The abandoned concubine who transmigrated woke up shouting "Long live the widow!"

Fu Hai slowly unfurled the bright yellow imperial edict in his hand and loudly proclaimed in his slightly high-pitched voice: "By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: The Princess Consort of Zhan is endowed with innate intelligence and virtuous character, possessing a heart that encompasses mountains and rivers and a mind that cares for all living beings..."

Jingxue knelt on the ground, spitting inwardly several times. This damned emperor, glaring at me and spouting nonsense. How could I be so noble?

"He is entrusted with an important task. After the teaching and assessment are completed tomorrow, and everyone else withdraws from the East Palace, Princess Zhan will remain in the East Palace to await further orders. This is the imperial decree!"

After Fu Hai finished reading, seeing that Jing Xue remained silent, he said helplessly, "Your Highness, please accept the decree!"

Jingxue: What do you mean? Everyone's gone, and you're leaving me here to keep watch? That damned emperor!

There was nothing she could do; he was the boss. She straightened up, accepted the imperial edict, and said, "This humble woman receives the edict!"

Eunuch Fu bowed again and said, "Your Highness, Your Highness, I have other duties to attend to, so I will take my leave now!"

Jingxue breathed a sigh of relief, "Take care, Father-in-law!"

Ye Muchen stood there with his hands behind his back, simply nodding slightly without saying anything.

The two sat down again, and Ye Muchen said, "The imperial decree has been issued and cannot be changed. Do you need me to send two secret guards disguised as bodyguards to protect you?" He didn't care that secret guards were not allowed to enter the palace.

Jingxue shook her head. "No need. I plan to leave the palace later to check out the shops!"

“Alright! I was just about to go check on the main camp anyway. I’ve already sent Gao Chi back to the manor to get the carriage. Let’s go together!” Ye Muchen said.

When the two of them arrived at the gate of the East Palace with their entourage, they happened to see Princess Duan and the Imperial Guard leader who had been making things difficult for Jingxue talking.

When Jingxue saw that person, she frowned and asked Ye Muchen softly, "What's that leader's name? They look very familiar!"

“They are relatives by blood. Princess Duan’s maternal uncle is Minister Wang, and General Kan Hu is Minister Wang’s brother-in-law.”

"General Kan Hu?" Jingxue said.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Ye Muchen didn't know about the trouble Jingxue and the others had gone through, and didn't understand why she was asking this person.

"It's okay, let's go!"

Even if you don't like them, you still have to greet them when you meet them. Kan Hu first cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Greetings to Prince Zhan and Princess Zhan!"

Ye Muchen said, "General Kan, you may rise!" He then turned to Princess Duan, cupped his hands, and said, "Second Imperial Sister-in-law!" Jingxue also gave a perfunctory bow.

"Greetings, Your Highness and Your Highness's Consort," Princess Duan returned the greeting.

Jingxue simply nodded symbolically, then said, "I won't disturb you two any longer, we have to go now!" The group walked towards the palace gate.

Watching their retreating figures, Kan Hu said resentfully, "It was that Princess Zhan who complained about me, which is why I was transferred here!"

Princess Duan said, "And you, why did you provoke her for no reason?"

"Your Highness, you don't know, she was extremely arrogant when she visited Lengyan Palace last time. She kicked one of my soldiers away, and then she turned around and accused me first!" Kan Hu said with great dissatisfaction.

"Alas! Princess Zhan's skills are extraordinary. You still haven't told me how Consort Li fared when you went to the Cold Palace yesterday?" Princess Duan asked anxiously.

Princess Hu Lan'er looked at Kan Hu nervously. How could she not be nervous?

When she first heard that Consort Li had been banished to the Cold Palace, she was terrified, thinking that the secret of having Fu Lai release snakes to bite Jing Xue's younger brother had been exposed and that Fu Lai had implicated them.

Later, Prince Duan returned and said that the reason Consort Li was banished to the Cold Palace was because she caused trouble in the palace.

However, she was also afraid that Consort Li might make baseless accusations and drag her into it. Fortunately, there had been no further developments in the past two days.

"What else can Consort Li do? That's just how she is! The Prime Minister has basically stopped caring about her. The Prime Minister's wife did ask me to send her some things," Kan Hu said.

"So you took her in?"

"Sigh! They're all relatives, it was just a small favor for me, who asked us to do this job!" Kan Hu felt that although he wasn't a very high-ranking general, he still had some power in the capital.

Princess Duan gave a soft "oh," then made an excuse to end her conversation with Kan Hu and left the East Palace. She was going to see her younger sister, Hu Shuer.

Tomorrow is the day of the assessment, and she wants to go see how her younger sister's practice is going.

Jingxue didn't understand the other meanings of this instruction, but Princess Duan did. After such instruction, the outstanding daughters of noble families would either be selected by the royal family to enter the palace to accompany the emperor, or they would be married off to other noble families.

Princess Duan wanted to give her younger sister some advice, urging her to behave well, secure a good marriage for herself, and gain a strong ally for her father and brothers.

Jingxue led her people directly to West Street, and to her surprise, the beauty salons on West Street were bustling with activity.

The area in front of the beauty salon was surrounded by layers of people. Jingxue didn't squeeze in immediately, but instead stopped on the outer perimeter with Runyue and the others.

Runyue didn't understand and jumped around anxiously, wanting to see what was going on. Xiaoman quickly pulled her back and whispered, "Runyue, listen to me. There's a reason why Miss isn't going in. Be good! Let's follow Miss."

Among the crowd stood some familiar faces, the most conspicuous of whom were Liu Dazhuang and his wife, who had sold Liu Sanhao back then.

This time, they even brought several children with them. Liu Sanhao was seen gently wiping away tears from the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief, a sight that truly broke one's heart.

At this moment, her sister-in-law was shouting excitedly at the onlookers, "Neighbors, please come and judge this for us! A few months ago, that so-called princess saw that my Sanhao was unconscious and unresponsive, so she came to us and said she wanted to buy my sister, but we didn't get any money!"

Liu Sanhao's sister-in-law's voice grew louder and louder, her face full of indignation: "Tell me, that little bit of silver was only enough to return the bride price to Ma Enguo's family, but look at my sister now, what serious problem does she have! She's perfectly healthy, she can run and jump, she's not as serious as she says! So, this princess is really bullying us!"

Faced with her sister-in-law's accusations and complaints, Liu Sanhao couldn't help but sob as she retorted, "Sister-in-law, how can you say such things? I was indeed unconscious at the time. When I finally woke up, I found that the landlord not only kindly healed my injured leg but also patiently taught me how to do beauty treatments. Moreover, you were the one who personally agreed to sell me to someone else to pay off the bride price for the Ma family. Since the matter is already over, why are you causing trouble again?"

"Am I being unreasonable? You heartless girl! Look at your nephews and nieces, they're starving to death, while you're eating well and staying warm. Don't you have a heart?" Liu Dazhuang's wife said, pushing the two smaller children next to her in front of Liu Sanhao. One of the children fell to the ground and started crying loudly.