The Demonic Crown Prince

"Don't speak..." Xu Rui knew trouble was coming when he saw Li Yuan's expression, and was shocked. He immediately stepped in front of Wang Cuilan.

She cleared her throat lightly. "Well, son-in-law, let's talk this over. Don't let your soldiers resort to violence. As for the dowry, name your price first!"

To everyone's surprise, Li Yuan simply reached out and shoved him aside, then glared at Wang Cuilan with a vicious look in his eyes. "Are you insulting my queen?"

"I raised this little bitch, can't I even scold her? Even if you're a prince, what right do you have to interfere in our family affairs?"

Unable to contain her anger, Wang Cuilan threw a tantrum, hurling insults at him with sharp tongue.

"It's said that she was the one who tortured your mother to death?" Li Yuan squinted at Wang Cuilan, then looked at Xu Shuying.

"Yes, right in front of me, she broke my mother's limbs, ripped all her hair off, gouged out her eyes, and cut off her tongue..."

Xu Shuying trembled, hugging her shoulders, dominated by the fear formed in her childhood, tears streaming down her face.

"Okay, I'll collect some interest for you today." Li Yuan nodded and looked at Wang Cuilan.

"What are you going to do?"

Wang Cuilan glared at him, but because she was a woman and Li Yuan's mother-in-law, she showed no fear whatsoever.

"I'll show you something." Li Yuan laughed, then reached into his robes and pulled out a handwritten edict from Emperor Jinglong.

When Xu Rui saw the edict, his head went blank. Damn it, here we go again?

"Husband and wife are one, sharing the same virtues and hearts. If you insult my queen, you are insulting me. My father gave me a special edict that anyone who insults me will be insulted in return."

"You old bitch, you asked for this! I'd be justified even if I killed you!"

Li Yuan let out a sinister laugh, "Beat them!"

Several soldiers who had been eyeing her intently immediately pounced over, forced her to kneel on the ground, took off their smelly cloth shoes, and slapped Wang Cuilan's face repeatedly with the soles of their shoes.

"Don't hit me, don't hit me! I'll give you the dowry, just please stop, Your Highness!" Xu Rui cried out urgently.

Upon hearing that there was money involved, Li Yuan's eyes lit up immediately. He raised his hand, and several soldiers stopped.

"Father-in-law, how much dowry can you provide? You must know that Shuying is a woman of exceptional talent and beauty who has captivated the capital. She is also the eldest daughter of the Duke's mansion. Such a beauty deserves a dowry that is not worthy of her status and would only tarnish the reputation of the Duke's mansion."

"That's right, that's right. How about ten thousand taels?"

Xu Rui forced a smile, gritting his teeth and bracing himself for the possibility of being stabbed in the back.

Li Yuan pursed his lips, turned to look at the soldiers, and said, "We couldn't reach an agreement, so let's continue fighting."

The screams resumed.

"Fifty thousand, fifty thousand taels..."

"That's getting interesting, but not enough. How about a few more shoe soles to make up the difference?"

"One hundred thousand taels! This is the limit the Duke's mansion can come up with, that's all they have!"

Xu Rui let out a loud scream, as if he had lost ten pounds of flesh!

"Deal! Oh no, well, father-in-law, how could I let you go to such lengths?"

Li Yuan stopped the group of soldiers, turned to Xu Rui and smiled.

"Of course, of course!" Xu Rui kept taking deep breaths, feeling a little uncomfortable in his heart, and quickly ordered someone to fetch the money.

Wang Cuilan sat on the ground, her face swollen like a pig's head, her mouth full of blood, and her original appearance was no longer recognizable.

This pained Xu Rui deeply.

When the 100,000 taels of silver were handed to Li Yuan, he felt as if his heart had been chopped into dumpling filling, and he took it out in tiny, broken pieces.

"Father-in-law and mother-in-law, your son-in-law is leaving now. I'll come to bother you again when I have time."

