Rebirth of Her Royal Highness the Princess

"Report - Your Majesty, General Xue has sent an envoy to reply."

"Oh? Please come in." King Xuan looked at the door expectantly, thinking that this old guy would not refuse him.

The messenger came in, saluted to King Xuan and said, "My general thanks Your Majesty for your kindness, but my daughter has been betrothed to someone else. I really cannot accept Your Majesty's kindness. Please forgive me." After that, he handed the gift list to King Xuan.

King Xuan took the gift and looked at it, his face turned gloomy. He didn't expect Xue Huaian to reject him so decisively and even betrothed his daughter to someone else.

"What does General Xue mean? I have my eyes on his daughter, yet you dare to reject me!" King Xuan angrily slammed the table and yelled at the messenger.

The messenger was so frightened that he immediately knelt down and begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, please calm down. My general was helpless. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

"Hmph! A helpless act? He's good at making excuses!" King Xuan sneered, then waved his hand to let the envoy leave.

After the messenger left, King Xuan sat in a chair and pondered for a while, then said to the counselor beside him: "What does this General Xue mean? Does he really not want to curry favor with me?"

The counselor thought for a moment, then replied: "Your Highness, in my opinion, General Xue may have other plans. I heard that he has been in close contact with the Ji family recently. I'm afraid he wants to use the power of the Ji family."

"Ji family? Whose family is it?" King Xuan asked with a frown.

"Your Highness, the Ji family is the husband's family of the Queen's distant cousin. They rely on their relationship with the Queen and are very arrogant and domineering in the capital." The strategist explained.

After hearing this, King Xuan was very upset. He felt that Xue Huaian would rather choose the Ji family than cooperate with him, which was really ungrateful.

"What's so great about a family that relies on women for support!" King Xuan said angrily.

At this time, the counselor suddenly had an idea and said to King Xuan with a smile: "Your Majesty, calm down. In fact, we can use the Ji family to kill two birds with one stone..."

When King Xuan heard this, he immediately became interested and asked quickly, "Oh? Tell me about it quickly."

The counselor leaned close to King Xuan's ear and whispered his plan. After listening, King Xuan smiled with satisfaction.

King Xuan decided to send someone to secretly investigate the dealings between the Ji family and General Xue, and at the same time spread some rumors about General Xue's collusion with the Ji family. This would not only undermine the relationship between General Xue and the Ji family, but also arouse the emperor's vigilance.

In addition, King Xuan also planned to advise the emperor at an appropriate time, pointing out the arrogant behavior of the Ji family and hinting that General Xue might be involved with them. If all went well, the emperor might become dissatisfied with the Ji family and even suspicious of General Xue.

The head of the Ji family is the young man who bought the jade bracelet for Xue Jing before, Ji Changan. He is elegant and gentle, but actually he is very scheming.

The cooperative relationship between Ji Changan and Xue Huaian originated from Xue Huaian's intention to marry Xue Ning to him. Unfortunately, this idea has not yet been put into practice.

The Ji family is business-oriented and has no official background. However, there is a special person in the Ji family - Song Xiaohuan, the queen's distant cousin. She grew up with the queen and later married into the Ji family, thus establishing some connections with the royal family. After the death of the master of the Ji family, Ji Changan inherited the position of the head of the family, and he also has a younger sister, Ji Yunrou.

Song Xiaohuan had some friendship with Madam Xue, so she thought highly of Xue Ning. After all, it would be an honor to let Xue Ning, a princess, marry her son.

However, all this peace was broken by King Xuan.

"The imperial edict has arrived! General Xue Huaian, please accept the order!" A sharp duck voice broke the silence above the Xue Mansion, and then a group of eunuchs filed in. They had indifference and arrogance on their faces, as if announcing the coming of a disaster.

"We accept your order." Everyone in the Xue Mansion turned pale as paper, their legs went weak, and they all knelt on the ground and shouted in unison.

"The Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, proclaims that I am concerned that General Xue Huaian is old and may not be able to lead troops to fight and serve the country. I hereby confer the title of Marquis of Ande on Xue Huaian to commend his achievements over the years. I hope he can enjoy his old age in peace and contentment. I decree this!" a eunuch read aloud.

"I accept the decree! Thank you, Your Majesty!" Xue Huaian knelt on the ground and said in a trembling voice. His face became gloomy, and his eyes revealed despair and unwillingness. He knew what this decree meant - he was deprived of military power, became a powerless marquis, and lost all his glory and status.

After saying that, the eunuch handed the imperial edict to Xue Huaian and helped Xue Huaian up with his head held high.

"Congratulations, Marquis Ande." The eunuch raised his lips slightly, smiling. His eyes were full of ridicule and gloating, as if he was enjoying Xue Huaian's embarrassment.

