Chapter 100: A Deal with Princess Taiping

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A little space, if I may.
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...
"I won't accept it!"
Chen Zi'ang was getting temperamental. Damn it, this brat was actually looking down on him!
"You won't?" Upon hearing this, Wu Ning shrugged, yet turned his gaze toward Helan Minzhi.
"Well, then there's nothing for it. I certainly won't get involved in court politics, and if I lose the status of being Chen Zi'ang's disciple..."
He left the rest unsaid, and there was no need to say it. Just hearing this much, Helan Minzhi could no longer remain calm.
"Accept him!"
"Don't worry, Brother Boyu has already promised both: to take you as a disciple and to resign his post and return home!"
Chen Zi'ang: "..."
(Damn your mother! Selling your brother out just like that?)
"That settles it, then." Wu Ning agreed. "Everyone, disperse!"
"..."
Helan Minzhi still wanted to ask what exactly Wu Ning was planning, but upon second thought, the boy had only learned the truth last night. Expecting him to have everything mapped out so quickly was indeed asking too much.
"Then... you take good care of your injuries!"
Saying this, he prepared to leave.
Chen Zi'ang naturally had to leave as well, but before going, he couldn't help but ask one last question, only to be infuriated once more.
"So, which day shall we hold the apprenticeship ceremony?"
Wu Ning rolled his eyes. "What’s the rush? You go back to your hometown first! Rest for a few years, and when I need you, I will naturally come find you."
"!!!"
Chen Zi'ang was truly speechless. He had never seen anyone like this.
Oh, you seek me out to be your master, to learn my skills, and yet I have to cater to your whims? Where is the logic in that?
But there was no helping it—who told this kid to be so arrogant? He not only carried the weight of Helan Minzhi's quest for revenge, but also held such a unique identity.
Depressed, he walked out, having lost all appetite for breakfast, wishing only to return to his room and sulk in peace.
Taiping was also about to leave, but was stopped by Wu Ning.
"Your Highness, please wait. Ning has something he would like to say to you."
"Hmm?" Taiping paused, thinking to herself, what could he possibly have to say to me?
She instinctively stopped, and only after Helan Minzhi and Chen Zi'ang had left did she say, "What more does Jiulang have to say?"
"Ha." Wu Ning gave an awkward, dry laugh and looked up at Taiping.
"It’s nothing much. It’s just that we need to get our family standing straight. Should I call you Aunt, or Elder Sister?"
"Pfft..."
The tension in Taiping’s nerves eased, and she cursed inwardly: "I knew this boy had no sense of decorum."
She raised an eyebrow. "Call me Princess; I haven't acknowledged you as my younger brother yet!"
"Oh." Wu Ning pouted. "We’re already acting like siblings, so I might as well call you sister!"

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"You!" Taiping was even more exasperated. "You kept me here just to provoke me?"
"Hehe." Wu Ning gave a guileless smile. "Of course not, I was just joking."
Slowly fading the smile, Wu Ning turned serious. "I want to speak some heartfelt words to Your Highness."
"What heartfelt words?"
"Your Highness would rather I not be an enemy of my uncle and the Empress, right?"
The sudden question caught Taiping off guard once more.
"You..."
Wu Ning cut her off: "Actually, I don't want to either. Who would want to be an enemy of the Empress Wu, who stands above all others?"
"I am very afraid, afraid that with a simple cough from your mother, a fugitive from Fangzhou like me would be reduced to ashes."
"Hmm."
Taiping frowned. "Why? Why tell me these things?"
She truly didn't understand. Wu Ning had first told a confusing joke, and then immediately followed it up with this senseless confession of fear.
Afraid of what?
"Sigh!" Wu Ning let out a long, weary breath.
"Forget it, I won't beat around the bush."
He looked Taiping directly in the eyes. "Does Your Highness know what my uncle's greatest failure is?"
"Where? Isn't it that he made too many enemies?"
"Not in the past, but now."
"Now?" Taiping pondered, but... "I don't know."
"It's that he dragged Your Highness into this!"
"Ah?" Taiping was even more surprised. "Me?"
"Yes!" Wu Ning nodded heavily. "He placed you in a dilemma, and he threw me, including Chen Zi'ang, to the edge of a cliff!"
"My uncle is too conceited. He believes that because of the affection you shared in your youth, you wouldn't harm him. But no matter how you look at it, the enemy in his heart is the Empress—your mother."
"A single thought makes all the difference!"
"Your Highness might cherish old memories, or perhaps pity my uncle's plight, and thus not report him, or even help him redress his old grievances."
"But a single thought makes all the difference!"
Wu Ning's breathing grew heavy. "With one thought, Your Highness might find yourself leaning toward the Empress."
"That won't happen!"
Taiping retorted sharply. "My brother trusts me so much; I would never betray him."
"You! How could you think that of me!?"
Wu Ning smiled. "I am merely stating a possibility; I do not doubt Your Highness."
"Besides, if it truly came down to it, could you really betray your mother?"
"I..."
Taiping was at a loss for words. Yes, could she really do it?
She didn't know. Perhaps right now, she was only here, seeing the tragic plight of her brother Helan with her own eyes, and her sympathy for him and Wu Ning’s impulsiveness occupied her mind.
But what about when she returned to the Eastern Capital?
When she faced her mother, faced her mother's doting affection, could this sympathy still occupy her mind?
When her brother Helan truly aimed his spear at her mother, would she remain indifferent?
She didn't know. She felt that Wu Ning's words were starting to shake her.
"Let's make a deal!"
Wu Ning's voice sounded at the opportune moment.
Princess Taiping looked up. "What deal?"

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"A deal that won't put you in a dilemma, and won't lead to my death!"
"Speak."
"Whew..." Wu Ning took a deep breath.
"From now on, whether you are in Fangzhou or back at the capital, I will keep you informed of all my actions."
"Oh? Why?"
"Let me finish."
"Sharing this with you doesn't require you to help me with anything. I have only one purpose: to let you know what I have discovered, and who exactly it was that killed my mother all those years ago."
Taiping trembled and blurted out, "And what if it really was my mother!?"
"..."
Wu Ning paused, his gaze turning sharp.
"That is the deal I am proposing."
"If it truly was the Empress's doing, then Your Highness can, without hesitation—immediately, at once!—tell the Empress about my uncle and me."
"But before that, I ask that you, Princess, show mercy and keep this secret for us, uncle and nephew."
"..."
Princess Taiping fell into deep contemplation, seriously considering this deal.
At this moment, Wu Ning's heart was in his throat, thinking to himself:
*Damn it, I've laid out the terms this clearly, she shouldn't refuse, right?*
After a long while, Princess Taiping finally raised her head slowly.
"Deal!"
Wu Ning smiled and bowed with cupped hands. "A gentleman's word..."
"...is as good as a team of horses," she finished.
"Tch!"
Taiping imitated Wu Ning's mannerisms, pouting in disdain.
"You, a gentleman? If you are, then there are no villains left in the world."
"Your Highness is right!"
For once, Wu Ning did not retort.
*Think whatever you want,* he thought, *at least for now, my life is temporarily saved.*
*That was close!*
"..."
However, Wu Ning being this obedient wasn't necessarily a good thing. Taiping hadn't known him for a short time, and she had never seen him act this "sensible."
Her suspicions were aroused. "You're acting a bit strange today."
...
"Something's not right."
...
"You wouldn't be..." At this thought, Taiping widened her almond-shaped eyes.
"You wouldn't be hatching some other scheme in secret, would you?"
*Damn it,* Wu Ning felt embarrassed. *A hundred plans and one oversight...*
He had been found out.