Chapter 74: She’s About to Miss the Bus!

This part of the plot takes place on the day after Princess Hui’an’s birthday banquet. On the men’s side, there were archery competitions and hunting trips into the mountains.

On the women’s side, there were activities like admiring flowers, composing poetry, swinging on swings, flying kites, picking flowers, chasing butterflies, playing chess, and playing the zither…

In any case, the venues for both sides’ activities were basically in the same place—the half-mountain platform where the birthday banquet was held the night before, plus a large courtyard behind the platform.

Princess Duanrong, who was skilled in both horseback riding and archery, had absolutely no interest in the embroidery and other activities the women engaged in, and she couldn’t stand the sight of Wen Xueling being the center of attention.

So she deliberately provoked Wen Xueling, using the excuse that Jingxi Wang was once a military general and that Wen Xueling, as a general’s daughter, must also know martial arts, insisting that Wen Xueling compete with her in archery.

What followed was the part readers loved to see: Wen Xueling, the lonely and helpless female lead, was cornered by the villainous supporting character, Princess Duanrong, at the edge of the platform and warned not to be with Zhongli Zhengzhen…

Then, Princess Duanrong tried to scare Wen Xueling, only to be “rescued by a hero”—the son of the Minister of Revenue, who fell off the cliff while saving Wen Xueling.

It was said that this son of the Minister of Revenue rose to prominence because of this heroic rescue, which deeply moved Wen Xueling.

Gan Qiongying originally planned to follow the original plot. She intended to cause trouble for Wen Xueling, but instead of taking her to the edge of the platform and threatening to push her off, she planned to take her to the hot spring pool at Haoyue Villa.

Under the pretense of bathing together, she would push Wen Xueling into the pool.

The hot spring pool wouldn’t drown anyone—at most, she’d swallow a few mouthfuls of water.

Hot spring water is good for the body, no problem there.

According to the rule that a plot that deviates must be corrected, the son of the Minister of Revenue would surely happen to appear nearby, coincidentally discover that Princess Duanrong was trying to drown Princess Xue’e, and then step forward bravely.

As a result, the son of the Minister of Revenue would fall into the water.

However, Gan Qiongying also had a backup plan.

She had already informed her shadow guard that even if the son of the Minister of Revenue didn’t go to the hot spring pool, they would kidnap him and throw him there.

Gan Qiongying was determined to make him fall into the water, as changing clothes after falling in would provide an opportunity to expose the fact that he secretly kept Wen Xueling’s handkerchief, while also giving Princess Hui’an a warning.

Of course, besides this plan, there was also a backup one: directly have someone on horseback knock the son of the Minister of Revenue down, pretend to rescue him, tear open his clothes, and pull out the handkerchief.

However, this latter plan was only to be used as a last resort, because knocking someone down with a horse was a bit too risky. Gan Qiongying was afraid the son of the Minister of Revenue wouldn’t survive the horse’s hooves and might end up dead.

Although this plan was somewhat simple and crude, the most elegant chessboard often requires the simplest method of flipping it over.

But Gan Qiongying had slept until it was almost dark, and she estimated that the hunting party had already returned!

“Manyue! Manyue, come in quickly and help me change!” Gan Qiongying shouted outside. The sun had already set!

She was about to miss the bus!

While being attended to as she washed up and dressed, Gan Qiongying frantically recalled the plot in her mind.

Fortunately, she had read this book just before she died, and after finishing it, she had transmigrated. Upon arriving, she discovered she was the villainous female supporting character, so she didn’t dare slack off at all and often took time to recall the plot.

If she had read it any earlier, she wouldn’t have remembered the story.

Gan Qiongying vaguely recalled that during this hunting event, aside from the Vice Minister of Revenue falling from a high platform while trying to save a “beauty,” the rest of the participants had all reaped bountiful rewards and received prizes prepared in advance by Princess Hui’an.

This was also the first direct confrontation among all the “male leads” in the plot.

In the story, this was a highly intense scene because Zhongli Zhengzhen and the Regent had a minor conflict over their prey.

At the time, Gan Qiongying had been so excited she squealed in her hospital bed.

Who doesn’t love watching male leads tear into each other?

Fight! Fight! Fight!

The author clearly knew what readers wanted to see and didn’t hold back. A cold, ruthless, and powerful Regent of the court, and a proud, unrivaledly handsome hostage prince from an enemy nation—they actually dismounted and fought.

And they did it themselves.

All for the pelt of a black bear, they even drew their knives.

It looked like they were about to stab each other’s major arteries with their daggers.

As thrilling as it was to read, experiencing it firsthand felt utterly absurd.

Leaving aside how ridiculous it was for the Regent to personally step in and fight over a bear’s pelt, how could a hostage prince dare to draw a knife against the ruler of the Nánzhào Kingdom without being executed?

