She Was Written to Die, So She Seized the Throne Instead

In the carriage behind them, Cen An was on pins and needles. He was restless, his heart racing... Alright, he just wanted to know why Song Junzhan had stopped him from treating the patient.

The Princess herself had asked him to provide treatment, after all.

Song Junzhan held the Princess in such high regard, and he had only just pledged his loyalty to her. How could he dare refuse the Princess?

However, after Song Junzhan returned, he simply closed his eyes and leaned back against the cushion, as cold as if he’d been dead for a while.

’This mood is all wrong. Is it because of the Feng Family?’

’Could they be his enemies?’

But no matter what Cen An guessed, Song Junzhan didn’t spare him a single glance.

The journey back would take about another hour and a half. Xiao Li hadn’t slept at all. After lying down for a bit, she got up to drink a bowl of medicine.

The strong medicinal scent made Madam Feng open her eyes. She looked at Xiao Li and saw her drinking the medicine and rinsing her mouth, her expression unreadable.

She didn’t speak, not wanting to disturb her. Instead, it was Xiao Li who, after finishing, said to her, "Madam, you’ll have to endure the journey for a while longer. If you need anything, just tell Hong Yue."

Madam Feng replied, "Thank you for your concern, Princess. I’m fine. I’m just afraid I’m troubling you."

Xiao Li leaned against the cushion and gave a faint smile. "It’s a small matter."

Seeing that Xiao Li’s spirits seemed to have improved, Madam Feng continued the conversation. "I wonder what Yin did to make you angry, Princess? I’ll teach him a good lesson when we get back."

Xiao Li said, "I’m not angry. I’m afraid he’s just letting his imagination run wild."

Madam Feng’s eyes flickered, and she sighed melancholically. "This boy of mine... I don’t know who he takes after. He’s as quiet as a clam. He was quite cute when he was little, but the older he gets, the less he talks. His sister has worried herself sick trying to get him to go out more, but he just won’t pay anyone any mind. He’s about to have his coming-of-age ceremony soon, and if this continues, I don’t know what I’ll do with him."

Xiao Li raised an eyebrow. "His coming-of-age is next year?"

Madam Feng answered, "His birthday is on the eighteenth of the fourth month."

’Xiao Li’s original body was almost twenty-five, but her current body would only turn nineteen next year in the first month.’

’She quickly pushed the number nineteen out of her mind. The way Feng Yin was, he could only ever be a little brother in this lifetime; he absolutely could not be older than her.’

Madam Feng tried to subtly probe for information, initiating various topics of conversation. But her words were veiled, and Xiao Li’s replies were casual. Throughout the exchange, she showed no other particular emotions.

Chatting idly like this, they surprisingly arrived at the city gates before they knew it.

The Feng Family had brought a carriage out to receive them. Madam Feng thanked Xiao Li several times before letting her attendants help her into her own family’s carriage.

Feng Yin entrusted his mother to reliable people and hurried over to the front of the Princess’s carriage. "Princess..."

Leaning against the side of the daybed, Xiao Li glanced at him lazily. "Hm?"

Feng Yin had been thinking the whole way, but he still couldn’t manage a neutral expression. After struggling for a long moment, the blush on his face simply migrated to his ears, which turned so red they looked like they were cooked.

"Thank you for your help, Princess. I will come to pay my respects and thank you properly tomorrow."

After speaking, he cupped his hands in a salute and hurried away again.

Xiao Li clicked her tongue. "Don’t you two think he’s a bit like a rabbit?"

Hong Yue and Lan Yue exchanged a look. ’A rabbit??’

Xiao Li answered her own question. "The more I look, the more I see it."

’He’s too easy to fluster. But if you ignore him, he can’t contain his curiosity and inches closer on his own. Then, he takes one look and scares himself away.’

---

The carriage slowly entered the city. With its tall horses, imposing guards, and spacious, luxurious carriage, the procession was highly recognizable. One glance was all it took for people to identify them as being from the Princess Mansion.

