Early in the morning, the road was bustling with people, each hurrying on their own way, but they were all drawn to the shouts and curses coming from the back gate of the Prince of Qin's mansion.
Instantly, a large crowd gathered at the back gate of the Qin Prince's mansion to watch the spectacle.
A woman with a pretty face and a good figure, but with disheveled hair, was dragged out of the house by two servants from the Prince of Qin's mansion and violently pushed out the door, where she fell to the ground.
The woman turned and fell to her side on the cold ground by the door, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed with her head down. Then, a coarse blue cloth bundle was thrown at her, containing only ordinary women's clothes.
The bundle was tied haphazardly and was tossed out loosely. The clothes inside scattered all over the ground like flying petals. Several light, soft, and close-fitting pieces of underwear with a slightly sexy touch attracted the attention of many lewd eyes from the surrounding crowd.
However, the woman was so focused on crying that she didn't notice the scattered bundles. The passersby around her whispered among themselves and pointed at the woman.
Zhang Mama adopted an arrogant posture, raising her eyebrows and looking down at the woman with disdain. With a face full of anger and contempt, she sneered and cursed the woman fiercely: "You shameless wretch! I never thought you were such a vixen who wanted to climb the social ladder and become a phoenix, seeking wealth and status."
Upon hearing this, someone in the crowd exclaimed, "Oh, so the Prince of Qin's mansion has captured a vixen!"
Granny Zhang glanced at the speaker and continued without changing her expression, "Back then, I took pity on you because you had nowhere to go, so I took you in to serve in the Prince's mansion. And you, you actually dared to set your sights on His Highness Prince Qin! Does His Highness Prince Qin have the right to be profaned by someone of your lowly status? Does His Highness Prince Qin have the right to covet? Don't you even take a good look in the mirror first? Prince Qin is the one His Majesty has bestowed upon us, and we will soon be marrying the most noble princess of the wealthy and powerful Dongning Kingdom. You lowly woman, do you even know your place? Get out of here! If it weren't for the upcoming wedding in the Prince's mansion, which can't bear the sight of blood, I would have made sure you left here on your back. If I see you again, watch out for your worthless life."
As soon as she finished speaking, Granny Zhang snorted angrily, turned around and went inside, ordering someone to close the door. The woman was left alone, lying face down on the ground, without uttering a word.
At this point, the crowd, having heard Zhang Mama's entire story, finally understood what had happened.
At this point, everyone shook their heads, pointed and cursed at the woman, and some even spat on her...
"Turns out she's a slut, a vixen."
"He's fairly good-looking, with delicate features."
"But this is the King of Qin, the only younger brother of the Emperor of Western Qin, the only noble prince of Western Qin, second only to the emperor."
"Countless daughters of high-ranking officials, nobles, and wealthy merchants in this world would kill to be able to marry into your social circle, so how could you possibly be one of them?"
"That's like a toad trying to eat swan meat—wishful thinking, they're courting death."
Suddenly, someone in the crowd threw rotten vegetable leaves that they had just bought from the market to feed the chickens at the woman. The leaves hit her squarely, startling her. The woman, who had been lying motionless on the ground, swayed slightly.
Unexpectedly, the crowd immediately followed suit, and a continuous series of "thud, thud, thud..." rotten eggs, discarded dog bones, and even more rotten vegetable leaves were thrown at the woman, who instantly became filthy and looked extremely miserable.
Having nothing to throw away, he simply picked up whatever was on the ground and threw it at the woman.
Suddenly, several young women from the crowd, dressed in ways that didn't resemble ordinary commoners, approached the woman, rubbing their hands together in anticipation...
"What do you want?" the woman asked in a panic as she saw the newcomers glaring at her.
"Shameless hussy, how dare you desecrate our supreme and all-powerful Prince Qin! Today, I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget!" A woman glared at her and coldly reprimanded her.
"No..." With the woman's pitiful scream of begging for mercy, the women rushed forward and slapped her, pulled her hair, and began to fight and tear at her. The crowd behind them also rushed forward, and the scene instantly turned into chaos.
......
Meanwhile, in the backyard of the Qin Prince's Mansion, separated only by a wall, Yu Niang's mother-in-law and her 5-year-old daughter Ling'er clearly heard the cursing and all the noises outside, but they were both holding back their tears.
"No, they can't treat Ling'er's mother like this, Mother..." Ling'er cried out, finally unable to hold back any longer, she turned and ran towards the gate.
When her mother-in-law saw this, she chased after her and grabbed her tightly, pulling her back with all her might. Ling'er tried her best to straighten her other weak arm and spread her five fingers to touch the door latch, but in the end, she was pulled further and further away from the latch by her mother-in-law.
After leaving the gate, the grandmother hurriedly covered her mouth with one weathered hand and her granddaughter's mouth with the other, fearing that if she continued like this, the crying would arouse suspicion from some people outside the wall.
Finally, she held Ling'er tightly in her arms, making sure that Ling'er was no longer able to break free, run away, or make a sound that would ruin their important plan.
