evening

A cold wind blew, and silence fell outside. Everyone held their breath, no longer in the mood to curse, and focused their attention outward, on the door.

After waiting for a long time, no one came.

Finally, someone broke the silence: "I've heard that some people can die of anger in a fit of rage."

The old lady's eyes twitched slightly.

A glint of light flashed in the eyes of the Duke of Jingguo.

But only for a moment did the two fall silent again, both seeing the other's fear.

If Princess Jia Hua were truly enraged to death, everyone present today would undoubtedly perish.

"Amitabha Buddha, the princess will surely be safe and sound." The Grand Madam clasped her hands together, her voice trembling as she prayed for Princess Jia Hua.

The night was so long.

The next day at dawn, Lady Tao came in person, withdrew the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and also brought an imperial edict.

"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: effective immediately, Song Kaifeng, Duke of Jingguo, is stripped of his title and Song Hengchuan is demoted to a useless person. So be it!"

The Duke of Jingguo, now known as Song Kaifeng, suddenly turned pale. He stumbled to his feet, leaning on a chair for support, and walked toward the eunuch who was delivering the imperial decree: "Does His Majesty have nothing else to say?"

The imperial eunuch, who was delivering the imperial decree, did not bother to respond. He stuffed the decree into Song Kaifeng's arms and then left.

Song Kaifeng was left looking embarrassed.

“Brother, the princess woke up yesterday. For the sake of the two children, she spared your life.” Tao sighed earnestly.

The old lady's heart suddenly relaxed: "You mean the princess has woken up?"

Tao nodded: "The princess has decreed that Fan Lianyi be granted the title of concubine and shall not leave the Duke of Jingguo's mansion without imperial decree. Furthermore, Young Master Mao shall move out of Tingyuxuan immediately."

After Madam Tao finished speaking, the Dowager Lady asked incredulously, "Does the Princess have any other instructions?"

"It's gone."

The old lady was very surprised.

The princess just let everyone go so easily?

After a night of worry and fear, Madam Fan quickly said, "Eldest sister, our Fan family will not disturb you any longer. We will move out of the Duke of Jingguo's mansion today."

She was afraid she would be scared to death if she stayed any longer.

The old lady was no longer able to control Madam Fan and was eager for them to leave so as not to cause trouble. Without saying a word, she asked Tao to help the Fan family leave.

Before leaving, Old Madam Fan said to Fan Lianyi, "From today onwards, you are not allowed to call yourself a girl of the Fan family. The Fan family has no place for a disgraceful girl like you!"

Fan Lianyi trembled: "Mother..."

Madam Fan left without looking back.

The Duke of Jingguo's mansion returned to peace for the time being. Even when Song Yao left the mansion, no one asked her a question. Song Yao left dejectedly.

Exhausted from a night's sleep, Song Mao returned to Tingyu Pavilion. The servants were already moving things in. Shen Ruyun was standing in the corridor. He walked towards her and said affectionately, "Ruyun, you are all I have now."

Shen Ruyun subtly avoided contact with Song Mao. She regretted marrying him more than once, yet was also incredibly grateful that she hadn't chosen the wrong side.

Otherwise, she would have been implicated today as well.

“Your mother is magnanimous and doesn’t hold your mistakes against you; you should repent.”

"Mother?" Song Mao said unhappily, "She's always been so arrogant. How could she possibly care about us? She clearly knew all along that I wasn't Song Hengchuan, yet she watched you marry into this family. Ruyun, she's vicious. Don't be fooled."

Shen Ruyun never expected that even at this point, Song Mao would still not repent!

“Ruyun, let’s visit your father-in-law another day. Can you put in a good word for me? Or maybe we can get him a job in a remote area. Don’t worry, I’ll treat you well,” Song Mao said.

There was no place for him in Kyoto anymore; he had to leave.

Shen Ruyun did not reply.

Song Mao took it as a yes.

…

Fan Lianyi's luggage was moved to a side courtyard of the Rose Garden, accompanied by two nannies. She sat in the room, silently shedding tears.

The old woman at the door glanced at him and said, "You heartless bastard! You used your own son to usurp the status of the legitimate son, and you still pretend to be innocent. Bah!"

"Despicable!"

"Shameless!"

The insults coming from the doorway grew increasingly vile. Fan Lianyi's face flushed red, her handkerchief clenched tightly in her hand, and her heart pounded.

"I thought she was some kind of con artist. On her very first day, she dressed up as a maid and offered herself up to us. There's no one in the world more shameless than her."

Fan Lianyi was like a plague god, hated by everyone.

No one dared to approach even a step closer.

The news that Song Kaifeng and Fan Lianyi had switched their legitimate eldest son with an illegitimate child spread instantly, and everyone in the streets and alleys was cursing them.

"Song Kaifeng is too heartless. He torments his two children like this. He deserves to be struck by lightning!"

"What a tragedy."

"Who would dare to marry the eldest daughter of the Fan family in the future?"

The Fan family also suffered as a result; rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs were thrown at the entrance of their newly purchased mansion, and they were pointed at and cursed.

The Fan family members hid inside the house, not daring to show themselves.

Kyoto City was cursing for several days

Finally, news came that Princess Jiahua's eldest son, who had been abandoned in a mass grave, had survived by being rescued by Princess Shen.

The Emperor issued an edict summoning Prince Shen and his family to the capital.

Because of her act of saving someone, Princess Consort Shen was rewarded by the Emperor and became Princess Consort Shen. Prince Shen also benefited and became Prince Shen.

On the day Prince Shen entered the capital, Princess Jiahua got up early to dress up, her emotions running high. She sent someone to wait for news at the gate.

Finally, the guard rushed in to report.

"Princess, the carriages from Prince Shen's residence have already entered the city."

As soon as she finished speaking, Princess Jiahua could no longer hold back. She grabbed Song Yue and hurried toward the door, as if the two of them wished they could sprout wings.

The carriage from Prince Shen's residence was supposed to enter the palace to express gratitude, but Prince Shen deliberately took a detour and stopped briefly at the residence of Duke Jing.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!