The Eldest Daughter Reborn: She Provoked the Obsessive Crown Prince and Couldn't Escape

Before the Emperor could reply, Fu Zhengzheng hurriedly said, "Your Majesty..."

“Zhengzheng, you must not be disrespectful before His Majesty!” Fu Luan pleaded with the Emperor to strip Zhengzheng of her surname, but Yu Weiyan dared not speak.

Now that Zhengzheng had interrupted the Emperor, he had no choice but to speak up and stop her.

The Emperor said with displeasure, "Marquis of Chang'an, your youngest daughter is truly well-mannered!"

Yu Weiyan had embarrassed himself several times that day because of Zhengzheng, so he had no choice but to answer with a forced smile: "Your Majesty, I have failed in my duty to raise my daughter properly..."

The Emperor frowned and said, "Alright! Since I made that promise to A-Luan back then, I will grant her request now that she has one! Fu Zhengzheng shall be changed to 'Yu Zhengzheng' immediately, as for the household registration..."

Fu Luan laughed and said, "There's no rush with the household registration. I'm sure my father will ask the Grand Minister of Works to change it. Zhengzheng, the Emperor has personally bestowed upon you the surname 'Yu,' why don't you hurry up and thank him?"

"I... Your Majesty, I was born with the surname 'Fu' and have lived with it every day since. Why am I suddenly being asked to change my surname?"

"What is Fu Luan? Your Majesty, how can you believe the words of a woman who deceives the emperor, confuses bloodlines, and takes the crown princess?"

"My poor mother was born into a humble family and died young. If I had a mother from a prominent family, I would not have suffered this humiliation today!"

“From ancient times to the present, I have never heard of the saying ‘stripping one’s surname’. How absurd!” Fu Zhengzheng—who should now be called “Yu Zhengzheng”—cried to Yu Weiyan.

Yu Weiyan lived up to his name, meaning "a person of low status whose words carry little weight." Even though he was granted the title of "Marquis of Chang'an" by marrying into the Fu family, he still dared not utter a single word of "no" before the Emperor!

Seeing his beloved daughter wronged, he could only grit his teeth and bow, saying, "Your Majesty, I thank you for your great kindness! Zhengzheng is ignorant, and I hope Your Majesty will forgive her!"

Xue Chen said coldly, "Even if the Second Miss hasn't read many history books, she should have heard of the ready-made examples of our Great Wei Dynasty!"

"If mentioning 'stripping someone of their surname' is considered 'absurd,' where does that leave the Emperor?"

"You... Humph!" Zhengzheng was furious that her secret had been exposed; but she had indulged in lust and suffered a miscarriage today, so she was really too weak.

What Xue Chen was referring to was naturally the matter of the Eighth Prince being removed from the imperial genealogy and stripped of his surname "Yuan"!

Xue Lin secretly shook his head, actually feeling somewhat relieved about breaking off the engagement. Now it seemed that Zhengzheng was of low character and vulgar, far removed from the "ladylike" image she presented, and definitely not someone the Xue family should marry!

The Emperor fanned himself with his folding fan intermittently; he glanced at Fu Luan, then at Fu Zhengzheng, and said in a deep voice:

"Marquis of Chang'an, when you have time, remember to ask the Grand Minister to change your youngest daughter's surname! Since the eldest daughter of the Fu family died young, this generation of the Fu family has no eldest daughter;

“Ah Luan, you… from now on you can no longer use the ancestral precepts of the Great Wei as a reason to become the Crown Princess! As for this ‘crime of deceiving the emperor’… since Madam Fu has passed away, there is no way to verify the facts or investigate the matter!”

"A-Luan and the Fu family's sons have indeed rendered meritorious service to the Great Wei. Let's not mention the matter of 'deceiving the emperor' again. Anyone who brings it up will be slapped in the face!"

With the Emperor's words so clear, who would dare to object? Everyone had no choice but to agree.

