This remark successfully caught Yun Jiuqing’s attention, who had already been quietly sneaking toward the door. “Holy crap, Daru?!”
She rushed a few steps to Ning Ruobing and exchanged code words, “On the horse, we gaze at each other from afar…”
Ning Ruobing was already annoyed to begin with, and now Yun Jiuqing had inexplicably run up to her and recited some nonsensical poem, making her even more irritated.
Xie Ciyuan was also somewhat at a loss by Yun Jiuqing’s bizarre behavior. He couldn’t see her disheartened expression, but he heard her footsteps growing fainter.
For some reason, he felt that if he pretended to be mute and stayed silent this time, he would regret it.
“The Princess Consort is this Prince’s lawful wife, wed through proper matchmaking and carried in by a grand sedan chair.
Since the name written beside this Prince’s on the Huangjia Yudie is the Princess Consort’s, she is the mistress of Prince Yan’s Residence.
From this moment on, whatever the Princess Consort says is what this Prince thinks.
If there are doubts about the Princess Consort’s words, you may come and ask this Prince, but if you don’t think it warrants asking this Prince, then carry out the Princess Consort’s orders.
Prince Yan’s Residence has only two masters—this Prince and the Princess Consort. If anyone wishes to serve others, they are free to seek better prospects elsewhere.”
When Xie Ciyuan said these words, everyone in the room was extremely shocked.
Saying this was essentially formally acknowledging Yun Jiuqing’s status as the head mistress of Prince Yan’s Residence.
Although Prince Yan’s Residence no longer existed, on the road to exile, the privileges of being a legitimate master were still considerable.
The key point was that Xie Ciyuan was not someone easy to talk to.
His acceptance of the Emperor’s arranged marriage wasn’t because he feared the Emperor, but because he simply didn’t care.
That was why after the marriage, he didn’t bother when Yun Jiuqing was arranged to stay in the most remote courtyard, and he hadn’t even seen Yun Jiuqing’s face clearly until today.
Yet just now, he had spoken up for Yun Jiuqing so seriously, clearly acknowledging her identity as Princess Consort Yan.
This was extremely shocking to people like Ning Ruobing and Xuan Lie, who knew him well enough.
Not to mention that after saying all that, he specifically addressed Yun Jiuqing: “This Prince doesn’t need the bedding laid out. Princess Consort, please come back and rest soon. This Prince awaits to see how you’ll work your methods.”
He hadn’t specifically driven Ning Ruobing away, but inviting Yun Jiuqing to share his bed while Ning Ruobing—who considered herself the woman most worthy of Xie Ciyuan—was present was even more humiliating than being directly expelled.
“Cousin!”
She called out to Xie Ciyuan in disbelief, finally pulling out her greatest leverage, “You promised my father you would take good care of our family. How can you treat me like this?”
Her father, Second Master Ning, had also died on the battlefield. Before he left, he had entrusted his wife and daughter to Xie Ciyuan, who had agreed.
It was precisely because of this that Ning Ruobing had always assumed she would be the future Princess Consort Yan, and she had tried every means to drive away every eligible young woman around Xie Ciyuan.
Xie Ciyuan, however, always dealt with matters directly when they arose; anything that didn’t reach his attention was treated as if it hadn’t happened. This led Ning Ruobing to believe she was special to Xie Ciyuan, and that the only reason he hadn’t married her was that the timing wasn’t right.
Even when she learned that the new Emperor had arranged a marriage between Xie Ciyuan and Yun Jiuqing, she was somewhat displeased, but upon learning of Xie Ciyuan’s attitude toward Yun Jiuqing, she quickly relaxed.
After all, Xie Ciyuan and the new Emperor were at odds like fire and water—how could Xie Ciyuan possibly like a princess consort the new Emperor had betrothed to him?
Holding onto this belief, she repeatedly asserted her dominance in front of Yun Jiuqing.
Unexpectedly, Yun Jiuqing never fought back, yet Xie Ciyuan had now made her lose face in front of so many people. Ning Ruobing truly felt the crisis.
