Ning Xueyan’s watery eyes glinted with intelligence as she pulled the lapel of his clothes. “Didn’t you say you’ll leave the inner courtyard matters to me? Why won’t you let me step in now?”

She understood his intention but she didn’t want him to intervene in this kind of thing. After all, if she were involved, it would be at most a dispute between the wife and consort. But if he were to do it, he might cause other problems. There was no shortage of spies among the many nameless concubines living here.

It was apparent from the incident on their wedding night that the inner courtyard of the Prince Yi’s Manor was an unsteady one. The only reason why those people didn’t even dare to take action was Ao Chenyi’s ruthlessness. However, the inner courtyard was ultimately still a harem. If Ao Chenyi were to intervene, it might give the Emperor an excuse to do the same.

Since she married him with the intention of helping him solve his problems, she wouldn’t just sit around and watch.

She would naturally help him straighten out his inner courtyard as he intended. This way, they could stop the people from the palace from getting a chance to harming them.

Ao Chenyi lowered his head and gently stroked the hair on her temples. Raising an eyebrow, he looked at her sullenly. “All right but don’t you dare put yourself in danger. With me around, there’s no need for you to take any risks.”

Knowing that he was referring to the Lord Protector’s Manor, Ning Xueyan pouted playfully. “You gave me two guards, remember? I’m completely safe with them around.”

With Xinmei protecting her in the open and Liufeng guarding her in secret, she believed that Ning Yuling wouldn’t be able to do anything to her. It didn’t matter even if any of Ning Yuling’s guards try to attack her recklessly. Truth to be told, she was in no danger at all.

Seeing her coquettish expression, Ao Chenyi lowered his head so that their foreheads would be pressed together. “Remember. Never put yourself in danger,” he said warmly.

Leaving the matters of the inner courtyard to her would be for the best. That was his intention when he first asked her to be his consort. Their deal was completely fair. Since he had helped her, it was only right for her to return the favor.

Right now, however, he was willing to remove all obstacles for her.

Before he knew it, she had already walked into his heart. She was no longer just a stranger that he had taken an interest in.

“All right. I’ll be fine.” Ning Xueyan blushed when she felt his gentle kiss on her cheek. She pressed her face into his chest and said impatiently, “Relax. Nothing will happen to me.”

Some time ago, she asked Ao Chenyi to get her someone. To her surprise, he found her someone from the Lord Peace’s Manor. It was said that the man was the dearest grandson of the former Lord Peace and the same son of the Lord Peace’s Manor who forced Commandery Princess Xianyun to agree to their co-wedding.

The thought of Ao Chenyi being so sly gave her the urge to laugh.

Ao Chenyi ate dinner at her place. Of course, he didn’t forget to throw two vases in her room out of the window, making a huge racket of broken porcelain noises, before leaving in a rage. When Commandery Princess Xianyun heard this, her dark expression gradually improved. She believed that Ning Xueyan wouldn’t just get off completely unscathed.

Although the matter didn’t have much to do with Ning Xueyan, Heng Yuwan had indeed come to see her. It was Heng Yuwan’s ill intentions that led her to her current state, but Ning Xueyan was nonetheless a poor hostess. How could she have left her guest alone just like that, only noticing the disappearance at the second gate?

Seeing as Ning Xueyan had gotten implicated as well, it seemed that Prince Yi was quite unhappy with his consort. That meant that she was free to take certain actions.

These thoughts improved her mood considerably. After discussing with her two maids, she decided to start with that matter. Although her courtyard was far from the Pear Flower Garden, she had been paying attention to everything going on there!

This was how it happened.

The Princess had discovered an errand maid who had apparently spoken to others about the happenings in the Pear Flower Garden. The maid was reprimanded and punished to kneel at the entrance of the Great Wisdom Garden. Commandery Princess Xianyun was the princess and her courtyard was in the center of the inner courtyard of the manor. Many people would pass by the place. Several of the nameless concubines even secretly ran over to catch a glimpse of the commotion.

Lanning, who went to the kitchen to fetch some ingredients, also checked out the situation on the way. Ning Xueyan usually dined in the small kitchen, so the maids tend to fetch ingredients from the main kitchen. There wasn’t a need to pass by the Great Wisdom Garden to the kitchen but after hearing that a maid from the Pear Flower Garden was being punished, she had to take a look.

She told Ning Xueyan the incident upon returning.

“Master, what does the Princess wants to do by punishing one of our maids? Even if the maid did something wrong, shouldn’t you be the one to punish her?”

A maid would indeed be punished for carelessly discussing her master. One could say that the Princess punishing the maid was a form of venting for Ning Xueyan’s sake. However, she wasn’t just humiliating the maid when she made the maid kneel at the entrance.

This was so conspicuous that it was completely unlike the Princess’ usual behavior. That wasn’t to say that she had never acted in a high-profile manner before. Some time ago, she conspicuously tried to interfere in the matters of the inner courtyard and punish the concubines who disturbed Ning Xueyan during their co-wedding night. She acted so boldly that she drew the attention of all the concubines.

