Rebirth of a Lost Nation: Princess, Please Respect Yourself

"Last night, I accidentally learned something very important. I rushed to tell the princess, but I was drunk and lost my composure. I hope the princess will not blame me."

"What's the matter?" Song Yue was so absorbed in finding out gossip that she had forgotten all about the reputation of her own princess.

"Li Ge naturally appreciates the prince's kindness, so how could there be any blame?"

Jiang Lige was speechless. He glared at Song Yue and sent him away.

"The prince sent me this message with good intentions, but it's not good to tell someone on an empty stomach. Songyue, please check the kitchen and prepare some delicious food."

Song Yue's mouth pursed, and he walked out of the door reluctantly. "Princess, what a fool! You don't even give me a reason to change."

After Song Yue had escaped, the two people in the room became more and more awkward. Jiang Lige raised his head and glanced at Ning Yunxiao, and happened to meet his eyes. Their eyes met in the air for a moment, and then they hurriedly looked away, blushing silently.

"What is the important news that the prince mentioned?"

"Princess, do you still remember the encounter with bandits at the temple a few days ago?"

"Of course I remember." Jiang Lige was puzzled when talking about this. "It's a pity that we couldn't capture the bandits alive. Instead, it became an unsolved case."

Ning Yunxiao stood up and sat upright. "I suspect that the bandits' attack on the temple that night was not accidental."

Jiang Lige was still confused just now, but now he is really awake.

"How did the prince know?"

"To be honest, I've always felt this matter was quite strange, so I kept an eye on it. Although I didn't catch him alive that day, I didn't gain nothing.

The bandit who died in the temple had a totem tattoo on his body. The tattoo was not done with great skill, so I guessed it might be a mark of a bandit.

So, I copied the totem and secretly investigated it. It wasn't until yesterday that I received news that a woman in a brothel claimed to have seen this totem on more than one person.

Jiang Lige immediately understood, "So, this totem is indeed a symbol of some kind, not the thief's personal hobby."

"That's right." Ning Yunxiao nodded and continued, "According to what that woman said, these people with totems used to go in and out of brothels on the first and fifteenth days of every month, but recently they haven't been here for a long time."

"It's obvious that he's guilty!" Jiang Lige gritted his teeth at the mention of that gang of thieves. "Why does the prince think that the bandits' night attack was no accident?"

"According to investigation, each time this group of people entered the brothel, they were accompanied by a man from the capital. However, that man concealed his true appearance very well, and no one had ever seen his true face. The last time they met was the day the princess was attacked."

Jiang Lige came back to his senses, "My Lord, are you saying that someone wants to use the bandits to take my life?"

"Exactly."

Ning Yunxiao was puzzled. "Logically speaking, the princess lives deep in the harem and shouldn't have any enemies. Who would do such a cruel thing?"

Jiang Lige thought about it carefully, but in the end he didn't feel comfortable saying against his will that he had no enemies.

In his previous life, Jiang Lige naturally had no enemies, but in this life...

Empress Xiao, Jiang Chuchu, Princess Zhao and the Wang, He, and Yuan families behind them, as well as the military generals of Jingzhou and the Huang family...

Jiang Lige helplessly held his forehead and gave up cracking his fingers.

Obviously, Ning Yunxiao also came to his senses from Jiang Lige's silence. His words seemed to comfort him but didn't seem to hit the mark.

"Princess, don't worry. A passing goose leaves a trace. Since they did it, they will definitely be found out."

Jiang Lige sighed and suddenly remembered something else.

Ever since the attack on Jiang Lige’s temple, Ning Yunxiao seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth.

Jiang Lige often complained to Song Yue that Ning Yunxiao was a blockhead. He knew that she was frightened but didn't come to comfort her.

Now it seems that Ning Yunxiao has been preparing for the many trivial matters of the coming-of-age ceremony while also having to find time to investigate the bandits. It is really difficult for him.

No wonder, at the coming-of-age ceremony, he looked much thinner than before.

Thinking of this, Jiang Lige felt a warm current flowing through his chest. Although this person was not good at talking, he was practical in what he did.

Jiang Lige has always believed that one should avenge one's own enemies, so he made a suggestion.

"This matter was caused by me. If the prince does not mind, please let me contribute as well."

Ning Yunxiao had guessed that Jiang Lige would do this, and calmly took out an account book from behind him.

"This is the list I had copied from the brothel. It records the names of the guests each day. These are the guests for the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month. Princess, if you have time, you may take a look at it."

Although Jiang Lige felt that most of the names recorded in this booklet were not real names, he still nodded obediently.

Before he had time to look through it, breakfast was ready. Jiang Lige smiled and invited Ning Yunxiao to sit down. After taking a quick look at the food, he made some adjustments.

"Your Highness drank alcohol yesterday, so you shouldn't eat anything too greasy today, or you might get an upset stomach."

Facing Ning Yunxiao's puzzled look, Jiang Lige explained while moving the porridge in front of Ning Yunxiao.

"Prince, please eat this first to fill your stomach, and then choose something lighter to eat."

Ever since Ning Yunxiao could remember, it seemed that he had never been taken care of so carefully. His heart felt like it was being gently scratched by a feather, itchy and strange.

The whole meal was spent in this strange mood. After breakfast, Jiang Lige mysteriously took a brocade box and placed it solemnly on the empty space in front of Ning Yunxiao's desk.

"My lord, happy birthday! This is the coming-of-age ceremony I prepared for you. I didn't find a good opportunity yesterday, so I hope you won't mind."

Ning Yunxiao's eyes fell on the sandalwood brocade box in front of him, and he hesitated to move. Instead, Song Yue beside him smiled and said.

"Sir, why don't you open it and take a look? Our princess spent a lot of effort to make this. Look, just that piece of jade took her ten whole days to polish!"

"Songyue!"

Jiang Lige scolded Song Yue shyly, but gave Song Yue a thumbs up in her heart. Her Song Yue was very decisive when it came to taking credit!

Ning Yunxiao was stunned for a moment, then slowly opened the brocade box under the gaze of several people.

"Is it a hair crown?" Ning Yunxiao asked.

Jiang Lige scratched his head a little embarrassedly, "I don't know what to give her, but I thought since it's a coming-of-age ceremony, a hair crown wouldn't be wrong."

"It's beautiful, I like it very much, thank you Princess."

"As long as the prince likes it, I'll be relieved."

Jiang Lige finished her polite remarks and heard Song Yue start to tease her, "I noticed that the prince came yesterday without a crown. It would be inappropriate for him to go out later. How about he wear this crown today?"

Jiang Lige couldn't help but shook his head when he heard this.

Song Yue can say this, which shows that she is still young. What kind of person is Ning Yunxiao?

When such a beautiful girl like herself had made advances to him many times, this man had always said in fear and trepidation, "Please respect yourself." Now, for the sake of a dress, he would disregard etiquette and wash and dress in the girl's room?

No matter how Jiang Lige thought about it, he felt that it was impossible. Just as he was about to speak to help Ning Yunxiao out, he heard a calm voice:

"Alright."