Chapter 25: Oh, Husband, Don’t Be in Such a Hurry!

The two of them clung tightly to each other, while Silver Moon and Manyue, who had reached out at the same time, were knocked aside by the Consort who had rushed over.

For a moment, the scene was eerily silent and strange.

The guards who had been negotiating with the driver of the carriage that had collided with theirs reacted quickly, but only managed to rush to the side of the carriage.

Gan Qiongying wrapped her arms around Lihua’s neck, her first thought being—could a cripple move so nimbly?

Even her guards hadn’t been able to beat Lihua to it.

“Princess…” Silver Moon wanted to ask if she was all right, but Manyue covered her mouth.

However, Silver Moon’s hesitant call made Lihua realize what he was doing. He immediately released Gan Qiongying, shifting her from hanging onto him to placing her feet on the ground.

Then he let go and pushed her away.

First push—she didn’t budge.

Second push—still didn’t budge.

Gan Qiongying held onto his neck tightly, forcing him to bend slightly.

No matter what, she couldn’t let Lihua leave.

Lihua was truly important. Not only was she determined to secure the two hundred thousand taels in silver notes every month, but she also needed to use him.

If he was Zhongli Zhengzhen’s man, keeping him under close watch was the best approach.

And if he was being coerced by Zhongli Zhengzhen’s forces, it was even more crucial to keep him by her side. After all, the identity of Princess Duanrong’s Consort could protect Lihua—perhaps a pitiful soul like her, trapped by circumstances—at least until the climax of the plot, when Zhongli Zhengzhen would overthrow the Nanzhao Kingdom.

“Husband, I couldn’t control myself earlier,” Gan Qiongying tearfully admitted her lustful impulses. After all, if she claimed it wasn’t intentional, it would sound like an excuse and only backfire.

“I’ll definitely restrain myself in the future,” Gan Qiongying said, feeling deeply ashamed. After all, not every girl could admit in broad daylight, in front of everyone, that she was lustful and lacked self-control.

She buried her face in his shoulder, her voice muffled, adopting a coquettish posture as she clung to his neck.

“Husband, don’t go,” she said, genuinely acting spoiled, whispering into Lihua’s ear, “I’ll ask you from now on. If you’re unwilling, I won’t do anything, okay?”

She had thrown all shame to the wind.

What was shame worth?

Could it compare to two hundred thousand taels in silver notes every month?

As the saying goes, when one has no shame, they are invincible.

Gan Qiongying’s move was nothing short of a nuclear-level attack. Lihua’s hands, which had been raised to push her shoulders, froze in mid-air upon hearing her words, as if petrified by the gaze of the mythical Medusa.

Lihua was someone who responded to softness rather than force. A little gentleness from Gan Qiongying, and he had foolishly agreed to move into the Princess Manor.

Now, with Gan Qiongying pulling this stunt, he was so flustered he didn’t know what to do, remaining “petrified.”

In his entire life, no one had ever been so intimate with him—kissing him, hugging him, acting so coquettishly and sweetly toward him.

Not only him, but even the maids and attendants serving Gan Qiongying couldn’t help but widen their eyes in shock.

After all, they had never seen Princess Duanrong display such a girlish demeanor.

She was a high-ranking noble raised in luxury, a domineering and arrogant princess who got everything she wanted with a single word.

However, as Gan Qiongying had anticipated, if her persona were to suddenly transform into that of a gentle and kind princess overnight, people would suspect she was possessed.

But it wasn’t the first time she had been willing to die for a man. This time, she simply switched targets. Although her coquettish behavior was shocking, it wasn’t beyond reason.

After all, she was the notorious wanton Princess of Nánzhào, with hundreds of male consorts in her residence and a well-known laughingstock. Her reputation for chasing after Zhongli Zhengzhen, the Jinchuan Zhizi, was widely known.

In short, as a 999 pure gold love-addled fool, nothing she did for a man was surprising.

Therefore, her maids were only briefly stunned before exchanging glances and understanding the situation.

