"Why are you locked up here?" Shen Wei's tone softened a bit. She stepped forward cautiously, eyeing the iron chain, and then tentatively asked, "Did you offend His Highness? Otherwise, why would you be..." locked up here like a prisoner?
Shen Wei didn't finish her sentence, but both of them understood what she meant.
"Do you think he locked me up because I offended him? What if I said he wanted to marry me, but I refused?"
As Wen Yu spoke, she lifted the quilt a bit.
All the wounds on her body instantly came into Shen Wei's view.
Apart from the criss - crossed whip marks in blue and purple, there were also many ambiguous marks.
Shen Wei had also experienced such things and naturally understood what had happened.
Her face turned a bit pale, but she still forced a smile and said, "This can't be His Highness's doing, right? His Highness has always been very gentle to me. How could he treat you like this..."
"Did you deliberately have someone lure me here today just to make me misunderstand and force me to give up my position for you?"
Shen Wei's mind was in a complete mess, and she instinctively began to speculate.
Although she also clearly knew in her heart that if Wen Yu wanted to marry Ji Yunqing, her identity as the daughter of the Wen family was already sufficient.
Not to mention that she was now the County Mistress of Anning personally conferred by the Emperor.
If not for her second - marriage status, Wen Yu's background would have been superlative among the noble ladies in Shengjing.
"Concubine Shen, why do you deceive yourself? Whether it's me trying to climb up or him not wanting me to leave that made him lock me up here, can't Concubine Shen tell?"
Wen Yu was neither hasty nor impatient, and there was a hint of sarcasm in her eyes.
Seeing Shen Wei looking embarrassed, Wen Yu let out a soft laugh and said, "Isn't Concubine curious why a man who is so tyrannical in front of me is so gentle to Concubine?"
"Or rather, since he's so gentle to Concubine, why was he so heartless as to leave Concubine alone on their wedding night and come to see my face instead?"
Wen Yu's tone was calm, but it made Shen Wei change her expression.
She instinctively sensed what Wen Yu was about to say, but she didn't dare to listen anymore.
Shen Wei suddenly stood up straight and turned around to leave.
"Isn't Concubine curious who took your virginity?"
Wen Yu's voice came from behind Shen Wei.
Her back stiffened for a moment. She wanted to walk out, but her feet stopped in place as if they had a mind of their own.
She slowly turned around, her face extremely pale. "What do you mean?"
"The reason you think Ji Yunqing is gentle is that the man who consummated the marriage with you wasn't Ji Yunqing himself at all." Wen Yu casually dropped a bombshell.
Shen Wei only felt a buzzing in her head. She gritted her teeth and refused to believe it. "You're lying to me."
Seeing that she still wanted to play dumb, Wen Yu lowered her eyes and calmly said, "I may lie, but do you trust the Third Prince?"
"Of course, if Concubine is willing to live in a fabricated illusion, I have no way to persuade you."
Shen Wei originally came here today to see what kind of beautiful concubine Ji Yunqing had secretly kept behind her back.
But things had developed to this point. She knew in her heart that she should turn around and leave immediately.
But there was also a hint of unwillingness rising in her heart.
"His Highness wouldn't treat me like this. You're just lying to me! What do you want from me by telling me these things?!"
Shen Wei said with a trembling voice and red eyes. Her hands beside her body slowly clenched, betraying all her uneasiness in her heart.
Although she was still being stubborn, she had actually been shaken.
Ji Yunqing had tempted her to taste the forbidden fruit before their marriage, using the excuse that he loved her and couldn't wait.
But she had been blindfolded the whole time that day.
After losing her virginity to Ji Yunqing, he had inexplicably changed her title from the Crown Princess to the Side Concubine.
On their wedding day, the man who had repeatedly said he loved her had left her alone in the empty room.
All these things combined, how could Shen Wei not notice the existence of this deception?
It was just that she had already invested too much in Ji Yunqing, and she couldn't extricate herself!
"Concubine Shen, it's not too late to turn back now. Are you really willing to spend the rest of your life with a man who has humiliated you like this?"
"Do you want your maternal family to be loyal to such an untrustworthy man?"
"Aren't you afraid that one day when he achieves great things, the first thing he'll do is to discard those who helped him?"
Wen Yu slowly spoke, guiding Shen Wei step by step.
After finishing speaking, she quietly looked at Shen Wei, as if waiting for the latter to take the initiative to ask her for help.
"But you're trapped here yourself. You can't just be kind - heartedly telling me the truth by saying these things. What do you want me to do for you?" Shen Wei took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
She looked at Wen Yu warily, but it was obvious that she had already been shaken.
"Concubine Shen is smart. Of course, I need Concubine Shen to help me leave this place." Wen Yu said with a smile, and then tempted her, "As a reward, if Concubine Shen intends to take revenge, I can help Concubine Shen."
Hearing this, Shen Wei didn't speak immediately.
Seeing that she was still a bit hesitant, Wen Yu didn't rush her to make a decision. Instead, she went back to the previous topic. "I know Concubine Shen may not trust me. If you're willing, stay here and listen for yourself how Ji Yunqing evaluates you behind your back, okay?"
For Shen Wei, Wen Yu might be a friend or a foe. But if Ji Yunqing was really as Wen Yu said, then they would at least have a common enemy.
"If I remember correctly, Concubine Shen used to be a heroic woman who was good at using swords and guns. You can't have completely lost your spirit now, right?" Wen Yu pressed on.
As soon as these words were spoken, the look of hesitation in Shen Wei's eyes finally disappeared.
She stared firmly at Wen Yu and warned, "I'll stay here today. If there's even a bit of falsehood in what you said, I don't care if you're the County Mistress or not. If you dare to lie to me, you'll pay with your life."
...
At dusk, Ji Yunqing finally entered the room.
Shen Wei had already hidden in the corner beside the wardrobe. The room was too dark, and with the wardrobe as a cover, it was basically impossible to find her unless one walked around to the back.
Wen Yu lifted her eyelids and looked in the direction of the door, saying in a harsh voice, "When on earth are you going to let me go?"
"When did I ever say I was going to let you go?" Ji Yunqing said in a malicious tone, as if he had heard a joke. "Either agree to be my concubine, or I'll tell the world that the County Mistress of Anning encountered bandits on her way back and her life or death is unknown."
No matter which option she chose, it seemed that she would be trapped in the Third Prince's Mansion for the rest of her life.
Seeing her silent, Ji Yunqing's face darkened a bit. He sneered and said, "For your sake, I left the Side Concubine alone on my wedding day yesterday. What else do you want?"
"Then go to her. Anyway, you disgust me. I don't care what you do with the Side Concubine."
Wen Yu deliberately provoked him.
Hearing this, Ji Yunqing's face completely turned cold. He stepped forward and slapped Wen Yu hard. "Am I being too lenient with you? If you hadn't said you wouldn't share a husband with others, why would I have gone through so much trouble to find a man of a similar build to have sex with Shen Wei?"
"It's one thing that I've married a Side Concubine who lost her virginity to a guard, but you still dare to talk to me like this?"