Transmigrated into an Ancient M-Preg Novel as the Scumbag Alpha (GL) - Chapter 6
Yun Chenghuai was startled by their close contact. First, she worried if Shen Liunian would get angry, then thought, Well, I’ve already held her, so let’s just go with it.
She didn’t have any inherent self-consciousness about Qian Yuan or Kun Ze, so she simply scooped the person up in a bridal carry.
She had to admit, Shen Liunian was truly soft. Fragrant and soft, she felt very comfortable in her arms.
But immediately, she stopped her wild thoughts.
Her actions caused Shen Liunian to grip her arm tightly, painfully squeezing it, almost bringing tears to her eyes. There was no time to think about a fragrant, soft wife.
Yun Chenghuai’s sudden movement startled everyone. Shen Liunian didn’t gasp, but the maids beside them exclaimed.
She paid them no mind and strode to the *luohan* bed (a type of traditional Chinese couch or low bed), then gently placed Shen Liunian on it.
Shen Liunian caught the strong scent of citrus and agarwood from Yun Chenghuai, which seemed to envelop her entirely. She immediately stiffened, her voice laced with disbelief and anger, “Yun Chenghuai? What are you doing?”
Yun Chenghuai only thought Shen Liunian’s voice was pleasant, especially when she called her name. Because her voice was hoarse and she couldn’t exert much force, Yun Chenghuai even felt a hint of gentleness.
If it weren’t for the accusatory words that followed, it would truly have been a little touching.
She laughed at her own feelings; how could Shen Liunian be gentle with her?
But she could be gentle. She first poured a cup of tea and placed it beside Shen Liunian, softly saying, “Madam, please rest. I will handle this matter.”
She picked up an empty cup from the table, toyed with it in her hand for a moment, then slammed it down in front of Wet Nurse Xue with a “bang.”
The cup shattered into pieces on the floor, startling the maids in the room, who all knelt down.
Wet Nurse Xue, stubbornly standing upright, believed Yun Chenghuai wouldn’t do anything to her.
Yun Chenghuai said coldly, “Wet Nurse Xue, are you questioning this Princess’s decision?”
Yun Chenghuai scoffed inwardly. She would never let anyone obstruct her survival plan.
Setting aside the fact that the original owner had offended too many people, including her own mother Emperor, for now, the most important person was Shen Liunian.
Shen Liunian’s departure was the reason for her imprisonment. Ten years later, Shen Liunian would starve her to death.
The power over life and death was in Shen Liunian’s hands. Others bullying Shen Liunian was bullying her.
Would she let others bully her? Of course not.
This was a good opportunity to rectify the entire Princess Chuxiang Manor.
“Your Highness, this old servant wouldn’t dare.” Wet Nurse Xue was accustomed to throwing her weight around and hadn’t realized her true status.
As soon as Yun Chenghuai lost her temper, Wet Nurse Xue became fearful.
At the end of the day, she was just a wet nurse. The daughters of the imperial family never lacked wet nurses; they had three from birth. She was only different because she was an old attendant of the former Empress. The Princess had never respected her personally; it was out of deference to the former Empress that she was given some small regard. This long-standing situation made her believe she was a mistress of the manor.
In reality, she was nothing more than a servant.
If Yun Chenghuai hadn’t lost her temper, Wet Nurse Xue would have remained immersed in her fantasy, still unable to grasp her proper place.
Yun Chenghuai naturally wouldn’t make a big show only to let it go lightly.
She slowly sat down on the luohan bed, leaning against it, her gaze sweeping subtly over the faces of the kneeling maids.
After a long silence, as the atmosphere in the room grew increasingly tense, she said indifferently, “Wet Nurse Xue has shown disrespect to the Princess Consort, defying her superiors. Effective immediately, she is forbidden from entering the princess manor. Her daughter, Lan Ping, is to be sent back home.”
Wet Nurse Xue quickly kowtowed, pleading, “This is this old servant’s fault, it has nothing to do with Ping’er!”
Lan Ping, who had been kneeling, heard her words and quickly banged her head on the ground, wailing, “Your Highness, please don’t send Ping’er away!”
