Mu Wan Yun and Lin Siming had just stepped out of the Princess Mansion’s main gate when they came face-to-face with Wei Mingsang, who was arriving for the banquet.
Mu Wan Yun quickly took two steps back and curtsied.
“This servant greets the Heir of Wei.”
Upon seeing Mu Wan Yun, Wei Mingsang’s expression grew agitated.
He grabbed her hand and said:
“Wanruo, can you stop this act?
Why are you treating me like this?”
Mu Wan Yun pulled her hand away.
“Heir of Wei, you’ve truly made a mistake.
I really am Wanyun.”
Wei Mingsang replied, “How could I be mistaken?
Your brows, your eyes, your lips—they’re identical to Wanruo’s.
Even sisters shouldn’t look this similar.”
Mu Wan Yun said helplessly, “You really are mistaken…
Lin Siming, please help me explain.
I’m really not Wanruo.”
Although Lin Siming pitied Mu Wan Yun’s predicament, she didn’t dare offend the Heir of Wei.
Wei Mingsang shook his head.
“I could never be mistaken.
Wanruo has a red mole on her shoulder blade.
If you say you’re not Wanruo, then let me see if you have a red mole on your shoulder blade.”
Mu Wan Yun, truly afraid that Wei Mingsang would not stop pestering her, could only agree.
“Very well.
Please find a private place, Heir of Wei.”
Wei Mingsang led Mu Wan Yun to a spot concealed by a rockery.
Mu Wan Yun gently began to pull her cross-collar to the side.
Before she could pull it down, a large hand clamped down on hers.
She looked up to see Lu Jingxing, his face stern.
“Mu Wan Yun, do the words We have spoken to you go in one ear and out the other?”
When Wei Mingsang saw Lu Jingxing, he quickly clasped his hands and bowed.
“This subject greets Your Majesty.
May Your Majesty be well.
Wanruo, she…”
Lu Jingxing’s cold gaze fell upon Mu Wan Yun.
“Mu Wan Yun, what about all those promises you made?
We never should have believed the nonsense of a shameless woman like you!”
Mu Wan Yun said, “You’ve really misunderstood.
The Heir of Wei doesn’t believe that I’m Mu Wanyun.
He said Mu Wanruo has a red mole on her shoulder blade, so I was going to pull down my collar to show him…”
Lu Jingxing frowned and said to Wei Mingsang, “She is Mu Wan Yun.
Do not pester her again in the future.”
Wei Mingsang didn’t believe him.
“Your Majesty, I absolutely could not be mistaken.
With a face like that, she can be no one other than Wanruo.”
Lu Jingxing tightened his grip on Mu Wan Yun’s hand and said coolly, “We would not be mistaken, either.
We were husband and wife for two years, and We never saw any red mole on her shoulder blade.
You will show some respect in the future, or do not blame Us for disregarding the bonds of our childhood brotherhood!”
Hearing this, Wei Mingsang was stunned.
“Your Majesty, your wife from Yinxing Village…
was her?”
Lu Jingxing gave a flat “Mm.” “In the future, please show some respect to your cousin’s wife.”
Lu Jingxing pulled Mu Wan Yun into his carriage.
He told Zhang Qiuchi and Lin Siming to say that Mu Wan Yun would return to the palace later, then brought her to a private villa within Chang’an City. New chapters come out on g.com first.
Once inside the villa, Mu Wan Yun smiled and asked, “Husband, you’ve forgiven me, haven’t you?”
‘He even had Wei Mingsang call me his cousin’s wife.
Does that mean he’s forgiven me?’
Lu Jingxing said coldly, “We never said We forgave you.
The only reason We said that to Mingsang was for fear that you would shamelessly bewitch him and break his heart!”
Hearing Lu Jingxing’s words, Mu Wan Yun’s heart went cold.
“How was I being shameless?”
Lu Jingxing said coolly, “If We had been a step later just now, were you not about to disrobe in front of him?
Is that not shameless?”
Mu Wan Yun explained, “I already explained it to you.
I just wanted to prove I’m not Mu Wanruo.
The Heir of Wei is so obstinate.
If I didn’t show him, he would only become more aggressive in his pestering.
It’s better to make him give up hope.”
Lu Jingxing snorted.
“There are plenty of people in Chang’an who mistake you for Mu Wanruo.
Are you going to disrobe for every single person who gets it wrong just to prove you’re not her?
Is that not being wanton?
Shameless!”
