During her time in captivity, she had constantly pondered why Shi Qingyi had betrayed her, but no matter how much she thought about it, she never associated any of it with Huang Mingge.
In Huang Changge’s heart, her younger sister had always been a delicate and precious flower that needed to be protected.
"Look, it’s that look again!" Huang Mingge said resentfully and unwillingly as she eyed her.
"You always look down at the other siblings and me from your high perch, feeling that we should be grateful for your favors, because you are the lofty Imperial Eldest Princess, the Crown Prince. But why? I am also the Legitimate Daughter of the Imperial Mother; you just happened to be born a few years before me!"
Huang Mingge, realizing she had lost control of her emotions, extended her hand to slowly and meticulously adjust her hair, and said softly, "Cousin Qingyi too. Such an outstanding Cousin Qingyi, yet you only saw him as a tool for political marriage to consolidate your position. I liked him so much, how could I possibly be content?"
Huang Changge replied softly, "So, you conspired with him to stage that play during the Lantern Festival?"
She wasn’t foolish, in fact, she was very intelligent.
It was just that Huang Changge, before, had trusted Shi Qingyi and her sister too much and never thought that one day, she would be stabbed in the back by the people she trusted the most.
Huang Changge closed her eyes; she didn’t want to say anything more.
That man, all the heartfelt devotion she had given him for so long, he failed to see;
This sister, her utter compliance and doting from childhood, she took for charity.
Some people, even if you lay your heart bare before them, will still find fault.
Yet Huang Mingge was looking at her with a face full of resentment.
Even , even imprisoned, even despised by the Imperial Mother, she still held herself with that superior air.
Even if Huang Mingge was reluctant to admit it, Huang Changge had a naturally extraordinary demeanor that, coupled with over a decade of being treated as the most revered and noble among mortals, made none of the siblings, including herself, a match for her.
This was also one of the reasons she resented her.
With such an exceptional heir precedent, the Imperial Mother’s eyes saw no other children.
She gave all her expectations, all her maternal love, to this eldest daughter.
Huang Changge suddenly opened her eyes, "I want to ask, does Father know about this?"
Huang Mingge sneered, "At this moment, Father is in the Imperial Mother’s palace, kneeling without rise, pleading on your behalf."
Huang Changge was relieved; not everyone in this world had abandoned her.
But Huang Mingge pulled out a dagger from her sleeve, "Huang Changge, just be content to never come out for the rest of your life. Father, I will take good care of him for you, and I will govern this dynasty well."
She smiled, yet her hand, without hesitation, drove the dagger into her own belly.
The Crown Prince Huang Changge, imprisoned in the Heir Apparent’s Palace, suddenly went mad and grievously wounded the Eighth Prince, her younger sister who had come to visit her out of concern; now the Eighth Prince was still unconscious.
The Phoenix Emperor was enraged and henceforth gave up on his eldest daughter completely.
He issued a decree, stripping Huang Changge of her position as Crown Prince, condemning her to fend for herself in the Cold Palace with no one allowed to visit her.
The treatment that awaited a former Crown Prince, despised by the Phoenix and without any means to rise again, was imaginable.
In less than two years, Huang Changge "succumbed to illness" within the palace walls.