Liu was alone in the room, with the window open, trimming the potted plants by the window with scissors, and asked in a low voice, "Is the Prince still in the pavilion with those two children?"
The flowers in front of her trembled slightly, carrying the message out. All plants were at her disposal, and a message came back a moment later, letting her know that Xu Zifan was still playing with the two children.
She was unaware of the plot of this world; she was merely a transmigrator from the apocalypse, and she understood the importance of social hierarchy and power, wanting to secure a more stable position for herself.
She lowered her eyes in deep thought. This prince wasn't highly regarded in court, but he was very family-oriented and cared deeply for his children. Since Li Shi dared to use her children as a pretext, Xu Zifan immediately disliked her. Therefore, her best course of action was to strengthen her body, have several children, and cherish them. That would surely earn her Xu Zifan's attention, giving her an invincible position within the household.
However, Li's attempt to frame the princess failed, and the princess turned the tables on her. The women in this household are all ruthless; if she wants to live peacefully, she must be cautious and vigilant. If anything goes wrong, she won't hesitate to act decisively!
Lost in thought, Liu accidentally cut off a flower in front of her with a pair of scissors. She put down the scissors, wiped her hands, and called a maid to come in and replace it with a new pot. With her supernatural abilities, she didn't believe she could have a bad time here.
[Shaohua: Host, what should we do about the Liu family?]
[Xu Zifan: No rush. Let her investigate if she wants. What else can she do? This is ancient times; any restrictions will make her unable to move an inch. Knowing other people's secrets doesn't mean she has the ability to develop power. These people would cause a bloodbath in modern times; they're probably just unlucky to be born here.]
[Shaohua: I wonder what the apocalypse is like, that it could make someone so cold-blooded and ruthless.]
[Xu Zifan: You can watch those movies and TV dramas. I think if it really came to an apocalypse, society would be similar to what's depicted in those shows. After all, in a life-or-death situation, both the good and evil of human nature would be magnified infinitely. One wrong thought could lead to utter ruin. There would be very few people you could trust. It would be a world filled with despair.]
[Chang Sheng: Master, let's go! I can escape when we reach that chaotic world!]
Xu Zifan chuckled. "[Don't let your guard down. Who knows, in the apocalypse, all sorts of superpowered individuals might team up and wipe you out. There are always stronger people out there, and there's always something beyond your understanding. You'll see when you go to a world with many powerful individuals.]"
[Shaohua: Yes, always stay vigilant. Changsheng, don't grow up to be a brat.]
[Chang Sheng: I'm not a brat, I listen to my master in everything.]
With Shaohua and Changsheng by his side, Xu Zifan never felt bored anywhere, and he felt like he was no longer fighting alone. He also found it quite amusing to listen to them bickering occasionally.
Xu Zifan played with the two children for a while, and only returned home when it was almost lunchtime, where he ate with them again. Liu Shi became even more determined to have children to elevate her status. Princess Zhang, upon learning this, was somewhat surprised, thinking that perhaps it was because Xi Yun had almost drowned in this life, and Cheng'er was so clever and adorable, that Xu Zifan liked them.
When Cheng'er woke up from his afternoon nap, the princess immediately had someone bring him over and asked him, "What did you learn from your father today?"
Cheng'er lowered her head guiltily, "Today... Father took my sister and me to play..."
The princess smiled and said, "Cheng'er, do you know why Xiyun fell into the pond yesterday?"
[Shaohua: Host, it seems the Princess Consort intends to discipline Cheng'er.]
Shao Hua projected the scene from the Princess's side onto the virtual screen. Xu Zifan put down his book, glanced at it a few times, got up, and called to Hu Feng, "Let's go see the Princess."
Cheng'er was very curious about her younger sister falling into the water. She looked up and asked the princess, "Why? Did my sister fall in accidentally while playing by the pond?"
The princess shook her head. "No, it was your sister's birth mother, Concubine Li. Concubine Li wanted to frame me. She deliberately smeared oil on the stones by the pond. Fuling saw that Xiyun was there alone and went to look after her out of kindness, but she and Xiyun fell into the water together. Then Concubine Li said that she pushed Xiyun into the water."
Cheng'er was only three years old and couldn't understand the complicated relationships involved. He asked in a daze, "Mother, is my sister's mother trying to harm you? Is she a bad person? What about my sister?"
The princess bent down and pressed on Cheng'er's little shoulders, saying earnestly, "Cheng'er, siblings with only one father and one mother are truly siblings. Xiyun's mother is Li, and she's not on our side. Even if she can play with you now, she'll still side with her mother when she grows up. Think about it, if I disliked someone, wouldn't you help me?"
Cheng'er nodded blankly, "I'll help Mother."
"That's right. You two aren't born of the same mother, so you're destined not to be very close. Therefore, you must remember to be wary of Xiyun and not spend too much time with her. She's not as reliable as the servants around you, understand?" With her son not by her side, the princess was extremely worried. When she learned that Xu Zifan had actually let the two children play together, she was very concerned that Li Shi might use this to her advantage in the future. After all, Li Shi was ruthless enough to even harm her own daughter. Who knew how heartless she would become in the future? She felt that the children must learn about these intrigues and power struggles from a young age and know who the enemy was.
Xu Zifan pushed open the door and entered, coldly saying, "Your Highness, is this how the Marquis of Pingyang taught you? To disregard sibling affection and fight endlessly with family members?"
The princess was so startled that she stood up abruptly, almost knocking Cheng'er over. Xu Zifan quickly picked Cheng'er up, and Cheng'er buried her face in Xu Zifan's shoulder in fright.
