Chapter 177: Chapter 177

When the Crown Prince learned of this matter, he was also at the palace gate.

Today, he and Jun Ning had come early to the palace gate to keep an eye and ensure that the envoys from Bei Xia would not enter the palace or meet with Emperor Yongning.

The two of them were still in the carriage playing rock-paper-scissors with Jing Shu out of boredom when they suddenly saw the neatly arranged envoys from Bei Xia approaching the palace gate.

They were waiting for the palace gates to open to meet the Emperor.

"How can this be?" The Crown Prince pulled back the curtain of the carriage, and upon seeing this scene, his face changed dramatically, "Didn’t I already eliminate the envoys from Bei Xia? The ones remaining are just small fries, ones that don’t even speak the Dong Chu dialect; how did they get here?"

Could the Crown Prince not understand?

Seeing those people, Jun Ning could understand a bit.

Generally, when facing important decisions and major events, some people prepare backup plans. This is to ensure that if the first plan fails due to various reasons, the plan can still proceed smoothly.

But this is a special risk-aversion thinking of modern people.

It may sound a bit troublesome, but it can be hugely beneficial at crucial moments.

The reason Jun Ning could think of this is because she was once a modern person.

What she didn’t expect was that these people from Bei Xia had such advanced risk-aversion thinking and had already prepared a backup plan ahead of time?

"Brother, how do we stop them?" Jun Ning asked.

This was not the time to investigate why, but to solve the problem at hand.

These palace gates must not be entered by the Bei Xia envoys nor by those around them.

The Crown Prince was also trying to come up with a plan, but at this moment, what could he do? Especially with so many people watching, he couldn’t act forcefully. For a moment, he couldn’t think of a suitable plan.

"How about we stage an accident?" This was the best plan Jun Ning could come up with.

"How would we stage it?"

Jun Ning beckoned to the Crown Prince, signaling him to come closer. The source of this content ɪs 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹~𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮~𝚗𝚎𝚝

The Crown Prince moved closer to Jun Ning, deliberately putting his ear near Jun Ning’s mouth to hear what she had to say.

Jun Ning quietly shared her staged accident plan with the Crown Prince.

Because of her young age, the little girl spoke a bit haltingly, not very fluently. But it didn’t affect her ability to fully convey the staged accident plan, expressing her meaning very clearly.

After listening, the Crown Prince said just one word, "Cunning!"

"Alright, let’s begin then!" Jun Ning stood up, ready to get off the carriage and stage the accident.

But as soon as she got up, Jing Shu next to her grabbed her skirt, puffed her cheeks, and said unhappily, "Where are you going? Aren’t you playing with me anymore?"

"Call me little aunt, and I’ll play with you? Hmm?"

Jun Ning knew the little girl was prideful and wouldn’t call her that, so she asked deliberately.

As expected, Jing Shu let go of her skirt immediately upon hearing this, retracting her longing gaze.

Jing Shu said, "No call, never. Hmph!"

Jun Ning shook her head and was about to get off the carriage. But suddenly, the Crown Prince held her back.

The Crown Prince helped her put on a face veil and said solemnly, "Yi Yi, if I could, no matter what, I wouldn’t let you take the risk, but, but for the sake of Dong Chu, I have to trouble you, my sister."

If he could, the Crown Prince would really prefer to do the staged accident himself.

But he was an adult, and the Crown Prince; the likelihood of success for staging an accident was very low.

Now, all hope was placed on Jun Ning.

"Make sure to protect yourself and avoid close contact with those people from Bei Xia. Understand?" the Crown Prince instructed.

"Okay." Jun Ning nodded and then looked at Jing Shu, who sat sulking in the carriage. "Jing Shu, you stay well in the carriage and do not get off, alright?"

Jing Shu pouted and said, "Hmph, none of your business."

Jun Ning jumped off the carriage and ran towards the palace gate, shouting in a childlike voice, "Father, Father, I miss you, I miss you so much, I want to enter the palace to see you."

She shouted and cried, cried and shouted.

She fully expressed the sorrow of a pitiful child being denied entry to the palace, who deeply missed her beloved father.

She quickly ran to the palace gate, but it was still early, the gates had not opened yet, and there was still some time before the morning court.

She couldn’t get in, so she could only lie against the gate, patting the heavy palace door with her little hand.

"Open the door, open the door, I want to see Father and Mother!"

The ministers waiting at the gate wanted to step forward to pull Jun Ning away, but remembering why she wasn’t allowed into the palace and was recovering outside, they dared not approach.

The reason Jun Ning wasn’t allowed into the palace was because the Imperial City had suddenly broken out with a plague, and she had a fever and was sick!

The main symptom of the plague was fever, and Jun Ning’s fever might well be because of the plague.

Everyone was afraid Jun Ning had the plague, so they isolated her outside the palace to keep it from contaminating the only pure land within the palace.

But who would have thought, forbidden from entering, she would run to the palace gate, insisting on entry.

"Princess Anle, you best go back quickly and don’t harm everyone else!" one minister said, "If you continue to stay here, all of us surrounding ministers will have to be quarantined at home, and we won’t be able to attend court anymore. The Bei Xia envoys won’t be able to meet the Emperor or conduct any normal diplomatic exchanges either."

Hearing this, Jun Ning not only didn’t leave but even circled around these ministers once, and she didn’t spare the Bei Xia envoys, circling around them too.

However, when circling the Bei Xia envoys, she was very cautious, maintained a safe distance, and avoided close contact to prevent being infected by those truly infected with the plague.

As for the surrounding ministers, Jun Ning, under the premise of protecting herself, recklessly bothered them.

She had seen them speaking closely with the Bei Xia envoys, so they were likely infected.

She felt she had to bother these ministers to make them all go home and rest, to prevent bringing the plague into the palace.

These ministers were almost driven crazy by Jun Ning.

"Princess Anle, do you know what you’re doing?"

"You’re already suspected of being infected with the plague, and now you’re deliberately running around us all, we’ve all been harmed by you."

After this, none of them would be able to go to court, or leave their homes; they would be stuck at home, recuperating every day.

Jun Ning looked innocent, "But I don’t have the plague!"

"How do you not have it!"

At this moment, the Crown Prince chased up to her.

He wore a face veil, but everyone recognized his familiar figure despite the veil.

The Crown Prince wore a face of grief, "Yi Yi! The Imperial Physician just confirmed you have the plague. I warned you, don’t run around, you... why didn’t you listen to brother and ran out?"

All the ministers: "......"

It’s over, it’s over, not suspected, it’s confirmed that Princess Anle’s fever is because she has the plague.

Now they’ll all be quarantined.

Hearing the Crown Prince’s words, the Bei Xia envoys took a symbolic step back to avoid Jun Ning.

They hadn’t had any close contact with the princess, so they could still enter the palace to meet the Emperor.