Happy reading~

Chapter 93: Terrible Crime Punishable by Death

The original host's tragic end had been due to the combination of many factors, but Duan Xinghui's mother had been responsible for a large part of it. She found Er Ya displeasing to the eye and believed that Er Ya's status was too low to match up to her son. At the same time, she was worried about ruining her relations.h.i.+p with her son, so she took advantage of the fact that Princess Jiahui liked her son and made use of her to deal with Er Ya.

It had caused Duan Xinghui to loathe the princess more and more and the critiques of the public all landed on Princess Jiahui while Madame Duan remained completely unaffected. To the very end, she maintained her status as a respected madame.

Ning Shu pressed her lips together as she internally sprouted a string of curses. Why did all of these people treat Princess Jiahui as a vanguard!?

Perhaps Princess Jiahui did understand what was happening, but she still couldn't overcome the anger from having her man s.n.a.t.c.hed away by a woman that crawled out from some unknown corner and hence insisted on targeting Er Ya.

In any case, during that time period, Princess Jiahui's reputation grew increasingly worse. Meanwhile, one day Er Ya happened to save the Marquis's wife and became the Marquess's G.o.ddaughter. Her status immediately took a leap and she became a woman that was a good match for the Duan Residence.

At that time, Madame Duan had welcomed Er Ya into Duan Residence with a happy smile. Everything became perfect. It was a family with a benevolent mother and filial children that lived together happily.

Ning Shu only wanted to say, f.u.c.k off!

Madame Duan's motive in coming here today was probably to start this sequence of events. When Ning Shu's thoughts got to here, her expression became even colder.

Madame Duan sensed the princess's mood and felt uneasy. Inwardly, she started cursing Er Ya like crazy. Her looks were that poor, so she must have used some sort of lowly method to bewitch her son!

"Princess…" Madame Duan started crying before she even started speaking. She pulled out a handkerchief and pressed it to the corner of her eye as she continued, "Princess, please believe in my son. That thoughtless woman had saved my son once, and now she's using this favor to blackmail Xinghui. She even dragged Xinghui down to the point he lost his official position."

"Now Xinghui won't even listen to this subject even though this subject is just worrying about Xinghui's future." As Madame Duan sobbed, she pleaded, "Princess, Xinghui respects you a lot. Can you just exhort him a little and tell him that he shouldn't treat his future as a joke?"

Ning Shu's lips twitched as she listened to Madame Duan's laments.Originally she hadn't planned to get involved in Duan Xinghui and Er Ya's matter, but what could she do now that Madame Duan decided to try and use her?

Madame Duan's intention was clearly to not just to inform Ning Shu of this, but also to blame her for treating Duan Xinghui's future as a joke. Madame Duan believed that the reason Duan Xinghui lost his position as an official was because she had begged Li Wen to dismiss him.

Ning Shu had no plans to explain either. However, she disliked Madame Duan's way of doing things, so she laughed coldly and said, "Audacious! You, a married woman of the inner chamber, actually dares to meddle with the court's politics!? The matters of the official court are naturally decided by His Majesty. Could it be that you expect Imperial Older Brother to reward a general that lost in his first campaign? It's already an act of benevolence that Imperial Older Brother didn't have him take responsibility for all the soldiers that have lost their lives."

"He left the barracks without permission, and he was even the commander-in-chief! To be absent without leave is a terrible crime punishable by death. Since you're so dissatisfied with Imperial Older Brother's decision, then just come with this princess to the palace so that Imperial Older Brother can give you an explanation."

Ning Shu's expression was cold and she emitted a oppressive aura as she creased her brows. Madame Duan was stunned. In the past, Princess Jiahui had always treated her very respectfully and never acted haughty in front of her. However, Ning Shu did not bother to be polite towards her at all, so it immediately caused Madame Duan's heart to sink.

She came only relying on the fact that the princess liked her son a lot. However, right now the princess seemed very much like a stranger. There was no trace of warmth in her words or behavior at all; all that was present was the imposing aura of a monarch and it intimidated Madame Duan.