“This Prince did promise Second Uncle to take care of you mother and daughter, but the Princess Consort made no such promise. She has no reason to endure your provocations and unreasonable behavior the way this Prince does.”
Xie Ciyuan said coldly to Ning Ruobing, “Second Uncle was this Prince’s elder, and this Prince doesn’t wish to speak harshly to you. Know your place—don’t say things you shouldn’t say, and don’t provoke people you shouldn’t provoke.
Now, get out. This Prince and the Princess Consort need to rest.”
Ning Ruobing had just thought that Xie Ciyuan voluntarily requesting Yun Jiuqing was already a great insult to her, but it was only when Xie Ciyuan actually started driving her out that she realized what true humiliation meant.
She could no longer pretend nothing had happened, and she ran out crying, covering her face.
Before leaving, she still made sure to glare fiercely at Yun Jiuqing, who stood there innocently.
Yun Jiuqing stood in place, having watched a play in which she was merely a supporting character, and found it all rather baffling.
But there was only one bed in the room, and she wasn’t about to put herself out. She took three steps in two and jumped onto the bed, lying down beside Xie Ciyuan and closing her eyes.
Xuan Lie and the others exchanged glances for a moment, then silently retreated to the doorway, lay down on the ground, and began to rest with their eyes closed.
The day had been exhausting, and although the resting conditions weren’t great, the group quieted down and fell asleep before long.
Half past the Hour of the Tiger, just before the Hour of the Rabbit, most people were still in deep sleep when Yun Jiuqing quietly opened her eyes.
“Boss, I need something.”
She had promised to help clear Nangu Ying of suspicion, and she hadn’t forgotten—she was simply waiting for the right moment. Now that the moment had arrived, she began pestering her boss.
The boss had been sleeping soundly and was suddenly woken up, his resentment heavier than a ghost’s at the dead of night.
“Ancestor, what do you want now?”
The boss slapped the points board—balance at zero—in front of Yun Jiuqing. “Two eggs hanging under your brows, blinking away but can’t see a thing. Before you ask for something, do you ever check if you have the points for it?! You think you’re still a little kid, just open your mouth and wail, and it’ll come to you?!”
Yun Jiuqing had asked for quite a lot during the day, and the hundred points she’d earned from passing Subject One had long since been spent. Unless she went ahead and took Subject Two right now, she had no standing to request anything at all.
Yun Jiuqing watched the boss’s outburst with calm composure. In the middle of the night, she—a living, breathing person—was more alert than any ghost.
“What are you yelling about? Can’t I earn points now? Did you ever tell me I couldn’t earn points in the middle of the night?”
The boss slumped face-first onto the keyboard of that ancient desktop computer in the Space. “Fine, sure, you can! You’re my ancestor, after all! But you’ve already passed Subject One—now it’s time to log your Subject Two practice hours. Are you sure you want to start now?”
If Yun Jiuqing had been paying closer attention, she might have noticed something odd in the boss’s tone and expression. But her mind was already busy calculating how to maximize the impact of this operation to protect Nangu Ying, so she completely missed the boss’s abnormality.
Without hesitation, she answered, “What’s there to be unsure about? It’s something I’ve got to do sooner or later. You don’t actually think Ninth Master me is afraid of some crappy little car, do you?”
The boss let out a dry chuckle. “You’re not afraid, no—you just failed it seven times! Oh, right, I forgot to tell you: you and Bai Feng are the only two members in the seven hundred years of Huofenghuang’s history to die from learning to drive. Huofenghuang even rewrote the base’s regulations because of you two, adding a rule that prohibits two or more members from learning Special Driving Technology at the same time. Happy?”
Yun Jiuqing: …
The base really did do her and Bai Feng a solid.
“Special Driving Technology,” huh. If the new recruits ever found out that the two of them hadn’t died learning some fancy special driving tech, but had simply been done in by practicing the most basic Subject Three, Huofenghuang would probably add another precedent of a reserve member dying from laughter.