Upon learning that Royal Princess Leyang had arrived in the capital, Princess Shunan felt that she didn't have enough clothes, her jewelry wasn't shiny enough, and her rouge wasn't vibrant enough. Within just two days, she spent a considerable amount of silver at various rouge and jewelry shops in the capital.
After learning that Leyang's petition to grant her daughter the title of Junzhu had been rejected by the Emperor, Princess Shunan felt refreshed and invigorated. She took her daughter and her husband's niece to browse the rouge and jewelry shops. When they arrived at the shop, they noticed that the Tian siblings were also there. Princess Shunan let the younger ones play by themselves while she went upstairs to choose jewelry.
Just as she had picked out a phoenix hairpin, she heard someone speak, "I'll take this phoenix hairpin."
Princess Shunan turned around and coldly smiled, "Oh, I wondered who else could it be. Looking at other people's things and wanting it for yourself. If you can't have it, you start complaining. Turns out it's you."
"My dear sister, it's been a year. Your tone while speaking to others is still so unpleasant," Leyang reached out and picked up the phoenix hairpin on the tray and sneered, "No wonder you're still without the title of Royal Princess at your age."
"You!" That title was a thorn in Princess Shunan's heart. No matter who mentioned it in front of her, she couldn't help but get angry.
"My dear sister, are you going to get angry at me again?" Leyang covered her mouth and chuckled softly, "After all these years, when will you ever change your temper?"
Princess Shunan's face darkened, "Get lost."
"My dear sister, do you know?" Leyang walked up to Princess Shunan and smiled mockingly, "Every time I see you getting angry at me, unable to do anything about it, I feel that you're particularly pitiful."
Seeing that Princess Shunan was about to push her, Leyang took two steps back, "Dear sister, do you remember how our father despised you back then?"
"You wretch!" How could Princess Shunan forget? Back then, she and Leyang were at a marriageable age. Leyang took a liking to the refined and handsome heir of the Xie family, but the Emperor intended for Princess Shunan to marry into the Xie family. When Leyang found out, she deliberately provoked her, allowing the Emperor and the Xie family's son to see her ugly side.
Princess Shunan didn't want to bring up these old matters since she didn't really care about the Xie family's son back then. But she remembered clearly the grudge she held against Leyang for scheming against her.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Without thinking twice, she raised her hand and slapped Leyang hard. After all, she already had the reputation of scolding the Crown Prince, so she wasn't afraid of adding another bad reputation.
It feels good to hit someone in the heat of the moment, but regret comes afterward.
Leyang didn't expect that Princess Shunan would dare to strike her. She touched her cheek that was slapped and raised her hand to retaliate, but just as her hand was about to strike, she felt someone quickly pass by her side. Somehow, Princess Shunan fell to the ground.
"Royal Princess, if you like the hairpin Princess Shunan chose, just say so. With Princess Shunan's generosity, she wouldn't refuse; in fact, she would even buy it and gift it to you. Why did you have to resort to violence?" Hua Liuli helped Princess Shunan - who looked confused - and sat her upright. Then Hua Liuli looked at Royal Princess Leyang with anguish and anger, "You are sisters, after all."
Yao Jiamin, who followed Hua Liuli, hadn't fully grasped the situation yet. She saw Hua Liuli supporting her mother on the ground, tears filling her eyes. With her fair and tender fingers gently stroking her mother's cheek, her face expressed surprise, injustice, anger, and heartbreak. Anyone who saw it would think that Royal Princess Leyang had committed unforgivable misdeeds.
No, who exactly is her mother's daughter between her and Hua Liuli? Why does Hua Liuli seem more indignant than her own biological daughter?
Confused, she walked to her mother and Hua Liuli, crouching down. It seemed like Royal Princess Leyang hadn't even had a chance to touch her mother... right?
"Cry," Hua Liuli whispered in her ear.
"Huh?" Yao Jiamin had never seen such a distorted situation before, looking as lost as a child who had wandered off.
"Cry!" Hua Liuli gritted her teeth and whispered, "If you can't cry, I can help you."
