My wife has a secret

Chapter 101 The Origin of the Princess

The girl, whose temperament was no less than Shen Shuangxu's, showed a gentle and kind expression and handed the ordinary-looking paper to Xu Qing.

The look of care and attention she gave it also aroused Xu Qing's curiosity. He heard that Princess Danyang led an extremely extravagant life. What kind of treasure could be regarded as such a treasure by this princess?
"Put it on your pillow when you go to sleep tonight. It will definitely help you."

The color of the "paper" is relatively dark, with large areas appearing oily dark green.

Just looking at the color on it, it doesn't seem like a good thing for strengthening the body.

"Do you want to help me? Or do you want to hurt me?"

Princess Danyang giggled, looked into Xu Qing's eyes, and said in a tender voice: "Chan'er wants to be brother's woman, and she wants to be filled up by brother... If brother dies, many things in this world will become boring."

"Ah."

Xu Qing's pupils shrank, but he did not tear up the "treasure" and throw it away in front of Princess Danyang.

Princess Danyang walked past Xu Qing with her beautiful legs as white as mutton-fat jade and came to the gate of the imperial garden.

She seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly turned around and smiled, "Brother, that fox fur is just a gift from Hedong County to keep warm. Chan'er has three more fox furs of this style."

Xu Qing was stunned for a moment, then realized that he had been fooled by this girl.

The white fox fur was originally a palace item given to her by her aunt. Naturally, there were fox furs presented from the same batch in the princess's mansion, which was cared for by the empress dowager and the little emperor.

Princess Danyang had seen Lu Wanhe's outfit in Suzhou, and deliberately used fox fur to disturb her thoughts and create the illusion that she had bullied the other person.

She was deliberately provoking me and tempting me to make a move on her.

"Well... even though brother was fooled by Chan'er, his performance today can still be given a score of seven."

Princess Danyang narrowed her bright and clear eyes and commented with a shy smile: "Because Chan'er likes brother the most."

Seeing Xu Qing's expression change slightly, Princess Danyang stretched out a beautiful white jade finger, placed it next to her red lips, and made a gesture to keep quiet.

"Brother, Chan'er came to the palace this time and brought you a gift."

……

In the end, Xu Qing did not tear up Princess Danyang's things, but took them back to the bedroom.

When he opened the door of the bedroom, he finally understood what Princess Danyang was talking about as a "gift".

Empress Gongsun was seen wearing a gorgeous phoenix robe, with fresh and elegant makeup on, kneeling not far behind the door.

What was somewhat different from the previous few days was that although the queen had a delicate face, jade-like skin and a graceful figure, the expression on her face was somewhat numb.

Her originally beautiful facial features showed no expression.

"Owner……"

Xu Qing's return did not bring her the slightest surprise or joy.

She simply read out the name according to her previous training, and then performed a great ceremony of bowing her forehead to the ground and prostrating herself to Xu Qing.

"what happened to you?"

Xu Qing could tell at a glance that something was wrong with Empress Gongsun, because the light in the eyes of the woman in front of him had disappeared.

Only two days had passed since the night of the coup. What had broken this woman's spirit?

But Empress Gongsun did not respond. Only after receiving Xu Qing's order did she stand up mechanically.

"Let this slave help you change your clothes."

Empress Gongsun slowly approached Xu Qing and tried to help him change his old clothes.

The moment she stretched out her hand, Xu Qing grabbed her wrist and saw clearly the five fingers stretched out.

"How did your hand become like this?"

Xu Qing still had a certain impression of Empress Gongsun's dress and appearance. After all, she was the first noble lady in the palace he had met.

He clearly remembered that Empress Gongsun's hands were slender and white as jade, and she had beautiful nails that were neither too long nor too short, just like the Empress Dowager and Princess Danyang liked.

But the current Empress Gongsun is completely different from before. Not only has she become like a doll, but even her nails have been completely cut off.

What surprised Xu Qing even more was that the tops of Empress Gongsun's fingers were wrapped with thin gauze, but the wounds could still be seen from the places where blood had seeped out.

"Slave..."

Empress Gongsun lowered her eyes slightly and did not respond to Xu Qing's plan.

The experiences of the past two days have completely wiped out Empress Gongsun's pride and hope. As long as she does not return to that terrible cave, she is willing to do anything.

"Is it Princess Danyang?"

Even though Empress Gongsun didn't want to answer, her body reacted instinctively to Xu Qing's tentative question.

