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

Dressed in black, Nangong Yue possessed unparalleled handsome features, resembling a majestic celestial being descended to earth, as he surveyed the crowd.

His gaze finally fell on Chu Xunzhen, whose shoulders were being held down by two old women.

"Aren't you going to let go?" Nangong Yue strode towards Chu Xunzhen, her voice filled with chilling killing intent.

The two old women were so frightened that they immediately let go and retreated.

With tender eyes and a gentle expression, Nangong Yue extended her well-defined hand towards Chu Xunzhen, her voice clear and gentle: "Sister, don't be afraid, Yue is here."

Looking at those fair hands, Chu Xunzhen's eyes welled up with tears.

"Your Highness, you've arrived?"

Her voice choked with sobs and a hint of helplessness, like a little white rabbit that had just been bullied, Chu Xunzhen reached out her right hand and placed it on Nangong Yue's palm.

Nangong Yue gently helped Chu Xunzhen up, then looked around, a fierce look appearing between her brows.

Everyone was frightened.

Nangong Yue, the mentally challenged prince of the capital, is a symbol of chaos and madness. He can be perfectly normal when he's in a state of madness, but when he's insane, he's truly insane, and no one wants to offend a madman.

Chu Tianxiong's face darkened as he looked at the gate of the Marquis's residence that had been smashed open. He said in a cold voice, "Your Highness's uninvited arrival is truly unbecoming. Does Your Highness intend to interfere in the affairs of my Marquis's residence? Even if Your Highness were a prince, you would have no right to interfere in how my Marquis's residence punishes its juniors."

As if emboldened, Chu Zhanpeng opened his mouth wide and cursed at Chu Xunzhen, "You unfilial daughter, aren't you coming over here?"

Nangong Yue tightened her grip on Chu Xunzhen's hand.

She looked up and gazed at Nangong Yue.

"Sister, don't be afraid. Whoever lets you into that cold and gloomy shrine today, I will fight that person to the death."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Tianxiong gave a mocking smile: "Your Highness, I address you respectfully as Your Highness, but don't think that your secret in the Golden Palace is unknown to anyone. Today, if you don't release my granddaughter Chu Xunzhen, don't blame me for exposing your secret to the public."

Nangong Yue pursed her lips, a mad glint in her eyes, and sneered, "Chu Xunzhen is indeed my future princess consort. My father has already agreed and is beginning to draft the decree. Even if you are her grandfather, you are not qualified to punish my princess consort."

Chu Tianxiong glared angrily at Nangong Yue, coldly sweeping his gaze over her, and said, "Chu Xunzhen is truly unruly and disobedient, showing no intention of helping the family. Why should Your Highness help such an unfaithful, unfilial, and unjust person?"

Chu Xunzhen's gaze froze for a moment, a bitter feeling welled up inside her, and she gave a self-deprecating smile.

She had just expelled the Gu worms from him and saved his life, yet now he has become a rebellious, disloyal, unfilial, and unjust person.

Grandfather must have thought that all the poison in his body had been cleared. Unfortunately, he didn't know that every now and then, the remaining poison in his body would need to be cleared.

Chu Wanrou lowered her eyes, a fleeting hint of jealousy flashing across them, but she quickly returned to her original gentle demeanor.

Holding her handkerchief, she softly advised, "Grandfather, my sister has returned from the countryside and is not in good health. Going to the ancestral hall will aggravate her old ailment. Why don't we confine her to her courtyard instead?"

Li Yi looked shocked, patted Chu Wanrou's head, and said, "Rou'er, you are really too kind. She treated you like that, and you still repay evil with kindness."

"Yes," Chu Mingxuan sighed.

"Since Rou'er has pleaded for you, then we'll spare you the ancestral hall. But you must hand over those 90,000 taels of silver to your father today."

Nangong Yue scoffed, "I was wondering why Old Master Chu was so furious. It turns out it's because of those ninety thousand taels of silver. When did Old Master Chu, who was once the late Emperor's first vanguard and first foot soldier, start to covet gold and silver?"

Chu Tianxiong's face turned pale and then flushed.

Once the reputation of robbing the younger generation of their money was established, the Marquis's mansion's reputation became somewhat tarnished.

