Chapter 3
Chapter 3: Fake Princess Chu Jiao Jiao
The Empress gave the nanny a look, signaling her to take the two children behind the screen.
When there were fewer eyes on them, she would send Little Nine back to the Cold Palace.
“Greetings to Imperial Mother,” Chu Jiao Jiao said as she entered. “May Imperial Mother live a thousand years.”
She didn’t see the crown prince, but that didn’t stop her from saluting properly. Even though she wasn’t a real princess, her posture and manners were convincing enough to fool anyone who wanted to be fooled.
“Rise,” the Empress said, voice even. “Why are you here?”
The Empress felt no warmth toward this fake princess. But the National Preceptor had claimed she was blessed—a lucky star protecting the Great Ning Empire. Mysterious, if nothing else.
“I have an urgent matter to report,” Chu Jiao Jiao said, brows knitted, her tone solemn like an official twice her age. “I heard Imperial Mother was with Brother Crown Prince, so I came at once.”
“Oh?” the Empress asked. “What urgent matter?”
Chu Jiao Jiao lifted her little chin. “I had a dream. In the dream, an immortal told me the southwest corner of the imperial palace is suppressing resentment. Something filthy may appear there. If it isn’t resolved, the Great Ning will suffer disaster.”
In her last life, she’d died miserably—killed by Chu Tian Tian with one clean slash, eyes wide open in rage and disbelief.
This time, she would strangle the future tyrant in the cradle.
“The southwest corner?” the Empress repeated, pausing.
That was the direction of the Cold Palace.
Thinking of Little Nine behind the screen, the Empress asked, “Do you know what this ‘filthy thing’ looks like?”
Chu Jiao Jiao tilted her head, pretending to think hard. “Yes. Imperial Mother should summon a painter. I’ll describe it, and the painter can draw it.”
Behind the screen, Chu Tian Tian sat shoulder-to-shoulder with Cheng Xuan, each of them clutching pastries like priceless treasure.
“Chew, chew,” Chu Tian Tian mumbled around a mouthful. “Brother Crown Prince, can you teach me to read? Chew…”
Delicious food made her brain run faster.
Tong Tong said redemption meant getting people to like her.
Back in the village, the village head said nobody disliked someone who could read.
If she learned to read, wouldn’t everyone like her?
“Of course,” Cheng Xuan said proudly. “If Sister Little Nine likes reading, Imperial Father will like you too.”
Before she could bask in it, voices rose outside.
“Greetings, Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live a thousand years!” The painter had arrived.
“No need for formalities,” the Empress said. “Begin.”
This fake princess was barely three. The Empress wanted to see whether her words held any truth—or whether she was simply skilled at acting holy.
Ink bled across fine paper as the painter worked.
Chu Jiao Jiao watched the lines form and, with perfect seriousness, began to “describe” the filthy thing—recalling the child she’d seen days before and twisting every detail into something ugly.
The Empress’s gaze dropped to the page.
The face taking shape was unmistakable.
Little Nine.
Behind the screen, Chu Tian Tian was stuffed and sleepy, eyes half-lidded. But the more Chu Jiao Jiao talked, the more wrong it sounded.
Wait.
Was the “filthy thing” she kept describing… her?
Tong Tong said Chu Tian Tian would become a tyrant twenty years later, and Chu Jiao Jiao was one of the “contributors.” Wearing the title Great Ning Blessed Girl, she never stopped targeting Chu Tian Tian—always competing, always slandering, always pushing her toward the edge.
Chu Tian Tian couldn’t understand it. As a fake princess, shouldn’t Chu Jiao Jiao keep her head down?
Instead, she charged forward again and again, forcing Chu Tian Tian into dead ends.
No wonder, in that future, Chu Tian Tian locked her up the moment she took the throne.
And even then, Chu Jiao Jiao found ways to stir up her believers, convincing people she was the Heaven-Sent Divine Maiden while Chu Tian Tian was nothing but calamity.
Step by step, she’d shoved Chu Tian Tian into becoming the tyrant everyone feared.
Chu Tian Tian’s little fists clenched.
She’d only just managed to wash her reputation a tiny bit with the Empress. She couldn’t let Chu Jiao Jiao smear it black again in the same breath.
“Chu Jiao Jiao!” Chu Tian Tian burst out from behind the screen, wobbling on short legs. “Stop talking nonsense!”
The Empress instinctively caught her and pulled her close. The child already lived in the Cold Palace—one more mistake and she might be beaten for it.
“It’s alright,” the Empress murmured. “Don’t worry. I’ll investigate carefully.”
But before the reassurance could settle, Chu Jiao Jiao flung herself into the Empress’s arms too.
“Imperial Mother, save me!” Chu Jiao Jiao cried. “The filthy thing is going to eat Jiao Jiao!”
Chu Tian Tian hadn’t expected a three-and-a-half-year-old to have elbows that sharp.
Chu Jiao Jiao shoved her right out of the Empress’s embrace.
The moment the Empress’s warmth vanished, Chu Tian Tian’s legs went limp. She toppled backward.
The Empress reached out on instinct—
“Sister! Sister!” Cheng Xuan charged over and went pale when he saw Chu Tian Tian’s face. “Imperial Mother—summon an imperial physician, now!”
Chu Jiao Jiao clung to the Empress, refusing to let go, trembling like she was terrified. But when no one was looking, a sly glint flashed through her eyes.
The imperial physician arrived quickly. After checking Chu Tian Tian’s pulse, he only said she was weak and needed rest.
Chu Jiao Jiao pinched herself hard and squeezed out tears. “Imperial Mother… it’s all Jiao Jiao’s fault. I said such frightening things…”
The Empress was about to comfort her, but Cheng Xuan frowned and nodded once.
“It is your fault.”
Chu Jiao Jiao’s tears froze.
“Sister Little Nine is so thin and tiny,” Cheng Xuan said, stern as a tiny judge. “How could she be something filthy? Don’t you dare say nonsense again. If you do, I’ll tell Imperial Father. I’ll say… I’ll say you tried to harm your siblings!”
Chu Jiao Jiao’s mouth fell open.
Was the crown prince out of his mind?
The one who would harm siblings in the future was Chu Tian Tian—
But before she could turn that thought into anything useful, the Empress waved a hand, expression weary.
“Send Little Nine back to the Cold Palace.”
Cheng Xuan huffed at Chu Jiao Jiao and followed at once.
“Wet nurse,” he called, remembering the pastries like a true strategist, “don’t forget to bring them! Sister Little Nine is so pitiful!”
“Yes, Crown Prince your highness,” the nanny answered.
Back at the Cold Palace, Chu Tian Tian slipped through the gap in the iron gate.
The moment she stepped into the courtyard, something whistled past—
A small stool crashed down by her feet.
“Where did you run off to, you little slut?” Nanny Wu stormed forward, snatching the food box from Chu Tian Tian’s hands. “Coming back this late—trying to starve me to death?”
She weighed the box, eyes lighting up. “Oh? Not bad. You managed to steal something this good. I’ll give you that.”
She wiped her dusty hands on her clothes, grabbed a pastry, and stuffed it straight into her mouth.
Chu Tian Tian’s eyes went red.
Her mother hadn’t eaten yet.
With a little bull’s stubborn fury, she let out a sharp yell and rammed into Nanny Wu with everything her tiny body could manage.
Old hag.
How dare you steal what was meant for her mother?