It seemed that the princess wanted Duan Xinghui to take responsibility for the defeat at the border. Could it be that she wanted Duan Xinghui to die? Madame Duan stared at Ning Shu in shock, her pupils dilating. Now she was crying for real as she said, "Princess ah, this subject, this subject…"

Madame Duan couldn't help but say, "Princess, could it be that you really want to watch Xinghui be ruined like this?"

"What does Duan Xinghui have to do with this princess? Do you think a defeated general has the right to get involved with this princess? Madame Duan, this princess hopes that you'll stop making up connections and ruining this princess's reputation."

Ning Shu spoke without bothering to be polite at all. She was a princess, what need was there for her to mind her att.i.tude towards others? She didn't feel anything towards Duan Xinghui at all, so why would she bother to curry favor with Duan Xinghui's mother? At that kind of time, she should pull out the might of the imperial family and let these low-lifes know that she wasn't someone they could afford to provoke!

Happy reading~

Chapter 94: The Princess Was No Longer the Same as Before

Madame Duan's face burned from the verbal slaps. The son who she took the utmost pride in had been described in such a terrible way, but she could not refute because the person was a princess, the princess of the Great Yong dynasty.

Ning Shu saw that Madame Duan looked about to puke blood and her lips hooked up into a smile. She humphed to express her disdain, then continued, "I heard that General Duan, ah, look at this memory of mine, Duan Xinghui isn't a general anymore, he's just a common citizen. I heard that Duan Xinghui had even brought a woman along while leading a march. From the looks of it, he really likes this woman ah. Congratulations, Madame, for obtaining such a fine daughter-in-law."

Ning Shu couldn't conceal the disdain in her tone as she spoke.

Madame Duan's face contorted. As she took in Ning Shu's indifferent expression, she inwardly vomited blood. Her son was outstanding, how was a village girl a match for him?

In addition, she could sense that the princess's tone contained no trace of friendly regard when she talked about Duan Xinghui.

Now Madame Duan was truly panicking. Without the princess, how was her son supposed to climb back up again? Could it be that he really had to be a common citizen for the rest of his life?

Madame Duan's heart was practically bleeding. She put aside her dignity and started pleading for leniency, "Princess, can you please take into consideration our past friends.h.i.+p and give Xinghui a chance to prove himself again and make up for his crime with achievements?"

"Make up for his crime with achievements? The soldiers at the border can't afford to have a person like this ruin things again," said Ning Shu without a trace of politeness. "This princess is tired. Yuan Dong, see the person off."

Ning Shu left right after she finished speaking. Behind her, Madame Duan's face was pale as ash. She left the Princess Residence helplessly and fainted upon reaching her residence.

Duan Xinghui hugged his unconscious mother with a serious expression as he questioned the maid next to Madame Duan. "What happened to my mother?"

Duan Xinghui's gaze was filled with murderous intent so it caused the maid to tremble. "Madame headed over to see the princess in order to plea for leniency for you, General."

General? How was he a general anymore? Duan Xinghui had been able to guess that Madame Duan had gone to ask Princess Jiahui for help. He didn't approve of this, since he viewed this action as taking the initiative to ask for more humiliation. At the same time, he also believed that there was no way he'd be helpless just because he didn't have Princess Jiahui's support.

Duan Xinghui's facial color was extremely bad. He was angry at Princess Jiahui, and also blamed her. As he touched the hilt of the blade at his waist, his face was filled with rash murderous intent. Why did Princess Jiahui treat his mother this way!?

Duan Xinghui turned around and was about to head out when a weak voice called out to stop him. "Stop."

"Mom, this child will go get justice for you." Duan Xinghui felt that no matter how much Princess Jiahui hated him, she still shouldn't have been disrespectful towards his mother.

"Stop right there! Have you gone crazy? You want to go get justice like this?" Madame Duan was extremely anxious and had no idea what to do. The princess was no longer the same as before, she couldn't exploit her by manipulating her emotions anymore.