Even the God of Quick Transmigration Needs an Assessment

Xiaochun was the first to notice the now-awake Shi Liuxiu. This time, she no longer looked terrified and appeared before her arrogantly. If it were before, she certainly wouldn't have dared to disobey her master, but things are different now. This courtyard is no longer under her control. The feng shui has turned upside down, and it's Shi Liuxiu's own fault for it.

"Damn you, you servant! Go and get me a glass of water right now!"

Shi Liuxiu was instantly enraged when she saw Xiaochun. Her master had been summoned for so long before she finally appeared. She really didn't know what Xiaochun was good for. The way Xiaochun walked over with such a smug attitude made her even more displeased. She had just gotten into this mess, and this lowly brat dared to laugh at her.

He snapped back to reality, his face pale, his nails digging into his flesh, staring intently at Xiaochun, his teeth clenched, "Did anything serious happen while I was asleep?!"

She had a strong sense of self-respect and found it hard to talk about being drunk and flattering, but she also knew in her heart that it would be difficult for her to get away from that situation. She only hoped that the punishment would not be too severe and that An Jibai could step in to protect her.

Xiao Chun snorted coldly, and seeing Shi Liuxiu's lovestruck expression, cruelly shattered her last illusion, "Consort Jia is kind and worried that you might lose your innocence, so she disregarded past grievances and allowed Prince Gong to take you as a concubine. Master and Madam have already accepted the betrothal gifts for you, and now they are just waiting to welcome you into their home next month."

Shi Liuxiu stood there, stunned, saying it was impossible. Xiaochun continued to fan the flames, and Shi Liuxiu was furious. She complained about An's mother, saying that she knew she liked An Jibai, and that it was one thing to let Yuewu approach and seduce her, but now she was deciding on her marriage. She said she liked her, but she was just selfish and only cared about herself. As soon as there was a problem, she wanted to get rid of her.

Ignoring her dry mouth and the need to maintain her proper and elegant demeanor, she put on her outer robe and headed towards the main courtyard. Along the way, she noticed the subtle glances cast at her by the guards and maids. She was indignant but had no time to care. Xiaochun, feeling that things hadn't gotten serious enough, followed closely behind, loudly urging Shi Liuxiu to calm down and not act impulsively.

Upon arriving at the main courtyard, An's father, who had taken a rare leave from court, was surprised to find that Consort Jia, who was far away in the deep palace, had sent someone early this morning, saying that Shi Liuxiu had made a mistake, but that a woman's innocence was ultimately more important, and proposed to marry her into the royal palace as a concubine.

It sounds nice, but there's no such thing as a free lunch. The current emperor is old, and no crown prince has been appointed. The princes are vying for power, with the seventh prince, Luo Qingxiao, holding a dominant position. The third prince, Luo Jinghuai, who has always had a low profile, has suddenly risen to prominence and is highly valued by Emperor Jing. The decisions of each faction will not be easily changed. If one wants to secure that position, the most important thing is to win the support of the neutral faction, and the An family is the largest neutral faction.

Even if the An family continues to oppose the Seventh Prince, marrying his child will not be without consequences no matter how others see it. At the very least, their stance is already unstable, and they face great danger in the struggle for the throne. If they are not careful, their entire family will suffer. However, after much deliberation, An's father still decided to agree to this.

Compared to the uncertain future, he cared more about the reputation of the An family over the past century. The fact that the An family had raised such a shameless wretch as Shi Liuxiu was a disgrace to the family and a disgrace to its name. Fortunately, Emperor Jing was lenient and did not punish them severely, which would have caused the matter to be exposed. As long as they did not admit it, who would dare to be sure that it was true? He had already made arrangements with those who had witnessed it firsthand: you don't say anything, I don't say anything, and we just need to wait for the storm to pass.

It's not a big deal that Shi Liuxiu's reputation is ruined. With the An family's protection, they can still send her away from Wangjing to live a happy life in anonymity. An's father is an upright man who can't tolerate any wrongdoing. He despises Shi Liuxiu's act of drugging and framing her. He only agreed to help her one last time because of An's mother. Otherwise, he would have thrown her into a nunnery to fend for herself long ago.

As for the rest, An's father had also made up his mind. He had worked diligently in the court for many years, and his son had also entered the court as a newly appointed top scholar and shone brightly. It was time for him to retire. He and An's mother had discussed it and submitted a memorial to express their thoughts on retiring. The future still belonged to the young people. In the future, he would be a leisurely teacher and spend his old age with his wife, which would be a wonderful thing.