Princess Xuanyang. Although she had a bad reputation for killing her husband, her status was undeniable. She was currently the only princess to possess her own mansion, fiefdom, and personal guards.

Her mansion was extravagant, her fiefdom was remote but comprised three prefectures, and her guards were all robust and imposing, exuding an air of formidable power.

The resources at her disposal were something even the few princes remaining in the capital couldn’t hope to match. Thus, even if people reviled her for the vicious act of killing her husband, they didn’t dare act rashly.

Up on a floor of the Golden Tower, Wang Wanqing was shopping with her mother. Hearing the discussions below, she peeked out just in time to see the magnificent carriage pass by.

’It’s the Princess.’

A light sparked in Wang Wanqing’s eyes, but it quickly dimmed.

’Now, I don’t even dare to openly greet the Princess.’

’I can’t understand it. It was clearly my third brother who had lost his mind. For a woman, he had dared to plot against the Princess, even attempting to kill her. Why does our family still dare to blame the Princess?’

’I went to see the Princess in high spirits, thinking I could chat with her again, but my third brother ruined everything.’

Wang Shiqi’s death cast a shadow over the Wang family. Whenever Princess Xuanyang was mentioned, her Second Aunt’s gaze would turn murderous. She only allowed others to speak ill of the Princess and wouldn’t listen to a single word of reason.

Even though she knew the Princess liked her, she no longer dared to pay her a visit.

’I know that when a life is involved, the principle of siding with reason over kin doesn’t apply. I am a member of the Wang Family; my position was determined by birth.’

’Especially with my Second Aunt, who lost her son. If you try to reason with her, you become the one in the wrong.’

’But I really don’t want to become enemies with the Princess.’

Turning her head, she saw her mother chatting enthusiastically with the Shopkeeper.

This Golden Tower was part of her mother’s dowry. She was here for an inspection and to commission some gold items for her daughter’s wedding trousseau.

Because of what happened with Wang Shiqi, the Wang family was still caught in a state of grief and anger.

But life had to go on for such a large family.

Madam Wang had long since chosen a match for Wang Wanqing. After the New Year, once the festive atmosphere had dispelled the gloom hanging over the family, Wang Wanqing’s marriage could be put on the agenda.

Wang Wanqing knew she would likely be engaged next March and married by the end of the year at the latest. But from the moment her mother brought up the marriage until now, she hadn’t felt even a flicker of anticipation, only a heart that sank deeper and deeper.

Her mother had chosen for her the Princely Heir of a marquisate with hereditary succession. He was the precious, legitimate eldest son, spoiled by three generations of his family.

Her mother had been painstakingly selective, choosing him for his powerful family background and his status as the eldest son and Princely Heir. If Wanqing married him, she would become the Heir’s wife.

Her mother said that if she gave birth to a son, the Marquis Mansion would be his to inherit.

Heir’s wife, Marchioness, Grand Dowager of the Marquis Mansion—her entire life seemed to be laid out so beautifully and smoothly.

’But the prerequisite is that I’ll have to serve the four elders of the Marquis Mansion, serve my own husband, and then bear children and raise them. How could such a process be summed up in a single sentence?’

Her betrothed looked like a proper, dashing young master with well-defined features. When he visited the Wang family, he acted respectably in front of her parents.

But she had people make inquiries about him. He was nothing but an ignorant, profligate rake.

Outside, he was well-versed in wining, dining, whoring, and gambling. And he already had two concubines in his residence.

When they met, his mother held her hand and instructed her on how she should take care of and serve him in the future. She hadn’t even married into the family yet, and they were already trying to lay down the rules for her.

But when she told her parents all this, they claimed his idleness was a sign of a late bloomer, that he just liked to have fun and would settle down after getting married.

As for those two concubines, they were even less important. Once she was married into the family, she could easily handle them however she pleased.

When she said she didn’t like him and didn’t want to marry him, her parents got angry with her, saying she didn’t understand their good intentions.

’I don’t know what I should do, or what I can do, but I know I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with that man.’

’I really... really, really want to see the Princess one more time.’

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