After Xue Huaian received the imperial edict, he slowly stood up, his body swaying as if he would fall down at any time. His eyes were empty and confused, and his heart was filled with endless sorrow. He thought of his glorious days and the great military exploits he had made for the country, but ended up like this.

"You're too polite, sir." Xue Huaian said to his father-in-law with a smile, and then gave a look to the housekeeper beside him. The housekeeper understood and took out a purse from his sleeve and handed it to his father-in-law.

The eunuch took the purse and a satisfied smile appeared on his face: "Thank you, Lord Xue, for the reward. We will take our leave first." After that, the eunuchs turned around and went back to the palace.

After they walked away, Xue Ning couldn't help but ask: "Father, what does the emperor mean by this? Isn't this..."

"Ning'er, walls have ears." Xue Anze interrupted Xue Ning with a serious expression.

"Master, there's nothing wrong with being conferred a title of marquis. You don't have to go to war, how great is that!" At this time, Aunt Qin suddenly interrupted.

Hearing this, everyone focused their attention on her.

"Aunt Qin, you are really short-sighted." Xue Anyi sneered.

"Second Young Master, you!" Aunt Qin wanted to refute, but when she saw Xue Huaian's cold eyes, she was so scared that she dared not speak anymore.

After all the servants left, Xue Huaian summoned all his children to the main hall.

"My father is no longer the great general guarding the country, so I'm afraid this plaque is not allowed to be hung. Ze'er, send someone to take it down tomorrow and replace it with the one for Marquis Ande's Mansion." Xue Huaian said angrily.

"Father…"

Xue Huaian took a deep breath and continued, "From now on, our Xue family will be an ordinary official family. You must not be as ostentatious as before." The helplessness in his words was heartbreaking.

Xue Jing bit her lip, her eyes full of worry: "Dad, is there any hope for this matter?" Xue Huaian shook his head: "The emperor has made up his mind, don't say anything more."

At this time, Xue Ning, who had been silent, stood up and said, "Father, I have a plan that may help us solve the current problem." Xue Huaian looked at her and motioned for her to continue. Xue Ning said softly, "Since the emperor is afraid of your military power, why don't we take the initiative to hand it over to show our loyalty?" Xue Huaian thought for a while and nodded, "This method is feasible. Ning'er, I'll leave this matter to you." Xue Ning replied, "Yes, I will definitely fulfill my mission." The next day, Xue Ning went to the palace to meet the emperor and presented the military power. The emperor was very pleased and praised Xue Ning.

Not long after, an imperial decree was issued, stating that although the Xue family was still a marquisate, their descendants could inherit the title. Upon hearing the news, everyone in the Xue family breathed a sigh of relief.

The Xue family lost their military power, and although they got the hereditary title, they only kept their peace temporarily. Xue Ning realized that the Xue family must be careful in the future to avoid angering the emperor again. So she decided to use her connections in the palace to collect intelligence so as to deal with various crises in advance.

At the same time, Ji Changan was secretly delighted when he learned that Xue Ning had come to the palace to offer his military power. He was originally worried that King Xuan would be unfavorable to them because of the power of the Xue family. Now it seems that the Xue family has lost their greatest support. Ji Changan decided to take this opportunity to further strengthen his relationship with General Xue and seek more benefits for the Ji family.

Xue Jing was extremely jealous of Xue Ning's position as a princess, and thought to herself, "Why can Xue Ning become a princess? How great it would be if I were a princess!"

Now that her father is a marquis, she can also be a princess. If her brother Xue Anyu is a prince... then she is a real princess!

Thinking of this, Xue Jing was secretly delighted and decided to take action. So, she began to pretend to please her father Xue Huaian, acting well-behaved and sensible in front of him, even more considerate than Xue Ning. At the same time, she did not forget to slander Xue Ning, trying to make her father dissatisfied with Xue Ning.

Not only that, Xue Jing often whispered in Xue Anze's ear, constantly instigating the relationship between him and Xue Ning, trying to destroy their brother-sister relationship. Xue Anze was gradually influenced by her and developed some estrangement from Xue Ning.

At this time, Ji Changan came to Xue's house. He was dressed in a gorgeous robe, elegant and handsome, which made people fall in love with him.

Ji Changan's arrival attracted everyone's attention and curiosity, and everyone was guessing what the purpose of his trip was.

"My lord, I'm here to visit Princess Qingping." Ji Changan said softly.

"Ning'er is not seeing guests for the time being. Master Ji, please go back!" Xue Huaian responded in a cold tone.

At this moment, a woman walked in slowly. She smiled and said softly, "Father, why don't you call me daughter when there is a guest..."

