Chapter 8: Playing Pigs to Eat Tigers There was a huge noise in the palace...
The palace was in an uproar. The old ministers knelt on the ground and cried out in disbelief: "Princess, please think twice!"
"I guarantee with my life that this is absolutely unacceptable!"
The Minister of War, who was over sixty years old, knelt on the ground, his forehead touching the ground, his voice choked with sobs:
"Since the founding of the Great Gan Empire, there has never been a precedent of a princess forcing a court official to become her husband!"
"I second the motion!"
The Minister of War kowtowed deeply, "Lord Li, as an important official of the court, has behaved so improperly. Where is the government's order?"
Song Youning looked at this group of stinky old men. She had been persuaded to marry before but she didn't want to. Now that she wanted to, they disagreed.
"Shut up, everyone!"
The emperor suddenly slammed the table and stood up, looking heartbroken.
"Youning..."
The emperor sighed deeply, looking heartbroken. "It's not that my father doesn't love you, it's just that this ancestral etiquette..."
He paused deliberately, and glanced at the ministers in the hall.
"...The entire court disagrees!"
Song Youning looked at her father who was "furious" on the dragon throne, and while no one was paying attention, he secretly winked at her.
Song Youning narrowed his eyes and understood his hint.
She turned suddenly.
"I am putting this on notice today... Li Funing is the only consort of my Song Youning."
Li Funing stood alone in the center of the hall.
He pursed his lips and said nothing, his thin figure standing in the hall, making me feel pity for him.
"Your Majesty, please understand!"
Xie Jingming suddenly shouted: "Even if Lord Li had physical contact with the princess, he disregarded etiquette and violated male ethics..."
"Bang!"
Before Xie Jingming could finish his words, the emperor threw a teacup precisely at his feet.
The old father on the throne was furious: "How dare you! I think Li Qing is a handsome man..."
Then he winked at Song Youning and changed the subject, "...Although this is against etiquette..."
“That’s enough!”
Just as Song Youning was about to use his power, the empress dowager suddenly slammed the table. Her sharp gaze swept back and forth between the emperor and Song Youning, and finally fell on Li Funing's neck.
"Master Li, do you admit your guilt?"
Li Funing was about to kneel down, but Song Youning grabbed him and pulled him up.
"When a grandmother wants to punish someone, she punishes her grandson."
She took a step forward and said, "This mark was bitten by my grandson. Lord Li... was forced by me..."
There was a burst of gasps in the hall.
Several elderly ministers covered their chests with their hands, looking as if they were about to faint at any moment.
Seeing this, the emperor knew it was almost time to stop.
He shook his head in deep sorrow: "Youning, you..."
"...Do you really want him?"
"I don't want anyone but him."
"Even if the whole court opposes it?"
“That’s not what he wants.”
These decisive words caused the hall to fall silent in an instant.
The Minister of Rites pointed at her with a trembling finger and was speechless for a long time.
When no one was paying attention, Li Funing lowered his head, a triumphant smile appearing at the corner of his lips.
She suddenly turned around and said loudly, "Master Li and I have been engaged since we were young."
He raised his hand and grabbed the jade pendant from his waist.
"...Look, this is evidence."
The emperor looked at the two people who were in love with each other and suddenly sighed, as if he had made a great decision.
"Never mind..."
"I agree."
"Your Majesty!" the ministers exclaimed.
The Emperor waved his hand and pulled out a previously drafted imperial edict from his sleeve: "In fact, three years ago, the Prime Minister and I had already chosen Li Qing as our consort."
"But the princess disagreed at that time."
He looked meaningfully at the stunned Song Youning.
"I just didn't expect that now... Youning is even more anxious than I am."
Song You suddenly realized that this was a trap that Song Luoshu had set up long ago!!!
Those opposing court officials and their righteous admonitions were nothing more than his provocations.
The emperor sat upright on the dragon throne, his eyes moving back and forth between the civil and military officials in the court and the beautiful couple in the center of the hall.
"Since the ministers have no objection..."
