Mistakenly Marked the Madly Beautiful Princess - Chapter 73

“Tsk, tsk, tsk!”

A figure in bright yellow was trying to coax a rabbit, but despite her enthusiastic calls, the rabbit remained unmoved.

Ling Ya watched from the side, unsure how to describe her feelings.

Seeing the rabbit ignore her, the emperor straightened up and turned around, only to find an extra person behind her. Feeling somewhat awkward, she coughed twice and resumed her dignified demeanor.

She returned to her desk, casually opened a memorial, and asked as if it were of no consequence, “Are you feeling better now?”

There was a spot in the hall prepared for Ling Ya. Originally, there had been no table or chair there, but as Ling Ya had been accompanying her for so long, the emperor had set up a table and chair for her.

Ling Ya sat back in her spot and noticed that tea and pastries were already laid out on the table. She couldn’t help but smile. “Much better. Has anything important happened recently?”

Others might have been surprised, but Ling Ya now served as the emperor’s advisor. Their views on certain matters were remarkably aligned, though Ling Ya was somewhat kinder than the emperor.

Discussing matters together was far better than the emperor pondering alone. Moreover, the emperor could confide in her, which alleviated much of her inner distress.

The emperor shook her head, then rubbed her temples in frustration and sighed softly. “Nothing lately, just the usual urging for me to take an empress.”

“In that case, does Your Majesty have someone in mind?”

The emperor frowned at this and shot Ling Ya a displeased look. “Are you urging me too?”

Ling Ya smiled. “I wouldn’t dare.”

She quickly changed the subject, expressing concern for her younger sister. “Does Your Majesty know where Ling Yue has gone?”

As the emperor flipped through the memorials, she came across yet another urging her to take an empress. Annoyed, she lost interest in reading further and set the memorial aside.

Ling Yue had disappeared along with the elder princess. If it were only Ling Yue missing, the emperor would have been worried, but with the two of them together, it was likely some secret mission.

The emperor was long accustomed to the elder princess’s comings and goings without a trace. She replied calmly, “Don’t worry, she’s fine.”

Even so, Ling Ya remained concerned. “Last time, at least she left me a letter. This time, there’s nothing.”

She glanced at the emperor, whose expression remained unreadable, and asked, “Aren’t you worried about the elder princess, Your Majesty?”

But as soon as she spoke, Ling Ya realized it was a foolish question. Someone like the elder princess didn’t need anyone’s concern.

The emperor’s gaze clearly conveyed the same thought, though she said nothing. After composing herself, she resumed reading the memorials.

She had only read a couple before letting out a cold laugh. “Wang Fu, embezzling and accepting bribes? What a joke.”

Ling Ya recognized the name.

When Ling Fu was alive, he often mentioned Wang Fu, though with a tone of wanting to tear him to pieces. After Ling Fu’s death, it was Ling Yue who brought him up.

Unlike Ling Fu, Ling Yue greatly admired Wang Fu and had become close friends with his daughter, sharing everything with her.

Ling Ya had never met this general, but now, hearing the emperor mention him, she grew curious. “Your Majesty trusts General Wang a great deal.”

In many ways, the emperor was Ling Ya’s source of information, allowing her naive self to learn about the many dark undercurrents in the court.

As before, the emperor did not dismiss her curiosity. While reading the memorials, she answered Ling Ya’s question: “Yes. If it were anyone else, I might have my doubts, but with Wang Fu, it’s absolutely impossible.”

As he spoke, the emperor seemed to recall something amusing, and a faint smile replaced his stern expression. “Once, someone sent her gifts, hoping she could help them secure an official position. Guess what happened?”

Ling Ya’s curiosity grew stronger. She stroked the blind rabbit in her arms and guessed, “Did she report the gift-giver to the authorities?”

The emperor nodded, his smile deepening. “Exactly. She listed all those who had sent gifts and handed the list over to me.”

Ling Ya was still marveling at Wang Fu’s integrity, but she didn’t find the situation particularly amusing.

The emperor soon answered her unspoken question. “At the time, aside from minor officials, there were others who admired her and wanted to befriend her including your father.”

Ling Ya paused, her emotions turning complicated. She naturally knew her father wasn’t an upright man, but knowing and understanding the depth of it were two different things.

The emperor subtly observed Ling Ya’s expression and, noticing the slight change, skipped over the topic and continued with the story.

Opening the final memorial, the emperor chuckled. “She helped me a great deal. Based on that list, I dealt with many people and rewarded Wang Fu generously.”

“Upon receiving the rewards, Wang Fu was ecstatic. She thought this was a quick way to earn money, so she, who had previously kept to herself, began visiting others daily, hoping to see who was willing to befriend her.”

Ling Ya covered her face with a laugh. “Wasn’t that using herself as bait?”

Most likely, the court officials were avoiding Wang Fu like the plague.

The emperor laughed as well. Having finished reading the memorials, she rubbed her temples. “If what the memorial says is true, she might just deliver herself to me in exchange for rewards.”

Of course, this was just a jest, if Wang Fu actually did such a thing, she would be a fool.

Suddenly, Eunuch Sun hurried in from outside, looking quite anxious. He knelt and reported, “Your Majesty, General Wang is outside the palace requesting an audience.”

Speak of the devil. The emperor was in high spirits and casually asked, “Do you know what it’s about?”

Eunuch Sun discreetly wiped the sweat from his forehead and glanced at Ling Ya on the side of the hall, seeming hesitant.

The emperor understood his concern. “It’s fine. Speak.”

Eunuch Sun was startled. In his impression, the emperor was usually very guarded and disliked having too many attendants around. The Ling sisters were truly remarkable.

Setting aside his thoughts, Eunuch Sun recalled Wang Fu at the palace gates and felt another headache coming on. “General Wang says she wishes to confess that she has accepted bribes.”

