Consort of a Thousand Faces

Pei Qianhao looked at the forest on the side of the palace path and chuckled. With him having been silent until now, Pei Qianhao’s sudden laugh made everyone turn their gaze toward him.

 

Afraid of making more mistakes, Yun Ruofeng immediately said, “Prince Hao, there will be a horse carriage waiting for you. We will be visiting the mother river of Nanzhao, the Water Caltrop River.

 

“Prince Yun, this Prince knows about the Water Caltrop River and doesn’t require you to tell me about it. However, it seems that the palace rules in Nanzhao aren’t so strict.” 

 

The sudden mention of palace rules had confused everyone. This was especially the case for the drama-loving Chu Linglong; the more chaotic the situation, the greater his enjoyment. 

 

Hence, before Yun Ruofeng could open his mouth, Chu Linglong gave off a laugh that made people’s hair stand on end and replied, “For Prince Hao to mention the palace rules all of a sudden, it appears that you also saw what this Crown Prince saw: a palace maid sneaking into the forest on the side. Since Nanzhao’s palace rules aren’t so strict, then today…”

 

Yun Ruofeng didn’t let Chu Linglong have his way and immediately replied, “Nanzhao has always been a country governed by virtuous rules. It is too cruel to punish a palace maid just for one small mistake. We will only punish a person if they made a mistake more than three times.”

 

He spoke softly and with a smile, making others believe that Yun Ruofeng was someone easy to get along with

 

When Su Xi-er heard this, her eyebrows knitted together. That was the new policy that I had drafted and set. Small mistakes such as breaking the palace rules will only be punished once they have been made more than three times. Of course, the punishment will be relative to the situation.

 

For someone who has already replaced my new policy, he’s sure quick to bring it up now.

 

Pei Qianhao also knew about this, so he didn’t go easy on him. “Prince Yun, if this Prince is correct, that policy was established by the previous Eldest Imperial Princess. Are you still following it despite her being dead?”

 

The previous Eldest Imperial Princess is a forbidden subject in Nanzhao, but Prince Hao just mentioned her in front of so many people. This scene… Chu Linglong was suddenly excited. The messier this becomes, the better it will be.

 

His long red phoenix eyes narrowed slightly as he played with his dyed purple nails. Just as Chu Linglong was about to speak up, the usually quiet Hua Zirong opened his mouth. “The new policy set by the previous Eldest Imperial Princess was highly respected by this Emperor. This Emperor had wanted to ask her for some advice on how to govern a country, but the heavens are jealous of the talented, and she died early. Prince Yun, it’s pretty good that you didn’t completely abolish the new policy.”

 

Although they sounded nice, these words were basically telling Yun Ruofeng that he couldn’t govern as well as a woman. Everyone could feel the atmosphere growing tenser.

 

When Pei Qianhao saw that the situation was in his favour, he changed the topic of the conversation instead of making things worse. “If a woman is too powerful, she definitely won’t be tolerated in Nanzhao. If she had been a man, she would definitely have been put in an important position.” He then turned his gaze to Ning Lianchen. “Your Majesty, you must learn to govern the country from your Imperial Elder Sister.”

 

Pei Qianhao had described Ning Rulan genuinely. When Ning Lianchen heard this, he immediately replied, “This Emperor will be sure to do so; I also hope that Prince Yun will learn together with me.”

His words were like a slap across Yun Ruofeng’s face! When Su Xi-er heard this, her gaze passed through the crowd and landed on Yun Ruofeng. She carefully looked at this expression. He is still as gentle as usual; you can’t find any of his faults.