Chapter 164 The more this was the case, the more...

Xingzhi looked at Cui's mother and said, "Old lady, your son hasn't asked you a single question. He's so eager to marry a woman from outside the family. Why don't you go and persuade him? Living in the princess's residence and wanting to marry a concubine to be on equal footing with the princess, isn't His Majesty being too generous to him? Don't forget, the prince consort's current status was also given to him by His Majesty."

Hearing that her son was so preoccupied with other women that he hadn't even noticed he'd been kicked out of the main courtyard by the princess, Cui's mother grew increasingly angry, eventually fainting from the stress.

"Splash her awake," Xiao Qiluo ordered.

She couldn't be bothered to watch any longer. Her mother could find pleasure in punishing her, but looking at these people only made her feel annoyed.

Just as she was about to leave, Cui Hao suddenly pounced on her, opened his mouth and bit off the other ear of his mother, who had just been woken up by the splashing. He looked at his mother with venomous eyes and spat out what was in his mouth.

"You only ever favor your older brother. You always praise everything he does. If he hadn't been so ungrateful and kept a mistress, we wouldn't be in this state. And now you're still siding with him. Don't you see what I've become because of him?"

Xiao Qiluo was too lazy to listen any further. Without her orders, no one would stop the mother and her two children from killing each other; as long as they didn't die, that was enough.

Even now, these people still haven't realized their mistakes.

Perhaps they will never feel that what they did was wrong, and will only resent others for not being outmaneuvered by them until their death.

Xiao Qiluo had no intention of correcting their behavior.

The gatekeeper came over and reported, "Princess, a young maid has arrived at the gate. She says she was sent by the Prince Consort to deliver a message."

Xiao Qiluo touched her wrist, her head lowered, her emotions unreadable for a moment. After a long while, she finally spoke, "Bring her in and let's hear what Cui Fang wants her to convey."

The maid followed her in, looking at the splendor of the princess's residence with envy.

Upon seeing the three people in the courtyard, she curled her lip and complained to the person in front, "How come your princess's residence still has such undignified servants? In our young lady's household, the young master would have sent such people away long ago."

The person leading the way gave her a strange look before speaking, "Those are your son-in-law's biological mother and younger siblings. They are the ones your daughter should bow to when she sees them. Why do you look so proud? Does your son-in-law know that you treat his relatives like servants?"

The maid looked over in shock again, then quickly turned her head away, pretending that she hadn't said anything.

When the maid saw the princess, her eyebrows and eyes were arrogant.

So what if she's a princess? She's still not favored by her husband. Now, her daughter is the husband's favorite and his savior. The affection between the two is extraordinary.

Once her daughter enters the family, she will be the rightful wife of the prince consort.

Xiao Qiluo had no idea what foolish things the maid was thinking; she was reading a book.

This book is extremely interesting. It was a gift from her mother. It contains many strange and unusual things, and she believes that if these things were realized, the lives of ordinary people could be guaranteed.

She was fascinated by the various crop cultivation methods and how to promote and implement them, the fact that both men and women could participate in scientific expeditions, and even the fact that women and men could sit in the classroom together to listen to lectures.

My mother said she had been to a very strange world where there were many magical things.

For example, the vehicle she's looking at now has two wheelchairs; as long as you step on the pedals, the vehicle can move.

She was incredibly excited by everything she saw. If they could make them and use them properly, they would be of immense help to their dynasty.

She couldn't even imagine what that place was like, since everyone, regardless of age or gender, could read and write.

"Princess, Princess," Xingzhi called softly.

Xiao Qiluo looked up, her eyes still showing the excitement of seeing something new.

"What's wrong?" When she looked up, she saw that Xingzhi's face looked very bad.

Then she looked at the unfamiliar maid standing there.

She seemed to have said something, but Xiao Qiluo was too engrossed in her book to listen.

"Xingzhi, what did she just say?"

She was so engrossed in watching that she didn't hear a word the maid was saying. Seeing that the maid's face looked rather unpleasant, she wondered why she was angry for no reason.

Xingzhi, her face grim, said, "It was the Prince Consort who said that in a few days, that woman from outside will enter the household, and that the family should use bright red silk for the wedding. Even a concubine is still a wife, and we shouldn't mistreat that woman. He also said... said..."

