The Prisoner of Beauty - Chapter 118

Chapter 118

Xiao Qiao froze, finding it strange.

His question felt entirely unrelated to what had happened tonight.

After returning earlier that evening, he had first learned from her that Su Xin had been in contact with the Madam of Xianghou. Then, upon reading his grandmother's letter, his face had twisted with rage, and he had turned on his heel to leave.

At the time, he had not told her where he was going.

However, Xiao Qiao naturally knew that he had gone to the posthouse to find Su Ehuang—either to confront her or to deal with her in some other manner.

And he had only just returned now.

Because those two were unlike ordinary individuals and belonged to the highly outstanding sort, coupled with the romantic entanglements of their youth, Xiao Qiao did not dare to form a hasty conclusion about the process or the outcome. Judging solely by his expression upon his return, things did not seem to have gone smoothly.

Yet regardless of the outcome, he had returned without uttering a single syllable about Su Ehuang. Instead, he asked her if she was hiding anything from him?

It was bizarre.

In an instant, a massive pile of secrets she was keeping from him flooded Xiao Qiao's mind.

She was a transmigrator.

She knew that in his past life, he had not only become the emperor and lived happily ever after with Su Ehuang, but he had also completely annihilated the Qiao clan.

She feared that in this life, he might suddenly turn on her family and destroy them on some unpredictable future day. Because of this, she had urged her father to drill his troops and build up their military power to ensure self-reliance and independence.

None of this could ever be revealed to him—she would never say it, even on pain of death.

Thus, Xiao Qiao asked, "Husband, why do you suddenly ask me this?"

"Just answer me," Wei Shao replied, his tone obstinate.

"Of course not," Xiao Qiao said, without so much as blinking an eye.

Wei Shao continued to gaze at her. His fingers gently caressed her face before his arm tightened, pulling her firmly into his embrace.

"Manman, remember this: do not deceive me."

Xiao Qiao heard him murmur the low words right against her ear.

The breath he exhaled was scalding hot, warming her earlobe.

Xiao Qiao's heart suddenly accelerated its rhythm. She allowed him to hold her tightly in this manner, gripping her so closely that she felt as if she could barely breathe.

Then, he began to kiss her. Like a gluttonous child tasting sweets, his tongue gently and repeatedly licked her cheeks and lips.

He licked until her face was thoroughly damp.

In truth, Xiao Qiao desperately wanted to know exactly what had transpired after he went out tonight.

Had Su Ehuang confessed?

And what was the final outcome?

Yet he seemed to have no desire to bring it up.

Eventually, his tongue pried open her pearly teeth to explore further inward, increasing the pressure to tightly suckle her fragrant tongue without letting go. She closed her eyes, entirely abandoning her intention to question him.

The next morning, the couple rose from bed. After finishing breakfast, Wei Shao prepared to head out. Standing within the doorway, Xiao Qiao followed her usual routine of smoothing the lapels of his robes before sending him out of the room. She inquired in a casual manner, "Husband, how did the matter from last night end up?"

Wei Shao cast a brief glance at her.

"According to the military regulations for attempted murder, a slight punishment was administered," Wei Shao replied, his tone flat.


Before long, Spring Nurse managed to gather information from Jia Cai regarding exactly what kind of punishment military regulations dictated for attempted murder.

Despite having harbored various conjectures, when she finally learned that it actually involved slitting the nose, Xiao Qiao's entire body shuddered.

The fine hairs on the back of her neck seemed to stand on end, one by one, bringing an incredibly uncomfortable sensation.

Naturally, she was not so overly sentimental as to sympathize with Su Ehuang.

No one understood better than she did just how terrifying that woman truly was.

In the past life she had dreamed of, in order to realize her supposedly "peerless nobility" destiny, Su Ehuang had harmed Grand-Madame Xu and her elder sister, Big Qiao, climbing onto Wei Shao's dragon bed with hands drenched in the blood of others.

Setting aside that imagined world and looking strictly at the very real, existing world of this current lifetime, Grand-Madame Xu had already narrowly escaped her venomous hands.

To say nothing of the lives of other insignificant figures who had merely served as stepping stones along her path of advancement.

Allowing her to receive the retribution she deserved was an absolute necessity.

What made Xiao Qiao feel uncomfortable, however, was the manner in which Wei Shao had handled her.

