Four Seasons Brocade – CH 249

Chapter 249 ☆、

“Really? You will really protect me?” Chu Mao pressed his forehead against Ah Wu’s, their breaths mingling.

“Of course I will.” Ah Wu was quite good at sweet talk.

“I am afraid you will have to protect others first before you can even consider me,” Chu Mao said, a hint of sourness in his voice.

“The husband is the head of the household, Your Highness; are you implying that Ah Wu has not done a good enough job?” Ah Wu pouted.

Chu Mao bit her delicate, petal-like lips. “Today was not bad.” Her hair was like a cloud, her eyes held a thousand stars, her bitten pink lips were as red and full as roses, and her neck was filled with fragrant dew. Such a beauty, when she spoke sweet words, could truly deceive anyone, yet the deceived were willing to be deceived.

Ah Wu was forced to serve Prince Qi diligently all night, but the news she received the next day was not good: Fu Yishi had no intention of remarrying.

Ah Wu summoned Zi-Zhui and told her about Fu Yishi’s attitude. “Master Fu still cherishes his deceased wife in his heart; you should just accept his devoted heart,” Ah Wu advised Zi-Zhui.

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Zi-Zhui silently wept, and after a long while, she finally said, “This servant asks for nothing more than to serve Master Fu; that would be enough for me.”

Ah Wu thought Zi-Zhui had gone mad. “Do you really prefer serving Master Fu to staying at Yulan Hall?”

Zi-Zhui looked up at Ah Wu as if startled, then lowered her head again. “The Princess Consort does not need another servant, but Master Fu is all alone. I…”

Ah Wu trembled with anger. She could not understand how someone so clever and quick-witted could become like this around a man, unable to distinguish right from wrong.

“Alright, I will not keep you here. But even His Highness respects Master Fu, and I cannot use my status as a Princess to pressure him. I will transfer you to the kitchen in the garden. As for your future, that’s entirely up to you. This is all I can do for you, Zi-Zhui,” Ah Wu sighed. “Come back to Yulan Hall often. You can also come and talk to me if you have any difficulties.”

Zi-Zhui knelt and kowtowed three times to Ah Wu. Although she could not be transferred to Xu Xian Hall as a steward, being in the main kitchen of Xiangsi Garden would not prevent her from getting closer to Xu Xian Hall.

The four maids were finally sent away. Ah Wu instructed Zi-Yi to lead Zi-Jin to prepare dowries for Zi-Shan and the other two, each set at five hundred taels of silver—more extravagant than the dowries of ordinary young ladies. Privately, Ah Wu also prepared a thousand taels of silver notes for each of them as a safety net.

Just then, Tang Yin wrote in, complaining that she was pregnant again and apparently on her way to Luoning. She kept grumbling about how troublesome the baby was, how she had severe morning sickness, and how she could not eat anything.

Ah Wu sat in front of her dressing table, making a face at the letter.

“What kind of face is that?” Chu Mao’s voice sounded behind Ah Wu, his reflection appearing in the bronze mirror.

Ah Wu had not expected Chu Mao to see her making a face. She sighed inwardly, “Even drinking cold water can be a problem. Sister Yin wrote to complain that she’s pregnant again, and her morning sickness is terrible. Luoning is so far away; I was thinking of finding two experienced old women to send her there. Hmm, I also need to find a skilled midwife.”

“You are always worrying about these irrelevant people; what about yourself?” Chu Mao said, then went into the bathing room.

Ah Wu’s heart pounded. She thought Chu Mao was hinting at her child; it had been over half a year, and there was still no sign of pregnancy. Zou Mingshan specialized in typhoid fever, not gynecology. Ah Wu considered changing physicians, but this could not be done at the Prince Qi’s mansion—there were too many spies. She decided to go back to Willow Alley and ask her mistress for advice.

Meanwhile, Chu Mao was subtly implying to Ah Wu that she was always talking about others and had not shown him any concern.

That evening, Ah Wu tried to ingratiate herself with Chu Mao, but Prince Qi was cold and unresponsive. Ah Wu immediately abandoned her girlish demeanor, inwardly cursing him, and went about her business.

Ah Wu had Zi-Yi light a rosewood table lamp with a carved scroll pattern on the table and then lit a rosewood lamp with a phoenix pattern on the pole next to it. The table was bright as day. Only then did Ah Wu take out a few sheets of seasonal flower-patterned stationery from the Qiwang Mansion from the box, and she had Zi-Yi lay them down to write a reply to Tang Yin.

After Zi-Yi left, the room fell into a profound silence, broken only by the occasional rustling of Chu Mao’s pages and the crackling of the lamp wick. Ah Wu glanced at the wick, sensing nothing amiss, then looked at Chu Mao before lowering her head to write a letter.

In the letter, Ah Wu had already instructed on sending the old woman and midwife over. She only needed to express a few words of longing before sealing it. Ah Wu bit her pen and continued writing.

Ah Wu was puzzled by Chu Mao’s recent fluctuating moods, but she could sense Prince Qi’s dissatisfaction with her. However, she could not determine whether this dissatisfaction stemmed solely from her own shortcomings or from the involvement of others.

