My Revenge as a Reborn Princess: Framing the Crown Prince

My Revenge as a Reborn Princess: Framing the Crown Prince

By Jade Orchid

Before the Eastern Palace's bride selection, I was drugged and lost my virtue to guard Duan Ming in an alley.

I thought Duan Ming had saved me and resigned myself to marrying into the Duan family.

After our marriage, I supported Duan Ming until he achieved fame and success.

On the day he was appointed Great General, a beggar appeared at our door, shamelessly declaring:

"I'm the lover the General's wife was secretly meeting before marriage!"

I asked Duan Ming to drive them away, but he sneered viciously:

"It wasn't me who violated you in that alley that night—it was these three beggars!"

"I just found your unconscious body and unexpectedly gained all this wealth and fortune!"

When I learned the truth, rage overwhelmed me. I pulled out a hairpin to kill him, but he pushed me from a high platform.

In excruciating pain, I saw myself surrounded by those beggars while Duan Ming watched coldly with his childhood sweetheart.

I died filled with hatred, but when I opened my eyes again, I had been reborn to that fateful night of being drugged.

I was in the alley, my body burning with fever.

1

The moment I realized I had been reborn, I immediately pulled out a hairpin and stabbed it deep into my thigh!

The poison in my body was called "Immortal's Desire."

Once this poison took effect, even a deity free from desires would become a slave to primal lust.

Only severe pain could keep me briefly清醒.

Otherwise, I would collapse in the alley like in my past life, unable to distinguish between human and ghost violating me.

My blurred vision finally cleared.

In the night wind, I keenly caught another sound—a man's suppressed breathing.

In my past life, after losing my virtue, I lay unconscious in the alley in disgrace.

It was Shen family's guard Duan Ming who found me first.

He carried me with my disheveled and indecent appearance through the crowds back to the Shen family.

By the time we returned, the entire capital city knew that the Shen family's only daughter, Shen Qingzhi, had coupled with a guard in an alley.

Before that night, I was the top candidate for Crown Princess.

After that night, I became a promiscuous woman who had an affair with a servant.

During those days, a white silk ribbon lay on my bedroom table.

I constantly thought of suicide to preserve my family's honor.

That was the darkest moment of my life.

Until one day, Crown Prince Pei Yuan suddenly visited with imperial physicians.

He pushed open the door, bringing in a long-absent sunlight that dazzled my nearly blind eyes.

Pei Yuan asked me: "Miss, that night... did you see me?"

At that time, I was utterly ashamed. Behind multiple layers of gauze, I still had to observe court etiquette, bowing my head respectfully:

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is of royal blood. I have never met you and dare not presume."

Through the gauze, I seemed to hear the Crown Prince sigh softly:

"Miss, take care. A woman's chastity is not between her legs. Do not belittle yourself."

The Crown Prince took away the white silk and left imperial physicians to nurse my health.

At that time, I only thought the Crown Prince was kind.

Later I learned that he too had been drugged and schemed against that night, enduring the entire night in that alley.

Hearing that the Shen family's daughter had been violated in the same alley, he suspected he might have lost control and committed this terrible deed.

So he specially visited the Shen family to seek an answer.

Hearing of my humiliation on the streets, he had even brought the imperial hospital's top gynecologist.

After repeated confirmations, he learned it wasn't him.

Now, I stared at the pile of firewood before me.

The humiliation of my past life flashed before my eyes. I couldn't remember what those men looked like, only clearly recalling being pressed against a pile of firewood and violated.

Before those three beggars and Duan Ming arrived, I had to leave immediately!

"Immortal's Desire" was extremely vicious. My legs were weak, my body like a block of ice about to melt.

At this moment, if any male appeared, I feared I would lose control.

I stabbed my left leg again, using the pain to stimulate my body's potential as I staggered toward the sound of breathing.

I thought it would be hard to find, but it was just behind a wall.

Under the cold white moonlight, a man in noble robes leaned against the wall, his handsome face flushed red, his fair neck tilted back in restraint.

I saw him as my savior.

If I had to lose something tonight, at least I would choose for myself! This was my only chance to change my fate!

I pounced on the man like a hungry tiger!

My last moment of clarity recognized the imperial dragon pattern on his collar.

I was completely relieved.

In the confusion, I felt my way to open a firewood room door in the alley to avoid those beggars.

What followed happened naturally.

The man's well-defined hands tightly held my body, and I allowed myself to melt into spring water under the drug's influence.

We were like dry firewood finding salvation in each other, embracing, burning within each other's bodies.

2

I woke again to a muscular, fair chest covered with bite marks and scratches filling my vision.

I ghostly reached out to caress it reminiscently.

Unexpectedly, that muscle suddenly cried out in alarm: "Impertinent!!"

I snapped awake, looked up, and saw the Crown Prince's face showing shock and anger after being "bullied."

I reacted quickly, immediately playing the victim first:

"Who are you?! What did you do to me!!"

The Crown Prince frowned:

"You don't recognize me?! Treacherous! We clearly met at the palace banquet!"

Of course I recognized the Crown Prince.

It wasn't until long after my marriage in my past life that I learned that at the palace banquet before the selection, Pei Yuan had given me a second glance.

It must have been those glances that made Princess Huayin notice me.

My mother had said that "Immortal's Desire" was a tribute from the Western Regions to the emperor for training concubines.

Only the princess could obtain such medicine.

The wine the princess gave me must have been problematic.

Duan Ming was just a guard in my home. Without the princess's secret support, who would dare violate a noble lady in the imperial capital?

My greatest enemy might come from the palace, so only by attaching myself to the Eastern Palace could I survive this life!

Last night was the first step. Now I needed to dispel the Crown Prince's suspicions.

At the palace banquet, I sat with other noble ladies, always lowering my eyes, not daring to offend royal majesty.

So even if I denied recognizing the Crown Prince now, it was reasonable and would make him think me innocent and pure.

"Who are you, you scoundrel! How dare you impersonate the Crown Prince!"

I said, curling up to wipe my tears and cry loudly:

"You bullied me, and you dare do it in the Crown Prince's name! My favorite is the Crown Prince, and now you've left me with no chance at all!"

I cried so grievously I nearly shook the roof off this broken firewood room.

Several tall guards rushed in from outside, dressed as Eastern Palace guards: "Your Highness, we finally found you!"

Pei Yuan was at a loss from my tears:

"Hey! Stop crying! I really am the Crown Prince! They can testify!"

I screamed hysterically:

"You're not! The Crown Prince is wise and heroic—how could he bite like a dog!"

"The Crown Prince is handsome and elegant—how could he look as dissolute as you!"

"The Crown Prince is my world-saving hero—how could he be such a lecher like you!"

The guards personally witnessed the originally angry Crown Prince being struck by these words of "wise and heroic," "handsome and elegant," and "world-saving hero," the corners of his mouth turning upward.

"This is the Eastern Palace token."

A golden plaque was enlarged before my tear-filled eyes.

Pei Yuan could hardly suppress his smile: "Now do you believe me?!"

The Eastern Palace guards chimed in: "This is indeed the wise and heroic, handsome and elegant, world-saving hero the young lady spoke of—His Highness the Crown Prince!"

I immediately stopped crying, reached for the golden plaque, but Pei Yuan pulled his hand back, making me grasp empty air.

Then he suddenly gripped my pulse, his brow furrowing after a moment:

"You've been drugged too?"

The current Crown Prince was skilled in both martial arts and medicine, having saved wounded soldiers on the battlefield and was praised by the people for his benevolence.

I only needed to obediently let him feel my pulse, then appear terrified:

"Your Highness, are you going to kill me?"

Pei Yuan released my wrist. With his medical skills, he could certainly tell what poison I had taken.

