Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Wei Zhao paced back and forth across the room like an enraged tiger whose territory had been violated.

Pah!

How could he be considered a tiger? He was clearly just a sickly cat.

“Imperial Father put you under house arrest because he must have discovered you’re a fake princess.”

“Tell me the truth. Did you kill the real princess?”

“If you just confess everything, I can ask my father to plead for mercy on your behalf.”

Chancellor Wei?

I was afraid he was like a clay bodhisattva crossing a river-hardly able to save himself, let alone others.

If I guessed correctly, Imperial Father was likely already plotting how to weaken the Wei Family.

Imperial Father had always been bold. How else could he have killed his brother and taken his sister-in-law for himself?

However, dealing with two Chancellors at once was perhaps a bit too reckless.

I was truly bored in the manor and didn’t mind playing with this fool for a bit.

“Really?”

“If you can truly protect me, I’ll tell you the whole truth.”

“Fine. Speak. I give you my word.”

Wei Zhao looked solemn, but his eyes flickered. One look and I knew that if I actually confessed, he would sell me out immediately.

I beckoned him over, signaling for him to lean in.

I grabbed his ear and whispered softly.

“You guessed right. I am indeed… AH!”

Right into his ear, I let out a massive howl, loud enough to scare a bull to death.

Wei Zhao scrambled away, rubbing his ear frantically.

“Zhao Ziyu, are you insane!”

“Hahahaha!”

I threw my head back and laughed. As I laughed, tears rolled down from my eyes.

I knew it in my heart.

The moment Wei Zhao leaned in, I had clearly mistaken him for Ah Ze.

I’m such a bad person.

How could I think of someone else as Ah Ze?

I wiped away my tears and looked at him proudly, my voice cold as ice.

“Wei Zhao, let me tell you plainly. I, Zhao Ziyu, am the genuine, one-and-only Princess of Great Zhou. You can give up on those thoughts of yours.”

“Don’t think that by betraying me, you can be with Kangle. In this lifetime, there is absolutely no possibility for you and Kangle.”

“Zhao Ziyu!”

Wei Zhao’s face was distorted with rage.

“You and I are irreconcilable enemies!”

“Fine!” I said indifferently. “Next month is Kangle’s Birthday Banquet. I’m sure the Imperial Son-in-Law wouldn’t want to go with me, so I shall attend alone.”

“…”

Wei Zhao’s handsome face turned the color of pig liver. Longing finally allowed his rationality to return a little.

“But you can’t even leave the Princess Manor.”

“So what? I’ll just climb over the wall. Imperial Father won’t actually have my head for it.”

To make Wei Zhao believe my words were true, when evening came, I actually took him over the wall once.

I hauled him out like a little chick, skillfully avoiding all the Imperial Guards along the way.

Standing on the bustling street, Wei Zhao still had a dazed expression on his face.

I said with a beaming smile, “Believe me now?”

Wei Zhao’s expression was ugly, but I somehow saw a hint of admiration on his face.

How ridiculous!

I continued, “If you want me to take you to the Birthday Banquet next month, it’s not impossible. It depends on your performance.”

“You want me to serve you like a lowly servant? To let you bully me? You’re dreaming!” Wei Zhao immediately refused.

I said haughtily, “I am a dignified Princess. Does being my follower really wrong you?”

Wei Zhao’s expression shifted through several emotions before he finally conceded that being my follower wasn’t a total loss of face.

I put him to work without any hesitation-buying things, carrying bundles, throwing out trash. He was quite handy.

At a Clay Figurine Stall, I stopped.

The Stall Owner’s craftsmanship was vivid and lifelike.

I was moved.

“Sculpt one of me, and one of him.”

“Right away!” the Stall Owner replied happily.

Wei Zhao looked miserable and reluctant, but he was too aggrieved to dare disobey.

I didn’t explain. I only waited until the Stall Owner was about to sculpt the clothes to say, “Don’t use the outfit he’s wearing. Make him look like a mountain youth dressed in coarse hemp clothes, and add a tear mole at the corner of his eye.”

Wei Zhao fumed. “You just want to see me in a wretched state to make yourself happy.”

That was nonsense.

This fool had no idea how happy I had been living in the mountains!

I took the clay figurines and led Wei Zhao back into the manor silently.

For many days after that, Wei Zhao didn’t dare show his face in front of me, likely afraid I would order him around again.

When the day of the birthday arrived, he showed up for duty in a brand-new outfit.

He was truly dressed beautifully; he looked like a peerless jade-like gentleman.

But in my eyes, this look was clearly a sign of his impatience to cuckold me.

I said with a smile, “You know what you should do once we reach the banquet, right? You are a Married Man; you won’t act recklessly, will you?”

“Hmph, I know what I’m doing. I don’t need your special instructions.” Wei Zhao’s face flushed slightly, filled with both shame and embarrassment.

I stopped teasing him and led him toward the manor gates with a grand air.

Wei Zhao was bewildered, both angry and anxious. “Zhao Ziyu, do you actually have no intention of taking me? If we go out like this, we’ll be caught immediately.”

I ordered the servants to pull open the main gates.

*Clatter.*

The doors opened.

The Imperial Guards were already gone.

I said with my head held high, “Why would we be caught? I am the Princess of Great Zhou, the biological daughter of the Empress Mother. How could I be locked up forever?”

Thanks to the Empress Mother, I was released after being confined for seven days.

But Wei Zhao had been avoiding me, and I hadn’t felt like going out, so I had waited until now to open the doors of the Princess Manor.

Wei Zhao glared at me fiercely and roared, “Then why didn’t you tell me!”

“You didn’t ask!” I replied with an innocent face.

Wei Zhao stomped his feet in rage. “ZHAO ZIYU!!!”