Yang Liu, who was standing to the side, panicked when she heard Jiang Yuwei's words. After all, what she said were all foreseeable facts, and if this matter really got out, it would not do her princess any good.
So Yang Liu stepped forward, gently tugged at Qing Lan's sleeve, and whispered:
“Princess, I think Jiang Yuwei is right. Why don’t we leave first? This matter needs to be discussed more carefully.”
Qinglan turned around and glared at Yangliu, then angrily flicked her sleeve.
"You don't need to tell me!"
After saying that, Qinglan turned to look at Ning Huaizhi and Jiang Yuwei and said through gritted teeth:
"This is not over! I will go to the palace tomorrow and explain things to the Empress Dowager, and ask her to seek justice for me!"
Seeing that Qinglan was truly relentless, and now even bringing up the Empress Dowager to pressure her, Jiang Yuwei smiled and said:
"The Empress Dowager will probably be shocked for a long time when she hears about your romantic affairs."
Upon hearing this, Qinglan gave a cold snort and left without looking back.
After seeing her leave, Jiang Yuwei instructed Xia Yue, who was standing beside her:
"Take Miss and Sixi to play in the courtyard for a while."
Xia Yue nodded and led Ning Wan and the others out.
Jiang Yuwei then turned to look at Ning Huaizhi.
"Tell me what happened."
Seeing this, Ning Huaizhi quickly pulled Jiang Yuwei to sit down and explained:
"Madam, I really don't know what happened. I had drunk some wine and was sleeping in the room, but when I opened my eyes, I saw Qinglan lying on my bed, which startled me."
"You didn't touch her?"
Ning Huaizhi raised three fingers to the sky and swore an oath.
"I swear I really don't know what happened, I definitely didn't touch Qinglan!"
Jiang Yuwei pulled down Ning Huaizhi's hand as he swore, and stared at him intently.
"You don't want to marry her?"
“Madam, I’ve said it before, I will not marry Qinglan. If the higher-ups insist on forcing me to marry her, then we should leave the capital and go back to Ningjia Village. Now that I can walk and work in the fields, we have a small courtyard in our village, and the four of us can stay here without going hungry.”
Jiang Yuwei smiled faintly:
"Alright, if the capital city truly can't accommodate us, then we'll go back to Ningjia Village!"
As she spoke, Jiang Yuwei remembered something and quickly stood up to say:
"No, I still need to keep an eye on things up ahead to prevent any mistakes. You should rest."
Ning Huaizhi nodded reluctantly and saw Jiang Yuwei off.
Jiang Yuwei thought that she had just told everyone that Ning Wan was not feeling well, which was how she managed to get away. Now that she could not take Ning Wan back to the banquet, she only took Xia Yue back with her.
When Jiang Yuwei returned, Qinglan had already sat back down, still glaring at Jiang Yuwei with a bitter expression.
Jiang Yuwei naturally didn't give her a friendly look either. Seeing that it was almost time, she arranged for the kitchen to serve lunch. During lunch, Jiang Yuwei served everyone some fruit wine to liven things up. However, Wang Yuru drank more and more enthusiastically, finishing a whole jar of fruit wine.
After the meal was cleared away, Jiang Yuwei ordered afternoon tea to be served.
Wang Yuru, having finished her meal and drink, was half-reclining in her chair, burping contentedly, when Madam Wang slapped her in disapproval.
"Sit properly! This isn't home. How can you stand or sit like that with such poor posture!"
Wang Yuru was slapped and had no choice but to sit still obediently.
But before Madam Wang had finished her admonitions, she continued:
"Look at the young ladies of other families, they are all proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. And look at you, you have no hobbies other than studying food. I feel ashamed to take you out!"
As she spoke, Madam Wang tapped Wang Yurou's head hard again.
Wang Yuru rubbed her head in pain, muttering:
"Aren't you upset because everyone else is going up to perform their talents and I didn't do anything?"
Madam Wang glared at her fiercely and scolded:
"Of course I'm angry. I asked you to go up and perform, but what can you perform? Perform eating?"
Seeing her mother belittle her like this, Wang Yuru became angry. Fueled by alcohol, she stood up and spoke to Ning Zixuan, who was sitting not far away:
"Your Highness, do you have any red-tasseled spears in your residence?"
Madam Wang was startled by her shout and hurriedly waved to everyone to apologize. She kept pulling Wang Yuru to make her sit down, but Wang Yuru wouldn't listen and just stared at Ning Zixuan, waiting for his answer.
Ning Zixuan looked at Wang Yuru, whose face was flushed from drinking, and smiled slightly as he spoke calmly:
"have."
Upon hearing this, Wang Yuru shook off Madam Wang's hand, strode up to Ning Zixuan, and extended her hand, saying:
"Could I borrow it? My mother says I can't do anything and am not as good as other people's young ladies. Today I'll show her that I'm no worse than anyone else!"
Seeing her serious expression, Ning Zixuan nodded as if possessed, and waved for Yun Qing to fetch his red-tasseled spear.
Upon receiving Ning Zixuan's instructions, Yun Qing hurriedly turned to retrieve the red-tasseled spear.
Upon seeing this, the princess, seated in the superior position, stammered and asked:
"Um, Zixuan, are you... are you going to lend your own red-tasseled spear to Miss Wang?"
Ning Zixuan turned around and nodded to the princess.
The princess was so surprised that she covered her mouth with her handkerchief, because she knew that Ning Zixuan's red-tasseled spear was a gift from his master when he was a child.
After giving him this gun, his master passed away. From then on, Ning Zixuan forbade anyone to touch his gun, not even his maids could use it to wipe the dust off his clothes.
Now, with just a few words from Miss Wang, Ning Zixuan lent out his cherished treasure, which was something the Princess Consort had not expected.
Thinking this through, the princess couldn't help but take a closer look at Wang Yurou. She was tall and strong, unlike the slender figures commonly seen among noble ladies in the capital. She had a round face with two dimples when she smiled, which made her quite cute.
However, his appearance only showed strength and health, which was incomparable to the delicate Ye Yuqing and Princess Anping, who was a natural beauty.
The princess couldn't help but feel a headache seeing her like this. If Zixuan really had his eye on such an ordinary girl, she really didn't know whether she should let them be together.
While the princess was lost in thought, Yun Qing had already taken the red-tasseled spear and handed it to Wang Yurou.
Wang Yuru took the red-tasseled spear, looked it over, and smiled slightly at Ning Zixuan:
"Great gun!"
Then, holding his red-tasseled spear, he went to an open space in the center, looked at Madam Wang, and shouted loudly:
"Mother, watch closely, today I'm going to make you proud!"
Madam Wang was already so embarrassed she wanted to disappear into the ground, and Wang Yuru's shout made her blush even more.
The group of noble ladies all turned to look at Madam Wang, secretly covering their mouths and whispering among themselves.
"This Miss Wang is truly reckless."
"Haha, look how ashamed Madam Wang is."
"I think this Miss Wang was born in the wrong gender; with such a bold and unrestrained personality, she should have been born a man."
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