And that medicine most likely came from the palace.

He guessed I was just another unfortunate pawn manipulated by court nobles.

Then I took another step back:

"Your Highness, rest assured. Although I admire you, I dare not presume on the Eastern Palace."

I gathered my robes and stood up stubbornly:

"About last night, I won't tell anyone. You needn't make things difficult."

With that, I walked out on unsteady legs.

The Crown Prince really didn't stop me—dog of a man!

I deliberately tore my sleeve, dropping a jade pendant before his eyes.

That jade pendant was engraved with the Shen family crest.

And also engraved—my personal name.

3

I walked away without looking back.

I couldn't let the Crown Prince see any hint of attachment to him, or I would become just another clichéd prey in his eyes.

I stumbled out of the alley, my dress stained with blood, the wounds on my legs aching faintly.

At the alley's end stood Duan Ming.

When he found me, he was overjoyed and immediately ran toward me.

Due to blood loss and last night's exhaustion, I couldn't resist and fainted in his arms.

When I woke again, I was lying in my bedroom at home.

My father's face was iron-gray, my mother's eyes red from crying.

Duan Ming was slapping himself, saying:

"Last night I saw the young lady was poisoned with lust poison. If she couldn't achieve yin-yang balance, she would surely die. This subordinate lost control!"

"I truly like the young lady and want to protect her. If you don't mind, this subordinate is willing to marry you as my proper wife!"

He thought I had lost all memory under the drug's influence, so he lied with righteous confidence.

I weakly retorted: "What are you saying?"

Duan Ming gripped my hand, saying firmly:

"Young lady, have you forgotten? Last night you were poisoned with lust poison and threw yourself into my arms when you saw me. I had no choice but to help you achieve yin-yang balance!"

His eyes stared at me sticky-sweet, as if reminding, or rather warning:

"Young lady, isn't there a red mole on your right shoulder?"

"During our intimacy last night, this subordinate saw it clearly and will never forget your beauty."

4

Duan Ming knelt before my bed, slapping himself while tearfully confessing his helplessness, rudeness, regret, and affection from last night.

He was so self-recriminating that my parents found it difficult to punish him.

The family physician in the room also corroborated: "The young lady was indeed poisoned with a strange lust poison last night. If not relieved in time, her blood would flow backward and she would die."

So it was in my past life too. With the physician's testimony and my complete memory loss of that night.

My parents gritted their teeth helplessly: "So Duan Ming truly saved your life."

Merchants had low status. Even though the Shen family was the wealthiest imperial merchant, they were always looked down upon in social circles.

I was about the same age as the Crown Prince. My parents had carefully cultivated me hoping I could enter the Eastern Palace for a good future.

Everything was ruined last night, ruined by a mere guard.

My father's hair turned white overnight. The next day, he went to the Eastern Palace to apologize.

I was on the selection list. If this wasn't handled well, it could be seen as provoking the Eastern Palace and disrespecting royal authority.

The Eastern Palace didn't punish him. The Crown Prince personally visited, telling me not to seek death and to live well.

For several days, Duan Ming knelt in our courtyard, seemingly apologizing but actually forcing marriage.

A woman who lost her chastity also lost control over her life.

Finally, burdened by Duan Ming's life-saving grace, I resigned myself to marrying into the Duan family.

It appeared to be marrying down, but actually Duan Ming moved into the Shen family mansion, bringing his rude old mother to live with us.

A servant overnight leaped to son-in-law status, enjoying three generations of wealth accumulated by the Shen imperial merchants.

As the Shen family's only daughter, having lost the Eastern Palace's prospects, my parents could only resign themselves, using all of Shen family's connections to support Duan Ming's career.

With mountains of gold and silver clearing the way, three years later, Duan Ming finally achieved the rank of Fourth-rank Mingwei General through suppressing bandits.

He wasn't talented to begin with—this was the limit of what the Shen family could support.

Parents who love their children plan for their future. My parents only hoped he would treat me well.

But on the day Duan Ming achieved fame and success, he brought those three beggars to our door.

The three beggars shouted at the sight of me: "We are the General's wife's lovers before her marriage!"

They opened their foul-smelling mouths, showing blackened teeth, wantonly mocking me before everyone.

I thought they were madmen causing trouble and told Duan Ming to drive them away.

But Duan Ming suddenly changed his expression, sneering wickedly:

"Why drive them away? They're telling the truth. These three beggars are not only your lovers but also your matchmakers!"

"What did you say?!"

"That medicine is truly from the Western Regions. Three years, and you're still deceived, wife."

Duan Ming declared openly before my parents:

"It wasn't me who violated you that night—it was these three beggars!"

He reminisced: "You were quite alluring then, wife. If I hadn't found you dirty after the beggars touched you, you might have barely sufficed that day. After all, who would have known in that alley?"

"Father-in-law, mother-in-law, you actually took me as your savior."

Duan Ming shook his general's armor impressively:

"In truth, I just found the young lady's body that morning!"

"And let such a noble lady marry me, gaining all this wealth and glory for free!"

When my father learned the truth, he immediately spat blood and died.

My mother wanted to die with Duan Ming but was pushed by him against a table corner, her head splitting open and bleeding.

I trembled all over, pulling out a hairpin to die with Duan Ming, but he kicked me off the high platform. I fell covered in blood.

As I lay dying, I saw those three beggars surround me.

The memories of that night flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern.

They bit my skin under cover of night, wetting my body in the mist.

I nearly broke down screaming and wailing, while Duan Ming embraced his childhood sweetheart, whom he had long kept outside, watching coldly.

That day, Duan Ming told outsiders that he had returned from suppressing bandits to find his wife having an affair with beggars. When the scandal was exposed, his wife went mad and killed her own parents, and Duan Ming had killed her in anger.

At that time, the court was declining, with internal and external troubles, and the government offices were in disarray. Such an absurd lie was never deeply investigated.

Thus Duan Ming both received his official position and rightfully obtained three generations of Shen family wealth.

He embraced his little childhood sweetheart, brought his old mother, stepped on my corpse, changed the Shen family plaque to "Duan Residence," and became the Shen family's "new master."

Everything from my past life was vivid, now playing out again after my rebirth.

Now, hearing the physician's words, my mother indeed, as in my previous life, tearfully and helplessly persuaded me:

"Qingzhi, what's done is done. You can't blame Duan Ming. Resign yourself."

"This is already all over the streets."

My father's expression was grave: "Marrying Duan Ming means claiming you were already engaged. At least it would be proper. I'll go to the Eastern Palace to apologize again. The Crown Prince is benevolent and surely won't punish."

"Otherwise, it would mean you before the selection... with..."

My father gritted his teeth: "Having an affair with a guard! It violates propriety and is even more of provoking the Eastern Palace, disrespecting the heir apparent—treason punishable by execution of nine generations!"

My parents didn't know that the one I "had an affair with" last night was that very Crown Prince.

Duan Ming thought he had already won. His eyes gleamed as he greedily gripped my hand:

"Young lady, for the sake of nine generations, you must wrong yourself and marry me!"

5

Everything my parents said was reasonable.

Duan Ming, or rather the mastermind behind all this, knew the Shen family would swallow their pride for the greater good.

Duan Ming was also confident but still pretending:

"Young lady, I truly didn't mean it. If you're angry, just give me a knife. I won't resist!"

I stared at Duan Ming's hypocritical face and suddenly smiled gently:

"Guard Duan, the physician said you saved my life. How could I bear to kill my savior?"

I raised my hand, touching Duan Ming's face, calling him tenderly:

"But Duan Lang, you hurt me last night. I want to punish you with a few strokes of the cane. Will you accept it?"

