WBSGVS Chapter 199 V2

No one expected everything to unravel just three days after the wedding. The Yu family regretted it deeply, while the Cheng family felt nothing but relief.

Because the Cheng family refused to compromise, the court case was quickly resolved. The marriage contract was annulled, the bride price returned, and all betrothal gifts taken back. The two families were officially severed. As for Yu Qi, with conclusive evidence of marriage fraud, he was stripped of his scholar title and banned from taking the imperial exam for the next ten years.

That was the price of offending the Prime Minister.

—

The next day, Lady Cheng and her daughter entered the palace to thank Princess Leyi. With the empress’s permission, they brought numerous gifts to the Chaoyang Hall.

Upon entering and seeing the young girl seated on the dais, Lady Cheng flushed with guilt. She knelt promptly, bringing her daughter with her. Both placed their hands on the ground and pressed their foreheads to their knuckles as they bowed respectfully.

“Your Highness, please forgive me! I was ignorant and almost squandered your kindness. We’ve come to apologize and to thank you for your righteous intervention. If not for you, the truth would never have come to light!”

Under normal circumstances, a woman of her status would never kneel.

But the fact that Sima Qingli had accurately predicted Yu Qi’s hidden child, and had seen through Lady Cheng’s lies without any investigation proved she possessed true ability.

And if she was right about that, then her earlier prediction—that Cheng Ningyu would die young and in poor health—must be taken seriously too.

Though the Cheng family was powerful, distance made protection difficult. If they ignored this warning, they could have lost their daughter for good. That was something Lady Cheng couldn’t afford.

So this apology was necessary—and heartfelt.

She was truly thankful Princess Leyi hadn’t been driven away by her past attitude.

Cheng Ningyu knelt beside her mother. Recalling how just three days ago she had nearly denounced the princess as a fraud, her cheeks flushed in shame and gratitude. When her mother finished, she said clearly, “Ningyu thanks Your Highness for saving my life. I have no way to repay you—please accept this small token of our gratitude.”

Qingli looked at the courtyard filled with chests and her mouth twitched slightly.

Honestly, she didn’t blame them for not believing her. If she were Cheng Ningyu, she wouldn’t have believed it either, especially not on the wedding night.

But they had eventually followed her advice and acted on it. That was what mattered.

As for this gift… it looked like most of Cheng Ningyu’s dowry.

“Please rise,” Qingli said, helping them up. “There’s no need to go this far. I understand it was difficult to believe me at the time. But you did it anyway—and you saved yourselves. This gift is too much. Take it back later.”

Cheng Ningyu stood and smiled, her eyes bright. “It was only because Your Highness spoke up that I’m standing here today. This gift is proper. And if there’s ever anything you need from me, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Qingli replied frankly, “I truly don’t need it. All this would just go to waste with me. Besides, you’ve already made quite the stir—my goal’s been achieved.”

Cheng Ningyu wanted to insist, but when she saw how sincere Qingli was, she stopped and smiled with admiration.

“Your Highness is truly remarkable.”

Only someone with true vision and talent could treat wealth so lightly.

It was clear now that what the princess wanted wasn’t money or power, but reputation. With her abilities, she didn’t lack for anything else. And if not for being married off to a foreign king, and those years spent in the Cold Palace, she wouldn’t have needed the Cheng family at all.

But since that was the case now, the Cheng family would give their full support!

Under Cheng Ningyu’s gaze, Qingli’s cheeks flushed slightly. She gave a light cough and looked away.

She was noble and unmaterialistic, of course! That was accurate!

…Though she did want the fame.

—

The Cheng family’s decisive and swift handling of the marriage was widely praised.

Still, some questioned why they hadn’t discovered the issue earlier. If they had, the daughter wouldn’t have had to marry at all. Now, even with the engagement annulled, her reputation was damaged, and remarriage would be difficult.

Whenever the Prime Minister heard this, he sighed, “Thank goodness for Princess Leyi. If she hadn’t warned us about my daughter’s unusual fate, and then calculated from Yu Qi’s birth date that he already had a child… we’d never have known until it was too late.”

