Chapter 69: An Incident, The Eldest Princess Dies

Faced with impeachment, the Eldest Princess, who had lived a life of honor for half a century, finally lowered herself.

She hastily requested an audience with the Emperor, knelt at the palace gates, and removed her hairpins to await punishment. The Eldest Princess claimed she had not intentionally kept sworn assassins. Rather, after the death of her husband, the Prince Consort, she had been afraid and had therefore kept more trusted aides to protect herself.

With her posture so humbled, the new Emperor could not say much more. Besides, the number of sworn assassins the Eldest Princess currently had was not that large.

If he insisted on pursuing the matter, it would make the new Emperor seem harsh and ungrateful, unable to tolerate any of Emperor Jiande’s relatives.

In the end, the matter concluded with the Eldest Princess dismissing her sworn assassins and reflecting on her transgressions at home.

As the affair settled down peacefully, the Eldest Princess breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, a growing frustration festered in her heart.

Reflecting on her transgressions at home? What was the difference between that and house arrest?

She was nearly forty and had been honored for half her life. When had she ever suffered such a humiliating disgrace?

“Your Highness…” a maidservant cautiously offered her tea.

The Eldest Princess swept it away with her hand. “Get out!”

The hot water scalded the maidservant’s chest, but she dared not complain and hurriedly knelt to beg for forgiveness.

This was not the first time.

The Eldest Princess, with nowhere to vent her fury, would frequently unleash it on those around her. The personal attendants all served her with fear and trepidation.

Only the male concubine, Dong Yun, was a slight exception.

This was because his appearance bore a slight resemblance to the late Prince Consort, especially his eyes. Moreover, he had a gentle and compliant nature, so the Eldest Princess’s temper would soften somewhat in his presence.

…

Ji Shichang was not very satisfied with the Emperor’s handling of the matter. The Eldest Princess’s faults were not limited to this one instance, and now that he was an imperial censor, it was his duty to supervise all officials.

So, he would continue to watch, continue to impeach, and never give up.

Su Zhenyue did not have Censor Ji’s excellent patience.

She had other things to attend to recently, and she had her own life to live.

Shi Xuezhen was unwilling to rely on her younger brother forever, so she rented a shop in the capital and opened a cloth business. Her late husband had run a cloth shop. Although she had never truly managed a store, she had always had the idea.

However, Shi Xuezhen had a reserved personality and no experience. As a result, business was dismal when the shop first opened.

Shi Jun felt sorry for his sister, so he privately asked the female relatives of his acquaintances to patronize her business, offering to cover the cost of the fabric they bought.

Su Zhenyue was quite surprised. She hadn’t expected that someone who looked so rough and impulsive could have such a thoughtful side.

She smiled. “I’ll agree to it, but you don’t need to pay. Winter is coming, and we were going to buy fabric for new clothes anyway.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Shi Jun said, deeply grateful.

The newly opened Shi’s Cloth Shop was quiet and deserted.

Su Zhenyue pretended not to know who the owner was and would visit once or twice every few days to bring some life to the shop.

Most people have a herd mentality, and the fabric at Shi’s was genuinely good. Over time, business gradually improved.

On this day, Su Zhenyue left the cloth shop and took a carriage home.

As they passed through a street, she suddenly heard a commotion outside.

A man’s curses mingled with a woman’s sobs and pleas.

“What’s happening?” Su Zhenyue frowned and lifted the curtain to ask.

Uncle Li, who was driving the carriage, was a little unsure. “It looks like a couple fighting? No, it’s a man hitting a woman.”

This wasn’t a fight, because the woman was completely unable to fight back.

Su Zhenyue was startled. She looked closely and saw a man on the street swinging his fists at a woman.

The woman’s hair was disheveled, and her face was bruised and swollen, her original features unrecognizable. She cried and begged as she tried to dodge the blows, a pitiful sight.

Many people were gathered around watching, and several had looks of intolerance on their faces. Someone wanted to intervene but was stopped by the person next to them.

