From CEO to Concubine

TW: Mentions of murder and suicide 

The new girl in the fourth prince's rear court hadn't lasted more than a month. Wu Roushu had seen her on the day she'd entered the manor, a tiny thing that bore a close enough resemblance to Young Master Yan for Wu Roushu to predict her inevitable fate. 

For the first time since Side Concubine Wu's arrival, the fourth prince chose a new companion to follow him on his night 'excursions' into town. What actually happened there wasn't known to all the members of his rear court. Some of the less pretty girls in his rear court were the daughters of influential ministers and although the fourth prince didn't deign to have them serve him often, he didn't inflict his preferences upon them either. 

Foolish chits. They resented Wu Roushu for the 'favour' she had with him, not knowing that Wu Roushu envied them their husband's neglect. They were so lucky in their ignorance of the horrors that occurred in Yutao Pavilion. 

But this new girl was a different story. Wu Roushu had known straightaway that she would supersede everyone else in the fourth prince's eyes, so driven by his carnal obsession over his brother's concubine that he would take any substitute for Yan Yun that he could get. 

For the entire month that Wu Roushu's bedchambers remained blissfully free of the fourth prince's presence, for the entire month that she'd remained locked up by her title and position within the walls of the manor, she'd faced mockery from her fellow concubines and disdain from the servants who'd assumed she was a thing of the past. 

This was the same treatment that had been given to the last concubine that had been the 'favourite' before her. And it would continue to whoever lost favour next. Such was the way things were, if they were expecting Wu Roushu to be devastated by it, they were sorely mistaken. 

Another girl's suffering had bought her a month of respite. Wu Roushu couldn't think this without feeling a horrible guilt gnawing at her conscience but she was powerless to help her. No one could, not even the fourth prince's consort, his legitimate wife. 

"Young Mistress." Even after Wu Roushu married out of the Wu Household, her maid, Liansuo, never managed to change the familiar term of address. And Wu Roushu hadn't pressed the issue either. She didn't want to. Liansuo and 'Young Mistress' were the last fragments of innocence that she allowed herself to cling to. Her childhood as an overlooked illegitimate daughter hadn't been happy and now, her adulthood as the concubine of a violent, erratic prince wasn't either. 

It was what it was. 

"Why is there so much noise today?" Wu Roushu murmured. She was seated deep in the recesses of the house she'd been assigned, reading a book in a corner that was so dark she was using a candle despite there being daylight. She could have moved nearer to the windows but she didn't want to, chose to tuck herself away, as though keeping herself as physically removed from the fourth prince and the affairs of his manor could transport her somewhere else, even if only temporary. 

The furrow on Liansuo's brow deepened, the only sign of worry on her impassive face. As far as Wu Roushu could remember, Liansuo had always been excellent at concealing her emotions. They'd grown up together after Wu Roushu had spotted her selling herself to bury her father, just around the corner of the Wu Estate. This was a rich district near the main road that led from the main gates of the capital to the imperial city and only powerful, high-ranking officials could afford to stay here. 

Liansuo had been fishing for a good buyer. Wu Roushu had been lonely in the Wu Household and wanted a companion. Back then, her mother, the second concubine, had still been the Master's favourite and what Wu Roushu wanted was well within her ability to give.

Bringing Liansuo home with her had been the best decision Wu Roushu had ever made. Now that she was in such a precarious situation, she wouldn't be able to continue without Liansuo to brave it with her. 

"What's wrong?" Wu Roushu asked. For Liansuo to allow her worry to show, something terrible must have happened and it must have had an impact on Wu Roushu. 

"Yingchun has died." 

Yingchun. The new girl. Just yesterday, there had been fresh rumours that this ex-maid of the dowager's had pleased the fourth prince so much that he was considering demoting one of his side concubines so that he could elevate her to that prestigious status. 

Today, she was gone. 

Dread slowly crept over Wu Roushu, running insidiously up her back like cold fingers drumming on her spine. "How?" she said thickly. 

"No one knows for sure. She was found in the back well this morning." 

In the back well. Every time Wu Roushu drank water now or took a bath, she was going to think about that beautiful face of a corpse, staring back up from the bottom of a dark hole as though accusing everyone who remained up there of causing her demise. She could very well have been murdered. It was just as likely that she had flung herself in after her despair became too much to bear. 

Wu Roushu covered her eyes with a hand. The fourth prince's favourite had just passed away. No doubt this would bring on a temper tantrum for a week or two and some heads might roll. But it wouldn't be long before the fourth prince returned to her house again. She was once more the only connection he had to Yan Yun. 

Something occurred to her then. She looked up sharply, voice falling into a hushed whisper. "Could she have been pregnant?" 

