Bad Luck

Everyone was dumbfounded by Chacha's judgment. Given the relationship between the Duke of Wei and the imperial family, no matter how spoiled and willful Wei Baozhu was, she should never have met such a fate.

Wei Baozhu summoned all her strength to stand up and demand an answer on the spot, but her voice suddenly caught in her throat, and the Duke of Wei held her down.

Her eyes were bloodshot as she stared at the Duke of Wei in a daze. "Father, I..."

Beside them, the Duchess of Wei tugged at her husband's sleeve, tears in her eyes. "Husband, it's false. It must be false! Our Baozhu would never..."

They could neither accept nor believe such a bizarre prophecy. To them, it was nothing less than a curse.

The Duke of Wei was heartbroken too. A moment ago, his face had been radiant with triumph, but now it had turned completely ashen. With an arm around each of his loved ones, he did not know how to comfort them. After all, he had experienced it himself and knew that what Chacha said was almost certainly true.

The Duke of Wei could only look hopelessly at Emperor Hongyao, Empress Wei, and the crown prince.

A marriage in name only, a miserable end-only a handful of those in power could have brought about such a result. What on earth had happened for his daughter to meet such a fate?

Emperor Hongyao's face was grave, and Empress Wei's whole body had gone rigid.

Xiao Yanchen, meanwhile, looked puzzled.

It made no sense. He knew his own character. If he married her, even without love, he would certainly give her all the respect due to her.

Besides, with him looking after her, Cousin Baozhu could not possibly commit any great mistake, and his uncle's family harbored no disloyal intentions.

Even taking ten thousand steps back, if his heart belonged to someone else in the future, he would not marry his cousin in the first place. He would marry the woman he loved. Even if the timing was wrong, the fault would be his, and he would never let his cousin bear the consequences and meet a miserable end.

There had to be another reason.

Xiao Yanchen glanced at Shen Anxin, waiting for her to question Chacha.

Shen Anxin did question Chacha. [What the heck? Are you talking about Wei Baozhu's original future?]

Chacha: [Yes, host. Would you like to eat the melon about Wei Baozhu's future?]

Shen Anxin: [Yes, yes, yes! Hurry up and tell me.]

Everyone immediately pricked up their ears. The Duke of Wei's expression grew especially grave, and he gripped his wife's and daughter's hands tightly, as though they were about to march to the execution ground.

Chacha: [Wei Baozhu met a miserable end. A beauty fated to die young, partly because of bad luck and partly because of human interference.]

Everyone: Luck? Hard to say. Human interference??!!!!

The Duke of Wei's eyes instantly turned fierce. Like an old wolf protecting his cub, he swept his gaze over every rival present.

The other ministers' families began to feel uneasy. They had no such intentions. With Emperor Hongyao and the crown prince's methods, who would dare stir up that kind of trouble within the imperial family? Did they have a death wish?

Shen Anxin: [How was it bad luck, and how was it human interference?]

Chacha: [According to the original course of events, the crown prince's grand wedding took place a year from now. Host, do you remember what special event I told you about at that time?]

Everyone immediately lowered their heads in thought.

Shen Anxin pondered it too, and soon everyone arrived at the same answer.

A year from now would mark the beginning of Great Qi's unending succession of natural disasters.

Expressions swiftly changed around the room. Empress Wei and the others had not heard the inner voices before, so naturally they could not make the connection, but Empress Wei had already seen Emperor Hongyao's expression change.

"Your Majesty, what will happen a year from now?"

Emperor Hongyao frowned. "A major natural disaster. An earthquake."

Empress Wei nearly fell from her seat. She had no time to ask why everyone knew what would happen a year from now, but if the earthquake struck around the time of the crown prince's wedding, then...

Wei Baozhu grew even more alarmed when she saw the shock and sympathy in the looks many people were giving her.

Shen Anxin: [She can't be that unlucky, can she? Was it really such a coincidence?]

Chacha: [It was just that much of a coincidence. The wedding proceedings went smoothly through the betrothal, the announcement at the ancestral temple, and the formal investiture. Wei Baozhu had effectively been granted her title, but just as the crown prince was preparing to fetch his bride, the earthquake struck. The crown prince rushed off to deal with the disaster without even completing the wedding ceremony. Host knows how severe that disaster was. Rumors spread rapidly that the crown princess was an inauspicious choice, and that her taking her place in the Eastern Palace had brought down heaven's punishment.]

