ARTTEDSBGT Chapter 113

As Xiao Yan said, not long after, a servant came to look for Li Zhizhi and said that Grand Princess Yong Ning wanted her to come over.

Xiao Yan said, “If you don’t want to go, just find an excuse to get out of it.”

However, Li Zhizhi shook her head and said, “Since they’ve come to the door, I have to go through with this act no matter what. If I don’t go, it will only embarra.s.s my mother.”

She continued with a smile, “Besides, isn’t the Crown Prince there?”

Xiao Yan accompanied her to the flower hall. As soon as they entered, they heard Grand Princess Yong Ning and Xiao Man talking. Seeing her arrival, Grand Princess Yong Ning waved and said, “Zhizhi, come here quickly.”

Li Zhizhi approached as requested, smiling gently. “You called for me, Your Highness?”

“It’s Man’er who wants to see you,” Grand Princess Yong Ning took her hand and patted it, smiling, “She said there were some misunderstandings between you before, so she specially came to apologize.”

Xiao Man immediately stood up and said, “Princess, it was all my fault before. I trusted others too much and said some bad things to you. Please forgive me, Princess.”

Her tone and expression seemed very sincere. Honestly, apart from the incident with the fake painting, she and Xiao Man hadn’t had any substantial grievances, at least not on the surface. It was mostly just petty quarrels and gossip.

Now she was pushing everything onto Li Suwan’s head, claiming she was misled by someone. If Li Zhizhi didn’t have memories from her past life, she might have actually believed her.

But this trick, Li Zhizhi has already used it on Li Suwan.

She smiled faintly, pretending not to understand as she said, “Did the County Princess say anything bad? I’ve never heard of it.”

Xiao Man seemed surprised by her reaction, her expression frozen. Li Zhizhi thought for a moment and then chuckled softly, saying, “If it’s about those words earlier, I don’t think the County Princess was wrong.”

The Grand Princess couldn’t help but speak up from the side, “What exactly did Man’er say?”

She had just asked Xiao Man, who had been evasive and unwilling to speak clearly. Now that Li Zhizhi mentioned it, she couldn’t help but feel curious.

Li Zhizhi smiled lightly and said, “It’s nothing much. The County Princess warned me before, reminding me to pay attention to my ident.i.ty. Even though I’ve been made a Princess, I am still surnamed Li, not Xiao. In essence, I’m still a lowly person who doesn’t belong to the upper echelons.”

Upon hearing this, both the Grand Princess and Xiao Yan’s expressions changed. Before they could say anything, there was a slap, and Xiao Man was struck on the side of her face, turning her head, a clear palm print gradually appearing on her snowy white cheek, clearly from the Queen of Sheng.

She was obviously infuriated, her voice trembling slightly as she rebuked, “How did I teach you on ordinary days? How could you say such mean and harsh words? Arrogant and lacking in manners!”

She was about to raise her hand again to strike, but the Grand Princess intervened and stopped her, saying, “Enough, Queen, don’t get angry.”

The Queen of Sheng was visibly agitated, her chest heaving, as she scolded, “Quickly apologize to the Princess!”

Xiao Man finally turned around and looked at Li Zhizhi. Her eyes were slightly red, and the clear palm print on her cheek made her look somewhat pitiful. She locked eyes with Li Zhizhi for a moment before suddenly kneeling down.

“It’s my fault. Please forgive me, Princess.”

This shocked not only the Grand Princess but also Li Zhizhi herself. She never expected Xiao Man to go to such lengths just for this act!

Fortunately, Xiao Yan was quick to react and pulled Li Zhizhi away, preventing her from kneeling.

At the same time, a chill crept into Li Zhizhi’s heart. This person was really good at enduring things. It was no wonder she had been able to get along with Zhao Shan’er before. Even though they had their disagreements later on, Zhao Shan’er hadn’t caused trouble for her again.

Li Zhizhi had some realization in her heart. Xiao Man’s actions this time were most likely not directed at her.

She looked at the Grand Princess, and sure enough, the Grand Princess was also extremely surprised, repeatedly saying, “Child, what are you doing? Get up quickly.”

She helped Xiao Man up, her eyebrows furrowed with a hint of reproach as she said, “One thing at a time. It was all fine, why did you kneel down? Zhizhi just said she didn’t mind, and your actions make us seem strict.”

Xiao Man lowered her head and said, “It was indeed my fault…”

“It really was your fault,” Xiao Yan, who had been silent, said coldly. “If you were truly repentant, you wouldn’t resort to such tactics in front of us. Your kneeling just now was an attempt to gain sympathy from others. If she doesn’t forgive you and this spreads, it will make Zhizhi look petty. People who don’t know the truth will only think she’s being unreasonable. In the end, you’re still using this as an opportunity to bully her.”

Xiao Man’s face suddenly turned pale, while Xiao Yan looked down at her from a high position, as if seeing through her thoughts, and lightly mocked, “Even A’yang wouldn’t be deceived by such tricks.”

