CHAPTER 657: CHAPTER 644: THE DOOMED PRINCESS 11

Zhao Hongwen being able to become the top scorer was the pride of his hometown; not just in his village, but throughout the entire county, it counted as absolutely remarkable.

Now he was the glory of his clan, and wanting to do anything was really easy for him.

Moreover, all Zhao Hongwen wanted was for the clan elders to testify to divorce a woman of no consequence.

He had already communicated his plan with the clan elders earlier, and the clan quickly forged a divorce decree—everything was ready including the decree, witnesses, and even a supposed adulterer.

As soon as Liu Meiniang reached the Capital and started arguing that she was Zhao Hongwen’s wife, Zhao Hongwen immediately began submitting petitions in his defense and even requested officials from Yingtian Prefecture to investigate.

The officials swiftly reached Zhao Hongwen’s hometown on fast horses, and when they asked the fellow villagers, everyone said that Liu Meiniang’s behavior was poor and that Zhao Hongwen had already divorced her.

When verifying the records in the county, they even found backups of Zhao Hongwen’s divorce decree.

Not to mention the Zhao Family, even Liu Meiniang’s own brothers spoke ill of her and said that Zhao Hongwen had always treated Liu Meiniang well, but she did not uphold women’s virtues.

After the Yingtian Prefecture officials retrieved the evidence, the public opinion in the Capital quickly shifted.

Liu Meiniang was even arrested and jailed on charges of slandering a court official.

Though Zhao Hongwen cleared up some of his image, most officials already disdained associating with him.

Everyone actually had a clue and knew that Zhao Hongwen’s actions were not very honorable.

Even Liu Ruolan, after getting married, used this as an excuse to avoid sharing a bed with Zhao Hongwen.

Liu Meiniang, locked up in prison, was absolutely furious.

She had not anticipated that this time, her situation would be even worse than in her previous life.

At least in her previous life, she had successfully sued Zhao Hongwen, but this time, she ended up utterly disgraced.

Zhao Hongwen had even anticipated that she would sue and had prepared evidence in advance.

Liu Meiniang wondered if Zhao Hongwen had experienced a similar extraordinary encounter as hers, but then she dismissed the idea.

If Zhao Hongwen had also started over, he would have probably killed her early on, not letting her cause trouble in the Capital.

It was during this time that Liu Meiniang found out that Zhao Hongwen had not married Princess Anning this time but had taken the daughter of Prime Minister Liu as his wife.

Knowing this, Liu Meiniang guessed that perhaps Princess Anning had experienced the same extraordinary encounter.

Even though she guessed this, Liu Meiniang had no way to deal with Princess Anning.

Upon learning of Zhao Hongwen’s maneuvers, Princess Anning did not intervene further in the matter.

Liu Meiniang was not someone to be trifled with; with Zhao Hongwen treating her this way, once Liu Meiniang figured out a way to get out, he surely would not end up well.

Princess Anning’s main focus every day now was to ensure the safety of her pregnancy.

Consort Huang in the palace also encountered several assassination attempts, but she was only feigning pregnancy, so she was safe from harm despite the attacks.

After these incidents, Consort Huang managed to remove many threats.

Emperor Xiande was also infuriated by these repeated assassination attempts.

What he valued most now was the child in Consort Huang’s womb, where all his hopes lay. Now, anyone who dares to offend Consort Huang is shown no mercy by Emperor Xiande—it’s truly a relentless pursuit.

Emperor Xiande dispatched the Hidden Guard to investigate, and the corrupt deeds of Prime Minister Liu and Zhou Jingxing were naturally uncovered.

Upon reviewing those reports, Emperor Xiande completely lost his sanity.

He charged Prime Minister Liu with numerous crimes, directly ordered his family’s property to be confiscated, and had his entire family exiled to the Southwest Border.

Liu Ruolan escaped this fate by virtue of being married.

However, her future life was not going to be easy.

Zhao Hongwen had married Liu Ruolan purely for gains, and now that there was no benefit, he was not going to treat Liu Ruolan well.

Furthermore, after Liu Meiniang entered prison, her two children were naturally taken into the Zhao Family by Zhao Hongwen.

In order to quell the rumors outside, Zhao Hongwen treated the children fairly well.

After all, they were his own flesh and blood; he definitely wouldn’t mistreat his own children whilst Liu Ruolan was denying him conjugal relations.

Once the Liu Family fell from grace, Zhao Hongwen naturally stopped caring for Liu Ruolan.

He started planning to properly nurture his son and daughter.

His son and daughter did not have a good impression of Ruolan.

