Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 583 Another sister-in-law/fiancée? (11,000 words)

December is already deep winter.

Today is a rare good day. The orange sun hangs overhead, which, while unable to dispel the chill of Liaodong, at least brightens the whole world. A gentle north wind quietly sweeps by, and the wind chimes under the eaves emit a lazy sound.

Besides the three sons and four daughters raised by Luo Yuheng, Emperor Ninghe also had one son and three daughters in the palace.

One of his sons was Luo Jingyu, the former eldest son of the emperor.

Of the three daughters, only Luo Xiangtong, the biological daughter of Yang Guifei and the younger sister of Luo Jingyu, has the title of Yongning. The other two, Luo Shuangshuang and Luo Xixi, are nine and seven years old respectively, and have not yet reached the age of coming of age and have not been formally conferred titles.

To be fair, Emperor Ninghe's genes were quite good.

Their offspring are handsome men and beautiful women.

As for Luo Tianyang, there's probably some genetic mutation involved.

The women of the Luo family are all stunningly beautiful. Yongning is sixteen or seventeen years old, about the same age as Song Yan. Her figure is already quite graceful, and she has grown into a beautiful young woman. While her face may not be considered breathtakingly beautiful, it would certainly be described as picturesque.

Even the younger Luo Shuangshuang and Luo Xixi were exquisitely beautiful, very cute, and definitely beauties in the making.

However, it's normal that the three princesses are not in good spirits. Even the youngest one, Luo Xixi, has reached an age where she can understand things. During this period, the royal family has undergone tremendous changes. Her father was assassinated in the street. The huge royal family is like a branch in the wind, teetering on the brink of collapse. The invisible pressure is something that all three princesses can feel.

Although the eldest brother has become emperor and treats his three younger sisters very well, the Yang family has rebelled, the Prince of Jin has rebelled, and the two governors in the west have rebelled. In addition, there are some rebels that they could not eliminate before. Ningguo is now in an unprecedented state of turmoil.

Even the so-called princess has long lost her former dignity.

A hint of worry crept onto her face, and the days of living outdoors had made her fair complexion look even more haggard.

This trip to the Prince of Yan's fiefdom was, to put it nicely, a visit to relatives; to put it bluntly, it was about living under someone else's roof, merely trying to survive in this chaotic world.

In addition, Song Yan's fearsome reputation was well-known, and his name as the "Mortal of Jingguan" was known to everyone. As a result, the three little girls' faces turned pale, and their big eyes were filled with fear. Princess Yongning, Luo Xiangtong, in particular, clearly remembered the scene outside the Yan Prince's Mansion in Dongling, where corpses lay everywhere and blood flowed like rivers. She had woken up from nightmares countless times since then, and now, seeing Song Yan again, she couldn't help but tremble.

However, she was, after all, a grown woman and couldn't appear inferior to her two younger sisters. She quickly adjusted her mindset and bowed to Song Yan, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness Prince Yan."

Luo Shuangshuang and Luo Xixi, who were standing nearby, followed suit and said, "Greetings, Your Highness, Prince Yan."

Song Yan smiled wryly, reached out to help Yongning up, and then hugged the youngest, Luo Xixi, into his arms. The little girl was only seven years old, so even if they were a little intimate, it wouldn't cause any bad rumors. He reached out and teased the little girl's soft cheek: "Are you afraid of me?"

Luo Xixi panicked and didn't know how to answer.

Song Yan laughed even more heartily, teased Luo Xixi a little more, and then looked at Yongning and Luo Shuangshuang: "From now on, you will both live in the Prince Yan's residence. Don't call me Your Highness Prince Yan anymore, just call me brother-in-law."

"Don't worry about anything. Your brother-in-law guarantees that this is the safest place in the world. No one can hurt you here."

His cheerful smile seemed to dispel the gloom in the hearts of the three girls.

Luo Shuangshuang and Luo Xixi were still quite young. Seeing that Song Yan didn't seem as scary as the rumors suggested, their fear lessened considerably. Their big, dark eyes would occasionally steal glances at Song Yan, but when Song Yan looked over, they would quickly look away like startled squirrels.

