“Beat her!”
The single word rang out with resounding force!
Smack!
The punishment board showed no mercy as it struck Su Yiyao hard across the buttocks. She screamed shrilly from the pain. Su Luoluo’s icy gaze fell upon Prince Rui’s knees, and the overwhelming force of her presence left him with nowhere to retreat.
Prince Rui was practically furious enough to spit blood. In all his years, he had knelt to Heaven and Earth, to his parents and ancestors… but he had never once imagined kneeling before his own Princess Consort.
Yet His Majesty was watching, and so were the ministers.
The facts lay plainly before him. With no other choice, he endured the humiliation and dropped to his knees before Su Luoluo with a thud.
“Ahhh… it hurts so much… Prince, I can’t take it anymore! Prince…”
These boards had been specially made. There was a narrow gap in the middle, and whenever the board came down, the gap would pinch the flesh. The pain was utterly excruciating. After only a few strikes, Su Yiyao’s buttocks were already a bloody mess.
“Prince Rui, you married me only because you wanted to seize my dowry and take my Divine Jade, all to pave the way for Su Yiyao. Since you and she share such deep feelings, I can’t keep occupying this position.”
Prince Rui abruptly raised his eyes to look at Su Luoluo. This wretched woman—hadn’t he said he would never divorce her?
When had she become so overbearing and unreasonable?
He had been very pleased that Su Luoluo obeyed him like a dog. Even after he and Su Yiyao had passionately coupled, when he ordered Su Luoluo to attend to his bath and change his clothes, she would silently and meticulously take care of everything.
What Prince Rui loved seeing most was the look on Su Luoluo’s face after he had finished with Su Yiyao: her eyes red at the corners as she swallowed her grievances without saying a word while cleaning up after them.
That was why he knew.
Su Luoluo loved him—loved him to the very marrow of her bones. Without him, she simply could not survive. Even if it meant humbling herself into the dirt, she was willing to wag her tail and remain by his side.
“His Majesty, I respectfully request that you permit Prince Rui and me to separate, then grant him a marriage with Su Yiyao, so that their love may be fulfilled.”
The assembled officials listened to Su Luoluo’s words and looked at her poised and magnanimous bearing. For a moment, their eyes were filled with shock.
> So all the things they had heard outside before were false?
Wasn’t it said that Su Luoluo only knew how to make unreasonable scenes, and that every few days, a servant’s corpse had to be carried out of the residence?
Wasn’t it said that Su Luoluo had committed adultery and secretly taken a lover behind the Prince’s back?
Wasn’t it said that her temperament was willful and erratic, making her impossible to get along with?
Yet from beginning to end, what they had seen was Su Luoluo and her two children being framed, all three covered in injuries. Her actions and words had been logical and well-founded, and the evidence had been conclusive. They could not find the slightest flaw.
His Majesty looked at Su Yiyao, who was being beaten until she screamed in agony, her body covered in blood. Then he looked at Prince Rui, kneeling before Su Luoluo. In his fury, he raised his hand and swept the teacup to the floor.
“Luo’er.”
At the entrance to Cloud Joy Palace.
Prince Rui’s mother, Virtuous Consort Chen, hurried over with the support of palace maids. She did not even spare a glance for Prince Rui, who was kneeling there. Instead, she bent down, took Su Luoluo’s hand, and said through choked sobs,
“Luo’er, you’ve suffered. It’s all Prince Rui’s fault. He was deceived and placed his trust in petty people. You can beat him or curse him all you want, but don’t separate from him. If you do, where will you go? And after you separate, you won’t be able to see the two children either. How lonely you’ll be.”
Su Luoluo abruptly pulled her hand back from Virtuous Consort Chen’s grasp and looked at her coldly.
She understood the meaning behind the latter half of those words!
Even if she separated from Prince Rui, they still had no intention of giving the children to her.
Virtuous Consort Chen’s words brought Prince Rui back to his senses.
“Su Luoluo.”
His voice was low, carrying a hint of threat.