My beauty was first-class in the capital. Duan Ming was intoxicated by these soft words and immediately nodded like a pounding pestle:

"I'm willing to be punished, as long as it pleases the young lady!"

He thought this was a woman's small temper. After getting such an advantage, suffering a bit to please the beauty was naturally his pleasure.

My parents didn't interfere.

Duan Ming was taken to the courtyard. He lay on his back, bound by other guards.

He found it strange:

"I thought it was caning. Why am I lying like this?"

Supporting my sore waist and legs, I walked to his side and tapped Duan Ming's cheek with the flat of a dagger, my voice still gentle:

"Because I want to personally teach Duan Lang a lesson!"

Duan Ming thought I was flirting with him and smiled foolishly.

Soon, he couldn't smile anymore.

My knife slid from his face to his Adam's apple, chest, and abdomen.

Finally landing on that slight bulge between his legs.

Duan Ming panicked:

"Young lady, what are you doing?!"

"You just said you'd accept a knife, didn't you?"

I sneered coldly and suddenly struck downward between his legs!

Blood spurted! A sharp scream pierced the Shen family sky!

Moments later, a man and a horrifying piece of flesh were thrown from the Shen family gate.

The man's crotch flowed with blood as he spasmed and screamed on the ground.

A sharp-eyed passerby remarked: "Well, a fresh eunuch!"

I walked outside and told the gathered crowd:

"This watchdog who dared to bite his master's family's reputation—this is his fate!"

Duan Ming's face turned pale from pain as he glared at me resentfully: "You—you dirty woman!"

I pinched the castrating knife, throwing it on the ground disgustedly:

"You're the dirty one!"

I castrated Duan Ming's roots of descendants.

Of course, with this knife, I could have taken his life directly.

But if he died, how could I lure out the mastermind?

In the watching crowd, some looked abnormal and hurried away—probably to report.

Sure enough, within an hour, a maid came to report:

"Duan Ming was dragged away, leaving only a pool of blood on the ground."

6

In the following days, capital city rumors flew wildly.

Some said the Shen family's daughter was drugged and violated by her guard, then in anger castrated him publicly.

Others said the Shen family's daughter, after having an affair, killed the donkey after grinding the mill.

The various rumors ultimately concluded: "Anyway, this Shen family daughter has lost her chastity and should hang herself with white silk to preserve her dignity!"

They also praised: "That guard surnamed Duan is truly a role model for our generation! A mere gatekeeper who tasted the imperial merchant's only daughter! Even though he was castrated, he still came out ahead!"

My parents had forbidden servants from gossiping in my presence, but these rumors still reached my ears.

The oldest elder of the Shen clan even sent someone to present me with a white silk ribbon—the meaning was clear.

I looked at that three-foot white silk. In my past life, I had truly considered suicide.

But my parents only had me. They loved and protected me, planning for my future. I couldn't bear to leave them to suffer alone in their old age, so I could only swallow my anger and marry, which ultimately harmed the entire family.

This life, I personally stored that white silk in my chest—those who should be hanged are others!

Everyone thought I couldn't go on living, but I actively cooperated with physicians to nurse my health.

Compared to my broken body from the past life, this time only the wound on my leg where I stabbed myself was more serious.

The physician checked my pulse, tactfully reminding me not to indulge in debauchery.

"Immortal's Desire" was vicious because one attack could cost the victim ten times their vital energy, leaving them weak for months.

But the medicine the physician prescribed restored my vital energy within three days.

One day out of curiosity, I lifted a corner of the gauze curtain and recognized that the one nursing me wasn't an ordinary physician but Li Changyu, the imperial hospital's top gynecologist and daughter of the physician general.

Li Changyu was the foremost female physician, only taking pulses for palace nobility.

Only the Crown Prince Pei Yuan could request Li the Physician, both in this life and the past.

"Did the Crown Prince send you?"

Physician Li didn't deny it: "His Highness asked the young lady to take care of your health."

Since we knew each other, I simply lifted the gauze curtain.

Physician Li saw my refreshed spirit and smiled with relief: "The Crown Prince asked me to come because he was afraid you might seek death. Seeing your rosy and vibrant appearance now, I know you can overcome this hurdle."

I said calmly: "Chastity is just a shackle imposed by the world. What I want to do is break free from this shackle, not add another white silk upon it."

Physician Li said: "It's good that you can see through this. Poor Miss Lin, abducted by bandits for one night, returned and hanged herself. When I arrived, everyone was still cursing."

I frowned: "Cursing what?"

"Cursing that Miss Lin died too late, that she should have hanged herself immediately after being violated to demonstrate her chastity, rather than returning to the Lin residence to die."

"A seventeen-year-old girl, unfortunate in life, cursed by her own clan after death for 'dying at home, staining the Lin family's dignity.'"

Li Changyu sighed heavily, her eyes filled with pity, regret, and self-blame for not arriving in time to save her.

In my past life, Li Changyu had also treated my broken body.

She had even hinted that those injuries didn't seem like the work of one person.

At that time, I was deceived by Duan Ming and didn't think deeply, nor dared to.

Li Changyu was probably afraid I would be like Miss Lin and seek death, so she didn't dare make everything clear.

After changing the medicine, I grabbed Li Changyu and asked: "Did the Crown Prince say anything?"

"Besides telling you to rest well, he didn't say anything else."

I curled my lip—dog of a man.

My rebirth timing was too delicate, as if heaven intended to play this trick on me again.

"Framing" the Crown Prince that night was my only choice.

The situation was too passive. Half my bet was placed on the Crown Prince.

Li Changyu asked me in return: "Does the young lady have any message for the Crown Prince?"

"Since that's the case, I have nothing to say."

I'm not above playing hard to get either.

Li Changyu smiled: "I'll deliver these words to the Crown Prince."

After the physician left, my mother came to see me again. She couldn't help but ask:

"Zhier, tell Mother, who was it really that night?"

"Mother, I was indeed violated, but it absolutely wasn't Duan Ming."

"Then who was it? You won't say who drugged you, who violated you. Zhier, at this point, you must tell your parents so we can find a way out for you!"

Just as Mother finished speaking, a maid stumbled in to report:

"Madam, Miss! Trouble! Princess Huayin has arrived in her phoenix carriage, and Duan Ming has returned too!"

I clasped my mother's wrist:

"Mother, you'll soon know all the answers."

"That man will surely come to claim me today too!"

7

I wasn't surprised this matter reached the palace.

Losing chastity before the selection could be seen as provoking the imperial family and disrespecting the heir apparent.

Therefore, Princess Huayin coming to the Shen family under this pretext to demand accountability was perfectly reasonable.

The princess sat in her phoenix carriage as the Shen family knelt in welcome.

"Rise."

With these two words, I dared to rise and look at the princess.

This was the second time I had met Princess Huayin.

Ten days ago at the palace banquet, the princess gifted me a cup of fine wine. When I thanked her, I hurriedly caught my first glimpse of the princess.

Now I carefully examined the princess.

She was thirty years old.

Among the princesses of Daqi, some married court officials, others went to distant lands for marriage alliances, mostly settling their marriages before twenty.

Only Princess Huayin remained unmarried at this age. Emperor Yuande wasn't anxious either, memorials urging the princess to marry were consistently ignored by the emperor.

The princess was stunningly beautiful, wearing splendid brocade robes, adorned with gold and jade, leaning casually in her sedan chair like a decadent and world-weary peony.

The recently castrated Duan Ming stood with a hunched back, saying shrilly:

"Princess! Shen Qingzhi had a secret affair with me in an alley before the selection. When exposed, she poisoned me against me! She wanted to climb high to the Eastern Palace, deceiving the Crown Prince and deceiving His Majesty! Execute her nine generations! Seek justice for me!!"