“An Yuan.” Yun Chenghuai had no intention of speaking further with them and directly called someone in.
An Yuan was her captain of guards, a person arranged by the Grand Protector’s manor whom she could completely trust.
An Yuan, clad in a black *Feiyu* (Flying Fish) robe, swiftly walked in. “Yes, Your Highness.”
No matter the circumstances, An Yuan’s distance from her would never exceed the range of her voice.
“Drive them out.”
Yun Chenghuai was merciless. To reform the manor, she had to start with the people closest to her.
She had too many maids around her, and even more masters behind them.
As for the guards, it was different. They were her personal guard unit, thirty-six in total. Every single one of them had been handpicked by the old Grand Protector for the original owner, so much so that calling them “death warriors” wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
In truth, this was Yun Chenghuai’s modern way of thinking. To everyone else, she had already been lenient. In this era of supreme imperial power, the lives and deaths of servants were merely a word from the superior. Most people dealing with servants usually had them flogged and exiled, leaving them alive but abandoning them on a rural estate.
She merely sent them home, not even inflicting a single scratch on them. In ancient times, this was considered benevolent treatment.
Therefore, once An Yuan arrived, Wet Nurse Xue and Lan Ping didn’t dare to linger.
An Yuan was not a person who would pity women. If she were to throw them out of the manor, they would lose face entirely, and Lan Ping was not yet married.
Thinking of this, they dared not say anything more and slinked away.
Watching their retreating backs, Yun Chenghuai lightly coughed, “From now on, all matters in the main courtyard will be decided by the Princess Consort. You must obey the Princess Consort’s words, do you understand?”
“Yes, Your Highness,” the remaining maids quickly responded.
Wet Nurse Xue and Lan Ping had been driven out. They didn’t have a wet nurse for a mother; if they dared to speak back, they would likely be flogged.
Yun Chenghuai didn’t understand the assumptions of those below her. As long as everyone in the manor was obedient and respected Shen Liunian as a true Princess Consort, it would be a good thing for her.
If Shen Liunian was comfortable, then she would be comfortable.
Shen Liunian, standing by, frowned. She would certainly not let those who bullied her off the hook. If she were to leave, everyone in the manor who had insulted her or her Shen family members would pay the price.
Wet Nurse Xue and Lan Ping—the former targeted her, the latter targeted those who came with her as part of her dowry—neither of them was good.
She had been thinking of dealing with these people herself, but she never expected Yun Chenghuai to suddenly change her nature and drive her most trusted wet nurse and maid out of the manor.
It was a pity they were only driven out; they got off easy.
Regarding Yun Chenghuai’s actions, Shen Liunian always felt that she might be plotting something.
What could Yun Chenghuai be plotting? Just survival, and she was a little worried about Shen Liunian’s leg.
She had knelt for so long last night and was pregnant. Thankfully, Shen Liunian had a strong constitution; otherwise, after all that torment, she would have collapsed long ago.
Shen Liunian didn’t catch a cold or anything, likely related to her martial arts training.
Thinking of this, Yun Chenghuai felt that she needed to quickly pick up the original owner’s martial arts foundation. The ancient medical environment was too poor; a mistake could be fatal. Having a good body was better than anything.
However, although Shen Liunian didn’t catch a cold, her knees must have been severely affected after kneeling for so long.
When she woke up, she heard Shen Liunian’s maid gasp, likely a reaction to seeing the injury on her knee.
Earlier, the maid hadn’t applied medicine to Shen Liunian yet. They intended to return to their own courtyard to do so, but they unexpectedly stayed behind.
She thought that applying the medicine would require removing lower clothing, and her presence made it inconvenient.
Yun Chenghuai, understandingly, said, “Nan Ling, take good care of the Princess Consort. Remember to apply medicine to her. You all attend to the Princess Consort well, and have the manor physician come morning and evening to take her pulse and ensure her well-being.”
Nan Ling was Shen Liunian’s personal maid, more capable than the other two.
She spoke as she stood up, “This Princess is going to the front courtyard. I will come to accompany the Princess Consort for lunch.”
After saying that, she added softly, specifically to Shen Liunian, “Madam, I’ll be going now.”
