If you like her, why not just openly take her into the palace as a concubine? After all, Feng Suiyu wouldn’t stop him from taking a concubine. Why must a prince resort to such disgraceful acts in his study? Who does he take for a fool?
"Little Zhu, Princess Consort Qi has discovered early that Lady Hu is still alive and that Prince Qi has been in contact with her all along. And this matter is indirectly related to us."
"Don’t you think my influence as a butterfly is a bit too significant?"
Hearing Yue Fuguang’s skepticism, those who could hear her thoughts felt a chill in their hearts and secretly broke into a cold sweat.
They had been so careful—how could they still be suspected?
Are all immortals this shrewd and suspicious?
[Master, a slight stir can affect the whole situation. Even the smallest change can influence those around us in different ways. Every choice a person makes can alter the course and outcome of events.
Unfortunately, my divine power is suppressed, and my abilities are restricted by the laws of heaven. Apart from the ‘history’ that has already unfolded in the original timeline, I cannot foresee anything else!]
"Never mind. What’s changed has changed. As long as it doesn’t affect us, it’s fine. And from what we can see, these changes are all for the better.
This is actually good news!"
[Exactly! Maybe Dayan still has hope? After all, though Prince Qi’s rebellion ultimately failed, it caused significant internal damage to Dayan.
Xie Zhiyao later married Zhong Mingyu, one of Dayan’s rising military talents of the younger generation. But because he was implicated in Prince Qi and his wife’s rebellion, he was executed.
The future star of the military met such a tragic end—it’s truly a pity!]
"Let’s wait and see. It’s still too early to say whether Dayan can be saved. But if it weren’t for my elder brother’s interference, would Xie Zhiyao and Zhong Mingyu have gotten engaged soon?"
[Yes, they were engaged at the beginning of the year. Xie Zhiyao essentially stole the marriage—Zhong Mingyu was already in talks to marry his master’s daughter. But then Prince Qi begged the emperor to arrange a marriage with the Zhong family, and with a single imperial decree, the emperor tore apart a pair of lovers.
Zhong Mingyu’s beloved, Xue Fengzi, was an extraordinary woman of her time. Sadly, she never married. Even in the midst of chaos, she authored remarkable works. Dayan’s top female scholar wasn’t just a title—she truly was brilliant!]
"Again, it’s the emperor being muddle-headed. Let’s hope he doesn’t make the same mistake this time!"
The muddle-headed Emperor Mingxi: "This… another blame falls on me! Blames rain down from the sky, from all directions! Just how incompetent will I become in the future? How many more blames are waiting for me?"
System: "Too many to count. Far too many to count!"
Lady Feng steadied her nerves. Normally gentle and soft-spoken, she mustered rare boldness this time and said, "Xie Qi, do you dare swear an oath? Swear that Lady Hu is dead, that the woman now is just a stand-in, that you’ve never engaged in disgraceful acts with her, and that you’ve never plotted to take my life?"
She stared straight into Xie Qi’s eyes and challenged, "I dare swear a blood oath. Do you?"
Today, she had to corner this man, ensuring he could no longer harm her sister, while also freeing herself from the quagmire of the Prince Qi’s residence.
Xie Qi faltered under her questioning but stubbornly insisted, "I truly haven’t met Lady Hu in secret in my study recently.
Ayu, don’t slander me. Lady Hu is dead, and Zhiting is your child. Stop overthinking—you two are mother and son in truth.
By claiming Lady Hu faked her death, have you considered how Zhiting, whom you raised with your own hands, would feel? Have you thought about his reputation? If the children’s reputations are ruined, what good would it do for you, or for our daughter Zhiyao? Wouldn’t it strain their sibling bond?
If you won’t think for yourself, at least think for your only daughter. When she marries in the future, she’ll need her brother’s support. And you—"
He swallowed the words "can’t bear more children," but everyone present understood the implication.
Feng Suiyu clenched her fists to stop herself from punching that increasingly disgusting face of his. She couldn’t bear children—and whose fault was that? Did he really have no shame?!
Taking a deep breath, Feng Suiyu sneered, "You keep saying Xie Zhiting is my child, but when has he ever truly treated me as his mother?
His birth mother is alive and well—of course he wouldn’t feel any filial affection for me, the woman who ‘drove away’ his real mother."
She had once overheard someone whispering to a young Xie Zhiting that his mother was ‘driven away’ because of her. Though that servant was quickly sold off, such whispers never ceased during Xie Zhiting’s childhood.
Now, she realized it must have been Lady Hu’s doing—she feared her son might grow attached to his adoptive mother.
She had even brought this up with Prince Qi, but he never took it seriously, dismissing it as her imagination.
Now it was clear—he had known the truth all along.
"Lady Feng, are you really willing to disregard our marital bond and tarnish both children’s reputations for this? A mother who divorces and returns home won’t reflect well on the Prince’s residence or the Feng Family. Your parents would never agree."
"Little Zhu, do the Feng parents know that their eldest daughter is being harassed by their second daughter’s husband?"
[They probably have some idea. But while they dote more on their eldest daughter, they’ve already boarded Prince Qi’s rebellious ship—there’s no getting off now. For the sake of their descendants’ future, they might even sacrifice their eldest daughter.
In their eyes, she’s only suffering some grievances, not actual harm.
Facing a son-in-law who could very well become the next emperor, they can’t afford to offend him too much.
Besides, no matter what, Prince Qi is still their son-in-law—just whether he’s the eldest or second son-in-law!]
Hearing that her own family knew but kept her in the dark, Princess Consort Qi felt a bone-deep chill.
A ruthless resolve surged in her chest as she glared at Prince Qi like he was already dead. "Xie Qi, Xie Zhiyao isn’t just my daughter—she’s yours too. Shouldn’t her father be the first to stand up for her?
All these years, how much affection has there really been between the siblings? As their father, you must know.
I raised Xie Zhiting for so many years, yet he never saw me as his mother, nor treated Zhiyao as his real sister.
I know that boy has always held his birth mother in his heart. But Xie Qi, it was you who suggested removing the mother and keeping the child—not me. I never asked for this!
Lady Hu is practically part of the imperial family. Faking her death is a crime of deceiving the emperor. If you’ve dragged your children into this for your own selfish ends, don’t you dare pin it on me."
She couldn’t bring up Xie Qi’s harassment of her sister, but regarding Lady Hu, she held nothing back. Since her own death involved the Crown Prince and his wife, she felt no guilt dragging Lady Hu into this.
Feng Suiyu still couldn’t understand—if they had plotted her death, why was Prince Qi so determined to marry her widowed sister? Was there something else they didn’t know?
She refused to believe a man like Prince Qi would marry her sister out of mere affection. If he truly loved her, he wouldn’t have repeatedly pressured her against her will.
