The Eunuch Has A Wife - Chapter 22

Sometimes, the ones who hurt you the most are the very people you trust and live with day in and day out. It’s precisely because you let your guard down that their actions cut the deepest.

Seeing the despondent look on Wei Ziwan’s face, Bai Zhi inexplicably felt her heart soften a little. “Although the imperial family is often said to be heartless, don’t be too disheartened. There’s still genuine kindness in the world.”

Poor troublemaker. In the eyes of the common people, she was a noble princess, yet she had been sent far away to a foreign land for a political marriage. Who had ever cared about her feelings?

Whether she was willing or not, she had no control over her own life. It must have been hard for her, yet she always pretended to be strong.

This world is harsh on women!

At least Bai Zhi had her adoptive father, who genuinely cared for her. But Wei Ziwan…

Bai Zhi fell silent for a moment, deciding to treat this troublemaker a little better from now on. She really was pitiful.

Wei Ziwan noticed the undisguised pity in Bai Zhi’s expression and immediately curled her lips into a smirk, hiding the loneliness in her eyes.

She suddenly let out a mocking laugh. “This princess is a delicate branch of gold, clothed in fine silks and fed with delicacies. What is there to be sad about? Everyone says the imperial family is heartless, but I think everyone wishes they were born into it. Did you think, husband, that your life in the cold palace, surviving on scraps, was better than mine?”

Bai Zhi’s mouth twitched. This troublemaker wasn’t pitiful at all—she was downright hateful.

She must have had water in her brain earlier to feel any sympathy for her.

“I was in charge of the small kitchen in the cold palace, and I always had my adoptive father looking out for me. I’ve been living just fine, not on scraps like you said.”

Who did she think she was looking down on?

After saying this, Bai Zhi quickly walked toward the dining hall, leaving Wei Ziwan behind. This annoying troublemaker really needed to be taught a lesson.

Wei Ziwan watched Bai Zhi’s retreating figure from afar. Living well, huh? This eunuch was truly enviable.

She smiled self-deprecatingly and then slowly followed.

After dinner, Bai Zhi and Wei Ziwan exchanged a glance and then signaled for Aunt Chen, who was waiting outside, to come in and speak with them.

Once inside, neither of them spoke for a moment.

Aunt Chen kept her head slightly lowered, and after a while, she took the initiative to ask, “What do you need, young ladies?”

Seeing Aunt Chen’s demeanor, Bai Zhi remained calm and sipped her tea quietly.

Wei Ziwan raised an eyebrow slightly and said nonchalantly, “I noticed that all the osmanthus flowers in the manor are gone. Do you know why, Aunt Chen?”

Aunt Chen did know about this, but how much to say and how to say it required some thought.

Thinking of her son, she hesitated for a moment before answering, “Picking the osmanthus flowers was Manager Lu’s order. He said it would be a waste to leave so many flowers, so he decided to make some osmanthus wine.”

Manager Lu?

Wei Ziwan nodded lightly. “Thank you for letting us know, Aunt Chen. You can go rest now.”

After Aunt Chen left, Wei Ziwan turned to Bai Zhi. “What do you think, husband?”

Bai Zhi paused, then set down her teacup. “It doesn’t seem like she was lying. Manager Lu probably did order the osmanthus flowers to be picked.”

This kind of thing could be easily verified, so there was no point in lying.

Wei Ziwan looked up. “Do you want to know if someone is secretly watching us, or who that person hiding in the shadows might be?”

It seemed the waters of Lingjue Manor ran deep. Who knew whose interests their arrival had interfered with?

Bai Zhi was puzzled. “How would we find out?”

Wei Ziwan smiled lightly. “Simple. Go pick a fight with our dear elder brother, and all the ghosts and demons hiding in the shadows will come crawling out.”

Bai Zhi was still confused. She hesitated for a moment but decided to ask. “What’s the deeper meaning behind this?”

Wei Ziwan’s eyes darkened as she calmly explained, “If you were secretly plotting against me, but I was unaware of it, and at the same time, I happened to be at odds with our elder brother, what do you think you would do to eliminate me without shedding a drop of bl00d?”

She didn’t spell it out directly but instead guided Bai Zhi with an example.

Some things don’t make much sense when said outright, but when illustrated with a concrete example, they become clear and impactful.

Bai Zhi’s expression changed. What would she do in that situation?

If the person she secretly wanted to harm, Wei Ziwan, had an open enemy in their elder brother, then the enemy of her enemy was her friend!

A feint! The conflict with the elder brother would be a distraction, while the real goal would be to lure out the person behind the scenes.

