Chapter 1: Using a Chicken as a Substitute for a Wife

  The flower streets and willow alleys of Nanmu Country were filled with the thick scent of rouge, and the beautiful people who sang and danced did not stop their revelry because of the Crown Prince's grand wedding today, but instead seemed to have even more affection for men.

  But who would have thought that today was supposed to be the grand wedding of Prince Nanmu, but now that night has fallen, this elegant and refined prince is still drinking and having fun at the Kui Lan Xiang, without any regard for the fact that the bride is the daughter of the current Prime Minister Ye Lie Feng.

  "Sir, you'd better hurry back! If the Empress finds out you're still here tonight, I...I'll lose my head even if I have ten of them!" The eunuch beside the Crown Prince, Xiao Sanzi, was getting anxious and kept glancing outside. Time was passing, and if the Crown Prince didn't return to the palace soon, Miss Murong wouldn't be easy to deal with either.

  "Get out!" The prince was half-drunk and half-awake, surrounded by beauties on both sides. The thinly dressed beauties kept pouring wine into his mouth, and although he seemed to be drinking happily, in fact, he felt more suffocated than anyone else.

  As the prince of Nanmu, he couldn't even marry his beloved woman back to the palace. What about the prince? Not even an ordinary commoner can be with their loved one, what's the use of having great power?

  "How can a mere courtesan possibly enter the imperial palace?"

  His mother's words kept echoing in his ears, and he slammed the cup in his hand against the wall with a furious face.

  What's wrong?

  The cup shattered into pieces, and the women around him were frightened and rushed to the prince's arms. The prince was delighted, indulging in the warmth of the tender village with a happy face.

  "Old man..." Little Sanzi didn't know how many times he had urged him already. If this continued, his head would really have to be moved out of the house.

  The prince didn't even give a glance at the third son, continuing to indulge in pleasure. He wrapped his arms around the woman in his embrace, drinking and eating with abandon.

  Outside the door, a noisy sound came. Xiaosanzi poked his head out to take a look, and downstairs was holding a flower queen election. Although he was a eunuch, he still had a hobby of appreciating beauties.

  Hehe......

  The woman downstairs winked at him and he smiled foolishly, but didn't know that the prince was standing beside him with two women in his arms.

  "Lin Mama, how much silver will the flower girl cost tonight?" The prince lazily asked, and the two women in his arms pouted in dissatisfaction.

  The young master is a regular here, and although he has never revealed his identity, he has already been treated as an honored guest by the old madam Lin due to his generosity. As soon as the young master asked this, she waved her handkerchief and showed off that frightening smile, with the thick powder on her face falling off along with her exaggerated laughter, causing the young master to sneeze several times in a row.

  "I say, Lin Mama, you've earned quite a bit of money, why not buy some good rouge and powder to use?" The prince complained, covering his nose with his hand, and pulled out a silver note from his pocket and threw it at Lin Mama.

  Lin Mama was the kind of woman who would do anything for money, picking up a silver note from the ground and excitedly walking further in. Seeing the disgust on the prince's face, she retreated two steps, embarrassed, before saying: "Your Highness, today's flower girl is called Bing Er. This is a good seedling that I just bought back, proficient in piano, chess, books, and paintings, and will definitely make you happy."

  "Ah!" The prince seemed to have some interest, pointing at Bing'er standing on the stage and said: "Bring that woman up for me."

  "Alright, alright!" Lin's mother's eyes lit up, and she ordered someone to bring Ice up. She also gave a wink to the two women beside the prince. The two women didn't dare disobey the old madam, even if they were dissatisfied, they could only pout and leave.

  Before long, a pink gauze skirted Ice was brought up. Her slender figure, with her face covered in a veil, had arched eyebrows and big eyes, with bright and clear pupils, more black than white, looking like a clever person at first glance.

  The crown prince didn't have the mood to play hide and seek with women today, he reached out and pulled off the silk scarf on Bing Er's face, revealing a stunningly beautiful and familiar face.

  It's actually her!

  The crown prince was taken aback.

  Bing'er lifted her head and saw that the person in front of her was the prince, but she wasn't surprised. She blushed and lowered her head again, tightly grasping the silk handkerchief in her hand, seeming a bit nervous.

  "Master, look at our Ice, she's so delicate and pretty. If you take her home, I'm sure she'll serve you well." Lin Mama pushed Ice forward a bit, staring intently at the expression on Master's face.

  A thought flashed through his mind, and the crown prince's sinister gaze swept over Bing Er. Before long, he saw a sly smile spreading from the corner of his mouth, and he ordered Xiao Sanzi to hand over the silver ticket, and then left Kuilan Xiang in a sedan chair with his entourage.

  ……

  The grand wedding, the palace had been bustling with excitement for a long time. In the Taiji Hall, Ye Yuanshan, the eldest daughter of the Ye family, had been standing there for more than an hour. The ceremony was supposed to take place in the daytime, but due to the absence of Nanmu Yutui, it was postponed until evening. The officials at court were discussing and speculating, while Emperor Nanmu's face looked extremely unpleasant.

  Ye family father and son standing in the imperial court looked even more unpleasant, as the prime minister of Nanmu country, being appointed by the emperor to marry was a great joy. But now, the crown prince has not appeared for a long time, obviously making Ye Lie Feng's old face even more unbearable.

  "Where is he? Why hasn't he arrived yet?" Nan Mu Quan asked in a low voice, his anger seeming to strip the skin off someone's face.

