The legitimate daughter returns to the capital and embarks on a splendid life, tearing apart the fak

The eldest princess sighed, leaning back in her chair, her voice filled with an indescribable weariness: "What good will it do to just let it go? Do you have any evidence? Even if you know that Prince Yu is involved, what grounds do I have to confront him?"

The lady-in-waiting thought for a moment, then tentatively suggested, "Your Highness, should we have someone keep an eye on him? Knowing his every move will keep us informed..."

"No need," the princess waved her hand. "The fact that he was able to quietly dump two corpses into Min'er's courtyard today is to tell me that even if he wanted to take Min'er's head, it would be impossible. Keep an eye on him, whether you can keep an eye on him or not is another matter, but don't do anything that could backfire."

She paused, then said in a low voice, "I cannot afford to offend this good nephew of mine. At least not now."

The lady-in-waiting quickly agreed, then brought up another matter: "By the way, Your Highness, Madam Zheng is already looking for a husband for the second young lady of the Zheng family. I heard she's looked at several families, but this second young lady has very high standards."

The eldest princess raised an eyebrow, her tone tinged with curiosity: "Oh? What's the high level of law? Tell me about it."

The female official smiled, leaned closer, and lowered her voice, saying, "That girl has quite the ambition. I heard that she also has feelings for His Highness Prince Yu."

The eldest princess tapped her fingers lightly on the table twice, a cold smile playing on her lips: "That's right. So that's why she was targeting Yun Jin for no reason. Now I know the root of the problem. They're all eyeing Prince Yu, without even looking at themselves!"

The lady-in-waiting hurriedly asked, "Your Highness, should we teach her a lesson?"

The eldest princess thought for a moment, then smiled slightly: "Tell me, which men from prominent families in the capital are a good match for this Miss Zheng?"

The female official's eyes lit up, and she immediately understood the princess's meaning: to kill someone by destroying their spirit.

She thought for a moment and said, "Your Highness, I do know a few. The youngest son of the Prince of Wu, although he is born out of wedlock, the Prince of Wu is still a prince, and his family is not low. There is also the son of the Prince of Runing, who is about the same age as her."

The eldest princess shook her head: "Miss Zheng is, after all, a legitimate daughter. How can she be married to a son born of a concubine? In my opinion, she is perfectly capable of being the mistress of the household."

The female official's eyes lit up, and after racking her brains for a while, she said, "Your Highness, the Marquis of Jingyuan lost his wife last year, and the position of principal wife is vacant. There is also the Prince of Zhennan, whose wife has also passed away. He is just a bit older."

Not only were they old, but one was in his thirties and the other in his forties. Although they came from high-ranking families, they did not have much real power in the court and held only sinecure positions.

The eldest princess smiled with satisfaction: "I think it's a good idea. What's wrong with being older? Older people are more caring. Let's choose one of them."

She picked up her teacup, took a leisurely sip, and said, "Arrange a time to invite both of them to my residence for a chat. I want to speak with them personally. Also, prepare a portrait of Miss Zheng Er, make sure it looks like her, so that no one can't recognize her."

The lady-in-waiting quickly agreed and turned to make the arrangements. The princess leaned back in her chair, the smile on her lips lingering.

Zheng Jie, if you dare to take advantage of my daughter, I will find you a good family. Don't worry, I will make sure you get married in style.

……

Xiao Jingyan interrogated the assassin without alerting anyone, and went back to his residence to sleep.

He slept until the sun was high in the sky before getting up. After having lunch, he said to Jin Hu, "Prepare the horses, I am going to the palace."

Jin Hu was taken aback for a moment, then couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, aren't you going to see Miss Yun?"

Xiao Jingyan stood up, straightened his clothes, and a glint of malice flashed in his eyes: "I'm going to seek justice for her."

Jin Hu dared not ask any more questions and hurriedly went to prepare the horse.

In the imperial study, the emperor was leaning back in his chair, resting with his eyes closed, when a eunuch came to report that Prince Yu was requesting an audience.

The emperor opened his eyes and frowned: "He's back?"

The eunuch hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty, Prince Yu arrived in the capital last night."

The emperor waved his hand: "Summon them."

Xiao Jingyan strode in and knelt down with a thud: "Uncle Emperor, Jingyan has a favor to ask of you!"

The emperor was startled by his display and quickly ordered a eunuch to help him up: "What's wrong? Get up and talk to me."

Xiao Jingyan knelt on the ground, repeatedly saying, "Uncle, I've heard about Yun Jin, the second young lady of the Yun family. Uncle, Miss Ma presented the blueprints for building heated brick beds and walls, sparing the people of the Northern Border from the suffering of the cold winter. Even you have benefited from it, can't that be denied?"

The emperor nodded.

Xiao Jingyan continued, "My nephew nearly died from the cold plague in the northern border region. It was Yun Jin who provided the prescription for treating the plague, saving so many infected people and my nephew's life. Such a great contribution, I haven't even had a chance to thank her, and you haven't even had a chance to reward her, before she was murdered!"

The emperor, looking somewhat embarrassed, said, "I understand. How about this, posthumously confer upon her the title of County Princess, as a way of giving her some closure."

Xiao Jingyan raised his head and continued, "Uncle Emperor, how many people did she save by offering the heated kang beds and walls? How many people were saved by offering the prescription for the cold plague? Such great merit, and you only give it to a county princess? Isn't that too stingy?"

The emperor looked at him with a hint of helplessness: "Then tell me, what should we give you?"

Xiao Jingyan looked up at the emperor and said, word by word, "She should at least be a princess."

The emperor shook his head and said, "This is absolutely impossible. She is just an adopted daughter, her status is too low, and there is no precedent for this."

Xiao Jingyan gritted his teeth and nodded: "County Princess it is then. Shouldn't we give her a title?"

The emperor was taken aback, then thought for a moment and said, "Then let him be posthumously granted the title of Princess of Ninghai."

Xiao Jingyan nodded in satisfaction, muttering to himself, "Alright, let's consider Ninghai her fiefdom."

The emperor shook his head and said helplessly, "Fine."

He picked up a pen, spread out the imperial edict, and was about to write.

Xiao Jingyan suddenly spoke up: "Uncle Emperor, we cannot write 'posthumous title'."

The emperor paused, looked up at him with a scrutinizing gaze: "What do you mean? The person isn't dead?"

Xiao Jingyan said without changing his expression, "No body was found. No body found means he's not dead."

The emperor stared at him for a while, but ultimately didn't hold it against him. He picked up his brush and wrote the words, "Yun Jin, the second eldest daughter of the Yun family, is hereby granted the title of Princess of Ninghai County, with the fief of Ninghai," and then affixed the imperial seal.

Xiao Jingyan accepted the imperial edict, carefully tucked it into his sleeve, but instead of leaving, he knelt down again.

The emperor watched as he knelt down again, his temples throbbing: "What is it now?"

Xiao Jingyan lowered his head, choking back tears, and said, "Uncle, before I went to the Northern Border, I promised Yun Jin that when I returned, I would ask you to issue an imperial decree to grant us a marriage and make her my principal wife. But when I returned, she... she had an accident. I am so sorry for her."

He raised his head, his eyes red-rimmed, his voice trembling, "If I had known this would happen, I should have asked Your Majesty to grant us the marriage before I set off. It's my fault, I've let her down..."