“You may separate from me if you wish, but you cannot take the children. Yiyao has only just given birth, and the child was stillborn. Once I marry her, your children will be adopted under her name. First, it will help ease her grief. Second, the children of Prince Rui’s Residence will not end up abandoned outside.”
Besides—
Given Su Luoluo’s usual weak and submissive nature, once she heard that he was driving her away and separating from her without allowing her to take the children, she would certainly panic, kneel before him, and beg for forgiveness, crying that she had been wrong. Then today’s matter could be brought to an end. Once they left the Imperial Palace, he could slowly crush her to death.
Virtuous Consort Chen heard Prince Rui mention Su Yiyao at every turn. Anger roiled in her eyes, and she glared fiercely at him before turning back to Su Luoluo with a smile.
“Luo’er, why don’t you stay in the palace? Your mother-in-law will have people take good care of you all. Once you’ve reached full term, you can return to Prince Rui’s Residence. After that, Prince Rui can hold a grand feast to celebrate and make you happy. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
Su Luoluo gave a cold laugh. Virtuous Consort Chen had planned this well. By keeping her in the palace, she could ensure that every rumor circulating outside was cleaned up within a month, without affecting the feelings between Prince Rui and Su Yiyao.
To be honest—
Virtuous Consort Chen appeared not to care much about Su Yiyao on the surface, but Su Luoluo sensed that something was not quite right.
“If you truly separate, it won’t look good for either the palace or the Su Residence. Once you’ve lost your children and been cast aside, where will you go? How will you live? When people laugh at you, you won’t even be able to leave the house. How will you get through the rest of your life?”
“Virtuous Consort Chen.”
Her words sent Su Luoluo’s anger surging. If she put it that way, did women who separated from their husbands simply have no way to live?
“How is it that, in your eyes, a woman who has separated from her husband should hide away, be unable to show her face, live in poverty, and be scorned by everyone?”
His Majesty gave Virtuous Consort Chen a faint glance. Her face turned deathly pale as she finally remembered.
His Majesty’s most beloved daughter, Princess Jinghe, had also separated from her husband after only three months of marriage. Afterward, Princess Jinghe had eaten, drunk, played, and enjoyed herself, kept several Favored Gentlemen, and become close friends with a group of young wastrels. No one knew how comfortable her life was.
“Mother-in-law didn’t mean that. Mother-in-law is only worried about you, child!”
“There’s no need to worry about me.” Su Luoluo looked at Virtuous Consort Chen, who was already growing impatient. “First, I haven’t been cast aside. I’m separating from him. Second, the children I gave birth to are mine. Prince Rui said they were born from my adultery with another man and wanted to kill them, so he has no right to raise them. Third, I have hands and feet. I can support myself, and I can raise the children myself.”
“Virtuous Consort Chen, you live in comfort and luxury and have more than enough means to raise children. But look at the son you raised—he favors his concubine and suppresses his wife, and he tried to kill his own children. If the two children are handed back to you to raise, the consequences when they grow up will be unimaginable.”
“You…”
Virtuous Consort Chen’s eyes widened in fury. She raised her hand and slapped Su Luoluo across the face.
Su Luoluo could have dodged, but she did not. Instead, she let the force of the slap send her crashing from the chair. She struck the floor heavily, and her weakness curled her into a small ball as she trembled uncontrollably from the pain.
Her pitiful appearance fell into everyone’s eyes. They could not help feeling anger toward Virtuous Consort Chen and Prince Rui. The Censorate official had practically already decided what he would denounce and say at tomorrow’s court assembly.
Eunuch Yunhai hurried forward to help Su Luoluo up. She lifted her face, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
Virtuous Consort Chen erupted in furious abuse.
“You little wretch! I merely slapped you lightly. How could you possibly be bleeding from the mouth?”
Everyone looked at Su Luoluo’s swollen, reddened cheek and the blood at the corner of her lips. Then they listened to Virtuous Consort Chen’s shameless sophistry.
For a moment…
The atmosphere turned strange.