"It's alright, just say it." Xiao Qiluo reluctantly put down the book in her hand.

"She also said that the prince consort personally told you to use your dowry to give face to her master, and then give half to that woman later. After all, she is the prince consort's savior, and therefore the princess's savior as well. That woman's courtyard should also be carefully decorated, and she should not be wronged." Qiu Yan appeared at some point and continued speaking for Xingzhi.

Xingzhi, looking displeased, handed over a piece of paper. "This is the dowry list written by the prince consort. He wants the princess to take things out of the dowry to decorate the courtyard for that woman."

Xiao Qiluo glanced at the book on the table, then looked at the maid who was looking down on her, and continued to flip through the books on the table.

After a while, he remembered that there were still people waiting in the room, and casually said, "Granny Huang, this is insubordination. Deal with it as appropriate and drag her away."

She somewhat regretted calling the person in; she hadn't expected the book to be so captivating, and it had given Xiao Qiluo so many ideas.

And then I have to find time to deal with Cui Fang's hysteria, it's so annoying.

Once the Empress Dowager comes up with a way to show Cui Fang that he is no longer in pain, she will be the first to deal with him.

The book was so fascinating, with its descriptions of soap making and ice making with saltpeter; she couldn't wait to try making them herself.

Granny Huang and Granny Yan dragged the person away and tied them up tightly.

The maidservant even shouted, "You old hags, do you know who I am? When my young lady becomes the wife of the prince consort and takes control of the household, she will definitely sell all of you unruly servants."

Granny Huang and Granny Yan glanced at each other and suddenly burst out laughing.

Granny Yan raised her hand and slapped him across the face. "What kind of thing is 'wife of the imperial consort'? What kind of stupid pig brain could come up with such a ridiculous title? Without a princess, that Cui fellow wouldn't even be a consort, so where would this 'wife of the imperial consort' come from?"

After two slaps, the maid's cheeks swelled up so much that she couldn't speak.

But he kept muttering that he wanted to go back and complain to Cui Fang.

After being beaten dozens of times, the person was still alive, so Xiao Qiluo immediately ordered her maid to be thrown back into Plum Blossom Lane.

It made quite a commotion; everyone around saw it.

Xiao Qiluo was drawing the bicycle and its breakdown diagrams. She would ask Master Jiu how to manufacture such a bicycle when she attended classes in her dreams.

“Princess, the Prince Consort has arrived and is requesting an audience outside the residence,” Xingzhi said.

"I won't see him. Tell him to get lost." Xiao Qiluo said without looking up from the drawing of the bicycle.

She couldn't be bothered with Cui Fang right now, and besides, she couldn't see him anyway, lest she do something irrational if she saw him.

She was still more interested in Master Jiu's classes.

Looking at the soap she had made herself, Xiao Qiluo tried it and found it quite good.

What interests her most are methods to increase grain production.

And that sow breeding technique.

The Empress Dowager said that in the world she had seen, people ate until they were full and ate meat until they vomited, and the country was still researching the most advanced weapons to prevent foreign invasion.

If she could make these things, she couldn't even imagine how rich her country would be.

For an emperor, being able to ensure the people live in peace and prosperity and to make his country strong is something that can make him famous for all time.

Cui Fang, savior—none of that mattered to Xiao Qiluo.

Xiang Bei switched to a different frequency to check the situation at the door.

Cui Fang was stopped outside and shouted as he tried to force his way in, but the gatekeeper held him back and wouldn't let him in.

His aura could only affect Xiao Qiluo directly, but not the gatekeepers.

They followed the princess's orders; this was the princess's residence, and they couldn't allow the prince consort to force his way in.

The princess's attendant, Xingzhi, said that unless ordered by the princess, anyone who barges in, regardless of whether they are a prince consort or not, should be thrown out.

"Are you all blind? I am the prince consort! If you dare not let me in, when I see the princess, I will make her chop off your heads!" Cui Fang cursed, pointing at the gatehouse.

Still, no one paid any attention to him.

They were from the princess's residence, so naturally they obeyed the princess's orders.

This is the princess's residence; when did it become the prince consort's place to act so presumptuously? Not only did Cui Fang fail to barge in, but he was also shoved by the gatekeeper and tumbled down the steps, landing in a very disheveled state.

