A lazy bum transmigrates and marries a eunuch – it's awesome!

Chapter 113 The conspiracy emerges

The Earl of Chengyi used to dote on his second wife, but now he wishes he could strangle his past self who was short-sighted and only cared about beauty.

I should have listened to my mother's arrangement and married a lady from a prestigious family. This Qin woman is beautiful, but she is really not cut out to be the mistress of the house.

Not only was her maternal family unhelpful, but they also couldn't raise their children properly. They turned their perfectly good son into an idiot, and their daughter was spoiled into being selfish, self-centered, and unable to distinguish right from wrong.

He should have locked that brat up when she took it upon herself to find a husband.

This isn't arranging a marriage for him; it's finding him a nemesis.

If it weren't for these two troublesome in-laws, the Marquis of Chengyi's mansion might not have been visited by the Eastern Depot on their joyous occasion.

Although Qin Shi lacked a broad perspective and often made mistakes, she understood her man very well.

Seeing this, it was clear that the Earl was truly determined, and she dared not plead for her family anymore, only repeatedly admitting her mistakes.

Unfortunately, the tricks they usually used failed this time.

The Earl of Chengyi directly stripped her of her management power, had her locked in the courtyard, and explicitly forbade her from having any further contact with the outside world.

Xie Lin, who arrived a little later, gave a mocking smile, as if the chaos these people were causing had little to do with him.

This family is absolutely rotten; it wouldn't be a bad thing if they were all destroyed.

Anyway, her sister's marriage to someone far away on the border won't bother her much. As for herself, she's just a worthless person with a worthless life.

It's good to be alive, and it doesn't matter if I die. What's the harm in playing whatever I want?

Those who returned from the Marquis's birthday banquet were all preoccupied with their own thoughts, among whom the most fearful were the few young girls who had caused trouble for Jiang Xinyu.

The young girl was naive and, upon returning home, tearfully confessed to her mother.

The ladies also had varying reactions.

Some women were so disappointed in their children that they scolded them, while others loved their children so much that they couldn't bear to be harsh. But without exception, all of these women came to hate Jiang Wanqiu.

At their age, what don't they understand? It's just a power struggle within the Jiang family between legitimate and illegitimate children; Jiang Wanqiu is using their daughters as pawns.

This girl is cunning and ruthless at such a young age; she's definitely not a kind person.

They weren't unaware that their daughter liked Jiang Wanqiu and ostracized Jiang Xinyu, but they felt it was unnecessary to take the scheming of a group of young girls to heart.

It takes experience to develop a good eye for people. It's not a bad thing to make a mistake and suffer a small loss when you're young.

But they never expected their daughter to be so naively protected, and they never imagined that Jiang Wanqiu would be so despicable.

Given Jiang Xinyu's current status, the fact that she dares to use their daughter to stand up for her shows that she only cares about venting her own anger and doesn't care about the lives of others.

On this day, these young girls were given another lesson in domestic power struggles by their mother.

Except for one or two who were unwilling to make malicious assumptions about the sisters, most people suddenly realized that they hated Jiang Wanqiu so much that they gritted their teeth.

The matter of teaching the children was not over yet. The ladies of each family hurriedly prepared generous gifts and prepared to take their daughters to the governor's mansion to apologize the next morning.

It's better to offend a gentleman than a petty person.

The eldest daughter of the Jiang family, whose temper was somewhat unstable due to being openly flattered but secretly bullied by Liu, and Xiao Yuan, who was even more vindictive and unpredictable.

Although it's just a child being taken advantage of because they don't know any better, it's hard to guarantee that the other party won't hold a grudge.

Now that things have come to this, they can only lower their stance and try to get a good attitude, hoping that losing money will really ward off disaster.

Some are happy, some are sad; some are joyful, some are sorrowful.

Prince An's Mansion.

A young man who looked about five-tenths like Xie Lin was playing chess with Prince An, Jin Zekang. The two chatted as they played, talking about interesting stories from the Chengyi Earl's Mansion.