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Chu Mao’s personal guards were also secret agents, their methods far too ruthless for Ah Wu’s small force to wield. And when Prince Qi did not want his whereabouts known, no one could.

Ah Wu thought for a moment. She realized she could only tell Tang Yin about this and get her opinion; after all, an outsider’s perspective was often clearer. Ah Wu glanced at Chu Mao, then lowered her head to write a few more lines, then glanced back guiltily, and wrote a few more.

After repeating this several times, when Ah Wu finished writing the letter, she looked up but could not see Chu Mao sitting on the couch. Ah Wu turned and looked around and saw Chu Mao right behind her.

Ah Wu immediately jumped up, hurriedly covering the letter with her sleeve, and asked in a trembling voice, “Your Highness, you, what are you doing here?” Actually, Ah Wu really wanted to know how much he had seen.

“What are you writing? Why are you so guilty?” Chu Mao frowned slightly.

“Ha, just some private words of a young lady; men should not see them.” Ah Wu tried to smile calmly, but she was already relieved; Chu Mao’s question meant he had not seen anything.

Chu Mao did not press further, only saying, “I will settle in first.”

Ah Wu nodded, folded the letter, and handed it to Zi-Yi before going to wash and settle in. Prince Qi remained silent all night. Ah Wu became increasingly certain that something was wrong with Chu Mao.

Fortunately, Tang Yin’s reply arrived very quickly, sent to the capital via urgent express mail from the Luoning Guard.

Upon receiving the letter, it was as if Tang Yin was sitting right in front of Ah Wu, telling her, “Prince Qi is probably keeping someone outside.”

Although Ah Wu had her own suspicions, Tang Yin’s certain tone deepened her doubts. Tang Yin’s analysis was insightful, and Prince Qi’s recent absences from Yulan Hall had noticeably increased. Ah Wu had asked Zi-Yi to inquire, but he was not in Bingxue Forest either.

“Men are different from women. Once they’ve tasted it, they cannot let go. Since I married your brother, he’s been like a wolf that can never be satisfied. Even when we argue, he always comes begging to make up within three to five days. Two months is unimaginable. You must pay close attention,” Tang Yin wrote. Because Ah Wu had confided in her, and writing in a letter was not as embarrassing as speaking aloud, Tang Yin spoke much more boldly in her letter.

“Even when I gave birth to Rui’er, he would not let me go,” Tang Yin continued. “As for the softening of Prince Qi’s attitude that you mentioned, I am afraid it was not genuine. Men are prone to deception. My brother had someone else in his heart, and after marrying my sister-in-law, to outsiders, they seemed very loving. Even my sister-in-law was easily pleased by his words.”

Tang Yin’s so-called brother and sister-in-law were Tang Xiujin and Gu Xihui. They had two children since their marriage, and Tang Xiujin had no concubines or maids. Everyone in the capital said Gu Xihui was very fortunate.

The news Tang Yin revealed next shocked Ah Wu even more.

“I am not even three months pregnant yet, and your brother and I cannot consummate our marriage. Someone secretly sent him a maid, and he went to her twice behind my back. I pretended not to know; this man cannot live without meat for three days straight. You say His Highness Prince Qi keeps his distance from you while simultaneously showing you tenderness and affection? Perhaps it’s just his way of compensating. Your brother has been clinging to me lately, probably out of guilt.”

Ah Wu had not expected that Rong Yin and Tang Yin’s relationship, after so many trials before finally becoming a couple, would end with her second brother still exhibiting the same wicked male traits.

“If, as you say, His Highness Prince Qi has grown tired of you, then he would only keep his distance; how could he possibly stoop to your level?” Tang Yin’s question was incisive. Ah Wu was not immune to angering Chu Mao; she still remembered his cold indifference. Before they consummated their marriage, when had Chu Mao ever considered her feelings?

Ah Wu thought about it more and more and found Tang Yin’s words to be reasonable. She just could not understand why Chu Mao would not bring those outsiders into the mansion. She was not an intolerant mistress; if it were not for his peculiar obsession with cleanliness, Ah Wu would have already taken Xiao Xing as a concubine for him.

Ah Wu glanced at Chu Mao lying beside her, a mix of emotions swirling within her—a bittersweet feeling, lacking any sweetness. These days, Chu Mao rarely bothered her, which she assumed would make her feel relaxed, but her heart felt heavy.

Ah Wu desperately wanted to immediately bring those vixens he kept outside to her side to see what was so special about them that Chu Mao would allow them to be kept outside, afraid to bring them into the mansion and risk her, the mistress’s, disapproval.

But Ah Wu also felt that her thoughts were too petty. They were just playthings kept by men; they could never surpass her, and besides, Chu Mao had not treated her badly at all.

Unfortunately, Ah Wu was still seething with resentment, biting the corner of the blanket in frustration. However, Chu Mao was cautious, and Ah Wu had never found any trace of outsiders on him. But every time he returned from outside, he would either go to Bingxue Forest or Xu Xian Hall first and always changed his clothes before returning to Yulan Hall.

Ah Wu was not the type to overthink things. She immediately made up her mind: she had to find that woman, to avoid being caught off guard later. If the woman were pregnant, she should also make plans.