To be perfectly honest, Xiao Qiao felt a trace of dread, her heart turning slightly cold.

In the letter Xiao Qiao had previously written to Grand-Madame Xu, she mentioned that Su Ehuang had arrived in Jinyang and settled down. She then inquired if there had been any follow-up regarding the poisoning incident from last year.

Grand-Madame Xu's reply stated that Nurse Zhong had been investigating the matter continuously. Although they had previously uncovered some clues, they lacked concrete proof. That was until recently when, through Zhu Shi's recollections and after numerous twists and turns, they finally managed to track down a certain woman.

That woman was surnamed Ma, and she had formerly worked as a spirit medium, claiming to possess the ability to channel spirits. People frequently sought her out to establish communication between themselves and the deceased.

Zhu Shi believed implicitly in such matters. Eager to communicate with her late husband, she had sought the medium out upon hearing of her reputation, and Nurse Jiang had accompanied her. Consequently, the Ma woman recognized Nurse Jiang.

According to the Ma woman, Nurse Jiang had later approached her alone in secret, begging her to channel the spirit of her son who had died over a decade ago.

Having received money and silk, the Ma woman put on a performance of channelling spirits.

She made her living through this trade and had developed a knack for observing expressions and baiting information. Pretending to be possessed by Nurse Jiang's son, she hoodwinked the nurse completely. At the time, Nurse Jiang had wept bitterly, overwhelmed with sorrow.

Afterward, Nurse Jiang frequently visited her in secret, continuing to implore the Ma woman to channel her son's spirit.

Gradually, the Ma woman came to learn the true cause of her son's death all those years ago.

On one occasion, someone came to the Ma woman's door and offered her a massive sum of money and silk, requesting that during her next channeling session, she use the voice of Nurse Jiang's son to claim that his death was an injustice, that his soul was restless, and that he demanded Nurse Jiang avenge his life.

Greedy for wealth, the Ma woman complied. Nurse Jiang believed it implicitly, weeping bitterly once more.

There was a period of silence after that. Later on, when Nurse Jiang sought her out again and waited for the Ma woman to "summon" her son's soul, Nurse Jiang began to ramble extensively. She mentioned that a benefactor had already assisted her by pushing the person who had taken her son's life into a pool and drowning him. She told her son to rest in peace and enter reincarnation early.

The Ma woman knew that the person who caused the death of Nurse Jiang's son was none other than Madam Zhu's brother. At the time, out of pure curiosity, she used the son's voice to ask who that benefactor was.

Entirely off her guard, Nurse Jiang told her son that the benefactor was the Lady of Zuo Fengyi.

After Nurse Jiang departed, the Ma woman was seized by immense terror.

She made her living in this trade and knew full well how terrifying and lethal the dark secrets of these prominent, noble households could be.

Now, she had actively entangled herself in it. Recalling the individual who had initially bribed her with money to deceive Nurse Jiang, she constantly worried that trouble would find her. Because she had no children and no family burdens, she packed her valuables within a few days and fled. She assumed a false name in another locality, resuming her old trade.

Now, she had finally been tracked down by Nurse Zhong. Under intensive questioning, the Ma woman truthfully revealed the insider details she had known from those years ago.

From that point on, the relationship between Su Ehuang and Nurse Jiang finally surfaced with absolute clarity.

It could be concluded that the person who instructed Nurse Jiang to poison Grand-Madame Xu back then was indeed Su Ehuang.

At the very end of the letter, Grand-Madame Xu added a sentence, noting that Su Ehuang's mother was her niece after all. Although their interactions had dwindled over the years, the sentiment remained, and blood ties were difficult to sever. Thanks to her grandson's wife's blessings, she herself had successfully survived this calamity.

The heavenly laws revolve, and karma carries its own causes and effects. She told Wei Shao that there was no need to remain obsessed with taking her life. If she still refused to behave herself, he should simply arrange for people to send her back to Lunu and hand her over to the King of Zhongshan.

Because of these instructions from Grand-Madame Xu, Xiao Qiao had originally assumed that even if Wei Shao was not swayed by Su Ehuang's self-defense, she would at most be placed under confinement and house arrest.

She had never imagined that he would go so far as to cut off her nose!

The level of cruelty involved made Xiao Qiao feel far more terrified than if he had ordered her direct execution.