Liansuo paused. "Young Mistress suspects that to be the reason for her death?" She frowned. "But there will be no way of telling, she has only received his favour for a month."

It was no secret that the desire for an heir was the first and foremost trouble on the fourth prince's mind. Given how often he visited his rear court, it was rather irrational that he still didn't have any children. If there had been news of miscarriages, Wu Roushu could still assume that this was the result of concubines scheming against one another. But there had been no movement in the bellies of any of her neighbours. 

Whether someone had deliberately interfered or not, Wu Roushu couldn't say. But it was evident where the problem lay. 

Wu Roushu stared past Liansuo at the melting candle on its stand. Candlelight in daylight. It might not seem like much but was actually an expensive luxury that only wealthy merchants and the nobility could afford. Material comforts weren't the reason why Wu Roushu had chosen to take a gamble with the fourth prince but that didn't mean she would deprive herself of them either. 

But she wanted something more. Something to make all the torment worth it. She understood Yan Yun's warning now but this was her path now and she had to finish walking it or die by the roadside as Yingchun had. 

"Liansuo, I need you to send a message to my father." 

Liansuo's lashes fluttered. She unfolded the outer robe in her arms and placed them around her mistress' slender shoulders. A note of reluctance sneaked into her voice as she replied, "Young Mistress…is there no other way?" 

Wu Roushu put down her scroll and sighed. "If there were, do you think I would resort to this?" Which unmarried girl, as she sat in her boudoir, didn't think, at least once, about how nice it would be to marry the man of her dreams, to give herself up mind and body wholly to a husband who would cherish her gift, their hair turning white together as they surrounded themselves with the laughter of their loving children and grandchildren? 

But some dreams were not meant to be. 

"But the fourth prince…if someone caused him to be unable to have children, wouldn't they—if Young Mistress became pregnant, wouldn't they know that the child's father was someone else?" 

Liansuo wasn't the sort to mince her words. For her to hesitate meant that she was really affected by Wu Roushu's decision. Wu Roushu could tell that Liansuo was truly sad and anxious on her behalf, and it made her heart soften. She reached out and pulled gently on Liansuo's hand until her maid had no choice but to sink onto the edge of the divan she was lying on. 

"It is risky," Wu Roushu said. "But it's a risk we need to take." Her gaze hardened as she thought about her husband and the corner of her mouth twitched mirthlessly. "However, I would like to see anyone convince His Highness that the child isn't his." 

What man, especially one as prideful as the fourth prince, would choose to believe in his impotency after receiving news of his first child? That messenger wouldn't survive the backlash, she was certain. 

——————————

Now that the imperial examinations were almost upon them, Wu Shengqi had no time for little else. The fourth prince had capitalised on his role as chief organiser and had used it to make new connections for himself, both with the hopeful candidates and the other officials in the Ministry of Rites that he'd never had good reason to approach before. 

That was all well and good for him, but where did that leave poor, hapless Wu Shengqi? He at least counted as half a father-in-law but the fourth prince had no qualms making him shoulder most of the responsibility when it came to the actual logistics of the exam! 

The worst part was, Wu Shengqi couldn't even complain. Like it or not, he was in the same boat as the fourth prince and had no choice but to do his best to keep them afloat, even if the fourth prince couldn't be bothered to hide the fact that Wu Shengqi was nothing but a pawn to him. 

Wu Shengqi had heard the rumours that his daughter was, until recently, a big favourite of the fourth prince's. At first, his heart had soared at the prospect of using her to strengthen the relationship between the fourth prince's manor and his household. But it soon became clear to him that the fourth prince still held a grudge against him because of Lord Yue, as though Wu Shengqi had cheated him of his prize by delivering it up to the emperor on a silver platter. Even though the fourth prince had, in recent times, softened his harsh stance a little, he still didn't see fit to treat Wu Shengqi as one of his close strategists, keeping him around to do the dirty work but not letting him in on the big picture. 

It was ridiculous. Wu Shengqi had once thought that the fourth prince would be a valuable ally. But all his talents and common sense had been thrown out to feed the dogs after he'd laid his eyes on a mere slave. 

Resigned to his fate but begrudging the fourth prince for his lack of understanding, Wu Shengqi naturally had few good feelings towards his daughter when the steward handed him a letter from her. He'd almost burnt it without reading it, convinced that if she weren't so ineffectual, the tensions between the fourth prince and the Wu Household would have been ameliorated by now. But he'd chosen to err on the side of caution and opened it in the end. 

And it was a good thing that he had. 

