With such an incident happening in Jinchuan, the Ninth Princess did not need to think twice to know how furious Jin Feng must feel inside.
From his usual words and behaviour, the Ninth Princess could sense that Jin Feng had no reverence at all for imperial authority.
If this matter was not handled properly this time, the possibility of Jin Feng rebelling was far too great.
Before she met Jin Feng, the Ninth Princess would never have taken a mere baron seriously.
But after knowing him for so long, she understood his abilities all too well.
This was a man capable of overturning the entire Dakang!
The real reason the Ninth Princess returned this time was, to put it plainly, the fierce power struggles among the nobles in the court.
But compared to what was happening with Jin Feng, those noble disputes were nothing at all!
Thinking of this, the Ninth Princess did not dare delay for even a moment. She read the letters once more, then turned and left immediately.
Qin’er set off ahead of her and went to the Zongren Office.
By the time the Ninth Princess arrived at the palace gates, Chen Yuansheng, the head of the Zongren Office, was already waiting by the roadside.
When he saw the Ninth Princess step down from her carriage, he hurried forward to meet her.
“Your Highness, you wish to enter the palace for an audience with His Majesty?”
“Yes. Wuyang has something extremely urgent that requires her to see Father Emperor at once!”
The Ninth Princess gave Chen Yuansheng a slight bow. “I hope Ninth Grandfather will not make things difficult for Wuyang.”
Officials in the Zongren Office were all members of the imperial clan. Although the man before her was only middle-aged, by seniority she should address Chen Yuansheng as Grandfather.
“It is not that this old minister wishes to make things difficult for Your Highness. His Majesty has recently been unwell and issued an edict stating that, apart from the central ministers, he will not see anyone. This old minister truly cannot allow Your Highness to enter!”
Chen Yuansheng said with a face full of difficulty.
“Wuyang truly has an extremely urgent matter that cannot be delayed!”
The Ninth Princess spoke and bowed once more. “I hope Ninth Grandfather will show some flexibility. Consider this as Wuyang owing you a favour!”
Chen Yuansheng shook his head and still stood blocking her path.
“Ninth Grandfather, just let Wuyang pass. If Father Emperor blames anyone, Ninth Grandfather can put all the blame on Wuyang.”
The Ninth Princess bowed a third time.
But Chen Yuansheng simply closed his eyes.
“This palace will say it one last time. This palace must see Father Emperor today!”
The Ninth Princess narrowed her eyes slightly. She no longer referred to herself as Wuyang, but switched to this palace.
Her tone also turned cold.
All of this showed that the Ninth Princess’s patience was nearly exhausted.
The Ninth Princess had quite a reputation among the nobles in the capital. Earlier, when she had been politely pleading, Chen Yuansheng could still put on airs.
But now that the Ninth Princess was clearly losing her temper, how could Chen Yuansheng dare to keep up the act?
With a bitter face he said, “It really is not that this old minister wishes to make things difficult for Your Highness. This old minister truly does not dare to let Your Highness in!”
“This palace does not want to hear any more. This palace only asks you one thing: will you let me in or not!” the Ninth Princess asked coldly.
“This old minister truly does not dare!” Chen Yuansheng still shook his head.
“Very well!” The Ninth Princess nodded slightly. She did not continue to lose her temper, but turned to Qin’er instead. “Go to Liao Family Studio in Xing Sheng Fang. Tell them to prepare two jin of green lotus cake for this palace. This palace will go there to eat later!”
With that, the Ninth Princess prepared to board her carriage.
But Chen Yuansheng turned pale with fright and grabbed the horse’s reins at once.
Chen Yuansheng’s wife was a famous tigress in the capital, and her family background was formidable. The reason he could hold his position steadily in the Zongren Office was entirely due to support from his wife’s family.
But his wife had given birth to five daughters in a row. Seeing that his branch of the family was about to have no male heir, Chen Yuansheng had taken a concubine outside and fathered a son and a daughter with her.
