Imperial Marriage Decree, Bullying the Orphaned Girl

Serena Feng knew some things couldn’t be rushed—especially when investigating events from over ten years ago. If you rushed, you’d only make mistakes and give your enemies the perfect chance to strike.

She’d already waited for more than a decade—what difference would a few more moments make? The investigation could go slowly. Right now, her priority was rebuilding Feng Manor. Since she’d decided to stay, she needed a place to call home.

Although Dr. Sun Zhengdao never said anything, Serena knew it wasn’t right to keep living under someone else’s roof. Her memories from the previous life made her hate relying on others most of all. No matter how shabby, her own home was still hers. Only there could she feel safe and at ease.

But her enemies wouldn’t even give her that much time. In just three days, before Serena could even finalize a reconstruction plan for Feng Manor, trouble arrived…

After several rounds of negotiation, Princess Yara of Lyndaria and Dongling Zichun’s marriage was finally settled. Just before the imperial decree, the Emperor elevated Dongling Zichun’s rank from Duke of Chunyu to full Prince.

Now there was no more Duke of Chunyu—only Prince Adrian. Princess Yara would marry in as a prince’s principal consort, her status rising considerably. She’d managed to gain something after all; even without marrying Crown Prince Adrian Dongling, she would still be a prince’s wife.

A woman’s status depended on her family before marriage and her husband after. Yara’s brother, Prince Terrence, had done right by her—under these circumstances, he’d managed to secure her a place as a prince’s consort.

Of course, Prince Terrence was mostly acting out of political interest—securing the greatest benefit for himself and making sure the Lyndarian royal family didn’t lose face.

Although a prince’s wife was less prestigious than a crown prince’s, marrying someone like Crown Prince Adrian Dongling was a gamble. He was the frontrunner for the throne, destined to fight for it. If he won, Yara could rise from prince’s consort to empress—but if he lost, she’d be lucky to survive.

The new emperor would never spare her just because she was a foreign princess—in fact, that would make him even more ruthless. From Serena’s perspective, Princess Yara was better off marrying Prince Adrian; at least she’d have a peaceful life ahead. Of course, Serena knew Yara’s ambition would never let her settle for mere stability, but that had nothing to do with her.

Serena had long expected Prince Adrian and Princess Yara’s marriage—what shocked her was that right after the imperial decree, Prince Adrian actually petitioned the Emperor to take her as his side-consort.

"Did the Emperor agree?" Serena’s heart skipped in panic. She knew Dominic Zhai was deliberately keeping her in suspense, but she couldn’t help herself—she had to ask.

Her whole future happiness was on the line. If she didn’t marry, she could still escape—but if she became a prince’s side-consort, where could she run? She might not even make it out of the capital before being dragged back.

Dominic Zhai just smiled mysteriously, clearly enjoying himself. Inside, he was gloating—ha! Serena Feng finally had a day like this. He’d always thought she was the type to stay calm even if the sky fell, never showing emotion even around corpses or while performing brain surgery. Who’d have guessed a mere marriage proposal would scare her so much?

Dominic took a satisfied sip of tea, savoring Serena’s anxious expression before finally teasing her, "What are you so worried about? If you enter Prince Adrian’s household as a side-consort, given how much he likes you, you’d surely be the most favored in the harem. Besides, with your background, being a prince’s side-consort isn’t exactly a loss."

Serena shot Dominic an annoyed glare, but she caught the implication—thankfully, the Emperor hadn’t agreed. She let out a sigh of relief: "Being Prince Adrian’s side-consort is certainly a high status, but I have zero interest in spending the rest of my life tangled up with Princess Yara. I already had to fight her over Crown Prince Adrian Dongling—am I supposed to waste my whole future over Prince Adrian now?"

Serena didn’t bother saying she refused to be anyone’s concubine—Dominic wouldn’t understand anyway. As long as the Emperor hadn’t agreed, that was all that mattered.

"You really do think far ahead, but just because you want to avoid trouble doesn’t mean the other side will let you. When Princess Yara heard Prince Adrian wanted to marry you, she smashed an entire set of fine tea ware and swore she’d fight you to the death." Dominic pretended to worry about Serena—if you ignored the gleam of amusement in his eyes.

Princess Yara really was unlucky. It was bad enough for a princess to compete with an orphan like Serena over men, but worst of all, she’d lost to Serena twice.

Serena hadn’t married Crown Prince Adrian Dongling, and neither had Princess Yara. Now Yara was marrying Prince Adrian, but unfortunately, Prince Adrian’s heart was still set on Serena.

"Fight to the death? If anyone should say that, it’s me. Don’t forget, Crown Prince Adrian Dongling was my fiancé first. She schemed against me, ruined my wedding day, and turned a soon-to-be prince’s consort into a discarded bride. I never even went after her for that, but now she’s obsessed with me. As for Prince Adrian, how is that my fault? If she wants revenge, she should blame him, not me—I never begged to be anyone’s side-consort." Serena was so angry she could grind her teeth. Could Princess Yara be any more infuriating?

"That’s true, but without a strong identity backing you, you’ll always lose against Princess Yara—even if you’re in the right. Besides, Prince Adrian’s request is a direct slap in her face. Of course she’ll pin the blame on you." Dominic finally dropped his teasing and grew serious.

Serena was innocent in the mess between Crown Prince Adrian Dongling and Prince Adrian, but so what? Princess Yara didn’t care about innocence—she only saw Serena as an obstacle, someone who’d stolen her man. So naturally, all her hatred landed on Serena.

If Serena hadn’t been tough and lucky, she’d have ended up dead long ago.

"So, I just have to accept my bad luck, right? I must’ve been cursed for eight lifetimes to run into Princess Yara." Serena looked up at the sky, exasperated, and called out Princess Yara’s name in frustration.

Nobility was truly annoying. At moments like this, Serena wished she had a noble background—even higher than Princess Yara’s. If she did, she could slap Princess Yara in public and nobody would dare criticize her, because noble birth gives you the right to be proud and unruly.

If she had a noble family, Princess Yara wouldn’t dare scheme to ruin her reputation before marriage. Even a slight disrespect would have family members standing up for her. But that was just wishful thinking—Serena had neither noble birth nor anyone to defend her. She’d have to endure it for now.

Dominic genuinely sympathized with Serena, but there was nothing he could do to help. "Once Princess Yara marries into Dongling, your troubles will only multiply. Don’t forget, she’ll be Prince Adrian’s principal consort. With her ruthless methods, even Prince Adrian might not be able to control her. You’d better look out for yourself."

Inner court rivalry was fiercer than tigers. The Zhai family might not have such struggles, but anyone raised in the capital knew all about them.

"Next time I see her, I’ll just avoid her. But if I keep letting her attack me, she’ll never stop. Young Lord, do you think I should just kill Princess Yara and be done with it?"

Serena sounded like she was joking, but the murderous look in her eyes told Dominic she was serious. She really did want to kill Princess Yara, just to end the trouble for good…