Rebirth of a Lost Nation: Princess, Please Respect Yourself

The silver dagger fell to the ground with a clang. As the world spun around, Jiang Lige didn't care about feeling guilty at all. He just grabbed the "meat pad" to save himself.

"Meat Pad" groaned and called out helplessly.

"Princess Zhaohua."

Opening his eyes, Jiang Lige immediately saw the face that was so close to him. The cool moonlight cast a layer of mysterious silver on him, making the already handsome face even more...

Like a god.

Jiang Lige swallowed his saliva in a useless way, and said with a dry laugh:

"Prince...I didn't mean it."

"Princess, please get up first..."

"Oh!"

Jiang Lige quickly got up from the ground and wanted to pull Ning Yunxiao, but she saw that this person did not give her any chance. He stood up calmly and lectured her.

"It's unreasonable for the princess to visit so late at night."

Jiang Lige answered with confidence.

"If someone sees us during the day, it will only lead to criticism. At night, there's no one around, so who cares if it's appropriate or not!"

"……sophistry."

Meeting Jiang Lige, Ning Yunxiao no longer followed the rules, so he was too lazy to dwell on it anymore and asked:

"Princess, is there something important here?"

Jiang Lige hurriedly handed over the oil-paper bag on the ground. "Prince Bai Ri helped me, and I didn't know how to thank you enough, so I brought you some food. I hope you won't mind."

In the courtyard, the girl held an oil-paper bag in her hands and placed it in front of the boy. Her curved eyebrows and eyes seemed to hide the starlight of the Milky Way.

In such a situation, it was really hard for Ning Yunxiao to refuse. He smiled faintly and took the things from Jiang Lige's hand.

"What is it?"

"Lotus cakes are delicious!"

The oil paper package unfolded with a sound, and the snack inside had already broken into pieces. Not even a complete piece could be found. It seemed that it was caused by Jiang Lige's fall just now.

Jiang Lige blushed upon seeing this and reached out to grab the oil-paper bag, but saw Ning Yunxiao easily blocked Jiang Lige's attack and grabbed some snack crumbs and stuffed them into his mouth.

"It tastes really good. The princess is thoughtful."

"It's broken into pieces like this, it's inedible. I'll buy you a better one when I get back to Beijing."

"It doesn't matter."

Ning Yunxiao blocked Jiang Lige's hand again, rewrapped the snack and put it in his arms.

"I have to leave tomorrow and won't return to Beijing."

"Leave?" Jiang Lige was stunned. "Where to?"

"I will go to Jingzhou tomorrow at 11:00 AM. The Queen Mother's birthday is approaching, and she has ordered me to go and fetch Princess Ronghui back to the capital first."

"At dawn? That means there won't be many hours to rest! Then I'll go back first, you should get some rest early!"

After saying that, Jiang Lige was in a hurry to leave.

She came and went like the wind, and Ning Yunxiao almost didn't react. In a hurry, he couldn't help but reach out and grab her hand.

Jiang Lige, who had taken a few steps, was caught by Ning Yunxiao and stopped abruptly. The warm touch of his palm made both of them stunned, and then they bounced back like a spring.

Jiang Lige didn't expect Ning Yunxiao, the taciturn one, to speak first, so he had to try his best to suppress the strangeness in his heart and spoke awkwardly.

"What...what happened?"

"wait."

After leaving these words, Ning Yunxiao turned around and went into the house, then returned to the courtyard with two rabbits in his arms, one on each side.

"The princess' rabbit. I have to go on a long journey tomorrow, and I'm afraid I won't be able to take good care of it. After much thought, I think it's better to leave it to the princess."

Jiang Lige thought about it and nodded, then took the rabbit.

"The road to Jingzhou is long, so please be careful along the way and take care of yourself. I will take good care of this rabbit."

"it is good."

Having said this, Jiang Lige didn't stay any longer and left with the two rabbits.

On the second day, Emperor Sheng Ling led the royal family and officials back to the capital.

After returning to the palace, the first thing Empress Dowager Jiang did was to settle the accounts.

