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Suddenly, Meng Fuyao stopped short of completing her sentence. The bright light shone, and her clothes could be clearly seen - there was a dudou on her body!

The pink dudou was embroidered with lotus leaves and a pair of mandarin ducks. Under the light, the fabric was as smooth as water, and the luster was captivating.

On Zhan Beiheng's face, it was clear that his expression conveyed his thoughts. 'Adulterers! You're even wearing the dudou of my favored concubine, how dare you deny that something's not going on between you two?'

Meng Fuyao was grief-stricken - it was pitch-black, but how could she have grabbed the dudou out of all things!?

In the meantime, the ninth wife covered her face and whimpered. Her cries annoyed Meng Fuyao so much to the extent that the latter climbed down the bed and grabbed her clothes to go.

Furious that she was just going to leave so casually, Zhan Beiheng barked, ”Take him down!”

Hence, Meng Fuyao was subdued, but she did not even resist. With a sound of ”gudong”, she collapsed onto the floor and slept again.

Looking down at Meng Fuyao - who reeked of alcohol - Zhan Beiheng wondered why she did not counter. 'With his martial arts skills, if he really wanted to forcefully barge out, who could stop him? If he really did, I'd just have to deal with it, since family shames shouldn't be spread to the public. But now that he's so easily subdued, what should I do? Should I really send him to the central jail in Pandu? What crime should this be considered? If I let everyone know about the real reason, I'd be the one who would be embarrassed.'

As he contemplated, he looked at the shameless person who was in a deep slumber, shot daggers at the weeping ninth wife, and waved his hand.

”Lock them in the firewood store!”

Meng Fuyao was locked up in the store, and she wrote her letter of repentance.

Sprawled on the ground, she used the ninth wife's dudou as paper and the burnt coal in the store as her ink. Solemnly, she wrote.

”I'm truly dumb, really I am. I knew that one's self-control would be low after getting drunk, and would cause misunderstandings that are neither controllable nor predictable, but I didn't expect that to occur to me. That night, I was drunk and felt that the surroundings were too warm, so I took off my robes. Then, the ninth wife saw me and was probably scared that I'd catch a cold. Being the virtuous woman she was - she always remembered each time the servants took off their clothes - she pulled me away to give me clothes. I didn't want to wear them and wanted to go home, but she refused, and we wrestled each other. After a while, I realized that my clothes had suddenly all fallen and my outer robe was gone, but I knew that my robe would never go missing without any reason. I panicked after a futile search and fumbled around the bed until late into the night. When I saw a sparkly cloth at the corner of the bedsheet, I thought that I finally found it, and so I wore it. The fabric was similar, but the design was different, and there were even flowers embroidered on it… I'm truly dumb, really I am.”

After completing her letter, she cautiously handed it over to the guard watching over the firewood store, so that he could send it to the Prince. The dudou was stacked on top, and the guard could not help but steal a glance at it when he was walking, and he ended up spraining his ankle. When he handed both the letter and the dudou to Zhan Beiheng, the latter was sipping on tea. Halfway through reading the letter, he spat out a mouthful of tea.

This legendary letter somehow reached the ears of people outside of the Prince's residence, and it spread like wildfire in Pandu. It became a sensational topic, and when people in Pandu greeted each other in the morning, the usual saying of ”have you eaten?” changed to ”I'm truly dumb, I really am.”

Additionally, during even midnight, Meng Fuyao would definitely climb out of the windows to steal some alcohol from the neighboring kitchen. After drinking, she would shout ”I'm truly dumb, I really am!”, causing Zhan Beiheng to start having migraines. He would lose face if he just released her, but if he didn't, he would unknowingly become the laughing stock of the town. Meng Fuyao still acted innocent, while the ninth wife just wept, refusing to talk. He was now in a Catch-22 situation. Because of this, he secretly cursed at the guard who woke him up. If he knew that things would turn out this way, he would have just let them get away with it, and things would have been fine.

While the dudou story spread widely in Pandu, the captain who committed adultery continued shouting in the firewood store, causing Prince Heng to become very anxious. On the third day, someone finally came to ease him of his predicament - Zhan Nancheng had summoned for Meng Fuyao.

The next morning, a ”butler” came to request for a meeting in front of the Prince's residence, and the attendants at the door did not dare to slight him. Speedily, they reported to Zhan Beiheng, who instantly felt very relieved as he could finally chase that God of Plagues out of his firewood store. The ”butler” smiled as he waited in the garden, and Zhan Beiheng glanced at him from time to time. He felt that though this person had a dull appearance, he was tall and calm, and had a great composure. Though he was standing humbly in one corner, everyone who passed by would spot him at their first glance, and could not help but steal a few more glances. Furthermore, during the earlier conversation between them, he neither passed off as inferior nor rude, and his formalities were complete. How did that horrid Meng Fuyao find such a talent?

After a few moments, Meng Fuyao walked out in a state of drunkenness. When she saw the ”butler”, she narrowed her eyes and stopped in her tracks, as though she wanted to run and escape. However, seeing that Zhan Beiheng was still watching her, she grinned and greeted the ”butler”.

”You're here,” she said.

The ”butler” smiled and slightly bowed. ”Master, are you feeling well? I have come to receive you,” he replied.

In his sub-consciousness, Zhan Beiheng thought that Meng Fuyao shivered, but he quickly confirmed that he was only seeing things.

Meng Fuyao beamed and agreed. Then, Meng Fuyao walked over to grab the sleeves and staggered as she bowed. ”Thank you, Your Highness, I'll… erm, I'll make my way first,” she said.

The butler flipped his hand to grab Meng Fuyao's palm and held her as she slowly walked out. However, Zhan Beiheng suddenly said coldly, ”Going off just like that?”

Both people looked back. Meng Fuyao was very drunk and not as fast as the butler, who smiled and asked, ”Your Highness, what other instructions do you have?”

Zhan Beiheng raised his eyebrows and smirked. ”Bring her away,” he said, and he clapped his hands. A gentle and beautiful lady covered with a cloak slowly walked out of the inner room.

It was the ninth wife.