Chapter 23

It was late at night. I chewed on the cold rice that had been brought to me, still huddled close to my mother.

“Mother, this all happened too fast.” I bit my lip, feeling like something was wrong. “We didn’t even teach anything controversial-so why were we arrested?”

With a creak, the distant prison door was pushed open.

The jailers bowed and scraped as they ushered someone in.

The tinkling of the hairpins at her temples answered my question.

It really was her.

The legitimate daughter of Duke of Zhen, Xie Sihua. Now the Crown Princess.

She waved the jailers away and stood before me.

Separated by the bars, she stood there in luxurious robes, high and mighty.

The stench in the prison was putrid and suffocating. She took out a handkerchief and pressed it to her nose in disgust.

“Odd Changes, Even Unchanged.” (She recited a familiar mnemonic-used here as a code phrase.)

I nearly choked on my own saliva.

I really should’ve acted like my mother and just hit her-she jokingly calls it a “socialist combo punch.”

But from the look on her face, it was obvious she wasn’t here to reminisce.

“Check Symbol by Quadrant.” (I answered, following the routine-another code.)

Xie Sihua got the answer she wanted and smiled. “Looks like we caught the right person.”

She bent down, reached through the bars, and brushed aside the hair that had fallen over my face.

“You’re actually quite pretty,” she said, a bit wary. “If we hadn’t caught you, I really wouldn’t feel at ease.”

She straightened, wiped her hand with the handkerchief, then tossed it onto the ground.

“So, tell me. You’re so capable, running a school with such flair-who are you trying to attract?”

“I’ve looked into you. The legitimate daughter of a Zhonglang General, and yet so restless. Are you rejecting the suitors from several Earl’s Mansions because you think their families are beneath you?”

I was speechless.

Truly speechless.

“Didn’t you at least finish nine years of compulsory education? How did you end up here, with your head full of nothing but the Cult of Legitimacy and Illegitimacy, snatching men, harming women, and scheming left and right?”

Xie Sihua’s face turned pale, her anger rising. “Heh, easy for you to say. After all your scheming, who’s your target? The Crown Prince? The Prince of Chu?”

Then a hint of smugness appeared on her face. “I’m the Crown Princess now. Whatever you want to do, you don’t stand a chance.”

“Stop that petty rivalry. No one’s fighting you for a man.”

“You think This Palace would believe that?”

I surrendered. “Alright, alright, at worst you can scar my face.” I pushed my mother forward. “Or, you could let my mother go. She’s just a traditional woman who never leaves the house. She only helped with the school because I talked her into it.”

I gripped my mother’s hand tightly, not letting her speak. Honestly, I was extremely nervous inside.

From Xie Sihua’s attitude, it was clear she wasn’t going to give me a way out.

The only reason I was still speaking to her calmly was to try to win my mother a sliver of hope.

“Hahaha, don’t make me laugh. Not just your mother-none of those lowborns from your school are getting out,” Xie Sihua said, her face twisted with malice.

My heart instantly turned cold.

“You’re too naive. Enlightening the people? Undermining the very foundation of the state?”

“I worked so hard to defeat so many people and become the Crown Princess. Soon, I’ll be Empress, and my son will be the next Emperor.”

“I won’t let anyone have any chance to destroy all of this.”

“After all, there can only be one person holding the script of the Big Female Lead, right?” Xie Sihua smiled confidently.

She pulled out a small porcelain bottle and tossed it at my feet. “Since we’re both from the same hometown, I’ll give you a bottle of poison. It’s more dignified than being beheaded.” With that, she turned and left.