Reborn as the Crippled King's Beloved

"She is not of our Murong Family's flesh and blood, from birth she switched places with my own sister. To think, her biological father and brother even lost their lives for her!"

Eldest Sister Murong Man's playful voice came from within the room, and Murong Jiu couldn't believe her eyes, trembling as she held the chicken soup in her hands.

"That whore, if it hadn't been for that man's threats back then, how would I have married her as the Crown Princess Consort? Just look at that ugly face of hers, so disgusting that it makes me want to vomit! And her two bastards, it was such a relief when they met their miserable deaths... Who is it, who's out there!"

The door suddenly opened, and Murong Jiu was caught off guard, grasped by the throat by the Crown Prince who charged out.

Smack!

The carefully simmered chicken soup for two shichen smashed to the ground.

The Crown Prince, who had always been gentle with her, now had a face filled with viciousness: "Dare to eavesdrop, huh? Since that is the case, do not blame me for being ruthless!"

Murong Jiu struggled to beat his hand, gasping with effort:

"Why...err...those are our children, they are not bastards!"

The Crown Prince sneered, "I have never laid a hand on you, the only one I have ever cherished is Manman! Those bastards have already reunited with their real father in the Underworld. I am being merciful by sending you off to join them now!"

"It's impossible!"

Murong Jiu felt soulless and powerless even to struggle.

Was it possible that she hadn't lost her virginity to the Crown Prince all those years ago? Then who in the world was the father of her children?

From the Crown Prince's words, their deaths were not accidental at all!

"Who is that man? Who are my biological parents? Tell me! Tell me!" she shouted, her eyes red with emotion.

"Hmph!"

The Crown Prince didn't say a word, his grip suddenly tightened, and in the throes of suffocation, she saw Eldest Sister's triumphant smile, as if mocking her stupidity, as if she deserved to be manipulated like a pawn.

She also realized that it was Murong Man who had bribed the guard to let her in deliberately, to overhear their conversation, to let the Crown Prince kill her.

Bang!

She was thrown into the deep well, and as water violently flooded her mouth and nose, just before her death, she heard the Crown Prince loudly shouting from above:

"Someone help! The Crown Princess Consort has accidentally fallen into the well!"

...

"Huh!"

Murong Jiu suddenly opened her eyes, gasping for air, and what she saw was surprisingly the bright red bridal chamber and not the icy cold depths of a well.

The bone-deep hatred was still in her chest; she looked at the wedding gown on her, got up in a daze, and looked around, growing more and more astonished.

Isn't this the bridal chamber she stayed in when she married into Prince Ling's Mansion five years ago? Wasn't she pushed into a well and drowned? Why was she here all of a sudden?

Could it be that heaven pitied her and gave her another chance to relive her life?

She instinctively touched her stomach, where, by this time, she was already pregnant.

"Miss, when did you lift your veil?!"

The maid Chun Tao came hurriedly, trying to cover Murong Jiu with the red bridal veil again.

Following Chun Tao was a beautiful and lovely young girl who scoffed and said:

"My Eldest Imperial Brother is marrying Murong Man from the Murong Family, known for her knowledge and virtue, not this ugly, tasteless, and impolite Miss Nine who still dreams of spending her wedding night with him? Rid yourself of that thought!"

Anxious, Chun Tao defended, "No, Fifth Princess, our miss has someone she admires. She was drugged and forced into the bridal sedan! Can't you send someone to take our miss back to the Marquis Mansion?"

Fifth Princess looked at her mockingly, "Huh, go back? Now that you are married, you still think you can go back? Ridiculous! Everyone in Capital City knows that this freak is infatuated with my Second Imperial Eldest Brother, and he is definitely beyond her reach!"

Listening to a conversation that was exactly the same as five years ago, Murong Jiu felt more excitement than before. She really wasn't dead and had returned to the time just after she married into Prince Ling's Mansion five years earlier.

Heaven does have eyes!

Thinking of the words she heard before her death, her heart surged with hatred, and at that moment, she was like a malevolent ghost crawling out of hell, bent on avenging her slaughtered child and her biological family!

The Second Prince mentioned by the Fifth Princess was the later Crown Prince Jun Haoze, born to the same mother as the Fifth Princess, both from the Main Empress.

It was clearly because the Second Prince had first taken special care of her, not minding that she came back to the Capital City from the countryside, treating her with tender affection that led to her developing feelings for him.

