I woke up as the Villainous Empress

60 Secret Meeting (VIII)

Upon knowing the cruel consequences of canceling this marriage alliance, Yang Ning was left in distress.

If she decides to cancel the marriage alliance or not, the consequence will be her death.

However, after doing some calculations, she realized that going along with this marriage alliance would be much more beneficial than canceling it and being executed at the hands of the current Emperor.

Firstly, after marrying Zheng Liang, as Xiaowei said, she will get to leave the shitty Yang Household and will be free from the daily bickering and schemings of Chang Ah and Xiao Bai. More than that, she can leave the side of the controlling and manipulating, so-called father of hers.

Secondly, the main story of the starts after a year of their marriage, which means, she will have a year to turn around her fate and not make the mistakes that Yang Ning committed in the , by following Yang Luoyang’s orders blindly.

If she works hard and uses her brain, she might be able to protect her neck from being sacrificed. In the meantime, if she finds a way to return to her world, she will be freed from this all-time fear of being killed by someone.

That will be awesome!

__

After making up her mind, Yang Ning took a deep breath and said, ” Then....can I still take my words back? I don’t think canceling this marriage is a good idea. Hehe.” She grinned shamelessly, trying to not feel embarrassed to take back her words.

.....

This is not a time to be embarrassed. Her priority is to save her neck and not her so-called self-respect.

A smirk appeared on Zheng Liang’s face when he heard her words but his expression soon returned to being indifferent, ” Of course. I gave you the right to make the choice.”

” But let me tell you, I will not allow any changes in this plan in the future. If you want to cancel it, do it now. Otherwise, there will be no choice later on.” He clarified.

He doesn’t want to drag this topic on for long and make things complicated for both of them. Also, even though he did not like that she wanted to cancel the marriage alliance, it made him think about how different she is from her father.

Yang Luoyang is the one who proposed this marriage alliance and bound the emperor and him in exchange for the promise that the Emperor owed him.

However, unlike him, Yang Ning does not feel the same about this marriage alliance and rather stays unmarried her whole life than marry him for political affairs.

That was a new finding that he got to know about Yang Ning’s character.

” Absolutely! It’s my final decision. I will not change it later on.” Yang Ning said firmly with a smile, however, her heart was bleeding at her failed mission.

She not only failed to cancel this alliance but also embarrassed herself in front of him. Argh!! How embarrassing.

Xiaowei, who was listening to their conversation, sighed in relief when she heard that. However, she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed in her lady’s stead.

If she had discussed this matter with her beforehand, she wouldn’t have to face all of the embarrassment in front of the Crown Prince like this.

What will he think of her lady now? They’re soon going to get married but she wanted to cancel the marriage?

He wouldn’t treat her badly because of it, would he? Xiaowei pursed her lips and couldn’t even swallow the biscuits that were placed in front of her.

Gu Lan, who was sitting opposite her, had a different reaction than her. Unlike Xiaowei, he was annoyed that Zheng Liang threw away such a golden opportunity to get out of this marriage alliance.

If Zheng Liang had talked to the Emperor about this matter, he could have reduced Yang Ning’s punishment from execution to exile to the mountains since she did not commit any crime to be executed for it.

As she would have been exiled as the Crown Prince’s woman, she would have been given a place to live and all the necessary items that she needed to live, but in the mountains.

It would have been the most luxurious stay in the mountains.

She will even be provided the monthly allowance to live independently in the mountains, isolated from worldly things.

It’s still better than being executed. Why didn’t he tell her about that? Who knows if she was more interested in being exiled as a punishment than executed?

Her life will be spared, after all.

This way, she would have lived without marrying him, and he will be free from this manipulative marriage alliance as well.

Despite knowing the corrupt activities of Yang Luoyang and how scheming he can be, how can he not grab onto this rare opportunity that came walking to him?

Does he want to become in-laws with Yang Luoyang? He wondered and couldn’t believe how big of a mistake his Highness was committing.

___

After finishing the tea, Zheng Liang looked down from the balcony and his eyes fixated on a certain group of people who were sitting together at a table.

Those were the people, for whom he came to this place. He received a tip from the head police officer the other day that there are a few men who work at the royal court and they are involved in the illegal business of prostituti*n and human trafficking.

The current Emperor has prohibited illegal prostituti*n and human-trafficking activities two years ago.

Because of this, the brothels, which used to be a source of prostituti*n in the past are left as places like other normal diners where alcohol and entertainment in form of music and dance would be provided.

However, sexual favors by women at places like these have been banned to prohibit such illegal institutions.

Still, activities like these are in action and such corrupted workers who work at the royal court are the one who carries out such activities while fooling the Emperor and the administration.

Generally, he wanted to take Yang Ning to a different diner to have tea and talk about things in peace and privacy.

However, in the morning when he was leaving the palace to meet Yang Ning near the lake market, he got the news that those people would be gathering at the brothel today to carry out their next plan.

He cannot miss this opportunity since it will be much more efficient to catch them red-handed and put them in jail and let them stand for a trial in front of His Majesty.

However, he also doesn’t want Yang Ning to go back just like this without letting her have tea and discuss the matters that she had to say. Because in the letter, she looked as if she wanted to discuss something urgent.

That’s why he brought her to the brothel along with him because he was sure that nothing can happen to her in his presence. Who can dare to touch the Future Crown Princess of the Empire?

Gu Lan, who was also checking the group of the men, stood up from his seat and went to Zheng Liang’s table to whisper in his ears, ” It’s them, Your Highness.”

” The man who just arrived in the blue robe seems to be their boss whose portrait we have seen before. Should I signal oue guards to take charge?” He asked.

Zheng Liang shook his head and said, ” Don’t take charge yet. Watch them closely and see what they do next.”

” Maybe we will find more people who are involved in this.”

“Yes, Your Highness!” Gu Lan nodded in all seriousness and was about to signal all the guards who were hiding as commoners all over the place to wait for a while when he heard Zheng Liang say, ” Gu Lan, Lady Yang Ning’s safety should be our priority today.”

” Make sure to protect the Crown Princess!”

Gu Lan: “...”

Gu Lan was speechless to see how worried he was about the safety of Yang Ning more than his. Well, why would he even need any safety when it should be the other people who need to be protected from him?

“Yes, I will not let anything happen to you or Lady Yang Ning.” He said, addressing her as Lady Yang Ning and not the way Zheng Liang called her.

Why would he call her Crown Princess when she hasn’t gotten married to him yet?

“Ahhhh!”

Just as they were whispering to each other, confusing Yang Ning, who was sitting opposite Zheng Liang, the ground floor was in chaos with people running around like mad people.

**

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