I Was Supposed to Be the Villainous Consort

"Go fetch Qing Han. I have something to say to you and your daughter."

Mrs. Cai’s heart skipped a beat when she heard her husband. After composing herself, she told Nanny Zhao to go get their daughter.

Song Qinghan arrived quickly. Upon entering and seeing her father, she curtsied first. "Daughter greets Father."

Song Nanzhen looked up, his gaze fixed on Mrs. Cai and his eldest daughter. He took a deep breath and said, "I’ll give you two choices. Either divorce Xu Anxing and escape this pit of fire completely, and I will find a good match for you and marry you off far away. If you’re married far away, no one will know what happened in the Capital City, and you can still live a good life."

Song Qinghan’s pupils contracted. ’Marry me off far away from the Capital City, to some remote place? With no family by my side, what kind of good life could I possibly have?’

Seeing the reluctance on his daughter’s face, Song Nanzhen continued, "If you don’t want a divorce and only want to use your family’s power to get rid of Yan Liu and her children, then you can forget about it."

"Father!" Song Qinghan was shocked. She hadn’t expected her father to be so heartless.

Song Nanzhen stood up and stared at his daughter. "You’ve fought with Xu Anxing several times before. When you felt wronged, it was your eldest aunt who gave you advice and helped you secure your position in the Marquis Mansion. Back then, you never thought of making such a huge scene. Why is that?"

Song Qinghan faltered under her father’s sharp gaze, feeling a pang of guilt.

Mrs. Cai quickly interjected, "My Lord, how can you say such things? Qing Han had no other choice back then..."

"So she has a choice now?"

"Now that you are a Marquis, My Lord, we naturally have no reason to fear the Marquis Wuxin Mansion."

Song Nanzhen sneered, then looked at his wife with disappointment. "And how did this Marquis title come about?"

Mrs. Cai faltered.

"This was earned by Lady Ming, who walked through the gates of hell to give birth to the Eldest Prince for this family!" Song Nanzhen slammed his hand on the table. "Countless people have their eyes on her and the Eldest Prince. Their lives in the palace are difficult, yet instead of trying to ease her burdens, you want to throw our weight around and give others a reason to act against us. If I actually did what you ask, and an Imperial Censor submitted a memorial to impeach me, how would that leave Lady Ming to face the world? How do you think the Emperor would see her? Have you ever once thought about her?"

"And then there’s Bu Yue. He went so far as to leave the Capital City and go south to focus on his studies and better himself. Do you two truly not know why he stays so far away?"

The more Song Nanzhen spoke, the angrier he became, his expression growing darker. "I have always remembered that you are my daughter, and I am your father. I’ve cleaned up your messes despite the trouble you’ve caused. But why should your younger brother and sister be dragged down because of you? What have you ever done for them? What have you ever done for this family?"

"Father, I know you’ve always favored Song Yunzhao. Even now, you’re only thinking of her. She’s the high and mighty Ming Fei in the palace, with the Eldest Prince in her hands. What difficulties could she possibly have? But I’m different! Xu Anxing is a bastard! If that Yan Liu isn’t dealt with, I won’t even have a place to stand in that Marquis Mansion. Father, think about me! I have no other choice..."

"Enough!" Song Nanzhen’s face was dark with utter disappointment. He couldn’t believe she was still so unrepentant. "This is the path you chose, and you’ve already made one mistake. I am giving you a chance now. If you agree to a clean divorce from Xu Anxing, I will find another suitable marriage for you..."

"What do you mean, a ’suitable marriage’? Don’t you just want to find some minor family to marry me off to, far away, so I’ll be out of sight, out of mind? I know you’ve never liked me, Father, but this is going too far! Are you condemning me to a life of suffering? Are you so determined to please Song Yunzhao that you’ll trample me into the mud for the sake of her overwhelming fortune?"

SLAP! Song Nanzhen struck Song Qinghan across the face.

Song Qinghan clutched her face in disbelief.

