Blame the Villain – Chapter 70

Villainous Crown Prince (12)

As the winter passed and spring approached, time flew by quickly. As the temperature gradually rose, the tender shoots under the walls of the Wang family started to sprout new green leaves, and wildflowers outside the city began to bloom – it was time for Song Xuyi to return home.

With tears in his eyes, Wang Mian prepared a car full of luggage, intending to personally accompany Song Xuyi to Yunzhou to see her off.

No one had anticipated that when Song Xuyi set off on her journey, the roads on both sides would be crowded with people.

“Princess Xuyi, may you have a smooth journey, and may you live a long and prosperous life.”

“Thank you, Princess, for your great kindness. Thanks to you, my family was finally able to have a decent meal during the New Year’s celebration.”

“Thank you, Princess, for your generosity. This year, my family had extra food, and my daughter could finally wear new clothes…”

……

The common people knew that the princess lacked nothing and did not understand the fancy rhetoric. Instead, they expressed their gratitude to Song Xuyi with the simplest actions and words.

Countless fresh flowers were thrown by the people from both sides of the road, landing on Song Xuyi’s carriage like a shower of colorful flower petals.

Doing those things, Song Xuyi originally just wanted to live up to her princess identity, but she hadn’t expected the people to remember her in this way. Hearing the sincere words of thanks around her, Song Xuyi felt a bit shy and lowered her head, yet she felt a strong sense of pride and satisfaction in her heart: the happiest thing in the world was when one’s efforts were genuinely appreciated…

Sitting on his horse, Wang Mian also felt a bit dazed by the scene: at his advanced age of knowing destiny, it was the first time he had witnessed such a spontaneous act of the people lining the road.

Having held high office and influenced the Emperor, now commanding the central region with everyone greeting him warmly wherever he went, yet never before had he seen such genuine gratitude from the heart…

The establishment of noble families can be traced back to a hundred years ago when the Emperor implemented the principles of court supervision and local autonomy to improve the lives of the people. To this day, every noble family displays a plaque reading “Love the People.” When did these noble families begin to see themselves as superior to all the common people, causing the people to lose their land and become servants, wandering and displaced?

Is it the corrupted world or the corrupted human hearts?

Listening to the gratitude of the people, feeling a sense of pride, Wang Mian felt as if he had been slapped hard on the face: he faintly sensed something, but even as the head of the largest noble family, he did not dare to easily touch upon those things…

The dense crowd resembled a river, gathering behind the carriage to bid farewell to Song Xuyi, with new people constantly joining in.

People loudly called out Song Xuyi’s name, as if even the birds in the sky were infected by the people’s enthusiasm, and countless magpies circled around Song Xuyi’s carriage…

Not only in the central city of Zhongzhou, but also in the counties and villages under Zhongzhou, when they heard that Princess Xuyi, who “discovered new food and improved farming tools,” was coming, the people voluntarily lined the roads to welcome her, expressing their gratitude and blessings…

Carrying the wishes of these people along the way, Song Xuyi boarded the ship back to the capital city.

Watching the densely packed crowd on the dock, shouting “Princess, may you have endless blessings and peace,” as they hurried to bid farewell, the system’s tone contained a hint of emotion: “I have a feeling that if you continue on this path, you will change this era.”

The system had not followed other taskers and did not know what they were like during tasks, but it knew that taskers like Song Xuyi were extremely valuable. She had her own principles and goals, and she would not alter them for the sake of the task, always retaining a pure heart.

“In your original world, you must have been an exceptional person,” the system continued emotively.

Song Xuyi’s eyes dimmed and she shook her head, saying, “Not necessarily.”

The system initially didn’t understand what Song Xuyi meant. It was unclear whether she was denying her ability to change the era or if she was negating being an exceptional person in her original world. It wasn’t until the group returned to the capital city that Song Xuyi saw the Emperor, and the system finally grasped the meaning behind Song Xuyi’s words.

The commotion caused by Song Xuyi in Zhongzhou was significant, and the Emperor couldn’t possibly be unaware of her actions there. Regardless of her achievements, after over a year apart, the Emperor’s daughter returning from her grandfather’s house should have warranted an expression of fondness. However, the Emperor’s gaze towards Song Xuyi was extremely cold. Sitting high on his throne, he looked down at his daughter whom he hadn’t seen in a while, loudly reprimanding her for exposing herself at such a young age. He then issued a ban on Song Xuyi, ordering her to stay in the palace by the Empress Wang’s side.

Empress Wang, angered by the cold treatment towards Song Xuyi, argued with the Emperor. Symbolically, the Emperor rewarded Song Xuyi with a pile of gifts but never visited her again.

“Men are always so fickle,” Empress Wang, who had been overly protected by Wang Mian, was somewhat naive. She still hadn’t understood the reason for the Emperor’s change in attitude, thinking it was due to him finding someone new and forgetting the past. Fuming, she gripped her handkerchief tightly, “Consort Xu has also given birth to a daughter. Your father has been staying with Consort Xu all this time…”

Consort Xu is the daughter of the Xu family, the second-largest noble family after the Wang family.

In the past, the Xu family could barely compete with the Wang family, but during Song Xuyi’s stay in Zhongzhou for over a year, the Wang family’s rise attracted numerous talents, leaving the Xu family far behind.

However, even given another chance to choose, Song Xuyi would still opt to stay in Zhongzhou and do something for the people.

