SYADEPCO – CH022

Chapter 22 – This Prince Has Only One Woman

Chu Baihan turned her head and saw the prince appear at the doorway. Her delicate brows furrowed slightly.

“Your Highness, you must stand up for this concubine. Princess Consort actually ordered her maid to slap me violently across the face!”

Wan Yiyu tearfully complained to Yan Lin.

She looked genuinely pitiful.

“Princess Consort, is this true?” Yan Lin’s expression turned slightly cold as he asked in a hoarse voice.

“What, judging by your tone, are you trying to hold Baihan accountable just for this woman’s sake?” The Empress Dowager barked loudly.

“Royal Grandmother, what brings you here?” Yan Lin frowned, his tone softening a little.

“What brings me here? If I hadn’t come, wouldn’t these people be bullying my granddaughter-in-law unchecked!”

The Empress Dowager was so furious she almost couldn’t breathe. Thankfully, Chu Baihan had learned from last time and helped her catch her breath in time.

“Royal Grandmother, don’t let such trivial matters harm your health,” Yan Lin said again, with a hint of helplessness in his tone.

“Trivial? You think others bullying your Princess Consort is a trivial matter?”

The Empress Dowager’s anger flared up again.

Today, she was clearly determined to protect Chu Baihan to the extreme.

Chu Baihan felt grateful in her heart, and naturally didn’t want the elderly Empress Dowager to stay upset over this kind of thing.

So, she proactively stepped forward and stood in front of Yan Lin.

“Your Highness, I don’t care how many concubines you want to take. But I am Princess Consort Lin, the mistress of this residence. If others want to step all over me, I will never allow it, even if that person is your favored concubine.” Chu Baihan spoke coldly.

If he hadn’t insisted on keeping those women, none of this would have happened.

As she approached, Yan Lin could smell the faint fragrance on her. His brows eased slightly, and his Adam’s apple bobbed involuntarily.

As he listened to her aggressive words, an image of a fierce little fox suddenly popped into his mind.

Yes. A little fox, baring its fangs and claws.

That was exactly how his princess consort made him feel.

“Your Highness, I haven’t done anything to offend the Princess Consort. I don’t know why she’s so angry. If you hadn’t arrived just now, I might have been beaten to death!”

Wan Yiyu continued her sob story, looking as if she were a victim of cruel abuse while painting Chu Baihan as a vicious woman.

And while saying this, she even flung herself toward Yan Lin’s chest.

Seeing this, Chu Baihan instinctively rushed forward to stop her.

Normally, she wouldn’t care about Yan Lin being close with other women, but this involved her dignity today.

However, despite being blind, the prince’s body was incredibly quick to respond.

He sidestepped slightly and easily avoided Wan Yiyu’s attempted embrace.

Because of that small movement, Chu Baihan ended up crashing straight into his chest.

His firm chest caused her forehead to throb painfully.

Clutching her forehead, Chu Baihan looked up at him with resentment. “Why’d you dodge all of a sudden?”

“Does the Princess want me to hold someone else?” Yan Lin’s eyes darkened, his tone unpleasant.

Why did this woman always push him away? Had she forgotten her status?

Chu Baihan didn’t understand his thoughts. She snorted coldly, “Isn’t Madam Wan your favorite concubine? I thought you’d catch her.”

“Madam Wan? This Prince has only one Princess Consort; where did a ‘Madam Wan’ come from?” Yan Lin replied icily.

What?

Those present changed expressions several times, especially Wan Yiyu, who had fallen heavily to the ground.

Though her face was so swollen her features were hardly recognizable, her anxious expression was still visible.

Panicked, she asked, “Y-Your Highness, what do you mean? Weren’t you going to name us as official consorts? Let us stay in the palace to serve you?”

Chu Baihan also frowned and looked at Yan Lin with a complicated expression.

What did he mean by that?

“This Prince only allowed you to stay in the residence; did I ever say I’d take you as a concubine?” Yan Lin’s face instantly turned cold, his voice sharp as ice.

This…

Wan Yiyu’s heart sank.

He really hadn’t said that.

Because they were sent by Consort Jiang and the Emperor to serve him, when he agreed to let them stay, they simply assumed they were concubines of the royal residence.

“You’re truly generous, aren’t you, Your Highness? You don’t want to take them as concubines, but you keep them in the residence; what’s that for? Keeping them on a leash?”

Despite Yan Lin’s words, Chu Baihan didn’t feel satisfied, instead, her frustration deepened.

Yan Lin frowned slightly. Was she angry?

Strangely enough, he actually felt a bit pleased inside.

“Lin’er, what’s going on? Hurry up and explain it clearly to Baihan,” the Empress Dowager said anxiously from the side, trying to ease the tension between the couple.

If this went on, how was she ever going to get a great-grandchild?

Sure enough, once she stepped in, Yan Lin’s expression softened a little.

“Your Highness, please don’t joke with me,” Wan Yiyu said tearfully. “Just yesterday you even asked for my name. Surely that means you hold me in your heart.”

At her words, Yan Lin replied with a cold, expressionless face: “This Prince is visually impaired. I’ve never seen your face, nor spent time with you; why would I have you in my heart?”

Wan Yiyu was stunned, her face growing even more ashen.

“As for why I asked your name…that’s thanks to the fact you’re the daughter of Wan Yicheng!” Yan Lin’s tone turned frosty, and a murderous aura spread from him.

“Miss Wan, do you remember that during the battle where the Prince was injured, your father and brother were both stationed in the camp?”

Zi Ying stepped forward, eyes filled with disgust as he stared at Wan Yiyu and spoke through gritted teeth.

“Yes… yes.” Wan Yiyu’s eyes began to dart around nervously, her tone becoming unnatural as something seemed to click in her mind.

“That battle was one where the Prince had the upper hand in strategy, but someone betrayed us from within the camp. The Prince returned to the capital with injuries to both eyes. When the Emperor asked, he said nothing about the traitor…

“Because the traitor’s background is too deep. Saying anything wouldn’t help. Most importantly, one of them escaped. If he had spoken, it might have alerted the enemy.”

“Your brother faked his death, thinking the Prince wouldn’t trace things back to the Wan family. That’s why he’s been lurking around you under a different identity. Who would’ve thought, in just two days of you staying at the residence, we’d manage to draw him out…”

The more Zi Wu spoke, the more mocking his tone became.

He hadn’t expected that Consort Jiang’s ploy to spy on the Prince would end up helping them instead.