A touch of cuteness shines through her playfulness.

Even Yongning, who was most afraid of Song Yan, felt much more at ease after hearing these words.

With a smile, Song Yan put Luo Xixi down and called Gao Yang and Cui Yingying over to help settle the three princesses in.

After settling the three princesses in, Luo Tianxuan followed Song Yan back to the bedroom, curling up in his arms.

This is a moment of tenderness between the couple, separated by several months.

These days, Luo Tianxuan has obviously been very busy, and her little face is visibly haggard, which makes Song Yan feel a little more sorry for her. He gently strokes Luo Tianxuan's cheek with his fingers, and occasionally lifts the long hair at Luo Tianxuan's temples, wrapping it around his fingers again and again, probably treating the hair as some kind of fun toy.

"sorry."

Luo Tianxuan murmured softly, feeling somewhat uneasy.

"Hmm." Song Yan simply responded softly: "What's wrong with it?"

"I shouldn't have run away alone and made my husband worry," Luo Tianxuan blinked and said softly.

"anything else?"

"In the court, I shouldn't have used my husband's name to express my support for Tian Shu becoming emperor." Luo Tianxuan pursed her lips and continued. The scene that day was somewhat amusing. The court was clearly divided into two factions. One faction supported Luo Tian Shu, not because Luo Tian Shu had any deep connections with these people, but simply because these people were a bunch of old-fashioned people. They wanted to follow the old system, establish the eldest son as heir, and at the same time felt that Luo Jingyu's maternal family was the Yang family, and Yang Hexin had murdered the emperor in the street, so Luo Jingyu had no right to succeed to the throne.

The other faction consists of the opportunists who surrounded Luo Jingyu during the time he was the only son of Emperor Ninghe. These people had invested a great deal in Luo Jingyu, and if they could not put him on the throne, all their efforts over the years would be in vain.

The two sides argued endlessly.

On the contrary, Luo Tianchu and Luo Jingyu, the two parties involved, hardly had a chance to express their opinions. Even though Luo Jingyu had clearly stated that he had no intention of taking the throne, his supporters ignored him. At this point, whether or not one wants to be emperor is not something a prince can decide.

At the height of the conflict, the two factions even disregarded their dignity as court officials and began fighting in front of Emperor Ninghe's coffin, with several shoes flying off. Then, Luo Tianxuan suddenly stepped forward, declaring as the Princess Consort of the Prince of Yan that the Prince of Yan supported Luo Tianshu. The noisy hall fell into a deathly silence.

And so the matter was settled, with no one offering any further dissenting opinions. Everything seemed like a child's play. Perhaps everyone wanted to finalize the matter as quickly as possible; after all, that was the Prince of Yan, someone who dared to lead troops to besiege the palace during the late emperor's reign, someone whom Emperor Ninghe himself had said had rebelled. What kind of ruthless person could I be?

Even if Luo Jingyu, whom she supported, fails to ascend the throne, at most she will lose the merit of supporting the emperor, and she might be punished by Luo Tianshu, but at least she will still be alive. However, if she provokes Song Yan, that evil star, to Dongling, she may lose her life at any time.

"anything else?"

"I shouldn't have brought my three younger sisters into the palace without my husband's permission," Luo Tianxuan said softly after thinking for a moment.

Song Yan slowly exhaled, rubbed Luo Tianxuan's head, and messed up her hair, as if this was punishment. Luo Tianxuan knew she was wrong, so she obediently let her husband make her hair into a bird's nest. After thinking for a moment, Song Yan slowly said, "You are my wife."

Luo Tianxuan was naturally Song Yan's legal wife, but hearing these words from Song Yan's own mouth still warmed her heart.

“Emperor Ninghe is my father-in-law, and the three princesses are my sisters-in-law. Dongling is in chaos right now. Under these circumstances, it is perfectly fine for you to settle your three sisters in the Prince’s Mansion and ensure their safety. Although it may not sound good if word gets out, you know I never care about those messy rumors. Anyway, the Prince’s Mansion has enough rooms to accommodate three girls.”