For the very first time, she felt—not through hearsay or rumors, but with absolute realism—the ruthless and cold-blooded nature of her husband, the man who slept beside her every single night.

She remembered it with pristine clarity: just a few days ago, he had explicitly told her that if he had not married her, he might very well have taken Su Ehuang as a concubine out of consideration for the affections of their youth.

Those words were still ringing in her ears, yet in the blink of an eye, simply because he discovered what Su Ehuang had done, he cut off her nose!

When it came to enemies he had identified, he was indeed sufficiently ruthless and entirely capable of dealing the blow.

She then recalled the odd expression he had worn the previous night when he suddenly asked her, out of nowhere, if she was hiding anything from him.

Last night, after she managed to deflect the question, she had not given it much further thought.

Recalling it at this moment, did it perhaps carry another layer of meaning?

Her heart suddenly felt a bit chilled.


Throughout the day, because of this news, a faint shadow lingered in Xiao Qiao's heart.

She was left with a lingering fear, feeling immensely relieved that she had taken precautions early on, persuading her father to drill his troops and build up their strength. Even if Yanzhou's military power ultimately proved insufficient to contend with those formidable warlords, it was still far better than doing absolutely nothing like in the past life.

Consequently, when Wei Shao returned in the evening, Xiao Qiao faced him with her usual radiant smiles, though her heart felt slightly ill at ease.

The two of them eventually retired to bed.

Naturally, they engaged in the intimate act.

In any case, ever since he returned from Xihe Commandery, it was something they did every single night.

When they finished, he closed his eyes, one of his hands still gently kneading the two mounds of soft flesh on Xiao Qiao's chest. Gradually, his movements came to a halt, his palm remaining cupped over her as though he had drifted off to sleep.

Xiao Qiao buried her face against his chest, keeping her eyes closed as she counted the steady thuds of his heartbeat. After counting to two hundred, she quietly opened her eyes, stealing a glance to observe him. She was trying to surmise the underlying motive behind the very first question he asked upon his return last night—asking if she was hiding anything from him right after cutting off Su Ehuang's nose.

Something must have occurred, but she was simply unaware of it.

Without any warning, Wei Shao suddenly snapped his eyes open, meeting her gaze directly.

His eyes were dark and brilliant, shimmering with a watery quality that carried a hint of peach-blossom charm.

Every single time they finished their coupling, his eyes would take on this exact appearance.

In truth, it was quite handsome.

"Looking at me?"

He arched an eyebrow.

Caught entirely off her guard as if she had been caught red-handed, Xiao Qiao's heart leapt into her throat.

She initially wanted to shake her head, but after a moment of hesitation, she finally asked, "When you returned last night, why did you suddenly ask me that question?"

Wei Shao was taken aback. He then replied somewhat vaguely, "It was nothing. It just crossed my mind, so I asked casually."

Seeing Xiao Qiao staring intently at him, he cleared his throat: "I forgot to tell you, my affairs here in Jinyang are drawing to a close. You can begin packing your luggage early. In a few more days, we will set off and depart."

"We will head to Xindu first. We shall stay in Xindu for a few days while I handle some matters. Once that is settled, we will return to Yuyang."

He gazed at her as he spoke.

Xiao Qiao stared blankly for a moment, her mood suddenly lifting and turning bright once again.

Their stay in Jinyang had lasted for seven or eight months. Midway through, first came Chen Rui, and then came Su Ehuang.

Neither of those individuals brought any pleasant memories to mind.

Now, they could finally leave!

Xindu was the very city she had been sent to when she first married Wei Shao, the place where their wedding had been consummated.

Even though their relationship at the time was hostile to the absolute extreme, and Xiao Qiao had been sent away by Wei Shao on the very day after their wedding, strangely enough, Xiao Qiao's impression of that city had remained exceptionally good.

Perhaps it was because she loved the Sandalwood Terrace within the Xindu Palace—the place that allowed her to ascend to a high vantage point and gaze far into the distance during those days when she felt isolated and anxious.

Even now, closing her eyes, that scene of ascending the Sandalwood Terrace at dusk to gaze out at the setting sun dipping below the horizon beyond the city walls would vividly materialize before her eyes.

Being able to visit that city once more brought a ripple of joy to her heart.

Furthermore, she would soon be able to meet with Grand-Madame Xu again.

"I shall pack tomorrow!"

Wei Shao nodded with a smile playing on his lips.