The princess looked towards the doorway and saw the old woman and...
The maidservant knelt there, her face filled with anxiety, secretly resenting their incompetence. She forced a smile and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, what brings you here? Your Highness has misunderstood me. My intention was to warn Cheng'er to be wary of Li Shi. After all, Li Shi treats even her own daughter this way; who knows what else she might do? But Cheng'er is still young, and I was afraid he wouldn't understand, so I thought I should tell him not to be too close to Xi Yun. I know I was wrong; I shouldn't have been so anxious. I misled Cheng'er; please forgive me, Your Highness."
Xu Zifan patted Cheng'er's head and called Hu Feng over, "Take Cheng'er outside, the princess and I have something to say."
"Yes, Your Highness." Hu Feng carried Cheng'er outside into the courtyard, preventing him from hearing the sounds from inside the house.
Xu Zifan, with his hands behind his back, didn't tell the princess to rise, but instead made her half-squat and curtsy. He said coldly, "Princess, do you think I'm a three-year-old child who would believe you? I thought you were dignified, generous, virtuous, and well-mannered, but I never expected you to have such a silver tongue. It's understandable that you're worried about Cheng'er, but Cheng'er is only three years old, and you're already teaching him these fallacies. Have you thought about what kind of person Cheng'er will grow up to be? Petty and suspicious? Did the Marquis of Pingyang and his wife teach you like this when you were young?"
The princess hadn't expected him to hear so much, and she was speechless with grievances. She could only lower her head and admit her mistake, "Yes, Your Highness, I know I was wrong. I was really frightened by what happened yesterday. I was in a moment of panic and misunderstood. Please forgive me, Your Highness."
"The household has been unstable lately. How have you, as the princess consort, managed things? I can tell you're just too exhausted to handle so many things. From now on, you don't need to worry about Cheng'er's upbringing. I will teach him well myself. If you care about him, just bring him some food and drink often, and be a kind mother when he comes to pay his respects. If I find out again that you've corrupted Cheng'er, you'll never see him again!" Xu Zifan snorted coldly, ignoring her sudden change in expression and her attempts to stop him, and turned to leave.
"Your Highness! Your Highness—" The princess chased after him to the door, watched as Xu Zifan carried Cheng'er away in his arms, and then, leaning against the door frame, her legs gave way and she slid to the ground.
The old woman was so frightened that she rushed to help her up. "Your Highness, what's wrong? Should we call a doctor?"
The princess shoved her aside, glaring at her fiercely as she demanded, "What are you all good for? No one dared to utter a sound when the prince entered. I, the princess, have been reprimanded, and you expect to get away with it?"
The old woman said with a bitter face, "Your Highness, please forgive me, it's just that... His Highness's expression just now was too frightening. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he ordered people to arrest us and not allow us to speak. We... we really had no choice."
"Shut up! Stop making excuses! If you were truly loyal to me, you would have risked your lives to make a sound so I would know." In her previous life, the princess was an empress, and the people around her were naturally more useful than these people now. As soon as something happened, she immediately began to despise them for being useless.
However, after venting her anger with a few curses, she remained calm, stood up and said in a deep voice, "This is the only time, there must be no next time."
She went back to her room, sat down, straightened her sleeves, and whispered to the nanny, "The fact that the Prince arrived so quickly means there are spies in our courtyard, deliberately complaining to the Prince and finding fault with me. The most suspicious is Li Shi. We can't let our guard down with the concubines either. Investigate carefully and find all the spies!"
"Yes, this servant will go and investigate right away." The old woman hurriedly agreed. Seeing that the princess did not punish her, she breathed a sigh of relief and vowed to make the courtyard as solid as an iron barrel, not allowing any nails to be left behind.
After the servants left, the princess waved her hand, sweeping all the porcelain off the table, her chest heaving with anger. Her teachings to her son were the true principles—what did brothers and sisters matter? When the princes vied for the throne, they would all be enemies. What was wrong with her teaching her son this way? In her past life, didn't Xu Zifan say that Cheng'er was too kind to be emperor? Why was he saying she had corrupted Cheng'er in this life? Xu Zifan himself was fighting to the death with his brothers; what right did he have to criticize her?
The princess never felt she had done anything wrong. Having been given a second chance at life, she didn't want to miss any opportunities and placed all her hopes on her son. She hoped that after Xu Zifan ascended the throne, Cheng'er would have a smooth journey to become the crown prince and inherit the throne. How could she be wrong? These were all lessons learned from her experiences.
But Xu Zifan has separated Cheng'er from her, so she can't teach Cheng'er anything, and Cheng'er will spend all day with that Li family's daughter. What should she do?
The princess hated Xu Zifan to the core. She believed that Xu Zifan was too busy vying for the throne and then too busy with state affairs after ascending the throne to pay attention to Cheng'er's education. Wouldn't that delay Cheng'er's development? Wouldn't it be Yang's unborn son who benefited in the end?
The princess was furious when she thought about how Yang's son had inherited the throne in her previous life. She had spent her whole life suppressing Yang, keeping her as a concubine and preventing her from even becoming a noble consort. Who knew that Xu Zifan would actually pass the throne to Yang's son, making Yang an empress dowager who was on equal footing with her! How could she be willing to accept this?
The princess racked her brains trying to figure out how to solve her current predicament. After a while, she smiled and called someone in to instruct, "Cousin Chen hasn't come for a long time. She adores Xiyun, and she would be heartbroken if she knew Xiyun was sick. Send someone to bring her here so she can comfort Xiyun properly."