Chapter 192: Chapter 191: Slapping the Green Tea Empress Dowager (Part 8)
After a night of cultivation, Anning finally managed to develop a bit of Inner Strength.
To her surprise, she discovered that this body actually had a martial arts foundation.
Originally, when the original inhabitant of the body was young and weak, she had apprenticed under a martial master as an Outer Disciple and learned some martial arts, but later they moved house. Moreover, her mother always believed that a girl should be chaste and good, so she never practiced martial arts afterward.
The original inhabitant’s talent was quite good, and her foundation was solid.
With Anning’s powerful spiritual power and an extraordinary Cultivation Technique, she managed to cultivate Inner Strength in just one night.
When dawn came, Anning got up and when she heard a knock on the door, her eyes flashed as she commanded, "Enter."
Xiangming entered with a few servant girls, aiding Anning in changing clothes and dressing up while saying, "Everything is packed. When does the Princess plan to set off?"
Anning laughed, "Go ask if the Princely Heir and Commandery Princess are ready. If they are, we’ll leave after breakfast."
Xiangming sent a servant girl to inquire, and after a short while, the servant girl returned with a troubled expression.
"What’s the matter?"
Anning knew at a glance that something must have gone wrong.
The servant girl bowed to Anning, "Princess, the Princely Heir said... said that the Prince got a message early this morning that he’s to be sent to the palace in a few days to be a reading companion for His Majesty... so, he’s not allowed to go to the Manor with the Princess."
Anning’s eyes narrowed slightly, concealing the depth of her thoughts.
She slammed her palm onto the table, "This is utterly absurd. Everything was agreed upon well last night, and now early in the morning, it’s changed. He really knows how to issue orders in the morning and countermand them by evening. Even as the Regent King, although he cannot make every word golden and jade-filled, he can’t be a chameleon either."
Her anger caused all the servant girls to bow their heads and stand respectfully in silence, and the room became quiet.
Anning, furious, headed out, "Go to the study. I will personally ask the Prince."
Anning, followed by her servant girls, stormed up to Prince Kang’s study.
The original inhabitant had never been to the study before.
Ever since she married Prince Kang, he had set rules for her to only manage the affairs of the inner palace and not to interfere with the front court. Additionally, neither she nor her servant girls were allowed into the study.
At that time, the original inhabitant truly believed in the principle that men manage external affairs and women the internal ones. She thought that Prince Kang must have important matters to discuss in the study, and it was inappropriate for women to go. Thus, she never went.
Moreover, she did not often see the strategists and trusted aides by Prince Kang’s side.
In fact, the original inhabitant did not even know the names of those strategists, only their surnames, and she would usually refer to them as Mr. This or That.
This time, Anning did not care about what Prince Kang thought; she went straight to the outside of the study.
Coincidentally, as Anning arrived, one of the strategists was leaving the study. They crossed paths.
In a flash, Anning saw the strategist’s face.
She was particularly familiar with this face, one that had been etched into her very bones.
That person was... Xiao Yuan.
"Mr. Xiao?"
Anning tentatively asked.
The man stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at Anning, "Princess, why do you summon me?"
Indeed, it was Xiao Yuan.
Anning smiled at Xiao Yuan, "I have long heard of the teacher’s great reputation, resonating like thunder. Seeing you today is truly a fortunate occurrence for three lifetimes."
Xiao Yuan’s face showed some displeasure.
He scrutinized Anning, bowed, and said, "The Princess flatters me too much."
Anning waved a hand, "I’m telling the truth."
Perhaps Anning’s voice was a bit loud because Prince Kang, inside the study, heard it and came out quite angrily.
"Why has the Princess come here?"
Prince Kang looked at Anning with an indifferent face.
Anning could not continue talking to Xiao Yuan, and instead, turned to face Prince Kang.
She looked at Prince Kang with a smile that was not quite a smile: "I am the Princess, the female head of this household, how could I not be allowed here?"
Prince Kang became even more angry: "Nonsense, how is this a place for a woman of propriety to come?"
"Ha ha!" Anning burst into a mocking laughter.
Completely disregarding any image of chastity and elegance, she placed her hands on her hips and assumed the pose of a shrewish woman: "What’s wrong with a woman of propriety? If I owe you or am indebted to you, why can’t I come over and walk around?"
"When we married, you had promised this Prince..."
Prince Kang wanted to say that Anning had previously agreed not to come into his study.
