After Transmigrating Into A Love-Brained Scumbag Villain - Chapter 8

Zhao Shangrong’s layoff plan came to a stop the moment she stepped into the inner residence.

Before she had even entered, she heard several strings of silver-bell-like laughter coming from the garden behind the wall. She could not help falling into a daze—within the Prince of Yingchuan’s memories, such sounds seemed to have never appeared in the prince’s manor.

No, perhaps they had appeared before. But whenever the Prince of Yingchuan was irritated, she would find such sounds noisy and strictly forbid laughter and play within the manor. Anyone who disobeyed would be slapped across the mouth.

And so, gradually, the maidservants put away their smiles. In front of her, all that remained was trembling fear, as if they were walking on thin ice.

The maidservants of the prince’s manor clearly would not dare laugh so happily. The owners of these voices were most likely the maidservants Wang Yaoshuang had brought from the Wang family.

They had not yet witnessed the Prince of Yingchuan’s terrifying side, so they thought they could chat and laugh freely in the inner residence.

When Zhao Shangrong passed through the covered corridor, she saw several girls around fourteen or fifteen sitting together in a corner of the garden. Curious, she went over and discovered they were playing “Five Woods.”

The so-called “Five Woods game” referred to a gambling game somewhat similar to throwing divination blocks. The throwing pieces were five wooden objects, black on the front and white on the back. Then, based on outcomes such as “all black” or “four black and one white,” they were divided into prize levels. Among them, “all black” was equivalent to the first prize and was called “Lu.”①

The actual gameplay was also somewhat like flying chess.

Zhao Shangrong’s understanding of these gambling games came from the Prince of Yingchuan’s memories. However, the Prince of Yingchuan had only known of the concept and had never played it before, so naturally Zhao Shangrong did not understand how to play either.

She simply stood at the side and watched, learning how others played.

The maidservants looked at one another.

But for maidservants who had grown up in the relatively relaxed atmosphere of the Wang family, before they truly suffered, they were unable to imagine just how terrifying the Prince of Yingchuan was.

She asked, “Did you not hear me? I said there is no need to mind me. Continue playing.”

The young girls absorbed in the gambling game had not noticed an extra person nearby. It was not until a maidservant passed by and saw the Prince of Yingchuan’s figure that she trembled in fright and cried out, “Your Highness?!”

Zhao Shangrong grew tired from standing, so she simply sat down on one of the low couches and said casually, “Why are you panicking? Continue.”

Only belatedly did she realize what they were reacting to. She immediately smiled and said, “I didn’t say I was going to punish you. I just think this game is quite interesting and want to watch you play.”

She had already started imagining it: after the maidservants finished a round and were feeling relaxed and happy, His Highness would use the excuse that they had been gambling in the prince’s manor and mercilessly order them whipped, teaching them what it meant for joy to turn into sorrow.

Before this, they had never interacted with the Prince of Yingchuan. Although they had heard rumors that she was extremely harsh toward servants, child attendants, maidservants, and concubines, and that anyone who committed an offense and fell into her hands would definitely not have a good ending…

The maidservants felt a chill down their backs and hurriedly knelt to salute. “These servants greet Your Highness!”

Unexpectedly, after this sudden turn, His Highness was not angry. Instead, she even said she was interested in the gambling game!

The maidservants tried to follow her instructions and picked up the “Five Woods” again, playing distractedly.

“Yes…” the maidservants answered with sobs in their voices.

Just as the maidservant was hesitating over whether to go find the princess consort to rescue the maidservants she had brought with her, Wang Yaoshuang had already received news that Zhao Shangrong was in the inner residence and was hurrying over.

The maidservants’ bodies visibly began trembling. “We beg Your Highness for forgiveness!”

But their mistress, Wang Yaoshuang, had recently been weighed down with worries and extremely cautious. Moreover, the maidservants of the prince’s manor were all solemn and unsmiling, making the atmosphere far too oppressive. So they had wanted to take advantage of their mistress’s absence to play a game and relax.

