Chapter 117 Invite the Army

In the afternoon, the sun shone brightly, but it couldn't penetrate Ruixue Tower.

Xie Sangning held a thin, secret letter written with a special potion between her fingertips, the edges of the letter slightly wrinkled from her grip.

Ru Dong stood by with her hands hanging down, not daring to breathe.

The expression on the young lady's face was the kind that only comes from extreme anger.

If they dare to make a sound at this time, they will inevitably be affected.

No one in the world is perfect. Miss has a sharp tongue and a bad temper, and she treats them the same way. When she's in a bad mood, she takes it out on them, but none of them complain.

This is Miss, imperfect, but the best person in the world.

The contents of the secret letter were sent out by Xie Nuer to Desheng through clandestine channels at top speed.

It details the entire process of Xie Nu'er serving Pei Yan in the Hall of Mental Cultivation last night—from Pei Yan's unusual obsession with that palace dress, to his morbid behavior of treating Xie Nu'er as a substitute for Lin Ruyue, including the words he spoke, and how Xie Nu'er narrowly avoided being stigmatized as a femme fatale this morning…

"Oh…"

A very soft, cold laugh escaped from her lips, carrying an overwhelming... nausea!

As expected.

She had long seen through Pei Yan's shady and despicable thoughts.

Transforming Xie Nuer into a shadow of Lin Ruyue and sending her into the palace was a carefully planned move.

But when these sordid details were laid bare before her eyes, the disgust still clung to her like vines, almost suffocating her!

This Pei Yan is so abnormal that even she didn't expect it!

That's her mother!

She is dead! She shouldn't be desecrated like this!

Xie Sangning slowly closed her eyes, her long eyelashes casting shadows on her pale cheeks.

She seemed to see again her mother Lin Ruyue's eyes, which always held a gentle smile.

"Mother...please don't blame me..."

Xie Sangning's nails dug deeply into her palms, causing a stinging pain. "Your daughter is unfilial...using such despicable means...but your daughter swears! Your daughter will make that beast pay the price! She will...find you! And let you rest in peace!"

She suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze filled with only determination and hatred!

Most importantly, we must find my mother's remains!

There has been no response yet regarding the investigation into Granny Qiu in Desheng.

If Empress Xiao Fengyi truly abandoned her mother's body in a mass grave, leaving it to be eaten by wild dogs and exposed to the elements...

Then the Empress... should go where she belongs!

The hatred and nausea churning inside me desperately needed an outlet.

Since that old bastard Pei Yan enjoys disgusting people so much…

Then Xie Sangning wouldn't mind finding some fun for him too!

She picked up her pen and spread out a sheet of plain paper.

Without flowery language, without pleasantries, the writing is sharp and incisive:

To Father:

Everything in the capital is settled, so do not worry. I only think of Father's hard work guarding the border and the soldiers' longing for home. The return date is approaching, so I request that Father take 200,000 soldiers from the Northwest back to Nanjing. Firstly, to petition for merit and rewards for the soldiers, and secondly, to enhance the prestige of the Xie family and deter the villains! Please do not refuse, my mind is made up.

Respectfully submitted by Ms. Sang Ning

Two hundred thousand!

Ru Dong, who was watching from the side, gasped in shock!

Previously, the general and the young lady discussed the matter of returning to the capital, but the general had many concerns.

The capital city is right under the emperor's nose, and the emperor was always extremely wary of the military power in the northwest.

The general originally planned to return to the capital with only 50,000 elite personal guards, which was already under tremendous pressure.

This force of 50,000 men is more symbolic, demonstrating that the Xie family's military might still exists.

The emperor could barely tolerate 50,000, turning a blind eye to it.

Two hundred thousand?!

This is practically like pulling all the elite forces of the Northwest Camp outside Nanjing!

This is hardly a show of force.

This is clearly a blatant act of the enemy besieging the city!

It was as if a gleaming knife was placed directly against the emperor's neck!

Miss, you're... about to cause a huge disaster!

"Miss…"

Ru Dong's voice held a barely perceptible tension, "Two hundred thousand... isn't that too... conspicuous? What about His Majesty's side..."

