Chapter Seven: Entering the Imperial City and Meeting the Emperor

His Highness the Crown Prince stayed for seven days. On the seventh day, after confirming that the poison had been neutralized, he left.

At the same time, he took Liu An's family and the prefect back to the capital. As for Ji Yingying's family, they were also forced to move to the capital on the third day after His Highness the Crown Prince left.

It took Ji Yingying more than half a month to travel from Xinhe County in Qingcheng to the capital. The journey was exhausting. After entering the capital, she encountered people sent by His Highness the Crown Prince to pick her up. Ji Cailiang and Fang Yulan heard that they had come to pick up Ji Yingying.

The two men's hearts skipped a beat, and they quickly restrained Ji Yingying, saying, "Son, when you see the Crown Prince and the Emperor later, don't let your mind wander. You'd better not think about anything, understand?"

"I understand, Mother, don't worry, Father, don't worry."

I'm worried, my parents are worried too, sigh! I'm just waiting to be beheaded.

…………

Ji Yingying was sent directly to the Eastern Palace.

When she arrived at the East Palace, the Crown Prince had not yet finished his court session. The Crown Princess greeted her at the gate, which was at the Crown Prince's request. The Crown Princess had no choice but to greet him at the gate despite being heavily pregnant.

When the Crown Princess saw the little girl who looked like a porcelain doll, her heart melted. What an adorable girl!

"Ji Yingying greets the Crown Princess." Ji Yingying bowed to the Crown Princess and then complained, "Oh my goodness, this Crown Princess is so beautiful! How lucky the Crown Prince is to have such a beauty! What am I going to do? I also want the Crown Princess's favor! What a beautiful woman!"

The Crown Princess, who was about to speak, was also stunned when she heard this voice, and then smiled.

[God, she's so beautiful! Oh my, Your Highness, prepare for this! I'm going to steal your Crown Princess!]

"Come, Miss Ji, come to me."

"Sigh~"

Wow, her voice is so beautiful! I really want to hide her away, otherwise she might get implicated by the Crown Prince and die, along with her unborn child, a tragic and heartbreaking end!

The Crown Princess suddenly blinked. What had she heard?

"How dare you!" The eunuchs and maids around them all trembled and knelt down, while the maid who spoke seemed to be having her lifeline squeezed and couldn't breathe.

[Huh? What's going on? Should I kneel down too? What happened?]

Three question marks above her head left her completely bewildered.

"It's alright, get up."

"His Highness will send someone to fetch you to the Imperial Study later. Would you like to have a meal with me?"

"Okay, okay!" Ji Yingying was excited about eating.

Following the Crown Princess into the palace, after sitting down, they soon saw a table full of delicious dishes.

[Oh my god, I want to live here too! There's so much delicious food! Oh my god, I suddenly realized my dad raised me so carelessly. Look at what the Crown Princess eats—delicacies from land and sea! And look at what I'm eating... Waaah... It's so delicious, I can't stop eating, I just can't stop!]

The Crown Princess was also shocked. How could this girl multitask? Eating while saying so much in her mind.

*burp* I feel so full!

"Are you full?"

"I'm full, thank you, Your Highness!"

[My Lord, isn't this Crown Princess too gentle and kind? It's such a pity she married the Crown Prince, who is destined for a short life. He will eventually be killed by the Second Prince and the Third Prince. The worst part is that after the Third Prince ascended the throne, he imprisoned this gentle Crown Princess and forced her family to serve him. In the end, not only was her entire family killed by the ruthless Third Prince, but all the women in her family were also forced into government slavery and raped to death.]

[It's tragic. The Crown Princess is tragic, and the Crown Prince is tragic too. During the few days I stayed at my house, I saw that the Crown Prince was a good person, caring for the world and loving his people like his own children. He was also a chaste man. Look at him, he's already so old and he only has such a beautiful woman. If it were anyone else, they would already have a harem of wives and concubines. But they are the most tragic, killed by being cuckolded.]

After calmly listening to her and her family's experiences, the Crown Princess said, "Since Miss Ji is full, shall we sit in the side hall and wait for His Highness to send someone to fetch you?"

"Okay, hehe, thank you, Your Highness the Crown Princess."

This innocent and pure girl doesn't seem like someone who would think about so many things.

Before she could even sit down in the side hall, His Highness the Crown Prince's men arrived and took Ji Yingying to the Imperial Study.

The morning court session had already ended, leaving only a few people discussing matters in the imperial study.

After returning from Xinhe County, Ning Qingran told the emperor everything about Ji Yingying.

The emperor didn't believe it either, and was now waiting for Ji Yingying's arrival.

Before long, they arrived at the entrance of the Imperial Study. After someone went in to announce her arrival, a eunuch came out to escort her inside.

Upon entering, Ji Yingying saw several old men, the crown prince, and the emperor sitting in the main seat.

Ji Yingying knelt down obediently to pay her respects to the emperor. After reciting the eulogy, she couldn't help but complain inwardly: "Mom, I don't want to go to the palace anymore. We've only ever bent our knees before our ancestors; I've never even knelt before my own parents. Waaah..."

When she met the Crown Prince before, she secretly slacked off and never performed the kneeling ceremony. The Crown Prince didn't mind, so he naturally didn't hear her heartfelt words.

The emperor and his ministers were all shocked. Just as the crown prince had said, they could hear Ji San's thoughts.

This Ji San is also quite outspoken!

"Get up!"

"Hehe, thank you, Your Majesty!" Ji Yingying immediately stood up, and as she did so, she patted the dust off her knees.

"How dare you!" someone shouted. Ji Yingying immediately turned around to look, but couldn't find who had said it.

Because a group of people were performing a neck-grabbing act.

[Wow! It's not just people from Xinhe County who like to strangle others; people from the capital city do it too?]

The ministers: ...No, they didn't, they just couldn't catch their breath and almost met their ancestors!

"Alright, my beloved subjects, it's alright!" After saying that, he looked at Ji Yingying and asked, "You are Ji San, the daughter of the magistrate of Xinhe County?"

"yes"

[Bullshit Ji San, my name is Ji Yingying. Heh, since you're about to be killed and hung on the city wall, I'll let you off the hook.]

The emperor looked at Ji Yingying, whose expression remained smiling, revealing nothing of her inner thoughts.

“This…” He immediately looked at Ning Qingran, who nodded. He had heard about it before, but he didn’t know why his father was hung on the city wall.

[Speaking of which, this emperor was truly pitiful. Not only was he cuckolded so many times, but he was also killed by one of those cuckolds. The adulterers hated him so much that they hung his body on the city wall, leaving it exposed for ten days and ten nights. How pathetic!]

Although this emperor wasn't as capable as the crown prince, he was still a wise ruler. He was just a bit poor; the national treasury was so empty that even rats wouldn't bother with it, and he even had to mend his underwear. Alas! If it weren't for the previous emperor's penchant for war, which drained the treasury, he wouldn't be so impoverished after taking over.