“My ears were a little hard of hearing just now, Your Majesty. I didn’t hear a thing.”
Though he said this, Cui Yunchu still received a fierce glare from Cui Yunfeng.
Tang Qingwan’s voice was calm, but her presence was commanding. “Second Princess, were you mocking the child I just lost?”
That child was the pain shared by her and the Crown Prince—and the very wound Xiao Lan had chosen to sneer at.
“I wasn’t.” Xiao Lan turned back to Tang Qingwan, raising her voice.
Tang Qingwan said nothing. She merely fixed Xiao Lan with a calm gaze. The dignity of a noblewoman and Crown Princess poured from her, carrying an overwhelming pressure.
Back then, her two younger sisters had helped her deal with Liu Wanting. What was someone like Xiao Lan to the three of them?
“Does Second Princess think I’m deaf?” Tang Qingwan said, lying through her teeth.
The Crown Prince cupped his hands toward the Empress Dowager. “Grandmother, Qingwan and I have just lost our beloved child. How could my aunt speak so carelessly? She has gone too far.”
Under the table, Cui Yunfeng kicked Prince An. “Say something. Have you lost your tongue?”
Prince An could only force himself to abandon his conscience and spout nonsense. “Father, Yunfeng and I have been unable to sleep day or night, striving to continue the royal bloodline. Aunt’s words—are they not cursing the Xiao family to extinction?”
Shen Xiabai lowered his head, afraid someone would notice the corners of his mouth lifting. Suddenly, a small meatball flew into his line of sight and left a stain on his white robe.
He turned his head and saw a soft, pale hand clutching another meatball, clearly preparing to throw it again. He immediately stood up. “Your Majesty, please punish Second Princess.”
Consort Liang and the Empress also joined in.
Consort Liang said, “Your Majesty, after all these years, Second Princess’s temperament has not changed in the slightest.”
Everyone in the palace knew why Xiao Lan’s fiancé had died and why she had been banished to Anshan Temple. They knew how vicious her nature was. Even the Emperor had no reason to doubt these accusations.
His face darkened.
After all these years, had she grown even more foolish? Insulting the Cui girl for being unable to bear children was no different from cursing the royal family to have no descendants.
The Empress Dowager was so furious that she felt dizzy. She stared at Xiao Lan, her lips trembling, her eyes filled with disappointment.
At that moment, Xiao Lan was just like Cui Yunchu had once been. Once everyone had formed a preconceived opinion of you, who would bother investigating the truth?
Xiao Lan was practically beside herself with anger. “You—you…”
She swept her vicious gaze around the room.
The Crown Prince, Prince An, and Lord Shen had all risen to their feet. Which of the other officials would dare say a word in Xiao Lan’s defense?
Fabricating accusations and becoming the target of everyone’s hostility—today, Xiao Lan had gained a profound understanding of those eight words.
Cui Yunfeng said, “Don’t think that just because Prime Minister Cui isn’t here today, you can bully the Cui family however you please.”
Prince An truly could not bear to keep trampling his conscience. He tried to comfort her. “Father will certainly give you justice. Don’t be angry.”
The Emperor spoke in a deep voice. “Get back to your princess’s residence and reflect on your actions. Without my decree, you are not to enter the palace again.”
What a disgrace!
“Imperial Brother, it wasn’t me. I didn’t say that!” Her voice was nearly shrill.
“Get out.” The Emperor’s voice was equally sharp, and his eyes were filled with disgust.
Xiao Lan clenched her palms. Her gaze swept across the Cui sisters, and she let out a soft, mocking laugh.
On the surface, she had always been a gentle, calm, and graceful woman—the sort who seemed indifferent to everything under the sun.
But…
Who could remain calm after suffering something like this? Anyone would be so furious they could feel their soul leaving their body.
If she did not have to maintain the dignity of a princess, she would have screamed at these women several times to vent the anger bottled up inside her.
Xiao Lan was forcibly driven away by the Emperor. Cui Yunfeng sat down again, in an excellent mood. “At last, we’ve chased away that buzzing fly. It’s finally quiet.”
Cui Yunchu hugged her and planted a kiss on her cheek. “Yunfeng, you really take after me.”
Cui Yunfeng giggled. “Master.”
“Yes?”
“Master.”
“Yes?”
“Your disciple pays her respects to Master.” Prince An grabbed Cui Yunfeng, who had become thoroughly addicted to their little act and was about to perform a deep bow. “The people above are watching. Show some restraint.”
Cui Yunfeng glanced upward. “Oh.”
She extended two fingers onto the tabletop and made them kneel before Cui Yunchu.