Although Yongning had some connection with the Yang family, he had once received a large sum of money from Luo Jingyu. Even if we disregarded Emperor Ninghe's reputation, we wouldn't turn Yongning away just because of the money.

“Luo Tianchu is my brother-in-law. He wants to be emperor, and I will support him.”

"I can ignore all of these things."

"Just don't leave so quietly next time."

In other words, a large number of Imperial Guards were stationed in Dongling City, which allowed Song Yan to frequently learn about some things in Dongling City. He knew that Princess Luo Tianxuan would often appear in public, and he also understood that Luo Tianxuan was very powerful. There were very few people in the world who could hurt Luo Tianxuan. Otherwise, Song Yan would probably have once again led his elite cavalry, traveling day and night, straight to Dongling.

"I'm always worried."

"sorry."

“There’s no need to keep apologizing.” Song Yan hugged the woman in his arms even tighter. “Actually, I understand that Dongling City is a huge pit of fire right now. You just don’t want me to fall into it. But… sometimes, I can rely on my husband a little more.” After a brief pause, Song Yan continued, “Tell me, what exactly is the situation in Dongling City?”

"Tian Shu, what makes you want to be emperor?"

Song Yan was somewhat curious. He had previously asked Tian Shu and Tian Quan, but neither of them showed much interest in the emperor's position. Both were intelligent men; they knew very well that while the throne represented supreme power, that dragon chair was also dangerous.

“Father’s death must have been a shock to Tian Shu.” Luo Tianxuan sighed with a hint of helplessness. “As you know, all of us siblings were raised by our aunt.”

“But my aunt is ultimately just a woman, and sometimes she can’t take care of everything. In these situations, the task of taking care of the younger siblings falls on the older brothers and sisters. And I’m sickly, so… Tianquan, Tianyi, Tianyang, Qingyi, Caiyi, and most of the time it’s Tianshu who takes care of them.”

"Although Tian Shu is my younger brother, he is more mature than me."

"And I'm even more tired."

“Most of us siblings have gotten used to life without a father, but Tian Shu… probably longs for a father the most deep down.”

Luo Tianxuan talked on and on, while Song Yan listened quietly.

A gentle voice flowed through the room like water.

“I can see that although some of the Empress’s actions have made Tian Shu very dissatisfied, he likes his father very much. He has been very happy during the time he has spent with his father. This joy is much stronger than that of Tian Quan.”

"So although we were very sad and heartbroken when Father was assassinated, we gradually accepted the fact after some time. But Tian Shu seems to have been traumatized and is deeply affected; he's become somewhat..."

Crazy!

Luo Tianxuan ultimately didn't utter those two words.

"Now, the Yang family's reputation is completely ruined. Some people who used to have a good relationship with the Yang family have quickly cut off contact with them. But these people are still in Dongling. Among them are nobles who have continued from the founding of the country to the present day, and some are high-ranking officials in the court. Tian Shu didn't say, but I think one of Tian Shu's goals is to eliminate these people who once bullied and persecuted my father one by one."

"As for the other purpose, it was probably to preserve my father's bloodline as much as possible."

Song Yan nodded slightly. Although he hadn't seen Tian Shu for a long time, he could roughly imagine what Luo Tian Shu looked like just from Luo Tianxuan's words.

“Originally, I planned to leave with Tianquan this time as well, but Tianquan couldn’t bear to leave Tianshu alone in Dongling, so he stayed. In the current palace, Wei Zhong is still protecting Tianshu closely, just like he used to protect his father. Wei Xiao is still in charge of the Imperial City Guard, while Tianquan personally went to the address you left for him and temporarily took over the Embroidered Uniform Guard in Dongling City.”

Song Yan nodded again; he knew about this matter.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard once used a fast horse to deliver a message to him in the shortest possible time, asking Luo Tianquan if he could borrow the Embroidered Uniform Guard's power.

Song Yan agreed.

"The Imperial City Guard and the Embroidered Uniform Guard are now operating at full capacity, investigating the residences of officials and nobles in Dongling City every day."

