Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I looked at him closely, feeling as if I were seeing a stranger.

What gave him the right to think that after belittling and demeaning me in front of everyone, I would still obey him unconditionally, trust him, and not be angry with him?

I wasn’t that magnanimous.

Like my mother, I was very petty.

From the day my Imperial Father abandoned my mother to her fate, he had already become a dead man in her heart. If Noble Consort Sun hadn’t kept sending assassins to hunt her down, my mother wouldn’t have even bothered coming to Yujing to find him.

I was very, very much like my mother.

A man might not respect or love me, but I would certainly respect and love myself.

“Why should I seek fame?” I asked coolly.

Pei Yi’an grew irritated, his brow furrowed with suppressed annoyance and helplessness.

“Yunwei, have you never planned for our future?”

“You are the legitimate daughter of the first empress, the noble First Princess – that’s true. While His Majesty is alive, you have a life without worries. But what about later?”

“A New Emperor will eventually ascend the throne. When that time comes, what will happen to us? If you won’t consider us, won’t you consider our future children and grandchildren?”

I froze.

The one advantage Zhao Mo’er had over me was that she had a brother.

Her brother, the Second Prince, was greatly favored by my Imperial Father. Barring any accidents, he would be the Crown Prince, the New Emperor.

My Imperial Father had spent years on the battlefield, and his body was riddled with ailments. In recent years, he had been taking medicine more and more frequently. People in court were already discussing the appointment of an heir to the throne, though my Imperial Father had been suppressing the issue.

But the day would come when he would name a successor, and it would most likely be the Second Prince.

Pei Yi’an’s eyes darkened.

“Yunwei, can’t you just endure it for a while? When they’ve had their fun and lose interest in you, I will marry you and bring you home. By then, I should have established a firm footing, and we can live our lives in peace.”

“Endure it? How?”

Pei Yi’an fell silent.

I understood.

He likely meant for me to be slighted and debased as I was today, to have my pride ground down and my wings clipped until everyone believed I was a princess lost in love, a woman with no sense of self.

He wanted me trampled into the dust until even Zhao Mo’er lost interest in tormenting me, feeling only a sense of lofty superiority over me.

And then, this worthless version of me would be bestowed upon Pei Yi’an, allowing him to take me home and keep me in line.

From then on, I would not be the legitimate daughter of the first empress or the noble First Princess. I would merely be a pitiful woman in a back courtyard who would die without a man’s love.

Shifting political tides, court upheavals, justice, and righteousness – none of it would have anything to do with me anymore. All I would be expected to care about were the trivial romances within the confines of a small courtyard.

Kill the ‘me’ that exists now, then take my corpse back to polish it and call it happiness.

By what right?

I delivered my third slap of the day and said coldly, “Pei Yi’an, you make me sick.”

Pei Yi’an’s expression shifted from shock to fury, and then gradually settled into cold indifference.

He flicked his sleeves in a rage and stormed off.

Suddenly losing all my strength, I leaned weakly against a tree, my heart a barren wasteland.