My Prince said he'd break my legs.

"Miss, you're awake." The maid standing outside the bed curtains noticed that she was awake and walked to the bedside to serve her.

Liang Zhiyi gritted her teeth and pulled back the bed curtains. Things had come to this point, and she had nothing left to fear: "Where is that damned Pei Yue?"

The maidservant hurriedly knelt down: "Miss, please be careful with your words. You must not address His Highness the Crown Prince by his given name."

Liang Zhiyi took a deep breath and asked, "What's your name?"

"Replying to your question, young lady, this servant is Qinglan."

Liang Zhiyi got out of bed wrapped in a fur quilt: "Qinglan, fetch me some water, I need to wash up."

"Yes."

As she walked into the washroom, the maidservant followed her. Liang Zhiyi paused, saying, "You go out and let Chunmei in."

The maidservant bowed her head and said, "Without His Highness's permission, Miss Chunmei cannot enter the front hall."

Liang Zhiyi gritted her teeth and didn't say anything. In the end, she didn't let the maids in Pei Yue Palace serve her. She went into the water and soaked her whole body in the bathtub. The hot water relieved a lot of the soreness in her body.

Pei Yue is twenty-five years old this year. In this dynasty, people his age usually have many children, but Pei Yue only has one eldest son born out of wedlock and two young princesses. The Crown Princess has no children.

The maidservant didn't bring her the contraceptive soup. What does Pei Yue mean by this? Does he want her to have a child?

She's only 16 years old in this body, which is still a minor in the future. It would be too perverse to make her have a child.

No wonder women in ancient times didn't live long. If they got married and had children at this age, it would be strange if their bodies weren't damaged. She absolutely couldn't get pregnant.

The more I thought about it, the more frustrated I became, so I held my breath and sank into the water.

She was pulled out of the water after only a short time.

Pei Yue's face was extremely grim: "What are you doing?"

"Ah~"

Liang Zhiyi gasped in surprise and instinctively raised her hand to slap him.

Seeing that she was full of energy and didn't seem to be suicidal, Pei Yue's expression softened: "From now on, you should have someone serve you when you wash up."

She was completely naked and extremely uncomfortable. Her face flushed red as she pushed him away and quickly put on her clothes.

"I'm going back now."

A cold glint appeared in Pei Yue's eyes: "Back where?"

He sneered, "Do you even know who you are now, Pei Liangshi? Where are you even thinking of going?"

Liang Zhiyi was furious and retorted, "Your Highness doesn't need to give me your husband's surname so casually. I'm still a young woman who hasn't married yet. Let's just pretend that what happened last night never happened. Your Highness is a man, so you won't lose out anyway."

So be it, it's better to die than to die a cowardly death.

Pei Yue stared intently at her, his aura chillingly cold: "Say it again."

Just say it.

"I only want to marry an ordinary husband who doesn't take concubines and is devoted to me. Your Highness has many women in your harem, so it's clear that Your Highness is not suitable."

"Wholeheartedly?" Pei Yue scoffed. "Do you think that if you approach the fifteenth prince, he won't take a concubine? Or are these just excuses you're using?"

Liang Zhiyi was speechless for a moment. At that time, she went to the Fifteenth Prince simply to get rid of Pei Yue. As long as she got rid of Pei Yue, she would naturally have a way to escape. At least the Fifteenth Prince would not send anyone to watch her.

Of course, if the Fifteenth Prince's harem wasn't so complicated, she would try to live a good life with him. But Pei Yue is different; he is the Crown Prince, and he is destined to have no shortage of women.

She's rich now, lots of rich. Why would she give up being a perfectly good rich woman? She must be out of her mind to become someone's concubine.

"I will pretend I didn't hear what you just said. If you say it again, you can just wait to die."

Pei Yue, with a cold face, picked her up and threw her back onto the bed.

Liang Zhiyi is now terrified of the bed. Her earlier bravado has vanished without a trace, and she's back to being cowardly: "Your Highness, I'm in so much pain. I was just saying that in anger. Please forgive me."

"Does it hurt?" Pei Yue glanced at her. "I applied some medicine for you this morning. If you're still in pain, I'll have the imperial physician change the prescription."

