Chapter 196: Worse Than Death
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.
“Why are you glaring at Yi Ning?”
“You’re scaring her!” Consort Xiao shot a sharp look at Madam Xu, her dislike evident.
In her youth, Madam Xu was renowned for her talent in the capital. Later, she left her family for love and married into the royal household, finally feeling a sense of satisfaction.
“If anything happens to Chao Chao, even if it costs me my life, I will kill you!” Madam Xu, usually composed, had lost all reason in her fury.
“Yi Ning didn’t do it on purpose. Why are you making such a fuss? The door is open now; we can just bring her out,” Consort Xiao sneered, even showing some regret—why hadn’t the beast torn Lu Chao Chao apart?
“She isn’t even dead, so why are you yelling? You’ll frighten Yi Ning,” Consort Xiao shielded her daughter protectively.
Madam Xu’s face darkened as she rushed to find Chao Chao.
However—
The enraged Big Black Bear suddenly went berserk, knocking people aside with a terrifying roar as it charged straight toward Consort Xiao.
“Guards! Protect me!” Consort Xiao cried out.
A group of guards stepped forward but were sent flying with a single slap from the raging beast.
The animals in the Beast Garden had been drugged beforehand to ensure a fierce and bloody spectacle. Earlier, the bear had been subdued by Lu Chao Chao, and now, still seething, it was out for vengeance.
With its enormous paws, a single swipe sent guards sprawling.
“Shoot it! Shoot it now!” Consort Xiao could even feel the bear’s hot, heavy breath; her legs went weak from fear.
Xie Yi Ning trembled violently, clutching at her mother’s robes.
“We can’t! All the esteemed guests are clustered together—who will take responsibility if they get hit?” Imperial Uncle Xiao barked angrily.
Consort Xiao stiffened.
When she looked up, her father’s gaze was icy cold.
She shuddered.
The bear was already bleeding but remained undeterred, charging toward Consort Xiao with its colossal frame.
Ha, Lu Chao Chao was more terrifying than death itself.
In panic, Consort Xiao grabbed a nearby maid and threw her forward.
The maid was struck down instantly, coughing up blood.
Xie Yi Ning screamed, “Don’t eat me! Don’t eat me! Mother, save me!” She shoved Consort Xiao forward and stumbled backward in terror.
The push caught Consort Xiao off guard, and she tumbled directly into the bear’s path.
No one had anticipated such a shocking turn of events.
The bear stomped on Consort Xiao, then ran its rough tongue over her face. Flesh was scraped away in an instant, revealing ghastly white bone. The grotesque sight sent onlookers reeling.
“Ahhh!!”
“Father! Father! Save me!”
“Yi Ning!”
The bear’s tongue was barbed. It didn’t eat human flesh but peeled it away with each lick, stripping Consort Xiao piece by piece. Her agonized screams echoed through the air.
Then, it turned its gaze to Lu Chao Chao.
Madam Xu was already clutching her recovered daughter, sobbing uncontrollably.
Lu Chao Chao, her big eyes filled with tears, shook her head gently.
She looked at Consort Xiao—half her face stripped bare, bones visible beneath, blood soaking her body.
The soldiers arrived and finally subdued the bear.
The little girl’s voice was tinged with sorrow: “Chao Chao do bad? You push Chao Chao?”
“Why you push Consort Xiao?”
“She not your mother?” Lu Chao Chao pointed at the disfigured woman, barely clinging to life.
Consort Xiao, wild-eyed, touched her face. Realizing her flesh was gone, she let out a horrific wail.
Hearing Lu Chao Chao’s innocent yet piercing question, she turned to her daughter.
Xie Yi Ning’s face was deathly pale. “Mother… Mother, Yi Ning didn’t mean to…”
“Yi Ning was too scared… too scared…”
The imperial physicians arrived in haste. Seeing Consort Xiao’s ruined face, they could only sigh deeply.
She had once been a peerless beauty, but now… her life was ruined.
“Yi Ning is only six years old… and she is Consort Xiao’s only daughter…”
“Consort Xiao surely won’t blame her, will she?” Lu Chao Chao let out a quiet sigh.
Xie Yi Ning, like a madwoman, desperately pleaded for her mother’s forgiveness, yet Consort Xiao remained expressionless, unwilling to cast even a single glance at her from start to finish.
