Prime Minister

Chapter 2.002 [Your Highness, please have some self-respect]

I?

Xue Huai turned to face the newcomer, lowered his head slightly, and quickly pondered the identity of the young woman.

The current emperor has many children, including five adult princes and three princesses. However, the one in front of him, who exudes an overbearing and arrogant air, is probably not one of the three princesses who are said to be well-behaved.

In an instant, Xue Huai had his answer.

The visitor should be Princess Yun'an, Jiang Li, whose father was the deceased Prince Qi, Jiang Heng, who was the younger brother of the current emperor.

According to the regulations of the Great Yan Dynasty, Jiang Li's original title should have been Princess. However, considering that the Prince of Qi and his wife had passed away early and that Jiang Li had no brothers or sisters, making her all alone, the Emperor favored her exceptionally, even more so than his own princes and princesses. Seven years ago, he issued an edict to confer upon Jiang Li the title of Princess Yun'an.

Although the capital was filled with nobles and high-ranking officials, and countless纨绔子弟 (sons of wealthy and powerful families), none of them dared to be presumptuous in front of Princess Yun'an, since even the Crown Prince had to dote on her.

This princess has a bad reputation. She is said to be domineering, arrogant, and capricious. She runs rampant in the capital because of the emperor's favor, and she has dealt with quite a few powerful and dissolute young men.

The most famous of them was Ouyang Ding, the youngest son of Ouyang Hui, the second-ranking official in the cabinet. At the Yun Jing Poetry Gathering last spring, Ouyang Ding was severely whipped by Princess Yun'an in public for simply saying the wrong thing. He hid at home and recuperated for a full six months, and in fact dared not go out to see anyone.

This is Xue Huai's rough memory of Jiang Li.

So, for some reason, he ended up near this Green Villa yesterday and was eventually rescued by Princess Yun'an's guards.

At that moment, Jiang Li walked gracefully over. She was wearing a plain white brocade jacket, with a moon-blue silk vest over it, and the silver thread embroidered with phoenix patterns on the collar flowed with her steps.

Her dark blue hair was adorned with only a single Hetian white jade phoenix head hairpin, and two rice-beads dangled below her ears, making her face appear even more aloof. The gilded filigree sachet on her lapel concealed its sharpness, with a wisp of sandalwood incense dangling down and floating in the wind.

Her eyes held a stillness like a deep pool, her nose was straight and delicate like the tip of a brush, and her lips were pale like early cherry blossoms dipped in frost. She wore only a light layer of makeup, yet her noble bearing was like a soft sword drawn from its sheath, piercing one's eyes.

The words "the newcomer is not friendly" suddenly flashed into Xue Huai's mind.

Although it was the other party's people who saved him, considering the princess's notoriously arrogant and willful nature, especially since she came in person at this moment, she certainly wasn't there to visit Xue Huai—it's highly likely that Xue Huai's uninvited arrival displeased her.

As expected, Jiang Li gazed at Xue Huai with her beautiful eyes and said sarcastically, "Since you have the courage to drown yourself, why don't you even dare to look at me?"

Xue Huai was handsome, but in Jiang Li's eyes he was nothing more than a good-looking man with a lot of courage but no strategic ability. He seemed to have read so many classic books but had no understanding of them. He was a cowardly good-for-nothing who wanted to commit suicide after suffering some setbacks.

In truth, she wouldn't care about the life or death of a mere compiler at the Hanlin Academy, but Xue Huai coming to her territory to seek death, especially given his somewhat complicated background, would definitely cause her some trouble.

Moreover, the fact that this happened so suddenly inevitably makes people feel strange.

King Qi and his wife died young, and Jiang Li had witnessed the coldness and warmth of human relationships since childhood. Especially growing up in the complex environment of the royal family, she was instinctively wary of anyone who tried to get close to her and would suspect their motives. Even a noble scholar like Xue Huai was no exception.

Xue Huai bowed respectfully, being extremely cautious: "Your Highness, please allow me to explain. I did not attempt to drown myself, but rather I accidentally slipped and fell into the water."

"A momentary lapse in attention?"

Jiang Li turned and walked towards the table, saying casually, "My guards reported yesterday evening that Xue Jingche, a dignified compiler of the Hanlin Academy and a former third-place scholar in the imperial examinations, actually went to the vicinity of my villa to drown himself. If they hadn't discovered you in time and pulled you out of the river, you would already be a corpse."

After taking her seat, she looked at Xue Huai with displeasure, her words sharp as knives: "Editor Xue has always hated evil as if it were his enemy. Could it be that you think I have also committed illegal acts, but you can't do anything about it, so you're using this trick of proving your innocence with your death to frame me?"

Xue Huai felt that this trouble had come rather suddenly.

But in Jiang Li's eyes, she was just a leisurely person far away from the central power. Xue Huai inexplicably drowned himself outside her villa. How could the important officials in the court not take advantage of this?

It should be noted that because of the emperor's favor towards her, there has never been a lack of dissenting voices in the court. For example, the old man, the Minister of Rites, repeatedly advised the emperor, as if she, an orphan who lost her parents at a young age, had the ability to influence the situation in the court.

Even if this matter doesn't fundamentally affect her, it's still very annoying to listen to a group of old men nagging all day long. She can't just shut the old men up like she does with those spoiled brats.