Without that thing, a man's mentality must be twisted. He no longer bothered to fake his infatuation, only wanting to kill me immediately.

The princess looked up: "Shen Qingzhi, do you know your crime?"

I retorted: "I was framed and drugged—I'm also a victim. May I ask the princess, what crime have I committed?"

The princess wasn't the least bit guilty. In her eyes, I was like an ant. Even if she drove me to death, she would only find it interesting and amusing.

"I don't care about the complications. Before the selection, you had illicit relations with a man—that's an established fact. With this alone, I can sentence you to death!"

She raised her hand, and two palace maids stepped forward, one holding a red wedding ribbon, the other a white silk ribbon.

"You only have two paths: either resign yourself to marrying Duan Ming, and I will personally preside over your wedding."

"Or hang yourself by the neck to preserve your chastity and dignity!"

My parents knelt begging: "Princess, show mercy! Duan Ming is now a eunuch—how can he marry?!"

"So what if he's a eunuch?"

The princess smiled innocently yet cruelly: "Eunuchs can still have food and drink mates! They just lack the pleasures of the bedchamber—the young lady will have to endure that."

With the princess backing him, Duan Ming grew bold:

"I became a eunuch because of you! Shen Qingzhi, you cut off my descendants—you'll serve me for the rest of your life!!"

"I won't marry!"

I forcefully resisted: "Duan Ming's contract of sale is still in the Shen family's hands. Daqi law states that for servants' faults, the master can punish them themselves!"

"For serious offenses, no need to go through the courts—they can be executed within the household!"

"As long as Duan Ming dares enter the Shen family gate, even with your princess residence's guarantee, I can make him die without a burial place!"

8

"Shen Qingzhi, you dare disobey my orders!!"

"This subject doesn't dare. I'm only reminding the princess that Daqi laws were established by our ancestors—princesses shouldn't defy ancestral will, or you'll give people cause to talk!"

Huayin straightened her upper body, finally showing some anger on her beautiful face, then she suddenly smiled:

"What a clever tongue. Since you won't marry, choose the second path."

That white silk was held before my eyes.

"You yourself admit you lost your virtue that night."

"According to Daqi law, a candidate losing chastity before the selection is equivalent to disrespecting the imperial family!"

"His Majesty also personally said that women who lose their chastity should hang themselves with white silk to demonstrate chastity!"

This was originally just a private punishment.

When Emperor Yuande ascended the throne, he established this private punishment as iron law—for women who lost chastity, in these superiors' eyes, it was almost as heinous as murder and arson.

I used the law to refute the princess, and she similarly used the law to suppress me:

"Furthermore, you had a secret meeting with your lover—the crime is doubled!"

"Multiple crimes together—I gift you this white silk, leaving you intact!"

"Duan Ming, send your young lady on her way!"

Duan Ming finally found his chance at revenge. He pulled the white silk taut with both hands, step by step approaching me.

My parents knelt on the ground, begging the princess to spare my life, but were pinned down by guards.

I tried to dodge, but my hands were seized by two strong matrons and twisted behind my back. One grabbed my hairpin, forcing my head up to await that white silk.

"Young lady thinks you're so high and mighty, yet you've fallen into my hands?"

Duan Ming held the white silk, his eyes vicious: "If I don't break your neck, I'm not a Duan!"

At the critical moment, I shouted:

"You can't kill me! I'm pregnant!!"

Princess Huayin seemed struck by some nerve, suddenly laughing loudly, yet greater hostility flowed from her eyes:

"Pregnant, so what! Do you think this princess would pity you with two deaths?! With a bastard child, you deserve to die even more!!"

"The child in my womb isn't a bastard—it's an imperial descendant!"

"What did you say?!"

"Princess, didn't you want to know who violated me that night?"

Under the princess's gaze, I declared loudly:

"The one who spent that wonderful night with me—was the Crown Prince! It was the current heir apparent Pei Yuan!!"

9

Everyone stood frozen in shock. My parents' mouths dropped open.

Duan Ming grew frantic: "This woman is mad! How dare she imagine the Crown Prince! That night it was me, it was me!!"

I watched the princess's shocked face as I confronted her:

"What a coincidence—that night the Crown Prince was also drugged and ended up in the alley. The princess should know that best, right?"

The princess's face paled slightly—she was the one who drugged him, so of course she knew best!

I angrily scolded the two matrons:

"I carry an imperial descendant—who dares touch me?!"

The two matrons were frightened and loosened their grip. I immediately seized the chance to break free.

I appeared confident, but inside I was uneasy.

Of course I wasn't pregnant—this was just a delaying tactic born of desperation.

This lie was so fragile; a little thought would reveal fatal flaws.

What I didn't expect was that the one who saw through this deception wasn't those experienced matrons, but the unmarried Princess Huayin.

"...Shen Qingzhi, it's only been ten days since this happened—how could you be pregnant so quickly?!"

"Someone, check her pulse to see if it's true!"

The palace physician attending the princess approached me: "Miss Shen, please give me your wrist."

Under my sleeve, I tightly clenched my palm.

The physician urged: "Whether you're pregnant, I'll know with one feel of your pulse. Miss Shen, please extend your hand."

"Why don't you dare extend your hand? Your conscience is troubled!"

Duan Ming pressed closer: "I told you—Shen Qingzhi is crazy to be Crown Princess! She even imagines herself pregnant with the Crown Prince's child! Ridiculous—this madwoman! Strangle her quickly!!"

The physician urged again: "Miss Shen, extend your hand!!"

Once the physician felt my pulse, this lie would be exposed.

All my cards were played. I looked toward the gate, never seeing that figure.

"Please roll up your sleeve yourself."

With no choice, I lowered my head and rolled up my right sleeve, the veins under my skin exposed to the slightly cold air.

Suddenly a pair of warm hands grasped my wrist.

I trembled all over, thinking the lie was exposed, but heard a warm voice say with a smile:

"Indeed pregnant."

I looked up sharply, thinking I'd met a quack, but met Pei Yuan's handsome face.

His large hand tightly wrapped my wrist.

The physician had been thrown behind him by the Crown Prince. The Shen residence, originally surrounded by the princess's people, now stood filled with Eastern Palace guards.

Pei Yuan felt my pulse, smiling freely and uninhibitedly:

"Quite capable, Shen Zhizhi."

Zhizhi, my personal name.

Cold sweat broke down my back. I suddenly relaxed, gritting my teeth and cursing—what perfect timing, dog of a Crown Prince!!

10

Of course Pei Yuan could tell I wasn't pregnant.

His hand moved from my pulse to my wrist, then to my palm. His long fingers forcefully invaded the spaces between my fingers, intertwining with mine as he raised our hands high before Princess Huayin:

"The one who had a secret wine meeting with Shen Qingzhi that night was me, and Shen Qingzhi indeed carries my child."

Pei Yuan said flamboyantly and unrestrainedly:

"If Royal Sister has objections, write a memorial stamped with the princess seal and send it to the Eastern Palace. I'll review it when I have time."

Pei Yuan was the queen's direct heir—his legitimate status was noble enough. At fifteen, he led troops to suppress the northern Di threat, reclaiming thirteen cities for Daqi. At seventeen, he presided over the cabinet, purging corruption throughout the court. Now he had been regent for three years, holding real power.

Everyone said Pei Yuan was Daqi's future, the people's savior.

But Princess Huayin's mother was just a dancer Emperor Yuande dallied with during an inspection tour. Huayin was only brought back to the palace at age five. She had no maternal family backing, and even though the emperor clearly favored this daughter.