Zhao Shangrong: “…”

This was absolutely something the nasty-tempered Prince of Yingchuan would be capable of doing.

In an instant, the atmosphere that had been so cheerful just now froze, and even the air seemed to become heavy.

Once she learned how to play, she could also find someone to pass the time with when she had nothing to do in the future. After all, there was no internet or television here. If she did not find some entertainment, sooner or later she would suffocate herself into developing psychological problems.

Zhao Shangrong: “?”

As for the maidservant who had first discovered Zhao Shangrong’s arrival, she had already begun silently mourning for them in her heart: this would probably be the last time they ever played this game.

She was an “old hand” who had worked in the prince’s manor ever since the Prince of Yingchuan established her residence. As far as she knew, the Prince of Yingchuan never played gambling games. So when His Highness said she was interested in the game, it was definitely a lie!

Who would have thought that the person they believed would absolutely never set foot in the inner residence had actually appeared?

To be honest, after Zhao Shangrong used that rather cold and eerie voice to say words that could easily be misunderstood, the maidservants had already thought about where they would be buried.

Wang Yaoshuang felt that the future seemed to be changing.

In her previous life, the Prince of Yingchuan rarely stepped into the inner residence. Therefore, to Wang Yaoshuang, the inner residence had been one of the few safe places where she could stay at ease.

Even after the Prince of Yingchuan was disfigured and her personality changed drastically, many maidservants, in order to avoid the risk of being disfigured, would rather use serving the princess consort in the inner residence as an excuse than go near the Prince of Yingchuan.

However, the number of positions serving the princess consort was limited. In order to fight for those positions, the maidservants did not hesitate to use underhanded methods to attack their opponents, staging scene after scene of inner-courtyard scheming with very unusual motives.

Now, without anyone deliberately guiding her, His Highness had actually entered the inner residence?!

In just one day, several incidents had occurred that were completely different from her previous life. Wang Yaoshuang was somewhat confused. Were the memories from her previous life inaccurate, or had she truly changed the future?

Wang Yaoshuang was also worried about the safety of the maidservants she had brought with her. At the same time, she felt somewhat regretful over her own oversight—ever since her rebirth, her heart had been filled with matters of the future, and she had forgotten to instruct her maidservants to learn the rules of the prince’s manor from the manor’s maidservants.

When they were in the Wang family, she had never treated the maidservants by her side harshly, which caused them, like her in her previous life, to have somewhat innocent and naive personalities.

As a result, after they entered the prince’s manor, it was as if they had been pushed into a fire pit. Not a single day had been lived outside of suffering, and not a single day had passed without fear.

The future she wanted to change naturally included the future of the maidservants who had grown up with her.

When Wang Yaoshuang arrived full of worry, she saw that His Highness had not only failed to severely punish the maidservants who were playing games in the prince’s manor, but had actually joined in and was thoroughly enjoying herself.

“I got Lu again!” Zhao Shangrong called out. Although her voice was very restrained, one could still hear that she was somewhat excited.

Indeed, getting “Lu” three times in a row—such luck and skill, even in Jiankang, would definitely be enough for people to call her a master of gambling games.

The maidservants sincerely praised her. “His Highness is amazing!”

Wang Yaoshuang: “…”

She felt that she was somewhat unnecessary at this moment.

Zhao Shangrong called out, “Again, again!”

Wang Yaoshuang walked over unhurriedly and saluted. “This concubine greets Your Highness.”

Zhao Shangrong paused, and the maidservants instantly quieted down as well, all saluting Wang Yaoshuang.

Wang Yaoshuang looked at them, hesitating to speak. In the end, she only fixed her gaze on His Highness’s face and said, “Your Highness, the kitchen courtyard has already prepared dinner.”

Zhao Shangrong’s stomach chose that exact moment to rumble.

“I played until I forgot my hunger. This gambling game really is easy to get immersed in!”