But Anning did not play along and simply glared, with the look of anger rising to her head, and took a few quick steps toward Prince Kang, pointing at him and demanding: "Who exactly is Mingming? When did you and she get married? You’d better explain clearly..."
The expression on Prince Kang’s face...
He simply looked dumbfounded.
He looked at Anning in confusion: "What Mingming?"
"Didn’t you just say that Mingming had made a promise to you when you got married?"
Anning now asked even more righteously: "Tell me, who is Mingming? Which little demon seduced you..."
Prince Kang was so angry he nearly fainted: "You... utter nonsense, you, it’s simply preposterous."
When Prince Kang had come out just now, Xiao Yuan ought to have greeted him, so he did not leave, but afterwards, he did not want to go.
Because he saw the usually low-profile and invisible Princess deliberately causing trouble with Prince Kang, especially when she, bearing the face of a noble and cool beauty like a fairy, insisted on acting like a shrew, and somehow he found it quite endearing no matter how he looked at it.
Xiao Yuan’s fondness for gossip took over, so he hid on the side to secretly watch, and even chuckled from time to time, taking pleasure in the misfortune of others.
"You, what this Prince meant is, you clearly promised when we married not to come into my study."
Prince Kang struggled against letting Anning into his study; after all, it contained many items given to him by the Empress Dowager, including her portrait, and it would be a disaster if Anning saw them.
"So you meant this."
Anning clapped her hands: "You should have said so earlier, deliberately letting one misunderstand."
Prince Kang was livid: "How dare you come into the study, do you want to go back on your word?"
Anning glared back, even more righteous: "The Prince goes back on his own words, and yet blames it on me. Last night I spoke to the Prince about taking Yu’er out to stay for a few days, and the Prince readily agreed, even suggesting we should enjoy ourselves for a few more days to clear our minds, but this morning you suddenly refuse to let him go. The Prince’s word is unreliable, so naturally, I had to come to the study to have a good look."
In the middle of speaking, Anning pushed Prince Kang aside and tried to enter the study.
Prince Kang panicked and grabbed Anning urgently: "You dare... someone, please escort the Princess out."
Several servants approached, but seeing the furious look on the Princess’ face, they hesitated to lay hands on her.
Anning’s eyes flickered with mischief, and she smiled: "What, you won’t let me in? Are you feeling guilty of thievery or what? Could it be that the Prince is hiding someone in his study?"
"Nonsense, nonsense."
Prince Kang tugged at Anning and walked toward the courtyard: "The study contains documents related to military and national affairs, what business does a woman have here?"
Anning followed Prince Kang outside, but still argued unconvinced: "What’s wrong with being a woman, don’t underestimate women. Back then your Queen Mother could enter your Father King’s study, so why can’t I enter? Prince, we’ve been married for over a decade, I’ve borne you sons and daughters, managed your household, I may have no merits but certainly have put in hard work. How could it be that now I’m treated as an ignorant woman, the Prince clearly said he would respect me, cherish me, but now you’re just slapping my face..."
Anning ended up crying by the end of her speech, making an unreasonable fuss.
She grabbed Prince Kang’s sleeve and refused to leave: "I know the Prince wants to send Yu’er to the palace as a companion reader, but the Prince should at least discuss it with me. Agreeing to the Empress Dowager and Your Majesty without consulting me, is this respect? Not only is Yu’er the Prince’s son, he is also my son, why can’t I, his mother, have a say in his affairs? To be honest with you, I disagree with sending Yu’er to the palace. If the Prince really wishes to send him, he’ll have to kill me first."
Saying this, Anning simply sat on the ground and clutched Prince Kang’s pants.
If Anning were holding Prince Kang’s sleeve, Prince Kang would have had a way to escape.
But with Anning pulling his pants, he really couldn’t walk away.
It should be noted, at that time, the waistbands were merely a piece of cloth, not tied very firmly; if Anning really pulled hard, Prince Kang would be exposing his bare thighs in front of all these people.
Prince Kang cared about his face though, despite being angry and anxious, he really didn’t dare to do anything to Anning.
"If the Prince has the ability, step over my dead body, otherwise, don’t even think about managing my son. Today, I must take Yu’er to the manor."
Prince Kang’s face turned a shade of purple with anger.
He was really furious and raised his hand to hit Anning.
Seeing the situation turning sour, Anning sprang up all of a sudden, and with outstretched fingers, her pointed nails scratched across Prince Kang’s face.