Empress Dowager Jiang was well aware of the stupid things Jiang Chuchu did during her dance performance. If she hadn't been wary of the many people outside, she would have punished her at the palace banquet that night.

Therefore, Jiang Chuchu was punished for "offending the Queen Mother" as soon as she returned to the palace. She was required to kneel in the small Buddhist temple for two hours every day to reflect on her mistakes.

Jiang Chuchu knelt obediently for two days, and only on the third day did she arrange for her maid to come to Jiang Lige to plead for mercy.

However, Jiang Lige had guessed this move long ago, but now was not the time for her to turn against Jiang Chuchu, so she happily took the letter delivered by Dong Lianchu and asked Empress Dowager Jiang for an imperial decree to leave the palace.

By the time she came back, Jiang Chuchu would probably have almost knelt down!

"The spring banquet at the Wenchang Marquis's Mansion is usually favored by scholars and poets. It would be beneficial for you to show up."

Empress Dowager Jiang naturally had no objection, and suddenly remembered something, so she pulled Jiang Lige over to explain.

"By the way, Zheng Baoyao should also be there this time. Please send her a set of ruby head ornaments on my behalf."

Empress Dowager Jiang asked Jiang Lige to give Zheng Baoyao a jeweled headpiece. On the surface it was a gift, but in reality it was an apology.

Emperor Sheng Ling granted Ning Yunxiao and Jiang Lige a marriage, which invisibly interrupted the plans of the Wang family's princess.

If you ruin someone's marriage, you have to make up for it by arranging another one. This is the king's way of checks and balances.

Zheng Baoyao was the victim of this game. The emperor intended to marry Zhang Yinfeng, the grandson of the Wang family and the legitimate son of the Earl of Tai'an.

Although the imperial edict has not yet been issued, the situation is already known among the several families.

Fortunately, the Earl of Tai'an's Mansion was of decent status, so it was not a disgrace to Zheng Baoyao.

Jiang Lige knew what Empress Dowager Jiang meant, and nodded in agreement quickly, but he didn't know that a storm caused by this was being brewing by someone with ulterior motives.

The palace in the capital, the pavilion——

Wang Ya's personal maid hurried in, "Miss, I have already made arrangements at the Wenchang Marquis' Mansion."

"Very good!"

Wang Ya raised her eyebrows excitedly. "As long as everything goes well, her princess status will become her death warrant. Not only will her marriage be canceled, but she will also become the eternal sinner of Nanchu!"

The maidservant continued with a smile, "In this case, our young lady is still the first choice for Prince Zhao's consort!"

……

Jiang Lige handed over the invitation, and a maid led her into the marquis's mansion.

The spring banquet at the Wenchang Marquis's Mansion was indeed lively, with plenty of activities including touhu, chuiwan, and qushuiliuchang.

Jiang Lige met Dong Lianchu, and seeing that she was very busy, he decided to go find Zheng Baoyao first.

Unexpectedly, she encountered a strange thing when she went there.

Zheng Baoyao said she was not feeling well and was not in the warm room. Jiang Lige found her in the bamboo forest at the easternmost end of the Marquis' Mansion. Before he got close, he heard a quarrel coming from inside.

"Raising a male prostitute for fun is immoral! I will never marry someone like you!"

"You're investigating me? Humph, the emperor has granted me a marriage, and disobeying his order is a capital offense. If you don't want to marry, just drag the entire Zheng family with you to be buried with you!"

"Zhang Yinfeng! You are shameless!"

The pampered man had never been insulted like this before. In anger, Zhang Yinfeng tore off Zheng Baoyao's coat.

"Today, I will show you what shamelessness is!"

Zheng Baoyao naturally could not tolerate such an obvious insult to someone's innocence. She ignored her manners and started fighting with Zhang Yinfeng.

There was a lively fight in the bamboo forest.

Outside the bamboo forest, the sound of a group of young ladies chatting and laughing could be heard. It seemed that they all came to visit Zheng Baoyao who was "feeling unwell".

The two men were both disheveled from the fight, and if others saw them, they would have no way to clear themselves of the matter.