Chapter 181

Jiang Yun Chu smiled, "Your Majesty, don't look at me like that, I'm not some bandit—I wouldn't dare to be rude in front of Your Majesty."

Ning Emperor was taken aback; nowadays only this lass can speak to me like that.

"If you have something to say, say it quickly." Ning Emperor sighed helplessly.

Jiang Yun Chu took out the things she was holding, then let them be spread out in a line on the table, and Xi Gonggong hurried over to help.

"These are the Lustrous Jade Soap newly made by the Wang Fu workshop." Jiang Yun Chu introduced.

"Lustrous Jade Soap? Pure as jade, refined and pristine—looks like a good thing." Ning Emperor praised.

Jiang Yun Chu explained the effects once, then chuckled and said, "Your Majesty, this side of the palace relies on you."

……

Ning Emperor incredulously pointed at his own nose, "Me?"

Only saw the little lass nod her head, "Uncle."

Looking at her lively appearance, just like Kang Ying, clever and playful, her spirited eyes seemed to speak.

"You… what do you call me?" Ning Emperor closed his eyes, then opened them again, and his eyes were already clear.

Jiang Yun Chu smiled, "We three swore an oath, lifelong siblings—you are my mother's brother, so you are my uncle."

Uncle……

Ning Emperor smiled, "Forget it, I'll take care of this for you."

He couldn't refuse being called "uncle", just as he couldn't refuse Kang Ying's older brother.

He had sisters, but they were full of scheming and intrigue; only Kang Ying, in his heart, was his only sister.

Back then, granting Cheng Yan and Yun chu a marriage was also to let Yun chu enter the imperial family, so he would have a reason to protect her.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Jiang Yun Chu smiled silently in her heart.

Previously she thought His Majesty had other feelings for her mother; this time returning to the Jiang Family, she walked around the courtyard where her mother once lived, looked at her mother's study, and looked at her mother's calligraphy and poems.

Only then did she realize that the feelings between His Majesty and her mother were not what she imagined.

His Majesty doted on her mother like a younger sister, and her mother revered His Majesty like an elder brother.

"Uncle when there's business, Your Majesty when there's none? Jiang Yun Chu, you've got guts!" Ning Emperor slammed the table, and Xi Gonggong hurriedly knelt down.

Jiang Yun Chu gave Ning Emperor a look of disdain, "Your Majesty, if you're going to act, act properly—if you want me to call you uncle, just say it straight."

"It would scare this little maiden, bullying an orphaned widow, her husband missing, a woman holding up the great Wang Fu, and now His Majesty still wants to bully me."

The more pitiful the words, the more pitiful she seemed, yet her face showed only calm.

Ning Emperor pointed at her, "In all of Da Ning, only you dare speak to me like that!"

"Hehe, in all of Da Ning, only I am your niece!" She raised her eyebrows.

Ning Emperor really could do nothing about this troublesome girl, raised always in the inner chambers, not knowing how the Jiang Family taught her to develop such a vexing temperament.

But……

Ning Emperor really liked her temperament—knowing when to show weakness, when to be arrogant, when to be unrestrained.

If Ying Ying could be like that, she wouldn't be dead now.

Ning Emperor felt a pang in his heart upon thinking of this.

"The Second Prince, I have already dealt with him—he's a fool, and this matter isn't really related to him."

"As for the Cao Manor, it's probably just a front; the situation is unclear, and I cannot act."

This matter has been suppressed for a long time, but he needs to give Jiang Yun Chu an explanation; for others it's merely an Imperial Edict, a verbal decree.

Only for her.

He hopes not to let her suffer injustice.

He hopes she can act without fear, with him backing her up.

"It's fine, no big problem—when soldiers come, generals block them; when water comes, earth dams it." Jiang Yun Chu waved her hand; she had already let it go at that time.

Many things, although there is no necessary connection, but Jiang Yun Chu always felt that everything was too coincidental.

Really, there's no connection?

"Your academy is about to hold the Joint Examination; how confident are you?" Emperor Ning timely shifted the topic, looking at Jiang Yun Chu and asked.

The Royal Academy's authority does not lie in the Dean's hands, but in the hands of this Emperor.

If he disagrees, even if Qing feng had a hundred pieces of calligraphy, it would be of no use.

Only with his covert support could it be arranged smoothly.

Jiang Yun Chu ate a few grapes, then carefully wrapped the grape seeds in a piece of paper, and then replied, "I have no confidence!"

What she said was somewhat too self-evident, causing Emperor Ning's following words to get stuck.

"You have no confidence, what's the point of the Joint Examination?" He couldn't help but retort.

Jiang Yun Chu looked at him, somewhat incomprehending, "Why must the Joint Examination require confidence?"

"How long have my children been studying? At most, even if we count generously, it's only half a year."

"It's me who's gone mad..."

She didn't say the rest, but looking at Emperor Ning's gaze, it felt somewhat strange.

Or... Your Majesty, you've gone mad...

Emperor Ning looked at her eyes, what else is there not to understand?

Furious like a pufferfish, this lass—he couldn't hit or scold her, couldn't speak or rebuke her; his anger could only be bottled up inside himself.

"What is your purpose?" Emperor Ning paused a moment before speaking.

Eunuch Xi stood aside, wanting to laugh but daring not to, head lowered, not daring to see Your Majesty's embarrassed appearance.

The Princess Consort isn't afraid, but he is!

"Let them get used to the examination hall in advance, get used to the question types in advance, and also practice their mindset in advance."

Don't even mention it, this grape is truly sweet; after she came over through time travel, she still hasn't encountered a grape, eh.

She really likes eating grapes; if it weren't that she hasn't seen any in the capital, she wouldn't dare take out the seeds, otherwise she would definitely cultivate a manor's grapes and then set up a winery, and she'd surely make money.

"That's actually a good idea." Ning Emperor thought for a moment, then nodded, accepting her reason.

"Don't busy yourself; this is a tribute from the Western Regions. If you like it, I'll have someone send some to the Wang Fu this afternoon."

"In recent years we let the Ministry of Agriculture try, but they couldn't grow it."

Ning Emperor looked at her careful, cautious appearance and smiled fondly.

The women in the imperial harem all guessed wrong; some speculated that His Majesty liked Jiang Yun Chu, and that marrying into the Regent Prince's Manor was just a front.

Some speculated that His Majesty tolerated Jiang Yun Chu because of the Regent Prince's Manor.

Actually the truth is simple: Ning Emperor dotes on Jiang Yun Chu because he regards her as his own daughter; this daughter is not a princess, but merely the most ordinary familial affection from a commoner's household.

If Jiang Yun Chu were that timid and cowardly, he would also protect her, but that would be all.

"The Ministry of Agriculture can't, but that doesn't mean I can't." Jiang Yun Chu smiled confidently; the Ministry of Agriculture couldn't grow it because they lacked experience, needing a bit of trial and error.

But in her previous life, she had already successfully cultivated grapes; in this regard, she was still very confident.