"I am Nan Chaoyin, requesting an audience with the Princess Consort."
Nan Chaoyin stood outside the Prince's mansion, gazing at the plaque hanging above the main gate, bearing the four characters 'Regent Prince's Mansion.' The calligraphy was bold and powerful, exuding the mansion's majesty and grandeur. Guards, armed with swords and possessing piercing eyes, stood on either side of the entrance, their imposing presence deterring any lowlifes or even ordinary citizens from venturing into their line of sight.
Although everyone within the mansion was aware of the relationship between the Princess Consort and Nan Chaoyin, they could not pretend not to see his request. Whether to grant him an audience or not depended entirely on the masters' wishes; the guards dared not speculate.
Thus, the guards approached, bowed to Nan Chaoyin, and said, "Please wait, Prime Minister. I will inform the Princess Consort immediately."
"Thank you!"
Nan Chaoyin, without the airs of a Prime Minister, nodded kindly to the guard.
In the Tranquil Garden Pavilion, Xuan Yi announced, "Nan Chaoyin requests an audience."
"Him?"
Had it only been a short while since this note was slipped into the wall's crevice? And now Nan Chaoyin was here to visit? Did he think she would quickly discover the spy's transmitted message, or was he simply impatient?
Nan Shiying gathered the scattered note from the table and nodded to Xuan Yi. Xuan Yi understood and soon, Jia Huan led Nan Chaoyin through the front courtyard, arriving outside the Tranquil Garden Pavilion.
This was Nan Chaoyin's second visit to this courtyard. The first was over half a year ago, and it seemed that since that time, certain matters had begun to develop in a direction he could not have foreseen.
"Prime Minister!"
Lü Wan bowed to Nan Chaoyin. Jia Huan nodded to Lü Wan and then turned to leave. Lü Wan then led Nan Chaoyin into the courtyard.
Even though it was still the dead of winter, the courtyard showed no signs of the season's desolation, demonstrating Ji Jinmo's genuine attentiveness towards Nan Shiying.
Upon reaching the entrance, Lü Wan stopped, turning to signal Nan Chaoyin to halt.
Although Lü Wan maintained a humble and gentle smile, her demeanor was inherently assertive and unquestionable. Nan Chaoyin's expression darkened slightly, but he did not, in his pique, storm away due to Lü Wan's assertiveness.
"Knock, knock, knock~"
Lü Wan lightly rapped on the door: "My Lady, the Prime Minister requests an audience."
After a long wait, Nan Shiying's clear and cool voice drifted through the door crack: "Enter!"
Upon hearing the command, Lü Wan pushed the door open, gesturing for Nan Chaoyin to enter. She did not leave but instead followed Nan Chaoyin into the room and then closed the door behind them.
Nan Chaoyin approached Nan Shiying and bowed, saying, "Your subject, Nan Chaoyin, pays respects to the Princess Consort."
Nan Shiying fiddled with the lid of her teacup, the lid gently scraping along the rim, producing a sound that made one's scalp tingle. The prolonged silence imbued the air with a heavy tension. Nan Chaoyin remained bowed, his prolonged forward posture causing his waist to ache. He looked at the floor, his peripheral vision catching only glimpses of the table legs beneath the velvet tablecloth.
Nan Shiying picked up her tea and carefully savored its taste. Taiping Houkui, though slightly bitter upon first sip, was sweet in aftertaste with a lingering aroma. Nan Shiying believed that drinking tea was not about taste but preference, and thus she exclusively favored this not particularly precious Taiping Houkui.
Today, the tea's fragrance was even stronger, its aftertaste sweeter, making it exceptionally delightful.
As minutes ticked by, Nan Chaoyin's forehead became beaded with sweat. Droplets of perspiration fell to the ground, and his body began to tremble slightly.
Nan Shiying placed her teacup down with a dull thud. She rested her hands on the table, leaned forward slightly, and looked at Nan Chaoyin, who was still bowed low. Her eyes curved into crescents as she said, "Prime Minister Nan, is this the proper attitude when seeking a favor?"
Her voice, however, was filled with mockery and a sinister chill.
Nan Chaoyin remained silent. He lifted the hem of his robe and knelt, raising his hands above his head, then brought them down to the ground as he kowtowed: "I implore Your Ladyship to save… Yuan'er, in consideration of the fact that I am your biological father."
"Biological father?"
Nan Shiying burst into laughter as if she had heard the greatest joke in the world. Her voice seemed to tear open, and the words 'biological father' spilled from her lips, laden with burning blood and hatred. She looked coldly at Nan Chaoyin and enunciated each word: "At this moment, you tell me you are my biological father?"
"Then what about before? When I was tormented and abused by Mother Nan Yuan and her daughter, when I was bullied and beaten by the servants, where were you? You ask me to save Nan Yuan'er based on our bloodline?"
"Do you not find yourself utterly ridiculous?"
Nan Chaoyin looked up, his face a mask of regret and self-reproach. He said, "Ying'er, it is this father's fault. I was angry with you because of your mother's death, and that is why… I only knew that Liu Shi and her daughter were unkind to you, but I truly never imagined that even the servants in the Nan Manor would dare to bully you."
"It is all this father's fault, this father…"
"Prime Minister Nan!"
Nan Shiying's voice rose, interrupting Nan Chaoyin's self-deception and self-pity: "Have you forgotten why I married into the Prince's mansion?"
As she spoke, she raised her hand, her sleeve sliding down to reveal fair, delicate skin. She smiled at Nan Chaoyin and asked, "See, is my skin fair and tender now? Do you remember why my skin became so fair and tender?"
Noticing Nan Chaoyin's change in expression, Nan Shiying smiled more gleefully: "It seems Prime Minister Nan remembers. You gave the order, didn't you?"
"So, reorganize your words and say it again: were you aware of everything I suffered?"
"Did you resent me because of my birth mother's death, or because of the destiny that Yun Qingzi assigned to me?" Nan Shiying's gaze was sharp as a knife, seeming to pierce through skin and bone to glimpse the soul. Nan Chaoyin felt as if he had been swept by a biting cold light, from head to toe, as if he had been thrown into an extremely frigid ice cave.
Nan Chaoyin's expression turned extremely unsightly, a look of anger born from having his lie exposed. His clenched molars made a grinding sound, as if he were about to rip off his mask and reveal his true face at any moment.
Nan Chaoyin remained silent for a long time. Only when he had calmed the anger in his heart did he look directly into Nan Shiying's eyes and ask, "Princess Consort, would you like to know where your mother is buried?"
Nan Shiying suddenly rose, her beautiful eyes wide, the anger in them like a raging inferno, wishing to devour Nan Chaoyin and burn him to ashes.
"Are you threatening me?"
Nan Chaoyin slowly shook his head: "No, this subject is pleading with Your Ladyship."
"'Aren't you afraid I'll have Feng Luan poison Nan Yuan'er?"
"Then your mother will be ground to ashes and never permitted reincarnation for eternity."