After Accidentally Marking the Cold and Elegant Eldest Princess - Chapter 46

Chapter 46: The Vinegar Jar Overturns

Early the next morning, as the first light of dawn broke, the Cui and Zhuo families each boarded a carriage and left Mount Lu ahead of schedule, heading back to the capital.

After getting up, Yan Yunti heard the aftermath from the palace servants—Cui Yanzhi had acted recklessly and spoke without restraint, and the Marquis of Cheng’an, having failed to educate his son properly, was demoted from Marquis to Count. Furthermore, the hereditary title of Marquis was changed to a descending succession. As for Young Master Zhuo, although he had only been speaking nonsense in private, he could not escape punishment; his father’s official rank was lowered by one level, and both father and son were ordered to return home and reflect behind closed doors for half a month.

Beyond that, by leaving Mount Lu so early, both families lost the qualification to participate in today’s hunting competition, losing both face and status entirely.

“The world is unpredictable,” Tan Ning remarked in a low voice as she rode beside Yan Yunti. “Cui Yanzhi was acting so arrogant before, looking down on my family status, and now he is nothing more than a commoner.”

Although Cui’s father was still the Count of Cheng’an, with the new descending succession rule, Cui Yanzhi would have no title to inherit. From now on, unless he earned a scholarly degree or official merit, he would remain a mere commoner. Given Cui Yanzhi’s talent and temperament, the possibility of him succeeding in the civil service was abysmally low.

Yan Yunti was not surprised by this outcome.

Although the matter ultimately did not implicate Yuan Yuxiu, looking at his face today, it was clear he had also been reprimanded by the Emperor last night. In this disaster born of loose tongues, the only one entirely untouched was the Second Princess.

The person behind the curtain was obvious.

Since the Thousand-Year Feast, when Consort Rong’s power over the inner palace was halved and given to Consort Shu Min, the Second Princess had indeed begun targeting the Third Prince. “The snipe and the clam fight while the fisherman catches the prize”—if only it were truly that simple.

Yan Yunti feared a venomous snake was still watching the Eldest Princess from the shadows. Regardless, she could not let anything happen to Yuan Jingxue during the river tour in two days.

As these thoughts crossed her mind, Yan Yunti felt Tan Ning’s horse pull closer, her voice pressed very low: “I won’t hide it from you—Ning Ruolan came to see me last night.”

Yan Yunti looked at her. “She found you out?”

Tan Ning scanned her surroundings and gave a soft “mm.” “Last night, I feigned an apology for my rudeness and neglect the night before and toasted Cui Yanzhi. I took that opportunity to slip him the medicine. Ning Ruolan interrogated the lords who were drinking with him and discovered that Cui’s lack of discretion began after my toast, so she came to find me. I was scared to death, fearing the matter would be brought before the Emperor, but then…”

Tan Ning’s expression soured, her tone still tinged with anger. “She was bluffing! The Imperial Physicians didn’t find anything wrong at all. She just had suspicions and intentionally scared me into blurting out the truth. And here I was thinking she was a good person yesterday; I didn’t expect her mind to be so deep. I must keep my distance from her in the future.”

Yan Yunti wasn’t surprised and even felt inclined to say a fair word for Ning Ruolan: “Since she kept the matter hidden, it shows she understands your position.”

Tan Ning gave a light snort. “You didn’t see her attitude last night—it was like she was interrogating a criminal. I wouldn’t dare associate with someone like her; who knows when she might calculate against you in conversation. But you’re right; her point was that I wasn’t cautious enough and left a handle for others to grab. She spent all that breath just to tell me to be more careful next time. Truly an odd person.”

Listening to her, Yan Yunti narrowed her eyes at the distance—far off, two horses rode side-by-side. Ning Ruolan was riding beside Yuan Jingxue, the two of them chatting about something unknown. Ning Ruolan casually shot a pheasant and ordered someone to place it in the Eldest Princess’s hunting basket.