The fog before Wei Baozhu's eyes was swept violently aside, but what it revealed was impossible for her to accept.

What? A natural disaster? Inauspicious?

She was an inauspicious person?

Wei Baozhu's eyes instantly filled with tears, as though she could not accept that her fate was so cruel.

The Duchess of Wei could not accept it either and shook her head frantically.

Many of the ladies and young ladies nearby looked at them with complicated expressions. Whatever Wei Baozhu's true fate might be, once she found herself in such a situation, even a hundred mouths could not clear her name.

The Duke of Wei's face had gone deathly pale.

Chacha: [So many people died that public outrage grew ever fiercer. Wei Baozhu could not enter the Eastern Palace under that pressure, so she had to go to a temple first and spend a year praying for blessings and practicing austerities. Only after cleansing herself of the ill fortune and appeasing heaven could an auspicious day be chosen for her to enter the Eastern Palace.]

Shen Anxin could not bear to listen anymore. She raised her head and looked over, but all she could see was the lovely young woman lying in her parents' arms. They were too far away for her to make out whether Wei Baozhu was acting spoiled or doing something else.

Shen Anxin: [It was just a natural disaster. What the hell did it have to do with her? What I hate most about people in ancient times is how they always shift the blame for natural disasters onto individuals. How innocent was Wei Baozhu? If she really had that kind of power, she'd be a kingdom-destroying superweapon. They might as well send her out to wipe out enemy nations. Why the hell bother fighting wars? Maybe someone deliberately started those rumors!]

Wei Baozhu, who had been buried in despair, abruptly raised her head toward Shen Anxin, her eyes widening in disbelief.

She nearly forgot to let her tears fall.

This Shen Anxin...

The Duchess of Wei was stunned as well. In a daze, she realized that Miss Shen was actually speaking up for Baozhu in her thoughts.

In such a situation, even her daughter's closest friends would probably do no more than gather around and lament her bad luck.

They would not argue so forcefully on her behalf.

The Duke of Wei's spirits instantly lifted as well. Shen Anxin was right; it was highly likely someone had done it deliberately.

The Duke of Wei began scanning his formidable rivals again.

Chacha: [Host guessed correctly. The timing of the natural disaster really was bad luck for them, but someone deliberately spread the rumors. The aim was to push Wei Baozhu, step by step, into praying at the temple, separating her from the crown prince and keeping her out of the Eastern Palace.]

The Duke of Wei's eyes nearly split with rage, and his face was full of murderous intent.

How dare they dump such a huge blame onto my Baozhu's head? Die!

Emperor Hongyao frowned, soothing the Empress Wei, who had gone rigid with anger beside him, while scanning his ministers.

These were all important ministers, and Emperor Hongyao knew them fairly well. They should not have kicked the imperial family while it was down over such a matter. Given the family's usual way of doing things, these circumstances alone could not have removed the crown princess from her position, so their efforts would have been in vain.

Shen Anxin: [So they did want to steal the crown princess's position!]

Chacha: [Yes and no.]

Everyone was stunned. What did Chacha mean, yes and no?

Everyone had assumed that Wei Baozhu's tragedy was all for the crown princess's position. That was the future empress's position, after all.

Shen Anxin: [You're being evasive again!]

Chacha was quite innocent. [It really is hard to define. The human interference that caused the trouble came from a woman who admired the crown prince.

The crown prince had once shown her kindness, and she felt an intense desire to possess him. But she could not marry him, so she would not allow him to marry any other woman either.

The wedding coinciding with the earthquake was a coincidence. When the woman saw her chance, she immediately used public opinion to frame Wei Baozhu.]

Shen Anxin: [Damn! I thought this was a political intrigue plot, but it turned out to be a melodrama!]

Everyone's expressions froze.

It was not a scheme to seize the crown princess's position, but a tangle of love and hatred?!!!!

Emperor Hongyao's eyes, however, turned fierce as he looked at Xiao Yanchen.

Xiao Yanchen met his father's gaze and shook his head slightly.

