Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I laughed.

Why should I return just because he realized his mistakes?

I asked calmly, “And what exactly do you think you did wrong?”

“I shouldn’t have listened to slander and framed you. I shouldn’t have failed to distinguish right from wrong and misunderstood you. Even more, I shouldn’t have been blinded by family ties and listened only to one side. I will change all of this in the future.”

I shook my head.

“Wei Jue, you still don’t know where you went wrong. Back then, why did you save This Princess, and why did you marry me? Was it truly because you thought I had saved the Wei Family?”

He hesitated, his lips twitching, but in the end, he said nothing.

I continued indifferently, “It was for your own desires. When the Wei Family fell on hard times, you were trampled by the masses. You learned the benefits of power firsthand. That was why your mother was able to persuade you to use the Grand Princess’s Mansion as a stepping stone. Lu Qingshuang had broken her engagement with you, wounding your pride. You desperately needed a prestigious marriage to raise your status and make her regret her choice. This Princess was simply your best option. These factors were the real reasons you were willing to marry me. You did it for yourself.

“But even today, you still dare not face the desires in your heart. You find those desires filthy, and you refuse to believe you are a man driven by profit. That is why you treated me coldly after our marriage, even deceiving yourself into believing I was someone who merely lusted after your beauty-that I had framed the Wei Family just to have you. Only by deceiving yourself like that could you live with yourself.

“As for your sister’s schemes, do you dare claim you knew nothing? You simply felt it was a good thing, a way to add glory to the Wei Family, so you were happy to see it happen. You are selfish, you abandon righteousness for gain, you practice cronyism, and you are easily swayed by those close to you. Yet, even now, you still think the fault lies only with them and that you are blameless. That is what disappoints This Princess the most.

“This Princess can tell you plainly: you, Wei Jue, are not worthy of me. I act with integrity and my word is final. Between us, there is a gulf as vast as the clouds and the mud. Let me tell you one more thing: your father and Prince Xin were always innocent. At the start of the investigation, everyone was on edge, and every suspect had to be vetted. If you don’t believe This Princess, you can go ask your father yourself.”

“If you knew all this, why did you marry me?” Wei Jue’s face was as pale as snow.

I said calmly, “The only reason you and I had a marriage at all was because Daoist Wushang read my fate. He said you were a tribulation I had to pass through. Otherwise, with your character, you would never have caught my eye. There is one more thing: you betrayed This Princess, so I schemed against you once in return. When you fell off the cliff, it was I who locked your soul within the jade pendant. I wanted you to see with your own eyes what kind of people your mother, your sister, and your childhood sweetheart really were. Now that your soul has emerged from the jade, it means the fate between us is severed. If you try to force it, you will only be seeking your own death. I have said enough. Take care of yourself.”

With that, I stepped into the carriage.

Ning Sheng sent Wei Jue flying off the road with a single kick.

He leaped onto the carriage and sat steadily at the front.

Strangely, I felt as though he had let out a sigh of relief.

How odd!

I spent a month traveling the outskirts of the city before returning to the capital.

During that month, high buns and facial ornaments had become the fashion in the capital.

It was trendy to decorate one’s dimples with patterns like crescents, petals, or copper coins.

I used rouge to paint cloud patterns on my face.

When Ning Sheng saw it, he frowned and quietly turned away.

A mischievous streak hit me, and I commanded, “Look at me.”

Forced to comply, Ning Sheng turned back and gazed at me silently.

“Does it look good?”

Ning Sheng knitted his brows. “It looks good.”

“Then let me paint two on you as well.”

Ning Sheng leaped up and vanished into the trees.

I couldn’t help myself and doubled over with laughter.

In the midst of my good mood, Madam Wei arrived outside the Princess’s Mansion, kneeling and begging for an audience. She was pleading for me to grant her a stalk of ginseng.

As it turned out, after Wei Jue got Lu Qingshuang back, his love had turned into bone-deep hatred.

He hated her for being unfaithful, for her malicious heart, and for her selfishness. He used every means possible to torture her.

Unable to endure it, Lu Qingshuang begged him to let her go.

He made only one demand: “Let me snap three of your fingers as well, and the grudge between us will be settled.”

Lu Qingshuang refused. During their struggle, she pulled a hairpin from her hair and plunged it into Wei Jue’s chest…

Now, Wei Jue was barely breathing, hanging on by a thread.

None of the physicians they called dared to pull the hairpin out. Finally, a doctor arrived who said that if they had a thousand-year-old ginseng to sustain his life force, he could attempt the procedure.

A thousand-year-old ginseng was a rare treasure that could only be found in the Imperial Palace.

And so, they came to me.

I gave an indifferent refusal, but then I ordered someone to take a thousand-year-old ginseng to Longevity Hall in the east of the city. I also made sure the news reached Madam Wei’s ears through indirect means.

That same afternoon.

Madam Wei spent a thousand gold pieces to purchase that very stalk of ginseng.

And those thousand gold pieces landed right in my pocket.

I didn’t lack money, but the feeling of that gold entering my purse was still incredibly satisfying.

Though Wei Jue’s character was poor, his crimes didn’t warrant death. However, I was unwilling to give him a ginseng for free to save his life. I was even less willing to let him think I still harbored feelings for him-that would be an insult to me.

Therefore, using the opportunity to make a profit so that everyone got what they wanted was truly wonderful.

Wei Jue survived thanks to the thousand-year-old ginseng, but his heart and lungs were permanently damaged. He was left with a chronic condition where even walking a short distance left him gasping for air. He would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

As for Lu Qingshuang, she was handed over to the authorities. She was a concubine and held slave status; for a slave to harm their master was a crime punishable by death.

