Chapter 386

When Bu Jinglan left the room, an ordinary-looking nurse walked in and asked, “Your Highness, are you alright?”

Bu Yonghan smashed the teacup in her hand to the ground and barked, “Who does he think he is? How dare he come and teach me a lesson? If it were not for the fact that Mother Empress told me to listen to him, I wouldn’t have to tolerate this nonsense! Doesn’t he have a mirror in his room to look at himself?! Everyone in the kingdom sees him as a laughing stock.”

“Your Highness, please calm down and be patient. Her Majesty is definitely doing this for your own good.”

Bu Yonghan’s expression became slightly relaxed. She looked at Nanny Zou and smiled adoringly, “Nanny, you’re the kindest to me!”

“I have watched you grow up, Your Highness, so of course, I can’t bear to see you sad. You announced in the hall today that you will choose a husband in the Da’an Kingdom. Do you have a suitable candidate?”

Bu Yonghan smiled mysteriously and then shook her head. “No.”

“No?” Nanny Zou was surprised. “But…”

Seeing that Nanny Zou did not comprehend her meaning, Bu Yonghan smiled proudly and explained, “Nanny, before I came here, I had people investigate the Princes in detail. The Eldest Prince is the Crown Prince, but from the looks of it, he will be denounced sooner or later. Besides, he has a dying wife, so I’m definitely not going to marry him. The Second Prince is a loser. The Third Prince kept looking at me affectionately today, taking me for a naive and ignorant young girl. The Fourth Prince is a playboy who rests on his laurels. Whom do you think I can marry among these men?”

Nanny Zou praised with a smile, “Your Highness is extremely smart and intelligent. You are truly beyond the reach of ordinary people as you are able to see through the Princes’ qualities and characteristics at first glance.”

Bu Yonghan looked at the vase placed on the table, her expression somewhat grave. “Well, you can say that, but I can’t see through all of them.”

“Oh? Is there someone else that Your Highness are unable to see through?”

When she recalled the verbal confrontation in the hall today, Bu Yonghan curled her lips into a faint smile. “He is the descendant of Aunt Yunqing. So, technically speaking, he is my cousin. That man is unique and extraordinary.”

Nanny Zou hesitated. “Your Highness are talking about the Fifth Prince… But he is related to you by blood, albeit distant. You can marry him, but he already has an official wife, and from what I heard, Princess Zhaohua is quite a hard nut to crack. Bu Tinghe is the best example to prove the point.”

Bu Yonghan reached out and pulled out one of the magnolias from the vase and picked the petals off one by one. “He’s married, but he can divorce his wife and marry another woman, right? I wouldn’t have wanted to provoke Shen Ninghua if she was an easy opponent. That would be too boring. The stronger the enemy is, the harder the fight is, and the more interesting it will be. Am I right?”

“Your Highness are intelligent and meticulous. Please let me know if there is anything I can help with.”

“Oh, you will come in handy, for sure, but I don’t need your help yet. I think that in less than two days, Noble Consort Li will send me an invitation. She doesn’t want to see me marry someone else. I’ll arrange to have more meetings with Princess Zhaohua. Knowing more about my enemy will help me win the battle flawlessly.”

“Your Highness are wise.”

Inside Royal Prince Yi Mansion, Shen Ninghua was sitting in front of the mirror to remove her makeup. When she heard movement at the door, she could not help but look at the door.

Two children in red clothes walked in one after another. “Mother, Mother… come and see.”

Big Boy and Baby Girl held a flower in each hand and stuffed it in Shen Ninghua’s arms like they were presenting a treasure. “Mother, flower.”

Shen Ninghua looked down at the flowers in their hands and quickly took them, not minding that they had destroyed the petals and buds. “Are these for me?”

“Yes!” The two children were full of smiles, and they sounded particularly proud.

Shen Ninghua laughed, “I love them! Hong Ling, go get the jade bottle from my room and insert the flowers.”

“Yes, I will go now.”

Big Boy and Baby Girl were full of pride. They wiggled playfully while looking at Shen Ninghua. “Mother, the weather is good.”

Shen Ninghua looked at the bright sun outside. “Yes, it is good.”

Seeing that Mother did not understand what she meant, Baby Girl huffed anxiously, “It’s warm.”

Shen Ninghua nodded. She did not show any expression on her face, but in her heart, she was already smiling. After taking a stroll on the street the other day, the two children wanted to go out again. They even pestered the guards at the door countless times. Now that they came to her with the flowers, Shen Ninghua could tell that the children wanted to go out again. “The weather is warm, and the sun is bright. It is time to take a nap. Do you want to sleep with me for a while?”

After listening to her, the two children frowned in dismay. Big Boy grabbed Shen Ninghua’s sleeve and shook it. “Mother, I want to go out and play.”

Shen Ninghua reached out and stroked their heads gently. “I’m afraid that we can’t go out these two days. Your father and I are busy. You have to wait for a while if you want to go out.”

The two children were instantly disappointed. When Baili Junyi walked in and saw their sorrowful expression, his heart ached and he immediately hugged Baby Girl. “Oh, my darling. What’s wrong?”

“Daddy, Baby Girl wants to go out and play…” Baby Girl lay on Baili Junyi’s shoulder, looking aggrieved and sad.

Baili Junyi carried her to the table, and Qing Que came in with two boxes.

“Look! See what gift I brought for you?”

