Ji Shi picked up the letter and had only scanned a few lines when her face instantly turned ashen with rage. She cursed furiously, “That filthy scum! How dare he!”
It turned out that the human trafficker not only failed to mention a single word about the torment Meng Xizhou had suffered, but had filled the letter with vulgar language and outrageous boasts! He said things like “The Meng Family’s eldest young lady is too wild, not as gentle as her twin sister who is soft as water. She must be more like a famous courtesan in bed,” and even threatened that if Meng Nanyi wasn’t sent to him to taste, he would no longer handle matters for the Meng Family!
“How dare he insult me like this!” Meng Nanyi’s eyes welled up with tears, her entire body trembling with anger. “Mother! I want him torn to pieces!”
A cold glint flashed in Ji Shi’s eyes as she comfortingly patted her daughter. “Good Nannan, don’t cry. He’s just a lowly thing from the countryside—how dare he harbor such fantasies about my daughter?”
She turned to Steward Lin, who was trembling like a leaf on the ground, her voice icy and piercing. “Did you hear that? Go and clean up that fool who doesn’t know his place. Cut out his tongue and feed it to the dogs! Also, arrange for a few more attentive people to look after that eldest young lady. Don’t let her feel… too lonely in the countryside!”
Steward Lin, as if granted a pardon, endured the excruciating pain and scrambled out of the room on all fours.
Ji Shi held her daughter, coaxing her with gentle and soft words, as if she hadn’t just ordered someone’s tongue to be cut out and fed to dogs.
“There, there, my good daughter, don’t be angry anymore. Tomorrow, the Crown Prince himself is coming to visit you. If your eyes are swollen from crying, how heartbroken he would be to see you!” Ji Shi gently wiped the corners of Meng Nanyi’s eyes with a silk handkerchief.
“Mother~ You’re teasing me too!” Meng Nanyi nestled coquettishly in her mother’s embrace, tear stains still fresh on her face. Yet, deep inside, those words stirred up immense excitement and sweetness, washing away most of her earlier fury.
The Crown Prince had been sent by the Emperor to train at the border military camp and had been away for years. Who would have thought that the first thing he would do upon returning to the court and reporting to the Emperor was to eagerly come to the Hou Manor to see her!
This showed just how much the Crown Prince valued and cared for her, his fiancée!
Overwhelming vanity and ecstasy instantly flooded her!
She couldn’t help but curl the corners of her lips and burrow deeper into her mother’s embrace, as if she could already see her glorious future—wearing the phoenix crown and ceremonial robes, reigning as the mother of the nation.
The next day was a day of rest.
Before noon had even arrived, the main gate of the Zhongyong Hou Estate was thrown wide open.
Zhongyong Hou, Meng Qinrui, beaming with joy, stood respectfully outside the gate with his meticulously dressed wives, concubines, and children, eagerly awaiting the Crown Prince’s arrival.
Lately, Meng Qinrui had been riding high on success. His eldest son had caught the Emperor’s favor and was promoted to the Ministry of Revenue, his future boundless. His eldest daughter, as the Crown Prince’s fiancée, had so pleased the Crown Prince that he rushed to visit her the moment he returned to the capital.
Stroking his beard and gazing up at the bright sun overhead, he felt that this radiant scene perfectly mirrored the current state of the Zhongyong Hou Estate—blazing with success and adorned with splendor!
Meng Nanyi, surrounded like the moon among stars, stood at the center. She wore an expensive water-green Yanluo dress, draped with a flawless snow-white fox fur cloak. Her makeup was exquisite, and her eyes sparkled with spring-like joy as she basked in the envious gazes of her sisters.
Before long, the crisp sound of hoofbeats approached.
Luo Gu, commander of the Crown Prince Guards, drove a seemingly ordinary yet imposing carriage, bringing it to a steady halt right at the entrance of the Hou Manor.
Luo Gu swiftly dismounted and respectfully lifted the carriage curtain for the person inside.
Meng Qinrui’s spirits lifted, and he straightened his attire, leading the call: “Your servant Meng Qinrui, along with the entire household, pays respects to the Crown Prince! May the Crown Prince live a thousand, thousand years!”
