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No sooner had she returned to the Royal Mansion than Shang Ruoyi was summoned to the main hall without even a chance to drink tea. As soon as she stepped inside, a teacup shattered at her feet.
“You wretched little thing! So you married into our Dingguo Prince Residence to spy on us,” Zhang Yiniang screeched, her voice shrill. “How dare you play this game of framing and deception!”
Shang Ruoyi looked at Zhang Yiniang in confusion. “Zhang Yiniang, what are you talking about?”
“Hmph! You know exactly what I mean!”
Impatience flickered in Shang Ruoyi’s eyes. “No need for riddles, Yiniang. Speak plainly if you have something to say.”
“Ruoyi, our He family has never mistreated you. Why would you do such a thing?” The Princess Consort’s eyes were red-rimmed. “Though you are but a concubine-born daughter of the Prime Minister’s Residence, no one in our Royal Mansion has ever looked down on you since your marriage. Why would you plant those forged letters in the study?”
Forged letters?
What were they talking about?
“Mother, what do you mean?”
The Old Princess frowned deeply, her voice grave. “Your father took a stack of letters to the Imperial Presence today and accused our Dingguo Prince Residence of colluding with the enemy and betraying the country. And these letters…” She fixed Shang Ruoyi with a scrutinizing gaze. “Your father claimed you found them in the study.”
What?
“How is that possible? I don’t even know which way the study door opens—how could I have rummaged through letters?” Shang Ruoyi met the Old Princess’s gaze steadily. “Besides, I’ve already married into the Dingguo Prince Residence. What good would it do me to do such things?”
“Then how did these letters get there?”
“It must be that old fox Shang Nian!” At last, Shang Ruoyi understood why Shang Nian had been willing to surrender all her mother’s dowry just to marry her into the Dingguo Prince Residence.
It was all to frame them properly. On the day of her return to her parents’ home, he would present these pre-prepared letters.
A perfect scheme for betrayal.
Just then, a eunuch arrived at the Royal Mansion bearing an Imperial Edict.
“All members of the Dingguo Prince Residence, receive the decree!”
Shang Ruoyi’s heart sank.
It seemed the one in the palace already harbored deep hatred for the Dingguo Prince Residence and was eager to eliminate them all without delay.
“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Prince He Yuwen of Dingguo, for colluding with the enemy and betraying the country, resulting in the tragic deaths of thousands of soldiers on the battlefield, has committed an unforgivable crime. Prince He Yuwen is hereby stripped of his title. His current whereabouts are unknown, but upon his capture, he shall be executed immediately. His family shall be exiled three thousand li, forbidden from setting foot in the capital for life. All assets of the Dingguo Prince Residence shall be confiscated into the national treasury. So it is decreed.” The eunuch rolled up the edict and sneered. “Old Princess, receive the decree!”
A maid helped the Old Princess to her feet, but before she could steady herself, she collapsed back into her chair.
“Old Princess!” The maids around her erupted into chaos.
“Hmph! This servant must return to the palace to report to His Majesty. Will anyone from the Dingguo Prince Residence receive the edict or not?”
“Give it to me!” A delicate hand reached out.
Shang Ruoyi said coldly, “Farewell. We won’t see you out.”
The eunuch glanced at her, his face twisting into a mocking smile. “The Second Miss of the Shang family, married only a few days, already meets such misfortune. How pitiable!”
As he left the Royal Mansion, he ordered the guards behind him, “Seal the gates. No one is allowed in or out.”
The mansion gates slammed shut with a thunderous crash. Inside, chaos erupted instantly. The Old Princess sat in her chair, murmuring, “It’s over… all over. A century of our Dingguo Prince Residence’s legacy—gone.”
The Princess Consort held a handkerchief, continuously dabbing at the tears in her eyes. “Someone just sent word that Jingheng was detained as soon as he returned to the military camp this morning. He was already struggling to walk, and now who knows how much torment he’s endured.”
Meanwhile, Zhang Yiniang and her household were busy gathering gold, silver, and valuables, trying their best to conceal them on their persons.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Shang Ruoyi quietly slipped to the backyard and opened the storeroom filled with her dowry. Moments later, the room stood completely empty—not even a single leaf remained—as everything had been stored away in her Dimension.
She then made her way through several other storerooms holding the Royal Mansion’s most precious items.
By the time she left, the entire Royal Mansion had been stripped bare.
“Even if these things were to be thrown away, I’d never let that unjust and foolish emperor profit from them,” she thought, gazing contentedly at the overflowing treasures in her Dimension before returning to the main hall.
Just then, a group of soldiers stormed into the Royal Mansion. The leading captain coldly announced, “Take them away! Strip them of their fine clothes, lock them in the Prison Wagons, and send them beyond the city gates at once!”
Shang Ruoyi frowned slightly. Was the emperor truly this impatient?
The group was forced into prisoner’s garb, their hands and feet shackled with Fetters, and then loaded directly into the Prison Wagons.
At that moment, Shang Ruoyi noticed a pool of blood beneath the foremost Prison Wagon, with fresh droplets still dripping down.
Her pupils constricted in shock—it was He Jingheng!
The Princess Consort, seeing this, stumbled toward the wagon, her trembling fingers clutching the bars. “Jingheng! Jingheng! Open your eyes and look at your mother! Jingheng!”
Two soldiers stepped forward, roughly seizing the Princess Consort’s arms. “Get moving! We don’t have time for your sentimental talk. Once you’re outside the city and reunited with the other exiled convicts, you’ll have plenty of time to weep. Now hurry up!”
The Princess Consort was shoved to the ground but staggered back to her feet. Dragging the Fetters on her ankles, she turned back repeatedly as she made her way to her own Prison Wagon.
The wagons were to pass through the busiest street in the capital. In the past, the Prison Wagons had carried either corrupt officials or heinous criminals guilty of murder and arson, all met with scorn and hurled stones from the common folk. But today, as the wagons rolled through, the people wept openly, some even kneeling and kowtowing on the ground.
Shang Ruoyi took it all in. Though she had lamented her wretched fate more than once—exiled unjustly so soon after transmigrating—seeing how deeply the people revered the Dingguo Prince Residence’s household, only for them to suffer such injustice due to the emperor’s paranoia and fear of their influence, she clenched her teeth. It seemed she had no choice but to save these people.
He Jingheng’s leg was already injured. Though she hadn’t seen the wound, she could smell the medicinal ointment he had used—one reserved for severe bone and tendon injuries. But now, his leg injury appeared far more dire.
Inside her Prison Wagon, Zhang Yiniang continued to rant incessantly. “Shang Ruoyi, you jinx! This is all your fault! Your horoscope must clash with the Dingguo Prince Residence’s fortune. Everything was fine before you married in, but the moment you arrived, disaster struck us!”
Shang Ruoyi ignored her, but Zhang Yiniang, oblivious to her own impropriety, raised her voice. “You little wretch! Are you deaf? I’m talking to you!”
“Enough, say no more!” The old lady looked at Shang Ruoyi and said solemnly, “Ruoyi, now that Jingheng has divorced you, you can regain your freedom and won’t be burdened by our Dingguo Prince Residence. Are you willing?”
Zhang Yiniang’s expression instantly changed upon hearing this: “Old Madam, how can we just let her leave like this? We’ve all been harmed by her!”