These two people were none other than the two who had been hiding behind the rose bushes, eavesdropping on Jiang Xinyu's heated debate with the other women.

The boy with an extremely low threshold for laughter is Xie Zhuo, the nephew of the Marquis of Chengyi. His father was born out of wedlock, and he was raised in the Marquis of Chengyi's mansion because his parents died early.

That's the official story, but as for the actual details, you can tell from his attitude towards the Earl's Mansion that there's a mess to settle here.

The gloomy young man with him at the time was the fourth prince, Jin Zekang, who had disguised himself and was also the only one of the old emperor's sons to have a title, Prince An.

However, this uniqueness is not a good thing.

The Jin Dynasty royal family had an unwritten rule: once a prince was granted the title of king, he would remain a king for life, which meant he would lose any chance of inheriting the throne.

The fourth prince's mother was gentle and unassuming, but her beauty earned her the old emperor's favor.

The old emperor went to great lengths to protect this delicate beauty; otherwise, given Consort Wan's temperament, she might not even have survived for more than a few days, let alone give birth.

Unfortunately, the emperor's favor is the least reliable thing. In the palace, new people replace the old, and even though Consort Wan enjoyed the emperor's favor for ten years, she still could not escape the fading of her beauty and the decline of his love.

A delicate woman who only knew love and romance was like a fragile flower without nourishment after losing the emperor's favor.

After a few years of lingering illness, Consort Wan passed away, and the once lively and intelligent Fourth Prince had become a bedridden, crippled man with one leg.

Seeing his emaciated son crying and fainting in the mourning hall, the old emperor, unusually, acted as a loving father and bestowed the title of Prince An upon his fourth son, leaving him a way out.

The word "An" (安) could mean both hoping for the son's safety and urging him to behave himself, which made the other princes shift their attention away from the fourth prince.

After leaving the palace, Jin Zekang gradually built up his own power, and his crippled leg was almost completely healed. As long as he walked slowly, the limp was not obvious.

To outsiders, Prince An was sickly and infirm and always kept to himself. In reality, Jin Zekang would occasionally disguise himself and travel outside.

Xie Zhuo was one of the few people who knew his true colors, so today, at the birthday banquet of the Marquis of Chengyi, they dragged him along to join in the fun.

To be honest, today's excitement certainly didn't disappoint him.

Xie Zhuo twirled a chess piece and grinned mischievously, "Guess why Xiao Yanwang specifically went to arrest people during that old woman's birthday banquet?"

Prince An slowly placed a piece down. "What's there to guess? It's just that someone in that mansion has offended him."

That person is ruthless and vindictive; this whole charade today was clearly just to disgust people.

Xie Zhuo smiled even more slyly, "You guessed half right. It was that stupid woman from the Qin family who offended his wife."

"That's the one who was cursing from the front, the eldest daughter of the Jiang family who was originally going to marry Zhao Chengye but ended up marrying Xiao Yuan by mistake."

Prince An paused for a moment. "What do you mean?"

Xie Zhuo got really excited when this was brought up, and he embellished the story he had found about the sordid affair between Qin Shi and Jiang Xinyu to Prince An, ending with a smug look on his face.

"The Qin family has really bitten off more than they can chew this time. Just watch, their stupid son probably won't be able to be saved either."

Jin Zekang looked at Xie Zhuo with a helpless expression, "Is this all you can think of so far?"

"if not?"

Prince An suddenly laughed, “Silly boy, you can’t judge things by appearances alone.”

It's just like playing chess; when you place a piece, you have to calculate at least ten moves ahead.

Those who only take things one step at a time will never win.

As he spoke, Jin Zekang placed another piece, and Xie Zhuo had already lost because all of his pieces were trapped.

Xie Zhuo sullenly tidied up the chess pieces, pouting.

"Okay, okay, you're amazing."

"May I ask, Your Highness Prince An, what have you discerned this time?"

Jin Zekang heard clearly and uttered four words.

"Kill with a borrowed knife."