In an instant, the crowd at the entrance knelt in unison, their postures filled with utmost reverence.
Meng Nanyi also gracefully knelt with the others, her palms sweating with excitement, her heart pounding as if about to leap from her throat.
She struggled to maintain her dignified composure, bowing her head and waiting for the gentle, jade-like voice to say, “Rise.”
However, the expected clear and melodious voice of the Crown Prince never came.
Instead, what rang out was a cold, detached female voice—one she loathed to the bone, yet identical to her own!
“Father, Mother, and my dear siblings, what is the meaning of this? Please rise quickly. I, your daughter, do not deserve such a grand gesture!”
The voice struck Meng Nanyi like a thunderbolt from the heavens!
She instantly raised her head in disbelief!
There, where the carriage curtain was drawn aside, a figure clad in coarse hemp clothing, yet unable to conceal her stunning beauty, stepped down with composure. That face… that face she had longed to tear apart day and night! Though her attire was simple, she still radiated brilliance, even exuding a calm and restrained sharpness that surpassed her appearance before being abducted! There was not a trace of the haggard, withered state she had imagined!
It was really her! Meng Xizhou!
How could she have escaped and returned?! How was it possible?! And… escorted personally by Luo Gu, the commander of the Crown Prince Guards, who was even driving the carriage?!
A wave of immense panic, like an icy serpent, coiled tightly around Meng Nanyi’s heart! Her face turned deathly pale, and she instinctively glanced at her mother, Ji Shi.
A flicker of astonishment also crossed Ji Shi’s face, but she quickly regained the composed demeanor of the lady of the house, even subtly casting a reassuring glance at Meng Nanyi.
That look was like a calming pill, and the boulder that had nearly crushed Meng Nanyi’s heart instantly lifted.
Why was she panicking? In Jingcheng, this wretch no longer had a place to stand! Her mother had plenty of tricks up her sleeve. Even if Meng Xizhou had managed to crawl back, what did it matter? It was merely leaping from one pit of fire into another!
Upon hearing Meng Xizhou’s voice, the crowd looked up in astonishment. When they saw her clearly, they hurriedly rose to their feet, their expressions as if they had swallowed flies.
Meng Xizhou took in their reactions with a cold laugh in her heart.
She never expected the Crown Prince not only to see her safely home but also to prepare a grand “welcome-back” gift for her return to Jingcheng—truly hitting the mark of her heart.
This humiliation would be enough for the entire Hou Manor, especially her dear father and mother, to digest for a while.
“How is it you?!” Meng Qinrui’s face darkened like the bottom of a pot. “Where is the Crown Prince?!”
This rebellious daughter! Sitting silently inside the carriage, accepting the kneeling salute from him, a dignified Marquis, and the entire household?! Utterly treasonous! Was she not afraid of shortening her own lifespan?!
Luo Gu stepped forward, clasped his fists in salute, and said, “Reporting to the Marquis, the Crown Prince has stated that today marks the joyous reunion of your family. His Highness did not wish to intrude upon such a moment of familial bliss and will pay a visit on another day.”
The phrase “family reunion” felt like an invisible slap, striking Meng Qinrui and Ji Shi squarely across the face. Meng Qinrui’s face turned from black to purple, as if he had been publicly mocked and humiliated. Yet, he dared not vent his anger on the Crown Prince Guards, leaving him with a stifled breath trapped in his chest.
Without another word, Luo Gu swiftly mounted his horse and rode off with the carriage, leaving behind the Meng Family members, each lost in their own thoughts, in a suffocatingly tense atmosphere.
Meng Xizhou’s gaze swept past the crowd, landing squarely on Ji Shi amidst the throng.
In an instant, she felt as if she were being torn apart alive.
One half of her body was plunged into a deep lake of eternal ice, the bone-chilling cold making her very soul tremble, while the other half was held over raging flames, skin scorched and flesh charred, the searing pain piercing straight to her heart!
We meet again at last, Mother!