Commoner Queen: Falling in Love with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince - Chapter 8

The Daughter Who Refused to Marry:

“But what about Ziying’s happiness?” Madam Murong asked, her heart breaking.

“Haven’t we caused enough harm? Four lives, one after another!” Murong Xi said in anguish.

“But—”

“Mother, stop it.”

A clear yet firm voice interrupted them.

Murong Ziying, today’s bride, pushed open the screen and stepped forward.

She had had enough.

If it weren’t for the fact that she had promised this marriage long ago, she would never have agreed to this absurd wedding in the first place. Now, she had become the laughingstock of the entire capital. She refused to be a joke any longer. More importantly, she refused to bring harm to another innocent man.

Truthfully?

She was relieved.

“Foolish child, a woman must have a husband to rely on,” Madam Murong sighed, still grieving over her daughter’s misfortune.

“Says who?” Ziying said with a grin. “A woman can live a perfectly happy life without a husband.”

She had never believed in the idea that a woman had to depend on a man. Why should she? And anyway, it wasn’t that she refused to marry—it was fate that forbade her from doing so. Why go against destiny?

If she wasn’t meant to be married… then so be it!

“You—” Murong Xi sighed deeply.

What else could he do?

He wished he could share his daughter’s optimism.

“Ziying, perhaps we should send you to Yangzhou, to your uncle the governor. He could arrange a marriage for you there,” Madam Murong suddenly suggested, a flicker of hope in her eyes.

Right now, no man in the capital would dare to marry Ziying. Her reputation was completely ruined.

But Yangzhou was a different place, a fresh start.

Perhaps there they could find someone whose fate was strong enough to withstand hers.

“Mother—” Ziying nearly fainted.

Four men had already died, and yet her mother still refused to give up?

This was insane!

“Your mother has a point,” Murong Xi said, now seriously considering the idea.

Ziying felt her world spinning.

“Father, I beg you, please stop this!” she cried. “I don’t want to kill anyone else. Just let me live a quiet life—stop accumulating more sins!”

She was already wracked with guilt.

Those men had done nothing wrong.

Their only crime was wanting to marry her—and for that, they had died?

She already felt guilty once.

How could she bear to feel guilty again and again?

“What nonsense!” Murong Xi snapped. “Everything your mother and I have done is for your sake. If there’s a price to pay, let us bear it! You will not suffer any retribution!”

Ziying clenched her fists.

“Father, please… I’m begging you. Let me go. I have made my decision—I will never marry!”

“You ungrateful child!” Murong Xi roared. “We have loved and cherished you since birth, and this is how you repay us?”