Next time you visit your parents' home, I'll send over a whole, well-fed pig; I guarantee you'll be happy!

Before leaving, Li Yuanlin flicked the coin, his eyes narrowing into slits with a smile.

"Okay, okay..." Xu Rui waved his hand, his smile looking more like a grimace.

After leaving the house, Li Yuan sent Wang Wanquan and his group to Huiziwu to collect the silver, while he waited at the street corner with Xu Shuying.

"Was it fun?" Li Yuan chuckled at Xu Shuying.

Xu Shuying's face was still flushed with excitement. She bit her lip and nodded emphatically.

She harbored a deep-seated hatred for Wang Cuilan, but as a dependent, she had no choice but to endure humiliation and hardship, even being beaten for speaking too loudly.

Seeing Li Yuan fight so fiercely this time, she felt incredibly satisfied.

"Follow me, and I guarantee you'll eat the best food, drink the most delicious wine, do the most exciting things, and be the most beautiful woman!"

Li Yuanyi boasted about himself.

But in Xu Shuying's eyes, this man who used to be so hateful is actually kind of handsome at this moment.

Her heart suddenly started pounding uncontrollably.

"Thank you," she said softly, biting her lip. She was referring to Li Yuan beating up Wang Cuilan for her.

"No need to thank me, it was just a small favor," Li said with a wave of his hand and a smile.

"Then, when will you give me the second half of the poem?" Xu Shuying finally managed to suppress her emotions and looked at Li Yuan.

"I'll give it to you now."

Xianyun is clever, Feixing spreads hatred, and Yinhan looms dark. When Jinfeng Yulu met, it won over countless people on earth.

Tender feelings flow like water, a beautiful time like a dream; how can I bear to look back on the road to the Magpie Bridge? If our love is destined to last, why should we be together every day and night?

Li Yuan, in high spirits, recited the poem aloud.

"If love between two people is meant to last, why should they be together day and night... My God, what beautiful words, what a lovely imagery, what a romantic sentiment! Is this really your work?"

Xu Shuying placed her hand on her chest, as if she had suddenly eaten a piece of ice on a scorching summer day, or as if a person on the verge of dying of thirst in the desert had seen a river.

In an instant, all the longing, anticipation, and anxiety about the second half of that poem were instantly filled and satisfied like never before.

This is the most fitting and exquisite second half!

"Absolutely." Li Yuan glared at her, and the big radish admitted it without blushing.

Anyway, in another time and space, no one knows what's going on, so he can impersonate someone else to his heart's content!

Xu Shuying didn't speak again, but just thought about the poem. The more she thought about it, the more immersed she became in the poem's imagery, and gradually she became so engrossed in it that she forgot herself!

"No matter what it is, once you get addicted, it's like a blind man trying to see clearly—it's incurable."

Li Yuan shook his head, telling her to go back to the sedan chair and immerse herself in her thoughts.

This time, Wang Wanquan and his group retrieved the silver with remarkable ease, obtaining 100,000 taels of silver directly.

It seems the people in charge of the money exchange were terrified of them. As soon as they saw them go to get the money, they checked the tickets without saying a word, and once everything was in order, they immediately handed over the money.

That saved me a lot of trouble!

Upon arriving at the military camp, we saw large trucks unloading cargo, filling each tent to the brim.

Xu Shuying's bright eyes widened when she saw the things that had been unloaded. Weren't those all things from the East Palace? Why were they all moved here? And what use were they anyway?

Li Yuan knew her doubts, but he didn't explain them to her. Instead, he enthusiastically called her into his tent and pointed to the writing brush and ink on the table, saying, "I'm preparing to hold a wedding banquet for the two of us. Come, help me write wedding invitations and celebration banquets."

"Huh?" Xu Shuying was a little confused.

Why does this guy do things so unpredictably, going from one thing to another?

That's way too over-the-top!