"Anle, if you are here to plead for King Ning, I advise you to turn back," the Empress Dowager said as soon as she saw Anle, preempting her.
"Imperial Grandmother, Third Imperial Brother was used by Qin Xixue," Anle quickly defended King Ning.
"Anle, you don't need to defend your imperial brother. I am quite good at judging people. With your imperial brother's cunning, he wouldn't be easily manipulated by just anyone, let alone someone as brainless as Qin Xixue," the Empress Dowager refuted her.
"But Imperial Grandmother, Anle cannot just watch Third Imperial Brother die. Wuwuwu..." As Anle spoke, she suddenly began to cry, hoping to garner sympathy from the Empress Dowager.
"Don't cry here. I cannot make decisions about your imperial brother's fate. Go back," the Empress Dowager said, waving her sleeve at Princess Anle to signal her dismissal.
However, Anle remained kneeling before the Empress Dowager, motionless, quietly weeping.
"Sigh, fine, fine. I will have Palace Mammy speak to His Majesty and allow you to visit King Ning in prison." After a moment, the Empress Dowager suddenly spoke.
Anle stopped crying immediately upon hearing this.
"Anle thanks Imperial Grandmother!" Although she could not secure her Third Imperial Brother's freedom, being able to see him in prison was still something.
"Go quickly, and don't bother me again," the Empress Dowager immediately urged Princess Anle to leave.
Later, after the Empress Dowager had spoken with the Emperor, Anle was finally permitted to enter the prison to see King Ning.
After Palace Mammy returned to Longevity Palace, she looked at the Empress Dowager with confusion and asked, "Your Highness, King Ning committed such a grave offense, yet His Majesty has not issued an decree to punish him after he has been imprisoned for days?"
"Alas, His Majesty does not wish to punish King Ning, but rather he is conflicted and has not yet decided how to deal with him. After all, he is getting older, and he has recently lost another son. So he..." The Empress Dowager could somewhat understand the Emperor's current mood.
...
At this time, Princess Anle arrived at the prison with a large assortment of delicious food prepared for King Ning. However, the jailers refused to allow Princess Anle to bring the food to King Ning. Princess Anle immediately slapped the jailer twice.
"This Princess will bring this food in today."
"Princess, please do not make it difficult for us," the two jailers guarding the prison entrance said with troubled expressions.
"Are you letting me through or not?" Anle yelled angrily.
"Princess..." The two jailers appeared very conflicted.
However, at that moment, Yan Song happened to walk by. The two jailers looked at Yan Song as if he were a savior and became very excited.
"Lord Yan, look at the Princess's..."
"Let the Princess bring it in," Yan Song said faintly, glancing at the food boxes in Anle's hands.
"Yes, Lord Yan!" After responding, the two quickly made way for Princess Anle.
Princess Anle didn't even bother to look at Yan Song. She strode into the prison. Yan Song watched Princess Anle's retreating back, shook his head, and walked away.
Inside the prison, as soon as Princess Anle entered, she shouted into the depths of the jail, "Imperial Brother, Imperial Brother, where are you?"
"Anle, why have you come?" King Ning, confined in the innermost cell, heard Anle's voice and quickly responded.
Anle then followed the sound and found the cell where King Ning was being held. King Ning, unseen for days, looked haggard. His hair was messy, his face was a bit dirty, and he was only wearing an inner garment and underpants. The bright red wedding robe he had worn on his wedding day had likely been taken from him. His hands and feet were shackled with heavy iron locks, making it cumbersome for him to walk.
"Imperial Brother, I've brought you delicious food." Hearing this, King Ning, Jun Moxiao, glanced at the food boxes in Anle's hands and said with concern, "Anle, this is no place for you. Put down the food boxes and leave!"
"Imperial Brother, I came specifically to see you today. You don't know, I pleaded with Father Emperor and Imperial Grandmother for days before they finally agreed to let me see you, yet you're chasing me away as soon as we meet," Princess Anle said, sounding very wronged.
"Anle, Imperial Brother doesn't mean anything else. It's just that the smell here is awful, and it's dirty and stinky. I'm worried you'll be uncomfortable," King Ning explained immediately, seeing that Anle had misunderstood him.
Anle then changed the subject. "Imperial Brother, what exactly happened to Qin Xixue's face? How did the Beauty Gu, which had burrowed into her body, crawl out of her nose by itself?" Princess Anle asked, full of confusion.
"That Gu worm was tampered with. I'm not sure of the specific reason myself, but in short, Imperial Brother's situation this time..." King Ning trailed off mid-sentence. However, Anle guessed what he was about to say.
"Imperial Brother, can you guess who tampered with it? I'll avenge you. I won't let anything happen to you. I'll definitely find a way to rescue you."
"Anle, you must not interfere with Imperial Brother's affairs. Don't get yourself into trouble, understand?" King Ning sternly cautioned her.
"But Imperial Brother, I can't just stand by and watch something happen to you!"
"Anle, don't worry. Imperial Brother will do his best to protect himself," King Ning said, patting Princess Anle's shoulder to comfort her.
Then, King Ning opened the food boxes Anle had brought him. Seeing that they were filled with his favorite dishes, thoughtfully accompanied by a generous portion of rice, he was deeply touched. In this world, besides his imperial mother and Anle, no one cared about him. In fact, he had been imprisoned for so long, and only Anle had come to visit him, her imperial brother. If his imperial mother were still alive, perhaps she would have come to see him too, but alas, his imperial mother was already dead.
"Imperial Brother, I remember you love braised pork ribs, spinach, and stir-fried chives with fish roe the most, so I had the imperial kitchen prepare these dishes for you," Anle said with a smile.
"Thank you, Ya Nan!" King Ning said with a smile in his eyes.
"Imperial Brother, why are you being so polite with me?" Princess Anle smiled back at him, then she turned her head to look at the other prison cells. "Imperial Brother, where is Qin Xixue imprisoned?"
"She's locked up in a different cell. What do you want to do?" King Ning frowned and looked at her, somewhat puzzled.
"Imperial Brother, I'm going to have a word with her!" Princess Anle said through gritted teeth.
"Don't cause any more trouble!" King Ning warned her.
"Don't worry, Imperial Brother, I just want to see how ugly she's become." With that, Anle ran to another side of the prison. She finally spotted Qin Xixue in a corner of the prison. Qin Xixue's hair was disheveled, obscuring her face entirely. Her wedding dress was also gone, likely stripped off.
"Qin Xixue, the once proud and noble lady of the capital, you probably never dreamed you'd end up a prisoner one day." Princess Anle glanced at her with disdain.