The playboy county magistrate

"Princess Ning'an is deeply obsessed and hates Li Xuanzhi intensely. She will certainly not accept defeat. We will not intervene directly, but only send messages and turn a blind eye to let the Northern Desert take action on its own and continue to harass and attack us."

"With constant external threats and frequent internal troubles, I want to see if this young and promising official, Li Xuanzhi, can still hold onto his position as the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate!"

At this moment, inside the Royal Post Station.

By order of the emperor, the entire post station was heavily guarded by the imperial guards, with strict regulations.

No one from the Northern Desert delegation was allowed to enter or leave without permission, completely cutting them off from all contact with anyone in the capital.

Princess Ning'an stood alone under the corridor, her previous arrogance in the court replaced by an unprecedented calmness.

She gripped a cold jade pendant between her fingers, her knuckles turning white from the pressure. The jade pendant's lines dug deep into her palm, causing a sharp, piercing pain, but it paled in comparison to the hatred and resentment in her heart.

Everything that happened today, all the humiliation and losses, were caused by Li Xuanzhi alone.

But she didn't think she was being unreasonable at all; she only hated that Li Xuanzhi was too ungrateful and too proud.

She only hated that he dared to reject and humiliate her in public, causing her to be implicated throughout the country.

"Li Xuanzhi...Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate..."

She smiled as she opened a note that had just been delivered with the lunchbox, muttering the official title under her breath, a strange and obsessive smile playing on her lips.

"Do you really think that just because you've been promoted and have power in your hands, you can completely get rid of me, the princess?"

"The old officials of the Dayong court hate you so much they wish they could skin you alive, and all the officials fear you like a tiger. Now, in order to make things difficult for you, they are even continuing to collude with foreigners, which shows that you, Li Xuanzhi, are not well-liked. This princess is not in a hurry and will never do anything to be used as a stepping stone for those old fogies."

Princess Ning'an turned to look at the deputy envoy, who had a troubled expression, and smiled brightly.

"No need to worry, we're not in a hurry. We'll just wait and see the internal strife in the Great Yong Dynasty. When they're too busy to deal with their own problems, we'll naturally pay back double for the humiliation we suffered today. For now, we'll just stay here and watch the show."

Those old fogies want to get something for nothing? They're dreaming!

Even if the education level in Mobei is not as high as that in Dayong, as a princess, she is not a useless person who cannot read or write.

She understood the proverb "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."

The reason she acted so naive before was simply to lower the guard of those old foxes and make them think that everyone in Mobei was a good-for-nothing like her.

To the northern desert, Dayong was a fat sheep hundreds of times stronger and more ferocious than itself, one that couldn't even bite.

If they are wary of them, how can Mobei possibly gain any more benefits?

They're all so brainless. Do they really think that a princess who is pampered and spoiled by the entire Northern Desert royal family can lead a delegation so far away by herself?

"We still need to find a way to sow discord between Li Xuanzhi and Dayong. For now, it's best not to act rashly and continue to focus on winning hearts and minds."

"Once Li Xuanzhi is completely disillusioned with the Dayong court, we can seize the opportunity. What's wrong with bestowing upon such a talented person a title of king once he enters our northern desert?"

Once the princess confirmed that the people secretly watching had left, she composed herself and whispered a secret plot with the deputy envoy. On the other side, Li Xuanzhi also closed his eyes to rest and began to analyze the Northern Desert delegation.

"So, you mean... Princess Ning'an from the Northern Desert, all along, and her arrogant and domineering behavior in court, was just an act, all an act?"

Li Xuanzhi nodded gently and slowly opened his eyes. Seeing Tang Zheng and the others staring at him in disbelief, he shook his head slightly to explain.

"You've all heard about the extent to which His Majesty dotes on the Crown Prince. Have you ever heard of His Majesty allowing the Crown Prince to leave the palace alone? Have you even heard the rumors of him strolling through the capital's markets?"

"The northern desert is much farther from the capital than Pingzhou, which we visited before. Would the northern royal family release a pampered princess if she didn't have the ability to handle things?"

"Moreover, we've only heard that the eloquent member of the Northern Desert delegation called himself the deputy envoy. And the entire delegation attended the visit to Korea. So who is this chief envoy?"

"If Princess Ning'an didn't keep her word and caused such a scene in court, why didn't the deputy envoy try to stop her at all?"

Li Xuanzhi rubbed his temples. "Tang Zheng, don't underestimate women. Especially those women raised by powerful families; their methods are no less sophisticated than men's."

The current Empress is dignified and composed; everyone who sees her praises her as the most elegant woman.

However, with so many concubines in the emperor's harem, only a few were able to give birth to children.

Those who can have children despite opposing the empress are among the few ministers in the court whom the emperor has to treat kindly.

These officials were highly valued by the emperor, and all their children were girls.

Concubines who gave birth to boys were either loyal supporters of the Empress and needed the Empress's protection to survive.

Either their families were already closely tied to the Empress's maternal clan, making them completely part of the Empress's faction.

The number of children in the imperial harem was not large, but it wasn't small either. The accusation of harming the imperial offspring cannot be pinned on the empress.

The Empress was renowned and the woman the Emperor cared about most. No one dared to offend her, yet she could freely whisper in his ear.

The eunuchs and maids in the palace all praised the Empress for her beauty and kindness. Their eyes would light up when they mentioned the Empress, which showed how well the Empress managed her subordinates.

Although on the surface she only managed those in the harem, the court and the harem were inextricably linked. Under these circumstances, she interfered in politics, but not completely. Instead, she became the emperor's trusted confidante, demonstrating remarkable skill.

Leaving aside distant matters, let's think about our own family, the Cheng'en Earl's Mansion.

As everyone knows, her mother, Zhang, was a second wife, and everyone sympathized with her situation in the Chengen Earl's Mansion.

Mother did nothing but shower Li Xuanjing with compliments. But everyone who had ever met Mother knew that Li Xuanjing was probably no good.

Otherwise, Li Xuanjing's marriage wouldn't have been affected by his half-brother.

Especially after his纨绔子弟 (playboy son) suddenly transformed into the emperor's darling, Li Xuanjing's marriage became even more difficult.

There was nothing they could do; the family that had previously been engaged to Li Xuanjing were now long gone, their graves overgrown with weeds.

Nowadays, not only do the old-fashioned people not get close to Li Xuanjing, but they also avoid him like the plague.

The poor and the newly rich looked down on Li Xuanjing's character, especially the women in their families who had influence, who would often criticize him.

Li Xuanjing's current situation in officialdom is gradually resembling that of Li Xuanzhi when he first became an official, in terms of popularity and career prospects.