The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Chapter 846: Chapter 825: Struggle for the Throne (Part 7-2)

In another room, the food on the table had also gone cold, and Anning asked someone to reset the table.

Once everything was settled, Anning’s expression changed as she came out.

She let out a cold laugh and turned to head to Xiao Yuan’s room.

”Did they startle you?”

Anning asked as soon as she entered the room.

Xiao Yuan’s face was indifferent, ”How could they not startle me? Some impudent people just had to cause a scene right in front of me.”

Anning’s expression turned even darker, ”This manor needs a thorough cleanup.”

Xiao Yuan nodded, ”Exactly, it’s like a sieve around here, with everyone’s moles everywhere.”

Anning sat down heavily, a cold flash in her eyes, ”Today they came to our home to make trouble, do they really think I’m a pushover? Hmph, disturbing your peace; just watch how I’ll deal with them.”

She was angry with both the princesses and those lords.

Xiao Yuan knew Anning was not the type to easily forgive; anyone who crossed her would end up with neither dignity nor reputation. If she targeted someone, they would end up regretting profoundly, yet she would always keep her hands clean, maintaining her own reputation while letting others get their hands dirty.

After all, she would play the good person while letting others bear the bad reputation.

Xiao Yuan knew that some princesses would be in trouble, and he silently pitied them.

Anning held on until after the washing ceremony concluded, and then she took the Miss to the hot spring manor.

After Anning left, Xiao Yuan began to reorganize the Fifth Princess Manor.

He first established rules and regulations, then assigned the servants of the Imperial Princess Mansion to their respective positions, removing the moles one by one.

Both he and Anning wanted that position, so the household had to be settled first, otherwise, everyone would want a piece of the Fifth Princess Manor, and the chaos at home would distract them from focusing on the court.

Xiao Yuan employed numerous strategies, and it didn’t take long for the Imperial Princess Mansion to be organized and impenetrable.

Meanwhile, many houses in both the South and North Cities were crushed by the snow, and many people in the Capital froze or starved to death.

Outside the city, many areas also suffered from snow disasters.

Emperor Feng Jing lost his temper several times over the disaster relief.

Due to factional struggles between Prime Minister Yuan and Prime Minister Shen, coupled with endless bureaucratic wrangling, important matters were delayed, causing Emperor Feng Jing great frustration.

At this time, the First Imperial Princess’s delegation misstepped, and her subordinates were reported for embezzling relief supplies.

Fuming with rage, Emperor Feng Jing publicly scolded the First Imperial Princess in court and ordered a thorough investigation.

Once investigated, the matter unraveled, implicating many, including Prime Minister Yuan.

Prime Minister Yuan had meddled in the Jiangnan Salt Administration years ago, privately opening salt fields and selling illicit salt, and her husband had been connecting people for shady deals, all of which had been reported.

Emperor Feng Jing erupted with fury in the court, ordering the confiscation of many officials’ properties, placing the First Imperial Princess under house arrest, and stripping Prime Minister Yuan of all her titles, confining her to the prison.

Although her mansion wasn’t searched, Prime Minister Yuan, who had reigned supreme for over a decade, had abruptly fallen.

With Prime Minister Yuan down, many officials quickly shifted allegiance, trying to join Prime Minister Shen’s faction.

Other officials were swayed by the Seventh Princess.

Emperor Feng Jing, watching coldly, secretly intervened, causing Prime Minister Shen significant losses, and the Seventh Princess gained no ground either.

Originally, with the tug-of-war between Prime Minister Yuan and Prime Minister Shen, the court achieved a balance, but with one side toppled, Emperor Feng Jing needed to support a new force.

Originally planning to elevate Anning to counterbalance Prime Minister Shen by supporting the Xiao Family, Anning remained in hiding at the hot spring manor, and Xiao Yuan kept things under control there as well.

Emperor Feng Jing then turned his support to the faction of the Seventh Princess.

The Seventh Princess suffered a major setback, though she managed to attract some people. However, due to her youth and inexperience, the numbers couldn’t compare to the longstanding faction of Prime Minister Shen, especially with the Princess supporting him from behind.

After much contemplation, Emperor Feng Jing ultimately released the First Imperial Princess, while supporting members of Liu Guijun’s family to counter Prime Minister Shen.

Even though Anning was residing at the manor, her supplication memorials were never interrupted.

She would occasionally send memorials to the palace, and she also sent some vegetables she grew at the hot spring manor to Emperor Feng Jing.

In her memorials, she wrote that the Miss’s health was improving and that she trusted Emperor Feng Jing, wondering if the Empress Dowager’s health was well, advising Emperor Feng Jing to take care of himself while she prayed for his health at the manor, cultivating vegetables by the hot springs for him to taste.

Her memorials carefully avoided mentioning any court matters, instead babbling on about domestic trivia.

Yet these seemingly mundane memorials refreshed Emperor Feng Jing’s spirits; thinking of his troublesome daughters in court, Anning’s quiet and abiding nature seemed ever more precious.

Just as Anning was earning favor with Emperor Feng Jing, Mrs. Shi brought back the beauty kept outside by the Seventh Princess to her mansion.

Shortly after the beauty returned to the mansion, she mysteriously died.

Everyone knew this was Mrs. Shi’s doing; she was famously jealous and couldn’t tolerate the Seventh Princess having other men. The Seventh Princess keeping a concubine outside humiliated her, and she couldn’t bear it. Managing to restrain herself this long already showed remarkable restraint.

Initially, nobody took it seriously, assuming it was of little consequence. A mere beauty, people thought, her death didn’t matter.

Even the Seventh Princess seemed unfazed.

After all, Mrs. Shi was her lawfully wedded husband, and that beauty was just a plaything, there to entertain when needed, incomparable to the official consort. Besides, with the beauty gone, there would always be others. As a prestigious princess, getting a beauty was a mere whim.

When people assumed the matter had settled, it unexpectedly escalated.

Someone went to sound the Wendeng Drum to accuse the Seventh Princess and Mrs. Shi.