Chapter 16: Summon the Prince Consort

Shen Ning’s eyes flickered with a hint of bewilderment, a touch of self-mockery flashing across her gaze.

Smart?

If she were truly smart, she wouldn’t have naively trusted the empty promises of a heartless and ungrateful person, ending up in a living hell.

All men in the world are ungrateful, not one is worth trusting.

“Shi Qin, Shi Qi,” Ji Yucang’s voice was cold and stern as frost, “from today onwards, the two of you will follow the consort and obey her commands.”

“Yes.” Two black-clad women appeared, kneeling on one knee, “We greet the Regent’s consort.”

Shen Ning glanced at them expressionlessly for a moment before looking up at Ji Yucang: “Thank you.”

With that said, she turned and entered the bridal chamber.

Ji Yucang stared silently at her back, not following her inside. He only gave a faint order after her figure disappeared behind the door: “From the day the consort married into the Regent’s estate, she is the mistress of the household, with a status equivalent to mine.”

“Yes!”

Shen Ning heard these words but showed no reaction.

After entering the room, she walked to the dressing table and sat down, removing the pearl hairpins from her head one by one, indifferently gazing at her stunning reflection in the mirror.

The wedding night, the bridal chamber with its candles lit.

For Shen Ning, there was no romance, no coyness or anticipation of a new bride. She only knew that for the time being, she no longer had to deal with the mess of the Shen family, nor face the dilemma of “having to commit suicide to preserve her chastity or become a concubine because of losing her purity”, and that hypocritical and selfish eldest son of the Qin family who claimed to like her but could only make her a concubine.

As for what she would face after marrying into the Regent’s estate, that was a matter for the future. At least for now, she could calmly ponder some things.

The bridal chamber was adorned with large red characters symbolizing joy, and the red candles were still burning.

Yet, the room was eerily quiet.

After the shocking scene earlier, the female officials and maids had developed a sense of awe towards the Regent’s wife of the Regent’s estate, serving her with fear, not daring to be the slightest bit negligent.

Shen Ning paid no attention to their thoughts, enjoying the quiet and solitude by herself.

……

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

“That wretch Shen Ning!” After a bout of hysterical venting, Princess Jiahe smashed everything in sight that could be smashed, yet it still couldn’t alleviate the hatred in her heart and the humiliation she had suffered today. “Someone!”

Her face darkened with anger as she commanded viciously, “Summon the prince consort here immediately!”

The maid, trembling with fear, turned and left, and before long, a handsome man in a green robe entered, bowing in greeting, his tone distant: “Your Highness.”

“Kneel down!” Princess Jiahe grabbed a whip from the wall, pointing it at him menacingly, “Kneel down!”

The maids inside and outside the room lowered their heads, their faces pale with fear, not one of them daring to make a sound.

The man in green simply glanced at the whip in her hand, his expression calm and unruffled, silently kneeling down as if this action had been performed countless times and had become a habit.

The moment his knees hit the ground, the whip sliced through the air and mercilessly struck his body, tearing through his clothes in one lash and leaving a bloody mark on his back.

The man’s face turned pale, the more severe force and pain than usual made him instantly understand how intense Princess Jiahe’s anger was.

Today’s ordeal would not be easy to endure.

“Wretch! Wretch!” Princess Jiahe seemed to have found an outlet for her anger, her face dark with rage as she lashed the whip at the man over and over again. “I will make sure you die a horrible death! Wretch!”

The whip, filled with fury, seemed to carry the force of a thunderbolt, more unbearable than ever before. The man’s face turned deathly pale, and before long, his body began to sway, his forehead covered in cold sweat, the painful groans suppressed deep in his throat.

Princess Jiahe, as the only legitimate daughter of the late Emperor and the current Empress Dowager, and the elder sister of the current Emperor, had been spoiled and tyrannical even before she left the palace to establish her own residence. She was cruel by nature, beating and scolding the palace eunuchs and maids at will, and no one in the palace did not fear her.

The prince consort, Shen Huai, was a concubine’s son from the Shen family. He was not favored at home and had to use every trick in the book to convince his father to let him take the imperial examinations. He eventually passed the exams and was selected as the Tanhua (third highest rank) in the palace examinations by the late Emperor.

He had thought that from then on, he could change his fate against the odds, but unexpectedly, he was chosen by Princess Jiahe for his outstanding appearance, abruptly ending his official career and being forced to become her prince consort.

Shen Huai had pleaded with the late Emperor and refused the princess, but he still couldn’t escape the fate of being decreed to marry.

The Shen family couldn’t wait to send him to the princess’s estate, hoping that he could win the favor of the legitimate princess and bring tangible benefits to the Shen family, but no one knew that Shen Huai’s life in the princess’s estate was like falling into the depths of hell, either being beaten or forced to kneel, often with new injuries added to old ones.

This kind of life had lasted for three years.

Shen Huai had already lost hope, not knowing how much longer he could endure. Perhaps one day, Princess Jiahe would accidentally kill him, and then have him wrapped in a mat and dragged to the mass grave to feed the wild wolves…

His vision began to blur with black fog, the cold sweat having long obscured his eyes, making his sight unclear, vaguely seeing only the whip’s shadow fluttering.

He felt that he was not far from death.

The vicious venting continued for an unknown amount of time until, with a thud, Shen Huai’s body collapsed to the ground, and he fainted. Only then did the maids, in fear, remind her: “Your Highness, Your Highness, the prince consort has fainted!”

Princess Jiahe seemed to suddenly snap out of her uncontrolled rage, staring blankly at the man covered in blood on the ground, throwing the whip away as if it were a hot potato: “Go fetch the physician, quickly fetch the physician!”

As she spoke, she hurriedly supported Shen Huai: “Huai, Huai! Wake up, I won’t hit you anymore! Wake up quickly!”

Shen Huai’s eyes remained tightly shut, his hair disheveled, his face devoid of color, drifting in and out of consciousness amidst the endless darkness and excruciating pain.

If he were to die just like this, perhaps it would be a release for him, freeing him from the endless torment.

But there was always a lingering sense of unwillingness in his heart.

Unwillingness that sixteen years of hard study had been in vain, that years of planning had come to naught, that his great enemy had yet to be avenged and was still at large.

It was this unwillingness that sustained him through each brutal injury, only to face the next storm of abuse day after day…

Shen Huai pondered weakly, when would this ever end?

How much longer would he have to endure this life?

Was he doomed to never have a chance to turn things around in this lifetime?