The Ninth Princess Reigns Supreme [Transmigration] - Chapter 29

When Liu Li entered, she saw Ning Zichun standing aside with resentment, and an unfamiliar figure kneeling on the ground with Liu Ruyun.

She opened the system panel to check. This person was Concubine Li, the mother of the Eighth Princess; she also collected a wave of everyone’s favorability towards her.

Ning Zichun 0, Ning Ziling 10, Concubine Shi 10, Concubine Li -30, Liu Ruyun -100.

Liu Li felt something was wrong. Liu Ruyun was fine, but where did Concubine Li get negative favorability when she saw her for the first time?

Even Ning Zichun, who had had several unpleasant encounters with her, had a favorability of 0, and Concubine Li even pushed Ning Zichun to make friends with Liu Li, but how could she herself be so disgusted with her.

Anyway, it was just cannon fodder characters, it didn’t matter. Liu Li looked away and saluted everyone: “Greetings, Concubine Shi, Fifth Princess, Eighth Princess.”

Only concubines above the ninth rank needed her to salute, and Concubine Li was not high enough in rank to need a salute.

“County Princess Chun Ning.” The servant poured a cup of tea for Concubine Shi, and she smiled at Liu Li, “What wind brought you here?”

Liu Li said: “Reporting to Your Highness, this servant heard that my sister had committed a crime and was very worried, so I came to see what happened.”

Concubine Shi was noncommittal: “You sisters have a deep affection.”

Liu Li hurriedly said: “We are from the Duke of Chu’s mansion. If my sister causes trouble, this elder sister will naturally have to worry about it.”

Her words distanced herself from Liu Ruyun.

Concubine Shi was also the legitimate daughter of her family before entering the palace, and she knew the ways of the legitimate and illegitimate children very well. Seeing that Liu Li was not here to ask for someone, she softened her expression and said: “Eighth Princess, why don’t you repeat to the county princess what happened today?”

Her mother was still kneeling here, and Ning Zichun had to do it even if she didn’t want to. She put on a stinky face and quickly told Liu Li the whole story.

Fattening medicine? Liu Li glanced at Liu Ruyun’s thin back in surprise. This little girl probably didn’t have the guts.

“This…” she pondered, “Could there be some misunderstanding? My sister and the Fifth Princess don’t seem to know each other.”

Liu Ruyun, this little troublemaker, always looked for trouble, and Liu Li didn’t want to help her out, but if this matter was confirmed, she would have to let the entire Duke of Chu’s mansion bear the crime of harming the imperial heirs.

“Yes,” Ning Zichun said unwillingly, “Your Highness, please be aware that Second Miss Liu is my companion study and has no contact with Fifth Sister on weekdays. How could she poison her?”

Concubine Shi sneered and said nothing, and Ning Ziling mocked: “Yes, Second Miss Liu’s only contact with this princess is Eighth Sister, you.”

Ning Zichun’s face changed drastically: “You—!”

Her words implied that Ning Zichun was the instigator!

The Fifth Princess and the Eighth Princess had always been at odds. Now that the Eighth Princess’s companion study was suspected of poisoning the Fifth Princess, Concubine Shi thought that Concubine Li and Ning Zichun were the prime suspects and couldn’t get rid of the blame.

Concubine Li and Ning Zichun were very resistant to this, feeling that Concubine Shi wanted to take the opportunity to take them down.

“Your Highness, don’t worry.” Seeing that the atmosphere was gradually becoming tense, Liu Li smoothed things over, “Since someone has been sent to investigate, let’s wait and see.”

Liu Ruyun had been kneeling in the hall, bowing her head and saying nothing. When she heard Liu Li came, she was even more unwilling to raise her head.

At this moment, she suddenly figured something out.

Previously, Liu Ruyun had bribed the palace servant of Penglai Palace to poison Liu Li. But then she couldn’t contact the palace servant, and only heard that she was dead!

Looking at Liu Li as usual, Liu Ruyun had a guess—could it be that Liu Li had seen through her trick and framed her instead?!

The more Liu Ruyun thought about it, the more frightened she became. How could Liu Li be so vicious, she wanted to be punished by Concubine Shi!

She secretly glanced at Liu Li from below, only to see the skirt embroidered with a dragon, but she could still see that there was no sign of bloating.

The medicine was very effective, but Liu Li was fine!

She suddenly turned her head, thinking about how to drag Liu Li into the water in front of Concubine Shi.

Liu Li was startled by this look. Just as she frowned, she saw Liu Ruyun rushing over and hugging her leg.

Liu Li: …?

The little girl was quite strong, and Liu Li couldn’t break free for a while. Seeing this, Ning Ziling scolded: “Second Miss Liu, what are you doing? What kind of behavior is this!”

Concubine Shi also frowned.

No matter what, Liu Ruyun wouldn’t let go. She turned her head and shouted to Concubine Shi and Ning Ziling: “Your Highness, I swear to God that I have never harmed the Fifth Princess. You can go and investigate my elder sister! She has always been jealous of me. Maybe she framed me this time!”

Liu Li: …This is outrageous.

As the saying goes, family scandals should not be made public. Liu Ruyun dared to talk nonsense in front of the concubine, which was really embarrassing.

Giving Concubine Shi and Ning Ziling an apologetic look, Liu Li let Liu Ruyun hug her leg and asked softly, “What am I jealous of you?”

Liu Ruyun was speechless.

“Jealous of you not being a county princess, jealous of you being indiscreet, jealous of your thin arms and legs, you’ll break if you poke them?”

“Pfft…”

Ning Ziling couldn’t help laughing and was glanced at by Concubine Shi, who was smiling.