Seeing that she had controlled the scene, Gan Qiongying felt bitter inside but thought this method could be used more often in the future—it had many benefits.

She loosened her grip on Lihua slightly, looked up at his face, and said, “Don’t be angry anymore. Let’s go back to the manor, okay?”

Lihua was pulled forward by her, his mind frozen, unable to think of what to do next. He simply sank back into his seat and, like a puppet on strings, was dragged by Gan Qiongying toward the carriage.

However, before the two could board the carriage, a burst of crying and pleading from nearby caught their attention.

“Please, sir, spare me! Spare me! This old man didn’t mean to crash into the carriage. Even with eight extra guts, I wouldn’t dare to collide with a noble’s carriage!”

The old man’s wrinkled face was twisted in distress as he was grabbed by the collar, struggling to breathe.

He was the owner of the ox cart that had collided with Gan Qiongying’s carriage earlier. When the commotion broke out on Gan Qiongying’s side, the guards had rushed over, leaving him unattended. He had tried to sneak away with his ox cart but was now caught by Gan Qiongying’s guards.

“The market is crowded with vendors and bustling with people. This isn’t a route for transporting firewood. How dare you transport firewood through the market? Do you think the Imperial City guards are just eating free meals?”

“Come with me to the Imperial City to report. Today, you collided with the Princess’s carriage. Fortunately, the Princess’s carriage was sturdy and didn’t overturn. If you try to cut corners like this again and collide with pedestrians in the future, won’t it cause injuries or deaths?”

“Sir, spare me! Spare me! This old man will never dare to do it again, truly!” The old man wept bitterly, tears and snot streaming down his face.

“My grandson fell seriously ill, and I have no money for medicine. The Huixiang Tower happened to need firewood, so I took the risk, thinking I could deliver one load to earn money for medicine… Please spare me…”

“My poor grandson is still at home waiting for medicine. He has no father or mother, only this old man to care for him. Please, sir, show mercy!”

The old man cried so pitifully that the onlookers were moved, murmuring among themselves. However, the Princess Manor guards seemed unmoved, insisting on taking him to the Imperial City.

Leading them was Gan Qiongying’s guard captain, Chen Wa, known for his cold demeanor and stern expression. A few days earlier, when Gan Qiongying suddenly ordered someone to bring the Consort to the Princess Manor, it was this same Chen Wa who had escorted the Consort back like a prisoner.

Watching the old man cry, plead, and kowtow until he seemed on the verge of fainting, Lihua snapped out of his daze from Gan Qiongying’s coquettish behavior. Seeing Chen Wa’s face reminded him of the coercion he had experienced a few days earlier and, in turn, reminded him of what kind of person Princess Duanrong truly was.

He glanced at her, but seeing her merely observing as a bystander with no intention of stepping in to stop it, he instantly felt his heart grow cold and his teeth chatter.

The streets were abuzz with rumors of Princess Duanrong’s domineering and unscrupulous nature, yet he had forgotten her true face because of her few coquettish words.

Seeing the pitiful old man, Lihua felt his blood run cold, as if he were seeing himself being humiliated and beaten in the Princess Manor.

He stopped in his tracks.

“Hmm?” Gan Qiongying turned her head to look at him.

“Your Highness truly has such great authority,” Lihua said, looking at her with eyes full of disappointment. “Does Your Highness intend to have this old man pay with his life today?”

“Ah?” Gan Qiongying felt utterly wronged.

Seeing her expression devoid of any pity, Lihua let out a self-mocking laugh, amused that he had ever thought her gentle. He raised his hand and shook off Gan Qiongying’s grip on his sleeve, preparing to board the carriage.

Ignoring the injury on his tongue, he angrily spat out a few words: “San Jiu, let’s go back!”

How could Gan Qiongying let him return in such a fit of anger? She immediately stepped forward to pull him back. He was tall and raised his arm to prevent her from grabbing him, his gaze growing increasingly cold.

All the effort she had put into coaxing him these past days had truly been in vain—everything had reverted to how it was before!