The difference was that she was using Ning Xueyan’s name to vent her anger and straighten out the inner courtyard at that time. Now, she appeared to be standing up for Ning Xueyan, but the truth was…

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“Are there many onlookers?” Ning Xueyan asked nonchalantly, raising an eyebrow.

“The crowd is enormous! I went there myself and saw so many maids and older female servants gossiping among themselves as they came from that direction. When I got there, I saw a few concubines strolling in the rock garden outside the courtyard. They looked like they were there coincidentally, but I have never even seen them before.”

The rules at Prince Yi’s Manor used to be so strict that the concubines weren’t allowed to leave their courtyards as they pleased. But ever since Ao Chenyi got married, this rule started becoming obsolete. While no concubine would ever come out in the past, you could now see one or two of the brave ones outdoors.

Ao Chenyi smashing two vases bestowed by the palace was terrible gossip but there were maids and older female servants who would discuss it privately. They thought that there were many more ways to punish Ning Xueyan if the prince truly wanted to; such fanfare was completely unnecessary.

“Tell Mother Han to warn everyone in our courtyard to control their tongue. If something like this happens again, I can’t guarantee that they’ll be able to keep their lives,” Ning Xueyan said with a faint expression. It seemed that the Princess had finally run out of patience and was beginning to attack her.

It was just an errand maid. If the Princess was upset and wanted to punish the maid, she would just let her.

No matter how you cut it, it was the Princess who was kind-hearted enough to stand up for the fragile consort. If she spoke up for the errand maid, she would look like the unreasonable one instead.

Ning Xueyan’s indifference prompted Lanning to ask, “The Princess is starting to take charge of the inner courtyard, right?” The Princess had done something similar before.

Ning Xueyan shook her head. After suffering such a loss last time, the Princess wouldn’t make the same mistake. But, an errand maid from her courtyard couldn’t be compared to concubines bestowed by the Emperor. The Princess wouldn’t find it difficult to deal with a mere errand maid.

Starting her attack with an errand maid was a hundred times easier than dealing with the concubines from the Emperor.

The Princess was a smart person who would never make the same mistake twice.

“If the Princess comes over later, tell her to wait for me to come back from my stroll.” Ning Xueyan put down the book in her hands with a mocking smile. This was, of course, the first step. The follow-up had yet to come. To demonstrate how virtuous and generous she was, the Princess would come here personally.

“Yes, I understand.” Lanning grasped her meaning.

Ning Xueyan stood up, allowing Lanning to straighten out her skirt, before going out with Qingyu. She would go on a walk to clear her mind, as befitting of an emotionally frustrated consort.

Walking from the Pear Flower Garden to the flower garden, Ning Xueyan traveled the same path she took with Heng Yuqing that day. She hadn’t stayed in Prince Yi’s Manor for long so there were many places that she had not been to. The view along the path was quite decent, but they were preoccupied with Heng Yuwan’s matter that day. After Lanning and the two maids were summoned, she and Heng Yuqing had to return to wait for news.

The beautiful scenery here, particularly certain flowers, left a deep impression on her mind. Feeling quite optimistic, she was wondering how she could bring them to the newly-opened flower field that Ao Chenyi built for her. The flower field was located behind her courtyard and all the necessary items were ready. She could set up the conservatory whenever she wanted to.

The flowers inside could bloom well even in winter, but there were too few varieties inside right now. She was quite interested in finding more exotic flowers.

The maids and older female servants who saw her from afar would lower their heads, stand by the road, and salute her.

Several concubines were sitting in a pavilion not far ahead with fans in their hands. When they saw Ning Xueyan walking by below, they poked their heads out for a better look.

They were pretty much locked up a while ago, forbidden from even walking around the courtyard, leaving them feeling cramped. They were finally able to relax recently and even sneak out for a stroll. Their life was so much better than before. This was apparently the Princess’ intention. It was said that the Princess pleaded with Prince Yi to let them out. Thus, they were quite pleased with her.

“Hey, isn’t that the new consort?” a beautiful woman dressed in a pink dress asked, pointing to Ning Xueyan.

“Right, right. She’s so thin! And her complexion…” another woman in a green dress said disdainfully, curling her lips.

Ning Xueyan’s face was typically pale and her faint lip color often gave people the impression that she had poor health.

“It’s no wonder that she can’t even control an errand maid. She would have lost her life if she were in the palace.” Most of these women came from the palace, so they were bolder than the average woman. They also dared to go to the Great Wisdom Garden to join the excitement. Having just returned from there, they were resting and chatting. It was their rare moment of relaxation and they didn’t want to go back so soon.

“Tsk. Does she want to enter the palace looking like this? She’d probably die without even knowing it.” Another couldn’t help but ridicule Ning Xueyan.

“That’s right. What’s the use of looking pretty? If she’s that sickly, she’ll die without anyone doing anything to her.”

“Huh? Who’s that?” A woman leaning against the entrance of the pavilion, who was sizing up Ning Xueyan, suddenly pointed her fan in Ning Xueyan’s direction.

“Let me see. Let me see.” The moment they heard that there was a show waiting for them, the other women immediately rushed over in surprise. They opened their eyes wide and looked down together.