Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 434 This Debt

This is utterly lawless.

Chaos erupted at the scene. Led by the Xie family head, the group quickly chased after the gate. Most of them had just run from the gate, and now they had to cross most of the Xie family compound to catch up. How could these people, who were used to being pampered, possibly endure this? They were all panting heavily, their composure gone, and they were utterly desperate.

But in full view of everyone, the matriarch of the Xie family was taken away by the prince without a word. If this were to spread, the princes and ministers of the entire capital would laugh at them for more than half a year!
For the five families and seven clans who have always valued their reputation as their life, this was worse than being killed!

Therefore, even though they were exhausted, these people still rushed forward desperately, trying to stop Prince Chen's actions.

Unfortunately, by the time they reached the Xie family's gate, Jiu Que had already easily carried Wuwei Jushi to his carriage with one arm. The Xie family head used his last bit of strength to shout loudly.

"Your Highness, please spare her! That's my wife! You cannot take her away without my permission!"

"Oh?"

Jiu Que, who was about to get into the carriage, stopped and placed Wuwei Jushi on the carriage. She turned around and looked at Xie Family Head with a half-smile. She originally thought that Xie Family Head was only confused about women, but now it seems that he is not only confused about women, but also not very mature in his conduct.

"What do you mean by that, Patriarch Xie? Does it mean that without your permission, Laywoman Wuwei doesn't even have the right to leave the Xie family compound? If I remember correctly, Laywoman Wuwei is Patriarch Xie's legal wife, isn't she? In this day and age, do wives not even have the right to go out for a walk? Or are you imprisoning your wife?"

Upon hearing this, the gazes, both overt and covert, peeking from outside the Xie residence became extremely excited, their eyes constantly shifting between the Xie family patriarch, the Hermit of Wuwei, and His Highness the Prince. Indeed, they hadn't seen Madam Xie appear in public for many years. The Xie family's consistent explanation was that Madam Xie was seriously ill and had been recuperating for years, unable to go out and be exposed to the elements.

Could this reason be false? But then again, Madam Xie comes from the Wang family. Would the Wang family agree to the Xie family doing this? The Wang family is one of the five great families and seven surnames!
"Of course not. It's just that Aheng is frail and shouldn't be exposed to the wind. If Your Highness takes her out like this, she'll inevitably fall ill. Why don't you put Aheng down, and we can discuss things together? If there's anything Your Highness needs the Xie family to do, please don't hesitate to ask. The entire Xie family will do everything in our power, even at the cost of our lives."

"Judging from what you're saying, it sounds as if I'm deliberately making things difficult for the Xie family. Actually, I don't have anything to do. It's just that Laywoman Wuwei has a deep understanding of Buddhist principles, and I happen to be quite interested in Buddhism lately, so I invited her back for a chat. What are you afraid of, Patriarch Xie? Do you think I'd take your wife away and then not return her? Patriarch Xie should have some confidence in himself. After all, Laywoman Wuwei has been your wife for over 20 years; there's still some affection between you."

The Xie family head secretly gritted his teeth, because he lacked confidence and was afraid that Prince Chen would take Wang Heng away.

Wang Heng had harbored a deep-seated hatred for him all these years. Even though she had locked herself in the small Buddhist hall for so many years without ever coming out, how could such a profound hatred be erased simply by deliberately locking herself away? The Xie family head was quite self-aware of this, and it was his own fault for thoroughly offending Aheng back then. Precisely because of this, he clearly knew Wang Heng's talents, and he also knew that Prince Chen never cared about the background or gender of ambitious individuals. If Wang Heng gained Prince Chen's favor and rose rapidly in rank, she would inevitably turn against the Xie family.

If Wang Heng were simply returning to the Wang family, Patriarch Xie wouldn't be so worried. After all, both the Wang and Xie families bore responsibility for what happened back then; they were the ones who pushed Wang Heng into the abyss. Therefore, he absolutely couldn't let Prince Chen take Wang Heng away. So, as he spoke, he stepped forward and tried to reach out and hold Wang Heng's arm, his face full of deep affection and worry.

“Your Highness, if the Xie family has offended you in any way, please forgive us. However, my wife is indeed in poor health, and she has been carefully recuperating at home for many years to barely prevent a relapse. Please be lenient…”

"You're talking about..."

"Is that so?"

Jiu Que interrupted Xie Mingchen. To outsiders, today's events appeared to be Prince Chen's reckless act of taking another man's wife away. However, if Xie Mingchen were to interject at this moment, or even rebuke her father, regardless of what disgusting things the Xie family head had done in public, outsiders would only see Xie Mingchen as unfilial. After all, wasn't this how the world always was? She had retaliated against Lin Wei's disgusting deeds before, but in the eyes of those vulgar officials, she was simply an unfilial daughter!
Therefore, Xie Mingchen really shouldn't be involved in this matter today.

Jiu Que glanced back and forth between the Xie family head and Lady Wang, a hint of interest flashing in her eyes. She had initially thought the Xie family head loathed Wang Heng, but now it seemed that wasn't the case. Could this man harbor some unspoken affection?
vomit!
What to do? Just thinking about this possibility makes Jiu Que feel nauseous. And she's not even involved in this herself, so she has no idea what the person involved is thinking.

At this moment, Wang Heng, whose body had been trembling unconsciously, suddenly came back to her senses from the daze. Before her eyes was no longer that gray and black fog, but the vast and free sky and earth outside. However, the second thing she saw when she came back to her senses was Xie Kun's outstretched hand!

"Do not touch me!"

Not only that, Wang also slapped him hard across the face. With a loud crack, Xie's hand was knocked away. He was still in a daze, but a gloomy look quickly filled his eyes.

"Ah Heng? You're sick. The doctor said you shouldn't go out or have any major emotional fluctuations. Have you forgotten? Honey, let's go home first. Don't let others laugh at us outside."

"..."

After all these years, Xie Kun still uses the same tactics to threaten others. Wang Heng had already recovered from her immense surprise. For so many years, she had wanted to escape that damned Xie family. It wasn't a warm home; it was a giant cage! Before she got married, she never imagined that she would be trapped in such a place, unable to escape! And what trapped her were her own husband and her own family!
"Ah Heng, thank the Wang family, thank your parents, brothers and sisters-in-law. They raised you for more than ten years. Do you want to bring shame upon them?"

Smear campaign? Against the Wang family?
what!
If she hadn't been told, she wouldn't have remembered. What Wang family, what maternal family—they were nothing but a bunch of despicable people who used their closest relatives to gain personal benefits!
“The Wang family raised me for seventeen years, and I have repaid them for more than twenty years. This debt has long been settled!”