Li He naturally didn’t leave, he repeated the princess’s words to Nangong Xin. After he finished speaking, he quietly waited for Nangong Xin’s response.
Nangong Xin took a breath, then another, and after a moment, laughedh, "She really said that?"
Li He nodded, "This servant wouldn’t dare to deceive in the slightest, these are indeed the princess’s literal words."
There was not an iota of embellishing or adding on, it was original.
Nangong Xin sneered, "Does she think I want to continue living?"
And eat without working, she actually had the audacity to say that.
Li He kept silent, thinking to himself, "You don’t want to live, but you don’t want to kill yourself either."
"Your Highness, please accept it!" Palace Maid Cuihe gently tugged on Nangong Xin’s sleeve and whispered: "You are still the Queen, with the power to rule the six palaces. It would make life easier for us servants."
Nangong Xin turned her head, glaring at Cuihe.
Cuihe looked at her with pitiful eyes, "Your Highness, since we are not going to die, we need to live well. Otherwise, the servants in the palace will take advantage of their positions to bully us. In the long run, there might even be spit and stones mixed into our food."
Nangong Xin felt instantly nauseous. She would rather die than eat food mixed with spit and stones. She held a straight face and said: "Bring it in."
Li He didn’t expect Nangong Xin to agree so easily. He promptly replied, sending the items to Nangong Xen with a beaming smile.
Nangong Xin glanced at them, "You should know, I don’t have many attendants left by my side, not enough for running errands."
Li He immediately replied: "This is easy, I can select and assign some people to you."
Nangong Xin said, "I hear the princess brought two people with her, an old wet nurse, and a maid she raised from childhood. You go and talk to the princess, ask her to agree to let those two assist me. Only then I will continue to manage all internal affairs in this palace on her behalf."
"This..." Li He hesitated. "Both Wet Nurse Zhao and Auntie Yuewan are specifically assigned to the princess and Lord Thursday, handling affairs for Feng Hall and Huang Hall. As the responsibilities of the princess and Lord Thursday increase, these two might not be able to handle all the work."
"That’s why I said to assist." Nangong Xin replied: "She can’t bear to let me use her people, she can have this thing back and manage it herself."
Li He had no choice but to say, "Then I will go back and inquire."
"You go back and ask right now." Nangong Xin gestured dismissively.
Li He nodded.
Hence, Li He returned to the administration hall, seeing that Zhou Gu hadn’t returned yet. He immediately relayed Nangong Xin’s demand to Su Rong who was talking to the Nanchu King in the room.
Su Rong agreed without a second thought, "Alright, Eunuch Li, you dispatch folks to find Wet Nurse Zhao and Yuewan now, and have them go to the queen’s quarter right away. Yet long as she continues managing the palace’s internal affairs, whatever the queen says, they will assist."
Li He sighed, thinking to himself how simply the princess handled things. He immediately dispatched some people.
The Nanchu King wore an unhappy look, "You have spared her life and that’s already exceedingly generous. How can you still let her manage the palace affairs? Aren’t you afraid she will cause chaos? After all, the whole Nangong Family has surrendered to Dawei. What if she defects to Dawei and colludes with the enemy, won’t that invite trouble?"
Su Rong looked at the Nanchu King, "Your Majesty, you’re being too worried. She didn’t even kill your own daughter, so why would she defect? She has already betrayed the Nangong family when she chose to hide my identity. It can be said she takes half the blame for the current predicament of the Nangong family. Nangong Zheng is highly intelligent, once he learns that she has agreed to properly continue to serve as the queen, he will not bother her even in death."
"That may not be the case, one must not underestimate Nangong Zheng. People’s hearts can be fickle, what if Nangong Xin regrets her choices and wishes to help the Nangong Family?" The Nanchu King cautioned, adhering to the belief that prevention is better than cure.
Su Rong sighed, "Your Majesty, you and Nangong Xin grew up together, didn’t you? Why are you thinking so badly of her? She hasn’t committed an extremely heinous crime, has she? Over all these years, she sided with you in the conflicts between you and the Nangong family."
Nanchu King glared at Su Rong, "I only like your mother, I don’t like anyone else. Are you keeping Nangong Xin with the intentions of my becoming unfaithful when I get old?"
His suspicions were piqued by Su Rong’s treatment of Nangong Xin. Even if she decided not to kill Nangong Xin, she didn’t have to be so kind to her.
"No, who you like is entirely up to you. Of course, I won’t interfere with that. If you wish to remain loyal to my mother for a lifetime, I don’t object to it either. But as for the queen, it’s nothing more than the position. She has held it for many years, why not continue? Just for the fact that she has kept my existence hidden from the Nangong family for so many years, I could let her continue sitting in the position of the queen. As long as she doesn’t bring chaos, if she’s able to help me with work and wield power over the six palaces, she can live as long as she wants." Su Rong patted the Nanchu King’s shoulder, "Your Majesty, don’t you have a saying? The law is not extended to girls who have gone to be married. She is your queen, that’s a fact. Besides, someone is willing to work for me, what are you getting upset about? Do you want to take on the palace administration duties yourself?"
The Nanchu King pushed away her hand, opened his eyes wide, "How can I manage that?"
"So, should Zhou Gu manage?" Su Rong asked again.
The Nanchu King immediately replied: "He is highly capable, he needs to handle governmental affairs. How can he be wasted on palace administration?"
"And what about me?" Su Rong looked at him.
The Nanchu King’s eyes widened even more, "You are the princess, the regent. You can’t be entangled in tedious palace administration tasks."
"So, if we don’t let the queen manage, who can?" Su Rong stared at him.
Sentence by sentence, the Nanchu King became stifled. For a moment, he couldn’t think of anyone else who could manage. After a moment, he said, "Didn’t you bring Wet Nurse Zhao and Yuewan? Plus, you have so many people by your side, where can’t you find someone who can manage palace affairs?"
Su Rong sighed, "Your Majesty, but no one is more familiar with palace affairs than the queen. She has managed your palace before and never caused any major issues. As for Wet Nurse Zhao and Yuewan, they just arrived and, of course, they can assist. There needs to be someone with high status to hold the Phoenix Seal who can reward and punish fairly to keep the six palaces in check. Who could be a better fit than the queen?"
She looked at the Nanchu King, "As for the matter of her causing chaos, you are being overly worried. Even when her maternal family was strong, she didn’t conspire with them to kill you and I. Now that the Nangong Family has lost power, why should she make trouble? Is it because she thinks the Nangong family’s ancestral tomb is too tranquil?"
The current Nangong Xin may not feel particularly guilty towards the Nangong family, or regret her decision to hide Su Rong’s existence, but she definitely doesn’t want to see the Nangong family’s ancestral tomb neglected and ruin.
The Nanchu Kingdom ceded reluctantly, "Alright, your words prevail. Since you have faith in her, what more can I say."
Su Rong nodded, "That’s right, you said I could make the decisions, so why are you still going on about it?"
The Nanchu Kingdom was completely choked off, and didn’t say anything more.
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