A middle-aged man was seen approaching from a distance. He wasn’t sitting with the officials and young men but was seated separately in a specially arranged place. This man was about forty years old, with a dark, thin, and fierce face. He wore a pine-colored long brocade robe, extremely luxurious in attire, but unfortunately had only one leg.
This was Prince Yu, the current Emperor’s blood brother.
Prince Yu was the Emperor’s full brother from the same mother. In his youth, he had saved the Emperor’s life from an assassin, and in the process, his left leg was injured, necessitating amputation, thus becoming a cripple. Since then, Prince Yu’s temperament had changed dramatically—he became brutal, vicious, and perverse. He also kept a houseful of concubines. While outsiders were unaware of the details, the royal family knew perfectly well that Prince Yu had some filthy fetishes, and countless women had died at his hands.
The Princess Consort of Prince Yu had died seven years ago, and there was something suspicious about her death. However, since both the Emperor and the Empress Dowager protected Prince Yu, the Princess Consort’s family could only swallow this bitter pill. Recently, news suddenly spread from Prince Yu’s mansion that he intended to take a new consort.
At once, everyone in the capital began speculating. Prince Yu held a high position and was favored by both the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. Selecting a new consort would require someone from a matching family background. Noble families who truly loved their daughters naturally wouldn’t want them to enter such a wolf’s den. But some treated their daughters as bargaining chips, eager to exchange them for wealth and status, even at the cost of a life.
Look at the former Princess Consort’s family—though they lost a daughter, weren’t they were becoming increasingly prosperous under the Emperor’s compensatory protection.
Shen Miao’s gaze swept past Prince Yu and landed on Ren Wanyun in the women’s section.
Sure enough, Ren Wanyun’s face brightened, and she said to Madam Yi beside her, “His Majesty truly treats Prince Yu with great favor.”
As someone experienced in the inner court politics, Madam Yi almost immediately realized what Ren Wanyun was plotting. Although she somewhat despised Ren Wanyun for being too ruthless, her husband and Shen Gui were on the same side, so she naturally had to support Ren Wanyun. She smiled and said, “Indeed, although he’s a bit older, he knows how to cherish others.”
Chen Ruoqiu lowered her head nearby, slowly eating snacks, but the smile at the corners of her mouth was somewhat strange. Cherish others? No one would want their daughter to marry a lame widower, no matter how cherishing or powerful he was—that would be pushing one’s daughter into a fire pit. Thinking of this, she turned her head to look at Shen Miao.
Shen Miao patiently placed the chess pieces, making moves according to the game, seemingly not paying any attention to others. Chen Ruoqiu suddenly felt uncertain. Since waking up after falling into the water, Shen Miao seemed to have become a different person. Could it be that the blood of Shen Xin had finally awakened in her? Shen Xin’s family all had fierce temperaments. If Shen Miao discovered Ren Wanyun’s plan, would she meekly accept it?
As she was thinking, she noticed that Shen Miao seemed to sense her gaze and looked up at her. That look was completely cold, and though it was already October autumn, it instantly made Chen Ruoqiu’s heart freeze.
Shen Miao lowered her head, looking at the chess game before her.
In her previous life, after being thoroughly humiliated at the Chrysanthemum Banquet and returning to the mansion, Ren Wanyun had brought up the marriage with Prince Yu’s household to Old Madam Shen. Ren Wanyun had said, “Little Fifth behaves this way now, with no virtues, and even brings shame to the Shen family. What noble family would be willing to marry a girl like Little Fifth? Right now, there’s still this good marriage opportunity with Prince Yu’s household. If Little Fifth goes there, she would be a Princess Consort, with the care of His Majesty and the Empress Dowager. That would be fortunate. Although his leg is not good and he’s a bit older, our Little Fifth doesn’t have any outstanding qualities either, so it’s not shortchanging her.”
The words sounded righteous but were extremely vicious. It was only later that she discovered this conversation after paying a heavy price to bribe a maid from Rongjing Hall. Old Madam Shen had always hated the first branch of the family. Shen Xin was born of the first wife, and when the old master was alive, he had favored Shen Xin, making his second wife, Old Madam Shen, jealous. She had finally outlived the old master, but Shen Xin’s military achievements made him untouchable. If she couldn’t touch Shen Xin, she could at least touch Shen Miao. And for a woman, nothing was more painful than a bad marriage.
Old Madam Shen and Ren Wanyun immediately agreed, and they were about to send someone to Prince Yu’s mansion to propose this matter. Shen Miao was both angry and afraid. She was infatuated with Fu Xiuyi at that time, and in a bold move, she took her belongings to Prince Fu’s residence that night, requesting shelter. She deliberately let people spread this news, not caring about her reputation, thinking that since her reputation was already ruined, even becoming Prince Fu’s concubine would be better than marrying into Prince Yu’s household.
This infuriated Old Madam Shen to no end. Although Fu Xiuyi was annoyed inside, he didn’t treat her too badly on the surface, perhaps seeing the value of the Shen family’s military power to him. Though not particularly warm toward Shen Miao, he didn’t object. Later, when Shen Xin returned to the capital at the end of the year, he was greeted with the fact that his daughter had eloped to become someone’s concubine, a scandal all over the capital. He was both shocked and angry, but Shen Miao protested by going on a hunger strike. Shen Xin ultimately had no choice and, risking his military achievements, finally secured the title of Prince Fu’s Consort for her.
But no one expected that this would be just the beginning of a true nightmare.
Shen Miao closed her eyes briefly. All the mistakes of her previous life seemed to start from today, and today was destined to be a turning point in her current life. Those who owed her debts—now, they would all start preparing to pay them back!
“Hey, what fun is there playing alone?” A voice suddenly sounded in her ear. Feng Anning had somehow walked up to her, her face showing some awkwardness as she sat down opposite her. “Why not play a game with me? Though, do you know how to play chess?”
Feng Anning looked down at the chessboard, casually speaking without real intent, but as she looked, she became somewhat interested. After examining it carefully for a while, she still couldn’t figure out the pattern and asked, “What style of play is this? I’ve never seen it before.”
“This isn’t chess,” Shen Miao smiled slightly. “This is war.”
“What?”
“You can’t see it now,” Shen Miao said calmly. “In this kind of chess, you can only see it when you capture the pieces at the end.” Just like a net, solidly and tightly covering everything, allowing not even one to escape.
Feng Anning shuddered: “What are you saying? It’s creepy.” She looked toward the men’s section, and suddenly her eyes brightened. She glanced at Shen Miao somewhat mischievously: “Look, Prince Fu has arrived.”
At the men’s section, Prince Fu Xiuyi wore a gold-embroidered pine-blue long robe, green boots, and a jade crown, looking quite magnificent. He was naturally handsome, with a rather cold demeanor, yet his actions were friendly, seeming not to have the airs of a high-ranking prince. As he walked, he caused exclamations from the women’s section.
Shen Miao lowered her head, her clenched fingers digging into her palm.
Ten years of companionship, wholehearted support, only to be rewarded with a white silk rope, and a family debt of blood. Even their children had perished because of this.
This person appeared as benevolent on the outside as he was vicious on the inside, seemingly as just as he was heartless.
In her previous life, this man granted her a complete corpse. In this life, she would ensure he died without his corpse intact!
Fu Xiuyi, this Imperial One has returned!