While hating the Eldest Princess of Changlin, he served her to the point of ecstasy, even leaving marks on her body at times, and the Eldest Princess was clearly delighted.
Some people are truly born noble but have cheap bones.
Wen Xinglu thought this in his heart, yet his face had to maintain an appearance of deep affection, facing the Eldest Princess of Changlin.
He reached out and directly choked the Eldest Princess of Changlin's neck, his expression a mixture of hazy delusion and ruthless venom.
This, in turn, made the Eldest Princess of Changlin obedient to his every word, unable to extricate herself.
Perhaps for most of her life, she had been the one conquering others, but upon meeting Wen Xinglu, she was the one conquered.
Therefore, the Eldest Princess of Changlin was lost in it, unable to break free.
"The Prince of Kang's mansion has been making quite a stir lately. I heard they've increased the betrothal gifts three or four times."
Wen Xinglu said this while testing the waters.
Ever since his return, he had noticed that a capable guard who used to serve the Eldest Princess of Changlin was missing.
After several covert inquiries, he had some leads.
Xiao Muqian had publicly disgraced the Eldest Princess's mansion. Based on his understanding of the Eldest Princess, how could she easily let this go? Thus, there must be something fishy.
And during his secret investigation, he vaguely discovered that the person seemed to have acted during the polo match.
Recalling his own broken leg and the Eldest Princess's reaction after his injury, Wen Xinglu couldn't help but suspect he had been accidentally injured.
At that time, Bai Siruo and Xiao Muqian were already engaged, and everyone knew they had a good relationship.
If Bai Siruo were injured, Xiao Muqian would surely be upset.
Therefore, the Eldest Princess of Changlin had instructed her subordinates to set a trap to deal with Bai Siruo, but unexpectedly, he had stumbled into it.
He had almost lost his life, and the scar from that leg injury still ached faintly today.
Thinking that his future and prospects had been ruined by this poisonous woman before him, Wen Xinglu smiled even more sincerely.
If he hadn't been afraid of bringing trouble to the other members of the Wen family, he would have wanted to strangle this poisonous woman long ago.
As expected, upon hearing news of Xiao Muqian, a flicker of resentment flashed in the Eldest Princess's eyes.
She then released his hand from her throat, her tone tinged with mockery.
"How much wealth does the Prince of Kang possess for his son to act like this? He's not afraid of squandering his fortune."
She didn't harbor much resentment towards Bai Siruo herself, but rather transferred her dislike for Xiao Muqian to Bai Siruo.
If she hadn't been born into the Bai family, she would have dealt with her long ago.
Although the Eldest Princess of Changlin could do as she pleased in Dongdu City, she wasn't so audacious as to offend two major noble families at once.
Especially since they were well-regarded by the Emperor. Therefore, without absolute certainty, she didn't know who Emperor Qi would side with if a real confrontation occurred.
Thus, for the time being, she could only harbor her resentment in her heart.
"You speak the truth. Xinglu merely feels it's unfair to the Princess. Back then, Xiao Muqian so thoroughly disgraced the Princess's mansion, yet he can still live in peace and tranquility now. It's too easy for him."
"Enough. Instead of talking about things that anger this Princess, let's think of something else."
With that, she draped her slender arm around Wen Xinglu's neck, her seductive demeanor returning.
Wen Xinglu's large hand scooped her up from the covers, and the two walked towards the hot spring pool in the rear hall.
Leaving behind the Eldest Princess of Changlin's laughter.
However, her laughter at this moment was not heartfelt. Wen Xinglu's words had reignited her aversion to Xiao Muqian, so she still had to find a way to disgust them.
The Duke of Wei, who was in league with the Eldest Princess, received a piece of news at this very moment.
"Father, Feng Jinlin has repeatedly aided Liang Quanbin. What is his purpose? Could it be that they know Liang Quanbin has leverage and intend to incite him to defect?"
Wei Dalang had become somewhat accomplished now, analyzing problems logically.
If nothing else, this statement hit the nail on the head.
The Duke of Wei's left eye was still bandaged. Despite being supposed to be recuperating, he was now spirited, as if the one whose eye was gouged out was not him but someone else.
Although he had only one eye left, the sharpness and acuity in his gaze had not diminished.
"I underestimated this Feng family. I didn't manage to deal with Feng Hai, but Feng Jinlin emerged. Is he determined to oppose me?"
"Fortunately, Liang Quanbin is already dead. Otherwise, who knows what secrets he would have extracted."
The news they received was that Liang Quanbin had been killed. As for why the Supervisory Office was blocking the news, the Wei family believed it was related to the imperial envoy heading to Jinling City.
After all, the previous Supervisor Cao had also been inexplicably killed, and the death of the current Supervisor Liang could be attributed to the Cao family, whether out of dissatisfaction or coveting the position.
As long as they wanted to frame someone, no matter how clumsy the excuse, they could drag them down and convict them.
However, the Duke of Wei's attention was focused on the Feng family.
"I thought Prime Minister Bai was so upright. I never expected him to collude with the First Prince in secret."
Wei Dalang said with indignation.
They had been repeatedly rebuffed by Prime Minister Bai on behalf of the Ninth Prince. He didn't know what methods the First Prince had used to make them willingly serve him.
Otherwise, he couldn't understand why the Feng family, with their reputation and power, would allow their son to repeatedly protect Liang Quanbin.
Although the Duke of Wei did not agree with his viewpoint, he did not refute it either.
However, this matter was highly suspicious, so they needed to investigate thoroughly why Prime Minister Bai and the Feng family had sided with the First Prince's faction!
Just as the Wei family was being misled, Feng Jinxu had obtained information about the secret guards of the Prince of Ding's mansion.
Every aspect, forward and backward, left and right, everything related to Long Guang had been dug up. His identity was self-evident. What surprised Feng Jinxu the most was that Liang Lu had learned of this matter.
He didn't know much about Liang Lu, only occasionally hearing about her from Bai Siruo.
A young lady from a noble family who dared to openly provoke and fight at Fahua Temple on Lantern Festival night. If she discovered such an unspeakable secret, it would indeed be difficult to overcome the inner demons.
No wonder she had been gravely ill for so many days. If it weren't for the strict orders from Consort Wei, her illness might not have recovered so quickly.
"What about Liang Quanbin?"
"The news from Jinling City just arrived. The Wei family sent someone to stab him, but he didn't die and was saved by the Second Young Master."
"What about Liang Pan?"
"He's making no progress in the Ministry of Rites. The Duke of Wei has made a move against him."
Even Yin Canwen, with his solid abilities, found it difficult to get ahead. How could Liang Pan, with his amateurish skills, fare any better?
Without the Wei family's support, he wouldn't have good days for long. Perhaps the Wei family would be the ones to send him to hell in the end.
Before leaving the capital, the Prince of Ding had transferred some of the power to dispatch the mansion's secret guards to Feng Jinxu.
Therefore, he was now able to arrange for the secret guards to act.