The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl

“You think you are still the eldest daughter of the right prime minister’s family! Your father is just a sixth-rank official now and is even implicated by the deposed prince. What kind of life is our family living now? On tenterhooks! I am afraid that after today, there will be no tomorrow. At this time, do you think we can still tolerate your willful behavior?! Have you ever thought that if you resist the decree today, tomorrow our family will be tied up at Caishikou? Losing one’s head is the result of previous lives’ accumulated blessings. If we anger the king, our heads and limbs would be tied and split by horses!”

Duan Rulan was so overwhelmed by Duan Furen’s outburst that her mouth was momentarily agape with shock, then she started crying again.

“Lan’er, there’s nothing I can do about it,” Duan Furen’s voice softened again as she patted her daughter’s shoulder lightly and tiredly said, “Lan’er, I know I’ve wronged you, but what can I do? Wan Guifei is proud, and I’m afraid that it won’t be long until His Majesty appoints the son of Wan Guifei as the crown prince. We have to be cautious, especially at this time. Are you really going to dig our own grave?”

“But mother…” Duan Rulan was desperate and sad, and fell into Duan Furen’s arms crying.

…

It was already late in the night when Duan Rulan was finally coaxed to sleep, and Duan Furen returned to their room with red eyes. Duan Chenghong was still not asleep and was sitting on the edge of the bed with his clothes on in a daze. Hearing the sound of the door being pushed, he only then came back to his senses. Seeing her appearance, he couldn’t help sighing, “Has that girl figured it out?”

Duan Furen wiped her tears, nodded, and walked over to sit next to Duan Chenghong. After being exhausted for the past few months, her well-maintained appearance had shown a lot of aging. She wiped away her tears, paused, and said to Duan Chenghong with sobs, “I’ve really wronged Lan’er…”

“Whether wronged or not, winners and losers have always been like this since ancient times. There’s nothing to say.” Duan Chenghong’s eyes were full of regret.

Two years ago, the deposed Crown Prince’s main wife, Ding shi, died of illness. In order to hug the Crown Prince’s thick thigh, he ran back and forth with great effort to get his then-14-year-old daughter married to the Crown Prince when she reached adulthood and became Crown Princess. With this engagement, the Duan clan gained a firm foothold in the court. In recent years, he had been proud of this marriage contract. Who would have thought that such a mess would suddenly happen? 

It was like a thunderbolt out of the blue.

“The day after tomorrow will be the day when my daughter will leave the capital,” Duan Furen sighed. “We used to have a lot of dowry prepared for her, but now our family is like this… I’m afraid we can’t even get a decent wedding dress, not even a dowry maid. That child has been used to being pampered since she was a child and has an intense temperament. How will she live in the future?”

After a long silence, Duan Chenghong said in a deep voice, “Let that girl named Ah Chou be her dowry maid and follow Lan’er to Ningguta.”

“But…she…” Duan Furen was surprised and lowered her voice. “But isn’t that girl from Zhao Guifei? I’m worried that if we let her follow Lan’er, she’ll hurt our daughter.” 

“I’ve been observing that girl these days. She’s not a vicious person. The most she could do is to give Zhao Guifei a tip-off,” Duan Chenghong said.

“Is that alright?” Duan Furen said anxiously, “With ears following her every day, won’t Lan’er’s every move be heard by Zhao Guifei? Wouldn’t Lan’er’s life become more difficult?”