CHAPTER 653: CHAPTER 640: THE DOOMED PRINCESS 8

Liu Meiniang managed to return to her room and lay down.

Her daughter Chunmei is only about five or six years old now. Seeing Liu Meiniang so exhausted that she flopped onto the bed and couldn’t get up, she climbed onto a little stool to cook by herself.

Dong also hurried over to help.

Liu Meiniang listened to the sounds of the children cooking outside, the hatred in her eyes growing deeper.

Now looking at the sensible and clever children, in the end, they are all ingrates, not one is filial.

And there’s Zhao Hongwen, he is nothing but a scoundrel. At first, when he saw that the Liu family was well-off and that she was good at embroidery, he shamelessly pleaded to marry her. Once she married into his family, she was made to do all the work of the home and the fields. Over the years, Zhao Hongwen socialized with friends, studied in the academy, and the expenses for purchasing writing materials, books, and traveling to exams were all earned by Liu Meiniang.

It could be said that without Liu Meiniang, there would be no Zhao Hongwen.

But once Zhao Hongwen became the top scorer, he cast aside his wife and directly told the Holy Emperor that he had not married yet, and managed to marry the Princess and became the Prince Consort.

When she came to confront him with the children, he even thought of having her and the two kids killed.

Had she not been quick-witted, she might have...

In the end, she brought that Prince Consort down, causing Zhao Hongwen to lose his title and rank, followed by his exile until his death.

But of what use was that?

Her entire life has also been ruined.

After Zhao Hongwen’s death, she struggled to raise her children to adulthood, earning money strenuously, only to end up sick and frail.

Yet Chunmei and Dong not only did not show any compassion for her, they even grew up to resent her.

They said if it hadn’t been for her insistence, their father would not have died—their father who was a Prince Consort. With their father alive, they would have had such good lives.

They would have had a Princess as their legitimate mother, a father with high official salary and rank; those days would have been glorious.

Especially Chunmei, who had her eye on a son from an official family, but with her status, not to mention being a legitimate wife, even becoming a concubine was somewhat beneath her; thus, Chunmei resented her even more.

She blamed her cruel mother for causing her father’s death, depriving her of a prominent father, and leaving her without a good family to marry into when she came of age.

And Dong hated her too, for denying him a life of glory and wealth.

When she lay sick in bed unable to move, these two children didn’t care for her, allowing her to freeze and starve to death.

Thinking of these things, the hatred in Liu Meiniang’s heart surged even more. She hated Zhao Hongwen, hated her two children, and also hated Princess Anning.

If it weren’t for Princess Anning shamelessly stealing her husband, how could she have ended up in that plight?

If Princess Anning had any sense of shame, any bit of conscience, when she arrived at the Capital with her children and found the Princess Mansion, Princess Anning should have taken them in and settled them properly; she should have stepped aside gracefully, giving up the position of legitimate wife to her.

Thinking this way, Liu Meiniang’s resentment toward the Princess grew even more.

In her past life, she was just a peasant woman, without background or capability, absolutely unable to do anything about that pair of scoundrel and wretched woman.

But this time, she was afraid of nothing, she still had the Divine Artifact bestowed by the immortal, and she would make sure that Zhao Hongwen and the Princess met with a bad end; she would make those two people die a miserable death.

And as for the pair of ungrateful children, she would certainly not raise them as well as she did in her previous life.

They are resentful, aren’t they? Resentful that she made them lose a father who was an official? Then let the two ingrates go and live with their official father; let’s see if they can survive.

Liu Meiniang thought bitterly for a long while, then took out a pill and swallowed it.

When she rose again, strength had returned to her body.

Princess Anning had been pestering Emperor Xiande for a long time, and finally, he issued an imperial decree to bestow marriage between Anning and Xue He.

When the imperial decree arrived at the Xue Family, Mr. Xue wept with joy on his sickbed.

He clutched Xue He’s hand, incessantly instructing, "He’er, grandfather can finally rest assured, truly rest assured. His Majesty has bestowed marriage upon you and has even allowed the princess to marry down. In the future, you will surely be able to live well. He’er, remember, no matter why the princess is marrying down to you, you must treat the princess well and obey her. What we wish for is for the princess to protect you. Also, after marrying, move into the Princess Mansion. If you can avoid returning home—then don’t return. Understand?"

Xue He nodded continuously, "Grandfather, I understand. I will listen to you, listen to the princess."

Mr. Xue managed a smile: "Our family He’er is blessed. Now that His Majesty will look after you, I can be at peace."

Dragging his sickened body, Mr. Xue accompanied Xue He to the palace to express their gratitude and they met Emperor Xiande.

Who knows what Mr. Xue and Emperor Xiande discussed, but the wedding date for Anning and Xue He was set unusually soon.

However, it wasn’t really troublesome.

Emperor Xiande had already arranged for the Princess Mansion to be built for Anning, with all necessary items fully prepared.

Anning’s dowry had been prepared many years in advance by Emperor Xiande and Consort Huang; there was no need to hastily get the dowry ready at this juncture. Other matters were taken care of by the Imperial Household Department too, so even if the wedding date was set close, there was nothing to fear.

Less than a month after Emperor Xiande’s decree of marriage, the Six Rituals were completed, and Anning and Xue He were married.

After Emperor Xiande’s proclamation, the Capital was practically turned upside down by this matter.

No one had expected Princess Anning to marry down to someone like Xue He.

Everyone in the Capital’s circles of power knew Xue He was a fool—forget about a princess; even daughters of minor officials wouldn’t marry someone like Xue He.

Yet, peculiarly enough, the princess was willing to marry him.

No one knew how many people were dying of envy; many thought Xue He had struck incredibly good fortune.

Of course, some courtiers thought that since Princess Anning had created an uproar in Tianji Palace, she had fallen out of Emperor Xiande’s favor, thus relegating her to such a distasteful marriage.

Especially Zhou Jingxing and Liu Ruolan.

When these two learned that Anning was to marry Xue He, they were practically ecstatic.

Zhou Jingxing rushed to the Liu family to see Liu Ruolan, and they discussed this affair.

Zhou Jingxing sneered: "Princess Anning truly doesn’t know how to appreciate favors. If she had quietly married Zhao Hongwen, how much trouble would it have saved? Even if Zhao Hongwen has a wife and child, he is at least a scholar and also good-looking. But Princess Anning insisted on making a fuss, causing His Majesty to lose face. Now she got what she deserved—reduced to marrying a fool."

Liu Ruolan’s lips curled into a smile: "His Majesty, even as a compassionate father, is firstly an emperor. Is it so easy to step down on an emperor’s dignity? Princess Anning is just too accustomed to having her way, really reckless of anything and everything."

With that, Liu Ruolan tossed some fish food into the lake, causing the fish to rush and scramble: "I wonder if she will have any regrets."

"It’s too late for regrets now."

Zhou Jingxing wrapped his arms around Liu Ruolan’s slender waist: "Let’s wait and see. She will have her share of suffering in the future."

Many shared Zhou Jingxing’s sentiment.

There were also sons from families that were not distinguished or had fallen from grace who regretted not seeking Princess Anning’s hand earlier.

They thought, if Princess Anning was willing to marry even a fool, then they certainly were better than a fool. If they had sought her, perhaps they could have become the Prince Consort.

Such a pity...