Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

Upon hearing Wu Yunwan's question, Murong Xue'er was momentarily stunned, unsure how to answer.

Seeing that Murong Xue'er did not answer, Wu Junwan picked up the teacup on the stone table, took a small sip of tea, and then said, "There are too many to remember, are there?"

Murong Xue'er was speechless. Although she thought it wasn't that many times, she really couldn't remember the exact number.

Murong Xue'er countered, "Why does Your Highness ask about this?"

Wu Junwan did not answer the question, but continued, "So, you've already betrayed Qingrou?"

Murong Xue'er fell silent again. In a sense, she had indeed betrayed Emperor Yue.

After all, she can no longer live without this bad man; her body and soul have become his.

Seeing that Murong Xue'er still didn't speak, Wu Junwan knew she had hit the nail on the head. She sighed slightly. It seemed that the most terrifying thing about this man was that no woman could resist his charm.

Upon hearing this, Murong Xue'er couldn't help but wonder if Wu Yunwan had also been conquered by the Northern King.

Wu Yunwan is, after all, the eldest princess of the Great Wu Kingdom, and she hasn't been in the Northern Kingdom for very long, has she? Has she been subdued by that wicked man so quickly? Is that true?

Murong Xue'er asked, "What does Your Highness intend to do? Will you tell Her Majesty the Empress about what happened to me?"

Murong Xue'er was unsure of Wu Yunwan's attitude, but she knew very well just how good the relationship between Wu Yunwan and the Emperor was.

In the absence of Wu Yunwan, Emperor Yue even treated her as if she were Wu Yunwan, pressing her beneath him; their relationship was extraordinary.

Although Wu Yunwan may have been corrupted by that bad man, it doesn't mean she has no feelings for Emperor Yue anymore. Now that Wu Yunwan knows that the spies Emperor Yue sent to the Northern Kingdom have betrayed him and may threaten the Great Yue Kingdom in the future, she might tell Emperor Yue about it out of sisterly affection.

In this way, Murong Xue'er's betrayal of Emperor Yue was completely exposed.

Wu Yunwan asked expressionlessly, "Do you want me to tell Qingrou about your affairs, or do you want me to pretend I know nothing?"

Murong Xue'er did not answer the question immediately.

Seeing that Murong Xue'er did not answer directly, Wu Yunwan said:

"If I say nothing, the Northern King will use you to pass on more false information to Qingrou, or you will steal more information from Dayue to the Northern King. In that case, you will still have some value."

"If I tell Qingrou about your situation directly, you probably won't have to continue being the envoy of Dayue, but you'll be of no use to the Northern King, and he'll probably abandon you."

At this moment, Murong Xue'er said, "Your Highness may be overthinking it. As far as the Northern King's ambitions are concerned, this servant is of little use. In the Northern King's eyes, the greatest use of this servant is to allow him to relax. This servant is merely a tool for him to release his emotions."

"The Northern King rarely asks his servants to provide him with information about Dayue, and he also rarely allows his servants to spread false information. Even though the defense map of the Northern Kingdom that his servants obtained from the Northern King was a real one, it is a pity that even with a real defense map, the army of Dawu was still defeated."

Hearing this, Wu Yunwan frowned slightly, then sneered and said, "So, you believe the Northern King's feelings for you are genuine?"

Murong Xue'er said, "This servant is self-aware enough to know that Your Highness only likes this servant's body, and this servant has never dared to hope that Your Highness could develop feelings for this servant."

Seeing that Murong Xue'er had said that, Wu Junwan was speechless.

Wu Yunwan thought for a moment and then said, "Although this man likes your beauty now, you will grow old one day, and he has no shortage of women. If you follow him, you should be prepared to be abandoned."

Murong Xue'er said, "Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness. This servant will keep Your Highness's words in mind."

Wu Yunwan didn't want to advise Murong Xue'er anything. She herself had been completely taken advantage of by Lu Chen, so what right did she have to criticize others?

Moreover, she knew very well that with that little man's abilities, it was indeed difficult for any woman who had been his wife to leave him again; he had many ways of dealing with women.

Wu Yunwan said, "I will not tell Senior Hu about your affairs for the time being. From today onwards, you will live with me."

Murong Xue'er thanked her again, saying, "Thank you, Your Highness!"

Wu Junwan then said, "Since you came to the Northern Kingdom a long time ago and are already the Northern King's woman, you must know the Northern King's mansion very well. I have some things about the Northern King that I would like to ask you."

Murong Xue'er said, "Your Highness, please ask whatever you wish to know. I will answer to the best of my knowledge."

After all, Wu Yunwan was the sister of Emperor Yue. Murong Xue'er thought that providing Wu Yunwan with some information about the Northern King would be a way of repaying Emperor Yue for raising her back then.

Wu Yunwan hummed in agreement, then asked, "With so many women in the inner courtyard of the Northern Prince's Mansion, the infighting must be quite severe. I'd like to know which woman in the inner courtyard of the Prince's Mansion has the greatest ambition."

Upon hearing this, Murong Xue'er seemed to understand something. Wu Yunwan was preparing to integrate into the Northern Prince's Mansion and was even planning to seize power.

Murong Xue'er then said, "If Your Highness intends to fight for power in the inner courtyard of the Northern Prince's Mansion, then this servant advises Your Highness to give up this idea."

"Although I did not live in the Northern Prince's Mansion before, I have learned some things through the maids. The inner courtyard of the Northern Prince's Mansion is very harmonious. The prince's women are all like sisters, and there is almost no scheming or infighting."

Wu Junwan chuckled lightly, "Wherever there are people, there is a world of intrigue. The more powerful a man is, the more the women in his harem will use every means to compete for his favor. Even if they seem harmonious on the surface, they are likely plotting and scheming behind the scenes."

