Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I was able to survive at Yunchu Temple.

I have never been a kind soul.

Every nun in Huajing knows that being a nun at Yunchu Temple is the hardest lot in life; the mortality rate is simply too high.

During my eighteen years at Yunchu Temple, I encountered countless assassination attempts, both large and small.

Nuns were replaced batch after batch, yet I remained unscathed.

I have practiced martial arts since childhood and am a natural prodigy.

Had I not been born a woman, and a high-born princess at that, I could have taken up a spear, mounted a horse, and slain the enemy to serve my country.

Alas, I am a woman.

Though my heart holds grand ambitions, I cannot reveal even a fraction of them.

I can only take delicate, mincing steps, maintaining a posture of fragile helplessness to seek the pity of my Imperial Father and Empress Mother.

Yet, I do not know how long this pity will last.

After all, no one wants to live in guilt forever…

Wei Zhao was confined for a full forty-nine days before I released him. Like an enraged wolf, he stormed out of the manor the moment he was free.

I thought he was going back to the Chancellor’s residence to complain, but instead, he went to the Red Jade Pavilion…

And he stayed there for three days straight.

What kind of place was the Red Jade Pavilion?

It was a den of luxury for the nobles and elites of Huajing.

The girls inside were each more exceptional than the last.

When I heard the news, I was so angry I laughed.

Chancellor Wei has been clever his whole life; I didn’t expect him to father such a profligate dandy.

Fine. I happened to want to see what the Red Jade Pavilion looked like and whose property it actually was.

I led a grand procession of people to the Red Jade Pavilion.

For a dignified princess to do such a thing was truly beneath her status, but I didn’t care. Who could blame me? I was just a headstrong princess who grew up in a Buddhist temple with no one to teach her manners.

I entered the Red Jade Pavilion and was stunned by the magnificence within.

Everything inside strictly followed the sumptuary laws, yet within those regulations, they had managed to create something incredibly flamboyant. It was truly a grand undertaking.

As soon as I took a seat, the three hundred Imperial Guards from the Princess Manor naturally cleared the floor with a massive show of force.

All the madam-procurers, pimps, girls, and patrons were driven down, including a drunkenly swaying Wei Zhao.

I held my breath to block out the stench of alcohol and used a handkerchief to messily rub Wei Zhao’s face, feigning a look of pity.

I felt Wei Zhao flinch slightly, but he forced his stiff face to remain still.

I secretly pinched his arm. Seeing him endure the pain without daring to move made me deliriously happy.

I looked at the madam, my expression darkening.

Matron Zhang barked, “A person of lowly status is not fit to speak with the Princess. Call your master out to apologize to This Princess.”

Good old Matron Zhang.

She truly was the capable assistant Empress Mother had assigned to me.

The madam did not dare hesitate and quickly sent someone to deliver the message.

Before long, the person returned, followed by a man who looked like a manager. He held a box and presented it to me with great respect.

“Princess, the Red Jade Pavilion had no master before. From this day forward, you are the master of the Red Jade Pavilion.”

Inside were land deeds and property titles.

What a grand gesture.

To give me the Red Jade Pavilion so easily and process all the paperwork so quickly-impressive!

However, I knew these weren’t meant for me.

They were giving them to the Empress behind me.

I let out a soft chuckle.

Then, I tore the property titles and land deeds to shreds.

“Emperor Taizu decreed that officials are forbidden from engaging in trade to compete for profit with the common people. As a princess of the Imperial family, I naturally will not violate the ancestral instructions. Are you trying to make This Princess knowingly break the law?”

The man’s face paled.

At that moment, Wei Zhao suddenly let out a soft groan of discomfort.

His snow-white face turned dark and bruised; he had been poisoned.

I slammed my hand on the table and stood up.

“You dare to poison the Imperial Son-in-Law? Men, seize every last one of them!”