Meeting Hua Liuli's beautiful eyes, Yao Jiamin suddenly understood everything. She took out a handkerchief from her pocket and covered her face, crying, "Mother, are you okay?"
After sobbing a few times, Yao Jiamin angrily pointed at Royal Princess Leyang and said, "Aunt, you are the elder sister, my mother is the younger sister. Everyone has been accommodating to you, why did you still resort to violence?!"
Royal Princess Leyang sneered, "Nonsense, when did I hurt your mother?"
"Jiamin, you can't slander people like this. I know your family doesn't welcome us back to the capital, but why fabricate lies?" Xie Yao's eyes turned red, "Stop causing a scene. It's not good for outsiders to see us imperial family members become a joke."
Yao Wenyin rushed upstairs with the others and saw her aunt had been slapped by Royal Princess Leyang. Her face turned red with anger, "You've gone too far, actually resorting to physical violence!"
Is being a princess so extraordinary that she can just hit people?!
Princess Shunan, who was being carefully supported by Hua Liuli, touched her cheek that had been caressed by Hua Liuli. It felt slightly warm, as though she had truly been struck. She even doubted whether she had really been slapped by that wretched Leyang.
Tian Shan and Tian Ruidong were startled by the scene and quickly walked to Princess Shunan, quietly asking if she was okay.
Royal Princess Leyang sneered and asked the palace attendants behind her, "Did you all see me hitting someone?"
The attendants shook their heads, while the attendants accompanying Princess Shunan remained silent.
"Of course, the servants you brought with you would naturally speak in your favor," Yao Wenyin saw her aunt's reddened cheek and her eyes welling up with anger. Ignoring her own identity, she shouted at Royal Princess Leyang, "You have gone too far in bullying others."
"I haven't done anything, why should I admit to it?" Royal Princess Leyang frowned in dissatisfaction, "How did the Yao family raise their daughter? The girls they raised have no sense of propriety or respect."
Xie Yao tearfully said in a low voice, "We clearly haven't done anything, why are you accusing us?"
"Miss Xie, so many of us saw it, yet you insist that you haven't done anything," Hua Liuli handed Princess Shunan over to Yao Jiamin as she stood up and looked at Xie Yao in disbelief, "In front of everyone's eyes, why won't you admit what you did?"
"It was clearly Aunt who struck my mother!" Xie Yao, seeing the sense of justice on Hua Liuli's beautiful face, felt immense anger, "Don't spout nonsense."
"Am I spouting nonsense?" Hua Liuli's face turned pale in an instant and she almost couldn't stand steady. She held her chest, it seemed as if an old ailment had resurfaced. But in order to seek justice for the wronged Princess Shunan, she didn't take a step back while holding onto the hand of her servant, "Miss Xie, I never expected that you, such a kind girl, would distort the truth. It's truly disappointing."
Xie Yao was so angry that she could barely catch her breath. Who was truly distorting the truth?!
If it weren't for her status not allowing her to curse, she would have already pointed at Hua Liuli and started swearing.
"Fushou Junzhu, are you alright?" Tian Ruidong noticed the staggering state of the ethereal Hua Liuli and anxiously rubbed his hands together. He saw one of the maidservants next to Junzhu feed a pill to Hua Liuli and quickly called for water and a chair.
"We just said a few words and you started crying." Tian Ruidong murmured softly, "Fushou Junzhu is so kind-hearted and weak. Even if you have wrongly accused her, she doesn't cry as intensely as you do."
Hua Liuli weakly smiled at Tian Ruidong. In her watery eyes, there was a mixture of fragility and strength, "Second Young Master Tian, I'm fine. You don't have to worry."
Seeing Hua Liuli in this state, Tian Ruidong felt even more disgusted by the ugliness of Royal Princess Leyang and her daughter, "They hit someone and still pretend to be pitiful. Don't think that shedding a few tears makes you innocent."
Princess Shunan and Yao Jiamin, who sat in the corner, exchanged a silent glance before lowering their heads without saying a word.
"Outrageous! None of you have any respect for me," Royal Princess Leyang had never imagined that one day she would be falsely accused by someone. She was so furious that she knocked over the tray of jewelry, scattering them on the ground, "If you youngsters don't understand the rules, I'll teach you. Good sister, it's the mother's fault if the daughter doesn't learn. Today, I'll teach your daughter a lesson on your behalf."
