of having arrived early.

Therefore, revealing his identity to the mother of his child was an urgent matter, both logically and emotionally.

However, when he returned to his familiar home, what awaited him was not a bright room, not her bright eyes, and not A-Li's loud cries, but a darkness so thick he could not see his own hand before his face!

She was gone!

She had actually left with A-Li without a word!

On the table, he found only a divorce decree she had written herself, stamped with an official seal, and a farewell letter.

She said she knew he did not want to be forcibly "married," and after he left, she never thought he would return. Therefore, from the moment the child was born, she had made a decision: it was better to grant him freedom and go their separate ways. She and the child had found a better place, and she told him not to look for them again!

...To hell with freedom!

He had only returned a little late, and as a result, his wife was gone and his child was gone?

What happened to the promised hundred-day celebration for the child?

She was a liar!

She had deceived him with her body, and she had even deceived him regarding his son!

Yan Bei had been running in military camps since he was eight, became a young master at ten, and took over as the Prince of Jingyang at fifteen. He had never let any demon or monster best him, yet he ended up falling to a landlord's daughter!

He turned around to find Zhang Wei, who was waiting for him at the doorstep with a large chest of jewelry.

Zhang Wei said that after he had silently fled, Wang Huan discovered she was pregnant. To make a living, she had no choice but to act as if he were dead and find another husband.

This family was in big business; they were very wealthy and liked Wang Huan very much. They were simply waiting for her to give birth so they could marry her.

Recently, this man heard that Yan Bei had returned and had voluntarily brought these items to settle the affairs with Wang Huan. It was just that Wang Huan had endured the secret and hadn't told him.

Zhang Wei also said that Wang Huan felt that "a melon forcibly picked must be bitter," so she hoped he would take the money and live a good life, and never look for her, a heartless woman, again.

For the sake of the money, they would go their separate ways and act as if they had never met.

After Zhang Wei finished speaking, he tried to lead him to a tavern, but this time Yan Bei did not let him get him drunk.

Once Zhang Wei left, he stood up from the table he had been slumped over, summoned all his guards, and ordered them to search in all directions for that runaway woman!

They searched for a day and a night, but found nothing.

He himself sat in a waystation for a night, unable to sleep.

As night fell once more, he drove his horse along the post road toward the capital.

He thought that someone capable of producing so much money to provide for an ex-husband was not the style of a mere country merchant.

Since she couldn't be found in any direction, she most likely headed toward the capital.

The post road was not peaceful that night.

Crows flew overhead from time to time, and the faint sound of galloping horses echoed in the night sky.

During those two years, refugees from the south had been constantly moving north; it was rumored that the danger faced by the First and Second Princes was also related to these people.

He smelled the scent of danger.

Sure enough, from deep within the road, several horses charged out like madmen.

Immediately following them, over a dozen people rushed out, wearing various colored clothes and wielding different weapons, surrounding Yan Bei in a circle.

Most of the guards had gone to search for people; Yan Bei had only kept two shadow guards following in the shadows.

But they were all highly experienced experts; though the struggle lasted a bit long, there was no doubt about the outcome.

As he was killing the last person, Yan Bei decided to turn back, but at that moment, from beneath a horse left at the scene, came the faint cry of an infant.

Having spent over three months wholeheartedly acting as a wet nurse/father, Prince Yan was exceptionally sensitive to an infant's cry.

He forcibly pulled back his mount, which had already begun to gallop, and rushed into the pile of corpses, picking up the heavily injured A-Li.

Having kept the child by his side day and night for over three months, the child's face was long etched into the father's heart. Moreover, the new swaddling clothes Yan Bei had personally put on him yesterday to celebrate his hundredth day were still wrapped around him—there was no mistake, this was his biological son who had been secretly taken away by his biological mother!

But if A-Li was here, then where was his mother?

Yan Bei looked at the bandits covering the ground, then handed the child to a shadow guard, swiftly mounted his horse, and chased toward the direction the bandits had come from.

Reaching the edge of a surging river, a carriage lay overturned on the embankment, the ground covered in blood and scattered clothing.

An elderly woman and a young maid had both fallen into a pool of blood due to sword wounds.

Yan Bei did not recognize them, but he recognized the clothing; he had seen several pieces in Wang Huan's room. He had even helped her wash them!

He grabbed the elderly woman, who still had a breath of life, and demanded to know Wang Huan's whereabouts.

She opened her mouth but could not speak; she only reached her hand toward the river behind him, and then her breath ceased.

Yan Bei circled down to the river, but besides finding another murder scene ten miles away, he found no trace of Wang Huan—below the road was the surging river; if she had fallen in, it would naturally be impossible for him to find her.

His ex-wife, who had left her husband, had actually died at the hands of bandits, just like the Princess of Yongjia from the Prince Duan's mansion!

And that Princess of Yongjia, it was heard that she was also carrying her young child when she was attacked. It was impossible for him not to make the connection, so when the government repeatedly sent troops to investigate the cause of the Princess's death, he had gone to see as well.

He had even gone to the place where Yongjia jumped off the cliff.

He had seen the corpse with his own eyes.

Although the Princess's face was unrecognizable, her figure and her intact half-face were still identifiable; that was definitely not the Wang Huan he knew.

That always-smiling Wang Huan was dead!

He could never settle accounts with her again.

He had lost his wife forever.

Even though she had abandoned him, and even if he were to curse her for receiving retribution, Yan Bei could not utter a single word.

For the next three years, he did not mention a word.

He contentedly stayed with the child, living as a widower; he could not help but blame himself. He always thought, if he had returned earlier that day, would things have been different?

It was all his fault!

He deserved to live alone in an empty room as a widower!

But his motherf***ing unexpected—who the hell could have thought of it?

Just when he had concluded that she was long dead, her handwriting actually appeared within the circle of the Du family's conspiracy!

Just after he had been immersed in self-reproach and regret for three whole years, her handwriting had suddenly appeared out of thin air!

The marriage contract and the divorce decree she had left behind were still in his hands; he had looked at them countless times over the years, and every time he did, he couldn't help but want to slap himself. Therefore, he could absolutely not mistake the handwriting on that memorial—it was her writing!

The fact that she could still write meant she was still alive.

And since she was still alive, forget about not coming to find him, she didn't even come to look for A-Li!

This heartless woman!

This liar!

This unscrupulous, scummy woman!