Chapter 158. Let her use it as practice...

The fire raged, the heat from the flames was intense, but Xiao Qiluo felt a completely different story.

She thought she heard something shattering beside her ear.

It was a very faint sound, as if it were her imagination.

Blood was still dripping from the dagger in her hand. Xiao Qiluo turned her head to look over. What had just happened had exhausted Qiu Yan, and now she was being supported by Xingzhi, completely powerless.

"Princess."

“Xingzhi, take Qiuyan with you, let’s go back.”

Xingzhi helped Qiuyan up and was about to leave when Zheng's wife, who was also the old woman serving the Cui family's matriarch, returned.

Seeing the raging fire before him, and then seeing Xiao Qiluo and Qiu Yan beside her.

The old woman looked at the burning courtyard again and was so frightened that she fell to the ground.

Xiao Qiluo looked at her, gripped the dagger tightly, and walked towards the old woman.

"No, don't kill me."

The old woman suddenly got up and ran away.

He ran while shouting, "Murder! The princess has gone mad! She's murdered someone!"

Xiao Qiluo did not chase after them, and tried her best to calm herself down.

She took two steps back and felt someone support her shoulders.

Are you alright? If you're not feeling well, don't force yourself.

"I will."

Looking at the dagger in her hand, Xiao Qiluo said, "I must personally take care of these people."

She wouldn't let any of those people get away with it.

Xiao Qiluo also noticed that something was amiss.

Previously, she would feel somewhat out of control whenever the topic of the prince consort came up.

She used to think that no matter what, the prince consort was innocent. Even if he was wrong, it was because someone had deceived him.

But was Prince Consort Cui Fang truly innocent?

Wasn't all of this the result of his tacit approval?

Or perhaps, from the very beginning, the ideal lover in my heart never existed.

Xiao Qiluo exchanged a few words with Qiu Yan, but she didn't react much. When Xiao Qiluo touched her, Qiu Yan would subconsciously try to avoid her.

From the moment she started speaking, Qiu Yan seemed to have lost all her spirits and couldn't muster any energy.

Looking at Qiu Yan's appearance, Xiao Qiluo murmured, "It's all my fault."

If she had discovered it sooner, this wouldn't have happened.

"Princess, the prince consort... don't trust him." Qiu Yan was trembling with fear, but she still gritted her teeth and said.

In the past, Xiao Qiluo didn't want to think badly of people; she felt that everyone around her was kind.

But ever since her mother returned, she has found that the people around her seem to be quite frightening.

The sounds that filled her ears were all about how great the prince consort was.

She was a princess, yet people were gossiping about her, saying she was useless and couldn't keep her husband's heart.

Even my former self used to agree with this statement.

Why did it turn out this way?

Seeing that Xiao Qiluo had come to her senses, Xiang Bei then spoke up.

【Qiluo, your mother hopes you can maintain this clear-headed state. From today onwards, your mother will hire a tutor for you. This tutor will teach you in your dreams how to be a proper princess, instead of the way you are now, where anyone can bully and humiliate you at will, and where you are a princess who only respects your husband.】

Xiao Qiluo looked at the long message and nodded.

Xiang Bei paused for a moment, then spoke again.

【Qiluo, you are your father's only child.】

Xiao Qiluo watched the words drift by, reading them one by one until they completely disappeared from her sight, leaving her with an indescribable sense of awe.

She understood the meaning behind her mother's words.

She is her father's only child, and she is entitled to inherit his throne.

Why can't Xiao Qiluo take that position?

She was clearly the one closest to the throne, so why did she hand it over to a member of the imperial family?

But not now, she knows, because her resolve is still not strong enough.

The thought of the prince consort Cui Fang still stirred a slight unease within her.

On the way back, Qiu Yan was sometimes clear-headed and sometimes confused.

When he is awake, he is very quiet and doesn't speak.

When she was confused, her whole body was trembling, and several times Xinzhi almost couldn't catch her.

Xiao Qiluo looked at Qiu Yan, then at the sky above.

This enormous princess's mansion, though she was clearly the master, made her feel suffocated by its oppressive atmosphere.

Those people acted like elders, lecturing her.

She was disciplined using the traditional virtues of obedience and submission to women.

Qiu Yan quickly became delirious again. Xiao Qiluo wanted to send someone to fetch the imperial physician, but found that there was no one in the entire princess's residence she could use.

There was only one person who knew that he had to take care of both her and Qiuyan.

Stepping into her own yard, that feeling of constraint returned.

Thinking of the imperial son-in-law Cui Fang, Xiao Qiluo clutched her chest, where she felt a dense, stinging pain.

She murmured, "The prince consort, the prince consort!"

【Qiluo, pull yourself together and move out of this courtyard as soon as possible.】

Xiao Qiluo gripped the dagger and forcefully stabbed it into her own arm.