Yuan Jingxue’s words from last night echoed in her ears: “There will be many people in the forest tomorrow; do not do anything unnecessary.”

Fine then. Her prey couldn’t be accepted, but the prey shot by Ning Ruolan could be accepted so naturally.

Yan Yunti knew she shouldn’t be petty, but she felt unhappy. Hearing Tan Ning call Ning Ruolan “deeply calculating,” she chimed in with agreement: “You’re right. With someone as calculating and ruthless as Ning Ruolan, you should indeed avoid her. You usually have no dealings with her; who knows what she’s after by showing kindness repeatedly? You’d better be careful.”

Tan Ning looked at her in surprise. “Your attitude changed fast. Did Ning Ruolan offend you?”

“I have nothing to do with her, how could she offend me?” Yan Yunti spurred her horse, accelerating toward the front left.

Tan Ning chased after her in confusion: “Yan Yunti, your temperament is really… at least tell me what you’re angry about!” So I can have a good laugh!

The forest was noisy, but the name “Yan Yunti” happened to fall into Yuan Jingxue’s ears. She turned her horse and glanced back casually, seeing Tan Ning and Yan Yunti chasing and playing. She indifferently withdrew her gaze.

Beside her, Ning Ruolan looked at the receding Tan Ning and sighed softly.

Yuan Jingxue looked at her curiously. “What could possibly make you sigh?”

Ning Ruolan gave a helpless smile. “I’ve stayed in the military too long and my temperament has become too severe. I scared a young lady last night and haven’t figured out how to apologize to her.”

“A young lady?” Yuan Jingxue arched a brow. “Which family’s girl? If you like her, I can help play matchmaker.”

“Don’t go making random matches,” Ning Ruolan refused with a laugh. Her heart was full of thoughts she couldn’t share with most, but she was willing to say more to Yuan Jingxue: “I remember the year my mother died and my brother was bedridden; I was the only one left in the Duke’s manor who could manage things. To be honest, I was truly lost back then. Relatives who were kind in the past turned into wolves and tigers, itching to bite a piece of meat off me and my brother. Absurd as it was, at sixteen, I finally learned the coldness of human nature and the ways of the world.”

Yuan Jingxue thought back to the time her aunt passed away. Back then, many people wanted to take advantage of the leaderless Duke of Ning’s manor to bring the whole house down. Every branch of the massive clan had its own calculations, everyone wanting a share, everyone wanting a profit, but in the end, no one got the better of her.

Yuan Jingxue had watched as her once carefree and free-spirited older cousin, after a period of silence, drew a blade to kill for the first time. She became decisive and ruthless, cutting through the mess to separate the branches of the family before requesting to go to Lizhou for training, where she stayed for eight years.

“Back then, I spent my time drowning my sorrows in wine. Later, I met a little girl who had run away from home,” Ning Ruolan recalled, a smile touching the corners of her eyes. “She was only ten. After hearing my drunken ramblings, she comforted me, saying at least my mother had stayed with me for over a decade. Unlike her, who lost her mother within two years of birth, was unloved by her father and disliked by her stepmother—no one even came looking for her when she ran away. She said I was much luckier. She also said that if I wanted to, why not just kick all the bad people out?”

At that time, she had been trapped in her predicament, yet she wasn’t as clear-headed as a little girl. Ning Ruolan shook her head with a smile. “I just appreciate the kindness she showed in comforting me back then and want to help her more, but I ended up scaring her instead. I don’t know how to make amends.”

This was the first time Yuan Jingxue had heard of this. Ning Ruolan had already given two key pieces of information: the girl should be eighteen now, and her birth mother died young. If she sent someone to investigate, she could surely find her.

But since it was her cousin’s personal matter, Yuan Jingxue didn’t intend to do so. She thought for a moment and said, “An apology is nothing more than sending gifts and saying sorry. We aren’t in the capital, so it’s hard to prepare anything grand. If she likes to eat, why don’t you try sending some roasted meat?”