In their young hearts, it was all because Ruolan seduced their father that their mother ended up in jail. Hence, they often caused trouble for Ruolan, and Chunmei even scolded her upon sight.

After the Liu Family was exiled, Zhao Hongwen indulged Chunmei and Ruolan in their conflicts and even brought numerous concubines into the house, stripping Ruolan of her stewardship and imprisoning her.

At this time, Zhou Jingxing was also unable to protect himself, let alone Ruolan. Ruolan’s days were as miserable as if soaked in bitter water.

Anning was pregnant for ten months, and when the time of delivery approached, she accurately predicted the time of childbirth and went to the palace early to greet Consort Huang and went into labor there.

As soon as Anning started labor, Consort Huang was frightened and began labor immediately.

The midwives and other attendants were all arranged by Consort Huang in advance, and she and Anning were carried into adjacent delivery rooms.

These two delivery rooms were connected by a secret door, intended for the immediate transfer of the baby from Anning to Consort Huang once born.

Anning had a very smooth delivery.

After having an ultrasound during her pregnancy, she already knew she was carrying twins, so there was no preparation for other children at Consort Huang’s side.

Anning soon gave birth to a son, who was immediately taken to Consort Huang’s delivery room.

At this moment, Emperor Xiande and Xue He were anxiously waiting outside the delivery room.

Hearing the baby’s cry, Emperor Xiande and Xue He both eagerly asked, "Is the baby born? Who gave birth?"

The midwife came out smiling and congratulated Emperor Xiande: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, the Noble Consort has given birth to a little prince."

Hearing that a prince was born, Emperor Xiande’s spirit immediately changed.

His back no longer bent, his legs no longer ached, he stood straight up, his eyes sparkling with excitement: "Good, good, rewards, everyone shall be rewarded."

After another quarter hour, cries of another baby came, and a midwife emerged from Anning’s delivery room: "Congratulations, Prince Consort, Princess has given birth to a daughter."

Xue He was overjoyed: "How is the Princess? Is her health alright?"

The midwife smiled: "The Princess is very well, she just fell asleep due to exhaustion."

After hearing that Anning was also doing well, Emperor Xiande relaxed completely: "That’s good, it’s good that my Princess is safe. Today is a day of double happiness, everyone here shall be rewarded."

As Consort Huang gave birth to a prince, the court ministers were also very happy.

After all, Emperor Xiande had no son, which made the courtiers uneasy as they were unclear about who would inherit the throne, and many were hesitant in their actions.

Now, with Emperor Xiande having a son, presumably the next Crown Prince and future Emperor, having a clear heir gave the ministers confidence, knowing what should and shouldn’t be done.

And those from the royal family who had hoped to inherit the throne deflated and started to behave.

Especially Zhou Jingxing.

He was ambitious and desired to ascend to the throne, but now he stood no chance. He was just an ordinary member of the royal family and also from a not so well-off branch, feeling the disparity deeply, Zhou Jingxing barely coped.

Anning spent her confinement in the palace.

During this month, Emperor Xiande was incredibly busy not only managing state affairs but also visiting Consort Huang to see his son and Anning to see his granddaughter.

Seeing the two children growing robustly day by day, becoming so tender and lovely, Emperor Xiande was cheerful every day.

He had actually known before Consort Huang gave birth that she was faking her pregnancy.

And he was also aware of what Consort Huang and Anning were planning.

Initially, he didn’t plan for Anning to have a child and pass it off as a prince, but since Anning had done so, Emperor Xiande couldn’t reproach Anning, nor could he stop her.

In his heart, he agreed with Anning’s idea.

What of other members of the royal family? His blood relation to them was already distant. To let the throne be inherited by someone from the royal family— who knows how they would handle his posthumous affairs, they might even posthumously honor their own parents as Emperor and Empress, which was quite distasteful.

In that case, it might as well be his own grandson who ascends the throne.

This was his closest blood relation, his very own grandson raised from childhood—no different from his own grandson.

Given that, handing over the reign to a grandchild was almost the same as to a child of his own.

Besides, it was common for families with only daughters to arrange a marriage for them during their confinement in the rural areas; he considered it akin to arranging a marriage for Anning during her confinement.

Had Anning not been a woman, which made it inappropriate for her to inherit the throne, Emperor Xiande would even have preferred her to ascend to the throne, as passing it to his daughter was far more comforting than to distant royal relatives.

Hence, with Emperor Xiande’s indulgence, Anning was able to give birth smoothly in the palace and successfully pass the child to Consort Huang.

Emperor Xiande did not only indulge; he also intervened, handling many of the aftermath tasks.