Chapter 110: Desperate Situation: She wanted to turn things around, but it would be harder than climbing to the sky. ...

After saying this, Madam Zhai didn't even want to look at Cui Linghui, and left holding the arm of her maid Daimao.

Seeing Cui Linghui's pale face, Qi's eyes revealed a hint of mockery and ridicule. She ordered Yulan, "Why don't you help the young lady back to Yingyue Courtyard? When the palace maid arrives, learn the rules from her. Otherwise, if you can't even be a concubine after entering the palace, you'll be ridiculed."

Qi felt a deep sense of relief as she spoke these words. Ever since she married into the Ningshou Marquis's mansion, she had always treated her stepdaughter, Cui Linghui, with utmost respect. Cui Linghui, in turn, looked down on her humble origins. Even though she appeared respectful to her stepmother, she could clearly see the contempt and disdain in her eyes. So, for all these years, despite feigning kindness and virtuousness, she hadn't been without aggrieved and irritated. Furthermore, Cui Linghui had dared to act so recklessly at the birthday banquet for the wife of the Duke of Cheng'en. If this caused Yan to incur Lu Bingzhi's wrath and disgust, she, as a mother, and Bo'er, as her brother, would be left with little support.

Now that she saw Cui Linghui reaping the fruits of her own labor and only becoming the second prince's concubine, she felt relieved and at the same time relieved. She was afraid that her stepdaughter would really become the second prince's concubine, and if she had a good future in the future, she would never let her stepmother go, and she would be in trouble.

When Yulan heard the eldest lady's instructions and noticed the contemptuous or mocking looks coming from all around, her heart sank. She stepped forward and struggled to help Cui Linghui up, and sent him back to Yingyue Courtyard.

As soon as he returned to the house, Cui Linghui smashed all the teacups and decorations in the house, and the house soon became a mess.

Yulan was also frightened by her own daughter, but she could only step forward and whisper soothingly, "Young lady, be at ease. It wouldn't be worth it if you got yourself hurt by your anger. Besides, now that things have come to this, if word of your anger gets to the palace and reaches the Empress Dowager, she might think you're holding a grudge against her, and your situation would become even worse."

Cui Linghui's face turned pale and tears couldn't help but fall. At this moment, she felt regretful and confused.

It was obvious that God had blessed her by letting her be reborn, but she didn't know why she risked her reputation to break off her engagement with Lu Bingzhi, but now she ended up in such a situation.

Being a lowly concubine for Xiao Ze could never compare to being the wife of the Crown Prince in name only in the Duke of Weiguo's mansion.

After all, she was Lu Bingzhi's nominal wife in her previous life. Although she and Lu Bingzhi had a bad relationship and the news that they had never consummated their marriage spread to the outside world, the female relatives and noble ladies would also hide some ridicule and sympathy in their eyes. But no matter what, with the identity of the prince's wife, no one dared to look down on her. No matter what they thought in their hearts, they were polite to her on the surface.

If she hadn't harbored resentment towards Lu Bingzhi for being so heartless and cold-hearted, that life would actually be quite good. At least compared to being Xiao Ze's concubine, it was a world of difference.

So, after being reborn, she went through so much trouble and tried desperately to change her fate in her previous life, but in the end, she ended up in such an embarrassing situation, even worse than in her previous life.

Cui Linghui was unwilling to accept this and felt very aggrieved. She felt that she had worked so hard, so how could she end up in such a situation.

Her face turned even paler, and the resentment in her eyes frightened Yulan so much that she didn't dare to say a word to persuade her.

Just as the two were thinking about it, someone came from the old lady's side and said that the eldest girl would enter the palace in ten days. According to the rules, she could bring a servant with her. Since Yulan was someone the eldest girl needed, there was no need to choose anyone else and she could just go with her into the palace.

If the maid from the palace comes, ask Yulan to learn from her too, not to break the rules in front of the nobles and bring trouble to the eldest lady who is the master.

As for Nanny Xie, who had served Cui Linghui since she was a child, now that she was old, she was given another job on the farm and did not have to follow Cui Linghui into the palace.

Although Yulan had expected this, she felt a little uneasy when she heard that it was her who would follow her daughter into the palace.

But she didn't dare show any reluctance at this moment, for fear of arousing the girl's suspicion and causing her to resent her.

Yulan nodded in agreement and accepted the reward from the old lady brought to her by Daimao. She personally sent Daimao out. When she returned to the room, she saw Cui Linghui had already gone into the inner room and lay down. Knowing that she was in a bad mood, she did not dare to disturb her. She tiptoed back and returned to her own room.

Zhenguogong Mansion

Old Lady Dong also heard the empress dowager's decree and knew that Cui Linghui would enter the palace to be Xiao Ze's concubine in ten days. Her face turned red and white. She wanted to defend Cui Linghui, her granddaughter whom she had loved since childhood, but when she thought of all the things Cui Linghui had done before and after, she couldn't utter a word of defense. After a long time, she sighed heavily.

"What a sin! Hui girl is the daughter of the Marquis's family, but she only got the status of a concubine. Now that Concubine Shu has been demoted to Concubine Shu, I don't know how she will hold a grudge against Hui girl and think of how to torture her. When I go to the underworld, how will I explain to Yao'er that it was me, her grandmother, who failed to teach Hui girl well, causing her to do these ridiculous things and end up in this situation."

