Chapter 65: She Doesn’t Understand a Thing

Xiao Liangliang lowered her head, feigning weakness while inwardly sneering.

So what if she’s a princess? Men still fall head over heels for her.

“This is Princess Changping and Concubine De. If you have any difficulties, you can speak up, and we will help you,” Shangguan Ze quickly chimed in.

Princess Changping shot him a glare.

Shangguan Ze lowered his head.

Xiao Liangliang hastily knelt down, “This commoner, Liangliang, greets the Princess and Concubine.”

Tears began to stream down her face again.

“Is that your child?” Princess Changping asked coldly.

Xiao Liangliang nodded.

“Instead of properly caring for your child, you bring him here to cry and wail. What’s the meaning of this?”

Xiao Liangliang frowned subconsciously. This didn’t sound like the same Princess Changping that Shangguan Ze had described to her as being gentle and fond of children.

Why did she sound so disdainful?

Faced with the situation, Xiao Liangliang didn’t have time to think too much and began to speak, “Your Highness, to be honest, I… I am ill. I lost my parents when I was young, and my only brother has also passed away. I’m a widow with no family left, just me and my child. My health is failing, and I won’t last much longer. While I can still move around, I thought to leave my child here, hoping someone with a kind heart might take him in. If someone adopts him, I will have fulfilled one last wish. If not, then it’s fate. I really have… no other choice.”

She then began crying loudly again.

“So pitiful, truly pitiful,” Shangguan Ze sighed. He discreetly tugged at Princess Changping’s sleeve, speaking in a grand and noble tone, “Ping’er, perhaps this is a fate ordained by heaven.”

“What fate?” Princess Changping asked, her expression blank.

Shangguan Ze said, “We’ve been childless for years, and now, just after praying for a child, we meet this baby. Isn’t that fate? Ping’er, you don’t know, but I was just in the temple praying to the heavens to bless us with a child. And here he is. You can finally be a mother.”

“I’ve heard of several childless couples who adopted a child and then, within a few years, conceived one of their own. It’s said that such children bring the fortune of siblings with them, enabling their adoptive parents to have children.”

Princess Changping stared blankly at him, “You want us to adopt this child?”

Shangguan Ze nodded, “With this child, your spirits might lift, and when your mind is at ease, your body will improve. Maybe in a few years, you’ll conceive naturally.”

Heh.

Changping sneered inwardly.

It was clear that Shangguan Ze’s words, both overt and covert, were aimed at implying that she couldn’t bear children.

How had she not noticed this disgusting side of Shangguan Ze before?

She had once believed that Shangguan Ze truly loved her and didn’t care whether she could have children.

Men and their lies—clearly, it’s him who’s ill and can’t have children.

That scumbag is a pig! A big pig!

Little Ah Bao gnawed on a teething snack, pointing her tiny finger at Shangguan Ze. “Pig… Pig…”

Shangguan Ze frowned.

Why does this little princess keep calling him names?

That couldn’t be right.

She’s only six months old and thinks about nothing but eating—what does she even know?

Changping withdrew her gaze and gently comforted Ah Bao. “But they say that adopted children are never as close as one’s own.”

“Oh, come on, even a dog you raise for a long time becomes dear to you, let alone a child you’ve raised from birth.”

Changping lowered her eyes, deep in thought.

Her inability to bear children had long been a source of pain for her.

She had always loved children, but fate had not blessed her with any.

Especially in recent years, whenever she saw a baby, her heart would fill with joy, and she’d long to hold them.

If it had been before, she might have agreed with Shangguan Ze’s suggestion to adopt the child.

But who would have thought he would conspire to have an illegitimate child from an affair take over her dowry and ruin her life—how infuriating.

Fortunately.

Fortunately, there was Ah Bao!

“If the Princess adopts this child, it would truly be a blessing for the child, and I would have no regrets,” said the woman, as Changping pondered how to refuse Shangguan Ze.

The Concubine spoke coldly, “You’re quite the strange woman. The Princess doesn’t even know you; why should she care about your regrets?”

Xiao Liangliang was speechless.

“And where is this child’s father? The mother may be on her deathbed, but surely the father isn’t dead too?”

Xiao Liangliang trembled, her lips quivering. “The child’s father…”

The Concubine raised an eyebrow. “Is this child illegitimate?”

Xiao Liangliang quickly shook her head, waving her hands. “No, no, it’s not.”

The Concubine frowned and looked at Princess Changping, advising, “Your Highness, you mustn’t take in a child with an unclear background, especially one with such unfortunate circumstances.”

Changping stifled a laugh, but her face remained expressionless. “Sister-in-law, how do you know the child’s fate is bad?”

The Concubine raised her eyebrows. “Think about it, this child is born an orphan, with an unknown father and a dying mother—surely a child who brings misfortune to their family. If you take this child back to the palace, what if it brings harm to you?”

“You’re right, sister-in-law,” Changping silently gave the Concubine a thumbs-up.

Xiao Liangliang’s already pale face turned even whiter. “No, my child doesn’t bring harm to anyone…”

Princess Changping raised an eyebrow. “No? Then why don’t you take the child and find its father? Looking at you, it seems this child is indeed illegitimate. Only children born of women from outside the family can’t be seen in the light of day. Now, you can’t even say who the father is—what were you before? Could it be you were a woman of the brothels, peddling yourself, who ended up pregnant after being with who knows who, had the child, and then found another man to latch onto, deciding the child was a burden and wanted to get rid of it?

People like you, who make money by spreading your legs, are prone to illnesses. What’s that disease called again? Syphilis.

Well, you’ve ended up in this situation, and you’ve brought it upon yourself.

Even if I am kind-hearted, I absolutely cannot take in a child with such an unclear background.

This child is truly pitiful, having a mother like you.”

Xiao Liangliang felt like she had a bone stuck in her throat, utterly shocked.

She instinctively looked at Shangguan Ze, hoping for help.

They had clearly planned everything, even giving Princess Changping a bewitching drug.

The person who sold them the drug claimed it was highly effective.

Princess Changping should have been doing exactly what they wanted.

Shangguan Ze also said there was a nine out of ten chance it would succeed. How did things go so wrong?

Why wasn’t the bewitching drug working at all?

How could Princess Changping, who supposedly loved children, be standing here insulting her and her child?