Wu Yunwan was born into the imperial family and knew the situation in the harem best, so she didn't believe for a second that Lu Chen's harem would be particularly harmonious.

She had already been possessed by Lu Chen, and she also realized that the trend of unification of the world was irreversible. The strength of the Northern King was too great, and the military strength of the Northern Kingdom was also improving very rapidly.

Furthermore, given that the Northern King was a domineering man, Wu Yunwan believed that she was unlikely to return to the Great Wu Kingdom and that she would only be his possession from now on.

She wasn't actually opposed to being his woman, but she was unwilling to be a caged bird.

Wu Junwan planned to prepare a second path for herself. If one day Lu Chen really unified the world and became the only emperor in this world, then she would also become the most important woman by this man's side, or to put it bluntly, the empress.

Therefore, for her, all the women in Lu Chen's harem were her competitors, or even enemies.

Therefore, she must begin preparations now, and before that, she needs to find out the specific details of the inner courtyard of the Northern Prince's Mansion.

Upon hearing Wu Yunwan's words, Murong Xue'er knew that Wu Yunwan had no intention of giving up.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. Wu Yunwan was once the eldest princess of the Great Wu Kingdom, a person of high status and power. How could she possibly endure that wicked man wanting to keep her locked up in the Northern Prince's Mansion and make her bear children?

Wu Junwan would never give up.

Murong Xue'er then said, "Most of the women in the Northern Prince's Mansion have their own affairs, but the Princess Consort manages all the properties of the Northern Prince's Mansion and oversees the entire mansion."

"Yelü Nanyan, formerly the Queen Consort of the Heavenly Wolf King, was in charge of the national treasury..."

Before Murong Xue'er could finish speaking, Wu Junwan immediately interrupted and asked, "Does the Queen Consort of the Heavenly Wolf King still manage the national treasury?"

Wu Yunwan learned about Yelü Nanyan's control of the national treasury through spies when she was in Dawu. However, at that time, she only thought it was a political tactic by Lu Chen, mainly to appease the barbarians in the North.

Yelü Nanyan was, after all, a queen of the barbarian tribe, and she was qualified to manage the treasury of the Northern Kingdom. This meant that the Northern King treated the barbarians equally to a certain extent, which gave those barbarians hope.

Of course, Wu Yunwan believed that this was only on the surface, and that the person in charge of the national treasury was definitely from the North, and had nothing to do with Yelü Nanyan.

Murong Xue'er replied, "Yes, the national treasury is still under her control, but she has begun to relinquish power. It is estimated that in another ten years, she will hand over the national treasury to someone else."

Wu Junwan continued, "Alright, tell me about the situation of the Northern King's other wives and concubines."

Murong Xue'er continued, "Currently, only Yelü Nanyan is involved in the politics of the Northern Kingdom."

"Besides that, Wang Qingci is in charge of Tingyu Tower, Dongfang Longyue is in charge of Dongfang Newspaper, and Chu Yuqin is in charge of the royal guards. As for that woman surnamed Bai, she often follows the Northern King, but I don't know her well."

Wu Yunwan asked, "Are these all the women the Northern King has?"

Murong Xue'er replied, "Not only that, there are also the two Zhou sisters, the former princess of the Tianlang King tribe, and a woman surnamed Lin from the Xuan Yue Palace. Besides these women, it seems that Your Highness also has some women outside, but I don't know."

Wu Junwan frowned.

This little man has way too many women.

He's a complete lecher.

With so many women, can he possibly take care of them all?

It seems the power struggle within the Prince's mansion is more serious than she imagined.

With so many women vying for one man, harmony within the Prince's mansion is impossible; no woman would willingly live a life of widowhood.

Especially after having done that kind of thing with that young man, they will want his favor even more, so they will definitely compete for his affection.

In Wu Yunwan's mind at this moment, the inner courtyard of the Prince's Mansion had become a battlefield of life and death.

Afterwards, Wu Yunwan asked Murong Xue'er about other matters concerning the Northern Prince's Mansion, and the two chatted in the pavilion until very late.

Just as Lu Chen said, the two of them did indeed have a lot in common.

late at night.

Murong Xue'er settled into the house next to Wu Junwan's. She didn't bring anything with her today, and all her clothes were still in the mansion. The clothes she was wearing were prepared for her by the Northern Prince's Mansion.

Murong Xue'er sat before her dressing table and sighed softly. Just then, a maid entered and asked, "Madam Murong, the hot water is ready. Would you like to take a bath now?"

Murong Xue'er didn't correct the maids' address. She didn't care anymore; she didn't care how the maids addressed her. Anyway, that man had already made her lose all temper. She said indifferently, "Fine."

The maidservant immediately said, "Madam Murong, please come with me."

Murong Xue'er then followed the maid to the bathroom next to the room. The bathroom was very large and had a hot bath. Several maids were scattering flower petals into the bath.

In an instant, the entire bath was filled with the fragrance of flowers. With the help of her maids, Murong Xue'er slowly took off her clothes, revealing her snow-white body.

Immediately afterwards, she slowly entered the bath. As soon as she stepped into the hot water, she felt much more refreshed, and the fatigue of the day was swept away. She felt very comfortable.

Soaking in the hot water, Murong Xue'er soon felt sleepy. She then said to the maids, "You may all leave now. I'll call you if I need anything."

"Yes, Madam!"

The maids then left the bath, and Murong Xue'er leaned against the tub, closing her eyes.

Just as she was drifting off to sleep, a pair of large hands suddenly wrapped around her slender waist. She jolted awake and struggled to get up. Before she could even call out, a large hand covered her mouth, leaving her only able to make muffled "mmm" sounds. (End of Chapter)