Chapter 442 Growing Suspicious

Chapter 442: Suspicion Arises

Every time Luo Jingshen thought about this, he hated Ji Qingqing even more.

If Ji Yuntang had been the one who married him, his throne would probably be rock-solid by now!

Not only that, he'd have endless money to burn, endless gourmet food to eat, and endless perks to enjoy.

What did Ji Qingqing have that could even compare to Ji Yuntang?

When Consort Li heard Luo Jingshen getting all worked up over Ji Yuntang, she twisted the handkerchief hidden in her sleeve so hard it was a wonder it didn't rip!

Ji Yuntang, again Ji Yuntang!

Why did every damn prince have to fall for that bitch Ji Yuntang?

No way. She absolutely couldn't let Luo Jingshen get any ideas about that bitch Ji Yuntang. That woman was too vicious—she had no right to stand beside the Crown Prince.

With that thought in mind, Consort Li curled her lips into a faint smile and advised him, "Your Highness, there are plenty of fine ladies in the capital. Why pine over a married woman?"

"At the very least, you could marry a princess from another country to strengthen your position. Anyone would be better than Ji Yuntang. Don't you dare fall for that bitch."

Luo Jingshen sneered, "I wouldn't stoop to taking a married woman. But isn't she your daughter-in-law?"

"Does Ji Yuntang know you talk about her like that?"

Consort Li said coldly, "I never agreed to this marriage. If anyone's to blame, it's the Marquis Yongning's estate for secretly pulling a bride swap."

Otherwise, the one who married Luo Junhe would've been Ji Qingqing!

With Ji Qingqing's knack for stirring up trouble, Luo Junhe would've been tortured to death within a month of marrying her. Then she wouldn't have to waste her energy trying to kill him now.

Luo Jingshen now got it completely—Consort Li was planning to back him, which was why every word out of her mouth sounded like she was fighting his corner.

A shrewd glint flashed in his eyes, and he quickly hatched a plan.

This was a golden chance to squeeze some money out of her. How could he pass that up?

"I understand your intentions, Consort Li. Rest assured, once I take the throne, I won't treat you badly. It's just..."

Consort Li was thrilled to hear the first part, but that "just" made her heart jump into her throat.

"Just what?" she pressed quickly. "Is there some problem, Your Highness?"

"It's just that a hundred thousand taels of silver might not be enough to get me out of my current jam."

After Luo Jingshen spoke with a troubled look, Consort Li immediately said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. Leave the money to me—I'll figure something out."

"Then I'll thank you in advance, Consort Li!"

After seeing Consort Li out, Luo Jingshen immediately called for his personal bodyguard, Linchuan.

"Look into the relationship between Consort Li and Prince Ye. Or rather, find out if Prince Ye ever did anything to offend her. Focus on their history from his childhood. I want to know every last detail."

"Yes, Your Highness." Linchuan acknowledged and disappeared in a flash.

He needed to know when Consort Li had started distancing herself from Luo Junhe.

Their mother-son relationship was a delicate thing. Luo Jingshen had never paid much attention to it, but he'd heard rumors.

Before Ji Yuntang married into the Prince Ye estate, Consort Li had always played the part of a devoted mother—chanting sutras and praying for Luo Junhe's recovery, finding him a bride to ward off his illness, begging Emperor Jingyang for ice to ease his fire poison... all just to help Luo Junhe get better.

Back then, her reputation was spotless. Almost no one in the Dongchen Kingdom would've dared to say Consort Li didn't love Luo Junhe.

But ever since Ji Yuntang married into the Prince Ye estate and Luo Junhe's health started improving, their mother-son relationship seemed to have shifted!

He couldn't quite put his finger on the change, but the vibe Consort Li gave off just now was that she seemed to wish Luo Junhe were dead.

She explained it was because of Ji Yuntang—that Luo Junhe defended her too much, and that's why she hated her own son.

But Luo Jingshen had a feeling it wasn't that simple.

In all of history, he'd never heard of a mother hating her son because she disliked her daughter-in-law.

Even the Empress—no matter how much she disliked Ji Qingqing deep down—still threw in a hundred thousand taels of silver for the betrothal gifts when he sent them to the Marquis Yongning's estate.

That was just a mother's instinct.

But with Consort Li, it was the complete opposite!

Luo Jingshen always felt that Consort Li treated him better than she treated her own flesh and blood.

Sure, he enjoyed the treatment, but he was also suspicious—worried she might have ulterior motives.

He couldn't rest easy until he had someone look into it.

Linchuan was fast. In just one day, he actually managed to dig up some leads.

He reported to Luo Jingshen, "Your Highness, I found out that Consort Li and Prince Ye have never had a good relationship, even when he was a kid."

"Prince Ye was very dutiful as a child. When Consort Li casually mentioned she wanted tea brewed with morning dew, he'd get up in the middle of the night to collect dew from the lotus pond just to make it for her. When Consort Li said she wanted him to learn horsemanship, he practiced riding and archery every single day just to please her. On Consort Li's birthday, he even painted a portrait of her by hand and gave it to her—only for her to say it was too ugly and rip it to shreds..."

"I heard plenty of stories like this from the old palace servants. Bottom line: no matter what Prince Ye did, Consort Li was never satisfied and always found something to nitpick."

"Consort Li, though, told outsiders she was just being strict with her son to raise him right. But in my opinion, that kind of 'nurturing' is suffocating. It wasn't raising a son—it was training a prisoner."

Linchuan's voice trailed off as he spoke. Many of the palace servants who used to attend to Prince Ye had either died or left the palace, and he'd managed to find very few.

So the info he'd gathered this time came from people he'd tracked down outside the palace, and he'd had to wear them down with persistent pestering to get anything out of them.

Everyone believed Consort Li loved her son more than life itself, but in reality, that couldn't be further from the truth.

What woman in the harem was ever a pushover?

Luo Jingshen stayed silent. Things were exactly as he'd suspected—Consort Li had never liked Luo Junhe, not even when he was a child.

The motherly love she put on display was nothing but an act!

Just then, Linchuan suddenly remembered something else and smacked his forehead. "Oh, Your Highness, I also found something that struck me as really odd."

Luo Jingshen said immediately, "Out with it."

"Ever since Consort Li entered the palace, she's gone to Huayang Temple to burn incense almost every month, sometimes not coming back until noon the next day."

Luo Jingshen shot him a dismissive glance. "What's so strange about burning incense?"

The women in the palace, including the Empress, all liked to worship Buddha and chant sutras. To Luo Jingshen, that was perfectly normal!

Linchuan said, "Consort Li goes to Huayang Temple on the first and fifteenth of every month, and she's hardly missed a single visit in over twenty years."

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