Of course, in the end, it was the all-purpose female lead, Wen Xueling, the gentle and kind-hearted innocent flower, who acted as the mediator between them.

The two men, who were like oil and water, were calmed down when Wen Xueling rushed into the fray and pleaded, “Please, stop fighting.”

When Gan Qiongying read this part, it reminded her of My Fair Princess, which she had watched countless times. During a heavy rainstorm, the horse refused to pull the carriage, but after Ziwei went down and whispered into its ear, the horse started working again.

Gan Qiongying chuckled at the thought as she finished dressing. She didn’t even have time to eat a bite of food and sent Manyue out to summon her eighteen shadow guards… Well, now there were only seventeen left, as one had been given to Princess Hui’an.

Gan Qiongying gathered them together and, like a soccer team discussing tactics before a match, whispered mysteriously to them.

Fortunately, these men hardly spoke and never voiced any opinions. After receiving their orders, no matter how absurd the commands were, they would only nod and say they understood.

Gan Qiongying patted each of them on the shoulder. She couldn’t tell who was number one to seventeen, nor did she know their names, but that didn’t stop her from loving them.

After all, these were the people her dear younger brother had given her.

Considering her cheap brother could barely protect himself, giving her these men was the best he could do.

Having these shadow guards made things much easier.

After giving her instructions, the shadow guards went off to carry out their tasks, and Gan Qiongying hurriedly had someone take her to the halfway platform.

She was rushing to the scene.

When she arrived, the atmosphere was lively. The young nobles who had gone hunting had indeed returned.

She hadn’t yet spotted the Regent or Zhongli Zhengzhen, but she did see Lihua.

Lihua was holding a longbow, standing at the archery range, surrounded by several people who seemed to be competing.

Could Lihua actually shoot a bow?

Gan Qiongying narrowed her eyes and observed carefully, noticing that the people surrounding Lihua didn’t seem to be bullying him. Each of them wore a fawning expression on their face. When he missed the target with an arrow, this group of young masters still applauded him, clearly trying to flatter him.

Gan Qiongying could even guess why these young masters’ attitudes toward Lihua had suddenly changed.

Of course, it was still because of her own attitude toward Lihua last night, which made these noble sons realize that the Prince Consort was not merely an empty shell.

Moreover, since this pampered Princess did not demean her Consort as the rumors suggested, who would dare to look down on him?

Besides, Lihua was immensely wealthy, with merchant guilds spread throughout Nánzhào and countless industries under his control. Although these people all looked down on merchants in their hearts, they certainly wouldn’t look down on silver.

Noble families might appear lofty, but the more prestigious and distinguished they were, the more they lacked money. While large, interconnected families were indeed deeply rooted and influential, the branches of these aristocratic clans were all dependents or servants attached to the main family, no different from the four thousand people Gan Qiongying kept in her Princess Manor—most of them were just idle mouths to feed.

Occasionally, a few might hold official positions, but they were only minor officials, barely able to support their own households. If a man with some pretensions married three wives and four concubines and kept a crowd of servants, he couldn’t possibly make ends meet without corruption.

Even if they dabbled in commerce or secretly engaged in businesses they themselves despised, making money was never easy, no matter the era.

As the saying goes, money is hard to earn, and shit is hard to swallow.

Each of them was desperately short of money. Though the birthday gifts they presented to Princess Hui’an were all decent and proper, their pockets were likely empty.

Moreover, judging by their attire, those gathered around Lihua were likely illegitimate sons or less favored members of noble families—those destined not to inherit the family estate. If they didn’t find ways to earn money, how could they survive?

Normally, Lihua had no interaction with these people, and they had no way to get to know him. This time, Gan Qiongying bringing Lihua here had given them the perfect opportunity to approach him.

Gan Qiongying snorted. Realizing these little devils were trying to dig a few pieces of silver from the God of Wealth, she felt somewhat displeased.

After all, the God of Wealth was her offering, and the money was all hers!

But since they weren’t bullying Lihua, Gan Qiongying decided to let it be. Lihua was indeed somewhat introverted and had suffered enough bullying from Princess Duanrong in the past. Having a few friends might actually be good for him.

Feeling reassured, Gan Qiongying didn’t head over there, allowing Lihua to socialize with them on his own.

Turning around, she saw Princess Hui’an sitting on the high platform, drinking tea and chatting with a group of noble ladies.

The sun was setting in the west, casting a glow of twilight across the sky and earth, creating a scene of perfect harmony and beauty.

Wen Xueling, who had suffered a great humiliation last night, still possessed the halo of a protagonist. The noblewomen who had snickered at the banquet yesterday were once again gathered around her today, chatting away.

Moreover, she had quietly edged her way close to Princess Hui’an and, who knows what nonsense she had spoken, managed to make the Princess laugh repeatedly.

Gan Qiongying quickly strode toward the high platform.

She couldn’t let her dear Aunt, whom she had just managed to win over, be bewitched by Wen Xueling!