Chapter 99 - 98: The Substitute Eldest Miss 14

Chapter 99: Chapter 98: The Substitute Eldest Miss 14

Chun Cui didn’t come alone. She brought nearly two hundred servants with her, all of them able-bodied male servants and house retainers.

Perhaps intimidated by Ji Xiaosong and Zixi’s previous display of martial prowess, she didn’t act rashly this time. Her attitude was also incredibly respectful.

"Crown Princess Consort, Mrs. Ji and Mr. Ji have been waiting at home for a long time. For your homecoming visit today, please be sure to bring back the gifts that were prepared earlier."

Ji Xiaosong thought her memory was failing her. When had Mr. Ji and Mother Ji ever prepared gifts for her?

"They prepared homecoming gifts for me in advance? Where are they?"

"The Crown Princess Consort must have forgotten. The dowry Mrs. Ji prepared for you consisted of over a hundred chests. Those were never truly meant for you. To avoid damaging the Royal Family’s reputation, we had to appropriate items belonging to the two young masters and the second young miss of the household."

Ji Xiaosong understood each word individually, but how could the sentence, when put together, be so incomprehensible?

"If I recall correctly, this was the dowry that was promised to me from the very beginning, was it not?"

"The Crown Princess Consort jests. That was merely for show, to keep up appearances for outsiders. The Crown Princess Consort was not raised in the Ji family, nor have you made any contributions to it. How could you possibly deserve such a large dowry?"

Chun Cui had originally wanted to use poison, but despite their countless attempts, Ji Xiaosong was never successfully poisoned.

Left with no other choice, they had to take it by force.

Ji Xiaosong was so amused by Chun Cui that she actually laughed. She ignored her and said to Zixi, "Go and have a good talk with everyone in the Eastern Palace. Tell them the Ji family is here to forcibly take back over a hundred chests of the dowry. If they succeed, we’ll be down to two meals a day and have to wear patched clothes."

"As you command, Crown Princess Consort."

Zixi moved quickly. She stood at the entrance and let out a bellow that was heard by everyone in the Eastern Palace.

All the guards, attendants, maids, and nannies—everyone—gathered together in less than a quarter of an hour.

"Steward Zixi, where are the people from the Ji family? We’ll go throw them out right now!"

The lead nanny was practically fuming. They had just started having a couple of good days in the Eastern Palace; how could they be knocked back to square one so quickly?

’Unacceptable! Utterly and completely unacceptable!’

’The Crown Princess Consort is right. Anything that enters the Eastern Palace belongs to the Crown Princess Consort. No one can take it away!’

Zixi pointed at the people the Ji family had brought. "There, look. Those are the people. They’re all here today to haul away the Crown Princess Consort’s dowry."

Hearing this, the crowd from the Eastern Palace was instantly in an uproar.

"The audacity! How dare they try to steal the Crown Princess Consort’s dowry!" a burly guard was the first to charge forward, swinging his fists.

The others, not to be outdone, all surged toward Chun Cui and the people she had brought.

In an instant, a cacophony of curses and shoves erupted.

"You insolent servants! How dare you lay a hand on us!"

Chun Cui, both shocked and furious, tried to maintain order.

But the Eastern Palace staff wasn’t about to listen to her. A few of the older nannies grabbed Chun Cui by the hair and began dragging her out.

"Go! Throw them all out of the Eastern Palace!"

Although the two hundred-some male servants and retainers were strong, they were gradually overwhelmed by the ferocious crowd from the Eastern Palace.

Before long, Chun Cui and her entourage were unceremoniously driven out of the Eastern Palace.

However, the people of the Eastern Palace were not finished.

Led by the head nanny, they marched in a vast, imposing procession toward the Ji family residence.

Along the way, the crowd shouted loudly, "The Ji family has no shame! Stealing the Crown Princess Consort’s dowry!"

When they reached the Ji family’s gates, the crowd surrounded them so tightly that no one could get through.

