"Smack!"
A slap landed on Princess Jiahua's fair face.
"Husband and wife?" Empress Yan clung to the word "husband and wife" and sneered, "You, a discarded woman, dare to mention these two words? If you hadn't taken advantage of my kindness, would the seventh prince have married you?"
The Third Prince's wife added fuel to the fire: "Seventh Prince's wife, you are too selfish. So many people want to marry the Seventh Prince, but you are the one who got the better deal. You don't even know it. You are thinking about your old lover from Northern Chu. The Empress is kind-hearted and covered for you, but you still dare to argue!"
"If it weren't for the fact that the Seventh Prince is away on campaign, I would have already dragged you into the palace and tortured you severely." Empress Yan was furious. "No wonder you've been hiding in the Prince's residence and haven't dared to come see me. You're just feeling guilty!"
Empress Yan's slap was quite forceful; Princess Jiahua's face swelled up instantly, leaving five distinct handprints.
She was beaten until she was dizzy and her ears were ringing.
Princess Jia Hua gritted her teeth and said, "Your Majesty has misunderstood."
"Misunderstanding?" Empress Yan sneered, "I don't believe you don't have a single close friend in Northern Chu, yet you write a letter to a man. What is this if not betrayal?"
With the letter in hand, she knew that nothing she said would make a difference.
The remaining letters were trampled underfoot by the Third Prince's wife. She wanted to read them, but the Third Prince's wife simply wouldn't move her feet.
She looked up at Empress Yan: "What does Your Majesty desire?"
She knew the Empress had broken all pretense and must be plotting something; otherwise, she could have simply handed the letter to the Seventh Prince.
Empress Yan raised an eyebrow, looking at the red marks on Princess Jia Hua's charming face, and ordered the palace maid, "Take the Seventh Prince's Consort down to apply a face mask."
The palace maid nodded and helped Princess Jia Hua to her feet.
Princess Jia Hua glanced at the letter on the ground. The Third Prince's wife pretended not to notice and continued to step on it. She took a deep breath and had no choice but to leave.
"Your Highness, that wretched woman is very stubborn and may not give in." The Third Prince's wife said with some worry after the others left, "What if the Seventh Prince finds out?"
“Zhao Jiahua is a smart woman and won’t expose this matter. After all, she still wants to go back.” Empress Yan withdrew her gaze and sat down again. She couldn’t understand who in Northern Chu was worth Princess Jiahua’s lingering thoughts about.
Isn't the Seventh Prince good enough?
Who in this world can compare to the Seventh Prince?
Empress Yan thought Princess Jia Hua was blind!
Soon, after applying medicine to Princess Jiahua's face and then applying a thick layer of powder, the red marks were no longer visible. Empress Yan also returned to her usual gentle and quiet self, chatting and laughing with the Third Prince's Consort. When she saw her enter, her laughter stopped.
"Your Majesty," Princess Jia Hua bowed.
Empress Yan dismissed the palace servants and asked Princess Jia Hua, "Since your heart is not in the Southern Frontier, I will let you return to Northern Chu, how about it?"
Testing!
Princess Jia Hua knelt down, feigning panic: "Your Majesty, if I go back, I will only face death. Please, Your Majesty, have mercy."
Empress Yan frowned.
"Aren't you and that Fifth Prince in love? Why don't you go back and marry him, then you can reunite with your children? Wouldn't that be better?" The Third Prince's wife asked in surprise, "Can you really abandon your own flesh and blood?"
“In Northern Chu, I am already a dead man. If I go back, I will only be a burden to them. As for mutual affection, there is no way we can talk about it. My relationship with the Fifth Prince is just like that between the Empress and the princes, completely innocent.”
Empress Yan's expression changed slightly.
The Third Prince couldn't continue his slander, so he pursed his lips and said, "I forgot, your husband is the Duke of Song, and he really has nothing to do with the princes. If you want to go back, there are many ways. You can just change your identity and hide in the Duke's mansion."
"If I were to return to the country after the two nations have established a marriage alliance, the consequences would be unimaginable if I were discovered."
"You overestimate yourself." Empress Yan pointed her fair finger at Princess Jiahua: "From today onwards, you will come to Fengyi Palace every day to talk to me. Be smart and don't tell everything to the Seventh Prince. You don't want me to send people to Northern Chu to gather information, do you?"
The last sentence was a blatant threat.
Princess Jia Hua clenched her fists, the pain from her fingertips digging into her palms keeping her calm. She nodded and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I know what to do."
"That's good." Empress Yan waved her hand, telling Princess Jia Hua to kneel down and serve her, her disdainful gaze as if even a glance was too dirty.
The Third Prince's wife carefully accompanied Empress Yan in conversation. During their chat, the topic of Miss Xu came up, and the Third Prince's wife angrily scolded the woman for being shameless.
"How can such a tactless girl be worthy of the seventh brother? All these years, he's still so infatuated. Doesn't he realize how many girls want to marry him, and who has succeeded?"
What was said without malice may have been taken to heart by the listener.
Princess Jia Hua suddenly understood why the Seventh Prince's residence was so deserted.
The Seventh Prince married her because of the urgency of the situation, and there was no time to stop him.
She had always thought that the Seventh Prince was not interested in women, but it turned out that the root of the problem was that Empress Yan did not allow anyone to be in the Seventh Prince's residence.
Could she boldly speculate that Empress Yan was also behind her first meeting with the Emperor of Southern Xinjiang and her first time being lured to the Phoenix Palace?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
