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Chapter 877: Tightening Curse

At this time, the Sheng family private school had become the most famous private school in Bianjing City. Many children of high-ranking officials came here to study. Naturally, some of them came for Zhuang Xuejiu's fame, but more of them came with the peculiar mentality of wanting to curry favor with the powerful. After all, at this time, the Ning Wang Mansion had already firmly established its foothold in the Song Dynasty court.

"Minglan, I heard that many children of noble families in Bianjing City have come to our Sheng family's private school to study. Why don't we go to the boys' department of the private school and take a look." At this time, the clever Sheng Rulan pulled Sheng Minglan and said excitedly.

"Rulan, this is not a good idea! If grandmother and Nanny Kong find out, they will definitely scold us." Sheng Minglan refused without thinking, and even brought out the strict Nanny Kong to stop the lawless daughter Sheng Rulan.

"What are you afraid of! I am the legitimate daughter of the Sheng family, and my grandmother won't be willing to hit me." As expected, Sheng Rulan raised her head with a look of disapproval on her face, revealing a kind of arrogance everywhere.

"Uh……"

"Tsk! How shameful! Our Sheng family is a prominent family in Bianjing City, yet you are so shameless as to contact a man from another country and don't even worry about losing face for Prince Ning and Madam Hua." Before Sheng Minglan could continue to persuade her, Sheng Molan looked at Sheng Rulan with a mocking look on her face and said.

"Hmph! Molan, Madam Hua is my elder sister, Sheng Rulan. There is no need for you to say anything here." Sheng Rulan immediately retorted angrily.

"Fifth sister, I am also a daughter of our Sheng family. Madam Hua is naturally my elder sister, Sheng Molan. Why can't I be proud of Madam Hua?" Sheng Molan looked at Sheng Rulan disapprovingly and asked back, thinking that she was qualified to share Sheng Hualan's glory.

"Hmph! Molan, don't think I don't know what you and your mother are planning. Aren't you just thinking of marrying into Prince Ning's mansion to curry favor with the rich and powerful? Don't you even consider whether your birth as a concubine's daughter is enough to qualify?" Sheng Rulan heard Wang Ruofu and Mother Liu's secret ridicule every day. Naturally, she knew the mentality of Lin Qinshuang and Sheng Molan very clearly, and she exposed Sheng Molan without mercy.

"Fifth sister, how can you be so excessive? Just because I'm a concubine's daughter, do I have no right to fight for happiness?" Sheng Molan's biggest weakness was suddenly exposed at this moment. She couldn't help but feel angry and embarrassed, and then immediately pretended to be wronged and cried, "Wuwu... Fifth sister, you are too much of a bully."

"Hmph! Just like your little mother, she cries for no reason." Sheng Rulan continued to look at Sheng Molan sarcastically.

"Woooo..."

"Fifth sister, please don't cry anymore. If Madam Kong comes over later, she will punish us by spanking our hands again." Sheng Minglan, who was standing by, hugged the crying Sheng Molan and whispered to her.

"Wow... I just want grandma and dad to judge the matter. Why does my fifth sister always say that I was raised by a MILF? Wasn't my father also raised by a MILF?" Sheng Molan had already made up her mind to make a big deal out of this. She believed that the furious Sheng Hong would definitely teach Sheng Rulan a profound lesson.

"..."

In the end, the quarrel between the three Sheng sisters finally alarmed Sheng Hong and Old Madam Sheng. Thanks to the perceptive Old Madam Sheng's intervention, she soon learned the details of the whole matter. At this time, Sheng Hong was naturally furious. "Rulan, your father has repeatedly emphasized that the Sheng family should not discuss the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children. Did you ignore my words?"

"Father, I... Rulan knows I was wrong." Sheng Rulan, who was lawless just now, immediately became obedient, kneeling there and begging for mercy.

"Hmph! Go to the Sheng family ancestral hall and kneel down as punishment." Sheng Hong angrily announced the punishment for Sheng Rulan, feeling that his daughter had been spoiled by the eldest lady.

"Ah? Father..." Sheng Rulan was completely dumbfounded at this moment, feeling that her father's punishment was too harsh.

"Hong'er, I think instead of making them kneel as punishment, we should let the three sisters go to the ancestral hall to copy the "Instructions for Women." Old Lady Sheng on the side hurriedly stopped the furious Sheng Hong, and then smiled and proposed a new punishment.