Liu Ruyun had never been subjected to such personal attacks. She wanted to yell a few more times, but saw Liu Li’s knuckles magnified in front of her eyes, and then her head hurt.

With a “thump”, Liu Ruyun’s eyes went black, and she fell down weakly.

Liu Li’s small fists were already quite skilled, with just the right strength, not hurting people at all. She politely put away her hands and saluted the concubine again: “My sister is talking nonsense, making you laugh. I’ll leave her here for Concubine Shi to deal with. I’ll take my leave first.”

Ning Zichun and Concubine Li looked terrified, as if Liu Li’s fists were man-eating monsters; Concubine Shi and her daughter were much calmer.

Ning Ziling even looked at her with admiration and envy.

Liu Li thought that this trip was in vain.

She had originally thought of saving Liu Ruyun for the sake of the Duke’s mansion, but she was bitten back. It seemed that she couldn’t be too kind.

Yu’er was waiting for her at the door. On the way back, Liu Li told her about it, and Yu’er angrily scolded: “This Liu Ruyun is really shameless! She dares to bite the county princess. Such a person who talks nonsense will go to the hell where their tongue is pulled out!”

“It’s okay.” Liu Li comforted Yu’er instead, “In the future, you should also pay attention. We won’t care about her affairs.”

“Yes!” Yu’er was still very angry, racking her brains to find words to scold, “This Liu Ruyun is really heartless…”

“County Princess!”

Suddenly, Liu Li was patted on the shoulder. When she looked back, it was Ning Ziling, who was panting.

The two in front were walking too fast, and Ning Ziling almost ran to catch up. She tried to calm her breath, and her face was full of praise: “County Princess is not only born with divine power, but also walks so fast. You are truly a heroine.”

“Of course, our county princess…” Yu’er was still immersed in her previous emotions and didn’t notice that someone had suddenly interrupted. After a while, she saw who was in front of her and hurriedly saluted, “Greetings, Fifth Princess.”

Ning Ziling glanced at her with a smile, feeling that her face was very familiar: “Isn’t this the shrimp-peeling girl?”

Yu’er didn’t expect Ning Ziling to remember her and stammered: “Your Highness, please forgive me. I didn’t peel shrimp for you last time…”

Liu Li motioned Yu’er to calm down, lowered her head and looked at Ning Ziling’s hand still on her shoulder, and said: “Fifth Princess, are you looking for me?”

Ning Ziling didn’t seem to think it was inappropriate to put her hand on Liu Li’s shoulder. She just leaned closer excitedly and whispered: “County Princess, you were so amazing just now. Your punches were fierce and accurate. Have you practiced martial arts?”

This touched on Liu Li’s blind spot. She really didn’t know the original owner’s background. Fortunately, Yu’er answered cleverly: “Reporting to Your Highness, when our county princess was in the Duke’s mansion, she invited a master to teach her out of interest. She practiced for a few months.”

Ning Ziling was very fond of Liu Li at this time, so she didn’t mind Yu’er’s interruption. She was even more excited when she heard this: “County Princess only practiced for a few months? That’s truly amazing talent.”

Liu Li could tell that she was enthusiastic about martial arts and smiled: “Could it be that Fifth Princess is also interested in this?”

Ning Ziling’s expression became a little dim: “County Princess, you don’t know…”

Then she told her about her inner conflict.

In the Great Ning Dynasty, although princes and princesses could inherit the throne, the system was not as equal as it seemed on the surface. Princes could practice martial arts in the training field every day, and whether they went or not was entirely voluntary; but princesses had no right to go to the training field at all.

Ning Ziling had no interest in reading and writing since she was a child, but was keen on wielding swords and spears. A few years ago, she asked Emperor Jiacheng to allow her to go to the training field, but was scolded by Emperor Jiacheng on the spot, accusing her of being whimsical and unreasonable.

Later, Concubine Shi, fearing that Ning Ziling would go her own way and be disliked by Emperor Jiacheng, didn’t let her mention it again, and even forbade her to practice martial arts secretly.

But Ning Ziling had never given up her inner desire. She was very excited to see Liu Li in Penglai Palace just now. When she heard that the Duke of Chu had specially invited a master to teach her, she was even more envious.

“…I don’t know why I suddenly ran over to tell you this,” Ning Ziling said with a wry smile, realizing that she was really impulsive and had poured out everything in one go. “I’m being rude, please don’t blame me.”

Just as she finished speaking, the system message came.

[System Prompt: You have triggered a side mission—Wish·Ning Ziling, do you want to start it?]

Liu Li hesitated when she saw this.

To be honest, she felt sorry for the girl in front of her. The dog emperor was unreasonable, not even letting her learn martial arts.

The problem was that Bao’an’s side mission was still missing the last step—escape from the palace (0/0). This was not an easy goal and would definitely take a lot of Liu Li’s energy. She wasn’t sure if she would have time to help Ning Ziling.

Moreover, she was now in Ning Zisheng’s camp, and she didn’t know what kind of butterfly effect helping the Fifth Princess would cause.

Should she accept it…

She didn’t notice that a familiar figure happened to pass by not far away, saw this side, and looked curiously.

Huh, isn’t that County Princess Chun Ning? Is that the Fifth Princess next to her?

Xiao Rui tiptoed and squinted. She saw the two of them standing together, leaning close and talking intimately, the atmosphere was very harmonious.

She had just finished decocting medicine for Concubine Chu and was anxious to go back. She didn’t have time to stay. After secretly remembering this, she left in a hurry.

I was watching the S10 competition and couldn’t code at all. Fortunately, I have drafts.