That concubine lived in the alley behind Liao Family Studio.
The Ninth Princess was clearly not going for cakes. This was an open threat.
“Ninth Grandfather, what do you mean by this?” The Ninth Princess sneered. “If you will not let me enter the palace, can I not leave?”
“I surrender to you. Go, go ahead!”
Chen Yuansheng pulled a token from his sleeve with a bitter expression.
If he let the Ninth Princess enter the palace, at worst he would receive a scolding from the emperor.
But if the Ninth Princess exposed his illegitimate children, given his wife’s fierce temperament at home, neither the concubine nor the two children would survive.
“Then many thanks to Ninth Grandfather!”
The Ninth Princess gave a slight smile and reached out to take the token.
With the token in hand, the palace guards naturally did not dare to stop her.
The Ninth Princess, accompanied by Qin’er, entered the inner palace with familiar ease.
In the imperial garden, Chen Ji was playing games with several concubines. When he saw the Ninth Princess approaching, he instinctively tried to slip away.
“Father Emperor, please stay. Your daughter has something to say!”
The Ninth Princess called out to stop Chen Ji.
Seeing that he could no longer avoid her, Chen Ji turned around and forced a smile. “Wuyang has returned. Just in time,朕 was thinking of finding you to discuss the matter of Qing Xinyao.”
From her understanding of Chen Ji, the Ninth Princess had guessed as soon as she received the imperial edict that the emperor must have been swayed by others. That was why he had been so eager to summon her back to the capital.
After she left, the emperor was very likely to take action against Qing Xinyao.
In fact, she had guessed correctly.
Not long after she departed, she received news that Qing Xinyao had been stripped of his post.
He had been replaced by a eunuch serving as the prefect of Xichuan.
Because of this, the Ninth Princess had been so angry that she did not eat for an entire day.
But by then she had already travelled far, and the edict had been issued. Returning to Xichuan would achieve nothing, so she could only hurry back to the capital as quickly as possible, hoping to persuade Chen Ji to retract the order.
However, Chen Ji had kept avoiding her.
If the Ninth Princess had not taken such a firm stance today, who knew when she would have finally seen the emperor.
“Father Emperor, your daughter came to find you not to discuss Qing Xinyao, but another matter!”
The Ninth Princess gave a look to the several concubines, signalling them to leave.
The concubines all turned to look at Chen Ji. When they saw him wave his hand, they left as if granted amnesty. After paying their respects, they turned and departed at once.
“Wuyang, come. Sit by the brazier.”
Chen Ji looked at his once most beloved daughter and spoke gently. “The journey back from Xichuan must have been very cold. Look how your face has been frostbitten.”
To make haste, the Ninth Princess had endured the biting wind all the way from Xichuan to the capital.
Although she had taken protective measures, parts of her face were still damaged by the cold.
That afternoon, father and daughter dismissed their attendants and sat around the brazier talking for more than half an hour.
No one knew what they discussed, but the eunuchs standing at a distance noticed that both were somewhat agitated, and there had even been a heated argument in the middle.
Finally, the eunuch saw the Ninth Princess kneel before Chen Ji, kowtow once, then leave without looking back.
No one knew what the Ninth Princess said in the end, but after she left, Chen Ji was so furious that he overturned the brazier.
Then he sat alone in a daze.
One concubine, wanting to make her presence felt, saw that the emperor was not wearing thick clothes. She approached with a large cloak, intending to drape it over him.
Instead of being pleased, the emperor kicked her straight into the pond.
…
The Ninth Princess, who had already left the palace, walked to her carriage and looked back at the grand imperial palace. Suddenly she felt a wave of oppression.
“Who knows when she will return next time!”
Just as the Ninth Princess was about to board the carriage, a procession of carriages suddenly stopped beside hers.
The Crown Prince lifted the curtain and said with a smile, “Little sister Wuyang, from now on it will not be so easy for you to enter the palace. You finally managed to get in, so why are you leaving again in such a hurry?”
