“No need to say more,” Si Zhan suddenly stood up, turning his back to Mi Yue, seemingly resistant to hearing her defend his mother.
Mi Yue sighed helplessly and stood up, “I have already deployed Lü Ming Pavilion’s hidden sentries to search for the Poison Saint.”
Only then did Si Zhan turn around and sincerely say, “Thank you, sister.”
“You should be thanking our adoptive mother. All of this was carefully planned by her for you long ago.”
Si Zhan lowered his eyes, remaining silent.
Not wanting to continue the topic, Mi Yue glanced at the night outside the window and said, “There are people waiting downstairs. I’ll head back first.”
Si Zhan nodded.
Before leaving, Mi Yue turned back and asked, “Do you know who Princess Yun Xiang spent a fortune to have me find?”
“Who?”
“The Poison Saint, Ghost No Degree.”
*
Zi Shan Hall.
As soon as the end-of-class bell rang, the imperial attendant Liu came to Zi Shan Hall and blocked Ning Wan Wan, bowing and saying, “Greetings, Princess. His Majesty requests your presence.”
Ning Wan Wan’s heart skipped a beat. “May I ask what matter the Emperor wishes to discuss?”
Liu remained impassive, “His Majesty did not specify.” He gestured for her to follow, and Ning Wan Wan’s heart sank.
Recently, she had heard from the Fourth Prince that Si Yi requested the Emperor to set an early wedding date. Now, the Emperor was summoning her—could it be to discuss the wedding date?
As she thought this, she turned and saw Si Zhan standing nearby. When their eyes met, Si Zhan smiled and nodded, calming her previously turbulent heart. It seemed her marriage contract with Si Yi was settled.
Entering Vertical Bow Hall, Ning Wanwan quickly followed Liu Gong Gong’s guidance. Upon entering, she noticed Si Yi kneeling and her grandmother seated on the left side of the jade steps.
Casting an anxious glance at her grandmother, Ning Wanwan saw a calm expression that reassured her.
Emperor Si Shuo sat high on the Dragon Throne, while the empress, sitting nervously on the Phoenix Dance Seat below his left, visibly brightened upon seeing Ning Wanwan.
Ning Wanwan folded her sleeves, knelt, and respectfully greeted, “Yunxiang pays respects to Your Majesty and the Empress.”
Si Shuo smiled kindly and waved his hand. “Yunxiang is here, rise.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Empress.”
Ning Wanwan rose gracefully. Si Shuo looked satisfied, then glanced at Si Yi before asking Ning Wanwan, “What do you think of the Crown Prince?”
Ning Wanwan furrowed her brows, uncertain of the emperor’s intention. The emperor added, “Don’t be nervous, I’m just asking casually.”
After a moment, she replied, “The Crown Prince is very good.”
Si Shuo’s expression brightened, but Ning Wanwan calmly added, “But Yunxiang knows she cannot aspire to such heights.”
Si Shuo’s expression darkened. “Is there a misunderstanding between you and the Crown Prince?”
“None.”
“Did the Crown Prince wrong you?”
“The Crown Prince never…”
Suddenly, Si Yi shouted, “Father Emperor, I do not like Yunxiang Junzhu. Please allow Father and Mother to dissolve the marriage contract.”
Ning Wanwan was stunned, surprised that Si Yi not only initiated the dissolution but did so in a way that saved face for both parties.
If both parties agreed to dissolve the marriage, it would preserve their dignities. Conversely, if only one party insisted, it would feel like abandonment and damage reputations.
She was indifferent to the method of dissolution, knowing she would be labeled as the Crown Prince’s ex-fiancée, and few families in Biandu would propose marriage to her.
The empress, anxious, interrupted, “Nonsense! If you don’t like her, you can get along slowly after marriage. A marriage contract is not a child’s play to be dissolved at will.”
Si Yi turned his head angrily, “The son has made up his mind.”
Si Shuo slapped the armrest of the throne, shouting, “Outrageous! You’ve been too comfortable as Crown Prince!”
“Your Majesty, please calm down!” the empress intervened, signaling to Si Yi, “Yi’er, quickly take back what you just said.”
However, Si Yi remained stubborn, determined to dissolve the marriage with Ning Wanwan.
Since Si Yi insisted, Ning Wanwan expressed her delight and knelt again, requesting, “Your Majesty, Yunxiang also requests to dissolve the marriage contract.”
Si Shuo’s breath became heavy, and the Vertical Bow Hall fell silent.
“Your Highness, is there something else?” Si Yi’s face was tense.
He first glanced at Ning Lao Tai, then turned to Ning Wan Wan. “I have something to discuss with you alone.”
Ning Wan Wan furrowed her brow slightly, hesitating. Having dissolved her engagement with Si Yi, she wanted no further entanglement.
Si Yi added, “Just two sentences, then I’ll leave.”
Ning Wan Wan told her grandmother, “Grandmother, you and Chang Nanny can go ahead. I’ll follow.”
“Okay.” Ning Lao Tai looked into her eyes and instructed, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
Ning Wan Wan nodded as her grandmother left, then turned to Si Yi and asked coldly, “What else do you want?”
Si Yi stared at her, saying sourly, “I saw you and the Imperial Uncle exchanging secret glances. I didn’t expect you two to actually be together.”
Ning Wan Wan was stunned and felt anger rising. “If slandering me brings you comfort, then I, Ning Wan Wan, will accept it. Consider it thanks for not marrying, but we owe each other nothing from now on.”
“Slandering?” Si Yi coldly snorted. “If you had no affair with the Imperial Uncle, why would he threaten me to dissolve our engagement and give you your freedom?”
Threat?
Ning Wan Wan was horrified.
She never imagined that Si Zhan would actually threaten Si Yi to force him to propose breaking off the engagement. What could he have threatened Si Yi with that made him risk the Emperor’s anger?
This meant Si Zhan had completely offended Si Yi, which worried her.
Wu Deng feigned confusion, saying, “Sister Fuyi, you misunderstood. I didn’t see the young lady and Sister Fuyi just now; I suddenly remembered I had something to do.”
Fuyi listened with half-belief.
Ning Wanwan glanced at the small box under Wu Deng’s arm and asked, “What’s inside the box?”
Wu Deng replied, “Just some small trinkets the master asked me to buy for Lady Xu and the young ladies.”
“Open it and let me see,” Ning Wanwan said.
Wu Deng hesitated, reluctant to open it.
Even Fuyi sensed that Wu Deng was hiding something. She stepped forward and sternly asked, “Wu Deng, didn’t you hear what the young lady said?”
Wu Deng’s eyes darted around, laughing, “How would I dare not? If the young lady wants to see, please go ahead.” He opened the small box.
Ning Wanwan gave Fuyi a meaningful look, and Fuyi stepped forward to look inside.
Indeed, it was filled with various imported trinkets – tortoiseshell, ivory, pearls, incense, and dragon’s brain, but with a thick layer of silver notes at the bottom.
Fuyi pulled out the silver notes and counted them – over three thousand taels.
“Where did these silver notes come from?” Ning Wanwan asked Wu Deng.
Wu Deng mumbled, “This is… some small business the master did outside and earned.”
Ning Wanwan understood. Her father, Lin Zhengyang, a fifth-rank secretary managing classics and books, had hoped to rise through the influence of the Ning Guo Mansion to bring glory to the Lin family. However, after her mother’s early death and her grandmother’s dissatisfaction with her father, his career stagnated, rendering him an unremarkable civil servant.
Knowing he had reached the peak of his official career, he likely wanted to use some money from the mansion for business to accumulate profits for the future. This was his effort to uphold the Lin family’s reputation.