Mrs. Xue was also in the room at the time. Hearing her mother-in-law's distress, she also forced a bit of worry on her face, but she said, "How can you, as the grandmother, blame her? After all, Hui's surname is Cui. If she wasn't well raised, it's the Cui family's fault."

Xue didn't dare to say anything too harsh, so she naturally tried to defend Cui Linghui. She added with a touch of regret, "It's not entirely Hui's fault that she's come to this. If Prince Lu hadn't been poisoned, why would Hui be so uneasy and thinking of breaking off the engagement? If the engagement hadn't been broken off, Hui would be the wife of the Duke of Wei's prince, not Cui Lingyan. It's just fate; God wasn't on Hui's side."

"Perhaps it is Hui girl's destiny to have this calamity, and there is no way to avoid it."

Mrs. Xue wanted to comfort her, but seeing her granddaughter in such a situation, it would take Mrs. Dong a while to recover.

Madam Dong seemed to have aged several years in an instant. She waved her hand at Madam Xue and said, "Alright, go and do your thing. I'll take some time off. Nanny Pan will be here to serve me."

After hearing her mother-in-law's instructions, Xue nodded, bowed, and stepped back.

After leaving the house, Xue went directly to Lanxiayuan where her daughter lived.

There was no worry or uneasiness in her eyes as when she was with the old lady. Instead, she looked a little cheerful and happy.

She told her daughter Mu Zhen the news that Concubine Shu was demoted to Concubine Shu and that Cui Linghui would enter the palace to be Xiao Ze's concubine ten days later.

As if she didn't see the shock on her daughter's face, she smiled and took a sip of tea, saying cheerfully, "It was Hui girl herself who was shameless and willing to do such a lowly thing that ended up like this. Zhen'er, you don't have to feel wronged for her. Just pretend that you don't have such a cousin. Although your grandmother will feel sad about this, I can only breathe a sigh of relief now that Hui girl has entered the palace. Otherwise, given your grandmother's love for Hui girl, if she really set her sights on your brother and asked her to be my daughter-in-law, I would be disgusted to death."

"She was so arrogant and wanted to climb up the social ladder, and our Zhenguo Mansion couldn't suppress her. Now we finally don't have to worry about her anymore."

Mu Zhen also knew what her mother was thinking. She recalled how Cui Linghui had used her as an excuse to leave the banquet that day, and how she had had no choice but to cover it up. Now, hearing that her cousin had schemed so hard, even at the cost of her own reputation, only to be Xiao Ze's concubine, she couldn't explain how she felt.

After a long moment, she sighed softly and said, "My cousin is so ungrateful. If she hadn't made a fuss about breaking off the engagement, and Lu Bingzhi is now well, who among the noble ladies in the capital wouldn't envy her?"

"This time, because Lu Bingzhi was humiliated, the Emperor demoted Noble Consort Shu to Consort Shu. This shows how much he values ​​his nephew, Lu Bingzhi. My cousin made one mistake after another, giving the position of Crown Prince's Wife to her stepsister, Cui Lingyan."

"If Cui Lingyan were to follow the Crown Prince into the palace to pay her respects to the Queen Mother, and run into my cousin there, with their statuses so different, I wonder how much regret and jealousy she would feel."

Xue heard the sigh in her daughter's tone, and with a hint of disdain and sarcasm in her eyes, she said, "That's what she deserves. She's been spoiled by your grandmother and her father. She thinks she's the most favored of the girls in the Ningshou Marquis's Mansion, so she's unruly. Even if the prince was poisoned, she shouldn't be so picky. Even if she was picky and didn't want the marriage, she should have said it openly. Given the prince's temperament, he probably wouldn't make things difficult for her. But look at what she did? She went to great lengths to cancel the engagement, causing Lu Bingzhi to lose face and be ridiculed and talked about. If it were an ordinary person, they would have felt guilty and felt sorry for Lu Bingzhi. But she didn't know how to feel guilty, and she wanted to climb up to Xiao Ze's high branch, thinking that she could surpass her stepsister Cui Lingyan in status. How could an ordinary girl do this?"

"Man proposes, God disposes. She only has the status of a concubine, and it's likely she won't be able to change her status in the future. Unless Xiao Ze is the one who finally sits on that throne. But even if that day comes, given Xiao Ze's personality, he will probably get tired of her. When he reaches that position, there are so many beauties he won't want, so how could he remember a concubine like her?"

"So, if she wants to turn things around, it will probably be harder than climbing to the sky."

Not to mention, Cui Linghui had caught a cold after falling into the water. If she couldn't get pregnant, how could she have a good future in the palace?

She had reached a desperate situation on her own and blocked all her own ways out, so she couldn't blame anyone else at all.

Xue didn't say anything, but Mu Zhen also thought of this, and felt very sad. She felt that in just a few months, her always arrogant cousin had ended up entering the palace as a concubine. Half a year ago, she never dared to imagine that such a thing would happen.

......

The two decrees caused a huge stir in the capital, and Cui Linghui and the second prince Xiao Ze became the topic of conversation among others.

In addition to Cui Lingyan and Lu Bingzhi, Zheng Suining, the eldest daughter of the Kangshou Marquis Mansion, was also mentioned.

When Cui Lingyan heard these rumors, she just treated them as fun and did not take them to heart.

More than ten days passed in a blink of an eye. On the third day after Cui Linghui entered the palace and became Xiao Ze's concubine, Cui Lingyan received the news that her grandmother had come to the capital.