Chapter 246 Sincerity
The night was as dark as ink, hanging heavily over the Liang Palace.
Nian Zheng was not sleepy and walked slowly along the corridor towards the main courtyard.
The clamor when King Liang just died seems to still be ringing in my ears.
The wives and concubines in the backyard cried and wailed, each with their own thoughts, and several illegitimate sons fought openly and covertly for power in the palace, making the palace a mess.
Even though she had accumulated some power over the years, she felt powerless when faced with this group of jackals.
Fortunately, with the right to walk in the outer study, he secretly delivered the memorial to the capital.
The imperial edict appointing her as princess was brought by Prince Rui.
She still remembered the first time she met Pei Jingming.
He was dressed in a red brocade robe, his posture was as straight as a pine tree, and he always had a nonchalant smile on his face.
He only read the imperial edict and said nothing more from beginning to end
Only when he heard the most reckless illegitimate son shouting, "What do women and children know about inheritance?" did he slowly raise his eyes.
Pei Jingming walked up to the bastard and said in a gentle voice, as if he was chatting casually, "In your opinion, women have no vision?"
The bastard was frightened by his gaze, but he still stiffened his neck and shouted, "Of course, how can the successor to the Prince of Liang's Mansion be decided by a woman?"
"Well said."
Pei Jingming smiled, and that smile was so strange and dazzling.
"Then, since Your Majesty is a woman and now rules the world, shouldn't you also give the throne to me? After all, you are a man, and you are probably more far-sighted than Your Majesty."
This sentence was like thunder, and the bastard's face turned pale as paper in an instant.
The person who was shouting just now fell to his knees in the blink of an eye, repeatedly saying "The students don't dare".
But the smile on Pei Jingming's face did not fade at all.
He turned to the crowd and spoke in a low voice, but it reached everyone's ears clearly, "Your Majesty has decreed that the successor to the Liang Palace will be decided by Princess Nian."
He paused, his eyes sweeping across those faces that were either shocked or frightened, "If anyone among you has any objections——"
He pointed at the bastard lying on the ground and said in a relaxed tone, "Just treat him like this person and commit treason."
As soon as he finished speaking, the guards came forward and dragged away the bastard who was crying and begging for mercy, tied him up and threw him in the courtyard.
It is a hot summer day, and the sun is scorching like fire.
Pei Jingming sat upright in the corridor, sipping tea, and watched the illegitimate son go from cursing to wailing, and then to gasping for breath, and finally he didn't even have the strength to struggle, and was sunburned to death.
The people in the palace were forced to stand in the courtyard. No one dared to make a sound, and even their breathing was light.
The wives and concubines lowered their heads and hid the fear in their eyes.
The remaining bastards hunched their shoulders and dared not move at all.
The servants were even more silent, some of them almost fainted from the unbearable situation.
Nian Zheng was the only person in the entire palace who could sit in the corridor with Pei Jingming.
She looked at the man who always smiled, with mixed feelings.
He only stayed there for one day, without resorting to violence or talking, but with a slow and cruel punishment, he suppressed the complicated chaos in the palace and made everyone obediently acknowledge her as the princess.
The most difficult-to-calm human heart in the world was easily grasped in his hands.
Nian Zheng had an indescribable emotion.
It's not fear, but a mixture of awe and excitement.
On that scorching afternoon, she clearly realized that only power could easily crush everything.
"How can I make the princess not blame me when I go to Yangzhou?" Nian Zheng worried.
She doesn't want to lose everything she has now.
It was indeed her fault about what happened in the Imperial Examination Hall.
As soon as I returned to the main courtyard and changed my outer clothes, I heard the sound of footsteps outside the door.
The maid whispered, "Princess, Concubine Xian has brought the young master here, saying that the young master is clamoring to see you."
Aunt Xian was an orphan girl from the countryside that Nian Zheng brought back from a trip three months after she entered the palace.
Her father and brothers were all gone, and her uncles and aunts in the same clan would not tolerate her.
