I was sold when I opened my eyes! My sick and disabled husband comforts me every night after he wake

Lan Zhi smiled calmly, a slight curve to her lips.

"Those who dislike me are so obvious. It's either her or her. Now that she's dead, there's no way to verify it. Where are you going to investigate? Besides, even if you do find out, what can you do? Without causing me any harm, can you really come and confront me? I know you mean well, but please listen to me and don't go through all this trouble."

Wei Jianning took a deep breath and nodded.

"Okay, I'll do as you say. But after something like this happens, how can I guarantee your safety after I leave?"

Lan Zhi smiled calmly, seemingly unconcerned.

"I will be the Crown Princess in three days. This position is already secured. Does anyone think they can compete with me for it?"

"Well, before I leave, I'll have a good talk with my mother. If she doesn't cause you any trouble and takes good care of you, everything will be fine."

It seems he knows Consort Liang very well, but Consort Liang doesn't think so.

She sat upright in Fangcao Zhai, her hand holding the teacup trembling, and her whole body shaking.

Three days later is Wei Jianning and Lan Zhi's wedding ceremony. After Lin Yuwei's antics, she has no chance of becoming the Crown Princess, let alone a concubine. All her carefully prepared plans have vanished like a bubble. How can she accept this?

Rong'er stepped forward with the teapot, intending to fill it with hot water for her, but at that moment, as if possessed, she reached out and blocked the teapot. Before Rong'er could dodge, the scalding hot water poured directly onto her hand.

"what!"

She cried out, and Rong'er was so startled that she knocked over the teapot and hurriedly knelt on the ground.

"Your Majesty, I made a mistake. Please forgive me."

Xiao Hui and several other palace maids rushed in upon hearing the shouts. When they saw that Consort Liang's hands were bright red from the burns, they immediately cried out in alarm.

"Someone, summon the imperial physician..."

Consort Liang's hand was scalded and badly burned. Rong'er was supposed to be executed for accidentally scalding Consort Liang, but Consort Liang spared her because she had followed her for so long and this was the first time she had made such a mistake. She only gave Rong'er ten strokes of the cane and allowed her to continue serving.

The Emperor rushed over, and everyone was so frightened that they knelt on the ground. The Emperor sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Consort Liang with heartache.

"My beloved concubine, how could you be so careless? Which wretched girl burned you? I will definitely punish her severely."

Although Consort Liang had been away from the palace for many years, after her return, the Emperor still favored her greatly, even more so than before she left the palace.

This is also why Consort Liang dared to confront the Empress head-on.

Of course, her goal was not just to be a powerless favored concubine; she actually wanted to gradually replace the empress.

"emperor……"

The moment Consort Liang saw the Emperor, her eyes welled up with heartbreaking tears.

"I was distracted at the time and accidentally touched the hot water. I have already ordered someone to punish Rong'er. Your Majesty, please do not blame her anymore."

"You're still so kind, but you have to promise me you'll take good care of yourself."

"Alas! She needs to be taken good care of. It's just a pity that she can't attend Ning'er's wedding ceremony."

After a moment of silence, the Emperor nodded.

"Yes, but Ning'er needs to return to the military camp as soon as possible. The wedding date has been set and cannot be changed at will."

Consort Liang's eyes darkened, and she shook her head and sighed:

"Your Majesty, please convey my message to Ning'er that I have burned my hand and it is really inconvenient for me to attend his wedding ceremony. Please tell him not to blame me for the untimely injury as his mother."

"How could that be? You're injured, he should bring his new bride to pay his respects to you. I'll talk to him about it later."

"There's no need for greetings; I only wish to rest quietly."

When Lan Zhi was mentioned, Consort Liang's eyes were filled with disgust.

The Emperor would never have guessed that Consort Liang had deliberately burned herself because she didn't want to attend Wei Jianning and Lan Zhi's wedding ceremony. She wanted to express her resistance to their marriage and let Lan Zhi know that her attitude would never change.

The daughter-in-law she had in mind would definitely be from the Lin family or the family of some important official in the imperial court, and would absolutely not be a country woman like herself.

Lin Mansion

Lin Yuwei was completely unaware of the wrongdoing she had committed in front of the Emperor, and when faced with Lin Xingliang's accusations, she still acted as if she was unwilling to admit defeat.

"Mother, I did nothing wrong, so why does Father keep criticizing me?"

Lin Xingliang paced back and forth angrily. After a while, he stopped, panting heavily, and accused:

"You still don't know how to repent. Not only are you so shameless as to want to become someone's concubine, but you also tried to kill yourself in front of the Emperor. You offended His Majesty. The Emperor only spared you from punishment because of your grandfather and me. Otherwise, you wouldn't have enough heads to lose."

Seeing Lin Xingliang call her cheap, Lin Yuwei angrily pulled off the blanket and retorted with a flushed face:

"How am I despicable? Is it wrong for me to want to marry the Crown Prince? If anyone is wrong, it's you. You said last time that as long as you said a word, the Emperor would give you face. And what happened? I, the eldest daughter of the prestigious Lin family, am not even as good as a country woman. You have no ability to make your daughter the Crown Princess, and you just keep criticizing me. Aren't you a despicable father too?"

"Snapped!"

Lin Xingliang was angered by Lin Yuwei's words and immediately raised his hand to slap her hard across the face.

This scene startled Mrs. Lin, who was sitting next to Lin Yuwei, and she immediately rebuked her:

"Lin Xingliang, what are you doing? How could you hit someone?"

Lin Xingliang angrily flung his sleeves, gritting his teeth as he pointed at Madam Lin.

"It's all because you spoiled her. You've raised such a good daughter. Didn't you hear what she said about me just now?"

Madam Lin was taken aback. She hadn't heard what Lin Yuwei had said, because her thoughts were on the two silver bells, and the tinkling sound kept echoing in her ears.

She looked at Lin Yuwei in surprise and saw that Lin Yuwei was covering her face with one hand, which had been hit by Lin Xingliang. Her face was flushed red, and her chest was heaving with anger.

"Yuwei, let Mother see..."

She tried to grab Lin Yuwei's hand, but Lin Yuwei dodged her.

"You all get out, don't worry about me, nobody worry about me."

She yelled at Madam Lin, and Lin Xingliang was so angry that he trembled all over, and the veins on his face bulged.

He pointed at her, still furious and about to hurl a few more insults, but was stopped by Madam Lin.

"Let's go out first and let Yuwei be alone for a while."

"Hi!"

Lin Xingliang forcefully flung his hand down from mid-air, turned around, and left with a flick of his sleeve.

After glancing at Lin Yuwei, Madam Lin shook her head, sighed, and followed her out the door.

Even after returning to the main hall of the Lin residence, Lin Xingliang's anger had not subsided.

Madam Lin sat beside him and sighed softly.

"The child was wrong this time, but you shouldn't have hit her!"

Lin Xingliang immediately glared at Madam Lin, gritting his teeth as he questioned her.

"Didn't you hear her call me a slut? What kind of daughter calls her father a slut?"

At this point, he slammed his palm on the table with a 'smack' and laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Yes, it was indeed my fault. If I hadn't been so shameless as to find someone to impersonate my biological daughter, how could this have happened?"

Upon hearing him mention this, Madam Lin immediately perked up.

"Sir, I have something I need to discuss with you."