The Crown Princess, her face contorted with grief, cried out, "What did I do wrong to deserve this? I'm resentful, but who's to blame?!"

The Crown Prince took a deep breath. If it weren't for wanting to maintain a good relationship with the Tao family, and if it weren't for her having an uncle who held military power, he really wouldn't want to coax the Crown Princess.

She has changed a lot, from the gentle and virtuous woman she once was to this jealous person. She has also aged, losing the lively and charming girl she was when she first married him, leaving only a resentful look on her face every time she sees him.

The more this happened, the less he wanted to come to her place.

"If you, as the Crown Princess, cannot manage this Eastern Palace, I will let someone else manage it!"

"It's always like this! Besides using these to blackmail me, what else can you say to me! Do you think I really care about the power in the Crown Prince's Palace? Give it to whomever you want! I don't care at all!"

The Crown Princess wiped away her tears and went into the inner room. She thought back to the days when she had just married him, how happy they had been as a couple. But later, more and more people came to the mansion, and the Crown Prince gave her less and less time.

She was clearly the legal wife, yet she spent less time with the Crown Prince than the concubines!

She took care of all the household affairs for him, and she became so haggard, while the concubines didn't have to do anything. All they had to do every day was to dress themselves up carefully and try to win his favor.

Those women live a life where everything is done for them, while she has to work hard and worry about them. What's wrong with her giving them a hard time?

The Crown Prince felt he couldn't reason with her, and after a long while he finally said, "I'll have my mother-in-law come and see you later!"

After saying that, he turned and left.

The Crown Princess lay on the bed crying. Every time she threw a tantrum, he would call his mother to scold her.

Her life is worse than those concubines'! Why should she be expected to be generous and virtuous? All she wants is for her husband to dote on her!

"Your Highness, please stop crying. Shall I bring you the little grandson?"

The Crown Princess cried out, "No! I don't want to see him!"

She always felt that the Crown Prince only changed towards her after she gave birth to this child. If she hadn't gotten pregnant and given birth, her figure and appearance would definitely still be the same as before.

But this child ruined all of that!

Because of this child, she suffered from many aftereffects after giving birth, and has not fully recovered to this day.

She almost hated this child!

The maid had no choice but to call her governess to comfort her. The governess finally managed to calm her down, and the atmosphere in the entire East Palace became unusually oppressive.

Things were unfolding as Song Yaozhu had predicted, but she wasn't happy at all. After all, it was all built on the suffering of many women.

The root cause of their suffering was the Crown Prince.

However, they depend on the prince for their livelihood; without him, they might suffer even more. This is one of the drawbacks of this society.

Song Yaozhu forced herself not to think about these things. Xie Liwei said that her ideas were beyond the current state of social development, and she did not have enough power to change them, which was why she felt pain.

She needs to think less and do more now.

As the end of the year drew near, Song Yaozhu received a letter from her family's hometown.

The letter was sent by Song Chengzhang; it was a letter asking her for money.

After Song Chengzhang returned to his hometown, he lived with his father, Old Master Song. Old Master Song didn't have much money to begin with, so he naturally wanted to rely on his son to support him in his old age. Accustomed to a life of luxury, he immediately asked his son to take out all his money to buy property so he could comfortably enjoy his later years.

After Song Chengzhang spent all his money, he said he had no money left, but Old Master Song didn't believe him and told him to find a way himself, otherwise he would be unfilial.

Song Chengzhang then complained to him that if the emperor hadn't found out about his poem, his family wouldn't have had to leave the capital in such a sorry state and return to their hometown.

After being exposed, Old Master Song suffered a stroke and was bedridden. Now, his medicine would cost a fortune. He was already penniless. Although he knew his daughter disliked him, he believed she wouldn't abandon him and would still give him some money. So, he wrote this letter.

Song Yaozhu folded the letter, then changed the envelope, wrote Song Wenyue as the recipient, and had it sent to the palace.

This letter was meant for Song Chengzhang's daughter, but she isn't. She even helped deliver it; how kind of her!

After completing these preparations, she began to arrange the New Year's Eve dinner.

Although she had to go to the palace on New Year's Day, she couldn't get enough to eat there, so she decided to have another meal after leaving the palace!

We won't eat anything else, we'll just eat hot pot with the old men!

Nowadays, Xie Lu spends his days either breastfeeding or reading and writing. His former students naturally want him to review their work, so Xie Mingyue has to deliver their papers to him regularly.

After no longer having to attend classes, Xie Lu felt that he was getting annoyed by these kids less often, and that his lifespan had increased, making him even less willing to go back to class. Occasionally helping to grade papers was acceptable, though.

Faced with Xie Lu's apparent indifference in taking care of the child, no one at Shangbei Academy could do anything about it. After all, he had a child who needed milk!

Meanwhile, Yongle, who was heading south, finally arrived in Yanzhou. She disembarked with great joy to find Shen Qingque, only to find that he had not arrived.

After attending his sister's wedding, Shen Qingque went straight south to Yunzhou, catching the Yunzhou officials off guard.

However, after the drought in Yunzhou, the newly transferred officials were all honest and dutiful, and listened to Shen Qingque's arrangements without question, so the new policies were implemented very smoothly.

Yongle immediately rushed to Yunzhou. Before he left, Dongfang Yi came to say goodbye, saying that he had been recuperating on the ship for so long and had recovered most of his injuries. Now he wanted to leave and find his own way out.

Yongle felt that this person was a bit strange, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. So she waved her hand and said, "Aren't you homeless? You can stay and work for this princess!"

Dongfang Yi hesitated for a moment, glancing at the guards beside her. Those men seemed to have a ruthless air about them, ready to behead him if he didn't agree.

Dongfang Shi's body has not fully recovered yet. If he were to expose himself now, he might not have enough strength to fight against so many imperial guards. After thinking it over, he decided to stay.

Yongle then gave him a job to do.

The young eunuch was filled with envy. He led Dongfang Shi back to the cabin and chattered incessantly, "Oh my, you're so lucky to have met such a kind person as our princess!"

Dongfang Shi sneered inwardly. Yongle had a bad reputation, and he didn't think the other party was a good person.

"You're good-looking and can stay by the princess's side as a whole person. Who knows, you might have a chance in the future!" the little eunuch said slyly.

Dongfang Shi touched his face; he had disguised himself for easier escape. Could such an ordinary face really be considered good-looking?

Dongfang Yi seemed to be deep in thought.