"Princess!"

Realizing that she was about to be approached, Xiao Qiluo got up, clutching her wound, and retreated. The sensation only disappeared once she was out of the courtyard.

"Don't come any closer!"

"Princess!" Qiu Yan called out.

"Xingzhi, help me pack my things. We'll move somewhere else for now."

Xingzhi glanced at the princess's injured arm, then at the courtyard.

She noticed that the princess's expression was quite strange when she entered the courtyard.

"This servant will go right away."

Xiao Qiluo looked at her injured area, which had already healed. She knew that this was all thanks to her mother's help.

Looking up at the sky, Xiao Qiluo forced a smile. "Mother, am I a failure as a princess?"

【You did very well. Qiluo, some things weren't your fault. Just remember your current state of mind and try to maintain your thoughts in this moment. Qiluo, don't let yourself be affected.】

Looking at the words flashing by, Xiao Qiluo frowned. "What does Mother mean by that?"

Xiang Bei couldn't tell her that she was a character in a novel, and that her thoughts and life were controlled by the plot.

She was so deeply in love with her husband that she was willing to die for him. Even her father, the emperor, might pass the throne to him because of her love for him.

Xiang Bei sighed. If Xiao Qiluo chose that position, there might be even more difficulties in the future.

Her husband was also one of the obstacles.

Right now, Xiao Qiluo is still deeply in love with the prince consort because of the plot. I wonder if she will act as decisively towards him as she did with the others.

These difficulties all need to be overcome by Xiao Qiluo herself.

Xiang Bei interfered too much. After she leaves, the world's consciousness may still find loopholes to forcibly correct the plot. Only when she becomes stronger can she completely prevent the plot from being corrected.

Xiao Qiluo didn't speak, looking at her arm, where the stab wound had disappeared.

This is not a dream; it is all real.

As she watched, Xiao Qiluo couldn't help but laugh.

It's truly ridiculous that she can't even control her own heart.

"Mother, I will never compromise. I, Xiao Qiluo, am determined to have that position, and no one in front of me can stop me."

Xiang Bei remained silent for a while.

What if it were your father, the Emperor?

Father?

Xiao Qiluo stared at the floating words, her expression momentarily stunned.

Since she married Cui Fang, she has been arguing with her father almost every other day, and it's always because of Cui Fang. She hasn't seen her father in a long time.

Would Father... abandon me?

Before Xiao Qiluo could come up with a solution, the old woman beside Cui's mother walked over arrogantly and stood next to Xiao Qiluo. "Princess, the old lady requests your presence. Please come over."

The old woman gestured for them to enter, but her attitude was not particularly respectful.

Xingzhi came out carrying the packed things. Looking at the old woman, she frowned. Just as she was about to speak, Xiao Qiluo shook her head at her, "You stay here to take care of Qiuyan. I'll be right back."

If someone is offering themselves up to die, why not grant them their wish?

She really thinks she's the master of her own princess's palace.

The old woman glanced at Xiao Qiluo, but remained noncommittal about her promise to return soon. Judging from the old lady's angry expression, the princess was in for more than just a little hardship this time.

"But Princess, how can you go alone?" Although Xingzhi was a maid who used to empty chamber pots, she had heard about the old lady's methods of punishing the princess.

At that time, she didn't understand how the old lady could punish the princess by making her kneel down, since the princess was the emperor's daughter and a member of the royal family.

Isn't this extremely disrespectful?

The old woman who was in charge of them heard what she said, but she hit her hard several times with a stick, saying that if she kept talking nonsense, she would call the slave trader to sell her.

So what if she's a princess? Since she married the prince consort, she's his woman. The old lady is her rightful mother-in-law. What mother-in-law doesn't set rules for her daughter-in-law?

Xiao Qiluo clearly remembered what had happened before.

Her mother passed away long ago, so she had no mother and only her father, the emperor, by her side.

Knowing that the imperial son-in-law Cui Fang was raised by a widowed mother, she said that in the future, the imperial son-in-law would have more fatherly love, and she would have more motherly love.

As it turned out, the emperor did indeed extend his love to the house and its inhabitants, but what that old woman Cui said and did were completely different things.

At first, the old woman treated her with utmost respect, but at some point, she began to impose rules on her.

Yes, her father loved her very much.

After she has dealt with the matters of the princess's residence, she will go to see her father, the emperor.

If you want to see her, you can go see her now.

Seeing the emperor was far more important than seeing Old Lady Cui. Although the emperor didn't have much of a role in the original story, whenever he appeared, he was portrayed as someone who doted on his daughter.

The emperor shouldn't be controlled by the plot and not help his own daughter but help the scoundrel male lead, right?

With the emperor intervening, the male protagonist, despite his aura, might not necessarily die, but his family will definitely not escape; the yolks of the Cui family's eggs will be shaken to pieces.