The Emperor looked only at Fu Luan and said with a smile, "Ah Luan, I must remind you:

"You'd better think this through. Now that you don't have the status of 'the eldest daughter of the Fu family' to rely on, you can't help any prince become the crown prince."

"Xiao Jiu... I'm afraid he won't be as devoted to you as before. Besides..."

"Even if A-Luan is no longer the eldest daughter of the Fu family and cannot help me become the crown prince, I will still marry A-Luan! I will marry no one but A-Luan."

"I beg Your Majesty to grant me and A-Luan a marriage!" Before the Emperor could finish speaking, Xiao Jiu burst in, panting, followed by Hua Luo.

Fu Luan couldn't help but smile wryly: This front hall is really lively today, with people constantly barging in!

The Emperor's smile vanished abruptly, replaced by a stern expression. "Hmph, I didn't summon you, yet you dare to come here! I came to the Marquis of Chang'an's residence today because I heard someone say that you put aphrodisiacs on women's drinks!"

"Xiao Jiu, don't forget, A Luan only traded the title of leader for your freedom last time. You are still the murderer in the rape case!"

Taking advantage of the situation, Yu Zhengzheng cried out in public, "Your Majesty, please do justice for me! I only drank the wine given to me by the Prince of Yan today, that's why..."

Even if she didn't say what came next, everyone understood; not only did they understand, they could even imagine the scene!

The Xue family, who had been watching from the sidelines, could no longer sit still.

Xue Lin said, "Your Majesty, we have all drunk the wine bestowed by Prince Yan and are all unharmed; how come only the second daughter of the Marquis of Chang'an is affected... Humph!"

Even before the Emperor, he couldn't hide his disdain for Zhengzheng. This was the daughter-in-law he had approved, the woman his son had personally chosen for him!

She was so promiscuous that she publicly made love to a wild man old enough to be her grandfather while wearing her engagement dress; she even listened to the commotion and heard that the two of them had already been having an affair, and she even deceived Xue Yan by claiming that she was a virgin!

The Emperor looked at Fu Luan and smiled, "A Luan, I want to hear what you have to say! Xiao Jiu said he would marry no one but you; and the same thing keeps happening to him. What about you? Are you still willing to marry him?"

Fu Luan personally wiped Xiao Jiu's sweat, then smiled and said, "Before answering, I must ask His Majesty a question: Back then in Zhaoyang Palace, His Majesty said that the rape case should not be mentioned again; if I bring it up now..."

The Emperor raised an eyebrow. "Of course I will pardon you! I've already forgiven you and the Fu family for deceiving the Emperor, so why would I care about this?"

Fu Luan whispered to Xiao Jiu for a moment, then replied, "I dare to request Your Majesty to summon one person. Once this person arrives, he will naturally reveal the whole truth!"

"Oh? Who?" the Emperor asked with great interest.

Fu Luan said solemnly, "Eighth Prince, it's Yuanxi!"

Yu Zhengzheng glanced at Xue Chen, feeling that she was acting strangely today, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it... But then, just now, she mentioned the Eighth Prince, and the Eighth Prince actually showed up?

The Emperor frowned and rebuked, “What ‘Eighth Prince’? What ‘Lantern Festival’? I have long since lost that heartless and shameless son, the ‘Eighth Prince’; and in the Great Wei royal family, there is no longer any ‘Lantern Festival’!”

Fu Luan wanted to offer a perfunctory apology, but Yuan Jiu stopped her.

Xiao Jiu said solemnly, "It is true that Father has lost that son and Great Wei has lost the Lantern Festival; but he is still my brother! I beg Father to see my eighth brother!"

The Emperor had no choice but to wave his hand; thus, the Eighth Prince, who had been demoted to a commoner, became the only person to be allowed to enter after being granted permission; and this person was the refugee who had grabbed Fu Luan's leg in front of the Marquis of Chang'an's mansion and burned the back of his hand!