"What about Consort Li? Are we just going to let her off the hook for scheming against the young prince?" Madam Hu asked unwillingly.
The princess lowered her eyes and said, "Then it depends on Luo Zhiheng. Luo Zhiheng disrupted Consort Li's conspiracy. That despicable Consort Li will definitely hold Luo Zhiheng accountable. Let's just wait and see. It's a good opportunity to observe this Luo Zhiheng."
How many women in a grand mansion are simple? The princess, with just a few words, possessed the air of a king who could deflect a thousand pounds with a single stroke, watching the tigers fight from the sidelines.
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030 Consort Li
Updated: 2013-06-06 20:01:28 Word Count: 1720
Consort Li's courtyard was larger and more exquisite than the Princess's, and the furnishings in her rooms far surpassed those of the Princess. At this moment, Consort Li lay on a chaise lounge, listening to her maid's report while holding up her little finger.
"Hmph, she's quite the girl who knows how to find a powerful patron. But she'll soon find out she's stuck with the wrong tree. Daring to ruin my plans, I'll teach her a lesson about how deep the gates of a noble family can be!" Consort Li sneered, a cold glint in her eyes.
Mu Yunhe has been living like a dead man for so many years, yet he hasn't died. If he doesn't die, her son Yun Jin can't rightfully inherit the title. No matter how outstanding he is, or how much the prince values him, what good is it? He's still an illegitimate child. She finally came up with a plan to find someone with a strong fate to bring Mu Yunhe good luck, preferably someone who would kill him on their wedding night. Everything was going smoothly until a calamity suddenly appeared.
The reason she chose Luo Ningshuang was because Luo Ningshuang was considered unlucky for her mother. However, Luo Ningshuang also had a good reputation; her fame for being talented, beautiful, gentle, and virtuous was already well-known throughout the capital. Luo Ningshuang was simply the perfect choice. Her good reputation made people forget the fact that she was unlucky for her mother. By finding Mu Yunhe a well-known and virtuous wife, Consort Li could also gain a reputation for being kind and loving—a win-win situation.
But that Luo Zhiheng! She's infuriating! How could she forget that the Luo family has a spoiled brat who's completely unruly? It ruined her entire plan, and she needs time to devise a new strategy. Besides, she can't act rashly right now, for fear that someone will uncover the fact that Luo Ningshuang is a jinx to her mother.
"Luo Zhiheng, let's play slowly. You little brat, you better be sensible, or I, the Princess Consort, will make sure your Luo family is in turmoil," Consort Li said menacingly.
The maid was too frightened to move. Consort Li was an extremely ruthless person. Once her plans were thwarted, no matter how big the problem was, she would definitely retaliate, even to the point of madness. She was undoubtedly a person who would hold a grudge for the smallest thing.
The princess's current predicament, where she is relegated to the cold palace and stripped of her power, is the result of Consort Li's actions.
"Linglong, is Luo Zhiheng on her way to visit me right now?" Consort Li asked matter-of-factly.
The maid Linglong trembled and said in a panic, "No, no, the little princess has returned to the little prince's courtyard."
"What? She actually dares not to pay her respects to me, her elder!" Consort Li sat up abruptly, her eyes flashing with a cold rage.
"This servant deserves to die!" Even her trusted confidants knelt down in terror.
Consort Li swept her cold gaze over them, her eyes flashing with a fierce light. She suddenly leaned down, fiddling with her bright red-black nail polish, and sneered arrogantly, "It's alright. I'll wait and see when she comes to visit me. Even if she doesn't understand, our half-dead little prince should know some manners. He must understand who's in charge of the money now, buying him those exorbitantly expensive life-sustaining medicines! If he wants to live a few more days, he'll have to respect me, the mistress of the household!"
"Your Highness is wise!" the confidant quickly flattered.
A smug and alluring smile appeared on Consort Li's well-maintained face. She squinted her eyes and said, "You call me Princess Consort, but you can only do so in such a secretive way. When will it be possible for me to openly and legitimately become your Princess Consort?"
"Princess, don't worry. That sickly man won't make it past this year. Although His Highness has been searching for a divine physician, how easy is it to find one? Even if he does find one, he might not be able to cure him. Once he dies, that old codger who's in your position will also die soon, and your days as Princess Consort won't be far off," Linglong said ingratiatingly.
The petals in Consort Li's hand oozed sap, and she said with a seductive, cold laugh, "But this princess can't wait any longer..."