Yuan Jingxue only thought of roasted meat because of the batch Yan Yunti had personally delivered last night; it was indeed delicious. “I just don’t know how your roasting skills are. Don’t make things worse,” Yuan Jingxue teased.

Ning Ruolan thought about it and felt the idea was sound. “I’ll use the game I hunted myself today. After I roast it, you help me taste it. If you think it’s okay, I’ll send someone to deliver it.”

“Alright, I’ll sacrifice myself to have a taste,” Yuan Jingxue agreed with a smile.

Yan Yunti knew nothing of their conversation. She only knew one thing—Ning Ruolan sent someone to give Yuan Jingxue roasted meat, and Yuan Jingxue ate it with a smile!

Eating her meat last night was reluctant, but eating Ning Ruolan’s meat tonight was met with a smiling face. Yan Yunti felt increasingly unhappy; she was already full from sheer irritation.

Over at Tan Ning’s side, she looked at the tray of roasted meat placed on her table in surprise. “This is…”

“This is meat roasted personally by Lord Ning. Lord Ning asked me to pass on a message: it was not her intention to intimidate Miss Tan last night, and she hopes Miss Tan will not mind her rudeness.”

Tan Ning was stunned. Her father, sitting nearby, heard this and asked in a low voice when she had started associating with Ning Ruolan. Tan Ning brushed him off with a few words, looking at the tray of meat with difficulty.

To eat or not to eat? If she didn’t eat, wouldn’t that prove she minded?

Tan Ning tentatively looked up and indeed saw Ning Ruolan staring at her from across the way. She couldn’t help but feel a flicker of annoyance. What is this? Forcing me to accept an apology? It seemed Yan Yunti was right; showing kindness repeatedly must mean she had other intentions. She definitely needed to keep her distance. As for this meat… she’d better eat a little, lest Ning Ruolan think she was holding a grudge.

Seeing Tan Ning pick up the meat, Ning Ruolan felt relieved and directed a smile toward Yuan Jingxue. Ning Ruolan didn’t hide her actions; when Yuan Jingxue saw the meat delivered to Tan Ning, she was indeed surprised, and seeing Ning Ruolan’s grateful smile, she returned it.

Watching this scene, Yan Yunti took a deep breath and drained her wine cup in one go. Yan Hengzhi, sitting beside her, felt the terrifying aura emanating from her and became increasingly cautious in his movements. He hadn’t dared to run wild these past two days; even when he went out, palace servants followed him—servants specifically sent by Yan Yunti. He could only let them follow, feeling more regretful about this trip by the day. He’d have been better off staying in the capital to play!

Tonight’s banquet ended before nine o’clock. The crowd dispersed to find their own entertainment. Yan Hengzhi was gloomily watched by the servants as he went back to sleep without a word.

Yan Yunti, however, had no desire to sleep. Watching Ning Ruolan walk toward Tan Ning, she gave a cold snort and swept away. She returned to her tent, changed into her servant’s attire, and found Xiao Ran guarding the Eldest Princess’s tent. Xiao Ran went in to report and came out a moment later to lead her inside.

Yuan Jingxue was sitting on her couch holding a map. She didn’t look up at the sound of footsteps, using a brush to mark something on the map.

Yan Yunti sat on the couch and called out: “Your Highness.”

Yuan Jingxue looked up, intending to ask what the matter was, when Yan Yunti’s face suddenly enlarged before her eyes. Her lips felt a sudden softness—the girl had kissed her directly, not even giving her time to react.

Yuan Jingxue was dazed by the kiss. When she recovered, she put down her brush to push the person away, biting the tip of Yan Yunti’s tongue hard before she could catch her breath from the sudden assault. She couldn’t help but say in shamed anger: “You came here just to do this?”

Yan Yunti looked at Yuan Jingxue’s lips, reddened by the kiss, and her angry expression. The scene of Yuan Jingxue and Ning Ruolan smiling at each other flashed before her eyes again. Feeling stifled, she huffed: “Why? Is Your Highness starting to find me repulsive now?”