The status gap was so wide that if Princess Huayin had something to say, she indeed had to first submit a memorial to the Eastern Palace, then see the Crown Prince's mood.

She could use secret schemes privately, but in direct confrontation, the princess naturally fell behind.

Huayin's expression was extremely colorful: "Royal Brother, do you know such behavior violates ritual propriety?!"

The Crown Prince made the final decision: "Shen Qingzhi was already one of the Crown Princess candidates. My meeting with her was naturally proper!"

"If Royal Sister wants to complain to Father Emperor, then I must also have someone thoroughly investigate what went wrong with the wine at the palace banquet, causing both myself and Miss Shen to lose control!"

This was almost tearing off all pretense of directly pointing out the princess's private schemes.

These past days, the Crown Prince must have discovered many things.

The princess was conscience-stricken and immediately extinguished her arrogance.

But Duan Ming was unwilling and even complained to the Crown Prince:

"Crown Prince! Don't be deceived by Shen Qingzhi! If it wasn't me who touched her that night, it should have been three beg—"

Before Duan Ming could finish, a long sword suddenly pierced his throat!

That sword was swift and fierce, bringing with it a terrifying sword energy!

Duan Ming's eyes widened in terror as they moved down, seeing his neck almost severed by that sword.

Blood spattered. Everyone screamed in terror.

Even the princess fell from her sedan chair in fright!

The Crown Prince drew his sword, stepped on Duan Ming's corpse, and wiped the blood from his blade with a cold face, warning the princess:

"Royal Sister had better not interfere in my bride selection again."

"Otherwise, beware that swords and arrows show no mercy!"

11

However grandly Princess Huayin entered the Shen residence, that's how disheveled she left.

The sedan chair carriers were terrified, nearly stumbling at the threshold.

The princess nearly fled in disgrace.

Duan Ming's corpse lay at my feet. My legs felt leaden and wouldn't move.

Pei Yuan kicked the dirty thing away for me, naturally reassuring my parents:

"Don't be afraid, he's completely dead."

My parents: "..."

We're not afraid of the dead—it's you, Your Highness the Crown Prince!

Pei Yuan looked at me again: "Stop pretending. Didn't I just hear you cursing me, calling me a dog of a Crown Prince?"

"You must have heard wrong, haha."

I tried to bluff my way through, but he grabbed my collar and pulled me back.

"Pregnant, and running around?"

"I made that up."

"Ah, you falsely claimed to be pregnant with the Crown Prince's child—that's deceiving the emperor, execution of nine generations."

I said angrily: "You came too late—I had no other choice!"

"I did it on purpose."

The Crown Prince suddenly took out that jade pendant engraved with my personal name:

"Playing hard to get with me—did you think I couldn't see through it?"

My heart faltered.

"That night in the alley, I could have maintained control, but you pounced like a hungry tiger, making me lose my breath and control."

"Afterward, you dared to play the victim first, claiming you didn't dare presume on the Eastern Palace, yet you dropped this jade pendant, afraid I couldn't find you."

"Too clumsy, too deliberate. Shen Zhizhi, have you never seduced a man before?"

All my tricks were seen through by him.

No wonder he ignored me these past few days—he wanted to see how far I could go on my own.

"Then will you kill me?"

"Killing you would be too boring. Three days from now is the selection—you must come."

I was stunned for a moment. I had set the bait, and the fish had seen through my intentions, but still took the bait.

"Why?"

After all my scheming against him, he truly didn't mind at all.

"If it hadn't been you that night, it would have been the princess's people."

"Rather than someone else, it might as well be you, Shen Zhizhi."

"Besides."

The Crown Prince laughed softly, leaning close to my ear and whispering:

"Miss Shen, do you still remember that night you kept grabbing my arm, shouting 'savior, savior'?"

When he approached, I first smelled a cold sandalwood scent.

My ears grew hot, my cheeks slightly flushed. Calming down, I said sincerely:

"If it hadn't been for Your Highness that night, I would already be wishing I were dead."

I said sincerely: "Your Highness is indeed my savior."

"Miss Shen, I often have the same dream."

Pei Yuan said: "In the dream, you are my savior."

He handed me an Eastern Palace token, turning and saying casually:

"Remember to come to the selection. We need to go through the formalities to legitimize you."

12

I looked down at this pure gold token. Besides the Eastern Palace cloud pattern, it bore the characters "Zhaolin."

That was Pei Yuan's style name—the world called him Crown Prince Zhaolin, meaning the sun's light descending upon Daqi.

He was the savior king that everyone in Daqi pinned their hopes on.

But such a man, in my past life, was forced to kill himself by Princess Huayin.

I still remembered that cold rainy night of my past life.

Duan Ming was away suppressing bandits, and I went to the temple to pray for him.

When I left in the morning, all was calm, but by the time I returned to the city, a palace coup had begun.

That coup was initiated by Princess Huayin.

When I returned to the city, the coup was nearly over.

Defeated rebels had taken me hostage. Crown Prince Zhaolin called off the pursuing royal guards.

Huayin laughed loudly:

"For an irrelevant official's wife, you can still be so benevolent. No wonder everyone says that when you ascend the throne, Daqi will welcome a century of prosperity. What a pity, Zhaolin brother, you won't live much longer!"

Under the moonlight, I glimpsed Crown Prince Zhaolin.

After that night behind the gauze curtain, I hadn't seen the Crown Prince for three years.

In three years, the once high-spirited Crown Prince's face had aged prematurely, white hair appearing at his temples.

Three years ago, the Crown Prince was also drugged in the alley. After the selection, he chose his bride in just one day—it was the adopted daughter of the Duke, Miss Lin.

There were rumors on the streets that the Crown Prince was poisoned in the alley that night, and Miss Lin had relieved him of the lust poison.

Out of gratitude, and considering Miss Lin's reputation, the Crown Princess position naturally fell to Miss Lin.

After marriage, Miss Lin bore the Crown Prince a son and a daughter, but both children died painfully at age one.

The imperial physicians said it was congenital deficiency.

I heard the Crown Prince loved those two children very much. A one-year-old's death carries much deeper feeling and pain than a child lost in the womb.

After that, the Crown Prince's health wasn't good.

The imperial physicians couldn't find the cause, thinking it was excessive grief.

His body grew weaker day by day. A year ago, he could still force his sick body to travel north to repel the invading Beidan people.

After that triumphant return, the Crown Prince grew much white hair.

When the Crown Prince was exhausted, Princess Huayin rapidly expanded her power in court, finally choosing this rainy night when the emperor was seriously ill to launch her coup.

She still failed.

In the night, Crown Prince Zhaolin shot an arrow through the rebel leader holding me hostage between the eyebrows.

He saved me, but before I could thank him...

Crown Princess Lin rushed over, kneeling to beg the Crown Prince to spare the princess.

The princess seemed to surrender and said something to the Crown Prince in the rain.

That night was too chaotic. I clearly heard that sentence but could never remember it.

Probably a provocation, a threat.

The Crown Prince's face suddenly turned deathly pale. He suddenly vomited a mouthful of black blood, swaying as if about to fall.

The princess and Miss Lin were both taken away.

I stepped forward to help the Crown Prince, but he only looked at me, his eyes sad and pitiful, murmuring:

"That spring banquet, we met."

My heartstrings trembled. When I tried to approach again, he waved me away. He handed me an umbrella, telling me to return home and not look back.

The rain suddenly intensified. A sword energy cut through the hair by my temple.

I sharply turned around, my pupils shrinking—Crown Prince Zhaolin swung his sword at his own throat, blood and rain striking Daqi's soil together.

That night, the people of Daqi lost their hope.

Afterward, Crown Princess Lin also poisoned herself, while Princess Huayin laughed as she fell from the city tower.