"Ah? Mother, Molan did nothing wrong! Besides, Minglan has nothing to do with this. It wouldn't be good to punish them all together, right?" Sheng Hong immediately looked at Mrs. Sheng in confusion and explained.

"Hmph! I want them to know that the three sisters are one, and if one makes a mistake, all will be punished. I want them to understand what it means to prosper together and suffer together." Old Lady Sheng immediately stated her real purpose. What a family needs most is fairness and justice. She doesn't want the Sheng family to follow the same path as the Gu family.

"Yes! Mother."

"Rulan is punished to copy the "Instructions for Women" thirty times, Molan is punished to copy the "Instructions for Women" twenty times, and Minglan is punished to copy the "Instructions for Women" ten times." Then, Old Lady Sheng announced the new punishment, and the punishment for Sheng Rulan was the most severe.

"Ah? Grandma..." He was secretly happy that he would not be beaten with a stick, but he did not expect that his grandmother's punishment would be even more severe.

"Rulan, if you say one more word, I'll add ten more times, or even lock you up in a small dark room."

"Ah..." Sheng Rulan was completely dumbfounded at this moment. She realized that this was not the Madam's Weiruixuan, and no one would indulge her behavior anymore.

The "small black room" was a punishment method that Old Lady Sheng learned in Yangzhou. When the Yangzhou incident happened, many people in the Sheng family had suffered from it. So in order to make the descendants of the Sheng family obedient, Old Lady Sheng learned it against all odds. It immediately became the most severe punishment method in the Sheng family, and naturally made the noisy Sheng Rulan completely obedient.

……

In Bianjing, at the Imperial Palace, the Song Dynasty court was holding a grand court meeting. The old emperor had barely touched the throne when the white-haired Fu Da Xianggong stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I respectfully request that a crown prince be appointed as soon as possible to rectify the foundations of the state."

"Master Fu, I just lost my son and forced myself to come to court despite my sick body. Is this how you repay me?" The old emperor's only son had just died of illness. He looked at the ruthless ministers in front of him with a face full of grief.

"Your Majesty, for the sake of the eternal stability of our Song Dynasty, it is imperative to enthrone a crown prince, so I hope Your Majesty can make a decision as soon as possible." Naturally, there was a trace of reluctance on the face of Prime Minister Fu, but after thinking of the precarious Song Dynasty, he became resolute again.

"Enough! Are you forcing me to abdicate?" The old emperor immediately slammed the dragon throne and questioned angrily.

"Your Majesty, please calm down! If I can adopt a royal family son earlier, my Song Dynasty will have no worries." At this time, Han Da Xianggong also stepped forward and said.

"Hmph! Is there anything else you want to report?" The old emperor looked around and asked the ministers in the hall.

"Your Majesty..." Seeing the old emperor deliberately changing the subject like a spoiled child, the ministers all looked very helpless.

"Your Majesty, I, the Imperial Counselor Song Zhe, have something to report." Before Prime Minister Fu could say anything else, an imperial censor suddenly walked out of the team.

"Tell me." The old emperor said with surprise.

"I impeach Prince Ning for disrupting the government, levying heavy taxes, abducting women, allowing his soldiers to kill civilians, and blocking the path of the sage." Then the counselor said the content of the impeachment, which immediately made the whole court explode. It was even more heated than the adoption of a royal family son just now.

"Your Majesty, we second the motion! Recently, Prince Ning forcibly opened subjects that were not related to the teachings of sages in Jiangnan, and prohibited officials and gentry from opening private schools in Jiangnan. This forced students from Jiangnan to flee to Bianliang City with their families." The ministers in the court looked at each other, and then stepped out one by one to second the motion.

"What? Are you serious?" The old emperor and the ministers were immediately shocked.

"Your Majesty, we request that Prince Ning be recalled to Bian Jing and placed under house arrest, and that we restore order in Jiangnan as soon as possible." Then the Imperial Counselor Song Zhe immediately expressed his opinion.

"This..." In fact, the old emperor's mentality at this moment was quite complicated. Finally, a minister changed the subject for him, but this new topic made him even more headache. "Mr. Fu, Mr. Han, do you have any insights?"

"Your Majesty, the problems in Jiangnan cannot be solved overnight. We should first adopt a son of the royal family as soon as possible, and then select the best one from among them to enthrone the crown prince." Grand Chancellor Fu and Grand Chancellor Han looked at each other with a wry smile, because they knew that they could not restrict Su Ning at all, and then they emphasized the matter of adopting a son of the royal family again.