How could Su Zhenyue stand by and watch? She couldn’t help but shout, “Stop!”

She was not one to meddle in others’ affairs, but she always remembered how she had been abused by Yuan Ye in that long dream.

She knew very well how much it hurt when fists landed on one’s body. The memory still made her heart palpitate with fear.

At that time, she had dreamed that someone would lend her a hand.

The man’s movements paused, and he turned to curse, “Damn it, who the hell are you? Can’t you see? I’m beating my own wife!”

The woman, however, seized the opportunity to cry out, “Help me, please save me!”

Because she had encountered danger when going out before, Su Zhenyue had since developed a habit of always having guards accompany her whenever she left the house.

A guard immediately stepped forward and shouted, “Insolence! This is the Jiayi County Princess. Show some respect.”

Hearing that she was a princess of the commandery, the man became a little timid and subconsciously let go, but he still craned his neck and said, “So what if she’s a princess? Can a princess meddle in other people’s family matters? She’s my woman, I spent twenty taels of silver to marry her. I can beat her however I want.”

Su Zhenyue’s brow furrowed at his words. She didn’t get out of the carriage but remained seated, signaling the guards to separate the couple. She turned to the beaten woman and asked, “Do you want a divorce?”

The woman was taken aback, then nodded repeatedly. “I do, I do, I dream of it. I beg Your Highness to grant me justice.”

She then prostrated herself on the ground, kowtowing ceaselessly.

But the man said, “I spent twenty taels of silver to marry her, on what grounds should we divorce? I don’t agree! So what if you’re a noble? Can nobles just bully people as they please? If you want me to divorce her, you’ll have to pay me back twenty taels of silver.”

The woman cried, “How can I pay you back? You know I don’t have any money.”

“Then cut the crap,” the man said impatiently.

The woman wept, “Yes, my father was gravely ill back then, and I had no choice, so I accepted your twenty taels of betrothal money. But I’ve been married into your family for three years, serving your parents and teaching your younger siblings. You go gambling every day, and when you lose money, you come back and beat me… How do we settle this account?”

Some onlookers chimed in, confirming that what the woman said was true.

Su Zhenyue gave a meaningful look.

Nanxing understood, lifted the curtain, got out of the carriage, and took out twenty taels of silver. She said directly, “Here are twenty taels of silver. Consider it repayment for your betrothal gift. Write the divorce certificate.”

The man grumbled and cursed, refusing to write it, claiming he was illiterate.

A busybody in the crowd immediately stepped forward, saying he could write. He borrowed paper and a brush and wrote out the divorce certificate on the spot.

The man was initially unwilling to press his thumbprint on the certificate, but under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he was both afraid of angering the noble and desperate for the silver to gamble. He pressed his thumbprint on the divorce certificate, grabbed the silver, and headed straight for the gambling den.

The crowd of onlookers gradually dispersed.

The woman clutched the divorce certificate and kowtowed to Su Zhenyue repeatedly. “Thank you, Your Highness, thank you, Your Highness.”

With the divorce certificate, she was finally free from that man.

“Do you have a place to go?” Su Zhenyue asked gently.

“I do. Although my father has passed away, I still have my mother and a younger brother. They live in Chen Family Village outside the city. I can go to them.”

Su Zhenyue nodded slightly and gave her some loose silver. “Go to a clinic, find a doctor, get some medicine to treat your injuries, and then go find your family.”

She had been out for a long time today and didn’t want to delay any longer, so she ordered Uncle Li to drive the carriage home.

This was just a small matter, and Su Zhenyue didn’t give it much thought.

Unexpectedly, about ten days later, a servant came to report that someone was at the gate asking to see her, claiming to have been saved by her and wanting to express their gratitude and repay the money.

Su Zhenyue was surprised. She went out and saw that it was the beaten woman she had helped on the street. A boy of about fifteen or sixteen was with her.

