After Becoming the Cannon Fodder Live-in Spouse A (GL) - Chapter 9: The Ninth Day

Chapter 9: The Ninth Day

Right now, in Prince Qi’s mansion, it was late at night. Ye Fuguang sat by the bed, feeling guilty as she apologized to Shen Jinglan. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t find a better doctor, and I don’t know how to cure your illness. Are you mad…”

She stopped mid-sentence.

She suddenly remembered that in ancient times, unlike modern workplaces, failing to handle matters for someone of Prince Qi’s rank could cost her head.

So she paused and changed her tone. “You’re not mad at me, are you?”

…Something felt off.

It was like she’d brought back the snarky attitude from her daytime argument with Ye Yuge.

She spat twice, hung her head, and slumped by the bed. Looking at Shen Jinglan’s stunningly beautiful face, she said, “Ugh, I’m useless. Scold me.”

“You’re not scolding? You’re so kind qa q.”

After a while, Ye Fuguang recovered from the blow of Ye Yuge’s rejection. She now treated the comatose Prince Qi, a great general, like a delicate artifact. Talking to her felt like a one-sided conversation with a thousand-year-old relic—strange but oddly safe, since Prince Qi couldn’t respond, so nothing she said could embarrass her.

“Shall we talk about something else?”

“If you keep sleeping like this and never wake up, what will I do? Does the Great Dynasty have a custom where if a prince dies, the side concubine has to be buried with them? I don’t want to die, waaah.”

“Save me, save me—”

…

Shen Jinglan, who heard every word clearly: “…”

She let out a soft laugh.

At first, hearing the girl’s guilty words, she thought it was fine if she couldn’t save her. As long as the young girl wasn’t bullied outside, Shen Jinglan didn’t expect someone so naive to fight for her life or death.

But then, as the girl’s playful side emerged, Shen Jinglan heard the rest.

If the prince dies, the side concubine is buried with them?

The Great Dynasty rose from chaos, and after wars left the population sparse, such a custom was unthinkable for nobles or commoners alike.

But—

Side concubine?

This little girl, fake-crying with her “waaah,” was her side concubine?

Shen Jinglan was stunned. She hadn’t realized the voice chattering by her ear every day belonged to her side concubine.

Since when did Prince Qi’s mansion have a side concubine? How did she not know?

After a while, she recalled that when Shen Jingming’s voice appeared, he had muttered about finding her a gentle, considerate princess and letting a Qianyuan marry in. Was that Ye Fuguang?

Searching her memory for notable Ye families in Yong’an, Shen Jinglan couldn’t find anyone matching Ye Fuguang. A Qianyuan born to a family would be their pride, raised with the discipline of an heir. No matter how reckless they were privately, they’d at least act properly.

What small household raised this Ye Fuguang?

She was as lively as a rabbit.

Was there ever such an adorable Qianyuan?

Shen Jinglan considered guessing her true gender, but the thought was overshadowed by memories of her second brother, Shen Jingming.

He was proud and now the emperor. Even if she was a thorn in his side, uncertain to wake, he wouldn’t deceive her over something so trivial.

So, in the quiet night, Shen Jinglan processed the fact that she suddenly had a side concubine.

She even began to imagine what this unseen side concubine looked like and what kind of fragrance her letters might carry.

–

Ye Fuguang kept rambling one-sidedly.

Her mind wandered to her academic habits, jumping from death to coffins. Like a curious child, she asked, “I have a question I’m not sure I should ask. For someone of a prince’s rank, what kind of coffin would the Great Dynasty use? Golden nanmu wood? A gold coffin? A stone coffin?”

Though she got no reply, she asked with enthusiasm.

“Has the Great Dynasty chosen a site for the imperial tombs? Could I maybe take a peek from afar?”

“Don’t misunderstand, I’m not hoping for anyone’s burial. I’m just curious.”

She muttered on, not even taking off her outer robe before slipping under the covers and falling asleep, still mumbling.

She didn’t know that her latter words had been overheard by someone attentive.

And by the next morning, when the palace gates unlocked, they were swiftly reported to the palace.

Dragon’s Breath incense drifted from the grand Golden Throne Hall into the emperor’s inner palace.

A young man with a regal bearing stretched out his arms, letting disciplined palace attendants, eyes lowered, kneel to fasten his ceremonial belt.

Under the beaded curtain, his sharp, starry eyes glanced at a familiar report. Without opening it, he recognized it came from Prince Qi’s mansion. He raised a brow, setting aside the jade carving he’d just picked up. “This little side concubine I chose for Prince Qi is causing more trouble than my harem.”

It had only been a few days since she entered the mansion.

Yet she’d made his Imperial Guard commander send three or five reports to the palace, like a censor official.

He had to see—

Compared to the outrageous tale of their chaotic wedding night, when she even collapsed the bed the next day, what new trouble could this Ye girl stir up?

Opening the report, Shen Jingming slammed it shut after one glance!

Words like “coffin” and “imperial tomb” were taboo. If Shen Jingming pursued it, Ye Fuguang’s head could roll by noon.

As he closed the report, the surrounding palace attendants stopped their tasks and silently knelt toward him. Shen Jingming paid no mind. After a long pause, he said, “Is the Imperial Guard commander outside? Tell him to get in here.”

…

Moments later, on the dragon-and-phoenix-patterned carpet in the inner chamber, another figure knelt.

Shen Jingming tossed the report in front of him. “You delivered the portraits of Yong’an’s Qianyuan families to the Imperial Observatory for me. Did you know about this Ye girl’s character?”

“…”

The commander’s scalp tingled.