"Who wants your teachings?" The Crown Prince walked in from the corridor, his gaze scanning the chaotic room. He paused for a moment when he saw the redness on the cheek of Princess Shunan and then fixed his gaze on Hua Liuli without moving.
Upon seeing the Crown Prince here, Princess Shunan's heart sank. She and the Crown Prince had always been at odds, and he would definitely take Leyang's side. With this matter blowing up, not only would she suffer, but it was likely that the younger generation would also be wronged.
She frowned. She should have slapped that wretch a bit more earlier; whatever the case, in the end, it would still be the same amount of trouble for her.
"Cousin," Xie Yao, her eyes red, politely greeted the Crown Prince.
Unexpectedly, the Crown Prince didn't even look at her. He walked past her and stood next to Hua Liuli, "Are you feeling unwell?"
"I'm fine, Your Royal Highness," Hua Liuli didn't expect the Crown Prince to appear here. She hid one of her hands inside her sleeve and replied, "I just need to rest for a while."
The Crown Prince glanced at the hand she hid in her sleeve and casually took half a step to the left, blocking the view of Leyang and her daughter, "If Junzhu is feeling unwell, why hasn't anyone brought water?"
"Yes," The eunuch behind the Crown Prince quickly brought water. The Crown Prince took the cup but accidentally shook it, causing a few drops of water to fall on Hua Liuli's skirt.
He handed a handkerchief to Hua Liuli, "Apologies for accidentally staining the Junzhu's clothes. Please go to the nearby room to tidy up."
Hua Liuli looked up at the Crown Prince, who smiled and winked at her.
"Thank you, Your Royal Highness. I'll go now," Hua Liuli stood up and walked into the adjacent room, where noble ladies could rest.
After Hua Liuli left, the Crown Prince looked expressionlessly at everyone present, "Aunts, please have a seat, and let's talk."
Although Leyang was extremely angry, she intended to win over the Crown Prince, so she glared at Shunan before sitting down in a chair.
Shunan was already feeling guilty, and coupled with her prior disagreements with the Crown Prince, she could only sit silently on the side. For a while, the whole room fell silent.
"Do you know what happened?" the Crown Prince asked the people in the room.
"Replying to Your Highness, the servants who usually serve the nobles don't dare to look directly at their faces, so we don't know exactly what happened just now," one of the shop attendants replied. Although they often interacted with nobles, they had never witnessed such a scene of two princesses fighting. They quickly added, "We only heard a sound similar to a slap, but we don't know anything else. Please enlighten us, Your Royal Highness."
Leyang's face changed. The slap sound the servant heard was the sound of Shunan slapping her. She turned her head to show the Crown Prince her reddened cheek intentionally.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the Crown Prince didn't notice her intentions. Not only did he not notice her slightly flushed cheeks, he instead turned to look at Shunan. Leyang was shocked to see that the red mark on Shunan's face was even clearer than hers.
What on earth was going on?
"Aunts, as a junior, there are some words Benwang shouldn't say. But with things escalating like this, if Father Emperor and Imperial Grandmother knew, how heartbroken would they be?" the Crown Prince's sigh echoed powerfully in the quiet room.
"Imperial Nephew, I know you don't want to see Shunan and me in conflict, but Shunan is fabricating a story and falsely accusing me of hitting her in front of other servants. As her eldest sister, I am truly heartbroken," Leyang said.
"Cousin, not only did Aunt accuse Mother wrongly, but she also slapped her in front of other servants," Xie Yao sobbed softly, "Mother always told me how good the Empress Dowager and the Emperor were, how well they got along with others. But I never expected that as soon as we returned to the capital, we would face such difficulties. If we had known, we... shouldn't have come to the capital this year."
"Aunt, are you thinking of going home so soon?" After a pause, the Crown Prince's tone carried a hint of regret, "If Aunt and Cousin, two ladies, were to return alone, Benwang wouldn't feel at ease. How about Benwang seek permission from Father Emperor to send a squad of guards to accompany you both?"