Chu Mingli's fingers tightened suddenly in his sleeve, and he stared coldly at Chu Xunzhen, saying, "In the past three years, Chu Xunzhen has not made any contribution to the family. On the contrary, she has been called a jinx, causing everyone to hate and fear her, and stay away from my Ping'an Marquis's Mansion. Today, asking her to make some contribution is an honor for her."

Li Yi nodded and said, "Mingli is right. Chu Xunzhen's reputation as a jinx has made many nobles in the capital regard my Ping'an Marquis's mansion as a monstrous threat, fearing that it will affect their path to advancement. Since she has the ability, she should fulfill her filial duty to the Marquis."

Chu Mingxuan nodded with an honest face, then angrily accused Chu Xunzhen, saying, "That's right. If it weren't for her, I, as the third young master of the Ping'an Marquis's mansion, would never have needed to join the Gu Sect and learn that terrifying Gu technique. It's all because of her. If it weren't for her, causing my teacher to be so afraid of getting into trouble, why would I need to join the Gu Sect?"

Nangong Yue scanned the crowd expressionlessly, finally fixing her gaze on Chu Zhanpeng, and asked coldly, "Lord Chu, do you also think so?"

Chu Zhanpeng took a deep breath, a hint of helplessness flashing between his brows, and bowed to Nangong Yue, saying, "It is only right, Your Highness."

Chu Xunzhen didn't speak. She didn't want to speak either; communicating with a group of abnormal people would only make her angry.

Nangong Yue chuckled softly at first, then burst into laughter: "Gentlemen, you're going to be disappointed. There's no more silver."

Upon hearing this, Chu Zhanpeng's expression changed.

Everyone's expressions turned grim. Even Chu Tianxiong stared at Nangong Yue in astonishment, his aged brows furrowing as he coldly said, "What does Your Highness mean by this? How does Your Highness know where my granddaughter's money is, or whether it exists or not?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Xunzhen snapped out of his daze and waved to Nangong Yue.

Nangong Yue immediately fell silent and kept quiet.

Chu Zhanpeng frowned, looking coldly at Chu Xunzhen, and asked, "What exactly happened? Tell me!"

Chu Xunzhen glanced at everyone and smiled, "I've already donated the silver to the national treasury. His Majesty is very grateful to me and wants to reward me. Third Brother no longer needs to worry that people will distance themselves from you because of my reputation as a jinx. After all, even His Majesty is now grateful for my contributions to Da Ning."

"What did you say?"

Chu Mingli's voice was filled with disbelief.

"impossible."

Chu Zhanpeng's first words were this.

Nangong Yue kindly reminded him, "My lord, everyone knows about this. Everyone in the palace knows. If you don't believe me, you can send someone to investigate."

Sitting at the head of the table, Chu Tianxiong suddenly looked at Chu Xunzhen, his eyes, full of crow's feet, gleaming with a sharp light: "Now that your silver has been donated to the national treasury and handed over to His Majesty, he will surely reward you. What reward do you want?"

Upon hearing this, everyone came to their senses.

Chu Zhanpeng, in particular, looked at Chu Xunzhen with kind eyes, hoping she would give him the answer he wanted.

"How can you be so vulgar and short-sighted, grandfather? Take me for example. Even though His Majesty hasn't rewarded me, I've consistently taken a batch of medicine from the Ten Thousand Medicines Pavilion every month for many years and delivered it to the soldiers on the border free of charge. Donating money to the country to fill the empty treasury and to bring benefits to the people is what every citizen of Great Ning should do. How can I ask for a reward?"

As soon as Chu Xunzhen finished speaking, the expressions on the faces of the Chu family members became quite interesting.

Chu Tianxiong was the first to be affected.

He had long been used to Chu Xunzhen's dependence on him and her submissive demeanor, so hearing her sarcastic voice now felt extremely grating.

For a moment, I had a moment of self-doubt. Had I done something wrong? I shouldn't have helped my son ask her for money.

But the Chu family was in turmoil. Without power, how could Zhan Peng, who was involved with the princess of the previous dynasty, survive?

"Does Old Master Chu want a reward?" Nangong Yue asked sarcastically. "I will tell Father Emperor the truth when I get back."

Old Master Chu's expression changed drastically, and he was about to speak in rebuttal when, in the next instant, a high-pitched, drawn-out voice rang out: "Imperial edict has arrived—"