Whether at court or out in the countryside, whether as the crown prince or traveling incognito, he had helped far too many people. For him to remember someone, that person would have to have a special status.

And judging by the information Chacha had provided, someone capable of stirring up such a storm of public opinion later on could not be an ordinary commoner.

Moreover, once such rumors arose, they could not have failed to investigate anything unusual behind them. For the other party to evade their investigation, her identity had to be unfathomable.

There was another very strange point. Chacha had said the woman could not marry him.

That meant that, however powerful she might be, some particular reason prevented her from marrying the crown prince.

Her status was the most likely reason.

Who on earth was she?!

The Duke of Wei could no longer contain himself. His hands clenched into fists. Was that really how it was?! A woman! It was all because of a woman's infatuation!

If he found out who she was, he would cut her to pieces!

Naturally curious, Shen Anxin pressed for an answer. [She's a complete creepy, malicious female ghost! Who on earth is she?]

Chacha: [Sorry, host. Her identity is part of her own big melon. She isn't within a hundred meters of you, so I can't check.]

Shen Anxin: [Can't you exploit a bug?]

Chacha: [The system really can't unlock it.]

Everyone understood. It seemed that this time, the melon could reveal the reason behind the events but not the woman's identity.

The Duke of Wei nearly slammed the table. Damn it!

The other ministers' families finally breathed a sigh of relief. If she was not within a hundred meters, that meant she was not one of them!

They had truly escaped with their lives. A moment ago, it had felt as though the Duke of Wei's murderous aura was about to take solid form. Fortunately, none of them had done anything so foolish.

Shen Anxin: [Then tell me what happened next. What happened after she went to the temple? Wei Baozhu couldn't pray for blessings forever. There had to be a time limit.]

Chacha: [The woman had long since planted a hidden danger at the temple. The objects Wei Baozhu would come into contact with there had secretly been replaced beforehand, and everything had been soaked in drugs.

Prolonged contact weakened Wei Baozhu and left her listless and without strength. The imperial physicians examined her and thought only that she had worried too much and was suffering from pent-up distress.

That way, even if she was brought back, she could only recuperate first. She could not enter the Eastern Palace while ill.]

Everyone: What a vicious scheme. Food and drink were easy enough to check, but everyday objects really were easy to overlook. In particular, when she was using the temple's own belongings, replacing them with harmful objects would have been effortless.

Wei Baozhu shuddered. She was lively by nature, and she could hardly bear to imagine herself becoming so frail and sickly.

The Duchess of Wei, even more heartbroken and afraid, held her daughter close.

Chacha: [She spent three years recuperating, and then, five years from now, something else happened.]

At the mention of five years, the first group of inner-voice members nearly burst their eyes from their sockets and turned to look at the second and third princes.

Xiao Yanfeng and Xiao Yance had originally just been eating the melon along with everyone else. They had thought they would have nothing to do with the upheaval in their elder brother and sister-in-law's marriage, only to find that they were involved too.

Five years from now was when the two of them would die on the battlefield. It was also when their eldest brother, the crown prince, would be gravely wounded saving them and become sickly from then on.

Xiao Yanchen's expression changed slightly.

Shen Anxin was a beat slower to react, but she figured it out too.

Shen Anxin: [I understand. After Xiao Yanchen was wounded on the battlefield, he was too weak to complete the wedding, so even if Wei Baozhu recovered, it was no use. That's what a marriage in name only meant!]

Chacha: [Your analysis is correct, host.]

The first group of inner-voice members let out a breath. They had worked it out.

The women who had just joined the membership were stunned silly.

What on earth was Miss Shen talking about?!

The crown prince would be plagued by serious illness in the future! Would that not shake the very foundations of Great Qi?!

The people beside them soothed the shocked women while Shen Anxin continued eating the melon.

Shen Anxin: [In that case, the creepy female ghost shouldn't have harmed Wei Baozhu anymore. Although Wei Baozhu was the crown princess in name, she never entered the Eastern Palace at all. So how did she meet a miserable end and die young?]

Chacha: [Strictly speaking, the pressure crushed Wei Baozhu's health. That was because the Great Qi imperial family had an unwritten rule: before the principal wife bore legitimate children, a man could not marry secondary consorts or take concubines.]