But Madam Lu hated her with a passion. She would not let her die, forcing her instead into a lifetime of hard labor to repent day after day.

As for Wei Huan, after the incident with the Zhou Family, she became much more low-key and elegant. She eventually married into a family of modest means.

On the day of her wedding, as the bridal sedan passed the Princess’s Mansion, she stepped out and bowed deeply toward the gates from a distance before departing for good.

I heard that she had thoroughly repented, shedding her arrogant and willful habits to learn how to treat others with sincerity.

I think this is good.

There is no greater virtue than being able to correct one’s mistakes.

Meanwhile, Lord Wei personally requested a demotion, returning to his former rank as a fourth-grade official.

With a wave of his hand, my Father Emperor granted the request.

He then increased my stipend and bestowed upon me more manors and fiefs.

He said, “I have only this one daughter. She is like the moon in the sky, the snow upon the mountain peak-exalted and beyond reach. I cannot bear to see her suffer. This one calamity was more than enough. For the rest of her life, if anyone dares to make her unhappy, I shall make them unhappy.”

Upon hearing these words, Lu Qingshuang’s father, Lord Lu, was so terrified that he wrote a resignation letter overnight. Claiming he lacked talent and was becoming senile, he begged to retire and return to his hometown.

Father Emperor granted this as well.

The Lu Family disappeared from the capital entirely.

Half a year later, Father Emperor began selecting a husband for me.

The scale of this search was immense, comparable to the selection of a Crown Princess. Portraits of the most handsome, talented, and well-bred young men with clean backgrounds were sent to the capital from all thirty-six provinces of the nine states.

I didn’t actually have any intention of marrying. I felt that a free and easy life like my aunt, the Grand Princess, would be quite nice.

However, I couldn’t simply ignore my old father’s wishes, so I went through the motions for appearance’s sake.

I looked through the portraits one by one. I couldn’t tell if it was the skill of the artists or if these young men truly were so gallant and dignified.

In short, every single one was excellent.

I looked at one after another, unable to look away, as if I couldn’t put them down.

The Grand Princess sat beside me, her eyes sparkling as she looked at them too.

“What a pity, what a pity. They are only for looking at, not for using. One glance is enough to tell that none of these gentlemen could be my plaything.”

As I flipped through the stack, I came across a familiar portrait.

I looked up at Ning Sheng, then looked back down at the painting.

Ning Sheng remained stoic.

Unfortunately for him, we had grown up together. Even if he remained expressionless, I could sense that his heart was far from calm.

I handed Ning Sheng’s portrait to the Grand Princess. “What do you think of this young man?”

The Grand Princess took the portrait with a beaming smile. She gave me a deep look, then glanced at Ning Sheng and laughed. “One who can serve by your side is naturally of the highest quality. Would you be willing to give him to your aunt?”

I didn’t speak, silently watching Ning Sheng.

Ning Sheng looked back at me.

His eyes were clear and bright, the black and white distinct, like a pitch-black pearl dropped into pure white snow.

Only then did I realize that he, too, was peerlessly beautiful.

It was just that he rarely raised his head, so people didn’t notice.

I smiled.

“That won’t do. If I give him away, This Princess will be missing a Prince Consort at her wedding.”

The Grand Princess burst into laughter and stuffed the portrait back into my hand.

“You should have brought this bright pearl home long ago. You made me worry for you in vain for three years. Now that the pearl has returned to its casket, I shall wait for your good news.”

The Grand Princess departed.

Only Ning Sheng and I were left in the room.

I walked up to him and asked, “Since when?”

Since when had he fallen in love with me?

His lips moved slightly.

“Since the time you asked me if I had a woman I liked?”

I remembered that back then, he had answered me: “This subordinate has only his sword in his heart.”

He had lied.

And I had believed him.

If someone were to ask when I fell for him…

I thought about it over and over. It was probably when he told me the stories of the princess and the Prince Consort.

In those stories, the Prince Consort was devoted to the princess with all his heart. Despite a thousand dangers and ten thousand obstacles, he would hack through the thorns, undeterred by any hardship, possessing the momentum of a lone warrior holding a pass against ten thousand.

At that time, I thought that such a Prince Consort could never be Wei Jue.

When Wei Jue encountered difficulties, he would use clever tricks, schemes, or fish in troubled waters. He was the only one who would never charge straight forward.

At that time, I thought that Ning Sheng would probably do it.

He would travel ten thousand miles, crossing mountains and rivers, to save his princess.

I smiled and reached out to touch his lips.

“Then let us marry.”

The wedding took place three months later. Ning Sheng and I set out from the palace, traveling down the long Imperial Street. Countless people lined the roads to watch. Among the crowd, I saw Wei Jue.

He was sitting in a wheelchair, so thin he looked like a sheet of paper.

He cupped his hands toward me from afar. I gave him a single glance through the beaded veil before turning my gaze to Ning Sheng.

Ning Sheng looked back at me, looking heroic and dignified.

My heart was at peace. I finally truly understood what Daoist Wushang meant by the world being vast and acting according to one’s heart.

The past three years were like a grand dream. If I hadn’t experienced those things, perhaps I would have followed the path of the Grand Princess-admiring one peerless face after another, sinking into pleasure, only to feel lost after waking up, constantly pursuing but never finding a place for my heart to rest.

Only after going through this did I understand that while beauty is fine, it is ultimately an external thing. Where the heart leans is the true home.

I gave Ning Sheng a radiant smile and headed home with him.

This time, I have made up my mind. We will walk hand in hand for a hundred years, loving each other for a lifetime.

All Gods and Buddhas may bear witness.

(The End)