Prime Minister Xia looked at Nanny Yang and said, "Please step back for a moment. I have something to say to her."
Nanny Yang said, "Your Excellency, please feel free to say whatever you want to say. I will step back so I won't hear anything."
"No, you go down first." Prime Minister Xia said in a cold and hard tone.
Madam Yang wanted to say something else, but Yuan said, "Madam, it's okay, go ahead."
Nanny Yang looked at Yuan worriedly, "Madam..."
Prime Minister Xia said coldly, "Why? Are you afraid that I will kill her?"
Nanny Yang raised her eyes calmly and sneered mercilessly, "Isn't everything the Prime Minister has done these days all for this purpose?"
Prime Minister Xia looked at Nanny Yang angrily, "Don't think that just because you are close to the Queen, you can speak ill of me!"
Yuan waved her hand, "Mammy, it's okay, go ahead."
When the nanny heard Yuan repeatedly asking her to go, and knowing that Yuan was very smart, she must have asked her to leave to ensure her safety, she turned and went back into the house.
There are magpies making noises on the branches in the yard, chirping loudly.
But the sound of birds made the yard even quieter, because after the nanny went in, no one took the initiative to speak.
Prime Minister Xia had no place to sit, and he didn't want to sit down. He just stood there, staring at Yuan.
He didn't speak, and Yuan didn't speak either. She had become accustomed to silence over the years, and she also felt that there was nothing more she could say to him.
After a long while, Prime Minister Xia slowly spoke, his voice full of hatred, "Yuan Cuiyu, why don't you die?"
A smile slowly formed on Yuan's pale and transparent face, and condensed on her lips, like a half-opened crabapple flower. "I'm still alive, which shows that you are not cruel enough."
"You should be dead. What's the point of you living?" Prime Minister Xia continued in a hateful voice, "You should have died the year I married you. Wouldn't it have been better if you had died then?"
"Yes, how wonderful it would be if we died at that time!" Yuan repeated his words. The irony was that what they said was true.
"Everyone says that I, Xia Huaijun, am not worthy of you, Yuan Cuiyu. Even though I am the youngest prime minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty, I am still not worthy of you. No one sees my dedication, no one sees my efforts, no one sees what I have done for the Great Zhou Dynasty. Everyone says that my greatest achievement is marrying you, Yuan Cuiyu."
Yuan said nothing, but the smile remained on her lips, but it gradually became colder.
"Everyone can have three wives and four concubines, but I am the only one. If I take a concubine, I will be sorry for you. You are a talented woman famous all over the world. How many people dream of getting your glance? But I can have you for my whole life. How lucky am I? The funny thing is that I also thought I was lucky. However, no one knows what kind of person the real Yuan Cuiyu is. She has no temperament, no heart, no virtue, and no knowledge of how to be a wife. She is selfish, overbearing and willful."
Yuan tilted her head and listened. The darkness before her eyes was like her life. Her life was pitch black, and the only sound in her ears was his resentful voice.
He seemed to have suffered a great injustice.
"No official in the court is as cowardly as me. I brought a concubine home and was insulted and treated harshly by you. Who do you think you are? After I marry you, I cannot have other concubines? You read so many books, and you have become so overbearing and tyrannical? Or do you think that if you had married Prince An, he would not have three wives and four concubines? He still keeps his chastity for you because he has never had you. Once you marry him and see your true nature, I dare say he will be tired of you just as I am tired of you today."
"You are too noble and arrogant. The result of your arrogance is that you and I have suffered for half our lives. You know that the painting that Chen Linglong gave me was made by you, but you refused to tell me. You have been laughing at me in secret. You think you are very smart, don't you? You think that I, Xia Huaijun, am just a piece of mud under your feet, don't you?"
Yuan's fingertips slowly swept across the hem of her skirt. The plain dress had no embroidery and was as smooth as water. She continued to smooth it out...
She had thought that no matter what he said, she would not have any other emotions, and she only had hatred for him for killing her daughter.
But, how ridiculous are these words
Who promised that I, Xia Huaijun, would only have Yuan Cuiyu as my woman in this life? My greatest wish in this life is to stay with you until old age. I, Xia Huaijun, will spend my whole life loving a woman named Yuan Cuiyu.
But a year later, he came back and told her that he had fallen in love with a woman because the woman was very talented and she had painted a picture that made him stunned by her beauty.
He wanted to take her back home, and he asked her to live in peace with this woman. He said that Yuan Cuiyu was a talented woman and had the capacity to tolerate others.
She was pregnant with his child at the time, and all she did most was touch her belly and wait for him to come back and kiss her on the cheek.
She had never thought that she would hear such words when she thought she was happiest.
She had read many books, but none of them taught her how to deal with such a situation. She was stabbed unexpectedly and torn to pieces.
She could hear her heart breaking.
She should have died before this day.
Then she would still be the happiest woman in the world.
Her eyes were empty, without a single drop of moisture. She was no longer used to expressing sadness with tears.
Her voice was also very hollow and pale. "Go away. I have nothing to say to you."
"Yes," Prime Minister Xia's sarcastic voice still rang in my ears, "I have nothing to say to you. You died a long time ago."
Yuan couldn't see, but she couldn't help but close her eyes.
"Then you can go away. Or if you don't like me anymore, just divorce me. Wouldn't it be nice if we can both be happy?"
"Divorce? Will I let you marry Prince An again? Don't even think about it. You will never marry Prince An in this life." He suddenly leaned over, pinched her chin with one hand, forced her to raise her head, and said coldly word by word: "As long as I live, you can only be my, Xia Huaijun's, wife, a neglected and unloved wife. You will be lonely and cold for the rest of your life. Go and dream of being a princess!"
After saying that, he let her go coldly, but still did not leave. He stared at her face, which had once fascinated thousands of talented people, with his resentful eyes.
"Thank you for not abandoning me. I will keep my remaining life and wait for you to come and take it." Yuan said softly.
"If you tell me you regret it, I will spare your life." Prime Minister Xia said coldly.
Yuan said, "I regret it."
She regretted a lot, but the only thing she didn't regret was breaking up with him.
He brought Chen Linglong back. The mansion was very lively that day, with lights and decorations. She stayed in the quiet house and clearly heard the lively laughter coming from outside.
She lay on the table, watching the clock ticking, bit by bit. She could endure the passage of time but not the heartache.
The next day, he came with a beaming face and talked about how decent, humble and virtuous his new wife was.
She kicked him out without saying a word.
He thought she was just jealous and angry, so he got angry too, saying that he never expected her to be so narrow-minded.
(End of this chapter)