Bai Ce Fei stood in her brocaded finery, smiling and chatting amiably, followed by a dense crowd of strong servant women.
The Yuwang Consort’s heart skipped a beat, her gaze wary as she looked at the person before her. “Bai Shi, what are you doing here?”
Bai Yangyang waved her hand, signaling the guards to retreat. She looked at the Yuwang Consort, Shen Shi, a soft, charming smile playing on her lips. “Seeing the suspicion in your eyes, sister, truly breaks my heart.”
“What could a weak woman like me possibly do to you?”
“Of course, I’ve come to—”
“Send you on your final journey.”
As the last word left her lips, Bai Yangyang’s expression abruptly shifted, turning sinister in an instant.
“Shen Yu, back then you gave birth to a stillborn child, an ill-omened thing. It was only out of the Prince’s kindness that you were allowed to live until now. If I were you, I would have ended my own life long ago.”
Both she and Yu Wang had been waiting for Shen Yu to take her own life.
But after two years, this shameless woman had clung to life, surviving disgracefully.
Now, during this critical period of the succession struggle, Shen Yu was merely the daughter of an upright official whom Yu Wang had been forced to marry back when he was concealing his abilities and biding his time.
“Your family background is poor, and you’re an ill-omened calamity star. The Prince has already shown you extraordinary mercy by letting you live this long.”
“Coincidentally, these past few days have been windy, and both the Junzhu and the Consort have caught a severe chill and unfortunately passed away. The Prince is grief-stricken and enraged, and I too find it deeply regrettable.”
With a smile, Bai Ce Fei finished speaking and beckoned the servant women behind her to step forward.
“What are you all standing around for?”
“Finish her off for me, and that sickly little brat inside too—get rid of them both.”
A two-year-old child was already beginning to form memories.
As the saying goes, when you cut weeds, you must pull out the roots. Bai Yangyang would not leave behind any future troubles for herself.
“Your Highness, please go in peace. In the future, when His Highness ascends the throne, he will surely remember your Merit!”
A group of servant women advanced, making as if to strangle Shen Yu to death.
Shen Yu tightened her grip on the scissors in her hand. Ever since she had been confined here, she had always kept something for self-defense—sometimes a dagger, sometimes scissors.
“No one is to harm my An’an!”
Shen Yu’s eyes were wide with fury, her teeth clenched. She erupted with boundless latent energy, even managing to stab to death the plumpest servant woman.
She stared fixedly at Bai Yangyang, her lower lip nearly bitten until it bled. With a sudden lunge, she plunged the scissors into Bai Yangyang’s shoulder.
“Ah!”
A piercing scream echoed throughout the entire Yuwang Manor. The blood flowing from her shoulder stained Bai Yangyang’s brocaded finery red.
Shen Yu pressed the scissors against Bai Yangyang’s neck, her eyes locked fiercely on the malicious servants. “Don’t come any closer, or I’ll kill her!”
Bai Yangyang trembled, pain overwhelming her entire body. She was on the verge of passing out.
How dare this wretched woman Shen Yu lay a hand on her!
“Shen Yu, if you dare harm me, you won’t live either!”
Tears streamed from Shen Yu’s eyes as she pushed the scissors deeper. “Bai Yangyang, if anything happens to An’an today, I will perish together with you!”
Bai Yangyang bit her lip hard, about to unleash a torrent of abuse at Shen Yu, when a servant woman cried out in panic, “Consort, the little Junzhu is missing!”
Upon hearing that her daughter had disappeared, Shen Yu should have been terrified, but for some reason, she felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
With Shen Yu holding Bai Yangyang hostage, no one dared to make a move. Yu Wang’s face was dark with rage as he ordered archers to shoot, but for some reason, the arrows flew erratically, not a single one able to strike Shen Yu.
Instead, it was Bai Yangyang who took several arrows in the shoulder.
