CHAPTER 194: CHAPTER 192: GONE MAD (2)

"No... not too serious," Liu Si Niu mumbled.

Her expression made Li Yuzhu worry.

But she had to cook...

"Si Niu, you sit here first, I’ll call my big sister to cook, and I’ll go back with you to see your big sister." Li Yuzhu comforted her.

The young girl exhaled, "Okay."

Li Yuzhu picked up the last few greens from the clay basin, placed them on the bamboo sieve to drain, wiped her hands on her apron, and walked out of the kitchen to the Great Princess’s room.

The Great Princess had bought a piece of cloth and was diligently sewing.

The weather these days was getting hotter day by day, and the villagers working hard had already started wearing thin summer clothes.

The Great Princess was worried that it would suddenly get hot one day and she would have no summer clothes to wear, so after buying a piece of thin cloth at the market, she was sewing it tirelessly.

Li Yuzhu walked into the room and said, "Big sister, I have to go out immediately, to the Liu Family. You make lunch, the vegetables are washed, some are even cut, and the rice is steamed, you just need to stir-fry the vegetables."

She left as soon as she finished speaking.

When the Great Princess came back to her senses, Li Yuzhu was already far away.

"Li Yuzhu, I’m busy, where do I have time to cook?" The Great Princess ran over and shouted at her back.

Li Yuzhu didn’t hear and called Liu Si Niu from the kitchen, and the two quickly headed to Taohua River Village.

The Great Princess, hands on her hips and gritting her teeth, was fuming, "Good for nothing, Li Yuzhu! Ran off without even cooking!"

Cooking was the hardest thing, the Great Princess only knew how to make porridge, and nothing else.

But not cooking was not an option, what would they eat?

Though she was frustrated with Li Yuzhu, the Great Princess still headed towards the kitchen.

At this moment, she saw Xue Family coming from the direction of the outhouse, heading towards the South Courtyard.

The Great Princess’s eyes sparkled slightly and she walked towards Xue Family, "Sister-in-law!"

Xue Family turned back and said indifferently, "What’s the matter, little sister?"

The Great Princess said, "Third Sister went to the village for an errand, today’s lunch—you handle it. Oh, by the way, the rice is steamed; you just need to stir-fry the vegetables."

Xue Family was already having a bad day after being hit, and hearing the Great Princess yell at her to cook made her furious, "I won’t do it!"

Ignoring the Great Princess, she continued to walk forward.

The Great Princess was shocked, today Xue Family had quite the temper!

"If you don’t cook, what will Father and Mother eat?" The Great Princess stepped forward, pulling Xue Family back, "Go cook!"

"I just won’t cook, why don’t you cook?" Xue Family got angry.

The Great Princess sneered coldly, "You’re the Young Madam in charge, I’m just the sister; you’re asking me to cook? In which family does the sister cook while the sister-in-law idles?"

Xue Family sneered back, "Marrying into your family is utterly unlucky; do I actually have to cook myself? I’m not some old maid!"

Already irritable, being lectured by the Great Princess made her even more furious, and she gave the Great Princess a forceful shove.

The Great Princess was tall but very thin, not comparable to Xue Family’s strength as a woman.

With just one push, she was toppled to the ground.

She happened to fall on her tailbone, causing her pain that brought tears to her eyes.

How proud was the Great Princess? Even in the Capital, in the Prince Mansion, even in the Imperial Palace, where the Empress had to give her some deference, and the Empress Dowager treated her with courtesy, and now she was pushed to the ground by the lowly-born Xue Family—how could she tolerate it?

"Xue Wenzhen, you dare push me?" The Great Princess got up from the ground and slapped Xue Family’s face, "I’ve grown up without even the Empress daring to point fingers at me, what are you?"

Xue Family was upset and refused to be slapped, raised her hand towards the Great Princess.

The Great Princess had no intention of brawling with her; after delivering a slap, she turned and ran towards the North Courtyard.

Xue Family didn’t hit her.

As she ran, the Great Princess cried out loudly, "Father, Mother, Sister-in-law hit me, she’s going to kill me, help!"

While crying, she also disheveled her hair.

She looked utterly pathetic.

Her woeful cries were piercingly loud, quickly alarming Prince Luling and his wife in the North Courtyard.

Princess Consort Luling cherished the Great Princess above all, and upon hearing the noise, her heart skipped a beat; holding Guoguo, she immediately came out of the room.

Prince Luling walked out, holding Li Jing’s hand, following behind.

Seeing the Great Princess with her hair disheveled, the Princess Consort Luling was taken aback, "Yu Wen, what’s going on?"

"Mother, sister-in-law wants to beat me to death, mother, save me!" The Great Princess ran forward, throwing herself into the arms of the Princess Consort Luling, wailing loudly.

Guoguo reached out, touching her face.

