Rebirth of a Lost Nation: Princess, Please Respect Yourself

Chapter 114: Demoting the Heir to a Concubine

They just looked at each other from afar, across the carved and jade-built pavilion, across the dim moonlight, and across the bustling crowd.

No one spoke, they just looked at each other in silence.

"Prince." Song Yue spotted Ning Yunxiao downstairs and hurriedly opened the door to welcome him out. "The princess is on the third floor. She has been waiting for a long time."

Ning Yunxiao handed the reins to Song Yue who was waiting beside him, said "thank you", and went upstairs with his clothes lifted.

Jiang Lige brewed a pot of tea in the house and waited for Ning Yunxiao to go upstairs before handing him the cup of warm tea.

"You've been running all the way, so please drink some water first, Prince."

Ning Yunxiao, who subconsciously took the tea, was still a little confused. After taking a sip of tea, he slowly came to his senses.

A cup of tea, neither hot nor cold, and not some expensive tea, inexplicably gave Ning Yunxiao a feeling of "home", making people feel a sense of security.

This is especially rare for Ning Yunxiao, who was once homeless.

Then Jiang Lige asked again: "Have you had dinner, my prince?"

"Not yet."

"Then I'll ask someone to prepare some food."

Jiang Lige was about to go out when his sleeve was suddenly grabbed by Ning Yunxiao.

It was a subconscious action that startled both of them. Ning Yunxiao was the first to react and quickly let go of his hand as if it was burned.

"I mean, Princess, there's no need to bother. I have important matters to attend to in the army. I'll be leaving soon."

"So urgent?" Jiang Lige seemed a little surprised. "Whose job is so demanding that they work day and night? Those bastards from the Wang family really don't do any real work."

It had been a while since I heard Jiang Lige swearing, and now it sounded particularly pleasant. Ning Yunxiao couldn't help but smile, took out a red envelope from his arms, and brought the topic back to the topic.

"I know the princess has no shortage of fine things, but since Chang'an Fang is opening, I have to give a small gift to avoid being disrespectful. After much thought, I think silver and money are the best."

Jiang Lige took the red envelope. While he felt amused, he couldn't help but feel warm in his heart, and the smile on his face became even more pronounced.

"Thank you, Your Highness. However, since Your Highness is so busy with official duties, there's no need to make this trip in person next time something like this happens. Taking care of yourself is more important than anything else."

Ning Yunxiao knew that Jiang Lige was being caring, so he didn't refute her. He just said, "Chang'anfang has opened with such fanfare, I'm afraid there will be many people in the capital who are jealous. Princess, you should be careful too."

"Okay, I remember."

After he finished speaking, Ning Yunxiao bowed to Jiang Lige and turned to leave.

Jiang Lige was sensible enough not to try to keep him or see him off. Instead, he stood back in front of the window, watched Ning Yunxiao leave, and then went back to his room to rest.

The next day—

Perhaps because he was tired from the opening yesterday, Jiang Lige slept in for a rare time the next day. It was only at noon that he stretched and prepared to get up.

It was Fengquan who came into the room to help her wash and dress. When Jiang Lige saw her, he remembered some important things.

"Fengquan, have you got the money back from the casino?"

Fengquan tied Jiang Lige's hair into a bun with a smile on his face.

"We got it back. We made about five thousand taels this time. Princess, you're so good at predicting things!"

"If the money earned by the gambling house were known to others, I'm afraid people would criticize us. Let's keep this matter low-key and don't let anyone know."

"Don't worry, Princess. I'll be disguised when placing bets and withdrawing money, so no one will notice." Feng Quan nodded and asked, "What should we do with this money?"

"Go to the bank and open an account in the name of Qinghetang. Put the money in it and let Madam Peng withdraw it."

Just as Jiang Lige finished speaking, he heard hurried footsteps outside the door, followed by Song Yue pushing the door open with a nervous expression.

"Princess, there's an urgent message from the palace. The Queen Mother wants you to return to the palace immediately."

Jiang Lige's expression was startled when he heard this. It must not be a simple matter for Empress Dowager Jiang to send people to look for someone in such a hurry.

"I see."

Thinking of this, Jiang Lige became a little anxious. While urging Feng Quan to get dressed quickly, he explained a few more things about Qinghe Hall to Feng Quan, and then hurried back to the palace with Song Yue.

The master and servant entered the palace unimpeded. After entering Ande Gate, they changed to a sedan chair, and the one serving them was Nanzhu, the senior palace maid beside Empress Dowager Jiang.

When Jiang Lige saw Nanzhu, he couldn't help but ask, "My great-aunt is so anxious to find me. Do you know why?"

"Reporting to Princess Zhaohua, Princess Jingyu entered the palace this morning," Nanzhu replied respectfully. After a pause, she added, "Princess, you entered the palace late. I'm afraid you haven't met Princess Jingyu yet? Princess Jingyu is the eldest sister of the current emperor."

When Jiang Lige first heard about this person, he didn't react. After listening to Nanzhu's explanation, Jiang Lige remembered who this Princess Jingyu was.

Princess Jingyu is the eldest daughter of the late emperor.

His mother was just a concubine of the previous emperor when he was in the palace. She was of humble status and was not valued in the palace, so she developed a sharp and mean temper.

After coming of age, Princess Jingyu married Xie Tianyou, the top scorer in the imperial examination. Unfortunately, Xie Tianyou was not very talented and did not achieve much afterwards. This further intensified Princess Jingyu's anger towards the royal family.

Later, as the late emperor grew older, the fight for the throne became more intense.

Princess Jingyu, who had always kept a low profile, took action at this time. With dozens of pieces of evidence in her hand, she defeated the then-powerful contender for the throne for Emperor Shengwu, and used this as a token of her allegiance to Emperor Shengwu.

After Emperor Shengwu successfully ascended the throne, he reciprocated Xie Tianyou's kindness by promoting him to the position of deputy envoy of the Rongzhou Salt Transport Bureau. Since then, Princess Jingyu settled in Rongzhou with her husband.

I heard that even the prefect of Rongzhou acted according to Princess Jingyu's wishes. This shows that Princess Jingyu's lineage has great power in Rongzhou. It is not an exaggeration to call them "local emperors".

Counting the days, Princess Jingyu entered the capital around this time in her previous life. After entering the capital, she turned the entire capital upside down. It was even heard that Jiang Lige was imprisoned in the palace by Ning Luyang and was not allowed to go out.

It has been many years since Princess Jingyu has returned to Beijing, so this time she probably has no business coming to visit.

Just as he was thinking about it, the sedan chair had already entered the Funing Palace. Before Jiang Lige entered the inner hall, he heard the arrogant voice of Princess Jingyu.

"Empress Dowager, although Yan Hui is a concubine, she is still the daughter of my eldest princess. There is no reason for her to become someone else's concubine, right?"

"So what do you want?"

"If Dong Shi hadn't received your blessing for the marriage, I wouldn't have bothered the Empress Dowager with such a trivial matter. If Dong Shi had been sensible, she would have vacated her position and not made things so difficult for us, right?"

After hearing this, is there anything Jiang Lige doesn’t understand?

Princess Jingyu is forcing Empress Dowager Jiang to demote the legitimate wife to a concubine and support the concubine's daughter in her house to take the position!

If Empress Dowager Jiang really agreed, the criticism from the censors in the future would be no joke!