Chapter 226 - Baili Anqing Reborn!

Baili Anqing’s eyes went blank for a while. Then she stared at Zhao Huiying and grabbed her dress as if she were grabbing a life-saving straw. “Mother Empress, I also want that kind of affection! I also want a husband who will wholeheartedly love me! Mother Empress, please help me!”

“Anqing, what do you want to do?”

Baili Anqing bit her lips fiercely. “I don’t have that much time to cultivate a good husband, so I can only follow Princess Liulan’s example and snatch a good husband over! Except for her appearance, what other good quality does Shen Ninghua have? Whatever she can do, I can do it as well…Besides, I am Father Emperor’s biological daughter while she is just an adopted daughter. Father Emperor will definitely know who is more important. Mother Empress, please help me. I want Chu Junyi, I want to marry him!”

Zhao Huiying was satisfied, but on the surface, she put on an embarrassed expression. “Anqing, it’s not as simple as you think. After all, Shen Ninghua and Chu Junyi are already married, and both of them are highly valued by His Majesty. Unless you intend to go all out to achieve your goal, it’s impossible for you to succeed.”

Baili Anqing gritted her teeth and said, “Then I’m ready to go all out. If I can’t get Chu Junyi, I’ll have to marry a dead man. What’s the difference between that and death? Furthermore, the royal family has no custom of killing their children. Even if something happens, Father Emperor will help cover it up in order to avoid a royal scandal!”

To conquer or to die, that was not the question!

“Then what are you going to do? What help do you want from me?” Zhao Huiying looked at Baili Anqing “helplessly” and finally made a compromise.

Baili Anqing’s face was instantly filled with joy. “Mother Empress, I need your help with two things. With your help, I will definitely succeed. To get Chu Junyi, there are two conditions. First, Chu Jinyi and I sleep together, and second, Shen Ninghua comes to a violent death!”

Zhao Huiying’s eyes flashed with a streak of light. “Anqing, these two things are both taboos.” It was very sinister of her to do such things!

“Mother Empress, I have no other choice but to do so.” Baili Anqing’s gaze was firm!

“Well, since you’ve decided, I can only help you. Anqing, you are the one with the most miserable fate of all the princesses. Your birth mother’s position is low, and you are not favored by His Majesty, so I care about you the most. However, you should also know that something happened to me a while ago, and His Majesty still harbors grudges against me. There are many things that I can’t do openly. ”

Baili Anqing nodded. “Mother Empress, I understand what you said and I don’t want to make things difficult for you. I just hope you can help create an opportunity for me.”

Zhao Huiying agreed. “What kind of opportunity?”

“In a while, the flowers in the Palace will bloom. At that time, I would like Mother Empress to host a flower viewing banquet.”

Inside the Palace, Baili Anqing racked her brains to design her plans. Outside the Palace, Shen Ninghua was also making her calculations and preparations bit by bit.

In the room, Shen Ninghua was leaning against the soft couch, holding an exquisite hand warmer as she listened to Hong Ling’s report.

“Miss, the rumors have spread outside the Palace. Now the people all know that His Majesty intends to marry Princess Anqing to the dead man Yang Lin.”

Shen Ninghua took a slight breath and said, “Outside the Palace?”

Although the Emperor planned to make use of Baili Anqing, he did not really want to destroy this daughter. Therefore, he would strictly control the spread of rumors. No matter what, he should not allow them to be widely known.

Hong Ling nodded. “Yes, I thought that this news would never come out, but I didn’t expect that it would be so widely spread.”

“Did Imperial Counselor Yang play a part?”

“Ever since Yang Lin’s parents passed away, Imperial Counselor Yang’s health has deteriorated greatly. He entered the Palace yesterday and came out sick today. He hasn’t woken up yet. It shouldn’t be him.”

“In that case, could…could it be the Empress?”

“The Empress?” Hong Ling was surprised. “Although the Empress has the intention to make use of Princess Anqing, she would not go as far as to ruin the rest of her life, right?”

Shen Ninghua was also puzzled, and she unconsciously frowned.

Suddenly, her eyes darkened and a warm palm landed on her forehead. “Ah…”

Chu Junyi’s voice was soft and helpless. “Ninghua, you’ve been frowning more and more frequently recently.”

Shen Ninghua blinked her eyes and raised her hand to pull down his palm. “Have I?”

Chu Junyi held her fingers in his palm and was satisfied with the warmth of her fingers. “Sure. You’ve been frowning more and more recently. You’re almost having wrinkles. Maybe you’ll become an old lady in a while.”

Shen Ninghua glanced at him and snorted, “So you have become tired of me?”

Her eyebrows were gorgeous and her gaze was sharp. Although she was expressing dissatisfaction, her gaze carried a myriad of charm that made Chu Junyi feel his heart trembling with her gaze.

Chu Junyi held her hand tightly. “Well, I wish you were an old lady. In that case, I had grown old with you.”

Shen Ninghua pursed her lips and chuckled. “Stop talking nonsense. By the way, what have you found out?”

Chu Junyi’s expression became serious. “You guessed correctly. The one who spread the rumors was really the Empress.”

