Chapter 17: The Prince is a Woman 17

A Zhen sat inside the carriage, the curtain drawn slightly aside. Through the window, she could see a courtyard; the gates were tightly shut, and the surroundings were desolate and quiet.

The place was remote and tranquil, with a pleasant view, far removed from the bustle of the outside world.

The carriage used today bore no insignia, so no one noticed that the Prince of Ning's heir was visiting this place.

A Zhen had no particular intention; she was simply out running errands when she suddenly remembered that someone lived here, so she had instructed the driver to take a short detour to check in.

"Whenever Zhou Yuanjia has a moment of leisure, he comes here to look in, and sometimes he even climbs over the wall at night," Ying Fang said. "Everyone in the Earl of Weian's estate knows and helps keep it a secret, occasionally even cleaning up his tracks."

"Mhm," A Zhen replied indifferently. Just as she was about to lower the curtain, there was movement at the courtyard gates.

The gates opened, and three people emerged.

First was a stout, sturdy-looking old woman, followed by a slender maid, and finally, a graceful woman supported by the maid. Her clothing was not white, but a very pale color that accentuated her delicate beauty. The sorrow etched between her brows added a touch of pathos, making her look deeply pitiable and deserving of compassion.

This woman was the one held most dear by Zhou Yuanjia—his cousin, Cheng Lingqing. She had lost both parents before the age of ten and could only seek refuge in the Earl of Weian's estate, where she grew up alongside Zhou Yuanjia.

The two had developed feelings for one another during their time together, and once they realized their mutual affection, they fell in love without hesitation.

Zhou Yuanjia's desire to marry Cheng Lingqing as his wife was met with opposition. The Earl and Countess of Weian stated they could accept her as a concubine, but marrying her as a wife was absolutely out of the question; her status was insufficient. As the future heir to the Earl's estate, Zhou Yuanjia required a wife from a matching social standing or one who could provide him with political assistance.

Zhou Yuanjia did make some compromises; being able to bring his beloved home first was the best he could hope for.

But Cheng Lingqing refused; she would rather not marry at all than become a concubine, telling Zhou Yuanjia that this was all the dignity she had left. If she could, she would want to claim her beloved all to herself, but she knew that was impossible. Thus, her only compromise was to become Zhou Yuanjia's wife, with the understanding that she would not oppose him taking concubines in the future.

Becoming a concubine was an absolute impossibility for her.

Zhou Yuanjia, who had been somewhat wavering, felt his beloved's determination, and her temperament only made him more infatuated.

During that period, he swore he would only ever marry Cheng Lingqing, causing an uproar within the Earl of Weian's estate.

The Earl could not tolerate a woman causing such chaos in his household, so he hurriedly arranged a marriage for Zhou Yuanjia, believing that marrying a wife would make him behave. A marriage alliance with the Prince of Ning's household was a perfect fit.

Zhou Yuanjia was unwilling, so in the end, the Earl could only use Cheng Lingqing as leverage to finalize the marriage.

Additionally, Zhou Yuanjia set a condition: he wanted Cheng Lingqing to be well settled. They could not interfere in his affairs with her, and he promised not to make their relationship public. Thus, this small courtyard came to be.

The Earl and Countess thought Zhou Yuanjia had become obedient, unaware that he harbored resentment in his heart, even hating the wife he was about to marry. He felt that if Ning Yutong were not to be married off, he would not have been forced into this union.

He was not resigning himself to fate; he was merely making a temporary compromise.

Once he had achieved great success and stood above the Earl of Weian, he would sweep away all obstacles, and no one would be able to stop him from being with the woman he loved.

But before that, he needed to make some preparations to prevent future troubles.

During the nuptial wine on their wedding night, he administered a potent contraceptive to Ning Yutong.

After the marriage, he treated Ning Yutong with outward respect, but in reality, once he grew slightly weary of her, he would give her medicine to make her feel lethargic. When he went to find his cousin for pleasure at night, he would light a sedative incense to ensure Ning Yutong slept soundly without waking. By dawn, he would arrange for someone to wake her and erase all traces of his presence.

Over time, Ning Yutong's health grew increasingly poor.

Ning Yutong eventually sensed that something was wrong; after a period of observation, she deduced the truth.

However, she did not make a scene, fearing that frequent exposure to those harmful incenses would be dangerous; instead, she continued to pretend that her health was simply failing.

Zhou Yuanjia assumed it was due to the incense and medicine and never suspected her. He had no idea that in the shadows, Ning Yutong was preparing her revenge. Because she had no one she could trust in the Earl's estate—even the maids by her side were bribed—she could only wait for her opportunity.

Originally, Ning Yutong was about to make a major move very soon.

It was precisely because of this that A Zhen had come to visit in time to provide her with some people.

In the original timeline, the Prince of Ning would be killed during a rebellion at this time. The daughters married off into other houses were not implicated; the Earl of Weian's estate and the Prince of Ning's household were not closely related beyond their marriage alliance. The Prince's downfall had some minor impact, but nothing significant.

Because of the Prince's downfall, Ning Yutong knew she wouldn't live much longer. As the daughter of a rebel, even if the Emperor did not pursue her, she would be a liability rather than an asset to the Earl of Weian's estate. If Zhou Yuanjia wanted to secretly cause her to die of illness, no one would oppose him.

Ning Yutong struck, and Zhou Yuanjia struck as well; both were quite successful.

Ning Yutong administered sterilization drugs to everyone in the Zhou family who knew the truth; since she no longer cared about her own life, she didn't bother to hide her actions, making it quite easy.

Zhou Yuanjia administered lethal medicine to her, intending to use the opportunity to make her "die of illness."

If she died, the Zhou family would also be stripped of their lineage; it was hard to say who the winner would be.

Coming back to reality, the courtyard gates were empty.

The basket held by the old woman earlier contained incense and candles; she had likely gone to offer prayers.

A Zhen lowered the curtain. "Return."

At the gates of the Prince of Ning's estate, the gatekeeper rushed forward as soon as he saw A Zhen.

"Who has come?" she asked.

In this Prince of Ning's estate, there were very few people willing to visit openly and proactively.

"Returning to the Heir, it is a matchmaker!" the gatekeeper replied happily, his face filled with excitement.

Speaking of which, the Heir was seventeen or eighteen, yet his marriage remained unsettled. It wasn't that no one was eyeing the Prince of Ning's estate, but those with ulterior motives were not up to the task. Especially those who knew the Heir was a person not to be trifled with; they had all withdrawn their designs.

Given the current situation of the Prince of Ning's estate, families of even moderate standing had many concerns.

However, the Matchmaker Li who arrived today was of a different status; any connection she facilitated for the Heir would certainly not be poor.

A Zhen glanced at the excited gatekeeper and ignored him.

Lately, she had been traveling frequently. People with intentions or business interests were constantly trying to push beautiful women and handsome men toward her.

She would accept those who seemed clever; it was too much trouble to search for people herself, so she would take them in and train them until they were ready for their roles.

Naturally, there were spies among them, but that was unimportant; spies could also be turned into loyal subordinates.

As long as she provided enough, resolved all their worries, and grasped their weaknesses, she could use either psychological manipulation or threats—one of them would surely work.

Recently, the number of people sending her beauties had decreased. That made sense; those who were sent had defected, so sending more was truly meaningless.

A Zhen felt a slight sense of regret.

The people they sent were beautiful and clever, attractive and useful; they were truly hard to find.