“Ceremony dismissed, ceremony dismissed. Just make sure the apprenticeship fee is generous.”
“All right.”
The sisters played to their hearts’ content. Beside them, Prince An propped his head on one hand and stared blankly at the food on the table.
Shen Xiabai smiled warmly. “You’ve contributed both effort and money. Prince An is truly a wonderful man. I’ll thank you on A Chu’s behalf.”
Xiao Yi’s brows drew together. “Lord Shen, you and your wife are truly shameless.”
“It’s Princess An who’s generous.”
Xiao Yi gave two dry laughs, his smile stiffening.
“What?” Shen Xiabai arched a brow. “Could it be that Your Highness regrets it?”
Xiao Yi slowly lifted his eyes. Without a word, he turned toward Cui Yunfeng, who was laughing so hard she could barely sit upright.
In his eyes, her smile always seemed to be covered by a layer of sunlight, dispelling all the darkness in his heart.
He raised a hand and ruffled Cui Yunfeng’s hair. “Would you ever regret being alive? Living like a normal person, beneath the sunlight?”
And Yunfeng was that ray of sunlight—the lifeline that allowed him to truly live.
“Hey, don’t touch me. Your hands are greasy.” Cui Yunfeng dodged Cui Yunchu’s hand with a look of disgust.
Cui Yunchu lowered her head to inspect herself and decided it was indeed difficult to endure. She quietly rose and slipped out alone to wash her hands.
Beside him, Prince An continued his endless stream of mockery, while Shen Xiabai’s gaze settled on the girl hunched over with her head lowered, looking like a little rabbit making its escape.
Only after her figure disappeared from the hall did he slowly withdraw his gaze. A moment later, he rose as well.
Prince An had been flailing about like a wild dancer, every barb striking nothing but a wall. He frowned and looked up. “Where are you going?”
Shen Xiabai replied, “My clothes are dirty. I’m going to change.”
Prince An glanced at the unmistakable round stain on his brocade robe.
The Emperor’s somber gaze rested on Shen Xiabai’s departing figure and remained there for a long while. His expression was somewhat gloomy.
*
Shen Xiabai followed the path Cui Yunchu had taken and arrived at a more secluded palace. The hall was exceedingly simple: a screen for changing clothes, one table, and several stools. There was nothing else.
“Are you here to change, my lord?” The palace maid stationed at the entrance glanced at Shen Xiabai’s stained robe and asked respectfully.
Shen Xiabai acknowledged her and said, “There’s no need for you to attend me. I can manage on my own.”
He sent her outside, then remained alone in the hall.
The palace was not large. He walked around it once but did not see a single person. His brows drew together.
He had watched her come in. How could she be nowhere to be found?
“A Chu.”
“A Chu.”
No one answered. Shen Xiabai sat down beside the table, his brows furrowed in thought.
Could he have been mistaken?
At that moment, a sharp pain suddenly shot through the sole of his foot. Before he could look down, someone seized his ankle. He instinctively exerted force, about to break free, but a pair of soft, pale hands emerged from beneath the table, and he immediately relaxed his strength.
The person beneath the table showed him no mercy at all. She gripped his ankle and gave it a vicious yank, overturning the chair. Shen Xiabai went rolling hard onto the floor.
“Crash!”
The sound was enormous.
The person beneath the table crawled out with all four limbs like a centipede, climbed onto him, and immediately brought her palm down.
“You can’t see me, can you?”
“Smack.”
“You’re not going to speak to me, are you?”
“Smack.”
“Are you pretending not to know me?”
“Smack.”
Not one of her slaps missed. She had put all her strength into them, though against Shen Xiabai, they were hardly enough to hurt.
“You’re quite something, Shen the Bastard—pretending not to know me in front of another woman, pretending we’re not close, pretending I don’t exist.”
“I’ll show you how to pretend.” Cui Yunchu gripped him tightly by the throat and shook him hard. “Weren’t you drinking? Weren’t you being betrothed? Then go on, you little bastard!”
Cui Yunchu was furious enough to explode.
She had smiled at him like a lovesick puppy, and he had actually dared to pretend he couldn’t see her.
“What a pretty face on a piece of trash.”
At first, Shen Xiabai had shielded his head and face, afraid Cui Yunchu would hit him too hard and leave slap marks that others might see when he went outside.
But after being shaken by the throat, he was starting to feel dizzy.
He simply lay there without resisting, one hand supporting Cui Yunchu’s waist.
“Careful. Don’t strain your waist.”
For the final slap, Cui Yunchu really did strike him across the face.
“Are you going to keep pretending or not?”