  The Empress Wan Yan Yu had long been anxious and was sweating profusely, deeply regretting her insistence that the Crown Prince not take the courtesan named Xiao Ruo Lian as his concubine. If the Crown Prince did not appear today, the imperial family would have no way to explain themselves to Ye Lie Feng, who held great power.

  Tap tap tap!

  The quiet and solemn palace hall was suddenly filled with the sound of urgent footsteps. The empress, who had been waiting anxiously, finally saw her maid, Bi Xi, hastily running into the grand hall, taking a shortcut along the side path to reach her side, and whispering: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has returned to the palace."

  "Isn't that enough to invite someone over quickly?" Before the empress could speak, the emperor was already gritting his teeth and giving a low command to Bi Xi.

  Bi Xi did not dare to linger and bowed out of the grand hall. Accompanied by servants carrying the groom's attire, she rushed to the palace gate to welcome the prince back.

  The sedan chair stopped at the gate of the Taiji Temple, and the prince hugged Bing'er with a drunken face. Seeing that his mother's maid Bi Xi was leading a group of maids to greet them, he naturally knew what was going on.

  He ordered Xiao Sanzi to bring Bing'er to his Zhao Ming Palace. He was like a wooden puppet, allowing the maids to put on the new groom's attire, and was escorted into the Taiji Hall.

  In the Taiji Hall, the Emperor was anxiously watching the entrance of the hall. Finally, he saw the Crown Prince appear at the door wearing his wedding attire, and the heart that had been suspended in mid-air finally fell back into place. The Empress, on the other hand, wiped away the cold sweat from her forehead and gave a triumphant glare to Concubine Lian, who was waiting for a chance to mock her.

  Lotus Concubine rolled her eyes and shifted her gaze to the Crown Prince who appeared beside Ye Yuxuan. In the grand hall, one had to give face, so the Crown Prince first paid his respects to the Emperor and Empress, then lazily exchanged formal greetings with Ye Yuxuan according to etiquette.

  Everyone in the imperial court knew that the crown prince was forced to marry Miss Ye, and it was said that Ye Yuzhu had hanged herself in opposition to this marriage. She barely came back to life, but was still being pressured into the grand hall. Looking at the crown prince's reluctant appearance, many officials were worried about Ye Yuzhu's future.

  Under the phoenix crown, Ye Yuzhan's face was cold and unresponsive, seemingly unaffected by this arrangement. Because this body had died long ago when it hanged itself from a beam, and now Ye Yuzhan had been occupied by another soul, so for the current Ye Yuzhan, marrying anyone was the same, as long as she could live well.

  The annoying etiquette was finally completed, and the Crown Prince led Ye Yushan from the red rope to walk out of the Taiji Temple and head to the Crown Prince's bedroom to complete the final hurdle tonight - the bridal chamber.

  The lights in the Zhao Ming Palace are shining brightly, and the large red lanterns are hung all along the corridor. However, it's strange that the servants don't seem to have any festive spirit at all, they're just busy with their work, and when they hear the signal of the prince returning to the mansion from the entrance, they all return to the servant's quarters.

  After the sedan chair came to a stop, the prince got out and saw these annoying lanterns, so he ordered his men to extinguish half of them.

  Ye Yushan sat in the sedan chair waiting for the prince to kick open the door, but instead heard the prince loudly say: "Take this woman to Jinxiu Garden!"

  "Crown Prince, tonight is your big wedding day with the Crown Princess, if this...” Little Sanzi looked worriedly at Ye Yuxuan's sedan chair, hoping that the Crown Prince would reconsider.

  However, the prince did not want to take this emotion. He hated the woman named Ye Yuxuan, she ruined his happiness with Xiao Ruoleng.

  Since she wants to marry into our family, let her suffer all the hardships, let her know that it's not easy and retreat willingly, let her leave the Zhao Ming Palace with a willing heart.

  "Don't worry, the wedding night will definitely be had. However, I, the crown prince, can't muster up even a bit of interest in this disgusting woman. Order them to prepare a good batch of fragrances for me and Ice Girl to take a swan-shaped bath together. If anyone ruins my mood, I'll have their head! The crown prince intentionally raised his voice, making sure that Ye Yuxian in the sedan chair could hear him."

  Ye Yuzhan's face remained unchanged in the sedan, but she would remember this humiliation deeply and would definitely return it twofold to this man if she ever got the chance.

  The crown prince saw that there was no movement in the sedan chair, and he deliberately walked closer and said: "I forgot to tell the princess, this ice child is actually the flower girl I just bought back from the brothel tonight. She is gentle and elegant, and she is proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. Isn't she better than you, the number one talented woman of Mu City?"

  Replacing a queen with a chicken is such an absurd thing, I never thought that this dignified prince could also do something like this.

  There are many ways to humiliate, and the prince must have thought of countless ones. In the end, he chose a bloodless move, no wonder Ye Yuxian would rather hang herself than marry into the Zhao Ming Palace.

  Unfortunately, this will mislead the prince. The current Ye Yuxuan is no longer a frugal lamp, and since the prince made the first move, she will definitely make the fifteenth move.

  She lifted the curtain of the sedan chair, and opened the red headscarf. Looking at the prince's smug smile, she smiled even more brightly: "Since the prince is so enthusiastic, how can I not fulfill my obligations?"

  "Please inform everyone that the new address for Le Wen Wang is..." She wished the prince a fun and enjoyable night.

  "The princess is really generous, it's truly beyond my expectations." The prince's smug face suddenly darkened, wondering what this woman was hiding up her sleeve?