When she had seen her on the street, the woman’s face was bruised and swollen, obscuring her true appearance. Now that the swelling had subsided, a delicate face was revealed. Upon seeing Su Zhenyue, the woman knelt. “Your Highness, we’ve come to repay the money.”

As she spoke, she pulled her younger brother beside her, and he knelt as well.

“There’s no need to repay it.” Su Zhenyue shook her head. Twenty taels of silver was truly nothing to her now. When she had intervened that day, she had no intention of having the other party pay her back.

“We must. Your Highness may not know, but the court has shown mercy. The fields that were seized by the Eldest Princess have been returned to us, and we even received some compensation. My brother and I discussed it and decided to use this money to repay Your Highness.” As the woman spoke, she kowtowed heavily, her face filled with gratitude.

Su Zhenyue was slightly surprised.

She had indeed heard that someone had impeached the Eldest Princess for seizing farmland to build her manor in earlier years. The Emperor had punished the Eldest Princess and ordered the return of the land.

She had thought this matter was somewhat distant from her, never expecting it to be so close.

Upon further inquiry, Su Zhenyue learned that the woman’s name was Chen Fangniang, and she was originally a vegetable farmer from Chen Family Village outside the city. Many years ago, the Eldest Princess wanted to build a manor and seized their family’s fields. The family lost their livelihood but did not receive proper compensation, surviving only by doing odd jobs in the city.

Two days ago, they had finally gotten their land back, along with a sum of compensation. They had then inquired about Su Zhenyue’s residence, wanting to come and repay the money.

Su Zhenyue asked, “If you give the money to me, how will you live in the future?”

“We still have a little money at home, and we have our fields now, so we can continue to grow vegetables. Please don’t worry, Your Highness,” Chen Fangniang said, about to kowtow again.

Su Zhenyue quickly stopped her and smiled. “That’s wonderful. Congratulations to you both. It seems your suffering has finally come to an end.”

Since they had made a special trip to repay the money, she couldn’t keep refusing, so she accepted the money the siblings returned. Then, in the name of congratulations, she gave them a generous gift.

She hoped that Chen Fangniang could walk out of the shadows and live a good life from now on.

By helping Chen Fangniang, Su Zhenyue was also helping the version of herself from the dream in the Shu Region.

“How can we accept this? We came to thank Your Highness, how can we take more things from you?” Chen Fangniang subconsciously refused.

Nanxing, standing to the side, said, “Please accept it. This is a small token of our princess’s goodwill.”

The siblings declined several more times but were unable to refuse in the end. They had to accept the gift and thank her once more.

When Shen Ji returned in the evening, he was somewhat surprised to see that his wife had arranged for a table of food and wine. “Are we having guests tonight?”

“No,” Su Zhenyue shook her head. “It’s just you and me.”

“Then why is it so lavish?” Shen Ji chuckled as he changed into his casual clothes.

Su Zhenyue didn’t speak, only watching him quietly.

Under the lamplight, her eyes shimmered, holding a hint of anticipation.

Shen Ji thought for a moment. “Hmm, is it October third today?”

“That’s right.” Su Zhenyue clapped her hands lightly, a smile instantly blooming in her eyes.

October third was a very special day for her. On that day, she had fallen into the water and had a dream that influenced many of her subsequent decisions. It was also on that night that she met Shen Ji for the first time.

Unknowingly, two full years had passed, and her life’s circumstances were completely different from those in the dream.

In the dream, she had struggled even to survive. In reality, she was already able to help others.

Of course, Shen Ji was different too.

In the dream, Shen Ji had died early, and they had little interaction. But in reality, he was alive and well, and they had become the closest people in the world to each other.

“Hmm, the anniversary of our first meeting. It is indeed worth celebrating.” Shen Ji smiled lightly, raised the wine cup before him, and drained it in one gulp.

He thought, if he had known earlier that they would become husband and wife, he should have been kinder to her from the very beginning.

