Demoting my wife to a concubine? After being reborn, I turned around and married into the imperial f

"Lord Chu, what's going on?"

Nangong Yue frowned, flicked her sleeves, and roared.

Chu Zhanpeng was also startled. He stared intently at Li Yi and demanded, "What exactly happened? Tell me!"

Li Yi, forcing herself to stay calm, said, "This is clearly a warning from God. God thinks that Chu Xun is a jinx and must die."

A chilling aura emanated from Nangong Yue, and her tone, no longer childish, was icy cold: "Heaven is issuing a warning, yet words and handwriting appear out of thin air? Tell the truth immediately, or you will not escape the charge of plotting against the county magistrate today."

Upon hearing this, Li Yi was so frightened that he knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face.

"I am innocent! Xunzhen is my own daughter, how could I intentionally harm her?"

People pointed and whispered about Li Yi, as if accusing her of being an incompetent mother.

"Guards, seize Lady Hou and hand her over to the prefectural government. Lord Zhou will decide everything."

As soon as Nangong Yue finished speaking, Chu Wanrou knelt on the ground with a thud, her eyes red and swollen, pleading, "Your Highness, Mother knows nothing! She knows nothing. Please don't take her away."

"Rou'er, get up quickly, the ground is cold. Don't kneel," Li Yi said hurriedly.

"Chu Xunzhen, aren't you going to plead for your mother? How can you be so heartless as to watch your mother be taken away?" Chu Mingli was extremely anxious, his face grim, and he roared at Chu Xunzhen.

"Chu Mingli, I have severed ties with Lady Hou." A cold voice rang out, leaving Chu Mingli speechless. "Besides, you should worry about yourself. If you don't gather the 60,000 taels of silver for me by today, I won't be so polite."

Chu Xunzhen's gaze fell on Li Yi, then turned to Chu Wanrou, and said to Nangong Yue, "Your Highness, Chu Wanrou just wiped the candle with her hands without showing any surprise, which clearly means she already knows that the candle has been tampered with. Please send Chu Wanrou and the Lady of the Marquis to the government office together and hand them over to Lord Zhou for investigation."

"Guards, take Li Yi and Chu Wanrou to the government office."

"Yes," said Eunuch Anshun respectfully.

Nangong Yue then looked at everyone and continued, "What happened at today's flower-viewing banquet must not be spread outside, or you will be killed without exception."

The crowd nodded in fear and left.

Nangong You walked over, looked at Chu Xunzhen, and said, "Miss Chu is exceptionally intelligent. I wonder if you have any intention of becoming my concubine? If you are willing, I am willing to take you as my concubine."

Chu Xunzhen shook her head and chuckled, "Thank you for your kind words, Your Highness. But my heart belongs to the Ninth Prince."

Upon hearing this, Nangong Yue's face lit up with ecstatic joy.

"Third brother, don't do anything that will make you a laughingstock," Nangong Yue warned.

The Third Prince's face was grim, but he still shook his head and chuckled, "What a pity, but Miss Chu already promised me about my elder sister's matter. Ninth Brother, you can go back now."

Nangong Yue raised an eyebrow, and beneath her phoenix eyes, a bewitching beauty mark shone brightly.

"My elder sister is also my elder sister. I, the ninth brother, would like to know more about her affairs."

Upon hearing this, the Third Prince was furious. He flung his long sleeves and said angrily, "If that's the case, then let Ninth Prince take Miss Chu there. I just remembered that I suddenly have something to attend to."

Before long, the entire mansion was deserted.

Chu Zhanpeng's face turned ashen.

The flower-viewing party ended like this.

With that thought in mind, he strode quickly toward Songheyuan.

After leaving the mansion, Chu Xunzhen followed behind Nangong Yue, walking slowly.

Suddenly, Nangong Yue turned around and asked, "Why are you walking so slowly, sister?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Xunzhen suddenly stepped forward and said, "Because I feel that Your Highness is not quite the same as usual."

"Is my sister afraid? Afraid of my unpredictable moods? Afraid of my inconsistent emotions and attitudes?"

Chu Xunzhen shook his head and smiled: "Although Your Highness is different from before, I know Your Highness is still the same Your Highness."

Nangong Yue suddenly moved closer to Chu Xunzhen and whispered to her, "It's Yue's fault. Sister, no matter what I become, I am who I am, and that won't change. Father has already given his word and will issue another imperial decree. Sister, I will definitely make sure you marry me in a grand and glorious way."

Chu Xunzhen's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "Your Highness, are you injured?"

Looking at his pale face, Chu Xunzhen couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him.

She knew how difficult it would be for him to obtain another imperial decree for marriage.

"Your Highness, if His Majesty is unwilling, then so be it. I do not wish for you to continue suffering."

Chu Xunzhen suddenly spoke.

Nangong Yue's expression changed; she was annoyed and said angrily, "Sister, don't you want to marry me?"

Chu Xunzhen shook his head violently, saying, "How could that be? To become His Highness's person is an immense honor, but I refuse to see His Highness compromise himself for the sake of the imperial decree of marriage."

"Don't worry, sister. In a while, even Father Emperor won't be able to do anything to me."

Hearing this, Chu Xunzhen was still a little flustered, but looking at Nangong Yue's confident eyes, she finally nodded.

Outside the city of Beijing.

Chu Xunzhen was led by Nangong Yue to a tiled house.

"Your Highness, does the Second Princess reside here?" Chu Xunzhen glanced around at the surroundings, somewhat surprised.

The area is surrounded by barren wasteland, and a stench wafts from the streets and alleys from time to time.

Why would a princess of noble birth be willing to live in this place?

"My elder sister is my third brother's biological sister. She took care of me when I was little. Now I want to know what's wrong with her. Is she sick, or is there some other problem? Otherwise, why would she be willing to stay here?"

"Your Highness, rest assured, Xunzhen will do his utmost to treat the princess."

The two walked to a dilapidated wooden house.

Nangong Yue knocked on the door, and after a while, the door was opened.

"Ninth Brother? What brings you here? That's wonderful! And who is this?"

Just as Nangong Yue was about to speak, Chu Xunzhen spoke up: "Greetings, Your Highness. I am Chu Xunzhen, the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Ping'an."

The second princess was dressed in coarse linen clothes typical of commoners, and her smooth, jade-like face now bore several red marks.

Upon hearing this, she was overjoyed: "You're the sweetheart that Lao Jiu was talking about?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Xunzhen blinked.

She hadn't expected that Nangong Yue would introduce her to his elder sister in this way.

"Elder sister, don't frighten her. Let us come in and have a cup of tea first, shall we?"

"Great. Look how happy I am."

Chu Xunzhen followed her into the inner room, looked around, and suddenly saw a woman dressed in brocade sitting there smugly.

"Royal sister, who is she?"

"Ninth Prince, let me introduce you. This is Anlang's younger sister, Li Shanshan," the Second Princess said hastily.

"What a handsome man! My God, is this the Ninth Prince?"

The moment Li Shanshan saw Nangong Yue, she immediately sat up straight, utterly astonished.

"And who is this?" Li Shanshan asked, looking at them with an unfriendly expression.

The Second Princess, Nangong Moli, immediately spoke up: "This is the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Ping'an's mansion, and also the current county princess—Miss Chu Xunzhen."

"Huh? What are you doing here?"

"How dare you!" Chu Xunzhen snapped. "How can you not bow before His Highness and this County Princess?"