He deliberately drew out his voice, looking at the group of old ministers below who had just been making impassioned speeches and whose faces were now flushed.
"Then it will be set on the sixth day of next month."
"His Majesty!"
The Minister of Personnel sank to his knees, his white beard trembling. "This, this is against etiquette! The six ceremonies haven't been performed yet, and the bride price is still... "
"My dear."
The emperor interrupted amiably, "I remember your granddaughter abducted a handsome young man last month. From engagement to marriage, it only took five days? Your granddaughter can do that, but the princess isn't allowed to marry a prince consort?"
The old minister choked and his face turned purple.
Song Youning looked at the deflated Minister of Personnel and laughed so hard that his shoulders shook. He felt someone pulling at his skirt.
When she turned her head, she saw Li Funing pulling at her skirt.
This guy, is he okay so quickly?
"Ahem."
The emperor had seen enough of the show and said sternly, "Li Qing."
Li Funing quickly withdrew his hand and regained his serious expression. He took a step forward, his posture straight and light: "I am here."
"I will resign from the position of Minister of Revenue effective immediately..."
The whole hall was in uproar.
Song Youning clenched her fists suddenly. Her woman's sixth sense told her that something was wrong.
The emperor slowly took out another imperial edict from his bosom:
"Changed to the position of Grand Tutor of the Eastern Palace, specializing in assisting..."
His eyes turned to her meaningfully, and she shuddered.
"...Crown Princess."
"The Empress and I will travel to Jiangnan in a few days to investigate the people's sentiments. During this period, the Crown Princess will oversee the country... assisted by Grand Tutor Li."
"It's bad... I got tricked."
Even the Queen Mother stood up in shock. The Crown Princess? Is this going to...
"Withdraw from the court!"
Without giving anyone a chance to react, he flicked his sleeves, stood up, and planned to slip away.
"I'm going to pack my luggage for the Southern Tour. If you have anything to discuss, please consult the Crown Princess."
As he passed by Song Youning, he lowered his voice and said, "My dear girl, I have found your future husband for you. As for the rest..."
"You decide for yourself..."
Song Youning seized the opportunity and grabbed his sleeve tightly, tears welling up in her eyes: "Father, you've already planned this, right?
My father and mother went out for a trip, leaving my daughter alone to govern the country. My father is so cruel..."
"Oh, I suddenly remembered that your mother wants to see me for something! I'll leave first."
The emperor shook her hand off, struggled nimbly, and disappeared in a flash.
Li Funing looked at the bright yellow figure that fled in panic and cried out loudly, "Father, you have no heart..."
In the Imperial Garden
"This old fox!"
Song Youning kicked the stone at her feet away, and her hairpin shook violently with her movement. Li Funing, who looked like a young wife, followed behind her.
Song Youning suddenly turned around and stared at Li Funing fiercely, "Did you know this a long time ago?"
Li Funing suddenly knelt on one knee, his eyes firm and pitiful: "I am guilty. I have been conspiring with Your Majesty for a long time. I beg for your forgiveness, Princess."
"?" Is it so natural to admit your mistake?
"Speak clearly."
"The teeth marks on my neck were caused by me pinching myself, but the drama in the palace was indeed forced by Your Majesty..." His Adam's apple rolled.
"It was His Majesty who said... that the princess is stubborn and doesn't respond to pressure. He wants you to think you're the one saving the hero..."
"continue."
"Your Majesty threatens me with the selection of the Imperial Consort."
Li Funing's ears flushed red, and he held up his sleeves to pretend to wipe away tears. "They said that if I didn't cooperate... I would withdraw from the election. I had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure."
"Then why are you saying it now?"
"because..."
He suddenly raised his eyes and said, "I am afraid that the princess will be angry."
“…”
"So Master Li is no longer afraid now?"
Song Youning's fingertips brushed across his furrowed brows, and he pulled him up, and took a step closer. "...or?"
"I dare not"
He took a half step back, but the red tips of his ears betrayed his thoughts.
