Chapter 12

Lady Xie was so furious that her qi and blood surged. She fainted on the spot.

The Xie household was thrown into chaos. It was a long, miserable night.

Consort Lin happily sipped her tea, arching her elegant brows.

“Is that woman worthy of being compared with my daughter-in-law?”

“Who does the Xie family think they are, acting so picky?”

Xiao Ce chimed in.

“If he hadn't set his wedding date first, just holding it on the same day as mine would be enough to bring bad luck.”

“Heaven must have eyes. It's a shame it didn't burn those two bastards to death.”

One of them was fiercely protective and indulgent. The other never held back when it came to striking.

And me?

I loved it.

**20**

Relying on memories from my previous life, I advised Xiao Ce.

I helped him manage floods, devise plans for grain, support scholars, open charity halls, and win the people's hearts.

I also came up with ruthless schemes for Consort Lin, striking unseen and clearing away her formidable rivals in the harem, one after another.

Mother and son had no opponents in the inner palace and no rivals at court. Everything went smoothly.

But they gave me all the credit.

Consort Lin warned Xiao Ce:

“Behave yourself. Don't copy the faithless men who make people sick. Miemian's methods are brilliant. Watch your head. If something really happens, even I can't save you.”

“I could adopt another son, but I could never give birth to a daughter-in-law I liked this much.”

Xiao Ce thumped his chest and promised:

“Mother, don't worry. I've already won her heart.”

“If she wants me to go east, I would never dare go west. She loves me so much she'd die for me.”

Consort Lin forced a smile.

“Do you mean the kind of love that sent you sleeping on the floor last night?”

Xiao Ce's mouth twitched. He waved it off calmly.

“You don't understand. I made myself freeze to death so she'd feel sorry for me. That's called using pain to win love.”

The corner of Consort Lin's eye twitched.

“Then what about you squatting down to wash her feet?”

Xiao Ce choked.

“Obviously, I wanted her to look down at me from above and admire my most handsome, dashing face.”

“In short, don't interfere. I have my own way.”

At the prince's residence, Xiao Ce treasured me like a jewel and followed after me, doing everything for me.

In the harem, Consort Lin praised me without end.

I didn't need to compete. They protected me in everything and made sure I got what I wanted.

While everyone in the capital envied me,

Shen Yuetang's life was nothing like that.

**21**

She and Xie Jing'an had been at odds for a long time.

Lady Xie kept tormenting and humiliating her.

Even the other women of the household took advantage of her, cruelly making things difficult over and over.

Without Father to support her or her stepmother to scheme on her behalf, she was a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

In just a few short months, she became so thin and haggard she was barely recognizable.

I didn't forget to bring her second-biggest catch, Bùi Vân Châu, when she was at her most desperate.

Just as in my previous life, she rushed into his arms, sobbing bitterly and pouring out all her grievances.

She even begged him to take her and run away.

But as soon as she finished,

Xie Jing'an led servants in and broke down the door.

The adulterous pair were caught in the act.

Bùi Vân Châu was beaten within an inch of his life and thrown out into the street.

I still didn't think that lecherous cousin who had traveled a thousand miles to rescue her was suffering enough.

That very night, I bribed a few beggars to break both his legs.

He would live paralyzed for the rest of his life.

When Shen Yuetang was dragged back to the Xie household, the physician diagnosed her as pregnant.

Xie Jing'an didn't believe the child was his.

After forcing her to drink a bowl of abortifacient, he locked her in the deserted courtyard.

Then it was too late. He regretted everything.

He staggered into my path outside the Temple for the Protection of the State, his eyes bloodshot.

“Miemian, I regret it.”

“Everything has turned out the opposite of what I wanted.”

“Miemian, I was wrong.”

I looked at him without the slightest sympathy.

“You don't regret it. You only feel sorry for yourself. You mourn the good days you had in your previous life, which are now forever out of reach.”

“You mourn that you brought the Xie family to ruin with your own hands and condemned yourself to a life of decline and hardship.”

“You mourn the life I once planned for you so carefully, which has now all vanished like foam on the water.”

“But Xie Jing'an, this is what you asked for.”

I turned to leave.

Then I quietly instructed the guards following me:

“He came alone. This is a good opportunity. Beat him until he's half-dead.”

The shadow guards understood.

On Xie Jing'an's ride back to the capital, they deliberately tripped his horse.

He fell, his spine snapped, and he was left curled in a wheelchair—a cripple for life.

I told him I liked to fight and take what I wanted. He didn't believe me and came right to my door.

How could I possibly go easy on him?

And I wouldn't spare the Shen family, either.

**21**

Years ago, Shen Yuetang had slipped a smallpox-infected handkerchief into my little brother's sleeve. He caught the disease and died young.

When my concubine mother fell ill, my stepmother poisoned her, one bowl at a time, until she was dead.

But Father wanted to preserve the marriage alliance with the Bùi family and the Shen family's reputation.