She had always believed that their feelings were mutual.

Yet in the mouths of others, it had become her harassing the Second Prince incessantly.

Later, when Eldest Prince Prince Ling married her elder sister Murong Man, it was she who was drugged and forced into the bridal sedan, in a scheme to marry her off to Prince Ling's Mansion.

During the wedding ceremony, someone deliberately lifted her veil to reveal her identity, making it impossible for her to cancel the marriage. Everyone said she was vainly in love, unable to marry the Second Prince, so she took her older sister's place and became the Princess Consort in Prince Ling's Mansion.

But what people did not know was that it was precisely because the Eldest Prince disfigured his face on the battlefield and became lame that Murong Man resisted the marriage. On the wedding day, there was a deceitful switch, and in the end, Murong Man even had an affair with the Second Prince.

Remembering Murong Man's triumphant smile in her previous life, Murong Jiu clenched her fists, a flash of hatred sweeping through her eyes. In this life, she would not only refuse to be their pawn but also become their nightmare!

"Why aren't you speaking, Murong Jiu? You couldn't still be thinking about my Second Imperial Eldest Brother, could you? You really are fickle in love!"

The Fifth Princess raised her voice deliberately upon hearing footsteps outside.

Murong Jiu knew Prince Ling was outside. In her past life, she claimed she only had the Second Prince in her heart and intended to seek a separation even after marrying into Prince Ling's Mansion. Therefore, Prince Ling never set foot in the bridal chamber.

Her feelings for Prince Ling were complex. Even though she was not the one Prince Ling wanted to marry, he never mistreated her. Later, when she became visibly pregnant, Prince Ling agreed to a separation, but it was a pity he died on the battlefield.

Touching her stomach, in this life, she was determined to protect these two children and not let anyone harm them!

That was why she had to stay in Prince Ling's Mansion, to avoid being poisoned while also uncovering everything, including her true identity and the biological father of her children.

She looked up at the Fifth Princess and said:

"Fifth Princess, since I have married into Prince Ling's Mansion, alive I belong to Prince Ling's Mansion and dead I shall be its ghost. I will no longer have any relationships with any man, so please, Fifth Princess, do not spread rumors to ruin my reputation."

"Am I spreading rumors?" The Fifth Princess sneered. "You'd better walk the talk, or if I catch you pestering my Second Imperial Eldest Brother again, beware of being drowned in a pig cage!"

"Alright, Leyang, it's getting late; it's time for you to return to the palace,"

A cold voice came from the doorway.

Murong Jiu looked up to see a tall man in a bright red wedding robe standing at the entrance, his face half-covered with a silver mask. The part of his face that was visible showed a noble and refined appearance, and his whole demeanor was aloof and seemingly unapproachable.

He was the Eldest Prince Jun Yuyan, titled Prince Ling.

Jun Yuyan walked over. Although he moved slowly, it was evident that his right foot was slightly impaired.

"Eldest Imperial Brother, I was teaching her a lesson for you. You were supposed to marry Sister Man, but ended up marrying her. I feel wronged on your behalf!" said the Fifth Princess, pouting unhappily.

While she appeared to be on Jun Yuyan's side, in reality, she was deliberately trying to provoke conflict, but he remained unmoved, his expression calm.

The Fifth Princess said a few more words, but Jun Yuyan did not respond. Seeing that she was getting nowhere, she huffed at Murong Jiu and left.

Chun Tao cautiously looked up at the tall new master, recalling the words her miss had just said. Hesitating briefly, she bowed her head, went out, and closed the door.

A night of wedding bliss was worth a thousand gold, but obviously, neither of them was in the mood for such things.

"You needn't be nervous, I will not touch you," Jun Yuyan said to her calmly.

Murong Jiu touched her face mockingly, which was marked with a black birthmark, and said, "Prince is joking; I don't think my face has any appeal to you."

It was indeed that very night, under the cover of darkness without any lights and under the influence of the drug when a man had his way with her. Ridiculously, she had believed it was the Second Prince, and the Second Prince had admitted to it. But in the end, it was not him at all.

She lifted her head, meeting Jun Yuyan's penetrating gaze, and said bluntly:

"I won't hide it from you, Prince; I am no longer pure, and moreover, I am now with child. If you wish to marry my older sister, you can send me back to Marquis Mansion and have an Imperial Physician publicly take my pulse to cause a scandal. I am sure Your Majesty would grant you justice."

"What did you say?"