Chapter 97: I Won’t Do Anything To Harm You
Wei Chang gave her a deep, piercing glance, stood up to leave, but after just one step, his vision suddenly went black.
It seemed like a figure was rushing toward him at flying speed.
“How bold! Who dares to crash into the Crown Prince?”
Before that person could touch the hem of Wei Chang’s clothes, they were directly kicked flying by the guard beside Wei Chang.
“Ah…”
Along with the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground, a shrill cry followed.
From the sound, it was clearly a woman.
Jiang Ruanxi looked down at the person who had crashed into the pillar and then fallen heavily to the ground. Before she could recover from the shock upon seeing her face clearly, a sharp knife was already pressed against the woman’s neck.
“Cousin-in-law, save me, just me.”
At this moment, Kang Qihui only felt as if her five viscera and six bowels were aching unbearably. Before she could recover, she felt the chill on her neck, and a layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on her back.
She was utterly terrified and, disregarding the pain, immediately knelt down and began begging for mercy.
Jiang Ruanxi recognized this person, and Wei Chang looked at her coldly.
Seeing how scantily she was dressed, Jiang Ruanxi immediately understood what Kang Qihui wanted to do.
Her eyelids cooled slightly, and by the time she looked up, she was already calm.
“Reporting to the Crown Prince, this person is the concubine’s daughter from my aunt’s family. She has offended Your Highness today, so Your Highness may handle her as you see fit.”
Kang Qihui was dumbfounded. She had thought Jiang Ruanxi would plead for her, but she never expected that she would directly push her out, showing no regard for their relationship at all.
Wei Chang’s expression was extremely grim. He already disliked women, and the actions of Lin Tingting and Jiang Xuerou at Guangming Temple last time had left him with deep shadows in his heart.
He was especially disgusted by women who threw themselves at him, posing seductively.
Almost without thinking, he said, “Drag her away and give her twenty strokes of the rod as a warning to others.”
Kang Qihui’s face turned deathly pale. She wanted to beg for mercy, but her eyes rolled back, and she fainted dead away.
Only Jiang Ruanxi knew deep down that Wei Chang sparing her life was already giving face.
Wei Chang’s face was cold, his tone unkind. “Madam Lin, farewell.”
“Crown Prince, this humble woman will see you off.”
“No need.”
Wei Chang directly flicked his sleeve and left.
Jiang Ruanxi heard pig-like wailing coming from outside the courtyard.
Jiang Ruanxi couldn’t be bothered to pay attention and leisurely sat in the living room drinking tea.
Before long, Madam Kang Zhou and Madam Zhou hurried over upon hearing the news.
Seeing Kang Qihui being beaten, Madam Kang Zhou was furious and directly pointed at Jiang Ruanxi, cursing, “Jiang Ruanxi, Qihui is being beaten, and you still have the mood to drink tea? Have you no heart?”
In truth, Madam Kang Zhou didn’t really care about Kang Qihui; she just saw that Kang Qihui had been beaten and knew her plan had failed, so she vented her anger on Jiang Ruanxi.
Jiang Ruanxi didn’t even lift her eyes at her words and continued drinking tea.
Ignored by Jiang Ruanxi, Madam Kang Zhou was so angry she wanted to step forward and argue, but she was held back by Madam Zhou, whose expression was also unpleasant.
“Ruanxi, what exactly happened?”
Jiang Ruanxi set down her teacup and answered innocently.
“Just as you saw, my cousin offended the Crown Prince and was punished by his people.”
“How could she suddenly offend the Crown Prince for no reason?” Madam Zhou’s scalp began to tingle upon hearing this.
She didn’t know that Madam Kang Zhou had told Kang Qihui to seduce Wei Chang.
Jiang Ruanxi glanced at Kang Qihui, who after twenty strokes of the rod, lay collapsed on the ground with bloodstains on her back and buttocks.
“As for exactly what happened, I’m afraid only Mother should ask my cousin. I had just finished speaking with the Crown Prince and was about to see him off when my cousin suddenly went mad and threw herself straight at the Crown Prince.”
Although Madam Zhou wasn’t very shrewd, she wasn’t a fool either. Thinking of Madam Kang Zhou’s usual behavior, she quickly understood what had happened.
But before she could ask, Madam Kang Zhou preemptively accused her.
“And here we were treating you like a relative. Seeing your cousin in trouble, you didn’t think to help and instead spout cold words here.”
“Aunt, you’re thinking too highly of me. The one my cousin offended isn’t some Tom, Dick, or Harry, but the Crown Prince. If you tell me to plead for my cousin, what if the Crown Prince vents his anger on me? It wouldn’t be as simple as my cousin just getting beaten. At that point, the Lin Family, or even the Kang Family, would likely be implicated.”
Sweat involuntarily beaded on Madam Kang Zhou’s forehead, but deep down she still wasn’t convinced and felt Jiang Ruanxi was exaggerating to scare her. “I think you’re clearly unwilling to help and saying these things to frighten me.”
A mocking smile curled at the corner of Jiang Ruanxi’s lips.
“Whether I’m scaring you or not, Aunt can just ask Mother. The Crown Prince is not yet married, and there aren’t few women sent to him by the high officials and nobles in the capital. Just a few days ago, the Minister of War’s Deputy also sent a beauty to the Crown Prince. His Highness didn’t even glance at her before ordering her legs broken and eyes gouged out. A few days later, the Minister of War’s Deputy’s family was directly exiled. Rather than quibbling with me here, Aunt, you might as well think about what will happen to the Kang Family next.”
Madam Kang Zhou was thoroughly frightened and couldn’t believe things were so serious.
She had never heard of these matters.
Looking at her bullying-the-weak-and-fearing-the-strong face, Jiang Ruanxi sneered inwardly.
“Mother, you’d better advise Aunt properly. Although my cousin is pretty, her identity and status are low—how could she possibly match the Crown Prince? Offending the Crown Prince for a concubine’s daughter—does the Lin Family not want to stay properly in the capital?”
Thinking that the Lin Family would be implicated, Madam Zhou could no longer care about sisterly bonds and somewhat regretted letting Madam Kang Zhou come.
Their Lin Family had already lost its noble title; if the Crown Prince held a grudge against them again, the Lin Family would be completely finished. Madam Zhou hated Madam Kang Zhou to death in her heart.
But because Jiang Ruanxi was there, she endured without outbursting.
After Jiang Ruanxi left, she could no longer hold back and scolded coldly.
“Sister, to think you harbored such intentions—I really underestimated you. That shameless concubine’s daughter of yours actually dares to covet the Crown Prince? She’s worthy?”
With that, she viciously spat toward where Kang Qihui lay.
She had thought it odd that her sister, merely going out, didn’t bring her own biological daughter, the legitimate daughter of the Kang Family, but instead brought a concubine’s daughter.
It seemed she had no good intentions from the start.
“How could I possibly have such intentions? It must be that disobedient concubine’s daughter of mine who got ideas on her own and acted on her own accord.”
Madam Kang Zhou knew the momentum was lost and could only push everything onto Kang Qihui.
Madam Zhou naturally didn’t believe it. Madam Kang Zhou’s eyes darted around. “Younger sister, have you really taken that daughter-in-law of yours’s words to heart?”
Madam Zhou fell silent, which counted as acquiescence.
Madam Kang Zhou clutched her chest, looking heartbroken.
“Younger sister, you’re confused. I’m your blood-related sister—how could I ever harm you? If you believe Jiang Ruanxi’s words, you’ve fallen for her scheme to sow discord.”
