Chapter Ninety-Two: The Threat from Old Lady Wu
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Tai Ping suddenly blurted out a sentence, and Wu Ning felt a bit unsettled. In fact, he simply couldn’t stand praise—expressions of gratitude or thanks made him uncomfortable. If you say “thank you” to me, I’d have to reply “you’re welcome.” Isn’t that a hassle? So, in both his past and current lives, Wu Ning preferred to associate with those who never said “thank you,” but genuinely cared about him. First, because it wasn’t tiring. Second, because it wasn’t pretentious. Yet today, both Meng Cangsheng and Tai Ping expressed their thanks to him... If you say they weren’t sincere? Not really. And hypocrisy was out of the question. It was just that Wu Ning found it a little hard to get used to. Fine, having so many mischievous friends, encountering a formal one now and then meant that Wu Ning, the ninth son with his tough skin, had an over-the-top reflex reaction and broke out in goosebumps.
...
“Eh~?”
“That’s not right!?”
Wu Ning was embarrassed for a moment before he caught on, looking at Tai Ping with disdain.
“My princess, how can you be eavesdropping? That’s quite unbecoming of your royal status!”
“Pfft.”
Tai Ping and Meng Cangsheng burst into laughter at the same time. This guy had the knack for turning any situation awkward. Meng Cangsheng pointed at Wu Ning speechlessly. “You embarrass yourself but make the princess uncomfortable just to save your own skin. Isn’t that just mean?”
Wu Ning wore a serious expression, pretending convincingly. “I’m being serious!” He looked at Tai Ping sincerely. “As a royal noble, etiquette is paramount; eavesdropping is simply unacceptable.”
“I shouldn’t have been so kind,” Tai Ping shot him a glare. “Your Qin family girl is anxiously waiting outside in the rain with blossoming pear flowers,” she said, glancing at Wu Ning’s backside. “You’re injured there, and she can’t come in to watch over you. I was kindly checking on you for her sake, yet you repay me with harsh words.”
“Oh, right.” Wu Ning suddenly remembered Qin Miaoniang, feeling the waistband of his trousers to confirm his belt was properly fastened. “Let Miaoniang come in!”
“What’s the matter?” Tai Ping raised an eyebrow. “You’re acting so high and mighty, do you need me to pass on a message for you?”
“Alright, alright, I’ll do it myself!” He cleared his throat and shouted, “Miaoniang!! Come in!!”
“......”
“......”
The two were left speechless; they had never seen someone so lively after being punished with a beating.
...
Qin Miaoniang entered to see Wu Ning. Tai Ping didn’t rush out but stayed nearby, watching the two young people dote on each other.
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...
“Does it hurt?”
“No, it doesn’t!” Wu Ning looked indifferent. “It’s just twenty lashes after all.”
...
“But just now you cried out so pitifully, it must have hurt a lot.”
Wu Ning: “......” (Did I really yell that loud?)
...
“Brother Ning is still sick; how could they bear to strike him?”
“Look, why are you crying? No crying, you have to smile!”
“......”
Tai Ping thought to herself, youth was truly a blessing. At her age, she couldn’t muster such deep camaraderie. But watching them was irritating—how could they be so affectionate while the two big spotlight bulbs nearby were just standing there enjoying the show? Driven by this feeling, Tai Ping decided to be mischievous. She racked her brains for something to say to gross out Wu Ning.
In the end, the princess could only resort to making a comment about Wu Ning’s backside.
She interjected, “Ninth brother should count himself lucky.”
“Why?” Wu Ning temporarily forgot about Qin Miaoniang.
“Why should I thank you for being beaten?” he asked.
“Heh.” Tai Ping gave a dry laugh. “Zhou Xing said that a eunuch who delivered the imperial edict quietly confided that the Empress Dowager was furious this time.”
“Because of you, she not only scolded Shangguan Wan’er harshly and kicked her out, but also stormed into the hall shouting, ‘Wu Ning deserves to die!’ Apparently, many palace attendants heard it.”
She glanced at Wu Ning’s behind. “Ninth brother only got twenty lashes in the end. Isn’t that a blessing?”
“What did you say!?”
Tai Ping had kept quiet until then, but upon hearing this, Wu Ning suddenly jumped up from the kang, his face turning pale.
“Wha-wha-wha, the Empress Dowager said Wu Ning deserves to die?”
Tai Ping didn’t understand why he reacted so strongly but was pleased her trick worked. “Yes, now you know to be afraid?”
“......”
Afraid?
Wu Ning was terrified!
Meng Cangsheng noticed Wu Ning’s pale, horrified expression and sensed something was wrong. He put aside his amusement and asked with a frown, “What’s wrong?”
“Terribly wrong!!” Wu Ning’s eyes were wide and unfocused.
“She is the Empress Dowager—can the word ‘die’ be casually uttered?”
Meng Cangsheng was even more puzzled. “She said it, but didn’t you only get twenty lashes?”
“......” Wu Ning was speechless. It wasn’t that simple!
Instinctively, he scratched his scalp. His already messy topknot was even more tangled now.
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“It’s over, it’s over, this time it’s really over!”
Tai Ping noticed the oddity and panicked.
“What’s over? What’s wrong??”
“It’s over, it’s over.” Wu Ning kept clutching his hair, muttering to himself.
Tai Ping grew anxious. “Then say it!”
Only then did Wu Ning look up. “I’m saying, why beat me at all? The imperial edict doesn’t even say what I did wrong to deserve the punishment.”
His face had turned the color of a bitter melon as he wailed, “This isn’t a punishment; it’s a message!”
“Ah?” Tai Ping and Meng Cangsheng were shocked.
“A message? What message?”
Wu Ning said, “Think about it: the Empress Dowager was furious and swore Wu Ning should die! Yet in the end, she only sent twenty lashes from afar. And she had the eunuch who delivered the edict tell us she uttered those words. What does that mean?”
Tai Ping and Meng Cangsheng both shook their heads. “We don’t know.”
“You know, don’t you? Tell us!”
Wu Ning curled up, looking seriously at the two. “Judging from the edict—young and reckless, willful and headstrong...”
“It means don’t mess around anymore, or else you’re dead!”
“No!”
Unexpectedly, Tai Ping shook her head after hearing this.
“That’s not the Empress Dowager’s style. If someone misbehaves in her presence, there’s usually no warning—she just...”
“Kills!”
Alright, Wu Ning rolled his eyes. Your mother is really fierce, huh?
“That means something else. I must have done something wrong, and the Empress Dowager wants me to reform, or else...”
“Or else what?”
“Or else that ‘Wu Ning deserves to die’ becomes an irrevocable decree.”
“But...” Wu Ning was tangled in thought. “What did I do wrong?”
First of all, Wu Ning’s mistakes must be connected to the recent reconciliation involving Li and Wu.
But so far, Wu Ning had only taken two steps: dealing with Prince Ji Li Shen, and working with Princesses Xuancheng and Yiyang.
Li Shen no longer posed a threat to Wu Zetian’s reign. On the contrary, given the current situation, if handled properly, Li Shen could be a valuable card to ease tensions with the Li family.
As for Xuancheng and Yiyang, it was the same—they wouldn’t anger Wu Zetian.
The only small trick he played was for Tai Ping’s sake, and even then, the Empress Dowager wouldn’t have lost her temper so fiercely as to say “deserves to die.”
“So what is it then?” Wu Ning was completely blocked.
“I didn’t do anything else, so why scare me like this?”
...