Otherwise, why would Guagua have said the Sixth Prince had something wrong with his head?
Guagua continued spilling the secrets:
*[Things weren't anything like what the Sixth Prince had seen!*
*The person who saved his life wasn't Ou Baiqing at all, and the necklace belonged to someone else entirely.]*
Song Yaoyao gasped:
*[Are we about to get an earth-shattering twist?*
*Hurry up and tell me what really happened!]*
Everyone thought, Sure enough, there was more to this than met the eye. Guagua, hurry up and tell us! We're all waiting!
When the Sixth Prince heard that he had mistaken one person for another all these years, his heart turned cold!
Guagua: *[Let me first tell you about Ou Yunxiao, the Cavalry Guard General of the Subordinate Third Rank.*
Ou Yunxiao's first wife was General Han's legitimate daughter, Han Lin.
Ou Yunxiao didn't love Han Lin, but to repay the old general for saving his life and helping him advance, he agreed when the general offered him his daughter's hand in marriage.
Just six months after their wedding, Ou Yunxiao took a concubine named Chang Yan, who was exceptionally skilled at winning people over.
Chang Yan held Yunxiao's heart firmly in the palm of her hand.
Once Chang Yan entered the household, Ou Yunxiao rarely visited Han Lin. He only went to her on the first and fifteenth of each month; the rest of the time, he spent his nights with Chang Yan.
Han Lin and Chang Yan became pregnant one after the other, and ten months later, each gave birth to a daughter.
Han Lin's daughter was named Ou Ruoxuan, and Chang Yan's daughter was named Ou Baiqing.
Childbirth damaged Han Lin's health. Combined with Ou Yunxiao's neglect, her pent-up sorrow made her ill, and three years later, she passed away.
Six months after Han Lin's death, Ou Yunxiao elevated Chang Yan to the position of principal wife.
General Han and his family were stationed at the frontier, and their reach fell short when it came to his granddaughter, Ou Ruoxuan.
With her mother gone, no love from her father, and her maternal family far away, Ou Ruoxuan's life in the residence was exceptionally hard.
Going hungry and lacking warm clothes were commonplace. Ou Baiqing and the servants often beat her, too. Chang Yan frequently found excuses to punish Ou Ruoxuan, forcing her to kneel for hours at a time.
In this way, Ou Ruoxuan stumbled through life until she was five.
One day, the Empress issued a decree summoning the wives of several generals, along with their legitimate sons and daughters. As the legitimate daughter born to the first wife, Ou Ruoxuan also had to enter the palace.
Once they arrived, every child except Ou Ruoxuan was fair and plump. She alone was dark and skinny, looking as though she had come from a refugee camp.
The other children scorned her. None would talk to her or play with her, so she could only play by herself.
Wandering alone, she reached the Lotus Pond and saw a little boy struggling in the water. Without a thought for her own safety, she jumped in and pulled him out.
After saving the little boy, she collapsed unconscious from exhaustion.
When Ou Ruoxuan woke again, she was already in a carriage taking her to the Manor. The necklace she always carried with her was gone, too.
That necklace was a keepsake Han Lin had left her.
*She searched all over herself but couldn't find it. Although Ou Ruoxuan was dejected, she was also happy at the thought that she would no longer have to go hungry or suffer beatings once she reached the Manor.]*
At this point, the Sixth Prince's entire face had turned as pale as paper.
If everything Guagua said was true, then what had he done? He dared not follow that thought any further.
Everyone else smelled a conspiracy, too. Ou Ruoxuan had been sent away overnight, so how had her necklace later ended up on Ou Baiqing?
What earth-shattering conspiracy lay buried beneath all this?
Guagua continued without keeping them waiting long:
*[Once she reached the Manor, Ou Ruoxuan's life did indeed improve considerably.*
And so she grew up there until she was fourteen, when she was brought back to the residence.
The reason was simple. General Han used his military achievements to ask the emperor to grant his granddaughter, Ou Ruoxuan, a good marriage. After considering it, the emperor betrothed her to the Sixth Prince, Chen Yixiao.
Many people knew that the Sixth Prince only had eyes for Ou Baiqing. With some wild girl from the countryside suddenly appearing and taking the position of his princess consort, he was naturally unwilling.
In the Sixth Prince's eyes, only Ou Baiqing could be his princess consort!
Now Ou Ruoxuan was using General Han to force him to marry her. What a cunning scheme she had cooked up.
So even before the wedding, the Sixth Prince humiliated Ou Ruoxuan, calling her shameless for forcing him to marry her. After the wedding, his humiliation of her became even more extreme.
On their wedding night, the Sixth Prince never even entered the bridal chamber. He spent the night in his study instead.
The next day, there was no bloodstained bridal cloth to hand to the matron. Ou Ruoxuan had no choice but to cut her own hand and drip blood onto it to keep up the pretense!
With Ou Baiqing stirring things up as well, Ou Ruoxuan held the title of princess consort but actually lived worse than a servant. She went hungry, lacked warm clothes, endured the servants' insults and abuse, and suffered the Sixth Prince's verbal humiliation.
Whenever Ou Baiqing acted aggrieved, the Sixth Prince behaved as though someone had put him under a bewitching curse. He would decide that Ou Ruoxuan had bullied her and order Ou Ruoxuan beaten with paddles.
Ou Ruoxuan had been married to him for less than a year, yet she had already been beaten nearly to death several times.
Even now, Ou Ruoxuan was still an untouched maiden. In ancient times, that was an utter humiliation!
Tell me, doesn't this Sixth Prince have something wrong with his head?
He believed everything that two-faced little schemer Ou Baiqing said. All he needed to do was have a Shadow Guard investigate, and he would know the truth, but he simply refused to look into it.
Ou Ruoxuan explained that she hadn't done those things, but the Sixth Prince dismissed it all as excuses and called her a habitual liar!
Whatever happened, as long as Ou Baiqing hinted at who was responsible, the Sixth Prince acted like he had a lump in his brain and rushed off to stand up for her.
*I said he was sick in the head, even more unhinged than Qin Hanshan and Su Wan'er. Was I wrong?]*
Song Yaoyao truly hadn't expected the Sixth Prince to be this sort of person in private. She hadn't seen it at all!
Everyone thought, You weren't the only one who didn't see it. Neither did we!
Song Yaoyao: *[This Sixth Prince really does have bubbles in his brain. He's practically brain-dead!*
He believes anything she says. If Ou Baiqing handed him poison one day and told him to take it, he probably wouldn't even check before swallowing it without another word.
Guagua, wouldn't you call the Sixth Prince a bootlicker?
Lick those boots, lick those boots, and in the end, you're left with nothing!
Looking at this moron, I regret not ordering another two of the most expensive dishes earlier. I should've fleeced this idiot for all he was worth!
*Oh, right, Guagua. How did the necklace end up on Ou Baiqing, and why was Ou Ruoxuan sent away overnight?]*
Guagua: *[At the time, Ou Ruoxuan had wandered off alone. When Ou Baiqing couldn't find her, she took a maid to look for her and discovered the two of them unconscious on the ground.*
Ou Baiqing might only have been five, but with her mother teaching her through both words and example, she was precocious indeed.
Seeing the scene, she guessed what had happened. Ou Baiqing lay down beside them and pretended to be unconscious, too. The maid she had brought belonged to Chang Yan, so naturally, she wouldn't say anything she shouldn't.
*In the end, Chang Yan took Ou Ruoxuan and Ou Baiqing back to the residence.]*