“In the end, mother is an empress, and as a mother, there’s no need to quarrel with them. It’s a good opportunity for this daughter to spend time with mother during this period. It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, and this daughter misses mother dearly…” Song Xuyi held Empress Wang’s hand, not intending to reveal the truth to her. With just a few words, she managed to make Empress Wang smile.

From then on, Song Xuyi stayed in Empress Wang’s palace.

With Empress Wang’s protection, Song Xuyi lived a quiet and peaceful life in the palace. However, while the harem remained tranquil, turmoil brewed in the former dynasty.

The newly appointed Crown Prince of Wu Country was suddenly bitten by a venomous snake, and his life seemed to hang in the balance. Calls for the Emperor to seize the opportunity to attack Wu Country arose, but the Emperor remained silent.

About half a year after Song Xuyi’s return, rumors once again circulated about her forcefully kidnapping Prince Nie of Wu Country. With the appointment of a new Crown Prince in Wu Country and the sympathy naturally arising for the ousted Prince Nie, incited by those with ulterior motives, the people of Lido grew more resentful towards the arrogant Princess who allegedly mistreated the Prince Nie.

Upon hearing the rumors, Empress Wang was livid and secretly investigated the source of the rumors but found nothing conclusive. Blaming the misfortune on Prince Nie himself, she lamented, “It’s all his fault for letting her daughter become like this!”

Initially overjoyed by Song Xuyi’s return to the palace, Empress Wang dismissed the rumors she heard about Song Xuyi as fabricated by her father, Wang Mian, trying to enhance her daughter’s reputation. It wasn’t until later that she realized her daughter had undergone a significant transformation.

Her daughter’s temperament has improved significantly. She no longer punishes her servants without reason and treats everyone with a smile. Moreover, she has developed a new fondness for reading and has set up a small room next to her sleeping chambers where she spends her time writing and painting.

While the change in her daughter’s personality is a positive development, Empress Wang still harbors suspicions that her daughter may have been mistreated in her absence, prompting such a drastic transformation.

After much contemplation, Empress Wang privately questioned the maids by Song Xuyi’s side, who attributed everything to “the princess changing for love.” They recounted stories of Song Xuyi “abandoning a handsome young man for love” and “vowing to wait for Nie Qianyu to return after completing his studies.” The maids also mentioned how Song Xuyi often sent gifts to someone at Baiqiao Academy, leading them to believe that she was under that person’s spell.

If that person was still the Crown Prince of Wu, Empress Wang believed he might barely be worthy of her daughter’s affection. However, now that he was just a deposed prince, he was not deserving of her daughter’s love!

After much consideration, Empress Wang decided to introduce Song Xuyi to several young men. Despite the Emperor’s restrictions preventing Song Xuyi from leaving the palace, Empress Wang found a way. She selected a few young men and, using the excuse of finding study companions for the Princess, invited their families into the palace.

Empress Wang selected noble ladies around the same age as Song Xuyi. On one hand, this would allow Song Xuyi to socialize with her peers, and on the other hand, she could gather information about the male youths from these noble ladies.

However, despite all her calculations, Empress Wang overlooked the disdain the noble ladies of Lido harbored towards Song Xuyi. Song Xuyi’s bad reputation had spread throughout the capital, and the noble ladies began to tarnish the reputation of their own brothers or relatives in front of Song Xuyi, fabricating flaws out of fear that Song Xuyi might take an interest in their loved ones.

Among the noble ladies entering the palace was the female lead of this world, Liu Rumeng.

Liu Rumeng hailed from the prestigious Liu family, once a prominent clan like the Wang family. However, the Liu family had gradually declined over the past century. Just as Liu Rumeng’s brother showed promise in reviving the family’s fortunes, the Liu family members were unwilling to see Liu Rumeng’s brother marry the stubborn Princess. They signaled Liu Rumeng to discredit her brother in front of Song Xuyi.

Compared to others, Song Xuyi naturally paid more attention to the female lead, causing Liu Rumeng to be on edge all day long. At this point in time, Liu Rumeng, similar to the original plot, developed a relationship with the male lead, Song He. Without Nie Qianyu’s interference, Liu Rumeng also found herself drawn to Li He. Both being within the same palace, the two would occasionally have secret meetings. However, one day, they were caught red-handed by Song Xuyi and her maids.

Song He looked at Song Xuyi with cautious eyes, while Liu Rumeng was on the verge of tears in panic…

Realizing the impact this incident could have on Liu Rumeng’s reputation, Song Xuyi ordered her maids to keep quiet and discreetly covered up the matter.

Grateful to Song Xuyi for her actions, Liu Rumeng sent a gift of a white jade hairpin, a family heirloom, to Song Xuyi.

Song Xuyi admired the beauty of the white jade hairpin, feeling like it was a pair with the black jade hairpin she had once given to Nie Qianyu. When giving clothes and accessories to Nie Qianyu, she also passed on this hairpin…

Soon, two years passed in the blink of an eye…

However, Nie Qianyu broke his promise.

In the year of Song Xuyi’s coming-of-age ceremony, Nie Qianyu did not return to Lido. No one knew where he had gone. According to the young men who had followed Nie Qianyu, after he left Baiqiao Academy, he encountered a few individuals and then suddenly disappeared without a trace…

The author has something to say:

Guess where Xiaonie went?

LP: Re-translated on April 15, 2024