Chapter 1180
The Unfavored Princess 2
Chapter 1180 The Unfavored Princess 2
Before being betrothed to Jiang Lijun, the heir of the Marquis of Guangde, the client had a tragic experience that, in the eyes of outsiders, was enough to ruin her reputation.
Even if she says she was somewhat lucky during that time, I still wouldn't believe she escaped unscathed.
As a princess, she should have been of noble birth, yet she was secretly looked down upon, ultimately because she hadn't won the emperor's favor. If she had, no matter what her experiences were, who would dare to speak ill of her?
The Empress Dowager and the Emperor disliked the person who entrusted them with the task for two reasons.
First, the client was the daughter of the mad concubine Liu Qiang. During the late emperor's lifetime, Liu Qiang was the emperor's sole favorite for a long period of time, even the current Empress Dowager Dou Yuexin had to give way to her and had suffered a lot at Liu Qiang's hands. It is no exaggeration to say that the two were mortal enemies.
Secondly, as mentioned before, the client was born on the same day as the Ninth Princess.
The Ninth Princess died at the age of five in a palace intrigue, and she has lived to this day. Since the new emperor ascended the throne, all the power has been on their side, and the Empress Dowager has regarded the client as a thorn in her side.
The Empress Dowager has gone mad again and moved into the Palace of No Worries. She has no power, and the client has no backing. To the Empress Dowager, killing her is as easy as crushing an ant.
She could tolerate Liu Qiang living, watch her go mad, and even want to see her lose all her dignity, so how could she easily let her client die?
Of course, she could only watch helplessly as a little princess, barely a few years old and without any powerful backing, suffered cold treatment in the palace. The more uncomfortable the client was, the more comforted the Empress Dowager felt.
She always felt that her youngest daughter had saved the client from disaster, which was why she died at such a young age, and she absolutely could not let the client live a carefree life.
The Empress Dowager was undoubtedly clever. Being in her position, she certainly wouldn't ruin her reputation just to torment a princess. As she'd said, she was the Empress Dowager; the palace was full of people who fawned on the powerful and trampled on the weak. As long as she ignored everything concerning the client, the palace servants would find ways to bully her; she wouldn't need to do much at all.
As long as she doesn't blatantly mistreat others and maintains a facade of kindness, everyone will praise her for being merciful.
Until that year, the Great Wilderness Tribe came to the State of Chu, wanting to establish friendly relations with Chu.
Due to various interests, it is necessary to marry a princess of the Chu Kingdom in order to make this relationship more solid.
Actually, what they meant was that they were open to marrying anyone, not necessarily a princess by birth, as long as she was nominally a princess. They didn't care whether she was a palace maid or a court lady who was granted the title. They were there to discuss cooperation, not to make enemies.
They just need the title.
The State of Chu has many things they need, and the State of Chu also has many things they would like. As for resorting to force, given their military strength, it would likely result in mutual destruction, with other countries taking advantage of the situation, making it a losing proposition. Cooperation would be far better.
The Great Wilderness Tribe Kingdom was actually surprised that the Chu Kingdom would actually send the tenth princess to them, so they were naturally very happy.
On the surface, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor claimed it was out of sincerity, but in reality, they had ulterior motives. Leaving their homeland, especially to such a remote and harsh place as the Great Wilderness Tribe Kingdom, was naturally the most suitable choice for the Tenth Princess, whom they disliked the most.
The thought that she might suffer in such a place, or even die, brought them some comfort.
The client naturally has no way to change this matter.
Having been ignored, ostracized, and even bullied by the palace servants for years, she had long understood that she was not only an unfavored princess, but also someone who had lost the Emperor's and Empress Dowager's favor. Her only condition was that they treat the Dowager Consort of Wuyou Palace well.
Little did the client know that as soon as he arrived in the Great Wilderness Tribe Kingdom, an internal strife broke out there.
The Chu Kingdom's wedding party left as soon as they arrived, unwilling to stay. The people of the Great Wilderness Tribe were busy escaping for their lives, naturally paying no heed to a Chu princess, and some didn't even recognize her. Thus, in the chaotic Great Wilderness Tribe, she narrowly escaped with her life. To survive, she endured much hardship. Fortunately, she had never been a princess enjoying a life of luxury; hunger and cold were the norm, and eating spoiled food didn't seem unusual. And so, she truly survived.
She headed south, still towards the State of Chu, and with her cleverness, blended into the fleeing crowd without arousing suspicion. By chance, she even helped an old man on the verge of death, learning some skills from him. It was through this that she was finally able to return to the State of Chu safely.
In fact, after learning some of the old man's skills, she could survive outside, even more freely and comfortably than in the palace.
However, she always missed her mother, Consort Liu Qiang, and despite her reluctance to give up her freedom outside, she gritted her teeth and returned.
During her journey back, the Great Wilderness Tribe Kingdom had already fallen apart, and cooperation with the Chu Kingdom was naturally impossible.
When the Empress Dowager and the Emperor saw her return, they outwardly showed concern and offered words of comfort, giving her the dignity befitting a princess.
But she disappeared for more than two years, all alone. She had gone to a remote and desolate place under the guise of a marriage alliance. People outside who knew about her were secretly gossiping, wondering what hardships she had endured to return, given her good looks.
At first, those people only spoke cautiously behind each other's backs, afraid that they might really anger the two people in the palace.
Later, seeing that the two didn't care at all, she knew that the Tenth Princess was truly out of favor. She became bolder and bolder, and would show some disdain when facing clients.
The client knew that no one would help her. Even if she acted like a princess and showed off in front of these people, it would be easy for the Empress Dowager and the Emperor to find an excuse to reprimand her.
The past two years have shown her all sorts of things and she has suffered countless hardships. She can no longer care about these cold looks and disdain.
She thought that for the sake of the royal family's reputation, the two people in the palace would probably sentence a princess to a lonely old age, which she would not consider a punishment.
She was clearly naive; they wouldn't let her have it so easy.
For them, as long as she doesn't suffer, she's doing well, and that makes them uncomfortable.
So, not long after she returned, the Empress Dowager, under the pretext of caring about her life's important matter, wanted to select a husband for her.
However, a princess whose reputation was ruined was not even valued by the emperor or empress dowager, and no decent family would want to get involved with her.
The selection of this person was also a problem for a while.
What many people don't know is that even emperors and empresses dowagers feared that their clients would live a good life, so they were extremely selective in choosing their clients.
Fortunately, they were certain that the sons of respectable families would not choose the client, otherwise they really wouldn't have dared to ask.
Just when the entire capital was quiet, the Marquis of Guangde went to the palace to ask for a wife for his only son.
The entire capital was shocked.