"Weiwei! This is the Emperor's will, and your aunt has no choice. Besides, marrying into the Chen Kingdom may not be a bad thing. Our Li family has done a good deed. It's just that you've had to go through a long journey. When the delegation arrives, your aunt will definitely see you off properly. Don't worry, I won't let you suffer any losses."
"I don't want to leave the capital, Aunt, please help your niece."
“You’ve grown up by my side all these years, how could your aunt not feel sorry for you? But what we women hope for in our lives is to marry into a good family, right? If you marry into the Chen Kingdom and become the empress in the future, don’t forget your aunt.”
"It seems Auntie isn't going to help Weiwei anymore."
"Good girl, get up quickly. The matter is settled, and your aunt can't do anything about it. Try to think positively, my child," Consort Li said, helping Li Weiwei up.
Li Weiwei wouldn't listen to any advice. Looking at Consort Li, she said, "Back then, I wanted to marry the Crown Prince, but my aunt said she couldn't help. Now I don't want a marriage alliance, but my aunt still refuses to help."
"There's nothing your aunt can do about this. Besides, it's the Empress who's preventing you from marrying the Crown Prince. Your aunt has been speaking up for you all along. And the Crown Princess is a princess of Qiu Kingdom. There's nothing we can do, is there?"
"So you're going to make me suffer like this?! From a young age you've told me I was the future Empress of the Wu Kingdom, but look at me now?!"
"Are you blaming me? Do you think others can't see through what you've done?" Consort Li said angrily.
"Weiwei has no idea what she did!" Li Weiwei said stubbornly.
“Every time the princess gets into trouble and is punished, you ostensibly help her, but you know in your heart what you’re really doing. Do you think the Empress hasn’t seen through it all these years?” Consort Li reminded her.
"Weiwei doesn't understand what her aunt is talking about?"
“Weiwei, don’t treat people like fools. When you were ten years old, you were playing with the Third Princess and accidentally fell into the pond. You were quickly rescued. The Third Princess was fine, but you were bedridden for half a month. Everyone said it was the Third Princess’s fault, and the Third Princess was punished by the Emperor and confined to her quarters for half a month. The Third Princess didn’t say anything, but your aunt knows that you fell into the pond yourself and even pulled the princess into the water. You pretended to be sick and stayed in bed for half a month,” Consort Li said.
"I didn't! It's the princess, not me. Everyone knows that the Third Princess is willful, capricious, and doesn't understand etiquette," Li Weiwei said loudly.
"Alright! Weiwei, you and I both know what the Third Princess is like. There are no outsiders here, so your aunt won't expose you. Your aunt just wants to remind you to be careful in the future and not let anyone find out."
"Is Aunt really not going to help her niece anymore!?"
The Imperial Concubine waved her hand and was helped back to her couch by her servants. She no longer looked at Li Weiwei. Li Weiwei wiped away her tears, got up, looked at the servants around her, and left unwillingly.
Walking along the corridor outside the palace, Li Weiwei thought about Consort Li's heartlessness and her father's lack of support. She felt they were all using her and didn't care about her feelings at all. She felt a sense of despair, but also hatred—hatred for Tian Yu, hatred for the princess, hatred for everyone. Seeing the Crown Prince approaching from the distance, Li Weiwei suddenly realized something. She quickly composed herself, wiped away her tears, and smiled as she greeted the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince reached out to help Li Weiwei up and said with a smile, "Weiwei is a princess now. There's no need for such a grand ceremony. Please rise!"
Li Weiwei placed her hand on the Crown Prince's hand without any hesitation, looked up at him with affection in her eyes, and said, "Brother Ziqian!"
The Crown Prince was taken aback by the call of "Brother Ziqian." It had been a long time since anyone had called him Ziqian. Since becoming the Crown Prince, everyone had been calling him "Crown Prince," and he had forgotten that he even had such a name.
"It's been a long time since I've heard Weiwei call me Brother Ziqian. What's wrong with her today?" The Crown Prince said with a smile, withdrawing his hand.
"I was just thinking that Weiwei would be leaving soon, and I felt a little reluctant to part with her. I apologize for my rudeness, Your Highness!" Li Weiwei said with tears in her eyes.
"Yes! You grew up with us in this palace since you were little, like a little sister to us. It's really hard to leave now."
"I would like to invite the Crown Prince and the other princes to a meeting another day. This is also a wish of Weiwei before she left. I wonder what the Crown Prince thinks?"
"Okay! I'll definitely come then."
"It's a promise, you can't go back on your word."
"No regrets, I'm waiting for Weiwei's invitation."
"Then Weiwei will take her leave now."
"Alright! I'll have someone escort you out!" the Crown Prince said, instructing the eunuch beside him to see Li Weiwei off from the palace.
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