The princess was ordained by Heaven.

Chapter 116 Shock

A hint of malice flashed in the village chief's eyes, but he asked calmly, "How much silver did Madam bring?"

Zhao realized she had misspoke and frowned in annoyance, but she dared not reveal her panic: "There are only two of you. What? You want to ask for an exorbitant amount?"

"You can't say that. Shunzi is so old. He finally has the chance to get married, but he doesn't have a son yet. If you buy her away, how will Shunzi's family continue its lineage?"

"what do you want?"

"Either give me fifty...five hundred taels of silver, or you stay here and take her place!"

"You audacious commoners!" The old woman behind Zhao raised her eyebrows. "How dare you insult our lady like this?"

The villagers on the other side were not intimidated at all; instead, they started mocking each other loudly.

Zhao's arms tightened around Luo Congzhen, but Luo Congzhen didn't cry out in pain; instead, she gently hugged her back.

Beside her, Luo Congzhen's daughter called out softly with concern, "Madam..."

When Zhao came to her senses and saw the worried looks in the eyes of the mother and daughter, her heart warmed.

She gritted her teeth, handed Luo Congzhen to the old woman behind her, and stood up: "You, how dare you!"

Her clothes were soaked by the water from the mother and daughter. Her hair was a little disheveled because they had walked for a long time in the mountains, but after all, she had been the wife of the Duke of Dingguo for many years, and when she really put on airs, she was still very dignified.

Her tone was light, and her face showed no anger, but rather a slight smile, as she strolled slowly toward them as if taking a leisurely walk.

"Do you know who is standing in front of you? It is the Heir Apparent's Wife of the Duke of Dingguo's Mansion!"

She chuckled lightly, seemingly unafraid of the villagers taking action.

"You're carrying these things to harm me, the Crown Princess?" She seemed to have heard the biggest joke, shaking her head with a laugh. "The officials know my whereabouts. If I were to lose even a hair here today, your entire village would be executed... Even your ancestors buried underground would be dug up, whipped, and fed to the dogs!"

She looked at them with a mocking gaze, as if they were insignificant ants on the ground: "I, the Crown Princess, am standing right here. Do you dare to lay a hand on me?"

She used to be a shrew, and no one understands better than her what it means to bully the weak and fear the strong.

Since they are evil, she must be even stronger than them. Although she is so nervous that her legs are trembling, as long as she doesn't lose her momentum, they will be intimidated.

If she shows weakness, a life-or-death crisis awaits her!

Therefore, she cannot back down!

Seeing their cowering figures, her fear and hesitation suddenly vanished like the wind.

She stepped forward again, raised her voice, and repeated, "Dare you?!"

Some timid people were so intimidated that they unconsciously took a step back.

Zhao laughed mockingly: "Ha, what? You're reluctant to give up your own life?"

The village chief, who had been confident of victory, suddenly turned extremely ugly, but when Zhao's sharp gaze fell on him, he forced out a kind smile.

"Oh dear! It's the Crown Princess! Look at me, my eyesight is terrible, I didn't even recognize you..."

The village chief was speaking nonsensically and performing haphazard rituals, but his attitude was completely different from before.

"If we had known it was Madam, we wouldn't have dared to be so presumptuous!"

After he finished speaking, he turned around with a stern face and reprimanded the villagers, using extremely rude words that seemed to be a veiled insult.

Zhao couldn't hold back any longer and turned to look at the old woman behind her: "Slap her!"

The old woman stepped forward, grabbed the village chief by the collar, and slapped him several times across the face.

Ever since she was beaten by Zheng Xun and the others, she had developed a set of slapping techniques. Since she wasn't strong enough, she hired a bold and strong old woman to be her henchman.

She really does have a bit of foresight; look, it's coming in handy now.

His cheeks were red from the beating, but the village chief and the villagers dared not utter a word, their fearful expressions resembling those of harmless little rabbits.

When Luo Congzhen and her daughter saw this scene, they both looked at Zhao with adoration, as if they were looking at their goddess.

Those dim and depressed eyes, at this moment, were washed away from their gloom and regained their light.

Zhao glanced at the village chief, then turned her face away in disgust: "Still being sarcastic?"

The village chief answered vaguely, "No... I wouldn't dare."

Zhao nodded in satisfaction: "In that case, I'll take the person with me. Do you have any objections?"

The villagers repeatedly replied, "We dare not."

Although I don't like using power to oppress people, it does feel good in situations like this.

What should I do? I'm finding Zhao Shi more and more pleasing to the eye...

Finally, Zhao led Luo Congzhen and her daughter away from the village in a swaggering manner.

After walking a very, very long way, Zhao's legs went weak and she almost knelt on the ground.

Fortunately, the old woman next to her reacted quickly and caught her.

Luo Congzhen, holding her daughter's hand, stared wide-eyed at the sight.

"The Crown Prince's Consort..."

Zhao waved her hand and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead: "It's nothing. As you can see, I'm actually quite timid. I was just trying to scare them..."

Luo Congzhen smiled shyly: "Very impressive."

As they were talking, suddenly, the guard beside them frowned and looked in a certain direction: "Who goes there!"

The others quickly looked over and found a head emerging from the bushes.

A little girl's head.

"Who are you?" an old woman asked warily.

The little girl wasn't shy and came out from behind the bushes.

When they saw her in full, they realized how thin she was.

Despite her young age, her hands were calloused from years of hard work. The autumn mountains were chilly, but she walked barefoot, her thin feet treading on the ground covered with dead branches.

She looked pitiful, yet her eyes were remarkably calm.

She looked up and asked earnestly, "Can I come with you?"

Luo Congzhen's daughter suddenly broke free from her mother's hand and ran to the girl: "Yaya, you're here! Let's go together!"

She turned to look at her mother. Luo Congzhen opened her mouth, hesitant to make a decision, but she still said, "Can I take her with me? She helped me before..."

As if afraid of being rejected, she quickly said, "I will take care of her and won't trouble you too much."

"No trouble at all, come on, let's go together." Zhao smiled and waved to the two little girls, who cheered and walked hand in hand to Zhao.

In front of the light screen, the Crown Prince saw the little girl's pitiful appearance, and his eyes almost reddened.

I hate this village, but I can't massacre it... What should I do?

Upon hearing this, the grieving crown prince sighed and rubbed his forehead in resignation.

What do you do if you have a sister who wants to kill someone every day?

The emperor stroked his chin thoughtfully. These people's mindsets were already fixed and could not be changed. It would be better to start educating the next generation...