Or perhaps, at the very start, when she had taken the initiative to say she wanted to repay his kindness, he should have just directly asked her to “repay him with her body”?

But as soon as this thought flashed through his mind, Shen Ji shook his head again.

No need to overthink it. The way things were now was also very good.

Su Zhenyue also drank a cup of fruit wine.

After chatting for a while, Su Zhenyue brought up the matter of Chen Fangniang and her brother, saying with some regret, “It’s a pity, there were many things I didn’t handle well that day.”

For instance, she shouldn’t have gone along with that scoundrel’s words and paid the twenty taels of silver just to hasten the divorce. She should have found another way.

Seeing the faint look of annoyance on her face, Shen Ji said, “It wasn’t so bad. At least it was the quickest solution at the time.”

Su Zhenyue hummed in agreement, thinking he was right.

So she didn’t dwell on the matter any longer.

The fruit wine was sweet, but drinking too much could still make one a little drunk.

That night, Su Zhenyue’s eyes were sparkling as she held Shen Ji’s hand, talking nonstop.

Shen Ji just smiled and watched her, occasionally handing her a cup of warm tea.

The two didn’t fall asleep until the latter half of the night.

…

After entering October, the weather gradually turned cold.

On this day, Shi Jun sent over a wedding invitation. It turned out he was getting married.

Su Zhenyue was by Shen Ji’s side at the time. She glanced at the invitation and showed a look of astonishment. “So soon?”

“You call this soon? I’m already thirty,” Shi Jun grumbled with some dissatisfaction.

Shen Ji glanced at him and continued, “We hadn’t heard you were engaged, so it feels sudden.”

Su Zhenyue nodded.

“Oh, that.” Shi Jun chuckled, looking very embarrassed. “No engagement, just getting married directly. It’s this month. You two must come.”

“Mm,” Shen Ji nodded slightly, agreeing.

After Shi Jun left, Su Zhenyue asked curiously, “Cousin, is General Shi marrying the woman he loves?”

She remembered hearing Shen Ji say that Shi Jun had a sweetheart.

“It should be her.” Shen Ji’s answer was somewhat cautious, but he was ninety percent certain in his heart.

These past few days, Shi Jun had been beaming with joy, telling everyone he met that he was getting married and even insisting on delivering the invitations in person, as if he wanted to announce it to the whole world.

Such elation could only mean he was marrying the woman he loved. There was no other possibility.

In this regard, Shen Ji had experience.

As a new favorite of the court and a man in the Emperor’s good graces, Shi Jun was not marrying some high-born lady, but a woman from You Province who was nearly thirty.

There was much discussion about this in the city, with people speculating about the woman’s origins and all sorts of rumors flying around.

According to Shi Jun himself, his fiancée had been married before. Although her background was humble, she was very kind. He had admired her for a long time and had finally succeeded in winning her hand.

Of course, this had little to do with Su Zhenyue. For her, given the friendship between their two families, they just needed to offer their blessings and a wedding gift.

On the contrary, it was Shi Jun’s sister, Shi Xuezhen, who privately complained to her, “Madam Shen, you don’t know. I was originally against this marriage. Ah, it’s not that I was against it, but my parents were unwilling when they were alive. But Jun Jun insisted on marrying her, so there was nothing I could do.”

Su Zhenyue offered only a general consolation, “When it comes to marriage, it ultimately depends on General Shi’s own wishes.”

Shi Xuezhen sighed. “Yes, that’s the truth. I thought so too. In any case, marrying a widow is better than him never marrying at all. As long as she has good character and they can live a good life together.”

“Indeed,” Su Zhenyue nodded.

…

Shi Jun’s wedding was arranged in a hurry. The invitations were sent out in early October, and the wedding took place in mid-October. It was less than ten days from start to finish.

Although the timing was tight, the wedding was grand.

The citizens of the capital talked about it for several days, but soon, everyone’s attention shifted.

Because something even bigger had happened in the capital.

Princess Chengping had died.