I just want to be a princess, no, you want to be a queen

Chapter 172: No chance of survival

Lu Mingyang smiled and said, "Your Highness, don't worry, I won't mention the divorce again."

Chu Mingzheng's face fell. Did she think that he said these words because he couldn't divorce her and was afraid of being embarrassed?

"Ah!" Lu Mingyang covered his earlobes and looked angrily at the man who bit him, then saw Chu Mingzheng squeezing the horse's belly and galloping away.

The horse continued on its way through the desolate grassy fields. A foul smell wafted over, along with a chilling chill.

"Where are you taking me?" Before he finished speaking, Lu Mingyang saw an exposed arm. It was not known whether it had been gnawed by wild dogs. There were spots of flesh on it, and it was stained with black and red blood.

She was so scared that she threw herself into Chu Mingzheng's arms.

Chu Mingzheng patted her shoulder and pointed into the distance. Lu Mingyang looked over and saw a few scattered graves among the weeds and bushes, covered with weeds, tattered clothes, and broken limbs.

It turned out to be a mass grave.

"What are you going to do? I won't go, I won't go..."

Lu Mingyang's wailing had no effect at all. Chu Mingzheng dismounted and carried her to the depths of the mass grave. The graves in the mass grave were all ancient, and there was no place for the wandering ghosts of today.

One deep pit next to another, filled with countless wandering ghosts.

Chu Mingzheng walked to a deep pit and put Lu Mingyang down.

Is this, murder to silence someone?

The corpse in the deep pit seemed to have turned into a zombie and crawled towards him. Lu Mingyang jumped on Chu Mingzheng in fear and said, "Your Highness, I was wrong. I shouldn't have said such nonsense. Please forgive me!"

"Yangyang!" Chu Mingzheng patted her trembling back. "Do you still remember Lu Mingfeng's concubine, Zhao?"

Lu Mingyang landed on the ground and asked in a trembling voice, "Are you saying that Lu Mingfeng killed her?"

Chu Mingzheng nodded.

At first, Lu Mingfeng was worried about his title and didn't dare to cause any loss of life, but now, how could he not hate the person who made him lose his title? Times have changed, and hatred will not last.

He could not take revenge on others, so he could only take revenge on the Zhao family, who were powerless and depended on him for survival.

"Shall we bury her?" he suggested.

"it is good!"

Lu Mingyang's legs went limp, and he could only move by leaning on Chu Mingzheng's arms. They searched deep pits one by one. The pits were filled with broken limbs, mutilated faces, maggots, flies, and a gloomy and rotten stench.

"Why did you bring me here?"

Fear mixed with guilt, Lu Mingyang roared and pushed Chu Mingzheng away, then knelt on the ground and retched.

Chu Mingzheng picked up Lu Mingyang, mounted his horse and left.

The horse galloped, gradually getting rid of the invasion of the corpse stench. Lu Mingyang raised his pale face and said: "The person has not been found yet!"

Chu Mingzheng looked distressed: "He's not here."

Lu Mingyang nodded mechanically, "Let's bury her in our Lu family's ancestral tomb and burn more paper money. Her child is about to be born..."

Chu Mingzheng did not respond to the muttered words and took her to Zhu Cong's thatched cottage.

Inside the room, Zhao lay on the bed, her blood staining the bedding and hanging over the bed, frozen into ice. Zhu Cong stood by, watching Leng Lingfeng perform acupuncture. Upon seeing Prince Ningyuan enter, he stepped forward and saluted.

"Your Highness, I have failed in my duty."

Chu Mingzheng raised his hand, signaling him not to say anything more, and asked the question that Lu Mingyang was concerned about: "Where is the baby in her belly?"

Zhu Cong said, "Ten days ago, Zhao gave birth to a baby girl. Lu is raising her. There's nothing wrong with her."

Hearing the word "child", Zhao slowly opened her eyes.

Leng Lingfeng stood up and said, "Her injuries look like they were caused by abuse. She's bleeding profusely from her lower body. There must be more than one person. Her injuries are too severe. I'm afraid she won't live long."

"She can't survive?" Chu Mingzheng felt a little regretful. If he had known that she couldn't be saved, he would not have taken her to the mass grave to scare her.

"Fourth Miss!" Zhao slowly raised her hand. The nails on her left hand had been completely plucked out, leaving a glaring, hideous appearance.

Lu Mingyang stepped back in fright, leaned against the strong chest to calm down, walked forward, held her hand, and sat down.

"I'm sorry, I hurt you."

Zhao shook her head. "You're only telling the truth. I chose this path myself. For men, the only thing we prostitutes have to do is find ways to make them happy. If we have even the slightest bit of our own thoughts, it's an unforgivable sin."

"The moment I banged my head against the door, I knew this day would come. I have no regrets, and I want to thank you."

At this point, Zhao smiled and said, "My daughter was born a lady from a noble family. She will marry a handsome man of equal status and become the mistress of the house. She won't be like me, being bullied by thousands of people and being looked down upon by the world."

"I'm content to exchange my worthless life for a lifetime of wealth for my daughter. I'm just afraid that one day she'll know I'm her mother. I'm even more afraid that she'll hate me, hate me for making her lose face, hate me for bringing shame to her."

"No!" Lu Mingyang held her hand tightly. "I will tell her how much her mother loves her and how brave she is."

Chu Mingzheng stepped forward, put his arm around Lu Mingyang's shoulders, and promised, "If that day ever comes, I will personally find a good marriage for her."

"Thank you, Your Highness, and thank you, Fourth Miss..."

Perhaps she was truly content and had no regrets in her death, as Zhao's face always wore a smile. Or perhaps it was just a beautiful illusion in her final moments. Chu Mingzheng was worried that Lu Mingyang would feel distressed after seeing someone die, so he took her away first.

"Don't worry about her funeral. I'll let Zhu Cong take care of it. She can't be buried in the Lu family's ancestral tomb." The less Lu Mingfeng knew about this, the better the little girl's situation would be.

"Your Highness, thank you." Lu Mingyang looked up at the sky, his eyes filled with confusion, guilt, self-blame, unwillingness and anger.

Chu Mingzheng looked at her and said, "If you hadn't insisted on having my elder sister inherit the title, she wouldn't have died at all."

Lu Mingyang paused and looked at the man beside him indifferently: "Are you saying that I was wrong?"

"Isn't it?" Chu Mingzheng asked back.

"Lu Mingfeng was the one who kept a mistress first and then killed someone. You don't say it was his fault, but you say it was my fault?" Lu Mingyang pushed Chu Mingzheng away angrily and walked towards the official road.

"You said you were right, right? Okay, I'll take you to another place." Chu Mingzheng picked up Lu Mingyang, mounted the horse, and galloped away.

This time, they came to Xihe Village.

Since the last attack on the village, every household had reinforced their gates and raised their walls. As they walked through the village lanes, they could hear children crying, men cursing, women begging for mercy, and occasionally the sounds of slaps and clubs.

Lu Mingyang looked at the man beside him in confusion.

Chu Mingzheng said, "Ever since the attack, the surrounding villages have been making fun of the men of Xihe Village, calling them cowards and their women sluts. They're frustrated and take their anger out on their women. Over time, it's become a common practice in Xihe Village."

"Trend?" It was the first time that Lu Mingyang heard of this word.

From within the walls of another courtyard came the sounds of a man beating and a woman begging for mercy.

"Shame on you!" Lu Mingyang cursed, rolled up his sleeves and kicked the door.