After the system set its sights on the dragon throne, the princess started courting death every day.

Xiang An was slightly startled, but then he understood. The capital was under the emperor's nose, so he naturally had access to information.

"Your subject instructed her to buy it."

"why?"

The gentleness in the emperor's eyes had vanished, replaced by an icy gaze that made him resemble a predator ready to hunt.

Xiang An calmly looked back at him: "What I said during the day was true."

emperor:"……"

He already has nine grown children and six undergrown children. Fifteen children would be too few.

"Very well." The emperor closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, all the disappointment and coldness in his eyes had disappeared. He slammed the teacup lid down on the cup. "Bring me a brush, ink, paper and inkstone."

Ignoring the emperor's change of heart, Xiang An followed the emperor's instructions and brought out the five treasures, arranging them neatly on the table.

The emperor, pen in hand, swiftly wrote eight large characters: "Act with a sense of shame, move with discipline." He put down the pen and, as he walked out, said, "Copy this one hundred times for me, word for word."

A night breeze swept through the hall, causing the candlelight burning inside to sway from side to side, like shimmering gold, a truly wondrous sight.

Looking at the elegant calligraphy on the paper, Xiang An murmured softly, "To act with a sense of shame and to behave in accordance with propriety is the virtue of a woman."

After saying that, she couldn't help but exclaim, "It's good to be educated."

Xiao Ru, who brought in the tea, peeked in and her eyes widened in surprise: "Princess, why did His Majesty write these eight characters?"

He blew the ink off the paper, examined it carefully, and chuckled, “Is this character not good? The horizontal and vertical strokes are strong and powerful. In my opinion, this character can be passed down through generations.”

"Fine, but..." These eight words, when considered in light of the incident today in which you drugged someone in the palace, are clearly accusing you.

Xiao Ru stammered and couldn't finish her sentence.

"I know that my father is criticizing me." But so what? She had even considered death before she poisoned her. Now that the emperor is not killing her, what's wrong with him just writing a few words of criticism?

Xiang An calmly picked up the paper and gestured towards the wall: "How about hanging these four characters in the main hall and the other four characters in the study?"

"Princess!"

Seeing that Xiang An was truly unhurried and seriously considering where to hang the calligraphy, Xiao Ru couldn't help but feel anxious. She was afraid that the princess would anger His Majesty, but she dared not ask too many questions, worried that the princess would be sad and upset.

Xiang An raised an eyebrow: "What?"

Xiao Ru retorted angrily, "What do you think?"

"What does Your Majesty mean?" Xiang An continued gesturing, undistracted. "Your Majesty's criticism is justified."

Xiao Ru fell silent.

Xiang An rummaged through the wooden frame, eager to finish it tonight: "I did make a mistake today, and even if Father Emperor wants to behead me, I will not say a word. Besides, it was just a couple of reprimands from Father Emperor."

His words were extremely sincere, and Xiao Ru sensed it, so she silently helped to fix it.

Xiang An glanced furtively at Xiao Ru, who was busy at work, and felt relieved. She was worried that Xiao Ru would keep asking questions after returning home today, or that she might hate her.

To be fair, her actions today would be unacceptable even in modern times, let alone in this ancient society where patriarchy was extremely strong. In fact, she felt that the emperor's punishment was too lenient; he should have taken a feather duster and given her a good beating to vent his anger.

A harmless house arrest and a formal, written admonition might work on the original owner of this body who is easily embarrassed, but for her—sorry, she's thick-skinned.

Calmly hung up the eight characters, then lay back down on the bed and fell soundly asleep.

Copying it a hundred times is neither a lot nor a little, and Xiang An finished copying it and handed it in in three days.

The very next day, a fiery red wedding dress arrived at the princess's residence along with an imperial decree: a marriage betrothal to the third prince of Yan Kingdom, Di Yuanqing!