Shen Liunian: “…”
Yun Chenghuai tidied her clothes and glanced back as she left, just in time to see Shen Liunian’s displeased expression, knowing the other party didn’t want her company.
What could she do? Her survival instinct wouldn’t allow her not to accompany her.
Nothing was more important than accompanying her “wife.” Oh, in ancient times, it should be *qizi* (wife) or *furen* (madam), right?
Yun Chenghuai stepped out of the courtyard, not noticing a gaze behind her that watched her for a long time.
“What do you think Dog Yun is up to?”
When only Shen Liunian and her servants were left in the room, she leaned back on the luohan bed, lazily raising her eyes.
Nan Ling said doubtfully, “Perhaps it’s because of offspring? Nowadays, Her Majesty has many Qian Yuan daughters, but only one Qian Yuan granddaughter, and she’s…”
And she’s the one born to the eighth imperial princess, who was least favored by the Emperor. The eighth imperial princess’s birth mother had once been glorious, but later conspired against the Emperor with witchcraft and was sentenced to death.
Since then, the eighth imperial princess had been disfavored and, now twenty-two, still hadn’t been enfeoffed as a Princess.
Many people say that mothers gain status through their Qian Yuan children. In reality, a mother is favored by the lord, and only then does the child have status.
The saying “mother gaining status through Qian Yuan” only applies if the mother’s own status is not high and she is not favored by the lord.
The eighth imperial princess’s situation was closely linked to her mother.
This was true not only for the imperial family but also for noble families and even common households.
Shen Liunian didn’t believe that her pregnancy would change Yun Chenghuai’s attitude towards her.
Their marriage, after half a year, was a done deal and unchangeable. From what she knew of Yun Chenghuai, this person would never give up on the throne.
Having a child might change the current Emperor’s mind and give Dog Yun another chance to inherit the throne.
Perhaps Yun Chenghuai was thinking this way, which made her value the child in Shen Liunian’s womb so much.
Not only did Shen Liunian think so, but even her maids thought the same.
“Perhaps Princess Chuxiang is just counting on the child in your womb to make a comeback,” Wet Nurse Xu stepped forward, saying in a low voice.
Wet Nurse Xu had come with Shen Liunian as part of her dowry. The fact that those around her still called her “young lady” indicated that the Shen family’s people were resentful seeing their young lady suffer in the princess manor.
Shen Liunian scoffed, “A comeback? What right does she have?”
Dog Yun had such a noble status, but if she had even a little common sense, she wouldn’t have ended up in her current predicament.
This was just the beginning. Shen Liunian saw it clearly: once Yun Chenghuai made a mistake, it wouldn’t just be a month of confinement. She might be confined to the manor indefinitely, never to leave again.
Yet, Dog Yun couldn’t see this, thinking it was marrying her that distanced her from the throne.
Yun Chenghuai wasn’t the only unmarried imperial princess. Why was it her who had to marry Shen Liunian? It was merely that the Emperor had long since disfavored her.
Wet Nurse Xu was somewhat worried. “But young lady, you are now pregnant. If Princess Chuxiang doesn’t achieve her goals, I fear…”
“Don’t worry. No matter what, the outcome won’t be worse than it is now.”
In just half a year, Shen Liunian had transformed from a pampered Kun Ze daughter at home to a nominal Princess Consort, living under someone else’s roof and enduring endless humiliation.
She had long grown accustomed to it. After adapting, she naturally wouldn’t just surrender.
No matter the reason for Yun Chenghuai’s abnormality, as long as it didn’t harm her or the people around her, that was fine.
But Shen Liunian was not someone to passively await results. “When are Li Zhaoxian’s people coming?”
“Young lady, do you really want to meet the Northern Qi Crown Princess’s people?” Nan Ling was a little worried.
“Yes.”
Shen Liunian didn’t explain. She understood her companions’ worries; meeting people from the Northern Qi Crown Princess in Southern Qin, if discovered, was a capital offense.
But if others wouldn’t let her live, then everyone could just die together.
If she couldn’t survive, she would make sure to plunge her dagger into Yun Chenghuai’s heart first.