“Ziyun, don’t talk nonsense. This is your cousin,” Grand Princess Zande admonished in a low voice.
“Cousin? Where did I get a cousin?” Baili Ziyun stopped crying, looking at Grand Princess Zande in confusion.
Mother is a princess, so wouldn’t her cousins be the Emperor or his brothers? How could she have a cousin?
Seeing Baili Ziyun’s bewilderment, Grand Princess Zande explained Sima Han’s identity to her.
After listening to Grand Princess Zande, Baili Ziyun looked at Sima Han intently. Before, she had only noticed that Sima Han was quite good-looking and hadn’t looked closely. Now, upon closer inspection, she realized that Sima Han did resemble her somewhat.
“He is a cousin, but they are not. Mother, Fang Gu was killed by him. His name is Zheng Wei, and the injuries on my body were all inflicted by this woman. She also made me swallow a pill I don’t know what it is,” Baili Ziyun then pointed at Zheng Wei and Shen Xiaoyan and said.
Shen Xiaoyan looked at Baili Ziyun helplessly. This woman had finally been well-behaved for the past two days, but now that she saw her mother, she felt she had backing and had become arrogant again.
“Who is she?” Grand Princess Zande asked Shen Xiaoyan.
“She is Zheng Wei’s wife, her name is Shen Xiaoyan. Mother, she’s the little vixen born from that fox spirit Fang Gu mentioned…”
“Slap.”
Before Baili Ziyun could finish speaking, she was whipped again by a leather whip.
The sharp crack of the whip was particularly jarring in the quiet room.
“Ah…”
Baili Ziyun was stunned for a full minute before screaming.
This whip didn’t hurt much, but the fact that Shen Xiaoyan dared to whip her in front of her mother infuriated her even more.
“If your mouth remains this foul, next time I will whip your face until it’s disfigured, just like Bai Fang’s. No, a hundred times uglier than Bai Fang’s,” Shen Xiaoyan said, a smile appearing on her face, a smile tinged with a hint of bloodlust.
Baili Ziyun trembled at Shen Xiaoyan’s smile and words, but the next moment she straightened her back.
“My mother is here, I’ll see if you dare. I’ll have my mother exterminate your nine generations of kin.”
“I didn’t know that besides the Emperor, anyone else could exterminate nine generations of kin. Of course, even if the Emperor came, he wouldn’t be able to exterminate my nine generations of kin,” Shen Xiaoyan said coolly.
“What a big mouth you have, humph, you’re tough now, but when I…”
“Ziyun, that’s enough.” Grand Princess Zande frowned and sharply interrupted Baili Ziyun’s unfinished words. Ziyun was indeed spoiled by her, saying whatever she pleased.
“Aunt, I think cousin’s temper is a bit inappropriate. Aunt should discipline her properly,” Sima Han said, his gaze towards Baili Ziyun becoming somewhat profound.
“What right do you have to talk to me? You’re just a commoner who was expelled by the Emperor cousin. Yet you’re spouting nonsense here. When I marry the Emperor cousin and become the Empress, I will definitely have my cousin punish you for your offenses.” Baili Ziyun looked at Sima Han with disgust, as if she were looking at something filthy.
Shen Xiaoyan’s eyes widened in surprise at her words, she couldn’t believe her ears.
What was Baili Ziyun saying just now?
She wanted to marry the Emperor? And become Empress?
Putting aside the fact that the Emperor was her cousin and close relatives shouldn’t marry, this was common in ancient times, and Shen Xiaoyan wouldn’t be surprised by such a thing.
However, if her ambition was to become Empress, why was she still trying to snatch her husband?
Was this woman’s brain short-circuited?
“Cough, allow me to interrupt.”
Shen Xiaoyan couldn’t help but break the rather somber atmosphere.
“What? Are you scared? If you’re scared, hurry and kneel and beg me. Maybe I’ll be merciful and let you off.” Baili Ziyun arrogantly lifted her chin, her nostrils almost pointing to the sky.
“I wanted to ask, since you want to become Empress, why are you trying to snatch my husband?” Shen Xiaoyan directly asked the question that was puzzling her. Talking to this woman further, she felt her IQ was going to become negative.
“Snatch husband?” Grand Princess Zande’s mouth opened in surprise, looking at Shen Xiaoyan in disbelief.
Shen Xiaoyan nodded at her, indicating that what she had just said was true.
Grand Princess Zande looked at Sima Han again, unsure. Sima Han also nodded and said, “This is indeed the case. It was cousin who wanted to snatch me, her cousin, as her husband, which led to what happened later.”