Upon learning that Royal Princess Leyang had arrived in the capital, Princess Shunan felt that she didn't have enough clothes, her jewelry wasn't shiny enough, and her rouge wasn't vibrant enough. Within just two days, she spent a considerable amount of silver at various rouge and jewelry shops in the capital.
After learning that Leyang's petition to grant her daughter the title of Junzhu had been rejected by the Emperor, Princess Shunan felt refreshed and invigorated. She took her daughter and her husband's niece to browse the rouge and jewelry shops. When they arrived at the shop, they noticed that the Tian siblings were also there. Princess Shunan let the younger ones play by themselves while she went upstairs to choose jewelry.
Just as she had picked out a phoenix hairpin, she heard someone speak, "I'll take this phoenix hairpin."
Princess Shunan turned around and coldly smiled, "Oh, I wondered who else could it be. Looking at other people's things and wanting it for yourself. If you can't have it, you start complaining. Turns out it's you."
"My dear sister, it's been a year. Your tone while speaking to others is still so unpleasant," Leyang reached out and picked up the phoenix hairpin on the tray and sneered, "No wonder you're still without the title of Royal Princess at your age."
"You!" That title was a thorn in Princess Shunan's heart. No matter who mentioned it in front of her, she couldn't help but get angry.
"My dear sister, are you going to get angry at me again?" Leyang covered her mouth and chuckled softly, "After all these years, when will you ever change your temper?"
Princess Shunan's face darkened, "Get lost."
"My dear sister, do you know?" Leyang walked up to Princess Shunan and smiled mockingly, "Every time I see you getting angry at me, unable to do anything about it, I feel that you're particularly pitiful."
Seeing that Princess Shunan was about to push her, Leyang took two steps back, "Dear sister, do you remember how our father despised you back then?"
"You wretch!" How could Princess Shunan forget? Back then, she and Leyang were at a marriageable age. Leyang took a liking to the refined and handsome heir of the Xie family, but the Emperor intended for Princess Shunan to marry into the Xie family. When Leyang found out, she deliberately provoked her, allowing the Emperor and the Xie family's son to see her ugly side.
Princess Shunan didn't want to bring up these old matters since she didn't really care about the Xie family's son back then. But she remembered clearly the grudge she held against Leyang for scheming against her.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Without thinking twice, she raised her hand and slapped Leyang hard. After all, she already had the reputation of scolding the Crown Prince, so she wasn't afraid of adding another bad reputation.
It feels good to hit someone in the heat of the moment, but regret comes afterward.
Leyang didn't expect that Princess Shunan would dare to strike her. She touched her cheek that was slapped and raised her hand to retaliate, but just as her hand was about to strike, she felt someone quickly pass by her side. Somehow, Princess Shunan fell to the ground.
"Royal Princess, if you like the hairpin Princess Shunan chose, just say so. With Princess Shunan's generosity, she wouldn't refuse; in fact, she would even buy it and gift it to you. Why did you have to resort to violence?" Hua Liuli helped Princess Shunan - who looked confused - and sat her upright. Then Hua Liuli looked at Royal Princess Leyang with anguish and anger, "You are sisters, after all."
Yao Jiamin, who followed Hua Liuli, hadn't fully grasped the situation yet. She saw Hua Liuli supporting her mother on the ground, tears filling her eyes. With her fair and tender fingers gently stroking her mother's cheek, her face expressed surprise, injustice, anger, and heartbreak. Anyone who saw it would think that Royal Princess Leyang had committed unforgivable misdeeds.
No, who exactly is her mother's daughter between her and Hua Liuli? Why does Hua Liuli seem more indignant than her own biological daughter?
Confused, she walked to her mother and Hua Liuli, crouching down. It seemed like Royal Princess Leyang hadn't even had a chance to touch her mother... right?
"Cry," Hua Liuli whispered in her ear.
"Huh?" Yao Jiamin had never seen such a distorted situation before, looking as lost as a child who had wandered off.
"Cry!" Hua Liuli gritted her teeth and whispered, "If you can't cry, I can help you."
