Suddenly, the man from before rushed forward, pushing several officers to the ground. Holding the kitchen knife he had just used, he turned his head toward the two women behind him and said, “This matter started because of me; I cannot let you two ladies be dragged into it.”
“These beasts won’t let you go. I’ll hold them back; you two get out of here quickly!”
“Thinking of running? Look at where you are—do you think you can actually escape?”
As the officer spoke, he waved his hand. The men behind him instantly surrounded the three of them.
The lead officer kicked the man in the stomach and drew his sword, pointing it at him. “If you want to play the hero, you’d better see if you have the skill first.”
Jiang Wanning stepped forward and helped the man up. She took out a handkerchief and briefly bandaged the wound on his arm.
She gave her whip a sharp tug. “Since you don’t understand words, there is no need to waste any more breath.”
Shen Ruzhi also stepped forward, her knuckles cracking as she clenched her fists. “It’s been a long time since I’ve acted like a rogue.”
Jiang Wanning’s whip lashed out, coiling around the neck of one officer. With a sharp pull, the man was sent flying.
Shen Ruzhi delivered a kick straight to another officer’s stomach.
Seeing this, the man joined in. “I, Liu Zhuang, served as a soldier for two years after all. How can I let two ladies stand in front of me?”
The officers grew desperate and swung their blades at them.
“Stop!”
The crowd parted to make way. When the officers saw who had arrived, they quickly sheathed their swords. “Heir!”
Pei Anqing hurried forward. Shen Ruzhi was currently sitting astride an officer, one hand clutching his hair while the other repeatedly scratched at his face.
Jiang Wanning had her foot pinned down on the head of another officer.
“Ningning, is it really you?”
Pei Anqing walked up to her.
Jiang Wanning withdrew her foot. “Heir.”
“Ningning,” Pei Anqing said, stepping forward to try and take her hand. “I was drinking tea upstairs and thought I had seen incorrectly.”
“I didn’t expect it to really be you.”
Jiang Wanning retreated slightly, avoiding Pei Anqing’s reaching hand.
Pei Anqing’s movement froze, and his expression became quite dejected. “Ningning.”
“Yesterday was just a misunderstanding. I know I was wrong, and I know you were just speaking out of anger.”
“I was planning to wait a few days for your anger to subside before asking you out to explain everything clearly.”
“Ningning, I truly know I was wrong. Let’s go talk to your father and my father and clear things up, alright? I swear I will never do anything to betray you again.”
Shen Ruzhi stood up and slapped Pei Anqing’s hand away. “Heir, please show some respect.”
“Is ‘Ningning’ a name you are allowed to call her?”
“This lady is the future Princess Consort of Langya—your future mother. How can you call your mother by her pet name?”
Everyone in the crowd was stunned.
The officers froze in place.
“The Heir’s mother… she’s really the Princess Consort of Langya?”
“How could she be his mother? She looks like she’s not even older than the Heir,” someone whispered.
Shen Ruzhi rolled her eyes. “A stepmother is still a mother, don’t you understand?”
Pei Anqing’s fists clenched slightly. “Ningning, don’t listen to her instigation. There is only a small misunderstanding between us.”
“You know her; she has always disliked me and loves to drive a wedge between us.”
“If it weren’t for her yesterday, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
Jiang Wanning took two steps back. “Heir, please behave yourself. Zhizhi is right; I am your future mother.”
“A stepmother is still a mother. Although I have not yet married into the household, this marriage was decreed by His Majesty. Even if you don’t call me ‘Mother’ when you see me, you should at least observe proper etiquette.”
“What are the Heir’s intentions, acting so inappropriately?”
“Ningning…” Pei Anqing looked at her in disbelief. “I don’t believe it. Can you really just let go of me like that?”
“What stepmother? What imperial decree? We were clearly—”
“Heir!” Jiang Wanning cut him off. “Do I have to say it out loud? Must I mention that you and my illegitimate sister have been having a clandestine affair behind my back?”
“Only then will you stop?”
“Now that I have become the Princess Consort of Langya and am marrying the Heir’s father, does the Heir intend to commit an act that violates human ethics and morality?”
“You might be capable of such things, but I, the legitimate daughter of the Ningyuan Marquis, would never do so.”
“We were clearly the couple,” Pei Anqing said loudly. “Are you really going to marry my father?”
“How old are you? How could you be a match for him?”
Seeing the strange looks from the onlookers, Jiang Wanning curled her lips into a smile. “This imperial decree was issued by the Emperor himself.”
“If the Heir finds it inappropriate, he is more than welcome to go see His Majesty.”
“They say being a stepmother is hard, and I haven’t even entered the door yet, yet the Heir is already damaging my reputation like this. What are your intentions?”
“Did you hear that?” Shen Ruzhi said crossly to Pei Anqing. “Your mother told you to stay away and stop being an eyesore here.”
“Keep this up, and be careful your mother doesn’t tell your father and make you go kneel in the ancestral hall!”
She then turned to the officers. “The son of the Prince of Langya is right here. Do you believe us now?”
From the moment Pei Anqing and Jiang Wanning started talking, the officers’ hearts had been in their throats.
They were frantically trying to remember if they had said or done anything they shouldn’t have.
The more they thought, the more terrified they became. They had actually been thinking about stripping the Princess Consort of Langya?
One of the more timid officers suddenly dropped his sword, creating a piercing clang on the ground.
The crowd finally snapped out of their shock and knelt one after another.
“Princess Consort, spare us! Princess Consort, have mercy!”
“We were blind and did not recognize your eminence. Please forgive us.”
Jiang Wanning looked at them coldly. “If I were an ordinary citizen today, I’m afraid I would have already fallen victim to your cruelty.”
“Mercy, Princess Consort! Mercy!”
The men kept kowtowing. The lead officer slapped himself hard. “This lowly one was blind.”
“Please, Princess Consort, spare my life! Spare my life!”
“I ask you this: whose idea was it to collect stall fees on this street?”
“It was… it was… Master Sun,” one of the officers said. “We only added a little bit extra on top of Master Sun’s requirements to split among ourselves privately…”
Jiang Wanning shouted to the crowd, “Everyone on this street who has been forced to pay stall fees—all of you, go to the government office and demand it back!”
“The Princess Consort makes it sound easy, but that man is the local magistrate. Who would dare to act up in front of him?”
“Yes, yes, I think we should just let it be.”
“Collecting stall fees on this street hasn’t just been for a day or two. We rely on this for our livelihood. If we offend Master Sun, he won’t let us set up stalls even if we pay later.”
“……”
“Go ahead and go,” Jiang Wanning said. “If the one named Sun refuses to give it back, then go to the Prince of Langya’s Manor and find the Heir. My son, as the successor of the Prince of Langya, will not ignore you.”
She turned to Pei Anqing. “The Heir won’t ignore them, right?”
Pei Anqing took a deep breath, suppressing the fury in his heart. “Go ahead. Tell that man Sun to come and find this Heir.”
“Thank you, Princess Consort! Thank you, Heir!”
A group of commoners kowtowed in thanks. “The Princess Consort is beautiful and kind; for the Heir to get such a stepmother is truly his blessing.”
“……”
Shen Ruzhi stifled a laugh. “Being a husband didn’t work out for you, but maybe you’ll actually make a good son.”
“Ningning, don’t you agree?”
Jiang Wanning looked coldly at the officers.