"Lord Ji! Mrs. Ji! What kind of family tries to steal their own daughter’s dowry on her homecoming day?"

"Aren’t you afraid His Majesty will punish you for bullying the Crown Princess Consort like this?"

The Ji family’s gatekeeper was so frightened that he hastily shut the main gates, not daring to respond.

Inside, Mr. Ji and Mother Ji heard the commotion, and their faces turned deathly pale.

"What are we going to do?" Mother Ji panicked.

Mr. Ji was also pacing anxiously. "This was all your terrible idea! Now we’re in huge trouble!"

Meanwhile, the people from the Eastern Palace continued to shout curses outside the gates. The sound echoed through the entire street, utterly disgracing the Ji family.

Something like this would be almost impossible in any other dynasty, but in the Eastern Palace, nothing was impossible.

In order to get a few more bites to eat, the Eastern Palace had no flower gardens, only a vegetable patch.

Therefore, anyone who dared to touch the food supply of the Eastern Palace staff was messing with their very lives.

That’s right!

’The Crown Princess Consort’s dowry belongs to the Crown Princess Consort. Since she doesn’t mistreat us, it’s as good as a small piece of our own future.’

When they had shouted and cursed their fill, Zixi, hidden in the crowd, called the Eastern Palace staff back.

As for any worries about someone trying to sneak into the Eastern Palace to steal or assassinate, that was an even bigger joke.

Never mind Ji Xiaosong’s Martial Arts; with the paltry possessions in the Eastern Palace, a thief would have to leave behind a pair of straw sandals out of pity.

The crowd arrived in a great, surging mass, and they left in a great, surging mass, without taking a single thing from the Ji family.

It was supposed to be her homecoming day, but Ji Xiaosong didn’t go home. Instead, she made sure people saw her running to the Imperial Palace, sobbing and wailing, to lodge a complaint.

"Father Emperor, Mother Empress, I can’t go on living! My own mother and father treat me this way! Isn’t it just because they look down on me for growing up on a country estate? They think even tossing me a bit of dowry is more than I deserve, don’t they?"

"For my second sister, they’ve prepared a dowry of ten thousand acres of fertile land, a hundred servants, and countless jewels. They’re even going to dig a new well for her future drinking water! But me... WAHHH... Why is my life so miserable!"

"My father doesn’t dote on me, my mother doesn’t love me. I’m like a poor, forgotten cabbage in a field. Are they looking down on the Royal Family? To demand back the dowry they personally promised me, disguised as a ’homecoming gift’... Has anyone ever been so humiliated?"

"Parents so utterly devoid of courtesy—I’d rather not have them! Besides, the Ji family never raised me for a single day."

"Ever since I returned from the estate, my food, my clothes, everything I use has been paid for with what I’ve saved up myself over the years!"

Ji Xiaosong threw herself onto the Empress’s lap, sobbing uncontrollably.

Two rows of ladies-in-waiting sat nearby, eager to chime in and curse someone out, but they couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

The Empress lovingly stroked Ji Xiaosong’s head and soothed her. "There, there, Song, don’t cry. For a fine young woman like you to be unappreciated by the Ji family is their loss."

"Mother Empress, as for whether they appreciate me or not, I’ve already come to terms with it. I no longer care about a parental love that I cannot force. It just so happens that my second sister has taken an interest in King Wu. Why don’t you just permit me to sever my ties with the Ji family? That way, we can avoid any messy entanglements in the future."

"Child, you mustn’t speak so recklessly. They are your parents, after all..."

The Empress feigned a scolding, but each reprimand only made Ji Xiaosong’s sobs grow louder.

"Mother Empress! It seems I’m just not fated to have parents in this life, and they probably don’t care either. Why not just ask them? If they don’t want me anymore either, then let’s just sever the ties!"

The Empress sighed, seemingly helpless.

"Very well. Nanny Gui, go summon His Majesty. Then, send a message to the Ji family. As for whether to sever these ties, they ought to be present to make their case."