"It's just that His Majesty wants to take the Empress to Jiangnan..." The voice became increasingly lower, "... and said that His Highness wants to govern the country..."
"You are here to coax me into working?"
"Let me..."
He suddenly raised his eyes, his eyes full of love, and finally took off the mask of nobility, "...marry the princess as soon as possible."
Seeing his eyes moving and his charming demeanor, Song Youning couldn't help but feel soft-hearted: "Forget it, forget it. I can't stand seeing you acting like a coquettish woman. It makes me hard to be cruel to you."
She originally wanted to remain stern in the face, but now she was completely defeated and had to surrender. However, she was unwilling to let it go easily and had to give him a small punishment and a big lesson. She pretended to be angry and looked sideways at Li Funing who was kneeling on the ground.
"Do you think I don't know?" She moved closer, her fingers slowly climbing up to the teeth marks on his neck.
"Publicly reveal in the court that the bite marks belonged to me..."
"She even took out the mandarin duck pendant to prove she was engaged..."
She moved closer with each word, finally trapping him in a corner between herself and her: "I am willing to get involved in this."
The Imperial Garden was silent for a moment, with only the sound of flowing water under the small bridge.
Li Funing's breathing stagnated slightly, his cold eyes filled with emotion, and he feigned surprise: "Your Highness has already..."
"I've long known that you, the monarch and your ministers, have teamed up to trick me into getting married."
Song Youning raised his eyes with a hint of coldness, "You have always been the most polite..."
Her red lips touched his earlobe, and her warm breath brushed against his. "...How could you allow those teeth marks to appear in the court?"
Li Funing's Adam's apple rolled, and he put his arm around her waist: "Then your highness, do you know..." His voice was hoarse.
“This bite mark…”
"I left it here on purpose..."
Song Youning was stunned
He suddenly raised his head, revealing his slender neck: "Because I, your humble servant..."
He suddenly lowered his head and stared at her closely, as if trying to melt her into his eyes, with a dark tide surging in his eyes, "...I don't want to cover it up."
Li Funing's Adam's apple rolled and he felt an unbearable heat on his body.
His usually cold eyes were now surging with a dark tide, and his slender fingers once again touched the mark: "Because this is the love that Your Highness has left on me."
"I don't want to cover it..."
"Before the court meeting that day, I adjusted my collar seven times in front of the mirror."
He chuckled softly, his clear and cold voice becoming a little hoarse, "I covered it up and wiped it again, but in the end, it still..."
Or what? "
“Still didn’t cover it.”
Li Funing raised his eyes, his cold eyes were tender and affectionate.
"Because I want people to know..."
"Know what?"
"I know..."
He suddenly pulled her closer, their noses touching. "...It's His Highness's man."
Song Youning placed her fingertips against his chest, keeping a short distance between them, and squinted at him, "Aren't you afraid that I won't admit it?"
He was stunned for a moment, then tilted his head and chuckled a few times, "Now that the entire court knows that I am the princess's man, what else do I have to be afraid of?"
At three o'clock in the morning, Shoukang Palace
"How was my performance in the palace today?"
The Queen Mother scooped a spoonful of osmanthus honey and said, "The late Emperor once said that my acting skills are so good..."
"Perfection," Li Funing handed over the handkerchief respectfully, with the corners of his mouth raised, looking like he was in a very good mood.
"Especially when the Empress Dowager angrily rebuked me, I looked up and saw the Princess' eyes filled with heartache..."
The Queen Mother narrowed her eyes in triumph. "That foolish Emperor really thought I was being kept in the dark by him. He didn't even bother to see who fathered him..."
"Fu Ning..."
The Queen Mother suddenly lowered her voice and said, "Get married to Youning as soon as possible so that I can have a great-grandson."
Li Funing's ears instantly turned red, and he almost knocked over the teacup in his hand: "Your Majesty...I will obey your command."
"Don't learn from the emperor's useless behavior!" The empress dowager curled her lips.
"Back then, I pushed you for three years before you had Youning. I'll only give you one year. If you can't..."
The author has something to say:
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The male protagonist is the final winner
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