Chapter 161: Xiao Qi
The Jade-Faced Swordsman let Sun Jiaojiao go. When the Eighth Prince, after dealing with The Imperial Consort, rushed back to the side hall, he saw that the duck he'd had cooked had flown away. Naturally, he was furious and gave the Jade-Faced Swordsman no shortage of dirty looks.
However, the Jade-Faced Swordsman kept a cold, arrogant face, simply refusing to say how the person had slipped away. This made the Eighth Prince suspect that he had been tricked by Sun Jiaojiao-a top-tier expert being played by an unarmed woman. Naturally, he would be too embarrassed to mention how stupid he had been to be fooled by a woman.
The Eighth Prince had navigated the world of romance for many years and had never failed. He had even dabbled with one or two of the less-favored concubines in the harem. He never expected to stumble time and time again with this Crown Princess, Sun Jiaojiao. This left him feeling extremely indignant.
"Stupid woman, does she really think she's all that, that I can't do without her?" The Eighth Prince spat in the direction of the main gate and said viciously, "Just you wait. The day will come when you'll be on your knees begging me to fuck you, and I won't even want to!"
The Jade-Faced Swordsman silently rolled his eyes.
The Eighth Prince stormed out of the side hall, and the Jade-Faced Swordsman followed at his heels.
In reality, when The Imperial Consort saw the Eighth Prince disappear for so long, she had mostly guessed what he was up to and was very angry. She just didn't scold him directly in front of all the young noblewomen. Still, she didn't give him a pleasant look, either. This made it rather difficult for the Eighth Prince to slip away again for a tryst with Sun Jiaojiao. Being delayed by The Imperial Consort and the noblewomen for the better part of the day, he had inadvertently given the Jade-Faced Swordsman a huge advantage, allowing him to bed the woman he wanted to bed.
After returning to his own residence, the more the Eighth Prince thought about it, the angrier he became. He found fault with everyone he saw. He summoned his most capable advisor and had him investigate whether this Crown Princess had any skeletons in her closet that could be exploited.
The Eighth Prince had always been generous, and he had a whole pack of dubious friends. Many advisors with various unorthodox skills had entered his service, relying on him for support. This advisor who was skilled at investigations was one of his favorites.
This person had a unique characteristic: when investigating people, he didn't follow conventional lines of thought. He could always dig up some strange, unnoticed things. And often, these things could be used to great effect.
It was by relying on him that the Eighth Prince had uncovered the embarrassing dirty laundry of several upright officials' families, thereby forcing their wives and concubines to become playthings under his crotch.
He had used this trick time and again; it had long since become his secret trump card.
He never expected this Sun Jiaojiao to be so difficult to get. Even using the palace's forbidden aphrodisiac, Hanxiang Wan, hadn't led to him sleeping with her. Now he had to use his trump card.
As expected, this advisor did not disappoint the Eighth Prince. He quickly found out that there was a servant in the Sun residence who was the descendant of a convicted traitor. His entire family should have been executed, but for some unknown reason, a survivor was left, who changed his name and had been hiding in the Sun residence for several years…
According to reports, this person had changed his name to Xiao Qi in the Sun residence. He was a guard, and a Dark Guard at that, one who never saw the light of day.
The Eighth Prince was very satisfied and heavily rewarded this advisor.
Ever since Minister Sun married his daughter, Sun Jiaojiao, into the Crown Prince's Residence, allying with the Crown Prince's faction and becoming the nation's father-in-law, his status in the court had risen. Although Minister Sun had always been incorruptible and didn't play factional politics, who knew if he was secretly expanding his power, growing into a tree that would be difficult to shake? Needless to say, both The Empress's faction and The Empress Dowager's faction viewed Minister Sun as a thorn in their side after his daughter's marriage. Even The Imperial Consort's faction had made no small effort to guard against the expansion of Minister Sun's and the Crown Prince's power. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gone to such lengths to organize a selection for the Eighth Prince's consort.
The Eighth Prince's mind wasn't only on women. He had long been displeased with the Crown Prince's arrogant, "I'm the only one in the world" face. Just because his mother's womb was competent and gave birth to him a bit earlier than the other brothers, why should he get to be the country's crown prince?
With this trump card-the son of a traitor-in hand, he could kill two birds with one stone. First, he would hit Minister Sun with the crime of harboring a traitor's descendant, questioning his loyalty and accusing him of plotting treason. At the same time, he could deflate the Crown Prince's arrogance.
If he was lucky and managed to pull Minister Sun down from his horse, this Sun Jiaojiao would become the daughter of a criminal. A criminal's daughter was unworthy of being the future mother of the nation. Her dismissal would be just around the corner. And once Sun Jiaojiao became a criminal's daughter, wouldn't he be able to sleep with her whenever he wanted?
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