Mu Wan Yun gritted her teeth.
“Fine, I’m shameless.
But we are already divorced, and you refuse to forgive me.
Even if I were to go find a second chance at love, what would be wrong with that?”
Lu Jingxing reached out and gripped Mu Wan Yun’s chin.
“Good.
You’ve finally said what you truly feel.
You can’t wait to get rid of me, can you?”
With her chin held in his grip, Mu Wan Yun huffed, “Either way, I’m doomed.
I can’t make the dress, and I’ve offended you.
I’m not afraid of you anymore!
“Even without the Mu Family, I would have divorced you sooner or later!
You blame me for writing you a letter of divorce, but did you ever fulfill your duties as a husband?
Did you ever once treat me as your wife?
“You only ever looked down on me for being short-sighted, scorned me for being illiterate.
Didn’t you only marry me to spite the late Emperor?”
Lu Jingxing could not refute her words.
Mu Wan Yun looked at Lu Jingxing with tears in her eyes.
“After we met again, I never complained about you hiding your identity from me.
Instead, I treated you with caution and begged for your forgiveness.
But in the end, all I received was your repeated insults.
“When you think about it, our marriage was never even valid.
There was no parental consent, no matchmaker’s words, none of the traditional Three Letters and Six Rites.
Even the government wouldn’t have recognized it.
“When we married, even though you were a deposed Crown Prince, you were still a Prince!
But you treated even our wedding ceremony with perfunctory carelessness.
“A woman’s wedding dress is the most important thing, yet mine was a secondhand one somebody else had already worn.
can you even call that a marriage?
“The marriage was never valid to begin with, so what difference does a letter of divorce make?
“If you had genuinely wanted to marry me back then, if you had any feelings for me in your heart, would you have treated me so poorly?
“What right do you have now to criticize me for writing a letter of divorce?
“Do you have any idea how much I’ve suffered in the Mu Family since we met again?
“The family I longed for has bullied me like this.
I was foolish.
I deserved to be toyed with by them.
“But what about you?
You were the husband who shared my bed for two years.
Not only did you refuse to forgive me after learning the truth about the letter of divorce, you even spoke cruelly to me, made me wash chamber pots, and threatened me with the dungeons!
“I’ve had enough.
I’m done serving you.
If you want to kill me, then kill me.
I won’t make a sound!”
Listening to her long-winded tale of grievances, Lu Jingxing also felt quite wronged.
“Since when do village weddings have so many formalities like the Three Letters and Six Rites?
Besides, you were the one who said you had no parents.
You didn’t mention proper etiquette then, but now you blame me for wronging you?”
Mu Wan Yun retorted, “How was I supposed to tell you my parents were Duke Wei and his wife in Chang’an City?
Would you have believed that the daughter of Duke Wei, the Empress’s niece, was reduced to surviving on wild fruits?
“You don’t have to say another word.
If you’re going to take my life, do it quickly.
Maybe if I die now, I can be reincarnated sooner into a better life!”
Utterly exasperated, Lu Jingxing pulled the tear-streaked Mu Wan Yun into his arms.
“When did I ever say I wanted to take your life?”
Mu Wan Yun sniffled.
“Well, if I can’t finish Princess Huayang’s dress, I’ll be dead anyway.”
Lu Jingxing said, “You don’t need to worry about Hua Yang’s dress.
We will not allow Hua Yang to act so recklessly.
“As for the matter of the divorce, let’s put it behind us.
I will forgive you.
We’ll both act as if this divorce never happened, and neither of us is to ever bring it up again.
“For now, you will remain in the Palace Bureau and properly learn the palace rules.
Familiarize yourself with all the duties of the Palace Bureau as soon as possible.
We will arrange another identity for you, so you can enter the palace and become Empress.”
The words “enter the palace and become Empress” terrified Mu Wan Yun.
Mu Wan Yun had never dreamed of entering the palace to become Empress.
She was a daughter of the Mu Family, yes, but she had also grown up in the countryside and had only been learning to read for two years…
With a hint of grievance and a quaver in her voice, Mu Wan Yun asked, “You were just calling me shameless and wanton, and now you want me to enter the palace and become Empress?”
Lu Jingxing replied, “Can’t you tell those were just words spoken in anger?
Choose a background: the Lin’an Rong Family or the Jinling Qin Family.”
Mu Wan Yun frowned.
“Why do I have to choose a background?
Can’t I be Wanyun of the Mu Family?”