"By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees..."

I have heard that the second young lady of the Prime Minister's mansion, Han Ruyi, is outstanding in appearance, gentle and generous. I am delighted to hear this. Prince Longxuan is brave and mighty, a dragon among men. The two are a match made in heaven. To help others achieve their happiness, I hereby betroth the second young lady of the Han family to Prince Longxuan as his secondary wife.

So be it!

After Eunuch Yu finished reading the imperial edict, the crowd erupted in uproar.

"No way! Prince Longxuan just married our eldest daughter, how come he's going to marry our second daughter now? Isn't this a slap in the face to our eldest daughter?"

"It must be because Prince Longxuan doesn't like our eldest young lady, which is why he asked the Emperor to marry our second young lady!"

"That's true. Who would marry a fickle woman? Chu Yunmo is one thing, but she also has a child to support. And then Zhu Yi comes along."

"But the Second Miss has also lost her virginity! I heard that she was so embarrassed in the palace recently. Everyone saw our Second Miss doing *that* with two men in the fire... It was only after Commander Shen of the Imperial Guards personally separated them! How could Prince Longxuan possibly take a liking to the Second Miss?"

"It's probably because the Second Miss's maternal family is powerful! After all, the First Miss is just the daughter of a merchant, and she can't help Prince Longxuan, so he naturally has to find another strong backer."

...

Upon hearing this, "Blood Purple Rose" clenched her hands, but she quickly calmed down.

"He's just a jerk. They're going to divorce anyway, so let him marry whoever he wants!"

Even so, "Blood Purple Rose" still felt a tightness in her chest.

“You’re talking nonsense. Father is not that kind of person. This imperial edict was definitely not obtained by Father. Perhaps the edict is fake, and you people are forging it.”

The young prince, Li Jingchen, was the first to speak up.

"What kind of child is this, daring to question the authenticity of the imperial edict?"

Eunuch Yu raised an eyebrow. Since he hadn't seen Li Jingchen's face clearly, and even if he had, he might not have recognized him, he shouted in a shrill voice.

"Please don't be offended, Eunuch Yu. He is an illegitimate child born to my servant. He offended you, please don't take it to heart. I will deal with him in a moment."

Prime Minister Han Bingmo hurriedly spoke, but Eunuch Yu snorted coldly.

"In that case, Miss, please accept the decree!"

When Han Ruyi was called by name, she snapped out of her daze. She had thought that her innocence had been ruined and she would never be able to marry into a good family again. Unexpectedly, the Prince of Longxuan was willing to take her as a concubine. After entering the Prince of Longxuan’s mansion, she would kill that bitch “Han Ziwei” and become the mistress of the Prince of Longxuan’s mansion.

Such a joyous occasion had fallen from the sky; Han Ruyi hurriedly crawled forward a couple of steps.

"This humble woman will receive..."

Before the word "decree" could be finished, a little dumpling pushed him aside and snatched the imperial edict from Eunuch Yu's hand with lightning speed.

“My father would never marry a wicked woman like you; he already has a mother.”

The little guy tried to tear the imperial edict a few times, but found he wasn't strong enough. So he put it in his mouth and, with his teeth, everyone heard a "sizzle" sound.

"You damned little slut, how dare you tear up the imperial edict! You've gone too far!"

Upon seeing this, Han Ru rushed forward like a madwoman, trying to strangle Li Jingchen, but "Blood Purple Rose" grabbed her wrist and slapped her across the face.

"Do you even know who he is? How dare you hit him? Have you lost your mind?"

"Eunuch Yu, you must stand up for me! I'm destined to be the Dragon Prince's woman, and Han Ziwei actually hit me for a bastard? Waaah... Where do I put my face now? Waaah..."

Han Ruyi covered her aching face and began to cry to her father-in-law, Yu.

"Oh dear, Second Miss, what can I say about you? You have absolutely no sense of propriety."

The Emperor said he wanted you to be the concubine of Prince Longxuan, but the Princess Consort was the first to enter the family. Why can't you show her some respect?

Wouldn't it be better to keep a low profile and live in peace? Why insist on a fight to the death?

Just because you addressed the princess by her given name, even if she beats you to death, no one can say anything. You should be smarter; don't you know your own worth?

Eunuch Yu's words truly showed no mercy to Han Ruyi, whose face turned pale and then red.

Upon hearing Eunuch Yu's sarcastic remarks, Mu Xue'er's phoenix eyes flashed with murderous intent. How could she allow a mere servant to humiliate the dignified daughter of Princess Huaiyin?

"Princess, please calm down, let this old servant say something..."

