"Also, find a few people you can get your hands on to come in and clean the room, and also find me a chaise lounge."
The room was covered in dust; she had been sleeping on the floor for several days, and her neck was aching from it.
"Yes...yes..."
"Find a place to put these gold and silver jewels sent from the palace," Su Wanyan warned, lowering her eyes. "Don't get any funny ideas, or don't blame me for being impolite."
These are all assets she can use to escape later.
Xu Si's shoulders trembled: "Oh, Your Majesty, even if you gave me a hundred lives, I wouldn't dare!"
Su Wanyan dared to challenge even the Grand Eunuch of the palace, so how could he dare to have any wicked thoughts?
The scene of being dangled by the neck and beaten up by Su Wanyan the day before yesterday is still vivid in my mind. If I knew she was such a ruthless character, I would never have dared to offend her.
Su Wanyan slammed the door shut, picked up the medical book she hadn't finished reading last night, and plopped down on the edge of the bed to start reading.
Her eyes were fixed on the pages of the book, but she was actually panicking inside.
It's all over, it's all over!
That eunuch is definitely going to go back to the palace to complain now. How could she possibly fight against an emperor? She'll probably be sentenced to death soon.
Waaaaah... What should I do?!
If she had known, she should have just let them arrest Xu Si. Why did she have to act impulsively and save him?
Wouldn't it be better to sacrifice Xu Si in exchange for a few days of peace so that the affairs of the mansion can be kept secret?
Su Wanyan wanted to cry but had no tears, but she knew that if what just happened happened again, she would definitely choose to save Xu Si again.
Resisting might lead to death, but not resisting will certainly result in death.
But what should I do now? Waaaaah...
"Now you're scared?" Yu Nanqing's eyes were deep and calm, and he could see her panic.
Su Wanyan was on the verge of tears and buried her head in her book: "What should I do?"
Yu Nanqing pursed his lips tightly, his fist clenching and unclenching repeatedly under the covers. Finally, as if making a difficult decision, he parted his thin lips slightly: "You..."
However, before she could finish speaking, Su Wanyan suddenly looked at him sharply and said, "I want to ask you a question."
The words that were about to come out were abruptly swallowed back: "What?"
Su Wanyan propped herself up on the edge of the bed with her elbows, bringing her face close to his. Her large, clear, dark eyes stared intently at him: "Does the princess have much power?"
Su Wanyan leaned so close that Yu Nanqing's heart skipped a beat. He quickly held his breath, pursed his lips upon hearing her words, and before he could speak, Su Wanyan continued, "What I mean is, under normal circumstances, what powers does a princess have? Or what kind of crime would be considered a capital offense?"
Yu Nanqing narrowed his eyes: "What do you want to do?"
"Just tell me."
After hesitating for a moment, Yu Nanqing slowly and solemnly said: "Treason, rebellion, plotting treason, disrespect, discord and injustice, immorality and filial impiety, internal strife."
"I know about treason and rebellion, but what does treason mean? I don't understand discord and injustice either. To what extent does one have to be unfilial and immoral to die? Does disrespect mean insubordination? And what is internal strife?"
"..." Yu Nanqing asked suspiciously, "You don't know the law?"
“I… I am just a concubine’s daughter. Life is hard. It’s already a miracle that I’ve survived, let alone learned any laws.” Su Wanyan was right. The original owner was ignored in the Marquis’s mansion, and her food rations were sometimes taken over by the servants.
The original owner lost her mother at birth and had no one to protect her. It was already a miracle that she didn't starve or freeze to death when she was young.
She urged, "Please explain this to me quickly."
Yu Nanqing sighed and could only patiently explain: “Discord and injustice refer to murdering relatives, instigating officials, soldiers, students, etc. to use any means to achieve their goals, sowing discord, being unfilial and unethical refers to indiscriminately killing innocent people, not respecting teachers and elders, and being disrespectful refers to offending the emperor, and internal strife refers to adultery and promiscuity among relatives.”
He took a breath: "Besides that, beating and murdering an elder is also a capital offense and a heinous crime. This is the same as disobeying elders and not respecting teachers."
Their identities also dictated that their elders were not ordinary people.
Disobeying one's elders is nothing more than an act of insubordination.
Su Wanyan listened attentively, nodding repeatedly: "That's all? Is there anything else?"
Yu Nanqing looked at her, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Even if you know these things, it won't help. If the Emperor wants to punish you, he can use any reason."
"But with regulations in place, he needs to find fault with us, right? If he can't find fault, he can only drag it out, or... he can fabricate evidence and pin charges on us, right?"
Yu Nanqing frowned, not denying Su Wanyan's words.
Su Wanyan then asked, "Then... are there any criminals who go to jail but don't die?"
Upon hearing this, Yu Nanqing frowned even more: "If you go to jail, it's a capital offense."
"Is going to jail a death sentence?"
"As far as the Prince's Mansion is concerned, violating the law means either being stripped of one's official rank, stripped of one's official position, and fined; or, in other cases, the death penalty."
Once you're in jail, there's no chance of ever getting out.
"So as long as I don't commit any of the crimes mentioned above, I won't die, or I might even be fine?"
“…Generally speaking, yes.” He felt inexplicably irritated: “What do you want to do?”
"I want to fight for the rights that the Prince's Mansion deserves." Su Wanyan said, putting down the medical book in her hand and taking two steamed buns from her bag and placing them by the bedside.
Yu Nanqing grabbed her hand: "Tell me first, what do you want to do?"
Su Wanyan ignored his words and said, "These two buns will last you a day. Remember not to eat too many. Your body is weak, and your stomach will not be able to handle it if you eat too much."
Yu Nanqing felt a bad premonition. Seeing the bloodshot look in Su Wanyan's eyes, he tightened his grip on her and gritted his teeth: "I don't care what you want to do, but I'm warning you, going against that person in the palace will get you into trouble sooner or later! You're not allowed to go!"
"Then do you have a better way?" Su Wanyan looked directly at him, her dark eyes filled with the sincerity of a newborn calf unafraid of tigers. Before he could speak, she continued, "Even if I don't go against him, will he let you go? Will he let the Prince's Mansion go? If he doesn't let you go, do you think I can survive?"
Yu Nanqing opened his mouth, but his grip on her tightened.
Su Wanyan let out a soft groan: "Yu Nanqing, you're hurting me!"
Yu Nanqing suddenly lost her strength, and belatedly realized what was happening, she quickly let go of his hand: "I..."
"Helping you is helping me. Don't worry, I am now your princess in public. As you said, as long as I don't commit a capital crime, even the emperor can't do anything to me. As for the rest, we can talk about it later."
She could live as long as she could; perhaps living a little longer would buy her enough time to escape.
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