Chapter 383: Simply Incomprehensible
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Su Ying stopped eating her melon and glanced at Xiao Jin. She felt that this rascal’s mind was definitely more crooked than a mountain road.
Xiao Jin ignored Prince Yu’s stunned gaze outright and reached out to get Zhang Shuming to draft the Imperial edict.
Xiao Jin waved his brush ruthlessly and personally wrote the Imperial edict.
“Princess Pingling, receive the decree.” Zhang Shuming deliberately raised his sharp voice and it aggravated Princess Pingling so much that a shiver ran up her spine.
“I… I don’t want to. I… Your Imperial Highness, you said you would help me. You said you would help me escape, and you even gave me your jade token. But you lied to me!”
Princess Pingling took out her jade token and threw it on the ground. She glared at Su Ying with a face full of accusatory fury and was almost grinding her pearly whites. “You’re the jealous type and don’t want me to enter the palace, so you pretended to help me escape from the palace. That way, no one in the Imperial harem would compete with you for favor. But not only did you not let me escape, you even asked the Emperor to bestow me to the Third Prince in a marriage. Are you satisfied now? You jealous woman!”
Xiao Jin’s eyes darkened at once and a wave of hostility burst out. “Impudent!”
Su Ying threw the melon rind onto the tray and slowly stood up to look down at the resentful Princess Pingling from her lofty position. “Where’s the evidence?”
Princess Pingling pointed at the jade token on the ground and said, “The evidence is that jade token. You gave it to me and said that as long as I hold the jade token, 1 can leave the palace without any problem!”
Zhang Shuming took small steps forward to pick up the jade token on the ground and looked at it carefully. “Gosh, isn’t this the jade token that 1 lost? How did it end up in your hands, Your Highness? I was still wondering who had the guts to rush into the palace to steal. Your Highness, when you were hiding in the palace last night, did you run into this humble eunuch’s room?”
Princess Pingling’s face turned pale. “This is impossible. This is what the Empress gave me!”
Zhang Shuming raised the jade token in his hand and said, “1 am not lying to you. Look! I still have an identical piece on me. This is really… How could Your Highness run into this humble eunuch’s room in the middle of the night?”
As Zhang Shuming spoke, a bashful smile appeared on his face.
The dignified Princess of a great state ran into a eunuch’s room at night. If this matter spread out, the Princess of Pingling would not be able to stay alive!
Princess Pingling cried out in shock, and her eyes rolled back before she fainted.
“Younger Sister! Younger Sister!” Prince Yu also realized that the current situation was not quite right. He anxiously stepped forward and was about to leave with Princess Pingling.
“Your Highness, don’t be anxious. 1 have some medical knowledge. Let me take a look at the Princess,” Su Ying said to Prince Yu.
Before Prince Yu could reject her, Su Ying’s hand had already pinched Princess Pingling’s hand at the spot between her thumb and forefinger.
“Argh!” Princess Pingling screamed in pain and jumped up from the ground. She did not look anything like the weak state when she fainted just now.
Zhang Shuming beamed happily as he passed the Imperial edict to Princess Pingling. “Your Highness, why don’t you accept the Imperial edict first?”
Princess Pingling’s eyes reddened with anger as she looked at the Imperial edict, but she had no choice but to grit her teeth and reach out to receive it. At this point, she finally understood that she had been tricked by Su Ying!
This bitch! She would teach her a lesson sooner or later.
“Don’t look at me like that. I won’t be able to resist digging your eyeballs out.”
When Princess Pingling met Su Ying’s chilly almond-shaped eyes, she subconsciously shrank back. She could only grit her teeth, utter her thanks, and leave with Prince Yu in a sorry state.
After the two of them left, Xiao Jin drafted another Imperial edict for Zhang Shuming to send to the Third Prince.
After Zhang Shuming took the Imperial edict and left, only Xiao Jin and Su Ying were left in the main hall.
Xiao Jin stood up and walked to Su Ying’s side. He whispered, “Is what she said about you being the jealous type true?”