Meeting Hua Liuli's beautiful eyes, Yao Jiamin suddenly understood everything. She took out a handkerchief from her pocket and covered her face, crying, "Mother, are you okay?"
After sobbing a few times, Yao Jiamin angrily pointed at Royal Princess Leyang and said, "Aunt, you are the elder sister, my mother is the younger sister. Everyone has been accommodating to you, why did you still resort to violence?!"
Royal Princess Leyang sneered, "Nonsense, when did I hurt your mother?"
"Jiamin, you can't slander people like this. I know your family doesn't welcome us back to the capital, but why fabricate lies?" Xie Yao's eyes turned red, "Stop causing a scene. It's not good for outsiders to see us imperial family members become a joke."
Yao Wenyin rushed upstairs with the others and saw her aunt had been slapped by Royal Princess Leyang. Her face turned red with anger, "You've gone too far, actually resorting to physical violence!"
Is being a princess so extraordinary that she can just hit people?!
Princess Shunan, who was being carefully supported by Hua Liuli, touched her cheek that had been caressed by Hua Liuli. It felt slightly warm, as though she had truly been struck. She even doubted whether she had really been slapped by that wretched Leyang.
Tian Shan and Tian Ruidong were startled by the scene and quickly walked to Princess Shunan, quietly asking if she was okay.
Royal Princess Leyang sneered and asked the palace attendants behind her, "Did you all see me hitting someone?"
The attendants shook their heads, while the attendants accompanying Princess Shunan remained silent.
"Of course, the servants you brought with you would naturally speak in your favor," Yao Wenyin saw her aunt's reddened cheek and her eyes welling up with anger. Ignoring her own identity, she shouted at Royal Princess Leyang, "You have gone too far in bullying others."
"I haven't done anything, why should I admit to it?" Royal Princess Leyang frowned in dissatisfaction, "How did the Yao family raise their daughter? The girls they raised have no sense of propriety or respect."
Xie Yao tearfully said in a low voice, "We clearly haven't done anything, why are you accusing us?"
"Miss Xie, so many of us saw it, yet you insist that you haven't done anything," Hua Liuli handed Princess Shunan over to Yao Jiamin as she stood up and looked at Xie Yao in disbelief, "In front of everyone's eyes, why won't you admit what you did?"
"It was clearly Aunt who struck my mother!" Xie Yao, seeing the sense of justice on Hua Liuli's beautiful face, felt immense anger, "Don't spout nonsense."
"Am I spouting nonsense?" Hua Liuli's face turned pale in an instant and she almost couldn't stand steady. She held her chest, it seemed as if an old ailment had resurfaced. But in order to seek justice for the wronged Princess Shunan, she didn't take a step back while holding onto the hand of her servant, "Miss Xie, I never expected that you, such a kind girl, would distort the truth. It's truly disappointing."
Xie Yao was so angry that she could barely catch her breath. Who was truly distorting the truth?!
If it weren't for her status not allowing her to curse, she would have already pointed at Hua Liuli and started swearing.
"Fushou Junzhu, are you alright?" Tian Ruidong noticed the staggering state of the ethereal Hua Liuli and anxiously rubbed his hands together. He saw one of the maidservants next to Junzhu feed a pill to Hua Liuli and quickly called for water and a chair.
"We just said a few words and you started crying." Tian Ruidong murmured softly, "Fushou Junzhu is so kind-hearted and weak. Even if you have wrongly accused her, she doesn't cry as intensely as you do."
Hua Liuli weakly smiled at Tian Ruidong. In her watery eyes, there was a mixture of fragility and strength, "Second Young Master Tian, I'm fine. You don't have to worry."
Seeing Hua Liuli in this state, Tian Ruidong felt even more disgusted by the ugliness of Royal Princess Leyang and her daughter, "They hit someone and still pretend to be pitiful. Don't think that shedding a few tears makes you innocent."
Princess Shunan and Yao Jiamin, who sat in the corner, exchanged a silent glance before lowering their heads without saying a word.
"Outrageous! None of you have any respect for me," Royal Princess Leyang had never imagined that one day she would be falsely accused by someone. She was so furious that she knocked over the tray of jewelry, scattering them on the ground, "If you youngsters don't understand the rules, I'll teach you. Good sister, it's the mother's fault if the daughter doesn't learn. Today, I'll teach your daughter a lesson on your behalf."