"Once any illegal or disorderly conduct is discovered, the consequences range from confiscation of property to the extermination of the entire family."

"In just a few months, dozens of officials and nobles have been beheaded. Almost every few days, many people are dragged to the execution ground and beheaded. Tian Shu has already earned the title of tyrant, and everyone in the court is in danger. The oppressive atmosphere is probably not much better than when you were in Dongling."

Song Yan frowned; Luo Tianchu's behavior was somewhat unusual.

Having just ascended the throne, one should have some plans, but the most important thing is to stabilize the current situation. To immediately resort to drastic measures would be far too dangerous. If things go wrong, a palace coup might even break out in Dongling City. Even the governor who was guarding the region might feel that he was not clean, and if he fell into Luo Tianshu's hands one day, he would die anyway. It would be better to simply rebel...

wrong!

Song Yan's brows suddenly furrowed. Could it be that Luo Tianshu's true purpose was to force all ambitious people in the entire Ning Kingdom to rebel? He wanted to make it impossible for these people not to rebel, and he wanted to completely muddy the waters of Ning Kingdom?

"What else did he do?" Song Yan sighed and asked again.

"We also did... well, let's train the troops." After thinking for a moment, Luo Tianxuan said.

"He bribed the palace eunuchs with high salaries, seemingly preparing to train them into an army. This winter, there were many refugees in Dongling City. Tian Shu, in the name of the emperor, spent a lot of money to buy a large amount of grain and even used the imperial estates to settle these refugees, so that they would not freeze or starve to death in the winter. Then he selected tens of thousands of young men from among the refugees."

"The Marquis of Anning led the Imperial Guards to suppress the rebellion, but he left behind a thousand elite soldiers to train these young men."

Song Yan's fingers involuntarily clenched tightly.

Clearly, this brother-in-law was prepared to fight the enemy to the death.

Everything he did was so similar to that of the former Emperor Ninghe; he was practically Emperor Ninghe 2.0.

He wanted to plunge the Ning Kingdom, which hadn't completely descended into chaos after Emperor Ninghe's death, into utter chaos, and then, incidentally, eliminate any obstacles that might stand in Song Yan's way.

“I once told Tian Shu that the Yan vassal state has a strong military force. If we could just gather 10,000 elite troops, we could take down the Yang family in no time.” Luo Tianxuan sighed helplessly, “But Tian Shu just smiled and shook his head, saying that it wasn’t the right time for my brother-in-law to step in yet…”

"I don't really understand why."

"He just asked me to tell you one thing: you must take good care of Tianyang and these younger sisters."

For a moment, Song Yan was unsure of what he was feeling. His heart was heavy. He knew that Luo Tianshu was just like Emperor Ninghe before him, paving the way for him and using this path to exchange for ensuring the safety of Emperor Ninghe's other descendants for life.

Emperor Ninghe has passed away.

He couldn't let Luo Tianchu end up like that.

Although the Shenji Battalion was only in its initial stages.

Although the cannons had only just begun to be mass-produced.

However, his actions should be brought forward; he cannot let Luo Tianchu bear all the pressure alone.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing." Luo Tianxuan seemed to have thought of something, and her expression gradually became somewhat strange: "It's about Consort Yang."

Song Yan was stunned for a moment before he remembered who this Consort Yang was.

She was Yang Guifei, Yang Miaoyun.

With the passing of Emperor Ninghe, the former concubine became a Dowager Consort.

"What is it?" Song Yan asked curiously. He had never even met this Yang Guifei before, and he really didn't know what she wanted to see him about.

"Yang Guifei once came to me, hoping that I would agree to marry Yongning to you as well. Tian Shu has already agreed and even brought an imperial decree to bestow the marriage, but that girl Yongning doesn't know about it yet."

Huh?
Even with Song Yan's calm and collected demeanor, he couldn't help but look surprised upon hearing this.

what is this?
Another sister-in-law fiancée!
Does he really want him to kill all of Emperor Ninghe's daughters at once?
If Emperor Ninghe knew this from beyond the grave, he would probably jump out and strangle him!
(End of this chapter)