The person being married off to a foreign land was changed from the prime minister's daughter to a princess. Fu Qingbai, who was preparing to rest, was startled and immediately threw off the covers, got up, dressed, and hurried to the palace.

In the dead of night, the imperial study was brightly lit. As soon as Fu Qingbai stepped across the threshold, Changfu hurried over and whispered, "His Majesty has been waiting for the general for a long time."

Fu Qingbai glanced at him, then continued walking into the imperial study, kneeling on both knees: "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Behind the dragon desk, the emperor was writing and reviewing memorials. Under the candlelight, his bright yellow dragon robe shone brightly, and his gentle, fair face overshadowed the dazzling yellow of the robe, exuding an air of refined elegance.

"stand up."

Fu Qingbai stood up, his eyes lowered, looking at the ground.

Emperor: "How is the situation in Yan Kingdom?"

Fu Qingbai bowed and said, "Your Majesty, it has been investigated. The Emperor of Yan is old and ailing. He recently fell into a coma after a serious illness. Now, the princes of Yan have begun to vie for power. The patrol team in Yan City has been replaced by the Fourth Prince, Di Ran, who leads the patrols every day. This man is ruthless, cautious, suspicious, and elusive. Most of the spies sent out in recent days have died at his hands. To avoid total annihilation, the remaining spies have had to suspend all activities in Yan."

"In addition, the reason why Ogihara Ao came from afar with such a huge dowry was partly to get away from the struggle between the princes, and partly to find a reliable backer for himself. His mother was a palace maid and had no maternal family power base in Yan Kingdom. In order to survive, he did not hesitate to take all his wealth and flee Yan Kingdom alone to come to Yuan Kingdom to save his life."

The emperor closed the memorial, put down his pen, and remained silent for a long time with his eyes half-closed. Finally, his voice was hoarse as he said, "For this marriage alliance between Mian Kangyuan and Yan, I have decided to have you personally escort him. You will take the secret guard order and personally mobilize and command the secret guards to do everything in your power to investigate the borders of Yan and the news about the Yan royal family."

"Yes," Fu Qingbai replied, "I will bring the drug to fake death, and once the news is obtained, I will immediately send the princess—"

The emperor interrupted him: "No need. Miankang can stay in Yan Kingdom and doesn't need to come back."

"The Yan Kingdom royal family is currently in the midst of a power struggle and a change of ruler. If Xiao Jiu were to suddenly leave or die, there might not be enough food, or the princes might be eager to prove their strength and use this incident to start a war, disturbing the peace of the people along the border for hundreds of miles. Next year, they would be unable to plant on time in the spring, and tens of millions of people would lose their harvest and become homeless during the autumn harvest. What would happen to the people on the border?"

Fu Qingbai knelt down and said, "The people cannot live in peace, and Your Majesty cannot be at ease. This is my fault and has nothing to do with the princess."

The Emperor said, "Let's set aside right and wrong for now. Fu Qingbai, you have been dealing with the Yan Kingdom for several years. A few years ago, the Yan Kingdom was not even able to support itself. This year, even the son of a palace maid can bring cattle and sheep to marry into the kingdom. You know how much the Yan Kingdom has changed."

Fu Qingbai: "I am incompetent and unable to share your burdens."

"This is none of your business." The emperor raised his hand to help him up. "My daughter, of course I love her dearly. But only if Miankang is safe in Yan Kingdom will news be safe, and only then will Yuan Kingdom be safe. Moreover, Yuan Kingdom's treasury is currently empty, and we cannot easily cause trouble. The relationship between our two countries can only remain at the level of mutual probing. Do you understand?"

Trading a princess for the stability of a nation is a very worthwhile deal.

Fu Qingbai stood upright with his head bowed, remaining quiet and still, seemingly unwilling.

The emperor's face darkened: "Is escorting the princess for a political marriage so difficult?" [“To act with a sense of shame, to move and remain still with propriety, this is called feminine virtue”: This quote is from the online electronic version of *Admonitions for Women*.]