Perhaps she exerted too much force in her haste, because Ling'er's face quickly turned bright red.
Granny Zhang stood to the side, watching with heartache, yet her face was filled with helplessness.
At such a young age, she should be carefree and loved and protected by her parents, but Ling'er, who is only 5 years old, has to suffer one blow after another to her heart.
In her twilight years, she should be surrounded by her children and grandchildren, enjoying her old age in peace. But now, her son's fate is unknown, and her daughter-in-law has risked her life to enter the lion's den.
After a long while, Granny Zhang sighed deeply, walked over to the grandmother and grandson with a pained expression, slowly removed her hands from their mouths, and said earnestly, "Don't worry, Yu Niang won't suffer for nothing today. She will definitely do it. Heaven has eyes, and I believe your son is still alive. Your family will be reunited soon." After saying this, the three of them gazed at each other.
Meanwhile, Xuan Yuanhan and Cheng Liang, who were standing at the entrance of the main hall, were also watching everything that was happening in front of them with solemn expressions. Xuan Yuanhan stood with one hand behind his back, his fist clenched tightly in anger.
Cheng Liang looked at his master's clenched fists from behind, his eyes revealing a fierce yet resolute gaze filled with murderous intent.
Love makes people brave and fearless;
For love, we can recklessly challenge all our limits, even if it means... death.
After a long while, the onlookers on the street gradually dispersed one by one.
The woman, covered in wounds, slowly raised her head and got up to tidy up the mess. She tore off the rotten food from her head and body piece by piece, bent down to rearrange her scattered clothes, and then tied up her bundle.
She then slowly got up, slung the bundle over her shoulder, and staggered forward. Everywhere she went, passersby pointed at her, commented on her, made sarcastic remarks, and hurled insults.
She felt truly wronged, but she still told herself to be brave. Only by bravely and firmly moving forward could all the humiliation she had suffered today become worthwhile, and that worth would be the happiness of her family reunion.
Finally, covered in dust and stumbling, she arrived at the entrance of Wanjiao Pavilion.
Upon arriving at Wanjiao Pavilion, one sees a brothel madam with a large crimson silk flower tucked into her hair, heavily made up, swaying her voluptuous figure and beaming with a smile as she greets and sees off the "distinguished guests."
Upon seeing the woman who had escaped last time return, the madam stormed over angrily. Her face contorted with rage, she snarled, "So it's you, you shameless wretch! Looks like I've been too good to you, and you still dared to run away. What, I heard you've taken a fancy to the master of the Prince of Qin's mansion? Quite the discerning eye, huh? If that's the case, why didn't you say so sooner? I could have had someone smooth things over for you, paving the way for you. Instead, you just offered yourself up like that, only to be kicked out!"
As she spoke, the madam stood with her arms crossed over her chest, displaying an air of omnipotence.
The woman quickly went up to her, took her arm, and said with a wry smile, "I'm sorry, I was being ignorant. Please forgive me this once. I will never run away again."
"Hmph, what do you take this place for? You think you can come and go as you please?" the madam snorted.
"I promise I'll listen to you from now on, please forgive me this time." Seeing that she had given in, the madam grabbed a piece of flesh on her arm without saying a word and dragged her through the gate of Wanjiao Pavilion.
She then tossed her to a few burly men, instructing them to keep a close eye on her and not let her escape again. "You bunch of good-for-nothings, keep a close eye on her for me. If she escapes again, I'll skin you alive!"
And so, Yu Niang returned to the brothel she had so desperately fled from, a place she had almost lost her life to escape. Who knows what her fate will be next?
But this time she returned with joy and willingness. Because she knew there would definitely be spies from Bei Lie here, and where there were spies from Bei Lie, there would be news of her husband.
She refused to believe her husband was dead; she was certain he was still alive. She was determined to save him. So no matter how bitter, painful, or difficult it was, she would do it.
She firmly believes that they will one day be reunited as a family.
Meanwhile, in Lu Tianjiao's attic at Xiqin Academy, Lu Tianjiao was sitting alone by the window, staring blankly at the gloomy weather outside.
Outside the window was a desolate scene of withered branches in winter, just like her desolate and lonely heart at this moment, where she could only admire herself in solitude.
From a young age, she believed that Xuan Yuanhan, her childhood sweetheart who grew up studying at Xiqin Academy with her, would be her only and best destiny in this life. She preferred to call him Brother Han.
From the moment she first met Xuan Yuanhan, she knew that becoming his queen was her greatest dream and pride in this life.
For so many years, she had carefully guarded her hopes, hoping that her father, who was the dean and loyal to Xuan Yuanhan, would make a decision for her as soon as possible and tell His Highness about her feelings that she was ashamed to say. But now, all of this was ruined by Emperor Jing's decree of marriage.
"Princess Yongle," she muttered, her brows furrowed.
Then, a slender hand placed on the table slowly clenched into a fist, tightly, very tightly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com