The woman was Xue Jing. When she came in, her eyes fell on Ji Changan and she was startled. This man looked familiar. She recalled carefully and suddenly remembered that he was the man who paid for her jade bracelet that day.

Ji Changan looked at Xue Jing, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing a barely perceptible smile, and said softly, "What a coincidence."

"What a coincidence! Why are you coming to my Xue Mansion?" Xue Jing said blankly looking at Ji Changan.

Ji Changan looked at her with a smile: "I am here to visit Princess Qingping..."

Hearing this, the smile on Xue Jing's face gradually disappeared, and a trace of loneliness flashed in her eyes.

At this time, Xue Huaian on the side asked: "Jing'er, do you know the head of the Ji family?"

"Master Ji?" Xue Jing came back to her senses and quickly explained, "We only met once."

She smiled bitterly in her heart, it turned out that he was the head of the Ji family. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but laugh at herself.

Xue Jing secretly made up his mind that he must seize this opportunity to get closer to Ji Changan.

She pretended to be shy and said to her father: "Dad, since Master Ji is here to see my sister, I will leave first."

Xue Huaian nodded, and Xue Jing turned and left, not forgetting to give Ji Changan a wink before leaving.

Ji Changan understood in his heart. He knew that Xue Jing was interested in him, but his target was Xue Ning.

He pretended not to notice Xue Jing's hint and said to Xue Huaian, "My Lord, I came here this time not only to visit the princess, but also to discuss something with you."

Xue Huaian looked at him suspiciously: "What's the matter?"

Ji Changan smiled and said, "I want to cooperate with the Marquis and start some business together."

Xue Huaian was tempted. He knew the influence of the Ji family in the business world. If he could cooperate with the Ji family, it would undoubtedly be a great help to the Xue family.

He looked at Ji Changan and said, "I wonder what Mr. Ji thinks specifically?"

Ji Changan leaned close to Xue Huaian's ear and whispered a few words. After hearing this, Xue Huaian smiled.

The two had a pleasant conversation and reached a preliminary intention for cooperation.

Xue Jing eavesdropped on their conversation outside the door and was secretly happy.

She felt that her chance had come...

But King Xuan would not let her go.

Xue Jing couldn't wait to tell the news to her mother, Aunt Qin. Aunt Qin was overjoyed when she heard it, praised Xue Jing for her good work, and told her to seize the opportunity and strive to marry into the Ji family.

However, they did not know that King Xuan had already learned about the cooperation between Ji Changan and Xue Huaian. He believed that this was the Ji family trying to win over Xue Huaian, which posed a threat to him.

King Xuan decided to destroy this cooperation and find a way to ruin Xue Jing's reputation and humiliate Xue Huaian. So King Xuan sent his confidants to secretly monitor Ji Changan and Xue Jing's every move, looking for an opportunity to take advantage of...

The next day, the sun was shining brightly, and the sky was as blue and pure as a gem. Xue Ning sat in front of the window, looking at the blooming flowers and cheerful birds outside the window, and she felt an urge to go out for a walk. She decided to leave the mansion and visit her grandparents' home.

So she went to her mother's room.

"Mother, I want to stay at my grandparents' house for a few days. Is that okay?" Xue Ning asked softly.

Cui Xiao frowned slightly and said with some embarrassment: "Ning'er, but..." She knew that her daughter had never had any feelings for Ji Changan. She didn't want to force her daughter, so she nodded and agreed.

Xue Ning looked at her mother gratefully, then turned and left the room. She was happily packing her luggage, looking forward to this trip bringing her some new experiences and feelings. At this moment, Xue Jing suddenly ran in with a bright smile on her face.

"Sister! I heard that you were going to stay in Jingnan for a few days, so I came to give you a gift." Xue Jing said excitedly. In her hand, she held a small and exquisite amulet with exquisite patterns embroidered on it.

Xue Ning took the amulet and felt Xue Jing's care and blessing, which made her feel warm in her heart. She gently stroked the amulet and said with a smile, "Thank you, Jing'er."

Xue Jing looked at Xue Ning, hesitated for a moment, and finally plucked up the courage to say, "Sister, actually I have something to tell you. Ji Changan... he is deeply in love with you, I hope you can consider it carefully." After saying that, she lowered her head, not daring to look Xue Ning in the eye.

Xue Ning was stunned. She didn't expect Xue Jing to say such a thing. She was confused and didn't know how to respond.

At this moment, there was a noise outside the door. Xue Ning and Xue Jing looked at each other and hurried out to check. A servant came running in, panting and saying, "Miss, it's bad! The Ji family's carriage was smashed at the door!" Xue Ning's face changed and he rushed out immediately.

Xue Jing felt an ominous premonition in her heart and ran over as well.