Big Boy quickly ran over. The table was higher than his height, so he could only grab the edge of the table and try hard to look up. Shen Ninghua walked over and picked Big Boy up. Baili Junyi opened the box, revealing twelve golden animals, and the children cheered immediately. “Whoa! Whoa!”

“Gold!”

Baby Girl’s eyes lit up. She picked up a little tiger made of gold and opened her mouth to imitate the tiger’s roar. “Ah!” Her childish appearance almost made Baili Junyi and Shen Ninghua laugh out loud.

Baili Junyi hugged Baby Girl and kissed her. “My little happy angel.” Baby Girl was a little confused as she looked at her parents who were laughing happily, not knowing what she had done that was so funny. However, now that she had a new collection, her idea of going outside was thrown out of the window. Baili Junyi called the nurses, who were waiting at the door, to take the children to play in the courtyard with their boxes.

Watching the child leave happily, Baili Junyi was grinning from ear to ear. “When I look at their adorable and priceless looks, I feel like it is worth all the hardship.”

Shen Ninghua held his hand, walked over, and leaned into his arms. “What happened? Is there anything bothering you?”

“Just now, Father Emperor issued a decree for Noble Consort Li to be in charge of making preparations for the marriage alliance and to release the Third Prince. I just feel uneasy.” Baili Qingcang was his Father Emperor, the person he had once looked forward to and respected in his heart. But now, this reverence was worn down to the point that there was almost nothing left.

Shen Ninghua lowered her eyes slightly. “We don’t have the right to judge and comment whether it is right or wrong. Just do what we should do. Lin Feiran is Noble Consort Li’s niece. It is most suitable for her to handle and make preparations for her marriage. It is also reasonable to release the Third Prince at this moment.”

Baili Junyi reached out, pulled her into his arms, and sighed, “I know, but I feel disappointed. The dwindling etiquette is the biggest taboo in a country. So many things had happened in the palace recently, but which one of them has been handled properly by Father Emperor? He is old now and just wants to maintain the peace, but under the facade of the so-called peace, corruptions are abundant among the officials, lawless criminals are rampant, and the Princes are fighting for the throne and power instead of taking care of the people. How long can this false peace last?”

“The country has you.” Shen Ninghua looked up at him seriously, her gaze full of trust and confidence. “If you become the Emperor one day, will you disregard etiquette just to maintain peace on the surface?”

“No.”

“Correct. There will always be someone who will step forward to resolve this mess. You’ve just forced yourself into a dead-end again.”

Baili Junyi hugged Shen Ninghua tightly, feeling his tensed heart easing a little. “Yes, I’m in the dead-end again. Ninghua, marrying you is the luckiest thing that has happened to me. What more can I ask for?”

Shen Ninghua gently poked his forehead. “Wipe that sweetness off your mouth, sweet-talker, or I’ll think you’ve done something wrong and tried to overcompensate.”

“Honey, how can you think of me as such a person? Oh, I’m so sad, and I need comfort.” As he spoke, he directly carried Shen Ninghua into the inner room.

When Shen Ninghua woke up the next morning, the sun had already risen high. She felt extremely hungry. After washing up and eating something, she felt alive again. She looked at the flowers on the table and smiled sweetly. “Hong Ling, where are Big Boy and Baby Girl?”

“Miss, the two Little Masters took the tiger from the set of twelve golden animals to scare the guards at the door.” Hong Ling tried to hold back her laughter while informing Shen Ninghua.

Shen Ninghua laughed softly, “Tell Bi Zhu to give them a twenty percent bonus each this month. They have worked hard.”

Hong Ling covered her mouth to muffle her laugh. “Yes, they indeed have a hard time. I heard that they were shocked by the tiger that little Prefectural Princess was holding.”

Amidst their conversation, Rouqin brought over an invitation. “Master, Changqiu Palace sent someone to deliver this invitation. You are invited to enter the palace.”

Shen Ninghua took the invitation and looked at it. “Noble Consort Li invites me to admire the flowers seven days later. It is indeed the best time to admire flowers at this time of the year.”

Noble Consort Li took over most of the power in the harem again because she had to conduct the wedding ceremony. Noble Consort Qi personally went to the Emperor and expressed that she wanted to return the Phoenix Seal, but the Emperor rejected her request.

This time, many people were looking forward to watching the drama unfold at the flower-admiration banquet that Noble Consort Li was going to organize. After all, Noble Consort Li and Noble Consort Qi were now two strong persons in the harem, and the others were anticipating their fights during the banquet. However, Noble Consort Qi was the same as before, admiring the flowers and playing the zither every day, unaffected by the outside world. Everyone thought that this would allow Noble Consort Li to gain the upper hand again, but they did not expect that the Emperor would stay in Chunlan Palace for several days in a row. It was self-evident that the Emperor favored Noble Consort Qi more.

Noble Consort Li looked at the list in her hand and felt upset. She wanted to tear it off.

Lin Feiran walked in. “Greetings, Your Grace.” Her current identity was Princess Anyue, so it would be inappropriate to address Noble Consort Li as her aunt. She had changed the way she addressed her earlier on.

“Feiran, you’re here. Sit down quickly. I’m looking at the things I prepared for you.”

Lin Feiran sat down on a chair at the side, her face full of concern. “Thank you, Your Grace. You look so tired and pale. I think you must have put in a lot of effort for me.”

“I don’t expect to get His Majesty’s satisfaction now. I’m happy enough as long as I don’t offend His Majesty and earn an earful from him,” Noble Consort Li sighed and reached out to massage her forehead.