Of course, he knew Ye Fuguang’s character. The Great Dynasty’s Imperial Guard answered directly to the emperor, and with this emperor’s paranoia and need for control, they also monitored all officials. They knew every detail of every minor official’s household in Yong’an City.

When the emperor ordered a groom chosen for Prince Qi, everyone in Yong’an knew it was a grand gesture to use a Qianyuan for a rush wedding. Families raising Qianyuan as heirs—none were willing to sacrifice their legitimate sons for Prince Qi’s doomed fate.

Suddenly, betrothed Qianyuan were rushed into engagements, and unbetrothed ones had elderly relatives cite “a last regret before death” to arrange marriages.

Some wealthy families offered less promising illegitimate Qianyuan sons—

In the end, Ye Fuguang was the best of the lot.

Though flirtatious, frequenting pleasure houses, she only listened to music and drank with disgraced Dikun, leaving no romantic debts. She had a gambling habit, but it seemed more like rebellious squandering, stopping after losing two shops…

Compared to addicts, drunks, or those who took lives and flouted the law with family backing, Ye Fuguang was among the most well-behaved.

But now wasn’t the time to explain.

The commander kowtowed heavily. “I failed in my duty and deserve death!”

Shen Jingming frowned, about to say something, when a palace attendant approached and whispered that the imperial physician Xue Congde sought an audience.

He hadn’t decided how to handle Ye Fuguang or the commander. He said sternly, “Summon him.”

Xue Congde was taking a day’s leave, so he’d visited Prince Qi’s mansion early. When reporting, with all other attendants dismissed, leaving only him and the commander, he spoke hesitantly about Shen Jinglan’s pulse.

“The heat poison in the prince’s pulse seems to have lessened by a third.”

Shen Jingming was impatient. “Just say if it’s good or bad. Don’t ramble.”

“No strong medicine was used to sustain life. I… I boldly guess that since it’s heat poison, its reduction, though minor, may… aid in prolonging life.”

“Oh?”

Shen Jingming asked, “So when the heat poison fully fades, she’ll wake up?”

“Forgive me, Your Majesty, I dare not speculate.”

Useless.

A curse lingered on Shen Jingming’s tongue, but he paused.

No, Shen Jinglan’s prescription was personally approved by him, and her diet followed Xue Congde’s advice. The heat poison shouldn’t have lessened. In just two days, how had it decreased?

Could it be that the useless princess he married to Shen Jinglan had been so vigorous day and night that she burned off twenty years of heat?

An absurd guess crossed his mind.

Too concerned for Shen Jinglan, he turned to the commander. “Prepare. I’m leaving the palace for Prince Qi’s mansion today, incognito, without alerting anyone.”

He wanted to see why Shen Jinglan was so resilient and what this little side concubine was really about—whether she should stay in the mansion.

–

In the afternoon, Ye Fuguang was strolling in the mansion to digest her meal. She spotted some shepherd’s purse growing in a secluded courtyard’s grass. Finding it interesting, she quickly called Ruyi to pick some and asked Jixiang to have others search other courtyards to gather enough for a light hotpot with wild greens that evening.

On her way back to Plum Garden, passing an unknown spot, she faintly saw a few people chatting in the cold, fanning themselves with feather fans, dressed distinctively. One clear, leisurely voice said, “The prince hasn’t left her hall in ages. Is she unwell? I heard the emperor specially married a Qianyuan to her for a rush wedding, but she hasn’t improved. Is the match’s birth chart unlucky?”

“I’ve heard of mismatched birth charts making the new spouse sicker.”

Someone gasped. “That’s a thing?”

Others chimed in. “Then shouldn’t the side concubine be removed?”

“But wasn’t she chosen by the emperor himself?”

The young man who spoke first laughed lightly and said slowly, “The emperor meant well by arranging the marriage. If it backfires, he’ll likely be furious and charge the Qianyuan with deceiving the throne. Then she’d be executed.”

The air grew tense.

Ye Fuguang, overhearing, thought: “!”

How vicious!

Who was so cruel?

Ruyi read her expression and whispered, “These seem to be advisors who volunteered before the prince went to Yancheng. She didn’t take them and assigned them to this courtyard. Later… everyone forgot about them. Steward Yu said to keep them fed, in case some are clever and useful when the prince wakes, since the mansion can afford it.”

Ye Fuguang: Great, they’re eating the prince’s food and cursing her wife!

Ulterior motives!

She rolled up her sleeves and marched in. “What are you talking about?”

“My birth chart was personally deemed suitable by the Imperial Observatory. Are you questioning the Observatory’s chief?”

…

Hearing her voice, the scholars sipping tea and chatting all turned to look.

The one who spoke wore a fine lake-blue silk robe, yet it somehow seemed to cheapen his air.

Meeting Ye Fuguang’s gaze, he noticed this side concubine looked unlike other Qianyuan. A bit younger, she’d resemble a New Year’s painting doll. Even grown, her cheeks retained some roundness, and in her water-red robe, she was strikingly vibrant.

But her words weren’t as soft as her cheeks seemed. “The prince hasn’t left her hall lately because she’s newlywed and entwined with me. Who are you to comment?”

“You probably don’t know—”

“I’ve been secretly in love with the prince for years. Now that we’re married, she’s overjoyed, fulfilled, and can’t bear to part with me for a moment or be disturbed by outsiders. If you’re plotting to kill me, you’re stealing her love. Better weigh your own heads carefully.”

Dropping the warning, she paused haughtily, acting like a lover lost in passion.

“No point wasting words with you. I’ve been away too long—the prince must miss me.”