Chapter 9: I Think You Look Like You're Here for a Sightseeing Tour

Wei Huayuan did not realize at all that he was being led by the nose by Yan Ning at this moment.

Yan Ning asked, "Then what are you doing here?"

Wei Huayuan said through gritted teeth, "You are truly in exile, yet you look to me like you are here on a sightseeing tour, catching embroidered balls and watching circus acts, so I..."

Yan Ning interrupted him, "So you wanted to overstep your authority, is that it?"

There was contempt in Yan Ning's eyes: "What kind of thing are you to dare act arrogant in front of me?"

Wei Huayuan took a few deep breaths, suppressing the anger in his heart—who exactly was the one being arrogant?!

A young girl who had been demoted to a commoner and exiled to Lingnan actually dared to challenge him; who gave her the courage?

Moreover, the Prince Jin couple didn't even discipline this unruly child; the two of them even ignored him and continued eating.

Wei Huayuan took a deep breath and was about to speak, but was interrupted by Li Shun, "Magistrate Wei, we are indeed on our way to Lingnan."

A fifteen or sixteen-year-old youth behind Wei Huayuan stood out: "What kind of exile involves entering a city to eat and drink well?"

Yan Ning: "Then have you ever seen anyone in exile who can bring guards and ride in a carriage?"

Wei Huayuan and his group fell silent.

Who would have thought that the youth would step out, staring lecherously at Yan Ning, and say to the person behind him, "Dad, don't worry about what they say, just take them away first."

Yan Ning was disgusted by his gaze and directly took out a small slingshot and pellets made of Bean, using the slingshot to fire them into his mouth.

Wei Yan was instantly enraged: "You little bitch, what did you feed me?!"

"Slap—"

Yan Ning slapped him across the face, "Try saying that again!"

"You little bitch..."

"Slap—"

"You..."

"Slap—"

Yan Ze even went over to retrieve his daughter, "You hit so hard, your hand must hurt, right? Next time you want to hit someone, let the guards do it."

Wei Huayuan still had some reservations about Yan Ze.

After all, he was the First Prince; who could say for sure when he might make a comeback?

Especially Yan Ning, whose temperament was even more spoiled than when she was in the Capital; if there was no one backing her, where would she get the confidence to challenge him?

Wei Huayuan did not dare to act rashly for a moment.

A thousand thoughts flashed through his mind; even though he was on the Crown Prince's side, he dared not easily offend the Yan Ze family. What if the Emperor remembered them one day and let them return?

Next May would be the Empress Dowager's eightieth birthday, and she would certainly want her grandson to return.

Wei Huayuan then said, "Since that is the case, then we..."

Before he could finish, his son Wei Yan clutched his stomach and crouched halfway, tugging at Wei Huayuan's sleeve: "Dad, I don't know what he fed me, hurry and arrest her! It hurts, it hurts me to death."

Wei Huayuan called for a doctor.

But his son had been schemed against by Yan Ning, and Wei Huayuan could not swallow this insult.

Yet the people opposite were the First Prince's family; they were royalty after all, so he had to swallow this insult.

He said in a fit of rage, "Get out, all of you, get far away from me!"

Yan Ning started acting arrogant again: "What kind of thing are you, daring to tell us to get out? A mere Regional Inspector of Linzhou; it is truly a case of a tiger falling to the plains and being bullied by dogs. Now any dog can bark in front of me."

As she spoke, she looked at Li Shun: "Magistrate Li, please bring paper and a brush; I want to write to Grandfather Emperor and the Empress Dowager!"

Wei Huayuan was humiliated by a junior like Yan Ning, and naturally, he felt unhappy in his heart.

But Yan Ning was so arrogant and wanted to write to the Emperor and the Empress Dowager; if he really let her write it, Wei Huayuan's official hat would be gone.

Wei Huayuan lost his nerve.

He could only grit his teeth and swallow this insult.

He did not doubt Yan Ning's words at all.

If Yan Ning didn't have that kind of backing, how would an exiled person dare to spout such nonsense at a high-ranking second-grade official?

They didn't stay long, and Yan Ning, along with her parents and the ten guards, left.

When they went out, Yan Ning saw Wei Yan again; he was staring at her viciously.

Yan Ning casually used her slingshot to fire several pellets at his face and body; these were Itch Powder, which Yan Ning had specifically asked someone to prepare in Xiangcheng. As long as one touched even a little bit, the body would become incredibly itchy.

Without the Antidote, the person would be in a state worse than death, and even taking a bath wouldn't help.

After getting seven or eight powder pellets onto him, Yan Ning's own hands felt a bit itchy, but it was no big deal; she took a box of Grease Ointment and applied it to her hands, and her body felt fine instantly.

Under normal circumstances, Yan Ning would not use such underhanded tactics, but who told Wei Yan to be so disgusting?

She was still a twelve-year-old girl, yet Wei Yan dared to look at her with such a disgusting gaze; he deserved it!

The group boarded the carriage and continued heading south.

Sitting in the carriage, Ji Lan still felt some lingering fear: "Ningning, you scared me to death just now; it's a good thing your father pulled me to eat with him, otherwise I really would have shown my nervousness."

Yan Ning smiled: "Mom, whether the Gou Huangdi really dislikes us or not is not important; as long as I speak arrogantly enough, they won't dare to act rashly."

Yan Ze patted her head: "My daughter is still the clever one; she thought of a countermeasure in an instant. The person opposite was an old fox who has been in officialdom for many years, yet Ningning was still able to lead him by the nose."

"As expected of my daughter!"

The carriage traveled forward, and they expected to reach Feng'an City before dusk.

However, in the afternoon, the bright sun was covered by dark clouds, and it looked like it was about to rain, so Yan Ning could only have them quickly find a farmer to borrow a place to stay for the night.

The carriage sped up, and they soon found a small village at the foot of the mountain.

Yan Ning gave them quite a bit of money just to stay for the night, so the village head hurriedly arranged for them to stay at his own home and even killed a chicken that evening to entertain them.

The old village head's family was not large; he had three sons, all of whom were married.

Yan Ning heard the accent of the third daughter-in-law, Chun Feng, and asked: "Sister, are you from Lingnan? Why does your accent sound a bit like people from over there?"

Chun Feng was somewhat surprised, "How did you know I am from Lingnan?"

Yan Ning smiled; being able to meet someone from Lingnan was an unexpected joy, and she asked, "We are also heading to Lingnan this time; since we happened to meet you, is there anything we should be careful about when going to Lingnan?"

Chun Feng became anxious, "You all shouldn't go to Lingnan; there is miasma there, and plagues break out from time to time, and there are fierce beasts in the forests, so even walking the official road is very dangerous."

Chun Feng sighed, "I am a native of Lingnan, and every year I hear of many people dying from the miasma; let alone outsiders, even many locals have perished in the forests."

Yan Ning's expression was heavy: "What if we insist on going?"

Chun Feng was somewhat puzzled: "Why insist on going to Lingnan? Looking at your attire and how generous you are, I can tell you are people of great wealth and status; why must you head to such a dangerous place? When my family moved to the North, a family of over ten people, we wore herbal pouches to repel insects and prepared all kinds of medicine, yet in the end, only my grandfather, my father, and I arrived; it was a difficult journey to get here."

Yan Ning's expression was grave.

Lingnan was even more dangerous than she had imagined.