Xiao Qiluo shook her head. "No, let's deal with things here first."

Given how much her father doted on her, if she were to complain to him, none of these people would escape punishment. Since she wanted that position, she couldn't continue living under her father's wing.

Let her use these scoundrels from the princess's residence as practice.

Xiang Bei didn't say anything more. She looked at the original plot again, then clenched her left fist and punched her left palm.

"By the way, Tong, Cui Fang's mother lives in the main courtyard of the princess's residence, right? This courtyard should be where the princess lives."

As the owner of the mansion, Xiao Qiluo was forced to live in the secondary courtyard by Old Lady Cui and her son, so of course she wanted to take back what belonged to her.

What they need to do is simply to destroy this damn plot.

Cui's mother's courtyard will also affect Xiao Qiluo, but as long as the courtyard is taken back and the original plot is changed, other places will also be changed.

【Qiluo, make that old man move out. You move to the main courtyard and, starting from the Princess's residence, take back everything that belongs to you.】

Xiao Qiluo nodded at the words in mid-air.

That's right, that was originally her yard.

As she stepped into the main courtyard, those unpleasant memories flooded her mind, causing Xiao Qiluo to feel a sense of fear.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xiao Qiluo stepped inside. If even an old woman could frighten her, how could she dare to propose to her father that she wanted to ascend to the supreme position?

Since that is an obstacle, then let's remove that obstacle.

Here, take this.

Xiang Bei tossed a powerful pill to Xiao Qiluo, who swallowed it immediately.

"Princess, let's go quickly, don't keep the old lady waiting."

Seeing that Xiao Qiluo had slowed down, the old woman urged her impatiently.

No sooner had she finished speaking than the old woman was slapped across the face.

"It's not right for her to wait for me. If I remember correctly, she should be the one to come and pay her respects to me, shouldn't she?"

Granny Wen covered her cheeks as she looked at Xiao Qiluo, realizing that what those people said was indeed true. The princess had been driven mad by her husband keeping someone outside the palace. She couldn't bear to blame her husband, so she could only vent her anger on the people in the mansion.

The princess also killed Steward Zheng and his son and daughter-in-law, who were the old lady's cousins. The old lady had cried bitterly when she heard about it.

And then there's A Luo, who's always been the best at pleasing the old lady. Originally, I wanted to find a suitable opportunity for the princess to mention to the prince consort that A Luo could become a concubine.

Now she's been beaten to a pulp and can't even speak clearly. After a while, all that can be understood is that the princess beat her up like that.

There was also the old woman in the backyard. The princess insisted on having a maid who emptied the chamber pot. The old woman kindly tried to persuade her, but the princess slapped her so hard that half of her face swelled up.

The old lady didn't believe that the princess had beaten the person so badly, but they spoke with such conviction that they even swore an oath to heaven.

It was Granny Wen who remembered that there seemed to be some secret guards around the princess, and it was probably those guards who did the beating.

The imperial guards are all men, how could they stay by the princess's side? The prince consort clearly forbade the princess from using imperial guards, but the princess still secretly kept them.

Thinking this, Granny Wen's gaze towards Xiao Qiluo also became scrutinizing.

Xiao Qiluo stopped in her tracks. Xiang Bei saw that she really couldn't make a fierce expression, so she had to let her adopt the posture of a princess, at least to look more imposing.

"Granny Wen, are you cursing me in your heart?" Xiao Qiluo asked Granny Wen.

"How dare this old servant scold the princess?" Granny Wen was startled, but she was still panicked. The princess couldn't possibly hear her thoughts.

Xiao Qiluo approached Granny Wen, "No, you're just cursing me in your heart."

"Princess, this old servant has no. The old lady must be getting impatient. Let's go quickly."

Xiao Qiluo slapped her again, and Granny Wen felt her head buzzing and half of her face go numb.

"I'll teach that old codger a lesson. How dare she be so arrogant in my own residence? Should I invite her to the palace to sit on my father's dragon throne?"

Upon hearing Xiao Qiluo's words, Granny Wen was so frightened that she immediately knelt down. Sitting on the dragon throne was tantamount to treason.

No matter how arrogant she was, she wouldn't dare say such things out loud. Mainly, she was terrified by those two slaps. She was actually quite strong, but she hadn't expected that such a delicate person as the princess could beat her so badly that she was powerless to fight back.

"This old servant dares not."

"I wouldn't dare. Weren't you quite bold when you used to lecture me?"

Xiao Qiluo took out a dagger and rubbed it against Granny Wen's neck. The dagger cut the skin, and blood flowed down her neck.

Granny Wen's legs were trembling, and she couldn't utter a single word.

"I'm going to settle accounts with that old woman anyway, so why don't we start with you?"