“Your Majesty, this servant does not dare to speak recklessly.”
Ming Yueni’s expression was very obedient, carrying an air of innocent detachment as if the matter had nothing to do with her.
Beichen Yuan saw through her but did not expose her.
His expression was cold and majestic as he simply said, “Speak freely. Ming Yuelan is your sister, after all.”
“Your Majesty!” Liu Yingwu became anxious.
What if Ming Yueni pleaded for mercy on Ming Yuelan’s behalf?
Liu Yingwu wanted to stop her, but when the Emperor looked down at her with that high and mighty gaze, she was frozen by his sharp and cruel eyes.
In the silence, only Ming Yueni spoke.
“Although my sister is the Crown Prince’s Secondary Consort, she has not yet officially entered the household. Entering the Eastern Palace privately is a breach of etiquette. Her actions with the Crown Prince… if word gets out, it will be a scandal!”
Ming Yueni lowered her eyelashes, hiding the cold light in her eyes as she spoke softly: “It would be better to simply escort my sister into the Eastern Palace now!”
“It would merely be the Crown Prince favoring a concubine. We can turn a major issue into a minor one, and a minor one into nothing at all.”
Ming Yueni looked boldly at Beichen Yuan.
With a sincere and innocent gaze, her eyes sparkling, she looked at him: “In this way, the royal family’s reputation is preserved, and no one can say that Your Majesty failed to discipline your son!”
Hiss—
Someone gasped!
Liu Yingwu stared at Ming Yueni in stunned disbelief. Wasn’t she Ming Yuelan’s sister?
She was so ruthless!
So ruthless that Liu Yingwu almost wanted to clap and cheer!
“Your Majesty, this commoner agrees! I am not being jealous; I am simply considering the royal family’s reputation!”
Liu Yingwu took the opportunity to kick her while she was down, pretending to be magnanimous: “Since things have come to this, let Ming Yuelan enter the Eastern Palace first.”
Beichen Yuan didn’t spare her a single glance throughout the entire process.
The Emperor’s gaze was fixed solely on Ming Yueni, observing her every move and scrutinizing every nuance of her expression.
He saw through her; he saw into her soul.
Ming Yueni could not bear such an overbearing and aggressive gaze. She trembled timidly, and wherever the Emperor’s gaze passed, a rosy flush spread across her skin…
“Hear my decree—”
Beichen Yuan withdrew his gaze and commanded in a cold, majestic voice: “Send Ming Yuelan out of the palace immediately! Order the Duke’s Mansion to send their daughter away tonight. No banquets or grand announcements are permitted.”
Fulai bowed: “This servant obeys the decree!”
In her heart, Ming Yueni was laughing with joy!
With no wedding ceremony and no invited guests, Ming Yuelan’s “marriage” into the Eastern Palace was no different from being a lowly concubine.
Just like her in her past life.
But even more miserable!
Ming Yuelan, the world-renowned legitimate daughter of the Duke’s Mansion, would become the laughingstock of the entire capital.
And this was only the beginning!
The Crown Prince was a beastly scumbag, and with Liu Yingwu, a jealous Crown Princess, Ming Yuelan’s days in the Eastern Palace would not be easy.
Ming Yueni was in a good mood. As she served the Emperor, the smile on her face was brilliant and dazzling, quite eye-catching!
Beichen Yuan looked at her several times.
His eyes grew deeper and darker.
That night.
The Duke’s Mansion was brightly lit, with people coming and going.
The Duchess slapped her thighs and wailed, “Without a wedding banquet, what’s the difference between this and being a concubine! I want to enter the palace! I want to see His Majesty! I want to see the Crown Prince!”
“Shut up! Don’t go out and embarrass us!”
Duke Ming scolded her with a grim face: “The imperial decree has been issued. Defying it is a capital offense! Hurry up and help Lan’er pack her things and send her off!”
“Lan’er, my poor Lan’er…”
The Duchess wailed as she entered the bedchamber, only to find Ming Yuelan dressing up joyfully, her face showing no signs of grief or anger.
The Duchess’s cries faltered. “Lan’er, aren’t you sad?”
“Why should I be sad?”
Ming Yuelan was calculating everything in her head. “Mother, I am entering the Eastern Palace before Liu Yingwu. This is a god-given opportunity! As long as I get pregnant, how can Liu Yingwu compete with me?”