Although she had guessed correctly, Shen Ninghua was still puzzled. “What good will the Empress have by doing this?”

“Perhaps to force Baili Anqing into a desperate corner?”

“Force her? Could it be that the Empress wanted Baili Anqing to do something special? She was afraid that Baili Anqing wouldn’t do it, so she cut off Baili Anqing’s path of retreat ahead of time?”

“It’s possible,” Chu Junyi nodded. “There is one more thing. Victory reports have been frequently delivered from the northwest. His Majesty has awarded the Second Prince the title of Royal Prince De. The forces that used to center around Baili Jinchuan have gathered again and grown considerably. The Crown Prince and the Empress should feel threatened. Perhaps the Empress plans to use Baili Anqing to rope in the Yang Clan?”

“Yang Lin’s parents have passed away. What is the use of a sick Imperial Counselor Yang to the Crown Prince?”

Chu Junyi shook his head, “Although Imperial Counselor Yang is sick now and has retired for many years, he has great influence among the scholars and officials. In fact, the Minister of Rites and the Minister of War are both his students and have received the kindness of the Yang Clan. If Imperial Counselor Yang were to stand on the Crown Prince’s side, it would definitely be of great help to the Crown Prince.”

Shen Ninghua’s eyes darkened. “I remember that Imperial Counselor Yang loved Yang Lin very much. Now that Yang Lin died and he even implicated his father and mother, Imperial Counselor Yang must hate me very much, and even hate Baili Anqing. If the Empress promised to help him get rid of me and then let Baili Anqing marry Yang Lin, perhaps he would really stand on the Crown Prince’s side.”

Chu Junyi nodded. “Right.”

“Do you have plans to deal with him?

“I need to first make sure if Imperial Counselor Yang is sick or pretending to be sick. Then, I will ruin the Empress’ plan.” Said Chu Junyi.

Shen Ninghua thought for a while and suddenly shook her head. “No, let’s meet trick with trick.”

“Meet trick with trick?” Chu Junyi was puzzled.

“Yes. Father Emperor asked me to find evidence of the Zhao Clan and the Empress’ crimes. This is a good opportunity. If the Empress wants to ruin me, she cannot do it without using her own forces. As long as she uses her own forces, we can follow the lead and find a lot of useful information.”

Chu Junyi nodded and said, “This is a good idea. But we have to be more vigilant. If we fail to turn her trick to our own use and fall into her trap instead, we will lose more than we get.”

“Yes, I know.”

Five days later, the news that Baili Anqing was going to marry into the Yang Clan became more and more widely circulated.

The rumors in the Palace spread like wildfire under the Empress’ indulgence.

Baili Anqing, on the other hand, abandoned her previous appearance of fear and despair. Every day, she had people pick petals for her to bathe in and collect dews to make tea for her. Besides, the food she ate was extremely exquisite. It was as if she had become a completely different person, radiating a sense of vitality from the inside to the outside.

Shen Ninghua received the invitation to the flower viewing banquet and looked at the warm spring scenery outside. Her eyes flashed with a bright light, “Spring has arrived, and people have become restless.”

Spring had arrived. Many people ignored the chilly spring weather and changed into light spring clothes. They took advantage of the banquet in the Palace and wandered in the imperial garden. Immediately, the imperial garden was filled with brisk voices and slender figures of young ladies.

Shen Ninghua and Baili Anning sat in the waterside pavilion, looking at the madams and young ladies coming and going with interest in their eyes.

“Ninghua, have you seen Minister Chen’s daughter? Although it is spring now, it is still cold in the morning, but the dress she wears is a summer dress, right?”

Hearing this, Shen Ninghua followed her sight and saw Miss Chen in a long, pink embroidered dress. She couldn’t help but smile and tighten the hand warmer in her hand. “Her dress is indeed beautiful enough, but too scant. She’s really not afraid of the cold.”

“Haha.” Baili Anning chuckled and couldn’t help but look around to see who else was wearing the wrong clothes. Suddenly, her gaze stopped, and her entire body froze.

Shen Ninghua seemed to feel something and turned to look.

At this moment, everyone’s attention in the imperial garden was focused on the person who was slowly walking in from the door.

She was wearing a dress embroidered with butterflies and flowers. The collar, cuffs, and hemlines were all embroidered with blooming flowers. The fiery red begonia extended all the way to her chest, making her exquisite chest look plump and upright.

There was a faint smile on her face. Her skin was as smooth as white porcelain and seemed as if it would be broken by a gentle breeze. Her dark watery eyes looked delicate and agile. Her hair was all coiled up, revealing her smooth and plump forehead. There were jade hairpins on her head and jade bracelets on her wrists, making her look dignified and elegant. She was like an astonishingly beautiful fairy of flowers.

Baili Anning was dumbfounded. She looked at the woman walking over and whispered, “Anqing, she is Anqing…”

Shen Ninghua’s pupils suddenly shrank. Baili Anqing, it was actually Baili Anqing!

At this moment, Baili Anqing seemed to be completely reborn. Her past dullness and cowardice had disappeared without a trace, and she looked every inch a gorgeous and charming beauty!