Chapter 583: Losing Value

If not for her, the Marquis's household would not have declined so rapidly in such a short period of time.

Even buying medicine for Old Madam Ji required him to go to the moneylenders outside to borrow money.

Ji Nanchuan had come to loathe Ji Qingqing and Madam Meng during this period. The current state of the Marquis Yongning's household was largely their fault.

Madam Meng had been confined to her room ever since Ji Qingqing drank the abortion medicine last time, and was not allowed to leave.

As for Ji Qingqing, he forbade Ji Huaiche and his two brothers from visiting her in prison.

This time, Ji Qingfeng had sneaked in without Ji Nanchuan's knowledge.

He regretted coming the moment he arrived.

If he had known Ji Qingqing would blame him, he should not have brought the basket of food to see her.

Ji Qingfeng did not want to answer Ji Qingqing's question and quickly changed the subject, saying, "Come eat something first, Qing Qing. The food won't taste good once it gets cold."

His reaction only made Ji Qingqing feel even more like the Marquis Yongning's household had abandoned her.

So far, apart from Ji Nanchuan visiting her twice, no one from the Marquis's household had come to see her.

The three brothers who had once promised to love and protect her for life had all turned a blind eye and gone silent after seeing her fall from grace.

And Ji Huaiche was the Right Assistant Minister of Dali Temple—he hadn't even spoken up for her once.

Thinking of all this made Ji Qingqing's heart run cold.

The man she loved most was the one who put her here, and her biological parents were the reason she'd ended up in this state.

Yet the adoptive parents she thought would shelter her for life now avoided her like the plague.

Those closest to her had hurt her the deepest.

Ji Qingqing suddenly remembered what Hua Feixue had told her in the prison cell.

He said he knew she was not the true daughter of the Marquis Yongning household because Ji Qingfeng had told him.

He also said that Ji Qingfeng had doted on her for sixteen years, yet she was nothing but an ungrateful snake, only taking without ever thinking of giving back.

Her three brothers, though they never said it out loud, secretly hated her.

They all wished she would get married off sooner.

In that instant, Ji Qingqing's heart felt like it had been pierced by a thousand arrows. The pain was suffocating, and tears streamed down her face before she could stop them.

After wrestling with herself, she raised her reddened eyes and spoke tentatively to Ji Qingfeng, "Second Brother, the baby I was carrying is gone, and His Highness the Crown Prince doesn't want me anymore. I have nothing left but you."

"Please, think of a way to get me out of here. I can't stand this place anymore."

"If I stay any longer, I'll die here."

Ji Qingqing sobbed uncontrollably as she knelt on the ground, crawling to Ji Qingfeng's feet and clutching at the hem of his robe.

Ji Qingfeng instinctively pulled his robe back, and when Ji Qingqing reached for it again, he took two steps back.

He said, "Qing Qing, it's not that Second Brother won't help you—it's that I don't have the power to get you out either!"

"This time, the person you offended is the Crown Prince. When His Majesty learned that you hid your identity and deceived the Crown Prince, he was furious too, because he felt you'd shamed the royal family. He ordered the authorities to launch a full investigation and punish you without mercy. What can we possibly do?"

"Besides, Father and Eldest Brother are Imperial Officials. They wouldn't dare plead for you before His Majesty unless they're willing to give up their official positions and the family's future."

Ji Qingfeng paused here, then, playing the role of the caring older brother, he earnestly advised her.

"Qing Qing, think about it carefully. These past sixteen years, how have Grandmother, Father, Mother, and your three brothers treated you?"

"Food, clothing, makeup—we always bought you the best. Even your jewelry and accessories were always the latest styles. Whatever you wanted, we would go out of our way to satisfy you. We never skimped on material things."

"Everything we could have done for you, we've already done. It's not that the Marquis's household doesn't want to save you—it's that unless His Majesty and the Crown Prince relent, there's nothing we can do. You should understand how hard this is for all of us."

He said all this with such righteous indignation, as if he were standing on a moral high ground.

But Ji Qingqing knew exactly how hypocritical Ji Qingfeng's words were.

The reason the Marquis Yongning's household had adopted her and switched her with Ji Yuntang was never selfless—it was always with a purpose.

They raised her only to gain power and wealth, to marry her off to the Crown Prince and pave the way for their three sons.

Simply put, Ji Qingqing's existence was nothing more than a chess piece.

When she was useful, they naturally treated her well.

But once she lost that value, the chess piece would be tossed aside without a second thought.

A bitter, metallic taste rose in Ji Qingqing's throat. Despair filled her heart, and she hated these people with every fiber of her being.

They had joyfully given her hope, only to shove her step by step into the abyss of despair.

She propped herself up, swayed as she got to her feet, and spoke in a trembling, desperate voice.

"If you truly cared about me, why won't you save me?"

"Don't tell me you're powerless. Chen Huaxiu clearly said that as long as the Marquis Yongning's household was willing to give her one hundred thousand taels of silver, she would go to the authorities and drop the charges to have me released."

"If you really wanted to save me, how could you not scrape together one hundred thousand taels?"

"To put it plainly, you don't want to save me at all. You treated me well only because I had value. Once I lost that value, you stopped caring whether I lived or died."

Ji Qingfeng pressed his lips together, at a loss for words.

Ji Qingqing was right—the Marquis Yongning's household had raised her precisely because she was worth more than Ji Yuntang.

Wasn't the whole point of having daughters in noble families to marry them off for alliances and family gain?

Otherwise, how could a rural villager's daughter possibly deserve to enter the gates of the Marquis Yongning's household and become the pampered Second Miss?

As for that whole "Destined Phoenix Maiden" business, Ji Qingfeng had always scoffed at it.

Ji Nanchuan and Madam Meng might believe such nonsense, but he didn't believe a single word.

Ji Qingqing might have had the luck to marry up, but she didn't have the fate to be Crown Princess.

She had made her own mistakes, and couldn't even protect her unborn child. There was no way the Marquis Yongning's household would shell out one hundred thousand taels to save her.

Ji Nanchuan wasn't stupid—throwing that money away would be like throwing money down the drain. He only wanted to cut ties with Ji Qingqing, let her rot in prison, and stop her from bringing more trouble to himself and the Marquis's household.

But that's what he thought, and Ji Qingfeng didn't dare show it in the face of Ji Qingqing's accusations.

He said, "Qing Qing, it's not what you think. We do want to save you, but you know the Marquis's household is in a tight spot right now."

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