The Princess Consort Luling looked ahead and saw Xue Family rushing over with a gloomy expression.

"Xue Family, you actually hit someone?" the Princess Consort Luling sneered, "Last time you hit a neighbor, this time you hit your sister-in-law? Do you still have the semblance of an heir’s wife?"

An heir’s wife? Xue Family mocked in her heart, is she really still the heir’s wife?

"Mother, am I still the heir’s wife? If I were indeed the heir’s wife, where are my maids? The nanny? The carriage? The jewelry? Where have they gone?" Xue Family ran in front of the Princess Consort Luling, sneering, "Aren’t these things supposed to be with me? Where have they gone? With nothing left, what is there to talk about being an heir’s wife?"

"You..." The Princess Consort Luling was too angry to speak.

"With such chaos, what kind of decorum is this? Eldest? Where is the eldest?" Prince Luling stood on the steps, shouting loudly in the direction of the South Courtyard.

Li Jing, not knowing what had happened, stood timidly aside.

The Princely Heir came from the rear courtyard gate, carrying a bowl of freshly milked sheep’s milk, with a puzzled expression, "Mother, Father, what’s this..." He then looked at Xue Family, "Zhen Niang? What’s all this noise for?"

"Elder brother, I asked her to cook, she refused to, and then she hit me!" the Great Princess cried.

"Zhen Niang? How could you hit the younger sister?" The Princely Heir’s voice was filled with disapproval.

Xue Family sneered in anger, pointing at her own face, "Clearly, she hit me first, yet she accuses me first!"

"You first pushed me to the ground, I got hurt, it still hurts now! Xue Family, clearly you started it!" The Great Princess shouted loudly while rubbing her hurt tailbone.

"You’ve already slapped me!" Xue Family said, holding her face in anger.

"So, Xue Family, you started it? You’re the sister-in-law. If you have dissatisfaction with your sister-in-law, you tell me, and I’ll discipline her! How is it your turn to discipline my daughter?" The Princess Consort Luling was furious, "You don’t do this, you don’t do that, picky about everything, and now you hit people? I think it’s better if I send you back to Duke An’s Mansion and let Duke An discipline his daughter properly!"

Xue Family was startled, after a while, the corners of her lips turned up slightly.

The last time, when the Princess Consort Luling threatened to drive her away, she was afraid.

But now, she wasn’t afraid.

This poor and broken home, this shabby little place everywhere, she wasn’t interested in staying here!

The Princely Heir placed the bowl of milk beside the steps, walked over to pull Xue Family, "Zhen Niang, quickly apologize to mother and the younger sister."

Xue Family stood still.

"Zhen Niang?" The Princely Heir urged again.

Xue Family turned her head, looking coldly at the Princely Heir, "Marrying you is the misfortune of a lifetime! Why did I agree to marry you in the first place?"

The Princely Heir’s face turned pale, "You... Zhen Niang? You regret marrying me! How have I not treated you well?"

"Nothing is good! I’m the daughter of a dignified Duke, and I actually have to do the work of a servant!" Xue Family mocked, "Is this what you call good?" She raised her hand to show the Princely Heir, "These hands were once fair and slender, but now they’re full of calluses! All thanks to you!"

The Princely Heir looked at those hands, "Life will get better, Zhen Niang."

"Will get better? How long? Half a year? A year? Or ten years?" Xue Family sneered, "Who can’t make empty promises?"

"Are you saying you want to leave now? Fine, eldest, give her a divorce letter, let her go. Our family is poor, not worthy of her, let her go." The Princess Consort Luling did not punish Xue Family further, called the Great Princess to go inside, and she held Guoguo, took Li Jing’s hand, and turned to enter the house.

Prince Luling with a stern face, also flung his sleeves and went inside.

In the yard, only the Princely Heir and Xue Family remained.

The Princely Heir glanced at the North Courtyard Main House, suddenly pinning Xue Family to the ground, and loudly said towards the main house door, "Father, Mother, Zhen Niang realizes her mistake, she is kneeling in penance!"

Xue Family was furious, "Li Xingmao?"

The Princely Heir looked at her calmly, "Zhen Niang, do you want me to write a divorce letter? Right now?"

His expression was calm as if looking at a stranger, and his tone wasn’t like that between husband and wife.

Xue Family had never seen such cold eyes before, her heart skipped a beat.

The Princely Heir glanced at her, took the bowl of milk from the steps, and headed towards the kitchen.

In the kitchen, the vegetables were washed, some had been chopped, and on the small stove, the steaming rice gave off a faint fragrance.

The Princely Heir rolled up his sleeves, first warming the milk and setting it aside to cool, and then he started cooking.

In front of the steps of the North Courtyard Main House, after a spell of madness, Xue Family calmed down and didn’t dare to leave.

She wanted to get up and leave, but feared the Princess Consort Luling would punish her later, so she simply knelt there without leaving.