The best course of action would be to deepen the conflict between the elder brother and Wei Ziwan, letting them destroy each other, while she could effortlessly eliminate her target using someone else’s hand.

“I understand. If I were to clash with the elder brother and take a stand against him, the person hiding in the shadows would likely go to the elder brother to stir up trouble.”

This way, they could lure the snake out of its hole.

Wei Ziwan smiled brightly. “You’re absolutely right, husband.”

“But what if the elder brother doesn’t cooperate, or what if the person in the shadows is the elder brother himself?” Bai Zhi thought it over and raised another concern.

Wei Ziwan lowered her eyes and chuckled softly. “Whether the elder brother cooperates or not doesn’t matter. As long as you act as if you’re his sworn enemy, that’s enough. If the person in the shadows is him, then all the better. Once the hidden enemy steps into the light, we can prepare for him and deal with him more easily.”

Bai Zhi fell silent, thinking to herself that this was indeed the grand princess of Western Island Kingdom. Such cunning and tactics—how had she lost in the palace intrigue and ended up sent to Baiyue for a political marriage?

Wait, this troublemaker had only just arrived in Baiyue when Western Island Kingdom fell. The other princesses left behind had truly suffered.

Could it be that Wei Ziwan had done it on purpose? This troublemaker was terrifying.

But in their past life, she hadn’t seemed this formidable. Had Bai Zhi just not paid enough attention to her, missing all these details?

If it hadn’t been for that useless crown prince, with this troublemaker’s brains, she might have truly stirred up chaos in the capital. What a pity.

Bai Zhi gave Wei Ziwan a complicated look before saying solemnly, “Let’s try it your way. I’ll go find the elder brother.”

Wei Ziwan smiled lightly. “I’ll go with you. We should act in unison, after all.”

What was that look the eunuch just gave her? So strange. Could it be jealousy of her intelligence?

Outside the main hall of Lingjue Manor, several servants were startled by a sudden roar.

For a moment, they didn’t know whether to enter or leave, not daring to look up at the three people in the hall, but their ears were perked, listening intently to the argument inside.

Upon hearing that Bai Zhi and Wei Ziwan had requested an audience, Bai Li had rushed over, never expecting to be drenched with tea before he could even open his mouth.

Bai Zhi slammed her teacup on the ground and roared, “Bai Li, don’t push me too far!”

Bai Li: “…” Could someone tell him what was going on?

Wei Ziwan helped the fuming Bai Zhi sit down. She glanced at the servants standing nearby with their heads bowed and said loudly, “We called you ‘elder brother’ out of respect, but we never expected you to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, willing to use any underhanded means for your own gain.”

Bai Li wiped the tea from his face and was about to ask for an explanation when Bai Zhi suddenly stood up and shouted, “You’ve gone too far. I won’t forget this!”

“What did I do?” Bai Li said sternly, his hands unconsciously clenching into fists. If they didn’t explain themselves today, he… he would make sure they regretted it.

Bai Zhi let out a cold laugh and shouted, “You just want to drive us out, don’t you? You tricked us into selling twenty dan of soybeans, and just when we found a solution, you sabotaged us. How despicable!”

Bai Li was stunned. What was all this about? He gritted his teeth and said, “Explain yourselves clearly.”

Bai Zhi’s expression turned even colder. She grabbed the teapot from the table and smashed it on the ground, shouting, “I don’t have an elder brother like you. We’ll see about this later.”

Wei Ziwan, seeing the situation, took Bai Zhi’s hand and loudly added, “Stop playing dumb. We’re done with you.”

With that, she subtly tugged on Bai Zhi’s sleeve, signaling that it was enough.

Bai Zhi added, “That’s right, we’re done with you. Let’s go, Wanwan.”

Wei Ziwan nodded, and the two quickly exchanged a glance before rushing out, not giving Bai Li any time to react.

Bai Li was momentarily stunned, then shouted, “Stop right there! Explain yourselves!”

Bai Zhi, holding Wei Ziwan’s hand, paused for a moment, then quickened her pace. By the end, they were practically running back to their room.

Only after locking the door behind them did Bai Zhi let out a sigh of relief.

Wei Ziwan looked at her panicked expression and couldn’t help but say, “Husband, why are you so flustered? We could have walked a little slower. It wouldn’t have mattered.”

Bai Zhi shook her head. “You don’t understand.”

You don’t understand how nervous I was when I smashed those teacups. They looked like high-quality porcelain. If we hadn’t run fast enough and they made us pay for them, what would we have done?

They had finally saved up ten taels of silver. They couldn’t afford to lose it all and end up penniless again. That would be truly devastating.

Wei Ziwan was stunned. What didn’t she understand? What had she missed this time?