"Oh! My two great ministers, it seems that if I don't agree to your adoption of a son of the royal family, you ministers will not handle other matters?" The old emperor asked angrily at this time, feeling that these ministers were really going too far.

"Your Majesty, we are also thinking about the country and people of our Great Song Dynasty!" Minister Fu and Minister Han immediately knelt down and reiterated that they had seen the crisis facing the court.

"Humph! You just said to choose the best from among the royal family. So which royal family member do you think is the most outstanding and suitable?"

"Your Majesty, among the royal family, Prince Yong and Prince Yan are the most suitable. Please choose one of them to adopt."

"Hehe! I will listen to you and consider it. Can we discuss the matter of Prince Ning now?" "Your Majesty, ever since Prince Ning occupied all the territories north of the Yangtze River, the tax revenue of our Song Dynasty court has been directly reduced by 60%. It can be seen that the land south of the Yangtze River is the foundation of our Song Dynasty court." Grand Minister Fu and Grand Minister Han looked at each other helplessly, and then Grand Minister Han reported again.

"Your Majesty, since Prince Ning is so ruthless and acts recklessly, he should be recalled to live in Bian Jing, and he can only receive taxes from Jiangning Prefecture." Immediately afterwards, Prime Minister Fu also gave his suggestion.

"Oh? My dear ministers, how do we deal with Prince Ning's Ningyuan Army?" At this time, the old emperor asked a question that was difficult to avoid.

"Your Majesty, we should urge the Ningyuan Army to march north as soon as possible. After all, this is what King Ning promised the court a long time ago. At the same time, we should urge the Ningyuan Army to increase its offensive against the Indochina Peninsula." Han Da Xianggong immediately put forward a strategy to consume the Ningyuan Army.

"Your Majesty, we second the motion." Then the ministers of the Song Dynasty immediately seconded the motion in unison.

"Issue an imperial decree! Order the Ministry of Works to speed up the construction of Prince Ning's Mansion in Bian Jing. It must be completed before May next year. Order Prince Ning to bring his princess and all his family members to the capital. No delay or prevarication is allowed under any excuse." Seeing that all the court officials in the hall agreed to restrict the Ningyuan Army in this way, the old emperor issued an imperial decree without hesitation.

"Your Majesty is holy."

……

Su Ning quickly received the news in Jiangning Prefecture, even faster than the old emperor's imperial edict. After all, his own Jinyiwei were no pushovers. Princess Huirou looked at Su Ning with some concern and asked, "Prince, have you been impeached by the censors?"

"Yes! Huirou, you have been involved in Jiangnan political affairs for so long. Do you think I should move my family to Bian Jing?" Su Ning asked Princess Huirou with a nonchalant smile. He really wanted to know whether Princess Huirou should obey her husband after marriage.

"This..." As expected, Princess Huirou looked embarrassed again at this time. The last time she was embarrassed was when Suning threw the Yuzhou affairs to her.

"Huirou, you must understand the principle of marrying a chicken, following the chicken; marrying a dog, following the dog. You are no longer just the daughter of the emperor and the empress, but also my wife, Suning, and the mother of my son. Naturally, you cannot always side with the court when considering issues." Princess Huirou's true thoughts were related to her next plan, so she had to face the reality.

"Your Highness, it is extremely dangerous to go to Bian Jing. Huirou does not recommend that you go." Princess Huirou thought about it for a long time before she expressed her opinion with difficulty.

"Well, then let's announce to the public that my old injury has flared up and I need to stay in Jiangning Prefecture for recuperation. I'll return to the capital after I'm fully recovered."

"Ah? No way? The imperial edict said that no delay or prevarication is allowed for any reason." Princess Huirou did not think that pretending to be sick would be effective this time. Instead, she was worried that conflicts would break out again between the south and north of the Yangtze River.

"It's okay! The emperor and the ministers can't restrain my Ningyuan Army. Aren't they urging the Ningyuan Army to go north as soon as possible? Then I will let them appreciate the blitzkrieg." Suning would naturally not just rely on pretending to be sick to shirk responsibility, but instead prepared to give them a severe shock.

"What? Blitzkrieg?" As expected, Princess Huirou looked at Su Ning in surprise and confusion.

"Yes! As fast as lightning! We will conquer the entire Khitan territory in one month."