"Who wants your teachings?" The Crown Prince walked in from the corridor, his gaze scanning the chaotic room. He paused for a moment when he saw the redness on the cheek of Princess Shunan and then fixed his gaze on Hua Liuli without moving.
Upon seeing the Crown Prince here, Princess Shunan's heart sank. She and the Crown Prince had always been at odds, and he would definitely take Leyang's side. With this matter blowing up, not only would she suffer, but it was likely that the younger generation would also be wronged.
She frowned. She should have slapped that wretch a bit more earlier; whatever the case, in the end, it would still be the same amount of trouble for her.
"Cousin," Xie Yao, her eyes red, politely greeted the Crown Prince.
Unexpectedly, the Crown Prince didn't even look at her. He walked past her and stood next to Hua Liuli, "Are you feeling unwell?"
"I'm fine, Your Royal Highness," Hua Liuli didn't expect the Crown Prince to appear here. She hid one of her hands inside her sleeve and replied, "I just need to rest for a while."
The Crown Prince glanced at the hand she hid in her sleeve and casually took half a step to the left, blocking the view of Leyang and her daughter, "If Junzhu is feeling unwell, why hasn't anyone brought water?"
"Yes," The eunuch behind the Crown Prince quickly brought water. The Crown Prince took the cup but accidentally shook it, causing a few drops of water to fall on Hua Liuli's skirt.
He handed a handkerchief to Hua Liuli, "Apologies for accidentally staining the Junzhu's clothes. Please go to the nearby room to tidy up."
Hua Liuli looked up at the Crown Prince, who smiled and winked at her.
"Thank you, Your Royal Highness. I'll go now," Hua Liuli stood up and walked into the adjacent room, where noble ladies could rest.
After Hua Liuli left, the Crown Prince looked expressionlessly at everyone present, "Aunts, please have a seat, and let's talk."
Although Leyang was extremely angry, she intended to win over the Crown Prince, so she glared at Shunan before sitting down in a chair.
Shunan was already feeling guilty, and coupled with her prior disagreements with the Crown Prince, she could only sit silently on the side. For a while, the whole room fell silent.
"Do you know what happened?" the Crown Prince asked the people in the room.
"Replying to Your Highness, the servants who usually serve the nobles don't dare to look directly at their faces, so we don't know exactly what happened just now," one of the shop attendants replied. Although they often interacted with nobles, they had never witnessed such a scene of two princesses fighting. They quickly added, "We only heard a sound similar to a slap, but we don't know anything else. Please enlighten us, Your Royal Highness."
Leyang's face changed. The slap sound the servant heard was the sound of Shunan slapping her. She turned her head to show the Crown Prince her reddened cheek intentionally.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the Crown Prince didn't notice her intentions. Not only did he not notice her slightly flushed cheeks, he instead turned to look at Shunan. Leyang was shocked to see that the red mark on Shunan's face was even clearer than hers.
What on earth was going on?
"Aunts, as a junior, there are some words Benwang shouldn't say. But with things escalating like this, if Father Emperor and Imperial Grandmother knew, how heartbroken would they be?" the Crown Prince's sigh echoed powerfully in the quiet room.
"Imperial Nephew, I know you don't want to see Shunan and me in conflict, but Shunan is fabricating a story and falsely accusing me of hitting her in front of other servants. As her eldest sister, I am truly heartbroken," Leyang said.
"Cousin, not only did Aunt accuse Mother wrongly, but she also slapped her in front of other servants," Xie Yao sobbed softly, "Mother always told me how good the Empress Dowager and the Emperor were, how well they got along with others. But I never expected that as soon as we returned to the capital, we would face such difficulties. If we had known, we... shouldn't have come to the capital this year."
"Aunt, are you thinking of going home so soon?" After a pause, the Crown Prince's tone carried a hint of regret, "If Aunt and Cousin, two ladies, were to return alone, Benwang wouldn't feel at ease. How about Benwang seek permission from Father Emperor to send a squad of guards to accompany you both?"
