Chapter 297 The Top Scholar 4

Let's keep watch!

Don't even think about getting close to her again!

The day after Pei Chengyuan went to the Hanlin Academy, Ning Yan entered the palace.

They also brought along the secret guards who were keeping an eye on Pei Chengyuan.

When the Emperor learned that his beloved daughter had entered the palace after court, he went to the Empress's palace immediately.

The Crown Prince followed closely behind the Emperor.

Ning Yan burst into tears as soon as she saw her father and brother, "Father, I was deceived by Pei Chengyuan!"

The Emperor exclaimed in shock, "What did you say? Pei Chengyuan actually dared to lie to my son!"

When Ning Yan first arrived, she hugged the Empress and acted coquettishly, and the palace servants had already been sent away by her.

Apart from the chief eunuch who served the emperor, there were no outsiders in the palace.

Ning Yan cried for a while, then summoned the guards. She sobbed, "Tell me everything you've seen these past two days, word for word."

The guard said, "The princess felt that the prince consort's attitude towards his cousin was inappropriate, so she ordered me to keep an eye on him. Unexpectedly, the prince consort was drawing portraits of other women in his study."

Yesterday, after leaving his official post, the prince consort went straight to the Golden Jade Hall and bought a gold hairpin with a gemstone inlay worth a thousand taels and a gold hairpin with a butterfly and flower design worth a hundred taels.

The jeweled gold hairpin was personally presented to Princess Jiahe by the prince consort.

The butterfly-shaped hairpin was given to the princess, who claimed that the hairpin cost him two hundred taels of silver.

The portrait the prince consort painted in his study was of Princess Jiahe.

Princess Jiahe was the legitimate daughter of Prince Fu, who was the Emperor's half-brother.

The Emperor swept the teacup off the table and onto the floor. "What a fine son-in-law! What a fine Jiahe!"

The Empress held the Emperor's hand, "Calm down first. Getting angry won't help. If you get sick from anger, who will stand up for our daughter?"

"Immediately issue an edict to behead the imperial son-in-law. And Jiahe, who dared to steal Yanyan's man, may you also die!"

Ning Yan: Oh my god, my dad is so decisive! He didn't even bother to check before killing me. I love it!

"Father, the guards haven't finished speaking yet."

The guard continued, "I think that even if the prince consort is a fool, he shouldn't like Princess Jiahe for betraying the princess. He went to the Prince Fu's residence while the prince consort was asleep."

After saying that, he took out two letters from his pocket. "These are from General An to Prince Fu. It turns out that Prince Fu has been raising a private army through the General and is plotting a rebellion!"

The Grand Steward quickly took the two letters and handed them to the Emperor. The Emperor glanced at them briefly and was furious. What a scoundrel An Junda! He had valued talent and promoted a mere centurion to a general commanding 100,000 troops, only to be deceived by this kid.

It turns out that his apparent loyalty was all a lie; he had already secretly sided with Prince Fu. He deserves to die!

Perhaps because he was so angry, the Emperor suppressed his rage and calmed down. He handed the letter directly to the Crown Prince and asked, "Tell me, how should this matter be handled?"

Actually, killing Prince Fu and his daughter would have been simple: just summon them to the palace and give each of them a cup of poisoned wine. Any excuse could have been made. However, Prince Fu's power base was not fully understood. If Prince Fu were to die, these factors would become a hidden danger.

Ning Yan finally stopped crying. "Father, isn't it because An Junda likes Jiahe that he colluded with Prince Fu? If Jiahe gets married, what do you think he will do?"

"You want to bestow a marriage upon Jiahe? Wouldn't that make An Junda even more likely to rebel?"

"But what if Jiahe takes the initiative to marry?"

...

Ning Yan had lunch in the palace before leaving. After she left, the Emperor sighed with relief, "Yan'er has grown up. I no longer have to worry about her being deceived."

The Empress expressed her delight, as it was a good thing that her daughter had made progress.

Crown Prince: It's good enough that my sister doesn't lie to others.

...

Upon returning to the princess's residence, Ning Yan immediately summoned Wu Meng, gave him a token and a thousand taels of silver, and gave him some instructions before sending him away.

Next came dealing with the matter of the prince consort and Jiahe.

It's very easy for powerful people to take down someone. She doesn't even need to do it herself; she just needs to give a slight hint, and someone will do it for her.

When the Grand Duke hosted his birthday banquet, all the prominent figures in the capital came to offer their congratulations.

Ning Yan naturally took her husband with her.

An unexpected incident occurred halfway through the banquet: Princess Jiahe and Princess Rouyuan's husband were caught in bed together!

This was a huge deal. The three of them went straight into the palace. Pei Chengyuan was completely dazed throughout the whole process. He was so guilty that he didn't even dare to look at Ning Yan. When the princess entered the side hall, he was still inside Jiahe's body. The palace servants even pulled off the blankets covering the two of them.

They really have everything exposed to everyone.

The princess must know he lied to her, right?

She must have known, otherwise, why wouldn't she even look at him?

Although the Emperor was prepared, he was still furious when he saw the two kneeling men. "Guards, drag these two away and beat them to death!"

Without even asking any questions, they just came up and killed him!

The two women pleaded in terror, "Please, Your Majesty, spare my life! I'm innocent! I've been framed!"

They were indeed set up. The messenger only told Jiahe that someone was waiting for her in the backyard side room and showed her Pei Chengyuan's jade pendant before she went there.

The same applies to Pei Chengyuan's side.

Really, the palace servant who delivered the message didn't even waste a cup of tea before they went to their secret rendezvous, so what else is there to say, what right do they have to complain?

The Emperor ignored their cries and continued, "Begging me is useless. You have harmed my most precious princess. I have already shown mercy by not tearing you to pieces!"

Pei Chengyuan looked at the princess, "Princess, I...I was framed. You must believe me. I only love you!"

The Emperor said, "It's no use begging the princess. Choose one. My daughter is not someone you can bully."

Ning Yan started sobbing again, covering her face with a handkerchief.

She had no choice but to cover herself up, otherwise people would see her laughing.

The two people below kept pleading for them.

At this moment, Prince Fu, who had just received the news, hurriedly entered the palace and knelt down before the Emperor.

She kowtowed repeatedly, begging the Emperor to spare her daughter's life.

Seeing that the Emperor still had a cold face, he pleaded with Ning Yan, "Yan'er, you were also raised by your Imperial Uncle. Jiahe is your Imperial Uncle's only legitimate daughter. Please, please be magnanimous and spare her life for your Imperial Uncle's sake."

"As long as you don't execute Jiahe, you can beat or scold him as you please!"

If Ning Yan doesn't give her cousin any face, how can she ignore her uncle?

"Is it really okay to leave her to her niece's disposal, as long as she lives?"

Prince Fu gritted his teeth and agreed.

Ning Yan said, "Father, my husband and I have been husband and wife for a time, and I don't want him to lose his life because of this. Either... or..."

Her pause immediately made the three people in the hall tense up, all staring intently at Ning Yan.

"Why not let the prince consort take Jiahe as his wife? Anyway, the princess's residence is large, and she doesn't mind supporting one more person. As long as the prince consort doesn't leave me, I will be content."