Xiao Man’s expression stiffened slightly, and the air became strangely awkward and silent. Li Zhizhi admired the scene for a moment before slowly peeking out from beside Xiao Yan and whispered, “I’ve said it before, I’ve never cared about those words. After all, what the County Princess said is true…”

Xiao Yan frowned and said, “What truth? You are now a Princess appointed by the Emperor himself. The imperial decree has been announced to the world. Who dares to insult you?”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Man’s face turned even paler, and Queen Sheng beside her showed signs of unease. “Yes, Man’er was wrong. Your Highness, please calm down.”

“Alright,” finally, the Grand Princess intervened, her expression still gentle but lacking any hint of humor. She slightly emphasized her tone as she spoke to Xiao Man, “As the old saying goes, recognizing one’s mistakes is the greatest virtue. Just don’t make the same mistakes again in the future. Zhizhi is kind and innocent; she won’t blame you. Stop worrying about these things and live your life well.”

With that, the matter was resolved, and the Queen Sheng breathed a sigh of relief, quickly bidding farewell with Xiao Man. Before leaving, Xiao Man suddenly spoke to Li Zhizhi, “You… you better be careful of Li Suwan.”

Li Zhizhi raised an eyebrow, looking puzzled. “Why?”

“It seems like she harbors a lot of resentment towards you. She has been speaking ill of you to me all this while, and not long ago, she even came to me, asking for help to deal with you,” Xiao Man added immediately, “But I have already refused. You can rest a.s.sured.”

She emphasized, “In fact, after seeing her true face, I have already ended all ties with her. There won’t be any further dealings.”

Upon hearing this, Li Zhizhi was somewhat skeptical but maintained a smile on her face and said, “Thank you for the warning, County Princess.”

After Xiao Man and Queen Sheng left, Grand Princess Yong Ning sighed and said, “She spoke to you like that, and you didn’t tell me. If it weren’t for being in front of Queen Sheng, I would have scolded her to vent your anger.”

But looking at Queen Sheng’s gray hair and haggard appearance due to illness, Grand Princess Yong Ning softened her heart. She turned to Li Zhizhi and asked, “Apart from Xiao Man, who else bullied you in the past? From now on, we’ll take revenge on each one of them.”

Li Zhizhi smiled and replied, “Now that I have you backing me up, no one dares to bully me anymore.”

…

A carriage slowly pa.s.sed through the main street. The coachman was driving when suddenly he heard a commotion from inside the carriage, the sound of something being knocked about. Startled, he nearly dropped the reins.

Inside the carriage, a beautifully crafted oval enamel box fell onto the cushion, its ointment splattered everywhere. A maid knelt beside it, constantly bowing her head in fear, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!”

Xiao Man’s face was filled with anger as she viciously kicked the maid, sending her crashing into the carriage wall with a loud thud. She cursed angrily, “Clumsy fool, what use are you? If your hands are useless, I might as well chop them off!”

Queen Sheng sat aside, anxiously watching her daughter. She gently advised, “Don’t get too angry, or mother will help you—”

“You’re useless too!” Xiao Man’s eyes were red with rage as she shouted at her, “If you were useful, would I endure such humiliation?!”

Queen Sheng looked at her in bewilderment, her lips moving but ultimately not daring to argue. She could only mumble, “Yes, yes, mother was too heavy-handed just now, I’m sorry…”

After a while, Xiao Man seemed to have finally calmed down and said, “It’s none of your business. I asked you to hit me. If you hadn’t hit me hard enough, the Grand Princess wouldn’t have let it go so easily.”

Queen Sheng looked carefully at the imprint on her face, feeling sorry for her, and said, “Why did you go looking for trouble today? We’ve been through so many years together; there’s no need to bow down to the Grand Princess’s estate…”

“Been through it?” Xiao Man glared at her, mocking, “You’ve been through it. Do I have to keep enduring this for the rest of my life? I don’t have your good fortune, with a daughter to take care of everything, living without worries. Am I supposed to marry those lowly merchant’s sons?”

Queen Sheng fell silent, not daring to speak further. Xiao Man took a deep breath, calming herself, and said, “From what I saw today, Grand Princess Yong Ning and Li Zhizhi don’t seem to know about the painting. So, the person in the palace must not know either. That’s the best news.”

Queen Sheng’s face turned slightly pale as she asked, “What do we do now? Man’er, if this gets out, it’s a grave crime of deceiving the king!”

“Do I need you to tell me?” Xiao Man gave her a sideways glance and said, “In any case, we can’t let this drag on like this anymore. Otherwise, trouble will come sooner or later.”

Thinking about the painting, Xiao Man felt a burning rage inside. She had dared to impersonate someone else at that time, and she didn’t get any rewards out of it. Instead, she ended up with the accusation of deceiving the king, which hung over her head like a sword, waiting to fall at any moment.

Every time she thought about it, Xiao Man couldn’t sleep peacefully. That’s why she visited the Grand Princess’s estate today, acting out this drama, to test Grand Princess and Li Zhizhi’s reactions. Luckily, they seemed completely unaware, leaving some room for maneuvering.