The Crown Prince Begged Me Not to Marry Him - Chapter 1

1.

At the imperial polo match, the Third Prince fell from his horse, his robes falling open across his chest.

My younger half-sister shrieked on instinct. “Elder Sister, your under—huh? What’s that?”

I cut her off. Staring into the Third Prince’s open collar, I screamed as if my world had collapsed.

“UNDERPANTS! Those are the underpants I embroidered for His Highness the Crown Prince! What are they doing tucked against the Third Prince’s chest?”

Then I threw myself at the Third Prince, Xiao Jingyan, and slapped him senseless.

“Aaah! Drop dead, you sick freak!”

“Stealing your own elder brother’s underpants and keeping them against your chest! Have you no shame?”

“The Crown Prince is MINE!”

Xiao Jingyan’s face swelled under my slaps. Palace maids and serving girls on either side desperately tried to pull me away.

“Miss Shen, please calm down! You’re going to knock His Highness’s head sideways!”

“Yes, Miss Shen, have mercy! P-please stop hitting our prince! He doesn’t know anything about this either!”

That last plea came from Xiao Jingyan’s attendant. I grabbed him by the collar.

“He doesn’t know? Does that mean YOU do?”

“Did YOU steal the Crown Prince’s underpants?”

“Aaah! I embroidered those with my own hands for my darling Crown Prince! What gives you perverts the right to steal them?”

Then I started pummeling the attendant.

The gathering dissolved into chaos.

Mostly, though, people were fascinated. And amazed.

“Good heavens! The Third Prince and the Crown Prince are brothers! To lust after his own elder brother—how utterly depraved!”

“If the Crown Prince’s underpants are tucked inside the Third Prince’s robes, does that mean the Crown Prince is wearing nothing under his…?”

“Incest! Between brothers! Who knew the imperial family was this wild?”

“Er…am I the only one wondering why Miss Shen gave the Crown Prince underpants she embroidered herself? Even for an engaged couple, that’s pretty outrageous.”

I rounded on the speaker. “Mind your own business! As His Highness’s fiancée, isn’t it perfectly normal to want to know my future husband’s size before we marry?”

“And that still doesn’t give the Third Prince any right to steal the underpants I embroidered for him!”

The crowd had a revelation. “You can do that? Well, you learn something new every day.”

The Empress had been about to reprimand me. In my previous life, she had listened to one side of the story just like this, condemned me for my lack of womanly virtue, and canceled my marriage to the Crown Prince on the spot. Instead, she had betrothed me to the Third Prince, whose birth mother was of lowly status.

This time, however, perhaps because I was so distraught—and had beaten the Third Prince and his attendant so badly—she spoke to me much more quietly.

“Well…Miss Shen, could this be a misunderstanding? They aren’t necessarily the Crown Prince’s…”

I cut her off before she could finish.

“Your Majesty needn’t cover for the Third Prince. If he dares do it, why should he be afraid to admit it?”

“I embroidered that Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix design stitch by stitch. I would recognize it even if it were burned to ashes!”

Just then, the Third Prince came to and tried to explain.

“Qing’er, I…”

I shuddered.

Qing’er?

He was calling me by my personal name?

In my previous life, we had had no dealings with each other before our marriage.

Whenever he visited the Chancellor’s residence, he had come to see my half-sister Shen Wan, not me, Shen Qing.

He had only started calling me Qing’er after we married.

Why was he calling me that now?

Had this bastard been reborn too?

In my previous life, he had deceived me and made me waste my entire life. And now he meant to ruin this one too!

I couldn’t let him live!

With that thought, I rushed forward and slapped him twice more.

“Shut up! Who gave you the right to call me Qing’er?”

“You shameless little tramp! Trying to seduce your own elder brother—crawl back into whatever hole you came from!”