MY PRINCE HUSBAND HAS SEVEN WIVES AND I AM HIS FAVOURITE!
Chapter 143: You are lying!

Chapter 143: You are lying!

The courtyard was suffocatingly silent.

Chen Li’s breath was unsteady.

"You—" Her voice was hoarse. "You’re lying."

Hua Jing only smiled, her eyes glinting like a predator that had just cornered its prey.

"Shall I tell them what really happened that night, Madame Hua?"

Chen Li looked scared but Hua Jing did not care about any of that!

She closed her eyes, the memories started coming...

So many years ago...

Winter had settled heavily over the Hua Mansion, blanketing the world in a layer of pristine white. The air was sharp and biting, the wind whispering through the bare trees like ghostly murmurs of forgotten tales. The great estate stood as it always had—imposing, beautiful, and cold.

Inside one of the small servant quarters, far removed from the warmth of the grand halls, a little girl sat curled up in her mother’s embrace.

Hua Jing was only four years old then, too young to understand the cruelties of the world, too innocent to question the whispers that followed her wherever she went. All she knew was the warmth of her mother’s arms, the soft hum of her voice as she whispered lullabies, and the gentle strokes of her fingers through Hua Jing’s tangled hair.

Her mother was young, breathtakingly beautiful despite the dull, rough fabric of her servant’s robes. Her dark eyes held warmth, and her smile, though weary, was filled with boundless love. Even as the harsh winter pressed against their tiny room, the cold could not reach Hua Jing.

Not when she was in her mother’s arms.

"Mommy, you’re so beautiful," Hua Jing had giggled, tracing her mother’s smooth cheek with her tiny fingers.

Her mother had laughed softly, a sound so tender it felt like home. "Silly child," she said, pressing a kiss to Hua Jing’s forehead. "You’ve taken the best of my face. My little Jing’er is the truly beautiful one."

Hua Jing beamed at those words, tucking them into her heart like a precious treasure.

She hadn’t thought much about the rumors—the hushed voices of the maids, the way the noble children looked at her with something between pity and disdain. The way the servants treated her kindly, but with an underlying sadness in their eyes. Her mother always told her not to worry about those things, and so she didn’t.

But that night...

That night changed everything.

Hua Jing woke to the sound of rustling fabric and the faint glow of the moon spilling through the cracks in their tiny window.

Her mother was moving hurriedly, her hands shaking as she folded a thin shawl over her shoulders. There was something restless about the way she moved, something Hua Jing had never seen before.

"Mommy?" she mumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Her mother flinched at the sound of her voice. She turned, forcing a small smile that did not reach her eyes. "Go back to sleep, my love. Mommy has somewhere she needs to go."

Hua Jing frowned, that unfamiliar feeling of unease curling in her stomach. "Where are you going?"

Her mother hesitated. "I just... need to meet someone."

Even at four, Hua Jing could tell something was wrong. The way her mother kept glancing toward the door, the way her breath came in shallow, uneven gasps—it was as if something terrible was coming for her.

The feeling only grew worse as she watched her mother slip out into the night.

And despite the bitter cold, despite the thinness of her clothes, Hua Jing followed.

She did not understand why she did it. She only knew that she had to.

The night was endless, the cold seeping into her bones as she trailed after her mother. Her tiny feet sank into the snow, her shoes doing nothing to keep the frost from biting at her skin. Still, she pressed on, step after step, struggling to keep up.

Her mother walked for a long time, moving further and further from the mansion, past the stone lanterns and the courtyard, past the quiet servant quarters, past the walls that separated their world from the outside.

And then, finally, she stopped.

At the edge of a pond.

Hua Jing crouched behind a large rock, her small fingers gripping its frozen surface as she tried to catch her breath. She could see her mother standing there, eyes darting around, as if expecting someone.

The snow fell silently around her, the wind howling softly through the trees. And then—

Footsteps.

Hua Jing pressed herself against the rock as three figures emerged from the darkness.

Two were guards—men she recognized from the Hua Mansion. But the third...

The third was a woman.

She was dressed in fine robes, the delicate embroidery barely visible beneath the thick cloak that shielded her from the cold. A hood covered her head, casting a shadow over her face as she stepped forward.

And then, with slow, deliberate movements—

She pulled the hood down.

Hua Jing’s tiny body stiffened.

Chen Li.

The Madame of the Hua family.

The legal wife of Hua Ming Rong.

Her mother immediately dropped to her knees in the snow. "Madame, please!"

she begged, her voice trembling.

Chen Li did not move for a long moment. Then, she exhaled softly, as if burdened by some great inconvenience. "When will you leave my house?" she asked, her voice calm, almost gentle.

Hua Jing’s mother lowered her head further. "I... I have nowhere to go."

A slow smile spread across Chen Li’s lips. "That is not my concern."

"Please," Hua Jing’s mother pleaded again, her fingers digging into the frozen ground. "Please spare my daughter."

Chen Li’s expression did not change. "If I spare her, will you use yours to substitute?"

Hua Jing’s mother choked on a breath, unable to answer.

The world suddenly felt too quiet.

Hua Jing could not understand all of their words, but she could feel the weight of them. The fear in her mother’s voice, the cruelty in Chen Li’s smile.

And then—

It happened.