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031 Grab the Treasure
Updated: 2013-06-06 20:01:29 Word Count: 1639
Luo Zhiheng returned beaming with a pile of treasures she had been rewarded with. Her smile was absolutely genuine. Before, when they were gathering information, scouting locations, and lying in wait, it would often take them months to pull off a single robbery, and even then, they weren't guaranteed to find anything valuable. In that turbulent era, quite a few items circulated from the palace, but they were all looted and smashed by the foreign devils. How many could the remaining bandits possibly manage to get their hands on?
However, she used to have several valuable treasures, including rubies and sapphires, which her father left her as her dowry. But she was unfilial and never found someone to marry her before she died. Now, those treasures have probably been divided up by her brothers and sisters-in-law who were always eyeing her dowry.
The thought of someone daring to steal her things made her, Luo Zhiheng, wish she could die again and go back to her era to scare away anyone who tried to steal her treasures. But that was impossible now.
Back in the room, Luo Zhiheng placed a pile of things on Mu Yunhe's bed. He was drinking water when he saw her, and said with disgust, "Stay away from me."
Luo Zhiheng took a few steps back with a good temper, her smile a little sly.
That irritating smile made Mu Yunhe feel uncomfortable all over. He retorted sarcastically, "Did you find some silver?"
Luo Zhiheng nodded and then shook her head, saying, "I didn't find them; my mother gave them to me. Here they are, right in front of you."
Mu Yunhe glanced at the items, but the pair of glittering golden treasures didn't even faze him: "Why did you put these here with me when Mother gave them to you?"
Luo Zhiheng's face practically lit up with a smile as she deftly gathered the pile of treasures into her arms, instantly satisfied. Then she said sincerely, "I'll show you. You're my husband, and we can only live better if there are no secrets between us."
She said this intentionally so the spies could hear. No mother likes her daughter-in-law hiding money from her son. Now that it's proven she has spies around her, she doesn't mind having them relay messages to the princess to improve her standing. If the leader is happy, the reward might be even greater.
Mu Yunhe was taken aback for a moment, his deep eyes filled with sarcasm, showing that he had not been deceived by Luo Zhiheng. He sneered, "Since you are so sincere, why don't you share some with me?"
Luo Zhiheng's smile froze instantly, and she puffed out her cheeks, saying, "You still care about such a small thing?"
Mu Yunhe said with a forced smile, "I don't care, but I like it. Give it to me."
Seeing you unhappy makes me feel better. Mu Yunhe thought darkly.
Luo Zhiheng's gaze was cold and sharp as she glared at Mu Yunhe, that hypocrite, before reluctantly handing him a box of treasures. Seeing Mu Yunhe pick and choose, eventually taking out a whole bunch, Luo Zhiheng couldn't resist any longer and pounced on him: "These are a gift from my mother, please save some for me!"
Mu Yunhe refused to give it to Luo Zhiheng, but Mu Yunhe had no strength to fight with Luo Zhiheng, and the servants dared not participate in their masters' battle. Mu Yunhe was bound to lose.
Luo Zhiheng snatched the item and quickly retreated, glaring at him warily. Mu Yunhe, panting heavily from the exertion, angrily shouted, "Give it to me!"
Seeing that Mu Yunhe was too weak to come down and snatch it, Luo Zhiheng's expression changed, and she said smugly and hypocritically, "Husband, you should rest well. I will take good care of the things my mother gave me, so you don't need to worry about them."
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032 There's a reason for loving money.
Updated: 2013-06-06 20:01:30 Word Count: 1690
Mu Yunhe had never felt so frustrated or disgusted with anyone in his life. Ever since Luo Zhiheng returned with the things her mother had given her the day before yesterday, that wretched woman had been showing off and counting those things according to the number of meals she had eaten three times a day. Every time she looked at those things, Mu Yunhe regarded the expression on her face as lewd!
What kind of woman is so obsessed with jewelry and money? She even sleeps with it in her arms; it's utterly shameful.
Mu Yunhe couldn't understand Luo Zhiheng's feelings. She had lived through an era of national ruin and family destruction, and had experienced the sudden fall from a wealthy young lady to a beggar in the midst of turmoil. She had even almost been captured and violated by those bad people. Fortunately, they ran away quickly, and fortunately, her father refused to abandon her even in death.
So when her father led his family and servants to become bandits in the mountains with no other choice, experiencing great wealth and high status, witnessing the coldness and warmth of the world and the changes in circumstances, and when they were desperate and often hungry, they finally made these once noble people lower their proud heads.
Without money, there's no food; without food, there's no survival. All your past pride and status are meaningless! So back then, they robbed like madmen, hoping to steal food, but if that wasn't possible, they'd demand money—anything that could be exchanged for cash. With money, they could go to the city to trade for food.
