Rebirth of a Lost Nation: Princess, Please Respect Yourself

"I see. Thank you, Madam Dowager, for clearing up my confusion."

Jiang Lige was a little unsure why Concubine Xian said this to him, so he just gave a vague answer and let it go.

Concubine Xian didn't seem surprised by Jiang Lige's answer. She smiled gently and explained more.

"The Xuantian Guards were sent by the Emperor to protect me on my return to the capital. If it weren't for that signal flare, you probably wouldn't have seen them."

"Your Majesty is kind and filial, truly rare."

Seeing Jiang Lige's measured actions, Concubine Xian smiled with satisfaction.

"I heard that Princess Zhaohua came all the way here because she wants my help."

After hearing this, Jiang Lige roughly understood the purpose of Concubine Xian's visit. Without hiding anything, he simply answered "yes" and then told Concubine Xian the truth about Feng Yu.

"Feng Yu's patricide is a matter of pity, but it is not tolerated by law or etiquette." After hearing this, Concubine Xian pondered for a moment before saying, "I can help the princess with this, but I need the princess to agree to two conditions."

"Your Highness, please feel free to speak."

"First, Princess Zhaohua made significant contributions in the Fengle Village incident. If the princess wants to save Feng Yu, she can use this contribution in exchange. How do you think?"

"We were able to escape safely this time thanks to the Crown Prince and the elders of the Xuantian Guard. How dare Zhaohua take credit for it?" Jiang Lige smiled modestly. "Zhaohua took advantage of the Queen Dowager's first condition."

"It would be great if the princess could think so."

"I wonder what the Queen Dowager's second condition is?"

"I haven't thought about the second one yet, so how about you say the princess owes me?"

"Okay." Jiang Lige answered cheerfully, "Then I'll leave Feng Yu's matter to the Empress Dowager."

After the two reached an agreement, Concubine Xian did not stay long. She said a few more words to Jiang Lige to smooth things over, and then left with a group of people.

As soon as Concubine Xian left, Song Yue came over and said, not knowing what was going on:

"Why would Her Majesty make such a deal with the Princess? From what I can see right now, she's not getting any benefit at all. Isn't she stupid?"

stupid?

The virtuous concubine is not stupid. The deal they made today seemed to have taken advantage of the virtuous concubine, but in fact, she made a lot of money.

Although Jiang Lige had intended to claim some kind of merit from the beginning, Concubine Xian's move cut off the possibility of Jiang Lige "using his merits to ask for rewards", thus saving Emperor Shengwu from a potential trouble.

On the other hand, all the credit for Fengle Village can be attributed to Ning Yunxiao, paving a bright future for him.

Finally, she could also use this opportunity to test Jiang Lige and see if she was willing to sacrifice her own merits to save Feng Yu.

However, although Jiang Lige could understand all these, he could not explain them to Song Yue here, so he just shook his head.

"Don't talk nonsense. I don't need you to serve me here anymore. Go to the prince's place and see how he is doing. I'm still a little worried."

"Oh~" Song Yue winked at Jiang Lige and teased him before agreeing, "Yes."

Jiang Lige felt completely at ease leaving this matter to Songyue. As soon as Songyue left, he simply went back to bed to make up for the sleep he had not gotten last night.

Who would have thought that just after I finished washing up and lay down on the bed, before I even had time to close my eyes, I saw Songyue coming back in a hurry.

"Princess! It's not good!"

"what happened?"

"I just went over and saw that the prince had already set off for the capital with a group of prisoners!"

"What!" Jiang Lige jumped up from the bed, instantly losing his sleepiness. "So urgent?"

"Yes, the prince said that if we delay, something bad will happen. Now everyone has left the village."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lige didn't care about anything else. He reached out and tied the cloak next to him, then limped out of the door.

……

Ning Yunxiao led the team out of the city gate. After the team had enough horse grass, he jumped on his horse and gave an order for the team to set off.

"set off!"

"Yes!"

The team responded in unison, whipping their whips in unison as they set off. However, they had barely advanced a short distance when they heard the girl's crisp voice—

"Sir!"

Ning Yunxiao turned around when he heard the voice and saw Jiang Lige.

The young girl came riding a horse, her face looking particularly delicate in a goose yellow palace dress. Her jade-white cloak was lifted high by the wind and sand, like a peony blossoming in the desert, beautiful and extremely precious.

"Oh~" Those who like to watch the fun don't mind making trouble. Look, those in the crowd who already know Jiang Lige's identity started to make a fuss.

Ning Yunxiao pretended not to hear, pulled the reins, and turned to walk towards Jiang Lige.

After rushing for a while in the wind and sand, Jiang Lige felt his eyes were a little dry. When he pulled the reins to dismount, he almost lost his balance and fell off the horse.

Fortunately, Ning Yunxiao quickly supported her, and there seemed to be a hint of blame in his eyes.

"Why is the princess here?"

Jiang Lige carefully looked at Ning Yunxiao, his eyes dodging as he said, "I... The prince left without saying goodbye, and he's injured. I'm really worried."

Ning Yunxiao seemed a little surprised, and was caught off guard as a soft spot in his heart was poked. Then it seemed as if spring water flowed in, tightly surrounding his scarred heart.

Then he lowered his voice and explained softly to Jiang Lige, "A secret letter suddenly came from the army summoning me back to the capital. I couldn't delay and couldn't let it leak, so I..."

Jiang Lige nodded in understanding and waved his hand, saying, "I don't mean to blame you, my lord."

"I know." He smiled suddenly, and though it was only for a moment, it was like a blooming flower, brightening everyone's eyes. "My injury is not serious. Princess, you shouldn't have run so far if you sprained your ankle."

Jiang Lige looked away guiltily and didn't respond. He was thinking carefully about how to make up for it when he felt a sinking sensation on his head.

It turned out that Ning Yunxiao reached out and helped her straighten her crooked bun and fixed it properly.

It was rare for the two of them to be so close to each other. Even though Jiang Lige was usually thick-skinned, he blushed without showing it.

Jiang Lige blushed and stammered, "Since the prince has important matters, Zhaohua shouldn't delay you any longer. So... I wish the prince a safe journey."

Ning Yunxiao calmly withdrew his hand upon hearing this and said slowly, "Anyway, thank you, Princess, for coming to see me off."

"You're welcome, my lord." Jiang Lige replied with a bright smile, "You may leave now, my lord. Songyue will bring someone to take me back, so don't worry, my lord."

"Gu Fan, you stay here to protect the princess first, and return to the capital after Song Yue and the others arrive."

Ning Yunxiao did not insist. After giving Gu Fan his instructions, he turned sideways and bowed to Jiang Lige, "Take care, Princess."

"Okay, the prince too." Jiang Lige still smiled, "See you in the capital."

"See you in the capital."

After saying that, Ning Yunxiao looked at Jiang Lige deeply, then jumped on his horse and rode away.

The moment he turned around and left, a trace of blood flowed from Ning Yunxiao's lips, disappearing in the rolling dust without anyone noticing.