The Reborn Princess Has Turned Evil

Chapter 254 A Family Banquet in the Palace (4)

“Anle, you are mistaken. Rou’er is good, but she can’t compare to you, a legitimate princess.” Princess Yongping was still stirring things up, looking like she was enjoying the show, completely ignoring what Jing Anle had just said.

Jing Fengyao was furious and felt extremely disgusted with Princess Yongping.

Only Consort Lin, seeing Emperor Jing's extremely grim expression, immediately stood up and said, "Princess Anle is naturally of noble birth, but we should still ask His Majesty and Prince Yingeer."

Consort Chen glanced at Consort Lin, her face betraying undisguised disdain. Everyone else also turned to look at Consort Lin. Consort Lin was usually quiet and reserved in the palace, but now she was openly speaking up for Jing Anle, indicating that they had a good relationship.

"It was Yongping who acted on her own initiative." Although Princess Yongping said this, she was not embarrassed at all. She continued, "Yinger had previously mentioned to Yongping that he wanted to form a marriage alliance with my Jing Kingdom again. Now that we are destined to meet, I wonder what Your Majesty thinks?"

Consort Lin's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately understood that this was not only a matter of personal feelings between the two countries, but also a matter of friendship between the two nations. It seemed that Princess Yongping was determined to marry Jing Anle off to the Southern Frontier.

"What does Prince Ingor think?" Emperor Jing asked in return.

It was another test. Neither refusing nor agreeing would be right. Everyone knew that Jing Anle was the most favored princess, and Emperor Jing would never easily marry her off.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to follow your arrangements!" Yingor bowed his head and threw the question back at him.

Emperor Jing glanced at Jing Anle, his child with his beloved, and standing beside her was his younger sister, whom he had married off to a distant land for the sake of the country. Emperor Jing should have felt some pity for this sister, but alas…

"I think Anle's words make sense."

One sentence was enough to make everyone sit still.

"Brother Emperor!"

"Brother Emperor!"

Prince Qing and Princess Yongping spoke at the same time; one was reluctant to part with his daughter, and the other could not believe it.

"Although Princess Rou is younger than Anle, she is of marriageable age. As far as I know, Princess Rou is not yet engaged, so marrying into the Southern Frontier would be a good match."

Princess Qing, heavily pregnant, was panicked and looked unwell. She looked at Prince Qing anxiously, urging him to say something.

"I beg Your Majesty to rescind your order. My brother and the Princess Consort have only this one daughter. Please be understanding."

Emperor Jing remained unmoved. "Brother Qing, what are you saying? You have several daughters in your household. Although only Princess Rou is the daughter of you and Princess Qing, only her status as a legitimate daughter is worthy of the prince of the Southern Frontier!"

"The late emperor only had one daughter, Yongping, yet he tearfully married her off to the Southern Frontier. For over a decade, the Southern Frontier has enjoyed peace and prosperity, thanks to Yongping's efforts. If Princess Rou were to marry into that region now, with her exceptional literary talent and gentle, virtuous nature, she would surely do even better."

"Yongping, what do you think?"

Faced with Emperor Jing's question, "Yongping?" Princess Yongping's face immediately turned ugly. She couldn't help but find it laughable as a long-buried memory slowly surfaced.

Princess Yongping was a title; her original name was Huihe, or Jing Huihe. Though she lacked the brilliance of the sun and moon, she was gentle and kind. She grew up freely in the palace, thinking it would continue like this forever. However, an imperial edict sent her to marry far away to the southern border, leaving her far from her homeland.

Yongping means to pacify the southern border forever and prevent war. From then on, she was no longer Jing Huihe who nestled in her mother's arms, but Princess Yongping who brought peace to the southern border.

She thought her brother would treat her differently; she thought he was just powerless to save her back then because he was the crown prince. She still remembered how Emperor Jing always looked after her and protected her when she was young, gently calling her: "Huihe, I will always protect you."

Yongping stared at Emperor Jing's face in disbelief. How could he ask her about her marriage to the southern border years ago?

"Yes." After a long while, Princess Yongping finally replied. Her eyes held resentment, loneliness, amusement, and disappointment.

“Yongping, how could you…” Prince Qing jumped out, looking surprised. They had clearly agreed to marry Jing Anle off to the Southern Frontier and then slowly torture her. How could things have changed so quickly?

"Enough!" The Empress Dowager, who had been watching for a long time, suddenly spoke up, and the hall fell silent.

Prince Qing seemed to have grasped a glimmer of hope and pleaded, "Mother."

Princess Qing followed suit, and tears welled up in her eyes. "I beg Your Majesty to have mercy and not marry Rou'er off to such a faraway place."

Jing Anle glanced at them coldly, feeling utterly disgusted. She realized that people don't know the pain until they're cut themselves.

"Women in this world have it hard enough, especially royal women. Yongping sacrificed himself for the Jing Kingdom back then. How can we let Rou'er follow in his footsteps? They are all born of fathers and raised by parents. I myself suffered greatly from missing my daughter back then. I really can't bear to see Prince Qing and Princess Qing suffer the same pain again."

"This is so unfair!" Jing Anle thought with a cold laugh. "Why was she so silent when I was being forced to marry far away, but now she's acting like a loving grandmother with a compassionate heart?"

“Grandmother, you are mistaken.” Jing Anle was not used to her.

The Empress Dowager's face darkened; Jing Anle dared to embarrass her in public.

“Grandmother Empress Dowager pities Princess Rou, and Anle understands that. However, when Grandfather Emperor married Aunt Yongping to Southern Xinjiang, he must have considered the matter carefully. Now that the court is stable, it is clear that Grandfather Emperor was right back then. Besides, Anle only feels that Princess Rou is more suitable to marry into Southern Xinjiang than Anle herself, but Father Emperor has not yet agreed. Why is Grandmother Empress Dowager being so insistent?”

When Jing Anle brought up the late emperor, the Empress Dowager was momentarily at a loss for words. After all, she couldn't contradict the late emperor's wishes, and she was so angry that she couldn't vent her anger.

Now that things have come to this, the one who is most panicked and nervous is naturally Jing Rou. She doesn't want to marry so far away; she doesn't want to be just a minor queen of the Southern Frontier.

"His Majesty."

Jing Rou's voice was soft, yet clear enough for everyone present to hear.

She slowly walked from her seat to the center, bowed, and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, I have already found someone I love, and I beg Your Majesty to grant my wish."

These few words were like a thunderclap, stunning everyone present. Only Jing Anle was overjoyed: very good, she had finally been forced out.