Although the gameplay was similar to flying chess, since it was called a “gambling game,” that meant it contained some element of gambling. A small gamble could be entertaining, but large-scale gambling was something Zhao Shangrong greatly disliked—second only to “drugs” in how much she hated it.

To prevent serious gambling from appearing within the prince’s manor, she warned the maidservants, “The greatest taboo in all things is excess. This game may be played, but money and valuables must not be used as stakes, nor may you become addicted to it and delay proper duties.”

“Yes!”

Seeing that His Highness had no intention of severely punishing the maidservants, Wang Yaoshuang took the opportunity to step down gracefully. “Your Highness’s instruction is correct. It was this concubine who failed to properly restrain them. Please…”

As soon as Zhao Shangrong heard this, she knew the princess consort was about to start asking for forgiveness again… The princess consort was good in every way, except that because of the influence of her upbringing, she was somewhat rigid. She always lowered herself and took every responsibility onto her own shoulders.

She waved her hand and interrupted Wang Yaoshuang. “Did the princess consort not say that dinner has been prepared? Then let us go back and have them serve the meal.”

Wang Yaoshuang: “?”

Us?

Did His Highness mean she wanted to eat together with her?!

Zhao Shangrong took a few steps, then saw that Wang Yaoshuang was still frozen in place and said, “Why is the princess consort not walking?”

Wang Yaoshuang could only brace herself and follow her.

The two returned to the North Study and sat according to rank. The maidservants then brought the dishes up one by one.

The dishes placed in front of Zhao Shangrong included fresh fish soup; an unnamed dish of jellyfish and kelp cut into strips and steamed with minced meat; clams; honey-preserved fish intestine sauce; pan-fried cuttlefish; steamed dried fish; three kinds of kidneys with wine and vinegar; mustard greens, and so on—a total of twelve dishes.

The dishes placed in front of Wang Yaoshuang were mostly vegetarian: three-fresh bamboo shoots, fresh tofu all-purpose soup, boiled gourd, and the richest one among them was a dish containing crab roe.

Zhao Shangrong: “…”

What was this, an all-fish banquet?

The maidservant who had served her for many years saw that she had not moved her chopsticks for a long time and thought she was brewing a storm. She hurriedly explained, “The Assistant Court Physician said Your Highness’s body is not suited to eating cold-natured foods. Shrimp, crab, duck meat, and the like are cool in nature, so we first prepared dishes that warm the spleen and stomach.”

Wang Yaoshuang looked at Zhao Shangrong and once again took the initiative to accept responsibility. “Your Highness, this concubine was the one who instructed the kitchen courtyard to prepare the meal. It has nothing to do with them.”

Although she was also worried about offending His Highness, at least she had the Langya Wang clan behind her. Therefore, if she took responsibility, the consequences would be lighter than if the responsibility were pushed onto the maidservants.

As expected, His Highness merely glanced at the maidservant and did not seem to intend to punish her. Instead, she asked, “Why are the princess consort’s dishes all vegetarian?”

Wang Yaoshuang replied, “This concubine does not have much appetite. These vegetarian dishes are enough.”

Zhao Shangrong had the maidservants move the honey-preserved fish intestine sauce and the three kinds of kidneys with wine and vinegar from her own table to Wang Yaoshuang’s table. “These two dishes are more appetizing. Princess Consort, eat them. I cannot eat so many dishes.”

Wang Yaoshuang looked at her. A trace of emotion struggled in the depths of her eyes. After a long while, she closed her eyes and suppressed those inexplicable feelings, then lowered her gaze halfway and thanked her. “Thank you, Your Highness.”

Zhao Shangrong’s mind was entirely focused on tasting the food, so she did not notice anything unusual about her.

Author’s Note:

His Highness: If I lay people off, where else am I going to find this many pretty young ladies?

Princess Consort: What did you say?

His Highness: …

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The “Five Woods” game was referenced from Baidu’s entry. For the detailed gameplay, you can search it up.