Holding a pair of scissors to Bai Yangyang’s neck, Shen Yu dragged her out of the residence.
The blood flowing from Bai Yangyang’s body stained her dress, making her appear pitiful and wretched at this moment.
On such a snowy day, the streets should have been empty, but as soon as Shen Yu stepped outside, she screamed hysterically, accusing Yu Wang of favoring his concubine over his wife and attempting to poison his lawful spouse. Her piercing cries instantly drew a crowd of onlookers.
Bai Yangyang opened her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes as she tried to feign her usual pitiful act. Yet, the words that came out were: “Shen Yu, you b*tch!”
“You’re occupying the position of Consort, blocking my path and His Highness’s. Both His Highness and I want you dead!”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Bai Yangyang was stunned.
How could she have blurted out the truth?!
“Yu Wang has gone so far as to favor his concubine over his wife! Disgusting, what a scoundrel!”
“Can you blame Yu Wang? After all, Yuwang Consort gave birth to a stillborn. Who would want a jinx like her? It’s already merciful of Yu Wang not to have divorced her.”
The onlookers chattered among themselves.
Biting her lip, Bai Yangyang intended to tearfully accuse Yuwang Consort of cruelty, but her mouth betrayed her, uncontrollably revealing the truth of the past.
“Shen Yu, you fool! Back then, I bribed the midwife to strangle your son. I also paid off the mystic to claim you gave birth to an ill-omened abomination.”
“You’re as stupid as a pig. How could you ever compete with me!”
Shen Yu’s face turned deathly pale. “Wh-what did you say?”
Bai Yangyang smirked triumphantly. “If I didn’t kill you and your son, how could I take the position of Consort? For the past two years, His Highness and I have been waiting for you to die, but you—”
Before she could finish, an arrow suddenly pierced her chest. Her eyes widened, and she collapsed limply to the ground, spitting a mouthful of black blood.
Shen Yu, her face pale, reached out to check Bai Yangyang’s breath.
She was dead.
“A Niang…”
An’an, hiding obediently in the crowd, called out softly for her mother.
Shen Yu had no time to wonder how An’an had ended up there. Holding her daughter, she stumbled toward the imperial palace.
Arrows continued to fly toward the pair, yet none struck the pitiful mother and daughter.
Shen Yu ran all the way to the palace gates and, leaning on her frail, sickly body, began striking the Denwen Drum, blow after blow.
…
When Qinglong Emperor summoned her, Shen Yu, tears in her eyes, laid bare all the suffering she had endured over the past two years.
She no longer cared whether her actions would bring shame to the imperial family. Kneeling on the ground, covered in blood, she kowtowed repeatedly. “I beg Your Majesty to grant me a Divorce and allow me to take An’an back to my family. Yu Wang is ruthless and attempted to poison his wife and daughter. I can no longer survive like this…”
Yu Wang’s face darkened as if it could drip with fury.
“Shen Yu, I never ordered such a thing! It was all that wretched woman Bai Yangyang’s doing! Don’t lose your mind and pin everything on me!”
Shen Yu did not argue with him. Instead, she knelt on the ground, kowtowing with a sorrowful expression. “His Highness Yu Wang aspires to greatness, while my humble origins offer him no support.”
“I beg Your Majesty to grant me a way out. I beg for Your Majesty’s mercy—”
Shen Yu kowtowed repeatedly, her blood-stained appearance evoking pity in all who saw her.
Shen Yu’s father, Lord Shen, the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, said with reddened eyes, “My daughter has suffered such great injustice. As her father, I cannot face her deceased mother…”
“I am willing to exchange my own life for my daughter’s divorce.”
After speaking, Lord Shen charged toward the palace pillar.
Fortunately, the palace attendants acted swiftly and stopped him.
Qinglong Emperor’s eyelids twitched violently as he picked up an inkstone and threw it at Yu Wang, shouting, “You wretched scoundrel! Look at the mess you’ve made!”