Chapter 11 — Wedding Day Switch: My Husband Traded Me Away

I gently set the ledger down on the table and asked in a calm, steady voice, "Has the Prince... truly locked himself away in the study for a whole day, refusing to see a single soul?"

Old Nurse Zhang was already choked with tears, her voice trembling as she replied, "Everyone who has served long in this household knows that whenever the Prince acts like this, it is a foreboding sign that someone is about to perish!"

Of course, I knew that Feng Yuan would fly into a rage. No man of his stature could ever endure such a profound humiliation—least of all someone whose pride was etched deep into his very bones.

"I understand," I said, rising gracefully from my seat. "Prepare the bathwater; I wish to cleanse myself and change my attire."

"My Princess, what is it that you intend to do..." Nurse Zhang looked at me, her eyes filled with profound confusion and distress.

"I am going to see the Prince."

I changed into a refined, elegant white flowing gown. I wore no opulent ornaments or dazzling jewels, adorning my hair with only a single, unadorned white jade hairpin. Carrying a porcelain bowl of lotus seed soup that I had brewed entirely with my own hands, I walked steadily toward the heavy doors of the study. Two guards stood sentinel outside like towering pillars of iron. The moment they caught sight of me, they instinctively crossed their halberds to bar my path.

"My Princess, the Prince has given strict orders that none are to enter."

"Step aside."

My voice was not loud, yet it carried an irresistible, chilling authority. The two guards exchanged troubled glances, hesitation clearly warring on their faces. "My Princess, please do not make things difficult for us subordinates..."

"If you refuse to move, I shall kneel right here upon these stones until he agrees to see me."

With those words, I raised the bowl of lotus seed soup high above my head and lowered myself, keeping my spine ramrod straight, onto the cold bluestone pavement before the study doors. I knew full well the gravity of the gamble I was taking today. I was wagering everything on just how much weight I held within Feng Yuan's heart. If not even a shred of genuine affection existed between us, then today I might truly meet my end upon these very stones. Yet, if he held even a flicker of care for me, he would never bear to watch me kneel indefinitely.

Time slipped away drop by drop. My arms began to ache numbly from holding the heavy bowl aloft, and a deep, biting numbness spread through my knees. Just as my strength was finally on the verge of giving out, a low, grating groan echoed as the study doors slowly swung open from within.

Feng Yuan appeared at the threshold, seated in his wheeled chair. His expression was pitch-dark, terrifying to behold. Within the fathomless depths of his eyes, a towering inferno of rage churned alongside a bone-chilling, razor-sharp murderous intent.

"Why have you come here?" His voice was as frigid as winter ice.

"I have come to confess my guilt," I met his gaze, neither humble nor overbearing.

"Confess your guilt?" A harsh, bleak laugh escaped his lips. "What guilt could you possibly bear?"

"This concubine has engaged in illicit affairs with another, staining the pristine reputation of the Prince's estate and bringing utter disgrace upon Your Highness. My crimes deserve death a thousand times over."

Every word I spoke was crystal clear. I offered no excuses, uttered no grievances, and instead shouldered every single accusation directly onto my own shoulders. The raging fire within his eyes seemed to leap higher, burning with a furious intensity.

"You admit to it?"

"I do." I nodded slowly.

He stared fixedly at me, his chest heaving violently beneath his robes. After a long, suffocating silence, a sudden laugh escaped his throat—a laugh so cruel, so steeped in the scent of blood.

"Very well. Splendid." He said, "Since you have confessed, this Prince shall grant you your wish."

With a swift motion, he drew a short blade from his waist. The steel gleamed with a merciless, razor-sharp edge, reflecting the cold light of the fading twilight. Wheeling himself forward, he advanced toward me inch by inch. The guards and servants scattered across the courtyard were trembling so violently they fell to their knees in sheer terror.

I watched the deadly blade draw closer and closer, yet deep within my chest, my heart remained strangely, unnervingly calm. I did not close my eyes. Instead, I met his terrifying gaze head-on, unflinching.

The tip of the dagger came to a sudden halt, resting directly against my throat. A mere fraction of an inch further, and it would have pierced straight through my flesh.

"Is there anything else you wish to say before the end?" he demanded, his voice devoid of even a shred of human warmth.

I looked at him, and quite unexpectedly, a faint smile graced my lips. "Your Highness, would you prefer to hear comforting falsehoods or the unvarnished truth?"

He seemed taken aback, perhaps never anticipating such a response, and paused for a fraction of a second. "What difference does it make?"

"The falsehoods would be that this concubine's sins are unforgivable, and that even in death I harbor no regrets."

"As for the truth..."

I paused for a brief moment, locking my eyes firmly into his, and pronounced each syllable with deliberate clarity.

"If Your Highness truly chooses to take my life today based solely on these baseless rumors and unfounded whispers..."

"Then it will only prove that you, Feng Yuan, are nothing more than a foolish man easily manipulated by idle gossip."

"If I were to die in such a manner... my death would truly be a tragic waste."

The entire courtyard sank into a tomb-like silence. Every living soul present was so utterly paralyzed by shock that their very wits seemed to have fled their bodies. To dare stand before the powerful Prince Regent himself and boldly accuse him of sheer foolishness—it was an act of unimaginable audacity.