I just want to be a princess, no, you want to be a queen

Chapter 261 Choosing a Princess Again

Duke Pei had a dark face and waved his hand. Pei Mian hurriedly ran out sideways, while he looked at his wife and walked in helplessly.

"Madam, why are you telling him this?"

His Majesty already had a prejudice against his son following Prince Ningyuan. If he knew about this, Duke Pei would frown and say, "You are putting the Pei family on the fire."

Mrs. Pei glared angrily: "If anything happens to my son, I will not care about the life or death of your Pei family!"

"Madam, you and I have been married for more than twenty years, and you actually said such words. It really chills my heart." Duke Pei was so angry that he slapped half of his palm on the table.

"Why are you clapping?" Madam Pei began to settle old scores. "I said at the beginning that Your Majesty was seriously ill and had suffered the pain of losing a son, but was forced to adopt an heir. He must have felt resentful that Mian'er could not be sent to the palace to accompany Prince Ningyuan. But what did you do?"

"Is that why I want to send Mian'er there?" Duke Pei complained, "It was Mian'er himself who thought Wenyuan Pavilion had too many books and insisted on going to the palace to read."

"Without your tacit consent, would he have been able to go?"

"Yes, I was inconsiderate back then. But now..." Duke Pei didn't dare mention the Pei family anymore. He said aggrievedly, "Even if you don't care about me or the Pei family, please think about Huan'er!"

Pei Yunhuan is Pei Mian's half-sister.

Mrs. Pei said expressionlessly, "In two years, my Huan'er will no longer be a member of your Pei family."

"Okay, okay, you three are a family, and I am an outsider." Duke Pei turned and left angrily.

"stop!"

Madam Pei's calm voice echoed, and Duke Pei withdrew his foot from the door and closed it behind him. Keren stood still at the door, her head tilted high.

Mrs. Pei took a glance and scolded: "Sit down."

"Just sit down!" Duke Pei sat over sideways, looking aggrieved.

Madam Pei took her husband's hand, which was resting on the table, and shook it. "Mian'er is a man of integrity. Once he sets his mind to something, he will stick to it. You should have known this from when he insisted on following Prince Ningyuan to the border. Do you want to be a descendant of the Pei family, or my husband and Mian'er's father? It's your choice."

"Madam, what are you talking about? How could I not want you and Mian'er?"

"Then you'll listen to me." Madam Pei held her husband's hand tightly and said firmly, "With the disloyalty between the husband and wife, the situation is hopeless. In the battle for the throne, I predict that Prince Ningyuan will win."

Duke Pei looked at his wife in surprise: "What do you mean?"

After teaching her son, she now had to teach her husband. Mrs. Pei was exhausted and said in a low voice, "Given Lu Shao's prestige in the army, who would dare to assassinate him if not for His Majesty's personal instruction?"

Duke Pei was shocked: "Are you saying that the Song family is taking the blame?"

"I didn't say that." Mrs. Pei said arrogantly.

"No, no!" Duke Pei shook his head. "Even if it were true, Prince Guangcheng is the emperor's only son. If not him, who else would he pass the throne to?"

"How many of them in the Chu family ascended to the throne through inheritance?" Madam Pei snorted coldly and said slowly, "That's just one of the reasons. Secondly, I'm optimistic about the fourth young lady of the Lu family."

Speaking of Lu Mingyang, Madam Pei's eyes were filled with admiration. "Lu Shao and Wei Yuan's four children are all extraordinary. The eldest daughter is the most knowledgeable, the second son the most strategic, and the third son the most brave. But when it comes to decisiveness in times of crisis, no one can match the fourth daughter. Such abilities cannot be taught by human effort; they are the gift of heaven, the mother of the world."

It took me a long time to figure out the murder of Tian Qing, but Miss Lu Si was able to figure out the interests involved and find a solution in just a moment after the incident.

With this help, King Ningyuan will have no worries about not achieving great things.

The more Madam Pei thought about it, the more she felt that her judgment was correct. However, Duke Pei disagreed. "How can a woman influence important court affairs? The key still depends on His Majesty and Prince Ningyuan. Using two women to decide the fate of the world is really..."

"Really?" Madam Pei glared at him in dissatisfaction. "If you had listened to me back then, would you have ended up in this dilemma?"

"Madam, why are you talking about those old things again?"

"..."

Not only the Peiguo Mansion, but the entire capital city gradually began to move from watching to taking sides in this undercurrent struggle for the throne.

Things went just as Mrs. Pei had expected. The Dali Temple originally wanted to find out that the real murderer was a subordinate of Prince Ningyuan. The subordinate insisted that he had killed Tian Qing on his own. In this way, if a few more officials impeached him, the emperor would be able to imprison Prince Ningyuan again with a legitimate reason.

However, the Empress Dowager ordered the case to be transferred to the Ministry of Clan Affairs. In addition, the real evidence caught the fake murderer, and the emperor, in his anxiety, asked the Ministry of Clan Affairs to hastily close the case.

In Xiefang Palace, the emperor rested his head on Song Moli's soft legs, feeling distraught. Song Moli quietly massaged his temples. The tranquil scent of the beauty soothed his nerves a little.

"My beloved, what is that girl from the Lu family doing?"

He knew that Song Moli was aware of this information, and it was most appropriate for him to know it here.

Song Moli said, "I'm carrying the coffin back to Chishui Town with Mother Tian."

"Really going back?" the emperor was surprised.

"No doubt about it. Judging by their pace, they're almost there." Song Moli was also in disbelief when he heard the news. He couldn't help but remind the emperor, "Only they themselves know the truth and falsehood, the reality and the deception."

The emperor opened his eyes and asked, "What has Chu Mingzheng been doing recently?"

Since Huan Jin's death, Song Moli had, by coincidence, bribed Huan Yun and had some knowledge of the news about Ningyuan Palace.

"I heard that they're partying every night and getting drunk."

The emperor snorted coldly: "He is good at acting."

"It doesn't seem so!" Although Song Moli hoped that the emperor would dislike Chu Mingzheng as much as possible, at this moment, she couldn't help but want to refute.

"He didn't hire prostitutes from outside. The ones he used were prostitutes that Mrs. Lu had bought. He also left all of Mrs. Lu's belongings untouched. Furthermore, Concubine Qin attempted suicide many times, but Prince Ningyuan never saw her. I heard that he was resentful of her for nearly killing Mrs. Lu."

If he was really acting and Duke Qin was useful to him, how could he really ignore Qin Miao, unless he was really heartbroken.

Song Moli sighed, "There's another strange thing. Every day when the servants go to clean the study, they can see charcoal burned to ashes in the brazier, filled with the fragrance of pear blossoms and wood."

The emperor was puzzled: "Why is he burning pear wood?"

"It's like a statue of Lu is carved every night, only to be burned in the morning." Song Moli's eyes shone with envy. "A pear tree in blossom, a moonlit stream by the stream, I wonder who it belongs to tonight. Prince Ningyuan, perhaps he really is missing his old love."

"Is this a real split?" The emperor sat up and said with a smile, "The position of princess is vacant. Should I choose another princess for this good eldest son?"

Song Moli was stunned for a long time before he said, "Your Majesty, if you do this, won't it displease the Queen Mother?"

Everyone knows that the Queen Mother favors Qin Miao.