The next morning, Nan Shiying, accompanied by several maids, boarded a carriage bound for the Nan Residence.
The Prince’s Estate was not far from the Imperial City, and the Nan Residence wasn't far either. The only difference was their location: one to the west, the other to the east. Traveling from the Prince's Estate to the Nan Residence required passing through eight streets.
Before attending court, Nan Chaoyin once again cautioned Madam Liu not to provoke Nan Shiying. Madam Liu agreed with a smile, but a cold sneer played on her lips after he left.
Provoke?
She, Nan Shiying, was nothing but an ant beneath her feet. Now that she had married Ji Jinmo, did she truly believe she could escape her grasp? How laughable!
“Granny Qin,” Madam Liu said, holding a grape and toying with it with feigned interest, as if it were not a common grape but a purple gemstone carved in the shape of a grape, “instruct the gatekeeper that the Nan Residence will be closed to visitors today.”
Granny Qin, standing beside her, acknowledged the order with a smile, “Your old servant obeys!”
…
The carriage stopped before the main entrance of the Nan Residence. The grand gates were shut tight, with no one emerging to greet them.
“My lady, I will knock on the door!”
Lü Wan leaped from the carriage and strode towards the massive gates.
“Open the door! Princess Consort has arrived, hurry and open it!” Lü Wan knocked on the door with a resounding bang, her anger evident. A slow, unhurried voice from within the Nan Residence’s gatehouse responded, “What Princess Consort? My lady said the Nan Residence is closed to visitors today. I suggest you turn back the way you came and save yourselves the embarrassment.”
“You!”
Lü Wan’s face flushed with rage.
How dare the people of the Nan Residence! How dare they!
“Open the door! If our Prince learns that you, a lowly servant, dared to refuse the Princess Consort entry, he will have your head!”
The gatekeeper, remembering the Regent’s fearsome reputation, couldn’t help but shiver. However, upon thinking of Nan Shiying, that jinx, he cast his fear aside. If it were a young lady from another estate who had become the Regent’s Princess Consort, they would not dare to mistreat her. But this Nan Shiying, hmph, even if she had flown to a higher branch, a sparrow remained a sparrow. He wouldn’t open the door today, and what could she do to him?
He truly didn’t believe that the Regent would step forward for this Nan Shiying.
Who were they trying to scare?
The gatekeeper let out a cold laugh and said dismissively, “Although this servant is merely a gatekeeper, he is still a gatekeeper of the Nan Residence. The Prince’s reputation is known far and wide, and he wouldn’t take a servant’s life over such a trifle. Besides, who says the person outside is the Princess Consort? What a joke. Who knows if she isn’t some imposter crawling out from a dark corner.”
“Good, very good!”
Lü Wan laughed in her fury. She turned back and reported everything to Nan Shiying.
For some reason, news had been leaked today that Nan Shiying, the shameless woman who had climbed into the bridal sedan herself, was returning to the residence. Early in the morning, a crowd of idle onlookers had gathered outside the Nan Residence, eager to witness the spectacle.
Seeing that Nan Shiying couldn't even enter the Nan Residence's main gate, some in the crowd sneered, while others showed disdain. They all treated Nan Shiying like a clown, mocking and jeering.
“Ha, what’s the use of her climbing into the sedan and becoming the Regent’s Princess Consort? She can’t even get in. Just a few days ago, rumors spread about the Prince and Princess Consort being deeply in love, but based on Nan Shiying, she doesn’t deserve it.”
“Why is she even coming back? Doesn’t she know how much shame her actions have brought upon the Nan Residence? The Prime Minister has been confined by the Emperor for three months because of her. She has utterly disgraced a high-ranking official, yet she dares to return?”
“She deserves not to get in. She shouldn’t be allowed in!”
The news that had circulated from the palace banquet a few days prior was met with utter disbelief by the masses. Not a single person believed it. After all, what kind of person was the Regent, to be enamored with such a shameless creature as Nan Shiying?
The crowd's whispers reached Nan Shiying’s ears. Lü Wan and the others were furious, wishing they could rush out of the carriage and tear their mouths apart. Xuan Yi, driving the carriage, glanced at the surrounding populace. Seeing their slanderous condemnation, he couldn't help but chuckle.
These fools.
If they knew that the news of the Princess Consort’s return to the Nan Residence had been leaked by the Princess Consort herself, he wondered if they could still laugh.
“Xuan Yi!”
As he was thinking, Nan Shiying’s voice suddenly came from inside the carriage.
Xuan Yi’s back instantly straightened, and he dared not laugh any longer. Tense, he replied in a low voice.
He hadn’t been present when the criminals were interrogated that day. Later, when Jia Huan and Thirteen recounted the events, he couldn't help but feel a chill. Now, he no longer dared to be negligent.
“Blast the door open, drag out that blabbermouth of a gatekeeper, and kill him.” Nan Shiying’s eyes were half-lowered, her expression devoid of emotion, yet her words dripped with killing intent.
Just as he expected!
Xuan Yi had thought it: one could provoke anyone, but not this demoness.
Killing in broad daylight – this was utter lawlessness.
But who was she? She was the Regent’s Princess Consort.
“Yes!”
Xuan Yi took his orders, stepped forward, and kicked open the Nan Residence’s grand door.
The gatekeeper, standing behind the door, had not expected Nan Shiying to dare order the door to be rammed. Unable to dodge, he was violently flung aside. He struggled to get up and was about to curse when the man who kicked down the door seized him by the neck.
Xuan Yi dragged the gatekeeper out.
“What are you doing? Let me go! Although I am merely a servant, I am still a servant of the Nan Residence. Nan Shiying, you jinx, how dare you…”
Nan Shiying’s voice emanated from the carriage, directly overpowering the gatekeeper’s curses: “The Nan Residence gatekeeper, for insubordination, disrespecting the royal family, and presumptuously discussing the Prince, his crime warrants execution!”
As Nan Shiying’s words fell, Xuan Yi drew the long sword at his waist. A flash of cold light, and a head was directly severed, flying off. Blood gushed like a fountain, splattering onto the faces of the few civilians standing at the forefront.
The hot blood seemed to trigger something. Only then did the crowd belatedly react.
“Ah, murder!”
Piercing screams echoed through the sky. The terrified populace scattered in all directions, fearing that their earlier words might have angered Nan Shiying, that malevolent star, leading to their decapitation.
The patrol heard the civilians’ screams and came to investigate. Upon seeing someone committing murder in broad daylight, the leading general immediately drew his sword. Xuan Yi produced a waist token and tossed it over, “This is the Prince’s Estate at work. You need not concern yourselves.”
The general caught the token and glanced at it. The large ink characters on the token instilled a sense of dread in his heart.
He quickly sheathed his sword and returned the token to Xuan Yi with both hands.
“So it is an official from the Prince’s Estate. Sir, may I inquire what crime this person has committed?”
“Disrespecting the royal family and speaking ill of the Prince.”
The general let out a gasp of cold air. With such a charge, not being executed along with his entire family was already a lenient punishment. He said no more, but cast a subtle glance towards the carriage.
Just as he looked towards the carriage, Nan Shiying lifted the curtain and slowly stepped out.