Mrs. Cai’s face was ashen. She pulled her daughter behind her. "What do you think you’re doing? You might as well just beat us both to death! Qing Han is right! You do favor Song Yunzhao! You’re just trying to please her! What’s a Marquis title? As long as Song Yunzhao is happy, maybe you can trade Qing Han for a Duke’s title!"

Hearing this, Song Nanzhen grew so angry his vision went black. He swayed slightly and grabbed the corner of the table for support. In that instant, he seemed to age ten years.

Song Nanzhen’s dark gaze fell upon Mrs. Cai and Song Qinghan. As they met his eyes, unease and fear rose in their hearts, and their faces grew paler.

Song Nanzhen knew more words were useless. Utterly disappointed, he slowly spoke in a cold voice, "Either you get a divorce, or you go back to the Marquis Wuxin Mansion. From now on, whether you live well or poorly has nothing to do with this family." He then turned to Mrs. Cai. "If you remain obstinate and insist on using the Marquis Mansion’s reputation to aid a tyrant, I will write a letter of divorce to the Yue Family and have them take you back."

Mrs. Cai froze. ’He wants to divorce me?’

After speaking, Song Nanzhen flicked his sleeves and turned to leave. Mrs. Cai lunged at him, wanting to argue it out. Unable to dodge in time, Song Nanzhen was shoved from behind. He slammed into the doorframe. With a loud THUD, a sharp pain shot through his head, and his vision went black before he fainted.

Song Yunzhao didn’t hear the news that Song Nanzhen had been injured by Mrs. Cai until the next day. The First Lady hadn’t expected things to escalate so dramatically and for her third brother-in-law to get hurt. After much thought, she decided to write a letter to Yun Zhao in the palace.

When Song Yunzhao read the letter, she could hardly believe her eyes. ’Mrs. Cai used to hit me when I was very young. They all thought I was too little to remember, but since I transmigrated so early, how could I forget?’

’Back then I was too small. I couldn’t win a shouting match, and I couldn’t win a fight. I could only swallow my anger.’

’Later, when I became more nimble, I would just take off running whenever Mrs. Cai tried to hit me, crying so loudly the whole mansion knew. After that, she didn’t dare lay a hand on me.’

’Now, for Song Qinghan’s sake, she actually hit Father.’

’This was the father who had protected me for so many years. Although I’d only give him a B-minus, in my heart, he was still the best father I could ask for.’

Song Yunzhao immediately had Nanny Yu open the storeroom and take out some precious medicinal herbs. She also sent Zhang Maoquan to make a personal trip to the Marquis Wenxin’s Mansion. In addition, she had him go to Taixi Hall to request that the Emperor bestow an Imperial Physician to check on her father.

’It’s true that one shouldn’t air dirty laundry in public, but since Mrs. Cai and her daughter are so shameless, I’ll make sure their names are known throughout the Capital City.’

’This nonsense about "keeping family matters private" and keeping a bad reputation from spreading? Bah!’

’In our family, only Song Bu Yue and Song Buming are unmarried. As long as I, Ming Fei, maintain my stable position, could they possibly have trouble finding wives?’

’But Mrs. Cai and Song Qinghan must be dealt with. So, because our family gained a title, and I became Ming Fei and gave birth to the Eldest Prince, it’s all just to enable her to act high and mighty in the Marquis Wuxin Mansion? And she even thinks she can dispose of Yan Liu and her two children? Why doesn’t she just ascend to the heavens?’

’Yan Liu is certainly detestable, but in this era, a concubine of her low status is easy enough to deal with. Her two children, however, are illegitimate sons who have been entered into the family registry. Just because you want their lives, does that mean you can have them?’

’Besides, Yan Liu has that infatuated fool Xu Anxing protecting her. If the Song Family insists on having her killed, wouldn’t that create a huge feud?’

’She doesn’t have the ability to handle a concubine and illegitimate sons on her own, but she’s certainly quick to drag her own family down with her.’

’In her dreams!’