Chapter 25 Crocodile Tears
Inside the side hall, the aroma of tea wafted through the air, but it couldn't mask the hypocrisy and scheming that permeated the atmosphere.
Tang Li stood meekly at the lower end, like a maid who had done something wrong, letting her stepmother, Wang Shi, hold her hand and put on a disgusting show called "filial piety between mother and daughter".
"Oh, my son..."
Wang took out the exquisitely embroidered handkerchief, pressed it to the corner of her eye, and squeezed out two cloudy tears.
Her hands, painted with red nail polish, gripped Tang Li's wrist tightly, her nails even digging into Tang Li's flesh.
"You've only been away from home for a few days, how come you've become so thin, just skin and bones? Look at your face, it's deathly pale, without a trace of color. It must be because the rules of this Prince's mansion are too strict, and you're so clumsy, you must have suffered a lot, right?"
She said she felt sorry for Tang Li, but her shrewd triangular eyes scanned her back and forth.
Seeing the old bruise on Tang Li's wrist, caused by the iron cage (it had actually healed long ago, but Tang Li had deliberately drawn it on), a barely perceptible hint of pleasure flashed across Wang's eyes.
OK.
It's good to suffer.
If that little wretch is living a life of luxury in the Prince's mansion, that's what she doesn't want to see.
Judging from his half-dead state now, he's probably not far from being divorced or killed.
"Mother……"
Tang Li trembled, like a startled quail, wanting to pull her hand away but not daring to, her voice trembling with tears:
“Daughter…daughter is not suffering. The Prince…he is very good to me. It’s just that the rules of the Prince’s mansion are very strict, and I am dull-witted, so I always make the Prince angry…”
"Hmph, so good?"
Tang Wan, who had been sitting to the side sipping tea, chuckled and slammed her teacup down.
"If it's really that good, why didn't they even get you a decent set of clothes? Why don't they even provide you with a maid to serve you?"
Tang Wan smoothed her priceless pomegranate-red brocade dress, glancing at Tang Li with disdain:
“Sister, let’s be frank. Who in the capital doesn’t know what kind of person the Regent is? What ability do you, a concubine’s daughter, have to win over such a powerful figure?”
She stood up, walked gracefully to Tang Li, and looked down at her. The strong scent of lilies almost made Tang Li nauseous.
"Look at your current impoverished appearance, you are simply disgracing our Minister's Mansion."
Tang Wan stretched out her fingers, painted with bright red nail polish, and disdainfully lifted Tang Li's faded white sleeve, clicking her tongue twice:
"If you really can't serve the Prince well, don't keep stubbornly holding on here. Why don't you beg me?"
She leaned closer to Tang Li, her tone carrying a condescending condescension and malice:
"If you kneel down and beg me, I'll have my father plead with the prince to take you back. Although you're a withered flower and can't get married, sending you to the Shuiyue Nunnery outside the city to become a nun and spend the rest of your life in solitude is better than making a fool of yourself here and ending up as nothing but bones, isn't it?"
Become a nun?
fallen woman?
Tang Li's lowered eyelashes trembled, concealing the cold killing intent in her eyes.
This mother and daughter are as vicious as ever.
They not only wanted to see her die, but also wanted to squeeze the last bit of dignity out of her before she died, to trample her into the mud, so as to show their own superiority.
"Sister...Sister is joking."
Tang Li took a step back, seemingly terrified by the words "become a nun," tears welling in her eyes, but she dared not let them fall.
"I am the Prince's man... I was born a member of the Prince's household, and I will die a member of the Prince's household. If the Prince doesn't give the order, how dare I leave?"
"You—you really don't know what's good for you!"
Seeing her stubborn and unyielding attitude, Tang Wan lost her patience.
She snorted coldly, turned around and sat back down in her chair, straightening her elaborate and gorgeous red dress once more.
"Since you insist on staying here to die, then so be it. Anyway, when we meet the Prince later, if he takes a liking to me..."
Tang Wan stroked the fiery red dress, her eyes gleaming with ambition:
“When that time comes, I will enter the manor as a concubine, or even the principal wife... and then the two of us sisters will have a chance to get closer.”
She deliberately emphasized the word "close," the threat of which was self-evident.
Tang Li sneered inwardly.
She's interested in you?
Pei Yunjing probably only wants to see your skull.
"Alright, Wan'er."
Seeing that the situation was about right, Wang stepped in to smooth things over.
She was more shrewd and calculating, and her main purpose in coming today was to probe the regent's true strength.
"Since your sister said the prince is practicing swordsmanship in the garden, let's go take a look. After all, we're in-laws; how can we pass by without going in?"
Madam Wang stood up, tidied her hair adorned with jewels, and gave Tang Li an imperious order:
"Hurry up and lead the way! If you delay the time and keep the prince waiting, can you bear the responsibility?"
"Yes...yes..."
Tang Li nodded meekly and turned to lead the way.
The moment she turned her back to the mother and daughter, the look of misery and fear on her face vanished without a trace.
Instead, a strange yet excited smile appeared on his face.
The performance continues.
Hopefully, you can maintain this elegance when Big White pounces on you later.
I hope you can still laugh when that red dress is torn to shreds.
"Mother, sister, please come with me."
Tang Li's voice was so gentle it could melt your heart:
"The garden of this prince's mansion... has a truly exceptional view."
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