Even with Jin Zhi's usual restraint, she could barely hold back her expression at this moment.
"Well? How is it?"
"How? Of course, it's nothing!"
She had come today purely because the matter of the Lu family involved the Fourth Prince. Otherwise, the Empress wouldn't have bothered meddling in such trivial matters of the younger generation.
No matter how much trouble Song Tangning stirred up, it wouldn't matter. Without the Empress’s approval, her marriage to the Lu family would not be dissolved.
The Empress had initially planned to summon Song Tangning into the palace, hoping to calm her down. Even if she couldn’t, the marriage could still be used as leverage to cover up the Lu family's issues. If Song Tangning entered the palace after settling things with the Lu family, what would happen to the Fourth Prince?
Was Song Tangning doing this on purpose?!
Jin Zhi, now impatient, felt a surge of frustration. "Is Lady Song planning to defy an imperial decree?"
"Tangning dares not. However, my body is weak, and my face has been disfigured. I truly fear entering the palace. If Her Majesty truly insists, I will go. But if anything happens to me due to fright, I hope Her Majesty will not hold me accountable."
After speaking, Song Tangning suddenly put a hand to her head, her voice growing faint. "It seems my injury hasn’t healed. Standing for too long has made me dizzy."
"You... you..."
Jin Zhi's face twitched in anger at Song Tangning's audacity. When did she become so shameless? Was she actually threatening her?
Just as Jin Zhi was about to retort, she glanced at Song Tangning, who was feigning illness while slyly watching her. For some reason, she suddenly recalled the incident not long ago where the Old Madam of the Song family, after beating her granddaughter until she vomited blood and fainted, had her hand crippled by Xiao Yan. The old woman then refused medical treatment, escalating the matter all the way to the imperial court, eventually becoming infamous throughout the capital.
It was as if lightning struck Jin Zhi’s mind. She widened her eyes at Song Tangning. This girl was pretending to faint with such practiced ease, as if she was well-versed in the art of manipulating situations. Who was the last unlucky person to fall victim to her schemes?
Jin Zhi's eyelid twitched, and she swallowed her words.
Song Tangning grabbed Hua Wu's hand for support and leaned against her. "Forget it. I'm only worried about dragging Her Majesty into this mess due to my weak body. But if Her Majesty insists on seeing me, there’s no need to wait for the Sixth Princess's birthday in three days. I can follow Aunt Jin Zhi into the palace now. Even if I faint in the palace, Her Majesty can send me home after."
Jin Zhi, alarmed, quickly took two steps back. "No need!!"
"Aunt Jin Zhi?" Song Tangning blinked, looking puzzled.
Jin Zhi's face turned pale, and she avoided Song Tangning like the plague. "I believe Her Majesty feels too much sympathy for Lady Song to force you into the palace while injured. I will report to Her Majesty about the Sixth Princess's birthday. If there are any new instructions, someone will inform you. Please rest and recover in the meantime."
She hurriedly excused herself. "I must return to the palace to report. I’ll take my leave now."
It seemed that she was afraid that if she spoke any longer, Song Tangning might just collapse on the spot. Jin Zhi grabbed the two palace servants beside her and quickly departed.
"Hey, Aunt Jin Zhi... Aunt Jin Zhi, don't leave... Stay for tea..."
Jin Zhi quickened her pace.
One of the servants, stumbling along behind her, couldn't help but ask, "Aunt, why are you afraid of her? We serve the Empress! Does Song Tangning dare to slander us?"
"What do you know!" Jin Zhi scolded.
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have been afraid. But the Lu family incident had complicated matters. If Song Tangning had just visited the Lu family to settle accounts, and now the Empress’s people showed up and "frightened her into fainting," the entire capital would soon hear that the Lu family had stolen from Song Tangning, refused to return her belongings, and even had the Empress intervene to pressure her.
At that point, forget the Fourth Prince— even the Empress herself would suffer a ruined reputation.
Besides, although Song Tangning no longer had the backing of the Song Duke's family, this was Jiyun Alley—Xiao Yan's territory.
With Xiao Yan, that eunuch, protecting her, Song Tangning even dared to pull stunts against her own grandmother. What else would she not dare to do?
Jin Zhi glanced at the hostile servants of the Song household, even recognizing two who had once served under Xiao Yan. Her face turned a shade of green, and she hurried the palace servants away.
...
Song Tangning stood at the entrance, watching Jin Zhi's chaotic retreat. She lowered her hand and laughed.
Hua Wu, who had tried to hold back her laughter, couldn’t contain herself any longer and joined in.
"Lady, she was really scared."
In the past, they had always been the ones watching the expressions of the attendants in Fengxi Palace. While the Empress was kind and generally treated Song Tangning well, Hua Wu had always felt that Jin Zhi looked down on them. She had never seen her so flustered.
The Princess Consort of Cheng and Lady Qin emerged from behind a curtain, leading the pale-faced Song Ru. When they reached Song Tangning, the Princess Consort couldn’t help but laugh, tapping Tangning’s forehead. "You naughty girl, where did you learn that trick?"