"Aunt! Aunt!"

Mother An had heard the commotion in the distance early on and frowned. She figured it was another case of persistent pestering. She had let it go before because it was just a little girl being coquettish, but there was no room for discussion about this.

Shi Liuxiu, her face contorted with rage, ignored everyone's attempts to stop her and stormed into the courtyard. She skipped even the basic greetings, immediately launching into a furious interrogation of An's parents, demanding why they had disregarded her wishes and betrothed her to the infamous, dissolute Seventh Prince, to be a lowly concubine, someone the family could arbitrarily dismiss and sell!

Like beans spilling from a bamboo tube, Shi Liuxiu poured out her grievances to the two elders, venting all the injustices and grievances she had suffered since waking up. She seemed completely immersed in her emotions, oblivious to the increasingly dark expressions on An's father and mother's faces, especially An's mother, whose anger was burning like wildfire.

Out of consideration for their blood relation, the husband did his best for his niece, and even gave up his hard-earned official position for her sake.

However, this instigator not only showed no gratitude, but also had the audacity to blame her relatives who had been cleaning up her messes. Previously, An's mother had thought Shi Liuxiu had only made a mistake on impulse, but now it seemed she was just like her corrupt father, rotten to the core. Even in this state, she showed no remorse, instead intensifying her blame on others.

How stupid!

Completely disheartened, Mother An coldly stopped Shi Liuxiu from babbling on. Her eyes were indifferent and her tone was unlike her usual kind. Shi Liuxiu was startled and fell silent. Mother An glanced at her and said, "We are already being merciful by keeping you here peacefully after you've done such a disgraceful thing. What face do you have to criticize us!"

Mother An gave her no chance to defend herself, continuing sharply, "We've already been more than kind to you. After last night's incident that ruined your reputation, it's good enough that someone wants to marry you. Even being a concubine in the royal family is better than being thrown into a nun's life. What more could you ask for!"

Mother An showed no mercy to Shi Liuxiu. After hearing everything, her face turned pale and then purple, looking frighteningly ugly. But she was still unconvinced and argued with Mother An with her fists clenched. "There are still ways. Why must I be married off to the Seventh Prince? If no one wants me, then I will marry Brother Ji Bai. We have known each other since childhood. I believe he will not abandon me."

As she spoke, Shi Liuxiu gained confidence and continued to persuade, "I have always admired my cousin, and my aunt also supported my relationship with him. Our two families are now even closer, so this is a win-win situation."

This time it was An's father's turn to get angry. It wasn't enough that she had harmed their family; she also wanted to ruin his son's life. It's true that you should marry a virtuous wife, as a virtuous wife brings prosperity to three generations, while marrying the wrong wife harms nine generations. No matter what, such a person should not marry into their family. He was so angry that he didn't care about his image, and he pointed at her with trembling eyes and a beard puffed out.

"There's no such thing as a free lunch. Does she really think she's some kind of hot commodity that everyone wants? Drugging, framing, seducing—none of these things are worthy of our An family." He almost couldn't catch his breath after saying this, and An's mother quickly stepped forward to help him catch his breath. An's father only felt a headache and didn't want to argue anymore. He waved his hand and ordered someone to take Shi Liuxiu back to Cuizhu Courtyard. She was not allowed to step out of there until she was married.

Shi Liuxiu struggled in disbelief, but how could she be a match for two burly men? Her arms were grabbed and she was dragged away. As she got further and further away, she began to feel scared and cried out for mercy.

An's parents just watched her indifferently. Seeing that it wasn't working, she started shouting and making wild accusations, "It's her! It's Yuewu, she's the one who harmed me, she framed me! I'm innocent, Aunt! Don't abandon me, Uncle!"

She was dragged back to the Green Bamboo Courtyard. After witnessing the cold-bloodedness of her parents, she started chasing after them and cursing them, saying that they were hypocrites who didn't care about their own niece and were sending her into a wolf's den.

Two burly men pushed her into the courtyard and locked the gate as instructed. They also sent more men to keep a close watch on her. Shi Liuxiu frantically pounded on the gate. The pear wood gate, which had previously allowed her free movement and was practically just for show, had become a shackle, trapping her in the grand courtyard. When her plea for help went unanswered, she changed her attitude and loudly called out to An Jibai. The two courtyards were not too far apart, and everyone else was a bunch of snakes and rats. She could only hope that An Jibai would care about her plight and come to see her and hear her pleas.