Lady Cheng added with guilt, “I didn’t want to believe the princess. But even if there was just a one-in-a-thousand chance she was right, I couldn’t risk my daughter. So I told her to feign illness, stall for two days, and wait for the investigation results. Thank goodness we did. I just regret not acting sooner—we still let her go through with the wedding.”

Cheng Ningyu’s brother said angrily, “Who would’ve thought that brat was only seventeen and already had a son?! When I saw the report, we were all struck dumb. I used to send him study materials by fast courier, all to help him pass the exams. And this is how he repaid us! If not for Princess Leyi’s warning, we’d still be in the dark. My mother even thought she was a scammer! Thank heaven she insisted we check anyway…”

“The Cheng family will never forget Princess Leyi’s kindness!”

The members of the Cheng family all spoke with one voice, especially the Prime Minister himself. Whenever anyone asked, he never stopped expressing his gratitude toward Sima Qingli. He praised her uncanny fortune-telling skills endlessly, holding her in the highest regard.

Before long, the entire capital knew: the Princess Leyi, who had spent years in the Cold Palace, was proficient in metaphysical arts?!

Most people were skeptical. Even with the Prime Minister’s endorsement, many found ways to convince themselves otherwise.

But there were still some who believed—after all, a man of the Prime Minister’s stature wasn’t someone you could just ask for help on a whim. Especially not when the cost was his own daughter’s marriage. That was far too high a price to pay unless he was certain.

If the Prime Minister had long known that Yu Qi was no good, the engagement would never have happened in the first place. And if he didn’t know—well, then someone must have warned him.

What’s more, people began bringing up Princess Leyi’s mother again. Before entering the palace, she had been a Taoist priestess. Her master was said to be quite renowned, a traveler who roamed the land. That’s why Lady Bai had been invited into the palace back then—to recite scriptures for Consort Shu.

With that in mind, it seemed only natural that Princess Leyi would inherit some metaphysical abilities.

Still, considering her mother had been imprisoned in the Cold Palace due to accusations of witchcraft, Princess Leyi’s boldness in openly claiming to be skilled in such things was nothing short of astonishing.

When news reached the palace, Sima Chang and the others were stunned and uncertain.

Having interacted with Qingli the most, they were starting to believe it might be true.

How else could one explain a girl in the Cold Palace acting more proud than the daughters of noble families? How could a ten-year-old girl, caring for a five-year-old brother, win over the palace maids, Granny Dai and Xi Ling—both sent by Consort Shu—to serve them so attentively?

If she really had such abilities, everything started to make sense.

Fu Cheng’s expression was grim. As the first one who had pushed Sima Qingli forward, he now regretted it:
“I should’ve picked someone else. There are plenty of noble girls in the imperial clan—properly trained, they would’ve sufficed!”

Sima Qinghe, feeling responsible, didn’t dare speak. She sat with her head down and eyes lowered.

Sima Chang was thinking further ahead. If she truly had such skills but couldn’t be brought to their side, then in the future, Sima Yan would undoubtedly be a threat to his claim to the throne.

Now, even the Prime Minister’s household was openly praising her—and he was the leader of the scholars!

Yi Han, who had been watching Sima Qinghe closely, noticed her unease. A flash of malice passed through his eyes as he said darkly,
“Since things have come to this, we can’t very well change the plan at the last minute. We might as well go all in. No matter how powerful she is—if we act decisively, she’ll still fall.”

Sima Chang’s eyes lit up as he looked at him.

Yi Han added coldly, “Even if she has those skills, she’s still human—and she has one very controllable weakness.”

At that, everyone immediately remembered: previously, Sima Yan had been entrusted by Qingli to Sima Chang’s care. If he wanted to be seen as a qualified heir by the court, he had to be protective of his younger brother. That’s why Sima Chang had treated Sima Yan well, even going out of his way to look after him.

But now that he was needed for other purposes, Sima Yan would just have to take the fall.

As for Sima Chang, taking a punishment was still better than letting Sima Qingli slip out of their grasp.

He nodded slowly. “Let’s start by testing the waters with Sima Yan.”