Everyone was taken aback and did not quite understand at first.

The Great Qi imperial family did indeed have that rule. Thus, women who married into the imperial family never worried that their husbands would favor concubines and neglect their wives, nor did they worry that their children's status would be threatened. Under normal circumstances, their children were both legitimate and the eldest.

Shen Anxin did not understand either. [That's a rare show of respect for the principal wife in ancient times, but so what? What did it have to do with Wei Baozhu's death?]

Chacha: [Because of the issue of children. First she was recuperating, then the crown prince became seriously ill. They never had a chance to complete the wedding, consummate the marriage, and have children. On top of that, because of the imperial family's rule, there were no other women in the crown prince's inner court. So the crown prince left no children before he died of illness.]

All the color drained from Wei Baozhu's face. Had she caused her cousin, the crown prince, to leave no descendants?

Xiao Yanchen was slightly taken aback but did not react strongly. Empress Wei, on the other hand, was nearly knocked unconscious by the shock.

Not only would her outstanding imperial son be plagued by serious illness five years from now, he would not even leave a bloodline behind?!

Emperor Hongyao was shaken too. He had thought that his future self had chosen the seventh prince as his heir perhaps because the crown prince's descendants were too young or were girls, and so could not be entrusted with the throne. He had never imagined that there were no descendants at all?!

Should the Great Qi imperial family's rule be changed?

If such a thing happened, wouldn't it mean the end of the line?!

Shen Anxin's head buzzed as she listened. [How unlucky could they be?! Such excellent genes weren't passed down?! But you can't blame Wei Baozhu for that, can you?]

Wei Baozhu swayed and looked at Shen Anxin in shock once more. Even at this point, she was still speaking up for her?!

Even Wei Baozhu herself thought she was a harbinger of misfortune.

She dared not imagine what others would think of her. She had even guessed why the pressure would drive her to the point where she could no longer go on living.

She had caused such an outstanding cousin's line to end. She had occupied the position of crown princess in name for nothing, and the imperial family had been unwilling to abandon her while she was ill, only for it to lead to such an outcome...

In her anguish, Wei Baozhu even thought she might as well have died a few years earlier. Perhaps then her cousin could have married another woman in time and left children!

The Duke and Duchess of Wei also felt deeply ashamed and guilty toward the imperial family.

The so-called rule of the Great Qi imperial family was a rule, but in truth it could be applied flexibly.

For instance, given Wei Baozhu's poor health, she could have taken the initiative to request that the crown prince take other women.

As the crown princess, helping the Eastern Palace branch out and flourish was part of her duties.

Wei Baozhu had made no such request and had let the matter drag on for so long. In outsiders' eyes, that was jealousy: she wanted the crown prince's inner court all to herself. At its heart, it was a failure of her duties as crown princess.

What was more, the wedding had not even been completed. If one exploited that loophole, Baozhu could not be considered the true crown princess, and no one could have objected if she had been replaced early on. Yet the imperial family had chosen to wait, only for fate to play its cruel tricks and leave good deeds unrewarded.

So at that moment, the Duke and Duchess of Wei ached for their daughter but also blamed themselves deeply. If they had taken the initiative to suggest it, perhaps... Baozhu would not have been crushed to death by public opinion, and the imperial family could have had a healthy third generation.

Chacha: [Host, they don't think the way you do. They are genuine people of ancient times and were raised with a different education.

Although Wei Baozhu spent years recuperating because she had been framed, in outsiders' eyes, she was simply unlucky and was the sinner who caused the crown prince's line to end.

In particular, when the imperial family's later circumstances and Great Qi's crisis erupted together, more and more people blamed Wei Baozhu.

They blamed her for not being healthy enough to bear children for the imperial family before the crown prince was gravely wounded, and for occupying his inner court all for nothing.

If secondary consorts or concubines had been taken for the crown prince earlier, he would not have ended up leaving no children at all.

Or she should have simply had her name struck from the crown princess's register.

Under that immense pressure, Wei Baozhu felt deeply guilty toward the crown prince and truly became overwhelmed by distress. In the end, she coughed up blood and died. She was not even twenty-five when she died!]