CHAPTER 582: CHAPTER 582 ARSON

The prince was eager to know everything.

His attitude was resolute, and Lady Chi knew she couldn’t avoid explaining.

She recounted all that had happened after the prince left.

She spoke very slowly.

Because that memory was like a scar to her.

As the healed scar reopened, it bled profusely.

Back then, not long after the prince returned to Daqi, Princess Hengyang became pregnant.

Initially, the Donglin Prince Mansion did not agree to her giving birth to the child.

A Nanliang Princess.

An Heir of the Duke Daqi Mansion.

The possibility of their union was almost negligible.

But Princess Hengyang wanted to keep the child in her womb, even threatening her life. The loving Donglin Prince softened his stance.

When Princess Hengyang was three months into her pregnancy, the then Nanliang Noble Consort, now the Nanliang Empress Dowager, requested the former Emperor of Nanliang to betroth Princess Hengyang to her son, who was then the Third Prince, and is now the Emperor of Nanliang.

The Third Prince was ambitious, coveting the military power in Donglin Prince’s hands, and intended to use the marriage alliance to have Donglin Prince support his bid for the throne.

The Donglin Prince declined using Princess Hengyang’s severe illness as a reason.

Half a year later, the news of the Empress Dowager betrothing Princess Nanzhang to the prince reached Princess Hengyang’s ears.

In her grief, Princess Hengyang gave birth to Xie Jingchen.

The day after the child was born, Donglin Prince sent the child to the military camp to be handed over to the Old Prince, falsely claiming that Princess Hengyang had died in childbirth.

The prince returned to the Capital with Xie Jingchen, and was forced to marry Princess Nanzhang.

The Eldest Prince of Nanliang died in a riding accident, eliminating the Third Prince’s most formidable rival, causing a sudden shift in the court’s dynamics.

Foreseeing danger, Donglin Prince sent Princess Hengyang away.

But Princess Hengyang had not yet left the city when the court’s troops surrounded the Donglin Prince Mansion.

Her father, mother, and brothers were all imprisoned, how could Princess Hengyang bear to leave?

She wanted to save them.

She sought out Donglin Prince’s most trusted brother.

But when the Donglin Prince Mansion fell, those people not only refused to help, but even captured her to claim credit.

She was brought before the Third Prince.

She begged the Third Prince to save her family.

The Third Prince refused to help and attempted to force himself upon her.

The Third Prince’s Consort discovered this and persuaded the Third Prince to restrain himself, using the excuse that Princess Hengyang was a wanted criminal.

Only then did the Third Prince desist.

Princess Hengyang’s breathtaking beauty incited jealousy in the Third Prince’s Consort.

She wished to destroy it.

The Third Prince coveted her, and she dared not confront him directly. So, she advised the Third Prince to have Princess Hengyang take the Disguise Pill, altering her appearance so she could stay by his side.

Upon taking the Disguise Pill, no one knew if the appearance would become beautiful or ugly.

Moreover, it was a matter of life and death.

But Princess Hengyang endured.

She not only survived, her appearance was no less beautiful than before.

The Third Prince’s Consort felt threatened, and while she was asleep, she slashed her face with a dagger and told the Third Prince that she would rather destroy her beauty than yield to him.

In a rage, the Third Prince tortured her, leaving her covered with whip scars.

On the day the Donglin Prince Mansion was executed, the Third Prince ordered her to be brought to the city gate to witness the execution of her father and brothers...

She stayed at the Third Prince Mansion for two years.

After once fainting and coughing up blood, she woke up to find herself at Prince Ling Mansion.

"Prince Ling?"

"How could it be him?" The prince frowned.

Prince Ling was the Seventh Prince of the Nanliang former Emperor.

When the prince went to Nanliang, Prince Ling followed the Third Prince.

When the Third Prince said one, he wouldn’t say two.

For him to rescue Princess Hengyang was something the prince found hard to believe.

But it was indeed Prince Ling who saved Princess Hengyang.

Only someone close to the Third Prince could know her identity as Princess Hengyang and have the chance to rescue her.

She stayed at Prince Ling Mansion for half a year.

Later, Prince Ling requested to accompany the Third Prince’s cousin, the Heir of Duke Rong, to Daqi for the birthday celebration.

Prince Ling sent her to Daqi Capital ten days in advance.

Then he incited the Heir of Duke Rong to present a singer to the prince.

With this cover, she could enter the Duke Zhen Country Mansion as a Nanliang singer.

At that time, she was covered in scars, her appearance destroyed, and she couldn’t speak.

She had no courage to stand before the prince and tell him that she was Hengyang.

Especially after arriving in Daqi Capital, she learned that the prince had refused the marriage decrees from the Empress Dowager and the late Emperor for her sake.

She was the Princess Hengyang of the Donglin Prince Mansion of Nanliang.

Her family had been exterminated for conspiracy.

If anyone knew that Princess Hengyang of Donglin Prince Mansion had made a lifelong vow with the Heir of Duke Zhen, it would confirm the guilt of Donglin Prince Mansion.

She did not ask for much, only to see Chenchen one last time before she died, and she would be satisfied.

At the end, Lady Chi was in tears.

Outside the room.

Xie Jingchen had not left.

He stood just outside the door, with Su Jin by his side.

Su Jin didn’t hear very clearly, but Xie Jingchen heard every word.

He clenched his fist and hit the pillar hard.

Su Jin looked at him.

She really didn’t know how to comfort him.

His biological mother was beaten severely, enduring humiliation just to see him once more.

As a son, how could he not be heartbroken, angry, and want to avenge his mother?

But the one who sentenced the entire Donglin Prince Mansion to death was the Emperor of Nanliang.

The ones who ruined his mother’s appearance were the Emperor and Empress of Nanliang.

Nanliang was the enemy of Donglin Prince Mansion.

But if people knew his biological mother was the Nanliang Princess Hengyang, even his title of princely heir might not be secure.

Inside, the prince wiped away Lady Chi’s tears.

His eyes were bloodshot, suppressing his intense anger.

He hadn’t expected her to endure so much suffering.

This deep affection, even his life would not be enough to repay.

Lady Chi brushed away the prince’s hand, not wanting him to see the scars on her face.

The prince touched her face and asked, "Can your appearance ever be restored?"

Lady Chi’s tears flowed.

The prince looked outside the room and said, "You may enter."

Once Xie Jingchen entered, the prince stepped out.

Su Jin stood far away.

The reunion of mother and son should not be disturbed by being too close.

Xie Jingchen had never called out "Mother."

Even Su Jin could sense the unfamiliarity.

She embraced Xie Jingchen, calling him her son over and over again.

Even Xique and Caiju had teary eyes, feeling both pity and happiness for Lady Chi.

Xique couldn’t help saying, "Madam, you set the fire yourself?"

Su Jin was a bit skeptical.

Let’s not forget Lady Chi was expecting.

Xie Jingchen’s princely heir title had given Lady Chi a reason to desire death.

After all, she had stayed in the Prince Mansion for fifteen years, and nobody knew she was actually Princess Hengyang.

Why would she need to lay bare herself for the prince?

"I wasn’t the one who set the fire," Lady Chi said.

Peony Garden.

After Princess Nanzhang returned, she propped herself on the table, seething with fury.

Failing to burn Lady Chi to death!

Instead, it revealed her identity as the Nanliang Princess Hengyang!

Just who the hell is making things difficult for me?!

Xie Jingchuan stood outside the bead curtain.