No wonder she only felt sore all over, but her groin area wasn't so uncomfortable.

But speaking of medicine...

"Hmm, while you're at it, have the imperial physician prescribe a contraceptive decoction for me."

Upon hearing this, Pei Yue lifted her chin, his fingertips brushing against her lips, his gaze chilling her to the bone: "Tell me, why did you drink the contraceptive soup?"

"How old am I? I'm still a child. What kind person would let a child have a baby?"

If this were to happen in later generations, she would be considered an underage girl. Raping an underage girl is utterly despicable.

"A child?" Pei Yue was so angry that he laughed. He had never heard of such a thing before.

"At your age, if you had started seeking marriage earlier, you should be married and have a child by now. Besides, which woman doesn't have a child around this age? Other women are eager to have children early to secure their husbands' favor, ha... but you're different!"

Liang Zhiyi gritted her teeth and glared at him: "Anyway, I'm different. I'm afraid of dying young."

Pei Yue released her: "Don't regret it if you give birth too late."

Liang Zhiyi pursed her lips and didn't respond. Whoever regrets it is a dog!

It's like nobody cares about having his child.

Pei Yue remained calm, stood up, and tied her sash. Whether she gave birth or not was not up to her.

-----

It was already past noon when Chunmei came out of the East Palace. She looked at Liang Zhiyi, hesitant to speak, and said, "Miss..."

Liang Zhiyi leaned wearily against the carriage: "Speak."

"His Highness the Crown Prince sent someone back to the manor last night saying that you had offended him and were disrespectful, so he took you away to be taught manners by the palace maids. What should we do now that we're back at the manor? Master will be angry."

What can we do?

Liang Huaijing probably knows better than she does what she went through.

What she fears now is that when she returns to the manor, Liang Huaijing will disregard everything and have someone examine her body; that would be the real shame.

He was Prince Chen's loyal dog, and now that this had happened, it gave him the perfect opportunity to impeach the Crown Prince. He was overjoyed.

After all, she wasn't Liang Huaijing's most favored daughter. Sacrificing an unfavored daughter to catch the Crown Prince in the act was worthwhile no matter what.

Liang Zhiyi closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. Let's leave it at that for now. We'll deal with whatever comes our way. What else can we do?

What she didn't expect was that along with her back to the manor came an imperial decree bestowing upon her the title of Crown Prince's Consort and upon Liang Youyou the title of Prince Jin's concubine.

The palace officials decided that they would enter the palace on the sixteenth of August, which was the day after the autumn hunt and the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The list had already been finalized, and the date had been chosen by the Palace Secretariat, so there was no rush. This date was the best one of the year.

Liang Huaijing didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

What pleased him was that Liang Youyou's reputation was already ruined. He was worried that Liang Youyou wouldn't be able to marry into a good family. Now, not only did she get married, but she also became a concubine of a prince. For Liang Youyou, the illegitimate daughter of a minor official, this was the best possible outcome.

What worries him is that his stance has long been clear, but now that Liang Zhiyi has entered the Eastern Palace, what will Prince Chen think of him?

Last night, Liang Zhiyi stayed overnight at the East Palace. On the surface, she was having the nanny teach her manners, but he knew exactly what was going on. He also knew that Liang Zhiyi was definitely not a candidate chosen by the emperor for the crown prince, but rather someone the crown prince himself had put on the list.

Liang Zhiyi came from a humble background, and the emperor would not care if such a woman entered the Eastern Palace.

So what if he knows? This is an imperial edict; even if he had a hundred lives, he wouldn't dare disobey it.

Liang Huaijing glared at Liang Zhiyi, wanting to curse, but couldn't utter a word for a long time.

Liang Zhiyi shrugged; she hadn't expected to get through this hurdle so easily.

Liang Youyou, standing to the side, was not having an easy time. She sobbed, "Father, I don't want to go to the Prince of Jin's mansion. Who in the Great Yu Dynasty doesn't know that the Prince of Jin is a womanizer with one concubine after another? Moreover, he is ugly, and his belly is bigger than that of a woman about to give birth. I don't want a man like that."