Chapter 17

Chapter 17: The Third Prince “No! Father, you can’t treat Mother and me like this!” Ling Ziqi cried in despair, crawling across the floor. Ling Ziqi and Madam Zhang had been kneeling in the ancestral hall for an entire day without eating or drinking. At that moment, they looked especially pitiful as they knelt on the ground. Ling Jiayue’s brows drew together slightly, as though she was annoyed by Ling Ziqi’s incessant noise. Ever since Madam Zhang had heard that Ling Taian intended to execute her, she had seemed to lose her soul. Her eyes were vacant as she stared ahead. Ling Jiaxuan waved his hand, and several guards entered from outside. They hauled Madam Zhang and her daughter up from the floor and dragged them out. Just as the guards were dragging Ling Ziqi and Madam Zhang away, Ling Ziqi suddenly broke free of their grip and ran to kneel before Ling Taian. “Father, you can’t send me to a nunnery, and you can’t execute my mother! I’ve already pledged myself to the Third Prince!” Ling Taian sucked in a sharp breath when he heard this. “The Third Prince?! Which Third Prince?” Seeing that there might be room to turn the situation around, Ling Ziqi clung to Ling Taian’s leg and sobbed, “The Third Prince who broke off his engagement with Ling Jiayue two days ago—Mu Yuyang!” The moment Ling Taian heard what Ling Ziqi had said, he kicked her to the ground in fury. “How could I have raised such an immoral daughter?!” When Madam Liu heard that Ling Ziqi had secretly pledged herself to the Third Prince, she also shouted angrily, “You little wretch! You kept accusing my daughter of being immoral, yet you secretly pledged yourself to the Third Prince behind everyone’s backs. Do you even know what kind of person the Third Prince is?! He had only just broken off his engagement with your legitimate elder sister. How are outsiders supposed to view our Ling Residence after what you’ve done?” Upon hearing this, Madam Zhang began to laugh under her breath. “What is it, Madam First Wife? The Third Prince looks down on your daughter, yet he’s taken a special liking to mine. Are you jealous?” Ling Taian flung his sleeve and roared, “You ignorant woman! You’re utterly unreasonable!” Even while being restrained by the guards, Madam Zhang only laughed louder. “Guards, bring Ling Ziqi and Madam Zhang back. Today, I will properly interrogate this shameless mother and daughter.” Ling Taian ordered the guards to drag Madam Zhang and Ling Ziqi back. “You tell me—what exactly is going on between you and the Third Prince? Cough, cough… What is going on?” Ling Taian was already so furious that he could barely catch his breath. “Master, please take care of yourself. It isn’t worth harming yourself over such a shameless mother and daughter,” Madam Liu hurriedly said as she stepped forward to pat Ling Taian’s chest and help him breathe steadily. “That’s right, Father. You must take care of yourself,” Ling Jiayue and Ling Jiaxuan also urged. “Cough, cough… I’m fine. Ling Ziqi, you must explain everything between you and the Third Prince today!” Ling Taian forced himself to catch his breath before speaking. After hearing Ling Taian and Madam Liu berate her, Ling Ziqi decided to abandon all restraint. She rose from the floor and stared directly at Ling Taian as she said resentfully: “Father, ever since Ling Jiayue came home, have you ever looked at me properly? Your heart and eyes are filled with that wretch, Ling Jiayue. If not for that, how would I have ended up in this state?!” Ling Taian nearly keeled over from anger. “So, according to you, I’m the one who wronged you?!” “Ling Ziqi, I have always believed that I treated the inner residence—and the two of you—with considerable tolerance. I have never harshly reproached or mistreated you or your mother. I never imagined that I was merely indulging you,” Madam Liu rebuked her furiously while continuing to pat Ling Taian’s back and help him regain his breath. “Yes, of course. You’re the benevolent and magnanimous Madam First Wife. How could you possibly mistreat us?” Ling Ziqi said bitterly. “But if not for Ling Jiayue, how would I have ended up like this?” “Ling Ziqi, I, Ling Jiayue, have a clear conscience. When have I ever schemed against you? You ended up in this