Xiang Bei was speechless. "This guy is a general, and the gatekeeper didn't push him with much force."

The system glanced at it and said, "Their character is like this, and they're not that great."

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Cui Fang angrily got up and stood at the door, uttering harsh words, "Xiao Qiluo, you've got some nerve. You just wait. Even if you kneel down and beg me to come back, I won't give you a second glance."

After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and left again.

The old woman in charge of the gatehouse relayed everything Cui Fang had said to Xiao Qiluo.

"Did he really say that?"

"This old servant dares not deceive the princess."

"If he comes here shouting again, break his legs. If he still doesn't learn his lesson, smash his mouth," Xiao Qiluo said.

"Yes, this old servant remembers."

Cui Fang had made his decision and left. When he returned, he found his savior, Ruan Rou'er, crying in his arms, and his resentment towards Xiao Qiluo grew even stronger.

Ruan Rou'er said she was afraid the princess would be unhappy with her, afraid the princess would treat her like she treated her maid, and then she fainted.

After a doctor's diagnosis, it was discovered that she had a heart condition, and that her heart was congenitally defective, meaning she wouldn't live for more than a few years.

Cui Fang immediately became anxious, grabbed the doctor by the collar and said threateningly, "I don't care what method you use, you must save her. If anything happens to her, I will make sure you die a horrible death."

The doctor was also terrified. He had only come to treat an illness, and the patient's poor health was something he had brought with him. Why was the doctor asking him to pay with his life?

Now that there's no way to escape, the doctor's mind raced, searching for a way to get away. Finally, he spoke in a trembling voice, "This young lady's heart condition was congenital. My medical skills are limited, and there's really nothing I can do. If we find the successor of the Ghost Doctor, perhaps there will be a way to save her."

Xiang Bei saw what was happening over there and remembered that in the original story, it was this successor of the Ghost Doctor who performed a heart transplant on Ruan Rou'er.

The ability of a seven-aperture exquisite heart to exchange for a new heart and remain immortal was something that the successor of the Ghost Doctor told Cui Fang.

Then, Cui Fang, for the sake of his imposter benefactor, kept searching for this Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart. In the end, Cui Fang learned from the imperial physicians of the Imperial Hospital that Xiao Qiluo was born with the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart, so he successfully took her heart and replaced it with Ruan Rou'er's.

Although Xiang Bei didn't understand how a heart transplant could be successfully performed under such poor conditions in ancient times.

To ensure the surgery's success, they fabricated some incredibly powerful "ghost doctor" identity for him. And, coincidentally, the imperial physician revealed to Cui Fang that the princess possessed a brilliant and insightful mind.

It all happened so coincidentally.

In novels, this is called torture for the sake of torture. Now it's even spreading to the small world, where everything has to defy logic.

She sent Xiao Qiluo to the palace to investigate a royal physician.

By the way, when you see your father, don't mention me to him. He raised you to be like this, which makes me resentful towards him, and I don't want to see him either.

"Mother, don't you want to see Father?"

Even if you mention it, he won't see it. Just don't mention me, swear!

Helpless, Xiao Qiluo could only promise not to mention her mother to her father.

She had long since discovered that only she could see her mother, and had originally intended to talk to her father about it. But since her mother said that her father couldn't see her either, she decided to give up on that idea.

Saying that I can't see it will only add to my father's sorrow.

After Xiao Qiluo and Cui Fang got married, she paid her respects to her father, the Emperor, during her third-day homecoming visit. At that time, there was still a lot of father-daughter affection between them.

Every time they met after that, she was always arguing with her father.

To be precise, it was she who unilaterally had a huge argument with her father.

She asked her father to promote Cui Fang.

The last time she met her father was half a year ago. She returned the secret guards he had given her, and that was the first time her father had ever been so angry.

He said those guards were there to protect her and he absolutely refused to agree. But for Cui Fang's sake, she ordered the guards' tokens to be thrown into the pond in the Imperial Garden right in front of her father.

Before leaving, she made a harsh statement: if her father continued to interfere with her relationship with Cui Fang, she would never see him again.

It was because of her father, with whom she had always depended on each other, that she knew where his pain lay.

