Chapter 280 Shameless

Chapter 280 Shameless

Regardless of how much the Princess Consort of Nanyang regretted losing her most useful pawn, the Prince of Nanyang and the old Princess Consort felt as if the sky above them had completely collapsed after everything came to light.

The bloodline offspring they had been so eagerly anticipating turned out to be someone else's child. Not only were they kept in the dark, but they were also wholeheartedly protecting Lady Tong, spending countless resources and effort on her.

Thinking about it this way, the two of them almost cried from their own stupidity.

Of course, they would not reflect on themselves. Even if they subconsciously felt that they were "stupid" at some point, they would immediately shift the blame to others, such as the Tong family who deliberately deceived them, or the servants who were responsible for serving the Tong family.

If Princess Nanyang hadn't been away from the residence when she borrowed a child from the Tong family, she would have been blamed by the mother and son for her lax household management and ineffective control of the inner quarters.

But now, the mother and son can't use this incident to find fault with the Princess of Nanyang.

Of course, there are other doubts about this matter. For example, who sent the note that the man received? How did the man manage to enter the inner quarters of the Prince's mansion? And who instructed the servants to send him false information so that he could run to Xuexi Garden at the right time and discover the improper relationship between Tong Shi and the man?

The Prince of Nanyang had, of course, investigated these suspicious points privately, but unfortunately, he found nothing.

The male servant responsible for guarding the side gate of the Prince's Mansion and the old woman responsible for guarding the main gate of Xuexi Garden did not neglect their duties; rather, they died in two secluded corners of the Prince's Mansion.

When the men sent by the King of Nanyang to capture them found the two men, their bodies had already turned cold and stiff, indicating that they had been dead for some time.

Since the person was dead and no clues were left on the body for the Prince of Nanyang to trace, the Prince of Nanyang naturally could not find the mastermind behind it.

This infuriated him. He was not only angry that he was being cuckolded and happily raising another man's child, but that other people besides him, his mother, and his close confidants knew about it, yet he couldn't pinpoint the source and use any means to make them shut up. He was also angry that his control over the Prince's mansion was not as strong as he had imagined.

The person the Prince of Nanyang suspected most about this mysterious mastermind was, of course, his first wife, the Princess of Nanyang. However, since being punished by the royal family, the Princess of Nanyang had never touched the power of managing the Nanyang Prince's mansion. In fact, since returning to the mansion, she had been living under the surveillance of the Prince of Nanyang and the old Princess.

Thanks to them, she has ample witnesses and evidence to clear her name completely.

Although the two concubines of the Prince of Nanyang had also put a lot of effort into building their own power base within the mansion, the number of people they had gathered was clearly insufficient to allow them to accomplish such a large-scale operation right under the Prince of Nanyang's nose.

As for the most obvious suspects, the other two concubines and one maidservant of the Prince of Nanyang, the Prince of Nanyang did not investigate them but concluded that they must have been framed without their knowledge.

Although he had realized that his control over the Prince's mansion was not as strong as he had imagined, he still subconsciously saw through those women who had been pretending to be obedient and weak in front of him.

In fact, although the Princess Consort of Nanyang, whom he believed was indeed the mastermind, the only thing she did was to reveal to the two concubines of the Prince of Nanyang that Tong had an affair and that the child was not the Prince's biological child.

After all, she and her trusted subordinates had been living under the surveillance of numerous spies sent by the Prince of Nanyang and the old Princess. Not to mention arranging follow-up matters, they couldn't even personally investigate the candidates for sperm donation.

Fortunately, the Princess Consort of Nanyang was a cautious and thorough person. The moment Tong entered the mansion, she had already had her thoroughly investigated from head to toe.

Her former fiancé, who was deeply in love with her, had naturally come into the view of the Princess of Nanyang long ago.

Considering that he had always harbored ill intentions towards the Tong family, and given the kinship between their two families, they were a natural community of interest in scheming to seize the power and wealth represented by the Prince of Nanyang's mansion.

Given these two factors combined, even without conclusive evidence, the Princess of Nanyang still immediately nominated this woman as a potential treacherous wife.

As it turned out, her deduction was quite reasonable; Tong did indeed have an affair with her former fiancé.

When the news reached the ears of the two concubines of the Prince of Nanyang, the two concubines, who had long suffered under the influence of Lady Tong, could only reluctantly take matters into their own hands because the Princess of Nanyang always had a submissive attitude.

The two of them worked together in private, and with the Princess of Nanyang hiding behind the scenes and providing them with convenience at any time, they easily accomplished what they wanted to do.

As for framing the concubines and maids of the Prince of Nanyang, it was just a convenient thing for the two of them. On the one hand, it was to add another layer of protection for themselves, and on the other hand, they wanted to see if they could get rid of these young and beautiful vixens as well.

It seems that although their second objective has failed due to the King of Nanyang's blind confidence, the two of them have also easily escaped suspicion because of the King of Nanyang's inexplicable self-confidence.

Leaving aside how disgusted the Prince of Nanyang and his wife were afterward, yet they still had to cover up their shame and clean up the mess, let's just talk about the Princess of Nanyang. Although she killed Tong Shi, who posed the greatest threat to her, she still couldn't get back her half of the private property.

The shameless old Princess Consort of Nanyang, even though she was not short of money, still brazenly took over half of Princess Consort of Nanyang's private property after Lady Tong's death.

Those of her family members who had benefited greatly from Tong, as well as her lover and cousin, were also not spared by the Prince of Nanyang and the old princess.

Her lover's cousin didn't even make it out of the palace before he "accidentally" fell into the water and died.

As for how he managed to break through the ice and fall in during the dead of winter, with a thick layer of ice already formed on the water's surface, that was beyond the consideration of the Prince of Nanyang and the old princess.

Anyway, the officials in the government can't find anything out. As long as they know nothing and look confused, the officials can't do anything to them.

Once the death of Tong's cousin was settled and quickly forgotten by others due to the approaching New Year, the Prince of Nanyang and his wife began to deal with the audacious Tong family members.