state because of your own actions. You have no one else to blame,” Ling Jiayue said. At that moment, Ling Ziqi was seething with anger. She pointed at Ling Jiayue and ranted like a shrew: “If you hadn’t broken off your engagement with the Third Prince, how would he have taken his anger out on me? Not only did he ruin my face, he even forced me to marry him! Although the Third Prince is a prince, he has a terrible temperament. How could I possibly live a good life after marrying him?!” Hearing Ling Ziqi’s words, Ling Jiayue finally understood. So Ling Ziqi had tried to harm her but ended up suffering the consequences herself. She had intended to ruin Ling Jiayue’s face and make her lose face in front of everyone, only to end up with a ruined face and being married to the Third Prince herself. Truly, Heaven’s justice comes full circle. Madam Liu, Ling Taian, and Ling Jiaxuan were confused by what they had heard. Ling Taian turned to Ling Jiayue and asked, “Yue’er, what is going on?” Ling Jiayue explained to the three of them, “Several days before entering the palace, Madam Zhang secretly poisoned me with Jade Scorpion Powder. Jade Scorpion Powder is specifically used to ruin a woman’s appearance. She intended to make me disgrace myself at the Empress Dowager’s banquet.” Ling Taian kicked Madam Zhang to the ground and shouted furiously, “You poisonous woman! You truly don’t care about the Ling Residence at all. You could even conceive such a vicious scheme! Fortunately, Yue’er is fine. Otherwise, grinding your bones to dust and scattering your ashes would not be enough to ease the hatred in my heart!” Madam Zhang, however, attempted to argue, “What have I done wrong? My daughter is the Prime Minister’s daughter, a heaven-blessed beauty. That wretch was raised outside for so many years—who knows whether she is even a legitimate-born daughter? My daughter was the one who should have dazzled everyone at the banquet!” “You’re utterly unreasonable!” Ling Jiaxuan shouted angrily. “Yue’er, then how did you manage to avoid it?” Ling Jiaxuan asked with concern. Hearing her brother’s concern and seeing the care in Madam Liu’s and Ling Taian’s eyes, Ling Jiayue felt warmth spread through her heart. After her rebirth, she had been focused solely on revenge. She had only wanted to build up her strength and make that dog of an emperor pay for his mistakes as soon as possible. She had never expected to gain such precious familial affection along the way. Perhaps Heaven had taken pity on her loneliness and was making it up to her, Ling Jiayue thought. But aloud, she answered their question, “I already possess a thorough knowledge of the medical arts, so Jade Scorpion Powder is nothing to me. I wore a veil to the banquet because I wanted to dissolve my engagement with the Third Prince. I never wanted to marry him in the first place. As for why Ling Ziqi’s face was ruined and why she ended up marrying the Third Prince, I have no idea.” “Good child, you’ve suffered,” Madam Liu and Ling Taian said with concern. “Tell me, why was your face ruined, and how did you become involved with the Third Prince?” Madam Liu demanded of Ling Ziqi. “Why was my face ruined? It was all because of Ling Jiayue! Her face had clearly recovered, yet she pretended that it was still ruined. She tricked me into believing her face was disfigured and used me to break off her engagement with the Third Prince. He took his anger out on me and applied Jade Scorpion Powder to my face as well. That’s why my face was ruined. Sob… sob…” As she spoke, Ling Ziqi began to cry aggrievedly. “If you hate the Third Prince so much, then why did you secretly pledge yourself to him?” Ling Taian looked at the daughter before him with deep disappointment. He could only think that after doting on and indulging her for so many years, he had turned her into a vicious and poisonous woman. “That was because, after the banquet ended, the Third Prince forcibly detained me. He not only poisoned me but also forcibly violated me. I struggled desperately and managed to preserve a little of my chastity. But the Third Prince threatened me. He not only ordered me to marry him as his concubine, he also demanded that I work with him from inside the residence to kill Ling Jiayue.”