Liang Hui was seated in her bedchamber when he showed up for a visit. It had been a long while since Wu Shengqi had made his way over to her residences and he was stunned to see that she had shrivelled up into a dry husk of her former glory. She might not have been the most beautiful woman in his backyard but she had always kept up her bearing as a legitimate daughter of the Liang Family. Wu Shengqi looked at her now and realised that he didn't recognise the woman his wife had become. Compared to the brightly coloured young concubines that surrounded him with their splendour and their affections, she was a miserable sight and he didn't like the unease she stirred in his chest whenever he looked at her. 

He averted his eyes but couldn't close his ears to her grating voice. 

"Master, you've finally remembered the existence of your wife?" 

She didn't bother to conceal her thorns. When she tried to stand up to walk over to him, she had to lean her weight heavily on the arm of her handmaid and she grimaced with every stiff movement that she made. 

"When was the last time Master paid attention to anything in the backyard apart from the third concubine, hm? When was the last time Master visited my residences?" Liang Hui didn't seem to care that she hadn't received an earlier answer from him. There was a bright glint of malice in her eyes that terrified Wu Shengqi but this realisation angered him too.

To make himself feel braver than he was, Wu Shengqi glowered at her, puffing up his chest as he rebuked her for all the troubles that had occurred in the backyard in the last couple of months. "Rather than blame this husband for forsaking you, ask yourself if you have truly fulfilled the duties as the madam of the house!" As he spoke, the tremble in his voice steadied and he returned with ease to the dictatorial role that he held in the We Family. He could remember, not too long ago, Liang Hui had been too scared to speak back to him! He wasn't sure when she'd started trying to climb over his head but it was time to remind her of her place. 

"Because you've been so amiss, this husband has had no choice but to step in and settle matters for you," he said roughly. "The death of Wu Bin's bedwarmer was unfortunate but she was just a slave, there is no need to punish the young madam anymore." This daughter-in-law of his and her family were a nightmare to deal with. Word had gotten out that Liang Hui had put her under house arrest to copy scriptures after discovering that Guo Zhen had not only forced an abortion on the bedwarmer but had also claimed her life out of jealousy. 

To Wu Shengqi, this was a private matter for his household to deal with. But to the Guo Family, this daughter was the pearl on their palm and they were going to support her standing in the Wu Household. 

Liang Hui's gaze filled with crazed disbelief. "You're going to let the murderer of your grandson go just like that?!" she shrieked. "That's Bin Er's child that the heartless bitch killed! After being barren for so long herself, she couldn't stand the sight of a bedwarmer achieving her goals first, so she did that to my grandson!" 

Wu Shengqi remained unperturbed. His Die Er secretly confessed to him that she was with child. She'd gone to lengths to hide it so no one knew yet, had said that this was the only way to protect their future son until the pregnancy was stable. Wu Shengqi had been disappointed so many times by his wife and her children and was starting to believe that a fresh start at raising a new heir might be what he needed. 

"I'm not asking for your permission, Madam, I'm telling you to do it." He gestured to the steward, who had followed him here. "Ensure that the young madam is freed by this evening and send for an imperial physician to tend to her health if necessary." He then moved on to the main reason for his visit. "Also, I require your assistance with a task." 

A porcelain cup crashed onto the floor as Liang Hui swept it off the table. 

Wu Shengqi glared at her. She'd sunk so low that she was now behaving as raucously as a merchant's pampered wife, all her good upbringing erased by the spite that she harboured against him for some unfathomable reason. 

"Once again, I'm not asking, I'm telling you, Madam." He placed his hands on his knees and regarded her with dissatisfaction. "If you aren't up for the task, I am not beyond promoting Second Concubine to Second Wife to assist you with the task." 

This threat, which he'd never had to issue towards her before, seemed to work at last. Liang Hui went stiff and stopped lashing out, staggering against her maid as she lost her balance a little. 

Wu Shengqi waited. He didn't have the patience to deal with her nonsense but no one else would be more suitable for a job like this and he didn't want to risk everything falling through if he wasn't careful. The consequences were too dire. He would be the first to admit that he was a coward and if he had a better way of shackling the fourth prince to the fate of the Wu Household, he would. As it was, he could only pray that Wu Roushu was more efficient in carrying out her plans than her useless legitimate sister, who hadn't even managed to so much as get the emperor to glance at her twice. 

At long last, Liang Hui finally said, "What would my husband have me do?" 

Her resignation pleased him enough for him to gentle his tone as he instructed her. "When summer arrives, it shall bring along with it Side Concubine Wu's birthday. On this date, she will ask for permission for her mother to visit her in the fourth prince's manor.. This is a common request and the fourth prince would have little reason to reject her. On that day, this husband requires you to choose a boy to disguise as a maid and take him along with you…"