“Baili Ziyun, explain this to me clearly. What exactly is going on?” Grand Princess Zande slammed the table heavily, demanding with a stern voice.
Baili Ziyun flinched back at the sound, lowering her head, not daring to meet Grand Princess Zande’s eyes, but she secretly glanced at Shen Xiaoyan.
Shen Xiaoyan was helpless; she had nothing more to say. This Baili Ziyun was clearly lacking in common sense.
“Speak quickly.”
Not receiving a reply from Baili Ziyun for a long time, Grand Princess Zande slammed the table again.
Shen Xiaoyan clearly saw that the table had already cracked after Grand Princess Zande slammed it twice. If Grand Princess Zande were to slam it a third time, it was likely that as long as someone gently tapped it, the table would simply fall apart.
“Reply to… to Mother, it’s, it’s like this.” Baili Ziyun haltingly recounted the entire incident. After finishing, she took a few steps back.
Baili Ziyun actually wanted to lie or change the facts, but with Shen Xiaoyan and the others present, if she said anything untrue, she would be exposed immediately. Therefore, no matter how unwilling she was, she could only tell the truth of the matter.
After listening to Baili Ziyun’s account, Grand Princess Zande’s first reaction was not to look at Shen Xiaoyan, but at Zheng Wei.
Her gaze swept over Zheng Wei from head to toe, and finally, she nodded and said, “He is indeed good-looking. No wonder Ziyun took a fancy to him.”
Shen Xiaoyan: …
Zheng Wei: …
Sima Han: …
Is this the rumored like mother, like daughter?
Shen Xiaoyan now seriously suspected that Baili Ziyun’s disposition was inherited from Grand Princess Zande.
Looking at it, Bai Lihao, who had not appeared, must also be an exceptionally handsome man, otherwise, he wouldn’t have caught Grand Princess Zande’s eye.
Looking closely at Baili Ziyun, she was indeed good-looking, but she didn’t resemble Grand Princess Zande very much. Shen Xiaoyan guessed that she probably looked more like Bai Lihao.
“Cough, cough, Aunt, this…”
Finally, Sima Han couldn’t help but speak up to bring the topic back, otherwise, what if this mother and daughter duo, in perfect sync, started causing trouble together?
However, Sima Han’s worry was clearly unnecessary. After praising him, Grand Princess Zande shifted her gaze to Shen Xiaoyan.
“You are Zhen Lingrong’s daughter?”
Shen Xiaoyan heard the implication in Grand Princess Zande’s words, as if she were very familiar with Zhen Lingrong, so she asked in confusion, “Does Princess know my mother?”
Grand Princess Zande shook her head, “No, I don’t. I only heard Bai Fang mention her. But looking at you now, your mother must not be the person Bai Fang described, otherwise, she couldn’t have given birth to a daughter like you.”
Shen Xiaoyan didn’t ask further about what kind of person Zhen Lingrong was in Bai Fang’s description.
Because based on Bai Fang’s actions, she knew that she had no good feelings towards Zhen Lingrong, so what good things could come out of her mouth?
“Princess, how do you think this matter should be resolved?” Shen Xiaoyan raised an eyebrow and looked at Grand Princess Zande.
Grand Princess Zande glanced at Baili Ziyun, who stood with her head down, then at Zheng Wei, who stood with a cold expression and hadn’t spoken a word. Then she smiled and said, “It’s not a big deal. Ziyun is just young and insensible and has caused you trouble. She’s young and likes handsome faces, which is a normal thing. Perhaps Bai Fang instigated her behind the scenes, otherwise, with her temperament, she wouldn’t have done so many things. Since Bai Fang is already dead, you should let this matter go. As for Ziyun, I will take her back to her father for strict discipline. After all, she is destined for the palace.”
Shen Xiaoyan scoffed inwardly at this. She was pushing all the blame onto the now-dead Bai Fang?
And subtly implying that Baili Ziyun was destined for the palace, so they couldn’t do anything to her.
However…
“Since Aunt has spoken, then this matter can naturally be dropped. After all, we are all juniors and should naturally respect Aunt’s wishes. However, cousin is so young and hot-headed. If she thinks about it more after returning and comes back to cause trouble for us… Aunt also knows that we are just a few commoners now. If cousin really wants to do something, then it’s truly…”
Sima Han’s words were not too blunt, but Grand Princess Zande understood perfectly.
“Han, you can rest assured. With me restraining her, she will not dare to do anything. Moreover, next year she will enter the palace. By then, she will be far away from here, and no matter how angry she is, she won’t be able to vent it.”