Ling Ya, who was drinking water, nearly choked upon hearing this.

The emperor’s expression nearly cracked, as if she thought she were dreaming. How could reality be so absurd?

She asked sternly, “Are you certain you heard correctly?”

“Absolutely, Your Majesty. I confirmed it several times and made sure General Wang was not drunk.”

The emperor’s lips twitched involuntarily, and she finally said helplessly, “Summon her in.”

“Yes.”

Eunuch Sun left the hall with a puzzled expression, while the two remaining in the room were equally bewildered.

When Wang Fu entered the hall, she knelt first and then proclaimed loudly, “Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty! May Your Majesty live ten thousand years!”

“Rise, my loyal subject.”

Ling Ya subtly rubbed her ears and watched Wang Fu curiously, only to find the other woman glancing back at her and then giving her a cold glare.

The hostility was unmistakable. Ling Ya lowered her head to eat pastries but still felt the gaze lingering on her.

When people feel awkward, they tend to pretend to be busy. Thus, Ling Ya quickened her pace of eating pastries, alternating between bites and sips of water until she no longer knew whether to finish the pastry first or drink the tea.

The emperor noticed Ling Ya’s discomfort, but there was little to be done Wang Fu held no favorable opinion of the Ling family.

If this continued, Ling Ya was bound to choke.

The emperor quickly intervened to ease the tension: “General, what brings you here?”

Only then did Wang Fu release Ling Ya from her scrutiny. With an earnest expression, she declared, “Your Majesty, I have accepted bribes. I beg for your punishment.”

So it was indeed about this. The emperor felt a headache coming on. Why did all her officials seem a bit unhinged?

Just when she had enjoyed a brief moment of peace, the emperor felt as though she had returned to the days of mediating disputes in court.

She smiled wryly. “General, you must not jest with me.”

Wang Fu straightened her posture and reported herself in the most solemn tone imaginable: “I speak nothing but the truth.”

The emperor sighed in resignation, her voice turning stern. “Explain.”

Wang Fu kowtowed. “In Rong City, there is a Lingfeng Escort Agency, which is run by my childhood friend from the same village. I grew up in hardship and would have perished long ago without the support of the villagers. Hence, I have shown them some favor.”

Then, with a mix of grief and indignation, she continued, “My friend and I made a pact that he would never violate the laws of the Rong Dynasty and would manage the agency honestly.”

The emperor had already guessed what came next, and her assumptions proved correct.

Initially, the escort agency operated with integrity, but over time, they began exploiting Wang Fu’s name to accept bribes and employed various tactics to intimidate competitors.

Wang Fu, overwhelmed by her duties, had overlooked these activities. Had it not been for a petitioner who showed up at her residence that morning, she would still be in the dark.

The petitioner, however, was in a pitiable state, half of his face swollen beyond recognition, several teeth missing, his speech slurred and whistling through the gaps as he wept.

He claimed to be from the Wen Merchant Guild.

Wang Fu pressed for details, but the man only revealed that he had dealings with the Lingfeng Escort Agency and was assaulted by two individuals. He insisted that if she doubted his account, she could verify it with Master Bai, a guard from the agency.

Wang Fu set aside her duties and secretly visited the Lingfeng Escort Agency, where she stumbled upon the staff handling a batch of illicit goods.

It was then that she discovered the agency’s true nature: whether the items were stolen, seized, or embezzled, Lingfeng would agree to transport them, charging several times the standard fee or even more.

Fury clouded Wang Fu’s judgment. She immediately halted the transaction, but the group, seeing her as unyielding, quickly turned hostile.

Since they had conducted their business under Wang Fu’s name, the dynasty’s stringent laws meant she could not escape severe consequences.

They assumed that, being on the same boat, Wang Fu would compromise. Unfortunately for them, Wang Fu was a madwoman.

She detained everyone at the agency and rushed straight to the emperor to confess her own crimes.

After learning the full story, the emperor breathed a sigh of relief. She dispatched investigators and found that Wang Fu had merely lent money to the agency’s chief guard and held no shares in the business.

The chief guard had only sent seasonal gifts to Wang Fu, which she had taken lightly, reciprocating with gifts of greater value.

The so-called bribery amounted to little more than that.

Though relieved, the emperor was still troubled, the matter was undeniably linked to Wang Fu.

She couldn’t help but wonder how her elder sister, the grand princess, would have handled this.

The grand princess would likely have adhered strictly to the rules.

But the emperor was not the grand princess. She had far fewer supporters in the court, and Wang Fu was one of the loyal ones. Moreover, Wang Fu was a pillar of the humble-born faction.

If Wang Fu were punished for such a matter, would it disappoint others?

But if no action is taken, that probably wouldn’t do either.

If only my elder sister were here.

As she worried, the voice of her elder sister suddenly echoed in her ears: “You are the emperor.”

She looked up, but there was no sign of her elder sister.

A gentle breeze brushed by. Ling Yue gazed at the blue sky above and couldn’t help but ask the Grand Princess lying beside her, “Is it really alright to let them go?”

The Grand Princess didn’t open her eyes. “Mm, she knows what to do.”

Then she smiled and added, “This matter isn’t simple, it’s not just about Wang Fu. But after all, she is the child I raised.”

Ling Yue understood her meaning, but she still had doubts. “Did Your Highness know about this from the very beginning?”

They were far from the merchant convoy. The Grand Princess opened her eyes and looked at Ling Yue with a smile. “Who knows? Perhaps I was just lucky.”

Ling Yue felt somewhat helpless at this answer.

The Grand Princess suddenly seemed concerned. “Do you think I’m very sinister?”

Ling Yue shook her head and chuckled softly. “No matter what, I will always be by your side.”

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