"garish?"

Xie Sangning put down her pen, picked up a piece of plain paper, gently blew away the ink, and a pleased smile curved her lips. "What I want is to be eye-catching! To make him restless! To make him unable to sleep at night!"

Her eyes were sharp as an eagle's: "Father was worried that if he brought too many troops, the Emperor would take his anger out on me, his daughter left in the capital, so he only agreed to bring 50,000. But he forgot that now, Xie Sangning, no one can bully me!"

"My confidence comes not only from my father, but also from myself."

She folded the letter and handed it to Rudong:

"The emperor will not touch me. Does he dare? What can he do to me? Hundreds of thousands of fierce soldiers in the Northwest only obey my father's orders. As long as my father holds the military seal and as long as those 200,000 troops are stationed outside the city, the emperor... can only endure and suppress his anger."

“Even without my father, if he were to harm me, if he were to push me too far, I could openly hoard grain to show the emperor! If I hoard it, wouldn't other powerful families follow suit? If I drive up grain prices, not only the common people will suffer, but also the emperor. He would still have to suppress his anger and guess the purpose of hoarding grain every day!”

The idea that "misfortune should not extend to ordinary people" was something Xie Sangning truly did not hold.

She is not a saint; anyone who stands in the way of her interests or her pursuit of revenge can become her weapon.

She wrote that Sang Ning never considered herself a good person.

The suffering of the common people is Pei Yan's people, and it is something he, as emperor, should resolve.

If hoarding grain leads to rising grain prices, Pei Yan should reflect on why Daqing doesn't have enough food. Was he not working hard enough? And why did he force her to rebel? Did he, Pei Yan, do something wrong?

Xie Sangning never engages in internal strife, just like now.

She could almost see the scene—the incredible expression on Pei Yan's face when he received the report that his father was about to arrive with an army of 200,000!

Shock? Rage? Fear? Or impotent rage?

Just thinking about it... feels so good!

"Moreover," Xie Sangning changed the subject, a hint of seriousness flashing in his eyes, "Xie Nu'er's situation in the palace... is more perilous than expected."

Pei Yan's level of perversion exceeded her expectations.

An emperor obsessed with his mother and acting erratically is himself an unstable bomb.

No matter how clever Xie Nu'er was, she was as fragile as porcelain in the face of absolute imperial power.

"Two hundred thousand troops pressing in... is like a sword hanging over the emperor's head. Unless he's completely insane, he should understand that touching Xie Nu'er is touching me, Xie Sangning, and touching me, Xie Sangning... he should think twice about whether he still wants to sit comfortably on his dragon throne!"

This is a warning!

The most direct, blunt, and effective warning!

With two hundred thousand knives, she would tell that old pervert Pei Yan: Xie Sangning is not a plaything he can defile at will!

"Get this letter to Father as quickly as possible. Tell the messenger it's extremely urgent!"

"Yes!" Ru Dong took the letter with both hands, feeling as if this thin piece of paper weighed more than a thousand pounds!

She dared not delay, immediately turned around, and disappeared silently but swiftly outside the door.

Inside Ruixue Tower, silence returned.

Xie Sangning walked to the window and pushed open the carved wooden window.

The afternoon sun was a bit too bright, shining on the pomegranate flowers blooming in the courtyard, making them as red as burning flames, or like... blood about to be spilled.

She stood quietly, her gaze seemingly piercing through the layers of palace walls, reaching the depths of that magnificent golden cage, and seeing Xie Nu'er, the woman dancing on the edge of a knife.

"Xie Nu'er..." she murmured to herself, "You chose this path yourself. All I can do for you is to use two hundred thousand troops to give you a temporary shield in the Dragon Pool and Tiger Cave."

As for how long this amulet will last...

Xie Sangning's eyes suddenly turned cold.

That depends on whether that old bastard Pei Yan knows what's good for him!

If he does something that angers her again and insists on courting death...

She wouldn't mind attending his funeral.

She raised her hand, her fingertips gently brushing against the carvings on the window frame.

A storm is brewing.