[Are you saying your father doesn't know your situation in the princess's residence, possibly because you forbade him from secretly protecting you and made some harsh remarks?]

Xiang Bei asked in disbelief.

Xiao Qiluo nodded. "Father must have been very sad at the time. Mother, I feel ashamed to face Father."

Xiang Bei sighed and patted Xiao Qiluo on the shoulder.

【No, it's precisely at times like these that you must see him. Your father is unaware of your situation in the princess's residence, yet Cui Fang can openly keep a mistress outside, openly entering and leaving her residence. The entire capital knows about this, but your father doesn't. Don't you find that strange?】

Xiao Qiluo immediately became anxious, "Mother, do you mean something has happened to Father?"

This is just the worst-case scenario. Speculating here is pointless; we need to see it for ourselves and have things discussed openly, otherwise the misunderstanding will only continue.

If the emperor still loves this daughter, his image as a loving husband could reduce the obstacles Xiao Qiluo faces.

If Xiao Qiluo were to fight her father, she probably wouldn't feel good about it.

Xiao Qiluo nodded, "What Mother said makes sense."

She didn't need to submit a special memorial to see her father; a carriage was immediately prepared for her to go to the palace.

When the carriage arrived at the palace gate, Xiao Qiluo hesitated again.

As the emperor's only daughter, she enjoyed many privileges, such as not needing to dismount her carriage to enter or leave the palace, and not even needing to give special notice.

The more this happened, the more uneasy she felt.

"Princess Qiluo, what brings you here?" The general guarding the city recognized Xiao Qiluo.

Xiao Qi said crisply, "General Bu, please go and inform my father that I wish to see him."

"Your Highness, His Majesty has already instructed that you can go straight in upon arrival without needing to announce your arrival."

As he spoke, General Bu ordered his men to let Xiao Qiluo into the palace.

"Didn't Father Emperor rescind this decree?" Xiao Qiluo was very surprised.

"No, it's just that you haven't been back for a long time. Not long ago, His Majesty was just talking to me about why you hadn't returned yet," General Bu said with a smile.

Xiao Qiluo thanked General Bu, and as she lowered the curtain, tears fell again.

Xingzhi quickly handed her a handkerchief, "Princess, please stop crying. His Majesty will be heartbroken if he sees you crying."

Xiao Qiluo wiped away her tears with a handkerchief. She used to cry a lot, but since her mother came back, she hasn't cried much. Her mother said that crying makes her look like she has no presence at all.

She tried her best not to cry, but seeing all that her father had done for her still made her feel very sad.

Knowing what her father had done, she felt increasingly like an unfilial daughter. For Cui Fang's sake, she had repeatedly hurt her own family.

He would rather please his mother than care more about his father, the emperor.

She looked up at the air, trying to get her mother to teach her what to do. But then she felt that if even something like this required her mother to do it for her, she was still an unfilial daughter.

The carriage stopped a short distance in front of the Imperial Study.

Xiao Qiluo got out of the carriage with Xingzhi, hesitated for a moment, and then walked towards the Imperial Study.

There were only the father and daughter in the palace; there were no concubines.

The guards were all in the Imperial Study. When they saw someone approaching, they were very wary, but when they saw who it was, they put away their swords.

He bowed to Xiao Qiluo.

Upon reaching the entrance of the Imperial Study, Xiao Qiluo dared not go in any further, feeling somewhat nervous.

The voices of the Emperor and Eunuch Gao could be heard coming from inside.

There was also a coughing sound.

Is Father ill?

Xiao Qiluo couldn't help but take two steps forward.

"Your Majesty, you should rest for a while; your health is the most important thing."

The emperor shook his head, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and said, "I wonder how Qiluo is doing. That child is stubborn, and I dare not send anyone to see her. If she finds out, she will surely be angry with me again. She is my child, and I cannot argue with her every time we meet."

When Eunuch Gao realized he couldn't persuade her, he was about to retreat when he looked up and saw Xiao Qiluo standing at the door of the Imperial Study.

He exclaimed in surprise, "Your Majesty, look, Princess Qiluo has returned!"

The emperor looked in the direction he was pointing. Backlit, he couldn't see clearly, so he squinted.