The Double-Chapter 462 - 148 True Heart_2

"Others think that he has not divorced the young lady, nor has he punished her, and that this is a sign of his deep love and righteousness. Ridiculous," Hai Tang’s voice became faster, as if she was about to unleash all the pent-up rage, and she said, "That’s not the case at all. Our young lady has done nothing wrong, yet she lost a child for nothing and he has never done a thing. He pretends to be deeply loving and righteous on the surface, but who doesn’t know that he has already lost his heart to another!"

At the last sentence, Jiang Li’s heart shook violently, and she slowly asked, "What do you mean by ’lost his heart to another’?"

Hai Tang seemed to realize what she had just said, her mouth snapped shut, and her expression showed a moment of panic.

Jiang Li did not give her an opportunity to stay silent, and went on, "Are you saying you’ve discovered that Shen Yurong is having an affair with Princess Yongning?"

"How did you know?" Hai Tang abruptly stood up, her voice barely containing her surprise.

Jiang Li knew in her heart. She patted Hai Tang’s hand, "Sit down and tell me slowly."

Hai Tang sat back down, her gaze toward Jiang Li filled with wariness and confusion, and she asked again, "How did you know?"

"After Xue Fangfei’s death, I was entrusted to thoroughly investigate the matter and found out that there was an unspeakable relationship between Shen Yurong and Princess Yongning. It was even because of this that the Xue Family suddenly encountered disaster, and Xue Fangfei died, bearing the false charge of illicit relations."

"You...you mean," Hai Tang was horrified, "it was Princess Yongning who did it? She wanted to take over the Shen family, so she harmed our young lady and the entire Xue Family!"

Jiang Li nodded.

"Wicked woman!"

"Now can you tell me why you said that you knew long ago that Shen Yurong had fallen for someone else? Perhaps it’s because you’d discovered that Shen Yurong and Princess Yongning were together?" Jiang Li asked. When she learned of their affair in her previous life, Jiang Li was already bedridden and at death’s door. But who would have thought, her maid knew about it long before then.

"I wasn’t sure," Hai Tang calmed herself and slowly recalled, "At that time our young lady had just become pregnant, and our master had just topped the imperial examinations, the house was brimming with joy. I was accompanying the young lady for her pregnancy care when one day I went out to buy some items and saw our carriage parked in front of a teahouse; it was the one our master usually used. Thinking that our master might be having tea inside, I was about to leave when I saw our master and a young woman coming out one after the other."

"I had accompanied our young lady to a banquet before and had seen this woman, knowing she was Prince Cheng’s sister, Princess Yongning. Our master didn’t show any impropriety, but Princess Yongning’s gaze wasn’t quite right. I know the look of a woman in love, and Princess Yongning’s eyes were clearly filled with love for our master."

"But I dared not tell the young lady, firstly because she was in the delicate stage of pregnancy and shouldn’t be troubled with such matters or it might harm the baby, which would be a grave issue. Secondly, it was only my own observation, after all, at that time what I witnessed was our master not showing any special behavior toward Princess Yongning, it seemed like it was only one-sided affection from her."

"I thought it was a small matter; our master already had our young lady as his wife, and such a high-ranking princess could hardly become someone’s concubine. So even if Princess Yongning had her heart set on our master, there was nothing she could do. But for some reason, I couldn’t let go of it, and later, I noticed that at every important banquet our master attended, Princess Yongning was sure to be there. I don’t know if I was just being overly concerned, but I did feel somewhat resentful towards our master."

"If our master truly didn’t want Princess Yongning’s entanglements, he could have been much harsher or colder to her, to make her back off. But Princess Yongning was so persistent, it must have been because our master’s attitude was not firm enough," Hai Tang let out a soft breath, as if even now thinking back on these things made her feel dejected, and she said, "Our young lady had a soft heart and was always considerate of our master. Even if she were told about it, she would most likely pretend not to know. And being pregnant, she couldn’t do anything."

"Who knew that such a thing could happen..."

After hearing Hai Tang’s words, Jiang Li didn’t know what to feel for a while. She did not expect that there were already hints of some matters early on in her previous life. Because she showed too much affection for Shen Yurong and was too compromising, it made Hai Tang suspect but afraid to speak, fearing she would be hurt, thus leading to a grave mistake.

"If we had known earlier that Princess Yongning harbored malicious intentions and that our master invited the wolf into the house, I should have informed our young lady about Princess Yongning earlier! It would have allowed our young lady to be cautious and not be caught off guard by Princess Yongning’s schemes!"