Nian Zheng put her in the yard to do some rough work.
Unexpectedly, she became pregnant. After asking, she found out that the child was King Liang's.
King Liang did not deny it, saying that he was drunk and recognized the wrong person.
Later, a master came to the mansion and said that the child in Concubine Xian's belly would bring bad luck to the prince, so Prince Liang immediately wanted to give her medicine to abort the baby.
Nian Zheng pleaded, "I brought her back, so I will take her to the farm. After she gives birth, I will raise the child there."
Half a year later, Concubine Xian gave birth to a little boy. Nian Zheng returned to the palace and became even more favored by Prince Liang.
It was not until the death of King Liang and the imperial decree to appoint a princess as the king that Nian Zheng brought mother and son back from the farm.
Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that the young prince would soon become the young King of Liang.
"What is she doing here so late?"
The maid bowed her head and said, "Aunt Xian said that the young master is crying and making a fuss, and he insists on seeing you."
Nian Zheng was silent for a moment, and finally said calmly, "Let them in."
The door curtain was lifted, and Aunt Xian walked in slowly holding the three-year-old boy's hand.
She was thin, with her head lowered, and a dark red birthmark on her left cheek was particularly eye-catching.
The young master was very cute, and his round eyes looked at Nian Zheng timidly.
"Greetings, Princess." Aunt Xian's voice was as thin as a mosquito, with her usual timidity.
"Greetings, mother." The young prince followed suit in a baby voice, glanced at Nian Zheng secretly, and then quickly lowered his head.
Nian Zheng's gaze paused for a moment on the child's face.
His features are somewhat similar to those of the young Prince Liang, but without the hostility and with a more innocent look.
She quickly looked away and looked at Aunt Xian. Her tone was calm but oppressive. "Is it you who wants to see me, or is it the young master who wants to see me?"
Aunt Xian shuddered, "It's Ming'er. He said he missed you and insisted on coming to pay his respects to you."
"Didn't I tell you?" Nian Zheng's voice turned colder. "The imperial court's decree hasn't come down yet, so everything is subject to change."
"You taught him to call her mother, so ostentatiously, are you trying to kill Ming'er?"
Aunt Xian knelt down, tears falling to the ground.
The young master was also dragged and staggered, and burst into tears out of fear.
"Princess, please forgive me. I didn't mean to do that. It was Ming'er who..."
Concubine Xian spoke incoherently, "I will take him away right now."
She hurriedly got up and tried to pull the little boy, but the child cried even harder.
Nian Zheng's eyebrows were twisted into a knot.
Aunt Xian bit her lip and dragged the young master out.
Nian Zheng suddenly said, "Come back."
Aunt Xian paused, turned back quickly, and knelt on the ground again, not daring to even raise her head.
The young master was still sobbing, looking at Nian Zheng with tearful eyes, filled with confusion and fear.
Nian Zheng waved to him and said in a slower voice, "Ming'er, come here."
The young master hesitated for a moment, looked at Aunt Xian, then looked at Nian Zheng, and finally moved over sobbing.
Nian Zheng reached out and picked him up. The child was very light and had a faint fragrance on his body.
She looked down at the wet little face in her arms and couldn't help but wipe it with a handkerchief. "Would you like to go to Yangzhou with your mother tomorrow? There are delicious osmanthus cakes there, and there are big rivers where you can take a boat ride."
The young master was stunned and looked at Nian Zheng with blinking eyes.
Aunt Xian, who was kneeling on the ground, raised her head, her eyes full of confusion.
"Are there any puppets that can move?" asked the young master.
Nian Zheng's eyes softened and she pinched his face. "Of course."
"But, tomorrow you must promise mother that you will behave well for the next few days. When you return from Yangzhou, you will move in with mother."
The young master nodded vigorously, "Be obedient tomorrow."
Nian Zheng put him down and signaled Aunt Xian to take him back.
"It's late, go to bed early."
When she met Princess Jia'an, Nian Zheng knew how to show her sincerity.
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