Emperor Yuande also died of rage soon after, succeeded by the mediocre King Cheng.

King Cheng found it difficult even to be a maintaining ruler.

Daqi thus declined.

Half a year later, my family met with trouble, and no officials would handle the case.

Not long after my death, Daqi, having lost Crown Prince Zhaolin, was breached by allied forces from the northern Di and Beidan peoples.

Thus, a dynasty declined toward destruction.

13

Now, I caressed the Eastern Palace token engraved with "Zhaolin," watching Pei Zhaolin's vibrant and upright figure in the sunlight.

In my past life, I knew the Crown Prince was a good person, so after rebirth, I despicably "framed" him and "used" him.

I thought he didn't know, even feeling smug about it.

Now it seems he was just benevolent.

Guessing I was scheming against him, he still stepped forward to rescue me at the crucial moment.

Guessing I had no way out, he paved a path of survival for me.

Guessing how harsh the world was toward women, he preserved my dignity, wanting to legitimize me.

In this life, my fate might have changed, but what about Pei Zhaolin?

What did Princess Huayin say to him that would drive such a person to suicide?

Why was he gravely ill, why did he grow white hair, why did he kill himself with his sword?

In this life, my fate was bound to the Crown Prince's. I absolutely couldn't let him repeat past mistakes.

I caught up with the Crown Prince: "Your Highness, if you trust me, send someone to investigate Princess Huayin's dealings with the Duke's residence over these years."

The Shen family's connections couldn't reach the Princess Residence or Duke's Mansion, but the Eastern Palace could.

I only needed to point him in a clear direction.

The Crown Prince seemed to want to ask me why, so I told him directly: "The Crown Princess is the future Empress, and the Crown Princess's children are the future ruler. The princess interferes in your selection because of that dragon throne, and the Duke's residence is the only power behind her."

It was the Duke's residence that enabled Princess Huayin to be brought back to the royal family eighteen years ago.

In my past life, the princess allied with the Duke's residence to launch that coup.

But the Crown Prince caught my meaning: "You were certain today I would come?"

I told him frankly: "Your Highness is a smart man and could certainly discover that the princess orchestrated that night in the alley. I believed you would descend like a divine soldier and rescue me."

I declared confidently: "Because we have common enemies and common interests."

Pei Yuan reached out and pinched my earlobe, laughing softly as he scolded me:

"Little fox."

14

Duan Ming was dead, killed by the Crown Prince personally.

Public opinion on the streets suddenly turned, now spreading tales of my romantic destiny with the Crown Prince.

Duan Ming became a treacherous dog cursed by everyone.

My reputation was restored, and all of Daqi now acknowledged me as the de facto Crown Princess candidate, needing only to go through the formalities.

On the selection day, my mother carefully dressed me up.

She swept away her worries, smiling from ear to ear, praising my good fortune, able to turn misfortune into blessing.

"The Crown Prince is someone worthy of trust. Your mother is happy for you. Your father—these past few days, the corners of his mouth haven't come down!"

I looked at myself in the mirror, but an inexplicable unease grew in my heart.

This unease was confirmed as I was on my way to the Eastern Palace.

People on the street ran toward the city tower, saying the Duke's daughter was about to jump from the tower.

I stepped out of the sedan chair and hurried over to see my past life's Crown Princess, now the Duke's daughter Lin Nanxue, wearing wedding robes, standing on the city tower loudly proclaiming:

"That night it was me! I was the one who relieved the Crown Prince's lust poison! The Shen family's daughter is an impostor!"

The one who married into the Eastern Palace in my past life by taking advantage of the alley incident was this Miss Lin.

On that rainy night, when the princess's rebellion failed, Lin Nanxue knelt to beg for the princess's life—proof they were part of the same faction.

Everything was now clear.

At the palace banquet that day, because the Crown Prince favored me with a second glance, the princess decided to eliminate me completely.

She gifted me poisoned wine, had beggars violate me, then let the guard take false claim, destroying my reputation and forcing me to marry.

More importantly, it could cut off the Crown Prince's thoughts of me, paving the way for Lin Nanxue to become Crown Princess.

The princess's plan was flawless, but in this life, I had overturned it.

This scene before me was a desperate move from a cornered beast.

Lin Nanxue stood on the most conspicuous city tower in wedding robes, playing the victim:

"Shen Qingzhi is an impostor! The Crown Princess should be me! Since my purity is lost, I can only die to prove my chastity!"

Princess Huayin wouldn't let me go, nor would she let Pei Yuan go.

This seemingly open blade Lin Nanxue wielded at me was actually a hidden arrow aimed at the Eastern Palace.

15

As soon as I appeared, I became the focus of the crowd.

Lin Nanxue stood on the city tower looking down at me.

She seemed about to kill herself, but the hand under her sleeve tightly gripped the corner of the city wall.

Seeking death was false; making a big scene to force the Eastern Palace to comply was true.

"Since you say I'm an impostor, Miss Lin, let me ask you—did you clearly see the arrow wound on the Crown Prince's right chest that night?"

Lin Nanxue said: "Of course I saw it clearly! That wound was quite deep! Heartbreaking!"

The arriving Eastern Palace guards loudly refuted: "His Highness has no arrow wound on his right chest—it's on the left chest, over his heart!"

Lin Nanxue, without thinking, immediately changed her story: "Right, it's over the heart—it was too dark, I remembered wrong!"

I sneered: "How can someone live with an arrow through the heart? Do you take the Crown Prince for an iron man? Miss Lin, as the Duke's daughter, why disregard your reputation and lie so openly?"

Laughter erupted from below. Lin Nanxue's face flushed with embarrassment as she scolded me: "Shen Qingzhi, you truly are a merchant's daughter—crude and vulgar! How dare you joke about the Crown Prince's private matters!"

"Miss Lin should first consider what crime it is to slander the Crown Prince!"

While Lin Nanxue was flustered, Eastern Palace guards rushed forward and rescued her from the city tower.

A eunuch arrived with imperial guards, conveying the emperor's verbal order for Lin Nanxue to come before the emperor to explain this matter.

Lin Nanxue and I arrived at the Eastern Palace together.

Emperor Yuande sat in the main seat. Princess Huayin was also present.

The participating candidate ladies stood on both sides.

When Pei Yuan saw me arrive, the corners of his mouth slightly turned up.

After bowing, Princess Huayin asked with false affection: "Miss Lin, why are you in wedding robes trying to kill yourself on the Crown Prince's selection day? Do you have some grievance? Speak out and let His Majesty seek justice for you!"

Lin Nanxue said with tears: "Your Majesty, please investigate! That night at the palace banquet, it was I who was with the Crown Prince..."

She appeared greatly wronged as she declared loudly: "Shen Qingzhi is an impostor—she has deceived everyone!"

"Your Majesty, I report." I stepped forward, "The last person who slandered me was the Shen family guard. That man has already been personally executed by the Crown Prince."

Princess Huayin sneered:

"Of course it wasn't a guard—but someone even more despicable than a guard! Bring in the Lin family's witness!"

Guards escorted three beggars before the emperor.

As soon as the three beggars appeared, a foul odor assailed my nostrils, instantly pulling me back to that filthy, unbearable night of my past life.

My chest churned, my hands trembling uncontrollably. I struggled like a drowning person until I pierced my palm, barely calming myself to face these dirty villains.

I tried my best to suppress my discomfort, repeatedly reminding myself that was past suffering—I had avoided it, I should be free.

But Lin Nanxue's reaction was even stronger than mine—she actually turned her head and vomited, her face even paler than mine.

Those three beggars were coming for me.

"Miss Shen, have you truly forgotten how ecstatic you were in that alley that night?"

