Chapter 268: Eternal Youth, Happy Birthday

After saying that, Nie Rang raised his hand... The strong men picked up the log and slammed it against the city wall with a loud bang, just like when attacking in a war.

"Bang!"

If you build a wall with lime without glutinous rice glue, the lime will become brittle after drying, and you won't see anything. But if you hit it hard, without the cohesive force of the glutinous rice glue, the lime will fall apart, and the huge stones piled up above will tilt and collapse...

However, under such a huge impact force, the city wall at that place did not move at all. Instead, the strong men staggered backwards due to the huge reaction force.

Nie Rang was stunned for a moment, then yelled angrily, "Didn't you guys eat?"

Shen Qingbai snorted and laughed: "How about Lord Nie come by himself?"

Shen Qingbai himself has verified this wall countless times... After all, it was the first time he heard that the city wall could be built without glutinous rice ash, but with that... cement?

The cement was made by his sister using volcanic ash and lime brought from the Wulan tribe. She said it was called cement, which was more powerful and stronger than glutinous rice glue, and it dried and solidified faster.

Shen Qingbai was a little worried at first, so he used the cement to build a wall in Beihai Mansion before officially starting the construction. Then, a few days later, he demolished the wall... and almost broke the wrists of those strong men.

That was just a wall of ordinary thickness. Now, this is a city wall that is more than two meters thick. If Nie Rang can destroy it, he must be a god!

After a few loud bangs, the strong men apologized to Nie Rang with bitter faces. One of them had his arm broken, but Nie Rang refused to believe it and called for people to bring sledgehammers and chisels... There were a lot of bangs and knocks, just like a real siege on the city wall... but it only left some white marks on the big stones on the wall.

Nie Rang and the people from Beihai Prefecture beside him looked increasingly ugly, sometimes pale and sometimes blue.

Next to him, Chen Nian, the commander of Liaodong Pass, also fell silent.

He had already seen that Nie Rang and his men were likely to suffer the consequences... They had obviously made a mistake, and they had come to report it with such confidence, but it ended up like this.

I'm afraid they are the ones being plotted against.

He must not get involved in anything now.

"Your Highness, this... this is impossible... this..." Nie Rang wanted to say something, but he couldn't say anything.

At this moment, someone approached and said to the Second Prince Xiao Nanrong, "Your Highness, Princess Yong'an has arrived."

Xiao Nanrong turned around in surprise and saw Shen Ning walking towards him from not far away. His expression suddenly became gentle.

"Greetings, Second Prince... The Commander-in-Chief is here too."

Chen Nian hurriedly and politely returned the gift.

Even if they are not in the same camp, they still have to put in enough effort to show their abilities.

Yan Nu's expression was a little tense: "Your Highness asked if there was anything that the princess came to visit?"

Shen Ning smiled, and Qiyue stepped forward and presented a stack of papers.

"Your Highness, I would like to accuse Beihai Prefecture Governor Nie Rang, County Magistrate Zhou Mianhan, and others of seeking revenge, maliciously interfering with the construction of the fortress, and forcing merchants not to sell glutinous rice to Shen Qingbai... and also of embezzling coal funds and withholding labor. Here is the evidence, Your Highness, please review it."

Beside him, Nie Rang's face suddenly turned pale...

He never expected that Shen Ning would suddenly attack!

From the very beginning, this young princess showed that she was very unpredictable, acting ruthlessly and impulsively. After she fell out with them, she was just merciless in all kinds of ways, but never took any strong measures.

Even though he was blocking me from buying glutinous rice glue, I never looked for them from beginning to end.

Nie Rang often laughed at the little princess in his heart for being impulsive but lacking wisdom. She was just lucky and recklessly threw money into Coal Hill, and it just so happened that Coal Hill produced coal again.

Apart from that, he had not seen this princess do anything useful. She was just a paper tiger with a strong appearance but a weak heart.

As for those greenhouses? Hospitals? Haha… that’s like a Bodhisattva possessed and thinking he’s the savior.

The imperial court couldn't even support such a poor Beihai Prefecture, let alone her, a princess from another family. What right did she have?

With that little wealth and relying on Prince Ding...you want to directly support this huge Beihai Prefecture?

Nie Rang never took the brother and sister seriously from the bottom of his heart, so he waited calmly for so long, and then suddenly exerted his strength and vowed to sentence Shen Qingbai to death and drive the young and energetic princess out of Beihai Prefecture.

However, this was completely different from what he had imagined.

She was not timid, nor did she ignore them after offending them. Instead, she was collecting evidence more silently than them.