Su Ying raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“She said that you are the jealous type. 1 think that statement is true.”
Su Ying reached out and patted his dragon robe which was completely dust-free. “No.”
Xiao Jin’s eyes darkened slightly. “No?”
Su Ying smiled wickedly. “You’re the jealous type.”
Xiao Jin raised his eyebrows. “1 must admit that 1 am.”
“Shameless.”
Xiao Jin burst out laughing. He had already knelt on the washboard, so how much shame could he have left?
“Go ahead with your work. I’m going back.”
“Wait for me to have dinner tonight.”
“Got it.”
Lin Zhuyu followed Su Ying out of the main hall in a groveling fashion. She held back all the way until they were back at Conjugal Phoenix Palace. Then she could not resist asking, “Your Imperial Highness, quickly tell your servant what exactly is going on? When did you give that jade token to Princess Pingling? Your servant could tell long ago that she was not a good person!”
“How could you tell that she wasn’t a good person?”
Lin Zhuyu became very spirited when she heard Su Ying’s question. “A woman’s intuition! She even begged to leave the city. She clearly wanted Your Imperial Highness to lower your guard against her and then find an opportunity to enter the palace. 1 suspect that she may even want to address Your Imperial Highness as ‘Sister’ in the end and finally take the opportunity to usurp your position! Hmph! Ptooey!”
Su Ying couldn’t resist giving her a thumbs up. Lin Zhuyu was definitely an expert at figuring out the complicated thoughts of women.
When Lin Zhuyu received Su Ying’s approval for her speculation, she became even more enthusiastic. “Your Imperial Highness, do you think your servant is right?”
Initially, Su Ying only wanted to see what Princess Pingling’s ultimate goal was. She was wondering what kind of high-stakes game the Nan State was playing. To her surprise, after going around in a big circle, they only wanted the Princess to enter Xiao Jin’s Imperial harem. Su Ying simply couldn’t understand.
From Princess Pingling’s reaction in the main hall as well as her coordinated acting with Prince Yu, it could be seen that Lin Zhuyu’s guess was most likely correct.
“You’re right. Get Uncle Hea to add one chicken drumstick for you tonight.”
“Hehe! Thank you, Your Imperial Highness.”
However, Bai Shuang was a little confused after listening. “Since she’s here for a marriage alliance, why doesn’t she just ask to enter the Imperial harem formally? Why did she have to go through one big detour?”
Lin Zhuyu rolled her eyes at her. “You don’t know how mighty the Empress’s reputation is outside. They were just afraid that the Empress wouldn’t agree, so they thought of playing tricks to try and clear the obstacle at the Empress’s side first.”
“Even so, there’s no need to say that she has someone outside.”
“If she said that she had someone outside, it would be easier to make the Empress let her guard down. Otherwise, why would she spend so much effort?”
Bai Shuang shrugged, indicating that she did not understand.
Su Ying didn’t understand either.
Would the Nan State be so stupid as to think that letting a princess enter the Imperial harem would enable the friendship between the two states to last forever?
Between states, benefits were the only thing that mattered.
She saw that Princess Pingling’s desire to marry Xiao Jin was fake, but her desire to be a spy was real. After all, this was a legitimate opportunity to stay here. How could she not cherish it?
Unfortunately, their plan did not go accordingly.
The Nan State’s plan had indeed gone awry. This was because they had overestimated themselves and underestimated the other party.
After Princess Pingling returned to the palace for temporary stays, she immediately rushed to the mirror and looked at her youthful, endearing, and charming face. She couldn’t understand why Xiao Jin didn’t feel any pity for her when he saw her like this. This was completely different from what they had imagined!
“You idiot! It must be because you didn’t do a good job that Su Ying became suspicious!” Prince Yu raised his hand and was about to slap Princess Pingling’s face when Princess Pingling suddenly stood up and grabbed his wrist.
Her eyes were like a pair of snake eyes staring at him icily.
“Don’t forget your identity..”