The Crown Prince Begged Me Not to Marry Him - Chapter 2

2.

My half-sister had meant to slander me just as she had in my previous life: destroy my reputation, leave me no choice but to marry the Third Prince, Xiao Jingyan, and take my place as the Crown Prince Xiao Jingchao’s bride.

Instead, this turn of events left her utterly dumbfounded. It took her a long while to recover.

After spluttering for some time, all she could manage was, “Um…Elder Sister, don’t do anything rash.”

“Yan…Perhaps His Highness the Third Prince didn’t mean it.”

That only made me more hysterical. “Didn’t mean it? If he didn’t mean it, why are your future brother-in-law’s underpants tucked against his chest?”

I raised my voice. “They’re UNDERPANTS! WORN underpants!”

Then I flung myself at her, grabbed her collar, and shook her hard.

“Shen Wan! Hasn’t the Third Prince always been in love with you? Hasn’t he come to our residence over and over to invite you on outings? Why is he stealing MY FIANCÉ’S UNDERPANTS?”

Then I went back and kicked Xiao Jingyan twice more.

“You underpants-stealing pervert! Aaaah!”

“For heaven’s sake! If you had to steal someone’s, you could have stolen mine! Leave my fiancé’s alone!”

“You’ve defiled my fiancé! I’ll kill you!”

The Empress had meant to scold me for disrupting the imperial polo match, but seeing how distraught I was, she forgot about punishing me and hurried to restrain me.

“Quick! Stop her!”

“Miss Shen, calm yourself! Jingyan is still a prince. Even if he has done wrong, it is for His Majesty and me to judge him. You cannot take punishment into your own hands…”

Her words made me pause.

Seeing that I had stopped hitting Xiao Jingyan, the Empress sighed in relief. She assumed a gracious, forgiving smile and prepared to reason with me.

“Miss Shen…”

I spun around and ran toward a bright yellow tent, shouting all the way.

“Your Majesty! I, Shen Qing, accuse the Third Prince, Xiao Jingyan, of stealing the Crown Prince’s underpants and lusting after his own elder brother! Heaven cannot tolerate such a crime!”

“You must uphold justice for the Crown Prince and me!”

My bellow drew in everyone who had yet to hear what was happening.

Within moments, another wave of gossip broke out.

“What did I just hear? The Third Prince stole the Crown Prince’s underpants, and the future crown princess caught him red-handed?”

“Still, if the Crown Prince’s underpants fell out of the Third Prince’s robes, can the Crown Prince really be entirely blameless? Underpants are worn next to the skin. Unless he took them off himself, how could the Third Prince have got them?”

“Watch your tongue! That is a shocking allegation! Shocking!”

“I knew my ship was real! Back when the world wouldn’t accept their forbidden brotherly love, I sheltered in the Crown Prince’s and the Third Prince’s arms, untouched by wind or frost.”

“…What?”

Before the Emperor, I dissolved into tears.

“Are you saying…the Third Prince didn’t steal them? The Crown Prince took them off himself and tucked them against his brother’s chest?”

“The Crown Prince betrayed me? And the Third Prince betrayed my half-sister?”

The Emperor had been about to reprimand me for barging into his tent. Now he looked ready to cover my mouth with his own hands.

“Silence! My sons would never commit such depravity! Stop spouting nonsense!”

“Someone fetch the Crown Prince at once! Let him prove his innocence!”

The eunuch sent to relay the order spun around and bolted as if afraid I might call out to him. A man chased by a dog couldn’t have run faster.

When Xiao Jingchao appeared, everyone stared in shock.

Limping, his head covered in blood, he strode furiously toward me.