Chapter 271 Nonsense

Back in those days, Prince Nanxiao voluntarily handed over his military authority and resigned from his post, intending to withdraw from the court.

At the farewell banquet that Emperor Jingyang held for Prince Nanxiao, taking advantage of them both being drunk, she drugged Prince Nanxiao, climbed into his bed, and then disappeared.

Three months later, she stood before him with a slightly bulging belly, telling him she was pregnant with his child.

Prince Nanxiao didn't believe it at first, then grew furious and grief-stricken. He wanted to strangle Consort Li and the child in her womb.

He simply couldn't accept that he had slept with Emperor Jingyang's woman.

He thought Consort Li was too dirty, unworthy to bear his child!

At the critical moment, Consort Li told him that she had a way to help him take revenge, make Emperor Jingyang pay a heavy price, and even help him reclaim the throne of the Dongchen Kingdom.

She also said that no one else could help Prince Nanxiao take revenge except her.

This condition was huge, incredibly tempting to Prince Nanxiao.

At that time, he had just been stripped of his position as Crown Prince, and watched helplessly as Luo Chengyuan took the position that was rightfully his, clad in a dragon robe, infinitely glorious.

After that, he handed over all his military power, voluntarily resigned, and left the palace with nothing.

He thought this would make Luo Chengyuan let him go, but a month later, Prince Nanxiao received news at home that his mother, the former Empress Jiang Yuyan, who was in the cold palace, had been killed by Emperor Jingyang with a cup of poisoned wine.

Tragically, he never even saw his mother's remains.

What Emperor Jingyang sent him was only a gold-and-jade Ruyi hairpin that the former Empress Jiang Yuyan had loved most in life.

Holding the Ruyi hairpin, how could he not be filled with hatred?

The hatred in Prince Nanxiao's heart almost drove him mad. Many times he wanted to rush into the palace and kill Emperor Jingyang, even if it meant dying alongside him.

It was at this time that Consort Li appeared before Prince Nanxiao.

As Emperor Jingyang's favored consort, but carrying Prince Nanxiao's child in her womb, she told him that the one she truly loved in her heart was actually Prince Nanxiao.

She too hated Emperor Jingyang to the bone.

Although Prince Nanxiao didn't fully believe her, he didn't want to miss this chance for revenge either.

He had someone feed Consort Li poison and required her to get the antidote from him at the end of every month to ease the suffering in her body and allow her and her child to survive.

To survive, Consort Li took it without a moment's hesitation.

After that, the two conspired again and devised a series of revenge plans.

Consort Li unconditionally cooperated with all of Prince Nanxiao's plans, including her taking labor-inducing medicine when she was seven months pregnant to advance her due date, so her child would be born at the same time as the Empress's child.

Consort Li knew full well that this medicine was extremely damaging to her body and might even shorten her lifespan, but she did everything as she was told.

That was her sacrifice for Prince Nanxiao!

After the child was born, Consort Li purposely took a drop of blood and gave it to Prince Nanxiao, asking them to perform a blood kinship test to prove that her words were true.

In the end, the test result proved that the child in her womb was indeed Prince Nanxiao's own flesh and blood.

And this child became Consort Li's biggest bargaining chip in negotiations with Prince Nanxiao.

See? He had been under her control for the past twenty-three years, utterly at her mercy.

Let alone taking a wife, his Canglan Mountain Villa now didn't even have a single concubine.

Consort Li felt deeply satisfied by this.

She thought that over these twenty-three years, through countless days and nights, she had sacrificed so much for his revenge plan and had given birth to two children for him.

Prince Nanxiao truly did love her.

After all, no other woman would have gone to such lengths for Prince Nanxiao.

The storytellers of Dongchen Kingdom often praised the love story of Xie Jinrong and Cai Guiti as deeply moving.

Consort Li felt that it was because they didn't know her own love story.

If they did, there would be no story of Xie Jinrong and Cai Guiti!

At this moment, Luo Qianxue's chattering voice rang out.

"Mother Consort, what are you thinking? Are you even listening to me?"

Consort Li snapped back to reality, slightly displeased. She cast a casual sidelong glance at Luo Qianxue.

"Shouting and yelling, what kind of behavior is that?"

"If they know, they see you as a princess of the Dongchen Imperial Family; if they don't, they'd take you for a street shrew off the streets."

Luo Qianxue: "..."

Luo Qianxue: "!!!"

She had been called a shrew for the first time!!!

And the one who called her that was her own Mother Consort!!!

Before Luo Qianxue could speak, Consort Li added: "I have told you long ago that you must always mind your appearance and manners in public. You represent not only yourself but also the entire face of the Dongchen royal family."

Hearing this, Luo Qianxue exploded like she had swallowed gunpowder.

"Didn't you admit that you don't love the Emperor? Why do you still care about the royal family's face?"

"Speaking of face, Mother Consort, you should save some face yourself. Stop messing around with the Crown Prince. Do you know what people in the palace say about you?"

"They say you are unfaithful, restless, already married yet coveting a man who is not your own..."

"Shut up!"

At these words, Consort Li's eyes blazed with anger. She raised her hand to slap Luo Qianxue.

Luo Qianxue looked at her with reddened eyes, tears streaming down immediately, her voice extremely aggrieved.

"Are you still going to hit me, Mother Consort?"

"I said all this for your own good. If I weren't your daughter, I would have long watched you go astray without caring."

Consort Li's lips trembled slightly—from anger.

She looked at Luo Qianxue's face, which bore a three-part resemblance to Prince Nanxiao's features, and ultimately couldn't bring herself to strike.

The hand raised to slap turned into a gentle caress on Luo Qianxue's cheek, and with her fingertips she slowly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

“I won't hit you. You're my most beloved daughter. How could I ever bear to hit you?”

“Xue'er, we, mother and daughter, rely on each other in the palace. I'm the one who's let you suffer unfairly!”

“I promise you that before long, I'll make you famous across the world and give you a comfortable, happy life.”

“By then, whether it's Ji Yuntang or Luo Qingge, anyone you can't stand will have to kneel at your feet like dogs, bow down to you, and be at your beck and call.”

Luo Qianxue: “…”

She stared at Consort Li's face in astonishment, trying to see if she had been triggered and was out of her mind to have said such a thing.

She recognized every word individually, but when combined together, she couldn't quite understand!

Not to mention that Luo Qingge, as the Empress's daughter, has a higher status than her, so there will never come a day when Luo Qingge kneels before her and bows down.

Even Ji Yuntang, nominally her sister-in-law, with that bitch's fiery temper, she'd be lucky if she didn't get hit with a ruler, so how could she ever kneel before her like a dog and take orders?

Thinking of this, Luo Qianxue reached out and touched Consort Li's forehead to see if she had a fever.

The result was that she was not feverish at all.

Luo Qianxue's voice was tearful.

“Mother, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me!”

“I'll have someone summon the imperial physician to examine you right away.”

At this moment, she was really a little scared.

Afraid that Consort Li was possessed by a ghost!

Otherwise, why else would she be talking nonsense in broad daylight?

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