"Didn't the three of us serve you well?"

"Unexpectedly, you still had strength to run find the Crown Prince—do you despise us beggars?"

Their words were full of humiliation and false accusations against me.

When three men uniformly slander a woman's chastity, even the most absurd lies become established fact in people's eyes.

Pei Yuan was furious: "How dare you act so presumptuously in the Eastern Palace!!"

I restrained the enraged Crown Prince, staring at one beggar with sores on his limbs, and asked Pei Yuan: "Your Highness is skilled in medicine—do you know what kind of rash is on that beggar's hands?"

Pei Yuan was surprised by my composure at this moment. Under my inquiring gaze, he reluctantly gave the answer: "It's syphilitic spots. They're contagious."

"In other words, anyone with intimate contact would develop the same spots."

I boldly rolled up my sleeve, revealing flawless, fair skin.

Such iron evidence surpassed a thousand words of sophistry!

The crowd no longer doubted me, instead cursing me: "Merchant's daughter—truly cannot be presented in public!"

"If I still cared about these trivialities, I would have been wronged to death!"

I then approached Lin Nanxue:

"Miss Lin, you keep saying you were also in the alley that night. We've already proven you were lying on the city tower. Now you've slandered me and been exposed—full of lies. Could it be you who wants to frame the Eastern Palace?"

Lin Nanxue guiltily took a step back. She wore her wedding robes extremely thick, her sleeves covering her palms, and her collar stood very high.

The more she covered up, the more suspicious it was.

I suddenly grabbed Lin Nanxue's arm: "Do you dare roll up your sleeves like me to prove your innocence?"

I was slightly taller than her. From this angle, I could already see scattered red spots on her neck hidden by her collar.

16

The emperor lost patience and sent two palace maids to hold Lin Nanxue, directly rolling up her layered sleeves. Above them was indeed a horrifying red rash, identical to the beggars'.

In this life, the one violated by beggars had become Lin Nanxue.

That night I had taken Pei Yuan away and hidden in the firewood room.

Those beggars couldn't find me but encountered Lin Nanxue, who had come to find the Crown Prince as planned.

Once these desperate men gave in to desire, mentioning the princess or the Duke was useless.

When I saw Lin Nanxue vomiting at the sight of the beggars, I guessed part of it.

Later seeing her cover her collar and sleeves so carefully confirmed it further.

Because in my past life, I had also contracted this rash, and Duan Ming had humiliated me, saying I had a filthy disease.

The truth was now clear.

Lin Nanxue frantically covered her sleeves. Under everyone's subtle gazes, she awkwardly and miserably pleaded with Princess Huayin:

"Princess, you arranged all of this. You must stand up for me!"

But the princess kicked her away disgustedly: "You've slandered the Crown Prince, and now you dare slander me too!"

"Princess Huayin is so heartless to her own biological daughter!"

With these words, even the emperor's expression suddenly changed.

Lin Nanxue looked sharply at me: "What did you say?"

"Miss Lin, haven't you noticed that your eyebrows and eyes resemble the princess's by eighty percent?"

"Fifteen years ago, the Duke's residence brought back a baby girl from their suburban villa, and during that time, Princess Huayin was recuperating at that same villa."

This was the only piece of intelligence the Eastern Palace had uncovered.

Actually, it was all just my speculation.

Lin Nanxue was eighteen this year, Princess Huayin was only thirty—they clearly couldn't be mother and daughter.

I just wanted to make the situation more chaotic.

But at this moment, Emperor Yuande on the throne suddenly became enraged:

"Huayin, how dare you meddle in the Eastern Palace's selection and abuse your power! Seize her! Lock the princess and Lin Nanxue together under house arrest!"

"Father, what are you so guilty about?"

As if a seal had been broken, the princess actually declared loudly before everyone: "Yes, Lin Nanxue is my biological daughter!"

"Guess who her father is?"

She seemed to have been suppressed for too, too long. Just someone slightly mentioned it, and she couldn't bear to reveal everything, with a desperate madness that sought mutual destruction.

The princess stared at the emperor on the throne: "Eighteen years have passed—Father, have you completely forgotten?!"

The princess's words suddenly enlightened me. Not only did Lin Nanxue resemble the princess, but when examined closely, her entire face was extremely similar to Emperor Yuande's!

Emperor Yuande rose in fury: "The princess has gone mad! Silence her! Drag the princess away! Imprison her forever!!"

The princess was still speaking madness. The eunuch beside the emperor ordered the use of the bamboo plaque to strike the princess's mouth. He struck until blood flowed freely, and only then did the princess give up struggling like a dead fish.

The emperor was clearly furious. Under absolute royal power suppression, I also fell into a passive situation. Carelessly exposing such scandal, I might die too.

But who could have imagined things would be so absurd!

The sound of bamboo striking the mouth continued. I trembled in fear.

At this moment, a pair of large hands pulled me to his side. I looked up startled—it was Pei Yuan pulling me into his embrace, a protective posture.

Whatever happened, at this moment, his embrace gave me complete security.

When the punishment ended, as the princess was dragged past me, she suddenly asked me with bloodied lips:

"Does 'Immortal's Desire' taste good?"

"When Father Emperor used this medicine on me..."

Princess Huayin's eyes reddened, her gaze both sad and hateful:

"That year, I was only ten."

17

I finally remembered what Princess Huayin had said to the Crown Prince in my past life.

She said: "Your Crown Princess, Lin, is the illegitimate child of my incestuous affair with your father!"

Under the thunder and rain, the Crown Prince suddenly understood the root of all tragedy.

He had married his own sister, fathered two children destined to die young, and his wife, instigated by the princess, poisoned his food and drink daily.

The revered father had violated his royal sister, and he, unknowingly, had committed incest with his own half-sister.

Blood relatives disgraced, close relatives scheming, a wife who poisoned him, twice the pain of losing children, a weakened body, and his last bit of energy exhausted by warfare.

He hadn't done anything wrong, but everything was forcing him toward death.

The moment Crown Prince Zhaolin swung his sword at his own throat, Princess Huayin laughed madly in the rain, saying to the approaching Emperor Yuande:

"Father Emperor, your most outstanding son died at the hands of my illegitimate child with you!"

In this life, everything that would have driven Pei Yuan to his death was nipped in advance.

But someone still suffered.

Emperor Yuande wished he could cut out Huayin's tongue to preserve his precarious reputation.

Lin Nanxue, who had learned all the truth, collapsed to the ground, sobbing brokenly.

The candidate ladies present who witnessed such royal scandal could only tremble in fear, all lowering their heads, not daring to speak more.

Pei Yuan's face was slightly pale—clearly he also couldn't accept all this.

If it hadn't been me that night, it would have been Lin Nanxue, and then these filthy truths would someday shoot the Crown Prince between the eyebrows, forcing him to his death.

Fortunately, the great mistake hadn't yet been made, and I had turned everything around.

Pei Yuan suddenly embraced me.

"I always have the same dream. In the dream, I kill myself on a rainy night, and you rush forward, grabbing that sword."

"The dream was right. Shen Qingzhi, you are my savior."

18

Like in my past life, this selection ended hastily.

I became the Crown Prince's unwavering choice for Crown Princess.

But the emperor's gaze when he examined me that day was full of killing intent.

I had said things I shouldn't have, threatening the emperor's illustrious reputation.

No wonder Princess Huayin never married. Perhaps on the eve of the selection, she remained Emperor Yuande's exclusive plaything.

She had lived like this for nearly twenty years.

That day the princess was so vulnerable, but thinking about it, I realize that my words were the last straw that broke and drove her mad.

Emperor Yuande wanted to kill me.