Lu Chao Chao—this move of hers was truly a fatal strike, not only to the body but to the heart.
[Had you not pushed me, you might have escaped this calamity.]
[Bratty children always have equally bratty parents. Tsk, tsk…]
The one person who had truly cherished her, Consort Xiao, how could she still love her now? Fear not, only resentment remained.
“Grandfather, Mother Consort, I was wrong. Ning’er knows her mistake,” Xie Yi Ning sobbed as she pleaded.
Soon, Eunuch Wang arrived with an imperial decree.
“By the Mandate of Heaven, His Majesty decrees: The Xiao clan has indulged their daughter’s reckless cruelty, harboring ill intent toward Northern Zhao… plotting harm against Princess Sunshine…”
“From this day forth, she is to be demoted to the Cold Palace.”
The moment the decree was announced, Consort Xiao wailed in despair, her cries piercing through the palace halls.
“Your Majesty, this concubine was wrong, this concubine was wrong! I will never dare again! It was… it was all Ning’er’s fault!”
“Ning’er! Hurry, tell Eunuch Wang that it was your own will to push Princess Sunshine!” Her bloodshot eyes, her face covered in fresh wounds and streaks of red, made her look utterly horrifying.
Yet, Xie Yi Ning remained silent.
“Ning’er, speak!”
Xie Yi Ning lowered her head, not daring to meet her mother’s gaze.
Eunuch Wang chuckled softly, his eyes gleaming with amusement. “His Majesty, in consideration of the many years you have spent by his side, has requested an imperial physician for you, Your Highness. You may go now.” But that face—it could never be restored.
The flesh had already been swallowed by the great black bear.
“His Majesty also decrees that Princess Yi Ning shall not be separated from her mother. The princess shall accompany her to the Cold Palace.”
Xie Yi Ning’s head jerked up abruptly.
“I am Father Emperor’s only daughter, the sole princess! How dare you send me to the Cold Palace!”
“I demand to see Father Emperor!” She could not be sent there with her mother.
She knew how much her mother valued her appearance. She had pushed her mother into the bear’s jaws—there was no doubt in her heart that her mother now hated her to the bone.
She could not follow her.
“I won’t go with Mother Consort! I want to stay with Father Emperor!”
“Eunuch Wang, I demand to see Father Emperor!” Xie Yi Ning sobbed and screamed, desperate for an audience, but Eunuch Wang would never grant her wish.
Xie Yi Ning—she had truly been spoiled beyond reason.
As Consort Xiao was carried away, her eyes were hollow, devoid of life.
“Grandfather, Grandfather, please, save me!” Xie Yi Ning had once been proud and arrogant, treating palace servants with contempt and humiliating lesser consorts.
If she followed her mother into the Cold Palace, how could she possibly survive?
Moreover, the way her mother looked at her filled her with dread.
She had a foreboding feeling that her life would be worse than death itself.
Imperial Uncle Xiao felt a chill in his heart. Chu An Min was truly cold-blooded—so much so that even his offspring bore his very likeness.
Once, he had been reluctant to let go of the granddaughter he had cherished for years.
But now, seeing her capable of pushing her own mother into the bear’s maw, all he felt was bone-chilling cold.
Xie Yi Ning was forcibly taken away.
Once again, everyone present witnessed just how much favor Princess Sunshine held.
Consort Xiao, favored for so many years, and the only princess, had both been instantly cast down the moment they touched the emperor’s reverse scale.
Lu Chao Chao glanced toward the corner.
Lu Jing Yao was trembling.
She had flattered and humbled herself before Xie Yi Ning, coaxing her into action, yet now…
“Why is it like this? Why does she always come out on top?” Lu Jing Yao was on the verge of collapse.
“No, no, this isn’t right.”
“Where did it go wrong?”
Lu Chao Chao merely smiled and said nothing. Perhaps…
Because I have seven incredibly powerful disciples, after all.
Well knowing the king had her back I don’t think you can defeat Chao Chao with a six year old princess lol
It’s getting kind of nasty now, the author and characters are so happy about awful things happening. More and more awful things, for smaller reasons, and no empathy or forgiveness at all.