"Chang'an, why did you come at this hour?" The Empress Dowager asked softly.
"Mother, I do not want to go on this marriage alliance. Please talk to my brother and ask him not to let me go." Princess Chang'an knelt before the Empress Dowager and begged.
"A marriage alliance?" The Empress Dowager's tone remained largely unchanged: "Why wouldn't you want to?"
"Mother, I heard that the King of Xia is nearly sixty years old, even older than my father. How can I marry into that family?" Princess Chang'an cried.
"Although the King of Xia is a bit old, and the Queen of Xia has long since lost her beauty, now that you have married into the family, you will surely become a favored princess. What's wrong with that?" The Empress Dowager played with her nail guards.
"Mother, no, I don't want to, please, Mother." Princess Chang'an cried as she shook her head desperately. "Mother, aren't you always the one who loves me the most? Please, please talk to my brother, I really don't want to marry the Prince of Xia."
"Pain?" The Empress Dowager paused, her fingertips pausing. "Tell me, how have I always pampered you?"
Princess Chang'an's sobs faltered. She paused for a moment, then asked incredulously, "Mother, what are you saying? I...I don't understand?"
"Ha ha ha ha."
The Empress Dowager's laughter echoed in the Cining Palace, sending chills down Princess Chang'an's spine. Even in the sweltering summer heat, she couldn't help but shiver.
"Mother..."
The Empress Dowager suddenly stood up from her chair, leaned down, and met Princess Chang'an's gaze: "Chang'an, this is your retribution, do you understand?"
Princess Chang'an's pale face turned even paler in an instant.
She even took a step back in fear, and just as she was about to fall, she managed to brace herself with one hand.
"Mother...Mother, please don't do this, your son...your son is afraid..."
"Afraid?" The Empress Dowager sneered, "That's the right thing to do."
“Mother…” Princess Chang’an murmured.
"Do you know that your face looks exactly like your mother's? Back in my palace, she seduced the late emperor and gave birth to you. Do you think I would really feel sorry for you?"
The Empress Dowager suddenly turned ferocious.
Every word she uttered sent chills down Princess Chang'an's spine.
"You don't really think that sending you to the imperial palace to accompany your mother is a sign of the Empress Dowager's favor and a unique honor for you, do you?"
As the Empress Dowager spoke, a smug smile appeared on her lips.
"If I hadn't let you leave the palace, how would you have met Lu Zhaolin? I never expected that Lu Zhaolin would fall in love with you. He even endured all kinds of torture to protect you."
Princess Chang'an seemed to have her soul drained, and she collapsed to the ground.
"You don't actually believe that the child you're carrying is really the Crown Prince of Ningguo, do you?" The Empress Dowager's eyes gleamed with even more smugness: "Hahaha, this is all your just deserts."
"I want to inflict all the pain that your mother inflicted on me onto you, so that she can also taste that excruciating pain."
"The late emperor was truly affectionate. He even mobilized the Imperial Guard to guard a palace maid in the laundry department, and in his last will and testament, he wanted to save your mother's life."
“A body that has lost its virginity and was once pregnant with an illegitimate child, I want to see if you have any chance of survival in the Xia Kingdom.”
After the Empress Dowager finished speaking, she stood up straight.
"You may tell your brother what I have said today, or anyone else. The late emperor is gone, the late emperor is gone. As long as you are not afraid of what might happen to your mother, you may go and tell her."
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