Chapter 32: Severing Princess Anning’s Right-Hand Men First

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Bai Bohan placed the letter on the desk, his gaze growing slightly cold as he looked out the window. “It’s very simple—because our interests align.”

“Lord Song is a very shrewd man; he knows exactly how to get others to support the Song family under the current circumstances.”

In this world, there are no eternal enemies, nor are there eternal friends.

As long as the stakes are high enough, even friends will stab you in the back.

Yang Hu’s eyes flickered with a strange light. The prince truly understood the Song family well.

Certainly, the prince must have been secretly watching over Miss Song’s affairs closely to know so much about them.

“Your Highness, should we give Lord Song a hand next?”

Bai Bohan gave a short nod. “Assist as you see fit, but make sure no one notices.”

Yang Hu acknowledged this and then brought up a matter. “Your Highness, the latest news says that after Cui Jing returned, she nearly strangled Princess Anning.”

Bai Bohan detected the gloating tone in his voice.

After a moment’s thought, he understood why Cui Jing acted so recklessly. “Cui Jing has been living smoothly these past years, thinking anything she does will be forgiven and everything will go her way.”

He looked at the matter with deep sarcasm. Cui Jing never considered that she caused the Song family to be raided and exiled—how could Song Shiwei still remain with her?

Bai Bohan added, “Keep a close watch on Princess Anning these days.”

“If I’m right, Princess Anning will definitely make a move against Song Shiwei.”

Yang Hu drew a sharp line across his neck with his hand, his expression fierce. “Your Highness, shall we teach Princess Anning a lesson?”

But Bai Bohan said patiently, “Not yet. Let’s wait and see what Lord Song does, so we don’t ruin his plans.”

If his guess was correct, the Song family would surely take some action against Anning.

...

At the morning court, in the Golden Throne Hall.

“Your Majesty, I have a memorial,” a censor in his sixties stepped forward.

He respectfully bowed to Emperor Wen and then raised the memorial high above his head. “I accuse the Cheng family of Princess Anning’s maternal clan of land appropriation, bullying men and oppressing women, selling official positions…”

“The crimes of the Cheng family are too numerous to list!”

His words caused quite a stir.

“The Cheng family?! How dare they brazenly sell official posts? They clearly have no respect for Your Majesty.”

“Judging by the censor’s demeanor, the evidence must be solid. The Cheng family is in serious trouble now.”

Chief eunuch Jiang Xingchang took the memorial and handed it to Emperor Wen.

The emperor, in his forties and well-maintained, did not look pleased upon hearing this.

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He quickly opened the memorial and scrutinized it.

After reviewing the evidence, his fury erupted. “The Cheng family indeed!”

“Please, Your Majesty, calm your wrath!” The ministers knelt in unison, shouting.

Emperor Wen slammed the desk several times, his anger surging uncontrollably. “How can I calm down?”

“A mere family like the Chengs dares to appropriate land and sell official positions like local despots—they clearly have no regard for me as emperor.”

One of his greatest hates was anyone coveting his power.

First, there was the Song family, whom he had already purged, and now the Cheng family. Behind the scenes, countless others were scheming against his authority.

The ministers lowered their heads, afraid to speak a word lest they be implicated.

The Cheng family had truly brought ruin upon themselves, committing such audacity.

Those court officials allied with the Chengs were sweating profusely and trembling uncontrollably.

They were not unaware of the Cheng family’s secret dealings and had even participated in some.

At the time, they had assumed that, given the emperor’s favoritism toward Princess Anning, the matter would be minimized or dismissed.

But the reality was far from that.

Seeing the kneeling ministers, Emperor Wen’s rage was beyond control. “Issue my decree: The Cheng family’s crimes…”

He suddenly recalled the charge of rebellion against the Song family and changed the accusation. “The Cheng family’s land appropriation and sale of official posts—behead them at once.”

“Whoever dares to plead for mercy shall lose their own head.”

He wanted to see who still dared to challenge his power.

When Princess Anning heard that the Cheng family was to be executed, she was stunned and lost control of her expression.

“How is this possible!?”

Her sharp voice was full of disbelief. “Father has always doted on me and never interfered with anything the Cheng family did.”

“Why would Father suddenly want to execute the Cheng family over such a trivial matter?”

Land appropriation and selling offices were such minor offenses—why did Father explode like this? After all, the entire court would eventually be hers.

She was merely exercising her power ahead of time.

Chief palace maid Ruyi’s face turned pale as she shook her head repeatedly. “I didn’t inquire into the details, Your Highness, only that His Majesty was furious during court over the Cheng family’s land appropriation and sale of offices.”

Until now, she had always thought the emperor spoiled the princess endlessly.

Whatever the princess did, the emperor never spoke harshly.

Now she realized that things were not as she had believed.

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Princess Anning still could not accept it. “It shouldn’t be like this, it shouldn’t be like this, it just shouldn’t!”

No matter how she thought about it, she could not understand. “The Cheng family did so many things before, but Father never scolded them harshly.”

“Now Father wants to execute them over something so small.”

The Cheng family was her right-hand support.

Over the years, they had done much for her and even found many handsome men for her.

“Princess, Lady Chunfei has sent a letter,” a maid hurried in with a message.

Princess Anning snatched the letter, tore it open quickly, and read its contents.

As she read, her face darkened; her mother was truly timid.

Losing one Cheng family was nothing, yet her mother advised her to behave and refrain from taking any action for now.

“Useless coward!”

Had it not been for her help, how could her mother have become a favored consort or gained authority over the six palaces?

Furious, Princess Anning tore the letter to pieces and carelessly threw it on the ground. “No need to save the Cheng family.”

Without the Cheng family, she still had the Cui family, the Qin family, and others; the loss was not significant.

From now on, she needed to secure the throne quickly and no longer be subject to her father.

...

At dusk.

Song Shiwei and her group settled by a small stream.

“If it weren’t for Song Shulan whining—first about foot pain, then saying she couldn’t walk—we wouldn’t have missed the town’s opening hours,” Song Mingting shouted loudly.

Everyone present gave Song Shulan cold looks.

“I think she did it on purpose. She’s always been one to enjoy herself; if it weren’t deliberate, why would she want us to camp out in the wild?”

“Maybe she was waiting for the Qin family or Princess Anning’s people to arrive, hoping they would deal with us.”

“If we don’t survive, she won’t either. She thinks the Qin family and Princess Anning will spare her?”

“And yesterday, we also had to camp out in the wild because of Song Shulan. Clearly, it was on purpose.”