Pei Zhaolin entered the palace, confronting Emperor Yuande in the imperial study for an entire day, finally securing the imperial edict appointing me as Crown Princess.

He told me: "Father is old. Some things, he must listen to me."

"Otherwise, who will protect his reputation after his death?"

He used that royal scandal to force Emperor Yuande to bow and surrender, saving me and the child in my womb.

After all, Daqi's future was in Pei Zhaolin's hands, long beyond the control of that old beast Emperor Yuande.

On the day I was appointed Crown Princess, the Crown Prince personally detected my true pregnancy pulse.

The princess was certain ten days was too soon for pregnancy symptoms because she had already been a mother—when she was twelve years old.

So she knew better than the palace matrons that I was lying that day.

Now more than a month had passed, and the lie had become truth.

Pei Yuan was overjoyed, spinning me around like a top three times—the Crown Prince truly loved children.

So in my past life, after twice losing children, he was so grieved it harmed his health.

His Highness is my savior.

This child and I will also be His Highness's saviors.

19

After everything settled, I went to the Duke's residence to see Lin Nanxue.

After entering the residence, I discovered her living quarters were actually converted from a firewood room.

Princess Huayin hated Emperor Yuande, so naturally she also hated the daughter carrying his blood.

She sent Lin Nanxue to the Duke's residence, tacitly allowing them to mistreat this "illegitimate child," as if this could revenge herself against that beast father at her most powerless age.

When Lin Nanxue came of age, Princess Huayin appeared in her life as a benefactor, backing her in the Duke's residence, sending her beautiful clothes and palace pastries.

Those accustomed to bitterness, when given a little sweetness, will feel infinite gratitude toward that person.

When the Crown Prince's selection came, Lin Nanxue naturally followed the princess's arrangement. She prepared to marry into the Eastern Palace, use poison to destroy the Crown Prince's body, use those two children to torment the Crown Prince's spirit. Even if this would also harm her body, she didn't care.

She believed that as long as she excellently completed all this, the princess would like her even more.

But in my past life, she only met the fate of poisoning herself to death.

In this life, what lay before her was the same white silk that once lay before me.

"I knew from age four that I was just an outsider living under someone else's roof. The Duke's true daughter daily coaxed in the lady's embrace. I envied them so. I too longed to have a mother by my side."

Lin Nanxue held that white silk, tilting her head as she looked at the sunlight outside the window:

"But my mother only saw me as a tool for revenge."

"It was she who told me to go to that alley that night, she who summoned those three beggars..."

She smiled bitterly, reaching out to reveal those spotted rashes.

She was about to throw the white silk toward the rafters, but I snatched it away.

"The princess is also a pitiable person. If you must hate, don't just hate her."

"You should hate the emperor on that dragon throne, hate that beast who violated young girls."

"Even if our hatred cannot shake royal power, you must live to see the villains' downfall."

I took away the white silk, pulling Lin Nanxue out the door, into the sunlight, to the imperial capital's execution ground.

They were executing criminals there by hanging.

On the gallows were those three beggars.

"The ones who should be hanged are not you—it's them!"

20

The Eastern Palace had informed the Department of Justice that when those three beggars were hanged, they suffered far more than other criminals.

After witnessing this, Lin Nanxue suddenly said to me:

"So those who are hanged die so ugly, with their tongues sticking out."

I gave her a prescription for the syphilitic rash:

"Take it on time, and you'll be cured within a year."

"Physicians all say this condition is very difficult to treat."

Indeed it was difficult to treat. In my past life, I sought famous doctors everywhere, enduring acupuncture and medicinal baths for over two years before finding such a miraculous cure.

"I have a distant cousin who also had this disease—she was cured with this prescription. Use it with confidence."

Lin Nanxue showed some instinctive concern: "Your cousin?"

"She had a similar experience to yours, but she lives well now. So you can't give up either. You've seen—being hanged is very, very ugly."

Lin Nanxue looked at me puzzled: "Why help me?"

I retorted: "We're both women—why not help?"

In the sunlight, she was stunned, then we smiled at each other.

On the day Lin Nanxue left the capital, someone from the Princess Residence gave her a small wooden box containing Princess Huayin's private assets over the years.

The imprisoned princess, at some moment, also felt guilty toward her daughter, so before she completely lost her mind, with her last bit of reason, she transferred all her private assets to Lin Nanxue.

Let her go to Jiangnan to find her own world.

21

Three years later, Emperor Yuande fell gravely ill.

On his sickbed, Pei Yuan steadily inherited imperial power and the nation.

The moment he received the jade seal, Pei Yuan coldly ordered before Yuande, who still had breath:

"Announce to the world—the emperor has passed away."

Emperor Yuande watched in shock as Pei Yuan, this great filial son.

Everyone knew Crown Prince Zhaolin was unparalleled in loyalty and filial piety—who would have thought he could do such a thing.

He dismissed everyone from the Hall of Prudent Virtue.

At this time, I had already become the new master of the rear palace, and everything behind obeyed my commands.

So when Huayin disguised herself as a palace maid and entered the Hall of Prudent Virtue before everyone, no one noticed.

Emperor Yuande still clung to life, refusing to die, when suddenly a white silk wrapped around his neck, followed by a suffocating sensation of a broken neck bone.

His hands struggled, eyes rolling back in terror as he saw Hua Yin's pale yet beautiful face.

The princess had already been secretly executed in her villa three years ago by Emperor Yuande's order.

But the emperor didn't know that his most favored Crown Prince was outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant, letting the princess fake her death and escape.

I had hidden the princess in the capital suburbs for three years.

Just for this moment.

The white silk became Huayin's weapon. She strangled the monarch, wickedly coaxing him: "Husband, it hurts a bit—bear with it. In the past, on the bed, you always coaxed Huayin like this."

She suddenly changed her face, like an innocent yet cruel child: "Father Emperor, you don't observe chastity rituals, you commit incest and violate morals—your daughter personally sends you off to fulfill your filial duties!"

The emperor was nominally already dead, so no one disturbed this execution.

At dawn, Emperor Yuande was placed in his coffin, that white silk wrapped around his neck, beneath which his neck bones were already broken and exposed.

He established laws that those who lost chastity and violated morals should be hanged.

But this law shouldn't only kill women.

He too should die under such laws.

The mad Princess Huayin walked out of the Hall of Prudent Virtue, her hands stained with the late emperor's blood, her face wearing long-lost peace.

She smiled calmly at me and Pei Yuan.

At dawn, Huayin passed away peacefully in the capital suburbs.

She seemed to live only for this night.

For me, the princess was no good person. She herself had been harmed by "Immortal's Desire" poison, yet used the same means to frame innocent me.

But I knew more clearly that I couldn't watch an innocent and pure person be driven to become a vicious madman, while the perpetrator stood righteously judging her.

Coincidentally, Pei Yuan thought the same as I.

So I gave her a good end, letting her complete her revenge and depart peacefully and calmly.

22

Pei Zhaolin ascended the throne as emperor, and on the same day, I was enfeoffed as Empress.

The century of Zhaolin's prosperity for Daqi was about to begin.

Pei Yuan knew what I wanted to do—the phoenix seal he gave me held real power.

After ascending to the Empress's position, I issued my first empress's decree.

Proclaim to the people of Daqi—for women who lose their chastity and are forced to death, their lovers shall be hanged on the spot, and those who drive them to it shall be treated as accomplices and exiled three thousand miles.

Those who violate young girls—criminals shall be handed over to the Department of Justice, castrated then hanged.

Since ancient times, those who should be hanged by white silk were never the victims, but the perpetrators.

As the mother of this nation, what I must break are those countless invisible chastity white silks that only cover women's necks!

(End of story)