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

[Continued from the end of Chapter 186]

Fu Luan patted the child coquettishly and said, "His Majesty said he needs to consider it for a few days, how could I possibly disagree? It's just..."

"But what?" Yuan Li asked hastily, thinking that there was room for maneuver in the matter of "abolishing ancestral precepts".

Fu Luan said sweetly, "But after much thought, I believe that if it weren't for the ancestral precepts of the Great Wei, Your Majesty could have directly married me as Empress instead of waiting for me to marry Yuan Lu first and then break off my engagement with Xiao Jiu!"

This single sentence was a revelation to Yuan Li. Three days later, he overruled all objections and abolished all the provisions in the ancestral precepts concerning "the eldest daughter of the Fu family".

When this happened, everyone assumed it was because the Empress had fallen out of favor and the Fu family had lost power, eagerly waiting to see them make a fool of themselves, and even more so, waiting for the Fu family to turn on each other.

After all, the Fu family's younger generation's favor depends entirely on Fu Luan, the Empress of Great Wei. If Fu Luan loses favor, the Fu family will lose the immense wealth they have acquired, and wouldn't they hate Fu Luan to death?

It's a pity that Yuan Li is going to disappoint those sycophants who are waiting to see him make a fool of himself!

A prosperous maternal clan is essential for an empress's long-lasting position; conversely, a powerful empress is necessary to support her maternal clan.

At this time, Yuan Li seemed afraid that others would look down on his wife. Not long after the Qi Kingdom's eldest princess married Fu Luan's second brother, Fu Zhan, Yuan Li also bestowed the title of Lu Kingdom's eldest princess upon the fifth princess, Yuan Yan, and then arranged for her to marry Fu Qing, the fifth brother of the Fu family.

At this point, of Fu Luan's five elder brothers, only the third brother, Fu Che, remained unmarried. This caused quite a stir among the people of Chang'an.

"The Empress is so biased!"

"How do you say it?"

"What else can I say? My own brothers are all marrying princesses, but the adopted brother can only marry a maid!"

"Who says otherwise! In terms of looks and achievements, everyone knows her eldest brother is the most capable. But she ended up marrying..."

"I don't think so, do I? Her fourth son, the Marquis of Jimo, also married a maid, didn't he? And I've heard that..."

"Yes! It seems like only the third brother is left. Forget about the princess, he doesn't even have a maid!"

Some of the rumors circulating in the city had even reached the palace, so how could Fu Che not know? Yuan Li had considered bestowing another princess upon him in marriage, but he always politely declined, so Fu Luan had no choice but to go along with it.

Rumors about Fu Luan and the Fu family never stopped, but Yuan Li never believed a word of them.

Not only did he not send a letter, but when Princess Wei turned one year old, he also exceeded the prescribed regulations and promoted his daughter to Grand Princess, with a salary far exceeding that of a prince, which shows the favor he showed to Fu Luan!

Fu Luan returned to the Guanju Hall of the East Palace, the place where she was reborn. The orange peel lantern that had hung on the door frame last year was still intact.

She lit the lantern, and the sweet scent of oranges filled the hall, but the person who loved oranges would never appear before her again.

She lay on the large bed in the Guanju Palace, recalling the suffering and betrayal of her past life, as well as the joy of her rebirth.

She drifted off to sleep lost in her memories. Now that she had avenged her family and had both a son and a daughter, she still sometimes felt a void in her heart.

Everything was good in this life, except that I never got to see my mother again, which is a bit of a regret...

"Who?!" She vaguely felt someone hugging her from behind and suddenly woke up. Just as she was about to cry for help, she smelled a familiar fragrance of sage...

Even though she sees Yuan Li every day, she feels like it's been a long time since she smelled that unique fragrance that only he has!

Yuan Li felt that Fu Luan was missing something without the Bao Xiang Hua Dian (a type of hair ornament), and Fu Luan also felt that Yuan Li was missing that sense of peace without the fragrance of Xu Man.

"What's wrong? You're not comfortable in Changqiu Palace, so you've come to the East Palace?" Yuan Li caressed his wife's body through her clothes.

Fu Luan held her husband's large hand, blushing in the darkness, and said, "It was just that I was thinking about some things from the past. For example... here, the Emperor gave me the opportunity to grant Yuan Lu and me a divorce..."

Yes... that was the beginning of everything! Rather than saying she was the first Crown Princess to divorce since the founding of the Great Wei Dynasty, it would be more accurate to say that Yuan Li had always indulged and favored her!

Without Yuan Li's permission, it probably wouldn't have been so easy for her to avenge her great grudge!

Yuan Li gasped, "Do you miss the days when you were the Crown Princess, or do you miss the person you ultimately couldn't marry? After all... he was once the Lord of the Eastern Palace!"

Fu Luan chuckled and said, "Is Your Majesty confused? When Xiao Jiu was the Crown Prince, there was no Crown Princess in the Eastern Palace. How could he have come to this Guanju Palace, which is uninhabited?"

"Your Majesty... you're jealous of your son again!"

Before Yuan Li could deny it, Fu Luan turned and kissed her husband's lips. The two spent a passionate night in a bedchamber that was not their own, but their feelings for each other only grew stronger.

From this day forward, Yuan Li's heart and eyes will only belong to Fu Luan. The emperor and empress will live out the rest of their lives hand in hand, just like an ordinary couple...

[End of main text]