Seeing that Second Madam Mu Xue'er was about to get angry, Zhang Mama quickly pulled her back, then whispered something to her. Mu Xue'er took a deep breath.

"Yes, Ruyi is no longer a virgin. Her original wish to marry into the royal family is still impossible."

Now that the Emperor has bestowed her upon Prince Longxuan, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As long as Ruyi can secure her position as Princess Consort, she can deal with these servants later.

After weighing the pros and cons, Mu Xue'er suppressed her anger, pulled a gold hairpin from her hair, and stuffed it into her father-in-law's hand.

"Eunuch Yu is right. I will tell Ruyi later that after she enters the Longxuan Prince's mansion, she will serve the Longxuan Prince carefully together with Ziwei and will never cause him any trouble."

"That's more like it! Princess Huaiyin really knows how to handle things. I'll return to the palace to report now."

Holding the gold hairpin given to him by Mu Xue'er, Eunuch Yu was about to turn around when, as if remembering something, he pointed to the boxes.

"These are all betrothal gifts from Prince Longxuan. Keep them safe and remember to bring them to Prince Longxuan's residence on the wedding day. Do not keep them for yourselves."

"Pfft."

"Blood Purple Rose" couldn't help but laugh out loud. This little eunuch was quite interesting. No wonder he was trained by Eunuch Zhou. His words were full of sarcasm. Watching Mu Xue'er's face turn from green to white, "Blood Purple Rose" felt much better.

With the young lady starting, even the servants couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"It seems that the Second Miss is not so favored by Prince Longxuan, otherwise how could a eunuch dare to bully her?"

"Mother, look..."

Unable to get anywhere with her father-in-law, Han Ruyi turned around and rushed to her mother, Mu Xue'er, feeling wronged. Mu Xue'er patted her hand, signaling her to calm down.

Upon hearing that nothing in the box could be missing, Li Jingchen's eyes darted around. Taking advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention, he darted to the box, broke the seal, and then everyone heard...

"Bang, bang, bang..."

The sound of "splashing, splashing..." was accompanied by a burst of silvery laughter.

"Giggle..."

"Want to marry into the Longxuan Prince's Mansion? No way! You can't have less, can you? I'll make sure there's less."

"Master, look! That child has scattered all of the second young lady's betrothal gifts..."

A servant exclaimed in surprise.

"Hurry up and grab it! Whoever grabs it first keeps it. If you don't grab it, you're a fool. If anything goes wrong, I'll cover for you."

Whoever doesn't grab it is a bastard...hehe..."

The young prince laughed again, his words carrying a double meaning. He had insulted people, yet no one dared not scramble for the food. Moreover, someone was there to back them up; not grabbing it would make them fools. The servants swarmed forward.

"Don't take it, that's my betrothal gift."

Han Ruyi rushed forward to protect the box, but was pushed away by the servants.

"Anyone who tries to steal it again will be beaten to death."

Mu Xue'er has lost her former elegance, but now everyone is scrambling for it, so who's afraid of being beaten to death? Money makes the world go round, if you don't fight for it, you'll really be a coward.

"Mother, this is yours."

The young prince, covered in sweat, stuffed a pocketful of silver into "Blood Purple Rose's" arms.

"Look at you, you're all sweaty."

"Blood Purple Rose" wiped the sweat from his forehead with a pained expression, swearing that she had forgiven him. Although he had fabricated a story about Zhu Yi, which had made her feel embarrassed, he had finally seen the error of his ways and helped her teach Han Ruyi a lesson.

"Eunuch Yu, please have Commander Shen take down these unruly servants! I beg you."

Prime Minister Han Bingmo was so angry he was about to vomit blood. What kind of karma had he created to have such a rebellious daughter who was causing him trouble at every turn?

"Your Highness, look at this, I'm afraid it's not a good idea! What about the Emperor..."

Looking at the chaotic crowd, Eunuch Yu also wore a bitter expression.

"Although the Emperor instructed that the Princess should be treated with respect, he did not say that he wanted to ruin the marriage between Han Ruyi and Prince Longxuan!"

"The young master just said that if anything goes wrong, he'll cover for him. What is Eunuch Yu afraid of?"

Watching Han Ruyi being pushed around in a disheveled state by the crowd, and the Second Madam, whose hair was now in disarray, the two of them being pushed around like beggars in the crowd, "Xue Ziwei" stroked the young prince Li Jingchen's hair in a good mood and casually curled the corners of her mouth.

"Your Highness?"

Eunuch Yu looked Li Jingchen up and down, and then suddenly realized what was going on.

"Could he be the prince's adopted son...?"

Before the word "zi" could be uttered, a loud voice rang out from outside the mansion gate.

"King Longxuan has arrived."