“Even if I can’t be the Crown Princess for now, it doesn’t matter if there’s no banquet. When the grand empress-crowning ceremony happens in the future, we can celebrate magnificently then!”
The Duchess was choked up, wanting to say something but unable to find the words.
“Mother, that balm you gave me is so effective! Do you have any more?”
There were large red marks on Ming Yuelan’s neck as she acted shy and coy: “With it, the Crown Prince simply cannot leave me!”
Hearing this, the Duchess trembled all over.
She was both angry and shocked, shouting in disbelief, “Lan’er, what did you say?”
Ming Yuelan was confused. “Mother, didn’t you have that little wench Ming Yueni bring the balm to me? There was even your letter as proof.”
The Duchess stumbled and collapsed onto the floor.
“Mother, what’s wrong with you!”
“Lan’er, you’ve been harmed by that little wench! Using too much of that balm causes infertility! Mother prepared that to sabotage her, why did you use it!!!”
The Duchess’s heart was filled with bitter regret!
The Duchess was malicious and petty; she had wanted Ming Yueni to never be able to conceive a child for the rest of her life.
A hen that couldn’t lay eggs and an Emperor without heirs—a perfect match!
Who would have thought… instead of harming Ming Yueni, she had ruined her own precious daughter!
Hearing this, Ming Yuelan broke down in disbelief!
She grabbed the Duchess and wailed, “Mother, I only used it once! Is there an antidote? Give me the antidote quickly!”
In the end, Ming Yuelan boarded the bridal sedan chair in tears.
Upon being carried into the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince treated her with cold disdain, leaving her to spend her wedding night alone!
The next day, the joke spread throughout the inner palace.
Ming Yueni heard it too. She looked up at the bright sunlight, blue sky, and white clouds, feeling that she was in an excellent mood.
“Who are you? What are you doing at the Sewing Department?”
Ming Yueni snapped out of it and gave a shallow smile to the maid in front of her. “I am a maid from the Chen Palace. I’ve come to have some clothes mended.”
“Then follow me.”
The maid led the way, guiding Ming Yueni to a seamstress.
With needle and thread, the seamstress quickly replaced the missing pearls on Ming Yueni’s cuffs, restoring them to a like-new condition.
Ming Yueni held the mended clothes and walked back with her head down, thinking to herself—she couldn’t tear her clothes again next time; she had to find a way to get some money!
“Ming Yueni, stop right there!”
Liu Yingwu suddenly rushed out with a group of people, arrogant and overbearing: “Seize her and tie her up!”
The clothes fell to the ground and were trampled upon.
Ming Yueni was outnumbered. She was quickly caught and bound by Liu Yingwu’s maids and elder servants. She struggled and shouted, “Is anyone there? Help!”
Slap!
Liu Yingwu slapped her across the face. “Stop shouting! I’ve already driven away all the palace servants nearby.”
“Liu Yingwu, what are you doing!”
Ming Yueni’s face swelled up in pain. She gritted her teeth and questioned through the blood in her mouth, “I have no grievance or enmity with you!”
“We have no enmity, but the Crown Prince constantly thinks of you and can never forget you!”
Liu Yingwu pinched Ming Yueni’s chin, examining her excessively beautiful and seductive face. Even with half of it swollen, she wasn’t ugly; she only looked more pitiful and endearing.
The more Liu Yingwu looked, the more jealous she became.
“You slut! I don’t know what kind of tricks you used to make even His Majesty listen to you!”
“What if you get His Majesty to grant a marriage and you also enter the Eastern Palace as a Secondary Consort? Wouldn’t the Prince favor you every single night?”
“You vixen! I, the future Crown Princess, will never give you that chance!”
Ming Yueni was stunned.
It was so absurd and ridiculous that she was shocked into speechless disgust.
Liu Yingwu waved her hand. “Men! Throw her into the lake and drown her!”
“Liu Yingwu, how dare you!”
Ming Yueni snapped out of it, shouting in shock and anger: “I am the Emperor’s person! If you touch me, His Majesty will not forgive you!”
“Pah!”
Liu Yingwu rolled her eyes disdainfully. “I am the future Crown Princess of the Yan Kingdom! How could His Majesty punish me for the sake of a mere maid?”
“Besides, once you’re dead, who will be able to prove it was I who did it?”
Just then!
A voice interjected, “I can.”