Doted By The Regent King

Chapter 1878: Chapter 1816: Unraveling the Threads

Purple Jade was describing what had happened to her in the palace last night, while Wufu lay soaking in the bath barrel with her eyes closed, thinking about where exactly she had been tricked.

It couldn’t have been at the start of the Imperial Banquet—that would be too conspicuous; the only best time to act was midway.

Midway through, Lady Wan came over to toast her, apologizing on behalf of her daughter. Wufu hadn’t used her own cup, but took another one...

The wine was the same wine, but the cup was not the original one; there might be a problem there.

Also, Lady Wan leaned toward her and knocked over the cup in her hand, causing the wine to spill on her skirt. Seeing her flustered and embarrassed expression, it didn’t look intentional—more like an accident. But whether that "accident" was truly accidental or man-made was hard to say, because once wine stained her skirt she would certainly have to change clothes; otherwise it would be improper in front of everyone.

Then she withdrew from the banquet, and in front of the hall where she was to change, she received a note slipped to her by a mysterious little maid...

Wufu’s face remained calm. The other party had exploited her anxiety over Ah Jiu, knowing she wouldn’t ignore anything concerning him, and so used a note to lure her to Zhonghe Hall.

The sweet fragrance in that Warm Pavilion had made her sufficiently wary; she only took a single breath, yet the drug was overbearingly strong—just one breath had made her body go weak... No.

Wufu’s eyes opened slightly. Just one breath of sweet scent shouldn’t have been so powerful; before that, there must have already been another drug in her system, and only when the two reacted together did she end up in such a sorry state.

Thinking back carefully, the easiest place to be trapped was still that toasting segment—perhaps it was that cup.

They had actually anticipated her vigilance and caution, and knew she would use a new cup?

If the other party hadn’t thought through every angle and accounted for every possible accident in their plan, then it meant they truly understood her way of doing things!

And that unknown man—Wufu was certain it had been a man—whose job had been to keep her in that Warm Pavilion until the other people involved in the plot arrived, then...

Wufu’s eyes narrowed halfway, the light in them turning cold and sharp.

"Princess Consort?"

Wufu looked at her and said, "I was their main target. You were simply being held back so you couldn’t receive any news. They were determined to leave me isolated and helpless."

She rose from the bath barrel. The incident had taken place in the imperial palace, and it had already been a night; even if there had been evidence, it was likely the other side had already destroyed it.

But she wasn’t afraid. As Locard’s principle states: wherever there is contact, there is trace.

If the other party had acted, they would definitely have left something behind; otherwise how would the phrase ’a single flaw in a hundred careful plans’ exist?

Purple Jade saw her stand up and quickly took a large handkerchief to wrap around her body. Once Wufu stepped out of the bath barrel and was wiped dry, Purple Jade attended to her as she dressed.

Ah Jiu was sitting in the outer room sipping tea. When he saw Wufu come out, he immediately stood up, reached out to pull her to sit by the table, and asked with concern, "Why did it take so long? Is your body uncomfortable? I got some medicine; I’ll apply it for you later?"

"Mm? What medicine?" Wufu asked in puzzlement.

Ah Jiu’s handsome face flushed red, and he stammered, "They say women feel unwell after their first night. If you apply this medicine, it’ll be better."

Buzz.

Wufu also flushed a deep red, coughed several times in a row, and glared at him. "No, no. I’m not that delicate!"

It was just having that thing broken—did that really need medicine? Utterly mortifying.

Ah Jiu gave an awkward smile. "I just didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable, so I prepared it."

"Endure it and it’ll pass!" Wufu waved her hand in a very matter-of-fact way. There were far more painful things than this—for example, last night.

She touched the joint of her shoulder, then the arm that had been stabbed by the hairpin. For someone to force her into self-harm and self-mutilation to this extent, this was the first time.

Ah Jiu saw her rubbing her arm; his smile vanished, his face darkening. "Don’t worry," he said. "I will drag that person out into the open."