Chapter Forty
The maidservant was named Chuntao. As a servant in Leng Qi’s residence, she had naturally also become his woman.
Leng Qi had brought back many women before.
Yet, in the end, she was the only one who remained.
Once their young master grew tired of them, those women would all be cast aside.
Chuntao believed she was the most special.
So every time Leng Qi brought a new woman home, Chuntao would eagerly persuade them—
To please Leng Qi.
After all, these women would eventually leave with silver in hand.
Chuntao never thought Li Zhiwei would be an exception.
"Miss, I advise you to be sensible. Serve our young master well, and you’ll suffer less. Later, you’ll even get more silver," Chuntao said coldly, eyeing Li Zhiwei.
"Please let me go. I really am the Princess Consort of An," Li Zhiwei pleaded.
"Enough. How many times have you said that? If you were truly the Princess Consort of An, why hasn’t Prince An come looking for you?" Chuntao scoffed, thinking this woman was even more delusional than the others. In the capital, which noblewoman didn’t their young master recognize?
There was no way he would bring the Princess Consort of An into their home.
Countless women in the capital dreamed of marrying Prince An. This woman was surely just one of them.
Besides, their young master had said she was merely a merchant’s daughter.
"Miss, I beg you, let me go. If you don’t believe me, go to the Prince An’s residence. They’ll surely reward you handsomely for it," Li Zhiwei pleaded, desperate to escape. That so-called "Young Master Qi" was clearly no good.
If he defiled her here, she couldn’t bear to imagine what would become of her.
In the palace—
"Enough. This matter is decided. From today onward, Li Tianyou is appointed Left Vice Minister of Revenue," Zhu Jingchen declared, ignoring Leng Chaozong and others’ protests.
Just then, a young eunuch hurried over and whispered into Eunuch Liu’s ear.
Eunuch Liu paled and hastily relayed the news—Leng Qi had abducted Li Zhiwei.
"Outrageous!" Zhu Jingchen slammed his hand on the dragon-carved table in fury.
"Your Majesty, calm your anger!" The ministers immediately dropped to their knees, bewildered. The emperor had been impatient earlier, but this sudden rage was unexpected. Who had provoked him?
"Guards! Arrest Minister Leng and throw him into the imperial prison! Xu Heming, take men to the Leng residence at once and detain everyone!" Zhu Jingchen commanded.
"Your Majesty?" Xu Heming had never seen the emperor so furious. But arresting the Leng family without cause would be improper.
"Must I repeat myself? If you delay any longer, your own wife might vanish too!" Zhu Jingchen snapped.
Xu Heming wasted no time and rushed off.
Li Tianyou was baffled. One moment, they were discussing his appointment, and the next, the emperor was punishing the Leng family?
"Your Majesty, what crime have I committed?" Leng Chaozong couldn’t believe he’d been thrown into prison so abruptly. Had the emperor discovered that matter?
Li Tianyou’s thoughts lingered on the mention of Prince An’s wife.
Hadn’t Prince An’s consort passed away long ago?
He had just proposed to marry his daughter!
His daughter?
"Your Majesty… has something happened to my daughter?" Li Tianyou asked, trembling.
The emperor looked at him with guilt. This was his fault.
He had accepted the dowry but failed to protect the girl.
"Minister Li, do not worry. Your daughter will be safe," Zhu Jingchen reassured.
Leng Chaozong, seeing the emperor ignore him, grew indignant.
But the imperial guards gave him no chance to speak, dragging him away.
Zhu Jingchen surveyed the ministers below. No one dared move without his dismissal.
After all, the prime minister had just been imprisoned without warning.
Was it simply because he opposed Li Tianyou’s appointment?
Sidelong glances flickered toward Li Tianyou.
"Investigate how Leng Qi encountered Miss Li and why he dared abduct her in broad daylight," Zhu Jingchen ordered Eunuch Liu darkly.
"Yes!" Eunuch Liu inwardly cursed Leng Qi’s stupidity. How could he lay hands on Li Zhiwei? Did he have a death wish?
At the Leng residence—
The steward deliberately led Liu Ming to Leng Qi’s courtyard.
Only a few maids and cleaning servants were present—no sign of Leng Qi.
"Where is the young master?" the steward asked pointedly.
"The young master hasn’t returned," a maid answered dismissively.
Truthfully, they rarely saw him in his own courtyard.
"See? I told you our young master isn’t here," the steward said smugly.
"Steward Liu, we’ve confirmed witnesses saw Young Master Leng bring our princess consort into the Leng residence," a servant interjected.
"Search!" Liu Ming’s face darkened. So the Leng family thought they could deceive him? Once he found the princess consort, he’d deal with this old fool.
As Liu Ming’s men ransacked the residence, the Leng steward, Du Cheng, smirked.
Let them search. They’d turn the place upside down and find nothing—
Because Leng Qi wasn’t here. He was in the neighboring estate.
Leng Qi always entered through the main gate to mislead outsiders.
Still, Du Cheng knew his young master had indeed brought back a woman today.
But wasn’t she just a merchant’s daughter?
Why would Prince An’s men come searching for her?
In the palace—
Xiuzhen Palace
"Imperial Consort! Disaster has struck!" A eunuch stumbled in, shouting frantically.
"Stop your hysterics! Do you want to disturb Her Highness?" A palace maid, Xiuzhu, blocked him angrily.
"Sister Xiuzhu, this is urgent! The prime minister has been arrested!"
"Wait here!" Xiuzhu hurried into the inner chamber, where her mistress lay sleeping.
"My lady…"
Xiuzhu hesitated. Waking the imperial consort prematurely meant facing her wrath.
"My lady, something terrible has happened." When there was no response, she repeated softly.
"Must you disturb my rest for trivial matters?" Leng Zhen’s icy glare cut through her.
"My lady, Little An is outside. He says the prime minister has been arrested!" Xiuzhu blurted.
It wasn’t that she lacked sense—but the prime minister was the imperial consort’s father. Failing to report this would bring worse consequences.
"What?" Leng Zhen bolted upright. What had happened to her father?