Song Tangning muttered, "I picked it up on my own."
She had always adhered to decorum and cared about appearances, often stifling herself in the process. But after meeting her brother, she realized that dealing with shameless people required even more shamelessness. One couldn't adhere to noble principles with scoundrels; it would be like playing music to cattle.
Lady Qin smiled and commented, "What Lady Song did today was very good. This way, you won’t be bullied."
Though the Princess Consort found the situation amusing, she couldn’t help but worry. "It’s true you weren’t bullied today, and you vented your frustration. But you’ve embarrassed the Empress. She might bear a grudge against you."
"Even if I don't embarrass her, will she not hold a grudge against me?"
Tang Ning was no longer the naive girl who had just returned: "After the mess I've made with the Lu family, how could she possibly have no grievances against me? Besides, does my aunt really think that the Empress summoned me to the palace to help me reconcile with Lu Zhi Nian?"
The Princess Consort paused for a moment: "Isn't that so?"
Tang Ning replied, "If she wanted to reconcile, when Jin Zhi came earlier, she could have sent a direct message or called me to the palace today to find a way to calm me down. Why wait until three days later? Furthermore, she could have summoned me at any time, but she chose to do so right after I demanded those things from the Lu family, perfectly timing it after my three-day deadline with them."
"If I had agreed to enter the palace just now, then the three-day deadline I mentioned to the Lu family would naturally become void. If I had promised to meet the Empress but then tore my face with the Lu family, that would be openly trampling on the Empress's dignity. At that point, even those who initially thought I was right might see me as arrogant and disrespectful to the Empress."
The Princess Consort wasn’t foolish; she narrowed her eyes slightly: "Are you saying the Lu family went to find the Empress?"
Tang Ning nodded: "I’m familiar with Lu Zhi Nian’s personality. He is prideful and values his reputation greatly, and the entire Lu family prioritizes their family honor above all else."
Originally, she had sought to reclaim those items simply to let the world know that the Lu family had mistreated her. Throughout this engagement, she had always given more; she had never owed the Lu family anything. Even breaking off the engagement was because Lu Zhi Nian and the Lu family had wronged her first.
She had intentionally humiliated Lu Zhi Nian to tarnish the Lu family’s reputation, hoping to force them to end the engagement. After all, how could a prestigious family accept a woman who would nitpick every detail and bring shame upon them?
But Lu Zhi Nian actually sought out the Empress.
Tang Ning recalled what Xiao Yan had once told her about the dynamics of the court and the relationships built on interests, her tone turning slightly cold: "If it were according to Lu Zhi Nian's past character, he would have been humiliated like this. Even if he was reluctant to break off the engagement, he would have immediately gathered everything on that list and sent it to Jiyun Alley, even throwing it in my face to tell me that the Lu family didn’t care about those things. But now, he went to find the Empress, and she’s trying hard to wipe away the three-day deadline."
"Aunt, what do you think this means?"
The Princess Consort’s expression grew cold as she spoke deliberately: "The Lu family has moved those things you sent over."
Or perhaps they simply couldn’t return those items, fearing that Tang Ning would seriously pursue the matter and escalate it, which is why they asked the Empress to intervene.
She paused for a moment and couldn’t help but frown: "Wait, if it were just the Lu family moving those items, the Empress shouldn’t be this anxious. But earlier, when Jin Zhi heard you wanted to wait until you settled things with the Lu family before entering the palace, her expression changed, and she even mentioned resisting the summons, clearly indicating this isn’t just about the Lu family."
The Princess Consort suddenly raised her eyes: "Could it be that the Empress has also gotten involved with the items on that list…"
Tang Ning shared this suspicion in her heart, and judging by Jin Zhi's reaction, it was at least ninety percent true. Even if it wasn't the Empress who acted, she was undoubtedly implicated.
The most important thing was that regardless of who was involved, those items were probably irretrievable. Otherwise, they wouldn’t need to worry about the repercussions. In other words, her previous sarcastic comment to Lu Zhi Nian had unwittingly become prophetic.
Those items, the Lu family truly couldn’t return.
Remembering how Lu Zhi Nian had previously righteous proclaimed that the Lu family looked down on her things, Tang Ning couldn't help but let out a laugh.
"The Lu family."
Ha!
She had initially only wanted Lu Zhi Nian to lose face and force the Lu family to break off the engagement. But if even the Empress was involved, that would truly be interesting.
They couldn’t return the items, and she was unwilling to relent.
In order to maintain the Empress's dignity and silence the public, yet not daring to take action against her, what could the Lu family use to compensate?
Would it be their family reputation, or the reputation of Lu Chong Yuan, the minister of the Imperial Court, or perhaps… Lu Zhi Nian himself?
Tang Ning tilted her head, her almond eyes shimmering with a faint hint of mischief, reminiscent of Xiao Yan when he was up to no good.
Could she take the opportunity to strip Lu Zhi Nian of a layer of skin?
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You can read ahead to chapterr 182 here
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