"what……"

Suning's evasion and wrangling were all within the expectations of the emperor and the ministers. In fact, they had no means to force Suning to submit, and they dared not directly engage in battle with the Ningyuan army again. So the emperor and the ministers could only endure it with frustration. However, Suning promised to immediately go north to attack the Khitan, which made the emperor in Bianliang feel a little more comfortable.

"Your Majesty, we never thought that Prince Ning would come to Bian Jing obediently. We hope that the Ningyuan Army can move north to attack Khitan as soon as possible. In this way, the Ningyuan Army will surely wear down their strength by fighting on both the north and south fronts." Prime Minister Shen ran back to Bian Jing in surprise to report on his work, and then smiled and told the subtlety of the matter.

"Hmph! Lord Shen, you'd better not be happy too soon. Prince Ning is a very shameless bastard. Until the moment he actually sends troops north, all possibilities will arise." The old emperor shook his head pessimistically, feeling that Suning never spoke a word of truth.

"Your Majesty, the Imperial City Office reports that Prince Ning has already recruited a large number of soldiers from the Indochina Peninsula and the southwest region. It is obvious that he has accelerated the pace of preparations for war. He has also recruited all large civilian ships in Jiangnan and requested the navy of the Song Dynasty to support all ships." Prime Minister Shen, who knew the situation in Jiangnan best, immediately reported the actions of the Ningyuan Army.

"Really?" The old emperor immediately looked at Prime Minister Shen with surprise and asked.

"Your Majesty, it is absolutely true! Moreover, Prince Ning requested the Song navy to assist in transporting troops."

"Alright then! Issue an order that all Song Dynasty naval forces must head to Jiangning Prefecture and submit to Prince Ning's command. This time, I want to see what tricks Prince Ning can come up with."

"Your Majesty is holy."

The emperor and the ministers were always thinking about depleting the strength of the Ningyuan Army. They were extremely eager to turn Suning into a toothless paper tiger and then lock him up in a cage specially made for him in Bian Jing to be a pet. So when they heard that the Ningyuan Army was about to go north to attack the Khitan, they immediately became ecstatic.

The happy old emperor specially summoned Sheng Hong, the Minister of Works. Looking at the humble and polite Sheng Hong in front of him, the old emperor was very satisfied. "Mr. Minister, please stand up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Sheng Hong stood up with a proud look on his face to express his gratitude.

"My Lord, I asked you to come to Funing Palace this time because I wanted to ask you about Prince Ning."

"this…………"

"What? You don't want to say it?"

"No! Your Majesty, I'm actually not very familiar with His Royal Highness Prince Ning."

"Oh? How is that possible? When Prince Ning first started to rebel, you seemed to be the Tongpan of Yangzhou?" The old emperor looked at Sheng Hong in front of him with a face full of doubt, and the slight good impression he had just had immediately disappeared.

"Yes! Your Majesty, but Prince Ning was only fifteen years old at that time. The first time we met was when he came to the Sheng family with the Earl of Zhongqin to propose marriage. After the incident in Yangzhou, all of our Sheng family members were imprisoned in Hou'an Salt Farm as laborers."

"Well, I have heard about it. What do you think of Prince Ning?"

"Your Majesty, although I haven't had much contact with Prince Ning, I can still sense his dislike for me. I've even felt his murderous intent many times."

"Oh? Did the Minister offend Prince Ning?"

"No! That's why I'm quite puzzled. I guess if my daughter Sheng Hualan wasn't a close friend of Prince Ning, she might have really killed me with a knife."

"Well, please go down, Mr. Minister!"

"Your Majesty, I take my leave."

After Sheng Hong and the eunuchs left Funing Hall, the old emperor turned to look at Empress Cao and asked, "Grand Empress, how much truth do you think Sheng Hong's words contain?"

"It's hard to say! It's possible that he heard about the court censors' impeachment of Prince Ning, and this is a crude way of deliberately protecting himself. Or perhaps Prince Ning really dislikes his father-in-law. You know, Sheng Hong is very famous for favoring his concubine and killing his wife."

"Well, if you can't even clean up your own house, how can you clean up the world? It seems that Sheng Hong is really not up to the task."

"Your Majesty, once you have plucked out Prince Ning's wings and fangs, I wonder how you will treat him?"

"Hey! For the sake of Huirou and Ren'er, I will naturally let Zhao Ning be a peaceful king."

(End of this chapter)