“Unmarried and already defiled! You’ve utterly disgraced our Wei family!” The Minister of Rites, Wei Hao, slapped Wei Ruxuan hard across the face, leaving her dazed and reeling. “How could I have fathered such a shameless daughter?!”
Wei Ruxuan was stunned by the blow, unable to utter a word.
Madam Liu, the Minister’s wife, loved her daughter dearly. She rushed forward to shield Wei Ruxuan, shouting at her husband: “What nonsense are you spouting? How dare you slander our Xuan’er like this?”
Wei Hao flung a peach-pink handkerchief at her face.
Madam Liu picked it up and glanced at it, her cheeks instantly burning with shame. “This… what is this writing? Where did you get it? Could it be some scheming maid trying to frame our Xuan’er?”
“This was thrown at me by the Emperor himself! He even mocked me for raising a supposedly well-bred daughter who secretly consorts before marriage!”
The memory of that humiliating scene made Wei Hao want to smash his head against a pillar. In all his years, nothing had ever shamed him so deeply.
Madam Liu, still bewildered, asked: “The Emperor? How could he have this? Did Xuan’er try to seduce His Majesty?”
“If only she had seduced the Emperor, I wouldn’t feel such disgrace! No—she seduced Prince Qin’s younger brother, the Fifth Prince!”
At this, Madam Liu cried out and collapsed into a chair.
Wei Ruxuan, clutching her face, wept: “I had no choice! If I marry that madman, Prince Qin, I’ll surely die a miserable death! Even if I must marry the Fifth Prince as a concubine, I will marry him!”
Madam Liu’s face turned deathly pale. She asked cautiously: “Is His Majesty going to order our daughter’s execution?”
“If only he would rid us of this calamity!” Wei Hao ground his teeth. “But the Fifth Prince refuses to marry anyone else! The Emperor has decreed that she will be given to the Fifth Prince, while the Wen girl will be given to Prince Qin!”
“Really?” Wei Ruxuan’s eyes lit up instantly. “The Fifth Prince refuses to marry anyone but me? He loves me that much?”
It had only just begun, yet the Fifth Prince was already deeply devoted to her.
Wei Ruxuan remembered that in the original story, the heroine married the Fifth Prince and only after a long time did their feelings gradually grow.
But she was far superior to that useless heroine—look how quickly she had won his love! In such a short time, the Fifth Prince was already head over heels for her. Once she entered the Fifth Prince’s household, everything the heroine was supposed to enjoy, she would enjoy instead.
Madam Liu, wife of the Minister of Rites, was also delighted: “Amitabha, thank heavens! At last, our family has something good happen!”
Truth be told, when Wei Ruxuan first set her sights on Prince Qin, Madam Liu had been worried.
Prince Qin, Xiao Chengji, held a noble status and immense power, an outstanding man in every respect. The only flaw was his cruel nature—moody and merciless, no woman could get close to him. But Wei Ruxuan had sworn confidently that with her beauty and distinguished background, even if Xiao Chengji were a block of ice, she could melt him.
The Fifth Prince, Xiao Jiashan, might not be as capable, but he was the legitimate son of the Empress. With the Zheng family producing two empresses, even if Xiao Jiashan lacked the Emperor’s favor, his chance of inheriting the throne was greater than Xiao Chengji’s.
Moreover, Wei Ruxuan had repeatedly told Madam Liu about her dream—that in it, Xiao Jiashan ascended the throne, and if she married him, she would become the one and only Empress.
Such a miraculous dream—perhaps it might truly come to pass!
The Minister of Rites looked at his wife and daughter, crying and laughing as they embraced, and felt utterly miserable. He knew that after this scandal, his career in court was essentially finished. The Emperor had not punished his daughter, but had cast him out of his inner circle. To sacrifice his own future for the foolish antics of these two women—it left him more bitter the more he thought about it.
Madam Liu, however, was overjoyed, already preparing Wei Ruxuan’s dowry and cutting fabric for her wedding clothes. She had no sons of her own. The children of concubines were raised under her name, but she never regarded them as her own.
Over the years, Madam Liu had accumulated many fine treasures, and now she intended to give them all as dowry for Wei Ruxuan.
Patting her beloved daughter’s back, she said: “Xuan’er, don’t worry! Your mother will see to it that you marry in glory and splendor!”
The Emperor had decreed that Wei Ruxuan be given to the Fifth Prince, while the Wen girl was given to Prince Qin—effectively swapping their marriages.
No matter what, Madam Liu was determined to make sure Wei Ruxuan outshone the Wen girl, so that everyone would recognize the power of the Wei family.
The Minister of Rites frowned unhappily: “Don’t try to overshadow the Duke Zhen’s household. If you displease the Emperor, it will be dangerous.”
Madam Liu’s fiery temper flared again: “I love my daughter—if I prepare more dowry for her, would the Emperor be displeased? I think it’s you who’s unhappy! You can’t stand that I’m giving my dowry to my daughter instead of your two worthless sons, isn’t that it?”
Hearing her shouting, the Minister of Rites grew weary and quickly walked out.
Madam Liu followed him, still yelling: “Don’t forget—it was me who supported you all the way to this position! What, now that my father is dead, do you think you can do whatever you please? Dream on! Even if I empty the entire Minister’s household, I’ll prepare a proper, dignified dowry for my daughter!”
Wei Ruxuan, meanwhile, was smug and delighted. She knew her dowry had to be lavish—she must outshine the Wen girl. If she couldn’t surpass her before marriage, how could she flaunt her superiority afterward?
Wei Ruxuan quickly pulled at Madam Liu’s sleeve: “Mother, I think Father just wants to leave the family wealth to those two bastards! Once I’m married off, your days in this household will be miserable!”
Madam Liu bit her lip.
Wei Ruxuan looked at her and said: “Mother, you’re still beautiful—why not bear another child for Father? I can’t stand those two brats. I’m sure they’ve been poisoning Father’s ears, which is why he’s so displeased. Better to get rid of them early. Raising other people’s children will never be the same as having your own.”
Madam Liu’s eyes reddened as she patted Wei Ruxuan’s hand: “You’re the only one who cares for me. Your father—he’s just a useless old stick! He never cherished me when he was young, and he doesn’t cherish me now!”
Wei Ruxuan smiled. No matter what, the Minister’s household was her strongest backing. She could not allow it to fall into the hands of her two half-brothers. Without her maternal family’s support, if misfortune struck in the future, she would truly suffer. Better to plan ahead now, paving the way for her own future security.