Chapter 2 — Calling Off the Wedding at the Shen Estate

My nervous tension finally eased for a fleeting second. Surely, if my Imperial Father knew that someone dared to publicly humiliate me… Head Eunuch Li hurried forward.

“Your Highness, Princess Truong Lac, the Holy Emperor has commanded me to deliver a few words.”

“Today is a day of great joy for Truong Lac. The Emperor wishes you a smooth wedding, a life of harmony between husband and wife, and that you may grow old together.”

“Truong Lac has been cherished and spoiled since childhood. Now that you have married into another house, you should temper your temperament, show respect to your husband’s family, and remain filial to your elders.”

“After entering the Shen household, you must serve the Matriarch of An Quoc with filial piety on my behalf, heed the teachings of the Old Lady, and never show the slightest lack of decorum.”

No sooner had the eunuch finished speaking than the Old Lady of the Shen house gave me no opportunity to reply. She directly ordered her servants to escort him away. A faint, inscrutable smile played upon the corners of her mouth.

“Your Highness, you have heard the Imperial decree yourself.”

“Today, this old woman shall teach you your first lesson in decorum—the meaning of feminine virtue!”

Fury surged within my chest like a rising inferno.

“Old Lady Shen, do you truly believe you can cover the heavens with a single hand?”

“You must have twisted the truth, sending someone to the palace beforehand to turn black into white before my Imperial Father!”

“Otherwise, my Father would never allow you to act with such audacity!”

I took a deep breath, staring directly at her.

“You should know well that I cannot be kept locked within the Shen household forever!”

“When I return to the palace in three days to pay my respects, I will recount every word and deed of today’s humiliation before my Father’s ears!”

“When that time comes, I want to see if my Father will spare your Shen clan!”

Shen Yen, who had been hiding behind his grandmother, finally felt completely at ease. He strolled toward me and leaned down, his voice dropping to a whisper that only I could hear.

“My dear Princess, once our wedding night is over, the raw rice will have been cooked into porridge.”

“From now on, you shall be a true daughter-in-law of the Shen family.”

“Even if you suffer some grievances today, what does it matter?”

He tilted his eyes slightly to look at the Old Lady not far away, his gaze full of certainty.

“Besides, the Imperial house values its reputation above all else. If they learn that my grandmother took on a bad reputation to silence the public for the sake of the Princess, and publicly restored the Princess’s honor, they might even praise her for managing the situation with such thoroughness!”

Having said this, the Old Lady calmly raised her hand.

“What are you all just standing there for?”

The governess-nuns immediately responded and lunged forward, stripping away my wedding robes in one motion! My white undergarments were instantly exposed before everyone present.

I struggled frantically, but the nuns’ grip only tightened.

“You will not have a good end! You will surely meet a wretched death!”

The two nuns ignored my curses, their faces void of emotion as they inspected my body, measuring and probing with their hands. They exchanged a look, and one of them blurted out a baseless lie:

“When Princess Truong Lac stands, her center of gravity tilts backward; her hips are slack, her vital energy is sunken. She no longer possesses the bone structure of an unwed maiden. At the very least… she has suffered five miscarriages!”

“I have been a midwife for thousands of women over thirty years; I have never been wrong!”

I collapsed, screaming:

“How dare you spout such nonsense?! I will kill you all!”

But the guests around us were deaf to my cries.

“They say a Princess is a body of precious gold, yet in truth, she has long since been… tsk, tsk, tsk!”

“No wonder she was so ashamed and enraged just now, wanting to kill to silence witnesses—it turns out the young man was right all along!”

“The Shen family is truly miserable; their act of saving the Emperor was rewarded with a licentious woman!”

The soft, mocking laughter felt as though it were piercing my eardrums. Finally, I could not hold back my tears. The Old Lady even wiped the tears from my face, saying:

“Regardless of how the Princess lived before, you are still a noble Princess, and the Shen family would never dare to treat you with negligence.”

“Therefore, the words you spoke earlier about not wanting to marry were merely the temporary, petulant outbursts of a young girl.”

She turned her head to address the crowd, her voice suddenly raised.

“Guards! Take the Princess to my grandson’s quarters!”

“Continue the wedding ceremony!”

Several stout matrons immediately surrounded me. Shen Yen stepped forward with a languid air. A smile played on his lips, full of a condescending, patronizing grace as he looked down at me.

“My dear Princess, wait until we have consummated the marriage, and in time, you will bear my child.”

“These rumors from today will, of course, no longer be mentioned by anyone.”

“Isn’t that how every woman’s life is lived?”

Taking advantage of the moment before the matrons could fully restrain me, I lashed out and slapped Shen Yen across the face. I pointed at him, shouting:

“When did I ever say I wanted to marry you?!”

“Do you think you can control me with these base tactics? Even if I die, I will never be with the likes of you!”

Shen Yen’s head was knocked to the side by the blow. When he turned back, he no longer bothered to pretend.