Xue Huai was fortunate to have some knowledge of classical culture in his previous life, and with complete memories and language habits in his mind, he was still able to respond: "Your Highness, your subordinate must have been too far away to see clearly. I was just thinking about something and lost my mind. I took a wrong step and fell into the water. I am not a good swimmer, and I was inevitably panicked and unable to save myself after falling into the water. Fortunately, your subordinate came to my rescue in time, and I was able to survive."

Falling into the water was an accident, but it's also true that the original owner gave up struggling at the crucial moment, so it's no wonder the princess would think that way. However, Xue Huai couldn't admit that he still couldn't grasp the temperament of this proud young lady, and she was indeed rumored to be unpredictable. If she suddenly lost her temper and ordered the guards outside to come in and kill him, would the emperor really make Jiang Li pay for his life?
The idea that princes are subject to the same laws as commoners is mostly just wishful thinking and self-consolation among scholars, unless it involves power struggles between factions.

Jiang Li narrowed her eyes slightly, seemingly surprised that these words could come from Xue Huai's mouth.

Wasn't this third-ranked scholar supposed to be pedantic and foolish?

Thinking of this, Jiang Li chuckled and said, "I'm a little curious. Editor Xue should have been on duty at the Hanlin Academy yesterday. Why would he have the leisure to stroll around the vicinity of Qinglv Villa? Could it be..."

She paused, looked up at Xue Huai, and said with a hint of disdain, "Could it be that you want to stage a clumsy 'Phoenix Seeking Its Mate' drama?"

Xue Huai frowned slightly and said, "Your Highness, please be careful with your words!"

To his surprise, Jiang Li did not get angry. Instead, she said calmly, "Everyone says that you are aloof and arrogant, regarding all the civil and military officials as scheming, corrupt and lawless people. You think that there is no one else but the emperor, and at most, the Minister of Rites Shen from a year ago. Just now I thought you were a different person. These words do have some of the backbone that are rumored to be there."

Xue Huai didn't add fuel to the fire; he just felt that the original owner's principles seemed a bit too strong.

Even if one doesn't conform to the crowd, as a newcomer to officialdom, if one offends the vast majority of people, how can one expect to get things done in the future?
Seeing his silence, Jiang Li changed the subject, saying, "But since you have such backbone, why do you want to die? To put it another way, the capital is so big, you can't die anywhere you want. You could die at the Hanlin Academy, at the Xue residence, or even at the doorstep of Chief Minister Ning, which would satisfy your ridiculous and pathetic pride. But you insisted on coming to the gate of my villa to drown yourself. Xue Huai, what exactly are you planning? I don't think I have any new or old grudges against you."

Xue Huai said slowly, "Your Highness seems to have a great prejudice against me."

"bias?"

Jiang Li shook her head, her voice carrying a condescending air despite her seated posture: "What makes you worthy of my special regard? I simply believe that a scholar like you, who only knows how to talk big, is of no benefit to the country or its people. You've been in office for almost two years, and besides writing memorials all day like a headless fly, what else can you do? In the end, you're just trying to buy a good reputation, just like your mentor who has cultivated his reputation for twenty years."

Xue Huai said solemnly, "Your Highness, the reason I impeached those people is because they were corrupt, lawless, and oppressive to the people, not because I wanted to gain personal fame. As for my master's character, it is probably not Your Highness's place to make such a comment."

Although Shen Wang had been quite disappointed in him for the past six months, Xue Huai was well aware of the importance of the mentor-apprentice relationship in the officialdom of this era, and he had to stand up and defend his mentor at this moment.

"Don't try to change the subject," Jiang Li said coldly. "I'm too lazy to argue with you. I'll ask you one last time: are you being instigated by someone to drag me into the infighting among you officials?"

Xue Huai vaguely felt that the princess's focus was a bit strange. Given her status and position, even if he were to die in the Nine-Bend River, let alone if he were still standing here unharmed, how could it possibly cause her any trouble?

In short, Jiang Li's excessive wariness is somewhat unusual.

He calmly looked at Jiang Li again. In fact, she was not very old, at most sixteen or seventeen years old, but her noble air made people forget her age.

Upon realizing this, Xue Huai said earnestly, "Your Highness, as I just said, this was just an accident. I have never had any grudges against Your Highness, and I greatly admire Your Highness's sense of justice in helping the weak and oppressed. How could I deliberately create trouble for Your Highness?"

"Still unwilling to tell the truth?"

Jiang Li stared coldly at him, then suddenly called out loudly, "Someone come here."

Two burly guards appeared at the door in an instant.

Xue Huai remained unmoved and calmly said, "Your Highness, I am an official appointed by the imperial court."

He was, after all, a distinguished scholar appointed by the emperor, and a loyal and upright official known to all. He was no longer the unruly playboy that Jiang Li used to discipline at will.

"Don't worry, I won't resort to torture."

Jiang Li said casually, "As a princess of the imperial family, I was offended by Xue Bianxiu's rudeness, so I punished you slightly. This shouldn't be too much, right? After all, this is my villa, not your Xue family's inner residence."

Xue Huai's heart tightened. He couldn't tell whether the other party's words were true or false, so he could only prepare for the worst.

Under Jiang Li's intrigued gaze, Xue Huai took a step forward.

(End of this chapter)