Not only was his entire body trembling slightly, but even his originally calm pupils began to fluctuate violently.

"I don't dare... No, it's the puppy who doesn't dare, please spare me... Please, Madam, please let me go."

Empress Gongsun's hands were shaking constantly, and the fear in her eyes was as deep as a black hole, as if it wanted to devour everything it saw.

The way she called herself kept changing, the only thing that remained unchanged was... her fear of Princess Danyang.

Although Xu Qing did not think that Empress Gongsun was a good person, her current fate was her own fault, as the saying goes, "The winner becomes a king, and the loser becomes a bandit."

But Princess Danyang was far more dangerous than anyone he had ever known, and in some ways, this woman seemed even more terrifying and troublesome than the White Lotus.

Therefore, getting information about Princess Danyang became something that had to be done right now.

Unfortunately, Shen, who controls Chengxuanfang, is now living in the Shen family, so I can't see him even if I want to.

"There is no Princess Danyang here. This is my territory."

Xu Qing tried to calm Empress Gongsun's restless mood and get her to reveal useful information.

Empress Gongsun came from a prominent family in the capital and had been married to the young emperor for three years. She should have had a certain understanding of Princess Danyang.

But after hearing the title of Princess Danyang, Empress Gongsun still couldn't keep calm. She just kept mumbling to herself, saying some soft words of begging for mercy and apology.

"Snapped!"

After realizing that verbal arguments were useless, Xu Qing gave the queen a second slap.

The stinging pain obviously helped Empress Gongsun regain some clarity of mind. She suddenly froze in place and stopped her incoherent mumbling.

"She sent you to me... If you don't answer my questions properly, I will return you intact."

Although Xu Qing didn't know what Princess Danyang had done to Empress Gongsun, judging from Empress Gongsun's reaction, this kind of threat was the most effective way to calm her down.

Sure enough, everything happened as Xu Qing thought. Empress Gongsun turned pale and bit her lower lip tightly, trying to stop herself from collapsing. "Do you know who I am?"

"Well... you are Empress Dowager Xu's nephew, Xu Qing."

Xu Qing felt relieved when he heard the answer. It seemed that the queen could return to normal.

"Do you know Princess Danyang?"

Empress Gongsun's eyes looked a little strange, but she eventually overcame her fear and replied in a trembling voice: "I thought I knew her, but Li Jin'er...she is not a human."

Xu Qing raised his thick eyebrows slightly, waiting for Empress Gongsun to continue speaking.

"She is Emperor Xuan's biological sister, and the first child born to Sun Shangyi when the late emperor had sex with her... Later, when the empress dowager took Emperor Xuan into the palace, she was brought to the capital by Sun Shangyi and raised alone in a mansion outside the palace."

"Aunt only took the little emperor into the palace?"

Xu Qing had some doubts in his mind.

Judging from the Empress Dowager's attention and care for Princess Danyang, how did the latter gain the Empress Dowager's appreciation?
Empress Gongsun took a deep breath and said with a fragrant breath: "Li Jin'er was originally unknown. Everyone knew that she was just a gift, and no one paid much attention to her and Sun Shangyi."

Recalling this, Empress Gongsun felt a pain in her heart.

In the huge capital city, only their Gongsun family helped this impoverished princess. At that time, Li Jin'er was not as crazy as she is today.

"But a few days after Emperor Xuan was summoned by the Empress Dowager and entered the palace...Sun Shangyi died in that courtyard. The case was transferred to the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice, and the Imperial Guards. Because it was related to the face of the royal family, it was finally intervened by the Empress Dowager herself to settle the matter. Since then, Li Jin'er was taken to the palace, and when Emperor Xuan came to power, she was named Princess Danyang and was rewarded with a mansion in the Princess's Mansion."

Empress Gongsun said: "It was from the time of her mother's death that she became moody and her temperament changed drastically. She is no longer the same as when she first came to the capital."

Empress Gongsun knew Princess Danyang in even more detail than Xu Qing thought.

Xu Qing also learned many royal secrets from her.

"Moreover, the entire... the entire Princess Mansion was privately established by Princess Danyang with the tacit approval of the Queen Mother."

When the sensitive topic was mentioned again, Empress Gongsun's body tensed up and she trembled all over.

The feeling was like millions of ants crawling around her body, making her nerves tense and her breathing heavy.

"After the death of the previous emperor, the empress dowager took control of the harem, and all the royal relatives, including the nobles headed by the surname Li... were placed under house arrest in the capital by the empress dowager."