Her father had told her that money was the cheapest and most worthless thing in the world. But without money, we would die, because without money, no one would give us enough food. We don't covet money, we won't be slaves to it, but we must ensure we have a means to survive. That means having enough money to at least avoid going hungry.
It was around that time that little Luo Zhiheng developed an almost obsessive possessiveness toward money and anything that could be exchanged for money.
She was a strange person. She didn't really care about money, but she always wanted to hold onto it, as if holding onto money meant holding onto her destiny, preventing her from being trampled, starving, or groveling.
"Are you sure you still want to count that pile of yellow and white stuff today?" Mu Yunhe couldn't stand it anymore. Did that woman really think he was dead? She was ignoring him so completely.
"What's the point of not counting them? I've already bathed you, given you your medicine, and fed you." Luo Zhiheng wiped a gemstone ring with a soft cloth. The boss is really generous; such a large and high-quality gemstone must fetch a lot of money.
Mu Yunhe was so angry that his head was throbbing. He said through gritted teeth in a hoarse voice, "Aren't you going back to your parents' house today?"
"Why go back to your parents' house?" Luo Zhiheng suddenly looked up, slapped her forehead, and said casually, "Today is the day to return to my parents' home, but there's hardly anyone there. What's the point of going back?"
"Isn't your sister human?" Mu Yunhe said sarcastically, almost instinctively.
Luo Zhiheng whistled loudly with a roguish air, and smiled slyly with a sly glint in his eye, "Actually, you still want to marry my sister, don't you? Otherwise, why would she appear in your mouth so easily? Or perhaps you want me to go back and find out about my sister's situation for you? Are you worried about her?"
A cushion flew towards him, and Mu Yunhe roared weakly, "Get out of here! If you don't leave, I'm going to be driven to my death by this brat!"
Luo Zhiheng caught the weak pillow with a smile. Hu Mama's voice came from outside the door: "This old servant greets the young prince and princess. The princess said that today is the day the young princess returns to her parents' home, and asked this old servant to bring some things for the young princess to take back."
Luo Zhiheng's face fell. Now she had no choice but to go back. She didn't want to see her sister who had been beaten up so badly by Luo Zhiheng. She felt so guilty.
Please add to your favorites, leave comments, and vote for this story. Everything has been completely revised. Sorry, this is a total overhaul; please treat it as a new story and read it again.
033 A sycophant, a two-faced person
Updated: 2013-06-06 20:01:30 Word Count: 1572
Even though she didn't want to see Luo Ningshuang, Luo Zhiheng couldn't refuse the princess. She quickly put away the pile of treasures and hid them in the cabinet, then said to Mu Yunhe almost face to face, "You're not allowed to touch my treasures, or I'll make a fuss about you tonight."
"Despicable!" Mu Yunhe wanted to bite off the tip of the fair nose in front of him, but he sneered disdainfully, "I am not so shallow as to bother with such a petty person. Get lost."
Luo Zhiheng was certain that Mu Yunhe wouldn't touch it. She had observed him these past few days, and he truly treated those treasures like dirt. She stepped outside, her spoiled demeanor instantly transforming into a gentle and adorable one. Smiling sweetly, she took Hu Mama's arm and said in a coquettish voice, "Hello, Hu Mama. What did Mother ask you to bring for Heng'er?"
Mrs. Hu didn't mind Luo Zhiheng's enthusiasm and began to introduce her.
In the dimly lit and stuffy room, Mu Yunhe's pale face was filled with mockery and disdain as he accurately labeled her: "Sycophant! Two-faced!"
Luo Zhiheng had excellent hearing. Hearing his words, she was afraid that Hu Mama would become suspicious, but seeing that Hu Mama seemed not to have heard, she dared not be careless and pretended to be coquettish and said, "Please thank Mother for me first. I will go and thank Mother when I return. Just now, my husband was urging me to hurry back to my parents' home, but I didn't want to. Now that Mother has sent you to say it, I will happily go back to my parents' home. Didn't you hear my husband just say that I am a sycophant and a two-faced person? Humph."
Her voice was beautiful, clear and soft; even her soft humming was like the tinkling of jade pendants, light and cheerful.
Mrs. Hu smiled so much her eyes shone even brighter, and she patted Hu's hand gently, saying she would accompany her back to her parents' home.
Luo Zhiheng said she needed to change her clothes. Back in her room, she subtly threatened Mu Yunhe, saying in a low voice, "So what if I'm a two-faced sycophant? Who told you to have no one to flatter me?"