Arc 3 – Chapter 181, Vicious Princess Wants to Reverse Fate (75)

Yan Hongchou kept his promise and took the country as a dowry to marry Shangguan Yuer. When the old manor master thought his beloved daughter could finally be happy, good times did not last long. In the fifth year after Miss married into the royal family, Yan Hongchou and Miss returned to the manor to visit, encountering a seemingly fragile but cunning beauty.

Because of this encounter, the young lady’s life was ruined. Or rather, from the moment the young lady married into the royal family, everything began to unfold into a shocking conspiracy.

One night, after drinking, the young lady’s cousin and Yan Hongchou had an affair. Although Yan Hongchou did not wish to marry the cousin, her chastity was lost. The cousin, desperate and seeking death, softened the kind-hearted Shangguan Yuer, especially since she felt guilty towards Yan Hongchou.

For five years after marrying into the royal family, there were no other concubines in the harem. She was favoured exclusively, but her womb remained barren. Not only did Yan Hongchou not blame her, but even her mother-in-law, now the Empress Dowager, sympathised with her and comforted her. However, Shangguan Yuer felt increasingly guilty as they only considered her well-being.

She feared that the country of Qi would have no successor and dreaded making Yan Hongchou a sinner of the Qi Kingdom! Although Yan Hongchou claimed not to care at that time, Shangguan Yuer could not be so selfish.

Enduring heart-wrenching pain, she arranged for the beloved man to marry the first concubine. However, apart from that one accidental incident, Yan Hongchou never again visited the cousin's palace, continuing to stay close to the lady as before.

Fate seemed to mock them, as the cousin became pregnant from that one encounter. The following year, the Qi Kingdom welcomed its first child. In the third year after the cousin entered the palace, the year after she gave birth, Shangguan Yuer also became pregnant. Yan Hongchou was delighted and promised that Shangguan Yuer's child would be the future emperor of the Qi Kingdom.

During that time, the cousin never showed any jealousy or resentment, continuing to visit the lady occasionally, maintaining a sisterly bond. Although she had given birth to the first prince, the cousin remained calm and unassuming in the palace, showing great respect towards Shangguan Yuer.

Moreover, she was adept at socialising and speaking appropriately, leading many to believe that both young ladies from the world's foremost manor were kind, gentle, and virtuous, creating a celebrated story for a time.

Thus, no one expected the cousin to poison the lady’s daily pregnancy medication with a rare and deadly toxin named Zi Mu Hua (Mother and Child Flower)!

This poison gradually saps the mother's vitality daily until the day the child is born, causing the mother to haemorrhage and die from difficult labour. The poison then transfers to the newborn, lying dormant until the child turns one year old, at which point it begins to manifest.

The afflicted suffers excruciating pain daily, worsening during the full moon, transforming them into a nightmarish figure, neither human nor ghost. However, this poison carries a peculiar legend: if one endures the poison and lives to 30, whether the poison is cured becomes irrelevant, as by 35, the poison merges entirely with the body. At this point, their flesh and blood become the best ingredient for making Shou Yuan Dan (Longevity Elixir).

Shou Yuan Dan, as the name suggests, is an ancient elixir meant to extend one's lifespan.

At this moment, Yan Hongchou revealed his true nature. During his previous campaign to quell a rebellion, he had discovered the recipe for the Longevity Elixir in a mountain cave. However, the recipe required a woman who had consumed the Zi Mu Hua (Mother and Child Flower) with specific characteristics: born under a yin hour, yin month, and yin year, and possessing a resilient disposition. That woman was Shangguan Yuer.

The greatest manor in the world began to face oppression from the royal family, being accused of treason. After Shangguan Qi was born and his mother died, Yan Hongchou intentionally concealed the information about Shangguan Qi's birth mother, handing him over to the cousin for upbringing, claiming that the cousin had given birth to a second son the following year.

Those who knew the truth either died in accidents or disappeared, so during his childhood, Shangguan Qi never understood why his mother detested him, making him feel neither human nor ghostly.

Shangguan Qi always believed that everything was his fault, that he couldn't earn his parents' love and made everyone fear him, which led him to live in sadness from a young age.

Despite the old manor owner’s efforts to turn the tide, he was betrayed by the son-in-law he trusted most and his closest friend.

The once-renowned greatest manor in the world was on the verge of collapse. Despite struggling to hold on, it eventually fell like duckweed in a storm, withering away. In the end, the old manor master couldn’t tell his grandson that his mother's death was orchestrated by his father and cousin and that he was to be used as the main ingredient for the Longevity Elixir.

However, the old manor master had a contingency plan. He left behind the immense wealth of the greatest manor, which rivalled that of the nation, and a tiger tally that could command an army of 500,000 troops in Qi Kingdom. This was the dowry Yan Hongchou had given to marry Shangguan Yuer, also the old manor master’s shrewdest move.

He had demanded half of the tiger tally for his daughter and made Yan Hongchou promise that only the Yan family members with the tally would have the authority to command the army. This was Yan Hongchou's vow to Shangguan Yuer: "If I become emperor, you shall be empress; we shall rule the kingdom together, paving a magnificent path for our children."

As Granny Fu recounted the sorrowful tale, she cried in Grandpa Fu's arms, remembering the rivers of blood that once flowed in the greatest manor and the despair when the lady discovered the truth upon her death.

The lady had asked her to find the infant young master, take him away from the palace, and deliver the jade pendant to her father. However, she was discovered by Yan Hongchou and her cousin before she could do so. She dared not let the jade pendant fall into Yan Hongchou's hands, as it was the infant master's last trump card. Yan Hongchou had deceived the lady for so long without ever seeing her bring it out, and now it was even more crucial to keep it from being taken!