"Oh?"

Xu Qing was a little surprised because it was the first time he heard of this.

"On the day the late emperor passed away, the county prince Li Huian was dissatisfied with the empress dowager's in-laws interfering in government affairs, and he raised an army from his fiefdom near the capital to start a rebellion. After suppressing this incident, the empress dowager ordered all the princes and dukes who owned fiefdoms not to return to their fiefdoms, and they had to eat and live in the capital."

The imperial power in ancient times was a center of highly concentrated power and a representative of autocracy.

Xu Qing was not concerned about what the Queen Mother did, but he was very curious about the role played by Princess Danyang.

"What does the house arrest of the royal family have to do with Princess Danyang?"

Empress Gongsun's palms were sweating. Although she tried her best to control it, fear could still be seen in her eyes.

"The Princess's Mansion of Princess Danyang holds grand gatherings every month. The scale of those gatherings far exceeds that of the palace sacrifices, and they are extremely extravagant and licentious, gathering the most powerful and famous people in Daqi."

Empress Gongsun explained slowly, "The gathering lasting a day and a night is more lively than an ordinary festival, and what happens often becomes a hot topic of discussion at the time."

Xu Qing had heard about the banquet at the princess's mansion, but he could never have imagined that it would be even more exaggerated than he imagined.

As he listened to Empress Gongsun's narration, a magnificent banquet scene with wine, women and gold emerged in his mind.

"This is actually a method used by the Queen Mother to control and stabilize the royal family of the Li family and the high officials of the aristocratic families. Almost everyone who is called by a name in the court has participated in the Danyang Princess's gathering, even the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister, the Three Dukes and the Nine Ministers are no exception."

Xu Qing gradually realized that the rise of Princess Danyang was actually closely related to her aunt.

On the surface, the princess is a willful, arrogant, unreasonable and scheming woman.

Not only did he host the most decadent banquets in the capital, he also oppressed the people of the capital, becoming a veritable bully.

But no matter how ferocious Princess Danyang was, she was just a puppet put on the table by her aunt, specifically to control people of royal blood and reconcile the relationships between high-ranking officials for the Queen Mother.

"She would train beautiful young girls in the princess's mansion into beautiful dogs for entertainment at banquets..."

"The wound on your hand was caused by her, right?"

When Empress Gongsun said this, no matter how dumb Xu Qing was, he could guess what happened to the other party at the hands of Princess Danyang.

It seems that this noble queen has suffered humiliation and has become what she is today.

"I……"

Tears welled up in Empress Gongsun's eyes. Soon, her tears wet her entire cheeks and her sobbing became louder and louder.

Empress Gongsun's shoulders were shaking, and her crying was filled with sadness and helplessness.

"Please, please save me, don't send me back. When I came out, I heard her and others say that the next batch of trained people will be sent to the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry camp. I don't want to, I don't want to..."

Although Xu Qing had only met Princess Danyang once, he could guess that this must be a deliberate prank by the other party.

Empress Gongsun had participated in court ceremonies and major festivals. Since her aunt had spared her life, it meant that she was still useful to her.

The cleverness of Princess Danyang lies in that she only gave the necessary hints, which made Empress Gongsun think of what happened in the military camp, and from then on she became obedient and never dared to disobey again.

"Don't worry, as long as you listen to me, you will naturally be under my protection."

Xu Qing didn't want to say these things clearly, he just used this incident to calm the queen down.

But Empress Gongsun seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw, or she now understood that if she wanted to survive, she had to obey the man in front of her.

It is always better to serve the other person wholeheartedly than to be sent to a military camp or become a plaything at a banquet.

"Xu...Master."

Xu Qing lowered his head and happened to see Empress Gongsun with sparkling tears in the corners of her eyes, grabbing her trouser legs as if begging.

"I can do anything..."

"Then go change your clothes and get yourself a bath. Do your job as a maid, and I won't make things difficult for you."

After Xu Qing gave the cold order, he broke free from Empress Gongsun's hand and sat on the chair in the inner room.

He took out the "treasure" given to him by Princess Danyang and shone it under the candlelight for a long time.

When Empress Gongsun saw that Xu Qing was so cold towards her, she felt extremely disappointed.

She clearly remembered that two days ago, the other party was still drooling over her beauty, and he was not honest at all even on the phoenix carriage where there were many people watching.

(End of this chapter)