"What's more," Lu Qingwan said with a touch of pride, "I don't think it matters how I blocked your memories.
At least I gave you some time to adjust, rather than making you face the Prince with intense shame right from the start. You should thank me for that.
Secondly, if I were you, I would tell the Prince everything.
Not for any other reason than that the person who caused you such immense humiliation for her own selfish gain is not worth you sparing a single thought to protect."
Wen Ruge curled herself into a ball, covering her ears with her hands, unwilling to listen to Lu Qingwan.
Yet, the moment her memories returned, she knew with absolute clarity who the prime culprit was for her shame.
Lu Qingwan already had a poor impression of this woman who had repeatedly coveted her husband. Seeing that it had come to this, Wen Ruge was still hesitating.
She began to press Wen Ruge, "Don't play the ostrich. I am a physician, and I know the effects of that medicine best.
It's used in brothels to train new recruits. Its purpose is not only to make a woman lose her chastity but also to ensure they clearly remember every moment of their humiliation, thereby crushing them completely."
She forcefully pulled away Wen Ruge's hands from her ears and stared directly into her eyes, saying with near ruthlessness, "I know you also remember everything that happened after you took the drug.
I can make the guards and servants in the Prince's manor keep their mouths shut, but you need to think clearly: if the person she wanted you to deal with wasn't the Prince, or if the drug took effect prematurely on your way to the Prince's manor, what would have been your fate?
Even so, you still want to protect her?"
"Stop talking!"
Wen Ruge struggled with all her might, but the force was like scratching an itch through a boot to Lu Qingwan.
However, she knew Wen Ruge's emotions had reached their peak, so she cooperated and loosened her grip.
Wen Ruge covered her face and began to sob uncontrollably, "Why?
I was closer to her than I was to my own mother and grandmother. Anything good, I thought of her first.
I sent her clothes and jewelry that my mother didn't have, and fresh food that my grandmother hadn't tasted.
I even planned that whether or not I could marry my cousin, I would take care of her in her old age. Why would she do this to me?!"
The pain of being hurt by the person she held dearest and most trusted was palpable in Wen Ruge.
Feng Xiwu and Lu Qingwan looked at her with increasingly cold eyes.
Lu Qingwan was understandable; she was not familiar with Wen Ruge, and her act of saving her was purely out of a woman's instinct, and also to avoid implicating the young men in the Prince's manor.
But Feng Xiwu's expression was even colder than Lu Qingwan's, and when he spoke, his voice could have frozen ice.
"Because from the very beginning, she kept you by her side not out of a maternal aunt's affection for her niece, but to control this Prince through you."
Hearing Feng Xiwu speak so much to her for the first time, Wen Ruge looked up in astonishment, her walnut-shaped eyes, clouded with tears, fixed on Feng Xiwu, "What do you mean by that, Cousin?"
Lu Qingwan also looked at Feng Xiwu suspiciously, and he seized the opportunity to hold her hand.
"When I was young, I was raised by Consort Ye. I went to war at eleven. At twenty, I was seriously injured and crippled, which is why I have lived in the Prince's manor year-round.
Occasionally, I would return to the capital to visit Prime Minister Wen and the old madam, as well as my uncles, but I never had any private dealings with you.
To say you fell in love with me over time is simply not possible under these circumstances.
But if it was for wealth and status, as long as you were willing, His Imperial Brother could have bestowed upon you the title of Crown Princess, or even future Empress, which is far more noble than the Regent's Consort.
So, what exactly are your reasons for being set on marrying only me?"
Being questioned so directly by the man she admired, even the arrogant and overbearing Wen Ruge couldn't help but blush amidst such a tumultuous emotional roller coaster.
However, her current predicament didn't allow her to dawdle. She nervously tore at her sleeves, her face flushed as she carefully pondered why she had fallen so deeply for Feng Xiwu.
Lu Qingwan looked at Wen Ruge's garish clothes, which were more flamboyant than those of a courtesan, and said coldly, "Li Su, get her some clothes from my wardrobe."
Li Su responded with a nod and left. Feng Xiwu added, "Get her something the Princess Consort hasn't worn."
Lu Qingwan looked at him suspiciously. Feng Xiwu pinched her fingertips and whispered, "If others see her wearing clothes you've worn, they'll recognize them immediately.
If they then make something out of it, wouldn't that just create more trouble?"
Lu Qingwan sighed. The constraints placed upon women in this era were quite harsh.
Let alone clothes, even handkerchiefs or other personal items, if touched by another man or falling into the wrong hands, could tarnish a woman's reputation.
With an entire set of clothes, there were far too many opportunities for gossip.
She lightly swung Feng Xiwu's hand and gave him a grateful smile, "You always think things through."
Feng Xiwu gently stroked her head. The atmosphere between them was so warm and intimate, as if an invisible barrier had formed around them, making it impossible for a third person to intrude.
When Li Su returned, she saw Wen Ruge gazing at them with a dazed expression.
The thick Shu brocade, with its flowing skirt, enveloped Wen Ruge. She said in a low voice, "See? The Prince is such a cold-hearted person. Whether he loves someone or not is very clear.
Don't humiliate yourself. By the Prince's side, there is no room for any woman other than the Princess Consort."
Wen Ruge's senses had actually fully returned when Lu Qingwan asked Li Su to fetch her clothes.
She couldn't imagine being seen by so many people in such vulgar attire. She could only pretend to be lost in thought.
Yet, her gaze was unconsciously drawn to the way Feng Xiwu and Lu Qingwan interacted.
Hearing Li Su's words, she tightened the clothes around her. She slowly rose and said, "Help me change. I'll tell you everything."
Li Su immediately shifted from being a background character to an elite female guard, "Princess Consort, she's talking."
"I heard."
Lu Qingwan looked up at Feng Xiwu, "Let's go inside and see. There's a New Year's gift for you on the couch."
Feng Xiwu, thinking she was trying to get rid of him, didn't think much of it.
However, when he looked down, he met Lu Qingwan's triumphant gaze, which immediately piqued his curiosity. He leisurely strolled into the inner chamber.
Only then did Lu Qingwan instruct Li Su, "Take her to the bathroom to wash up. Change everything from the inside out. The water shouldn't be too cold, but not too hot either."
Wen Ruge started to get up upon hearing this, but Lu Qingwan said coolly, "The toxins in your body haven't been completely cleared yet. Moving around will only cause the toxins to spread further."
Wen Ruge instantly froze, turning into a stone statue.
Lu Qingwan slowly stood up, tied a knot in the belt of the skirt, and then, carrying Wen Ruge, she entered the bathroom.
Turning back, she did not forget to tell Li Su, "These clothes are ruined. Find me another set."
Wen Ruge knew it was because the clothes were contaminated with the aphrodisiac on her body, but hearing it still made her feel as though Lu Qingwan despised her.
She shrunk into a ball, embarrassed and afraid to meet Lu Qingwan's eyes.