She then looked at the old man, who was making a scene as if his life depended on it.

No matter how one looked at it, this incident appeared to be Princess Duanrong relying on imperial power to bully a commoner.

However, in the month since Gan Qiongying had transmigrated, although she knew how unruly and unrestrained the people around her could be, she had never interfered with how her subordinates handled matters. This wasn’t just because she had to maintain her persona, but also because she had discovered that these people were merely fierce in appearance.

There were over four thousand people in her Princess Manor combined. She hadn’t met every single one of them, but during her occasional wanderings, she found the entire manor to be strictly hierarchical and orderly.

Even among the servants, there was no unwarranted oppression, which was naturally due to the clear-headed and capable management.

The head of the inner courtyard was Manyue, while the guards outside the manor were led by Chen Wa. Both were diligent and conscientious, with hardly any faults to be found.

For the sake of her own life, Gan Qiongying had spent these days thoroughly understanding the people around her. They only appeared fierce when dealing with outsiders and would never act without cause.

In a manor of four thousand people, matters were as numerous as the hairs on an ox. Manyue dared not rest and recover fully before returning to duty, and Chen Wa never used his position as head guard to avoid night shifts. How could they possibly have the mood or the time to bully the weak and oppress the common people?

Therefore, Gan Qiongying couldn’t just look at one side of the story, pity the old and weak, and blindly scold or beat her loyal subordinates.

Moreover, from what Chen Wa had said, the old man had indeed violated the rules, and he had just rushed out recklessly from a narrow alley. If he truly needed money for his grandson’s medical treatment, even if he had broken the rules, they could have shown leniency. Her people could have personally escorted him to the Imperial City Office, where an explanation would have sufficed.

Why did he have to make such a desperate scene?

However, given the current situation, with more and more onlookers gathering around, pointing and whispering, if she were to actually have the old man taken to the Imperial City Office for investigation, it would undoubtedly add another dark stroke to Princess Duanrong’s notorious reputation for using imperial power to oppress commoners.

Gan Qiongying didn’t particularly care. Her identity destined her to be irredeemable. All she needed to do was take care of her own life.

But she also guessed that Lihua’s intense reaction stemmed from putting himself in the old man’s shoes, reminded of his own experiences.

Since she had transmigrated, three months had already passed since the marriage, and Lihua had already suffered several rounds of persecution at the hands of Princess Duanrong. Now that she was Duanrong, she had no choice but to bear this burden.

She immediately turned and chased after Lihua, trying to pull him back. When he shook her off, she hugged him from behind instead!

“Oh, husband, don’t be so impatient!”

Gan Qiongying said, “It’s not a big deal. If you can’t bear it, then you go handle it.”

She tugged at his arm, swaying it gently, and looked at him. “You can deal with this however you want. Isn’t that enough?”

She turned her head to Manyue and said, “Go call Chen Wa back. Leave this matter to the Consort to handle.”

Gan Qiongying said to Lihua, “Hurry and resolve this. Your tongue shouldn’t speak too much, or it might tear again. Applying medicine is both painful and bitter.”

She held Lihua’s hand, her tone gentle, and gave his fingers a light squeeze. “I’ll wait for you in the carriage.”

True to her word, she left everything to Lihua, ordering her people to withdraw. She was helped into the carriage and watched through the window as Lihua went to handle the matter.

In the past, if something like this happened—whether the one who caused the collision was a commoner or even one of the princes of the court—Princess Duanrong would never have backed down.

Such a concession was, in Princess Duanrong’s life, nothing short of humiliating.

This attitude caught Lihua completely off guard. He never expected her to react this way, much less hand the matter over to him to handle.

He moved his lips slightly, his expression one of astonishment, watching as she got into the carriage, opened the window, smiled at him, and waved, urging him to hurry.

Under her smiling gaze—even indulgent and affectionate—a surge of warmth welled up in Lihua’s chest, uncontrollable and overwhelming. His ears flushed so deeply they felt as if they were about to burst.