Today, I thought he was the one who suddenly attacked me, but I didn't expect that he was just a pig or sheep waiting to be slaughtered...

July presented the evidence, and the secretary quickly took it and presented it to the second prince.

Xiao Nanyong reached out and picked up a book, opened it and read it, his brows slowly furrowed... After a while, after reading two or three copies, his expression had become very ugly.

Without looking any further, Xiao Nanyong put the things back and looked up at Nie Rang and the others. Yan Nu's expression was slightly stern, and the next moment, he directly shouted coldly: "Come here, arrest Nie Rang, the governor of Beihai Prefecture, and the others..."

"Your Highness, Your Highness, I am innocent. I am innocent. It was all framed by Princess Yong'an. Princess Yong'an wanted to monopolize Beihai Prefecture and wronged me!"

Nie Rang and several others were held down by the soldiers next to them and had their official hats taken off first.

While being arrested and dragged away, Nie Rang continued to cry out for justice at the top of his lungs.

Beside him, Chen Nian cautiously suggested, "Your Highness, Lord Nie and his men have guarded the border town for many years. Even if they haven't made any contributions, they have worked hard. This matter is of great importance. Why not send the evidence to the capital and ask the Ministry of Justice or His Majesty to make a decision?"

Upon hearing this, Nie Rang immediately shouted loudly: "This humble official is innocent, this humble official is innocent. This humble official will file a complaint with the emperor and go to the capital to ask His Majesty for a judgment..."

The second prince, Xiao Nanyong, was on tour on behalf of the emperor and held the imperial sword, which gave him the power of life and death. If he were convicted immediately, he would probably be beheaded on the spot.

As long as it is sent to the capital, with the connections he has built up from giving away countless amounts of money over the years, and with the Empress Dowager... there is no need to worry about not having room for maneuver.

When he thought of this, Nie Rang cried out for justice even louder.

This is to make the Second Prince hesitate and not convict him directly...

As expected, Xiao Nanrong frowned, as if he was unsure. But then Yan Nu spoke for him, "His Highness has ordered that the guilty minister Nie Rang and others be sent to the Ministry of Justice in the capital, along with the evidence."

With just one word, Nie Rang's originally gloomy face suddenly turned to life, and when he looked at Chen Ning again, he was filled with deep hatred and murderous intent.

Being escorted away together with County Magistrate Zhou and others, Nie Rang gritted his teeth as he passed by Shen Ning, wishing he could skin and tear the Princess Yong'an apart!

It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter… So what if she is a princess? She is not without enemies.

When he enters the capital, he will have hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to buy up connections. By then, he will have no worries about not getting revenge for today's grudge!

Nie Rang and the others were escorted away, and Yan Nu spoke up, "His Highness invites the princess to come over and talk."

Since everyone was already here, it would be a bit rude not to sit down and exchange a few pleasantries. Shen Ning nodded and was about to agree, but at this moment, Wu Yue came trotting over from not far away and said with a smile: "Princess, His Royal Highness Prince Ding sent someone from the capital."

Shen Ning was slightly startled, then smiled and apologized to Xiao Nanrong: "It's really unfortunate that someone is coming home. I will come to visit Your Highness another day."

Xiao Nanyong nodded gently and raised his hand to signal her to do as she pleased.

Shen Ning didn't even bother to say a few more words to Shen Qingbai. They exchanged glances from a distance, nodded to her brother, turned around and left.

Xiao Nanyong watched Chen Ning get on the carriage, and could clearly see that she had a smile on her face as she got on.

So, does she really like Prince Ding...

Shen Ning rushed back to Beihai Prefecture directly.

It would take more than half a day's journey from Beihai Prefecture to Liaodong Pass even if she rode at full speed. By the time she entered the gate of the Princess's Mansion, it was already dark.

Previously, she had acted impatiently at Beihai Mansion mostly to take the opportunity to avoid being alone with the Second Prince, Xiao Nanyong. The Second Prince looked good-tempered and docile, but Shen Ning was inexplicably always a little wary of him.

That's why he deliberately pretended to be very happy when he left.

After entering the Princess's Mansion, she untied her cloak and handed it to Qiyue while asking, "Where are the people from the capital?"

"Here."

A voice rang out, and Shen Ning was slightly startled. She turned around and saw Xiao Nanchen standing in the corridor wearing ordinary guard clothes. He met her gaze, paused, and took a tentative step forward: "I pay my respects to Princess Yong'an... I wish the princess a long and beautiful life and a happy birthday!"