Phoenix Reborn: the Prime Minister’s Scheming Daughter - Chapter 346

With a smile on his face, Liu Rui crouched slightly, and his smile was particularly respectful. There was even a hint of flattering in his tone. “Greetings, Princess Zhaohua and Princess Anning.”

Shen Ninghua raised her cold eyes and sized Liu Rui up. “What is your business here?”

“His Majesty has instructed you to bring Little Bei Zi and Little Prefectural Princess into the Palace today. He said that it has been a long time since he last met them, and he misses them so much.” Liu Rui bowed and slightly raised his eyes. His smiling face was slightly pale, and his entire person exuded an unpleasant and sinister aura.

Baili Anning held Shen Ninghua’s arm tightly, her nails digging into Shen Ninghua’s arm. Shen Ninghua patted her hand to comfort her. “Alright, please wait for a moment, Eunuch Liu. I will go into the Palace with the children after getting changed.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll be waiting for Your Highness outside.”

“Yes.”

Once Liu Rui left, Baili Anning got up, ran to the two children, and hugged them tightly. “No, Ninghua. I’m still worried. You can’t take them to the imperial palace. Xia Jingxin is a dangerous person!”

Shen Ninghua slowly squatted down. “Anning, I am their mother. I won’t put them in danger. Don’t worry. I will be back in four hours at most. If I don’t…” She took out a jade pendant from her hand. “Take this jade pendant. If I can’t come out, take it and go to Governor of Capital Guards first. Then go to Huajun Pharmacy’s branch in the capital. Someone will know what to do.”

Looking at Shen Ninghua’s calm eyes, Baili Anning slowly released her hand and looked down at the two children. Tears fell down as she held the jade pendant tightly in her palm. “Ninghua, you must come back safely with the kids.”

“Don’t worry.” Shen Ninghua nodded and gently touched the cheeks of the two children. “Big Boy, Baby Girl, kiss Aunt Anning. We’ll enter the Palace to play.”

Big Boy and Baby Girl slowly stood up from the ground, threw themselves into Baili Anning’s arms, and kissed her cheek, shouting in a childish voice, “Kiss… kiss…”

Baili Anning covered her lips and cried. She was afraid, she was really afraid…

Shen Ninghua picked up Baby Girl and turned to call Qing Que, “I can’t carry two children. Qing Que, carry Big Boy and follow me into the Palace. Hong Ling, carry the children’s things and come with us. Bai Ruo, go and tell Ye Yi to take good care of Junyi and Princess Anning. If anything happens, I’ll make him pay with his life!”

“Yes, Master!”

Shen Ninghua carefully spruced up herself. Under Baili Anning’s uneasy gaze, she brought the two children into the imperial palace. Outside Chunxi Palace, there was a group of palace maids as usual. They stood outside the palace in rows, looking rather spectacular. Shen Ninghua walked to the door and stopped. “Eunuch Liu, please go in and inform His Majesty of our arrival.”

“Okay, Your Highness, please wait a moment.”

“Greetings, Your Highness, little Bei Zi, and little Prefectural Princess. Her Grace said that you can directly enter with the children. You don’t have to report your arrival.”

Suppressing the coldness in her eyes, Shen Ninghua smiled with a nod, and took the children, Qing Que, and Hong Ling into the Chunxi Palace.

Inside the palace, Xia Jingxin was leaning against Noble Concubine’s couch. Behind her was a soft snow-white fox skin. Coupled with her pale face, she looked particularly weak. “Ninghua, you’re here.”

Baili Qingcang was sitting behind a desk at the side and reading the reports with his head lowered. Ever since Xia Jingxin moved into the imperial palace, Baili Qingcang had started to settle the administrative matters at Chunxi Palace.

Shen Ninghua slightly bent her knees and curtsied. “Greetings Father Emperor and Noble Concubine. I’ve brought Baili Yongchen and Baili Luoyao with me.”

Xia Jingxin was looking delightful and happy. Before Baili Qingcang could speak, she ushered, “Ninghua, get up quickly. So they are your children. I heard that their nicknames are Big Boy and Baby Girl. What adorable nicknames.”

Shen Ninghua stood up, but instead of walking over, she slowly explained, “The nicknames are just for daily usage. Speaking of which, their formal names are really nice. Baili Yongchen and Baili Luoyao. Father Emperor personally named them when they were one month old. The word “Yongchen” is to commemorate my mother, Xia Jingyan. I…”

“Ninghua!”

Before Shen Ninghua could finish, Baili Qingcang interrupted her. He got up and walked to Xia Jingxin, carefully checking her condition. “Xin’er, how are you feeling?”

Xia Jingxin clutched her chest, tears silently falling down her face, with a confused expression on her face. “Your Majesty, I don’t know why, but when I heard this, I felt as if someone was using a knife to stir my heart. Your Majesty, what happened to me… Cough cough… ”

“Don’t overthink this. Yan Bushou said that you have heart disease, remember? Don’t think too much about it. Ninghua just said it casually. It has nothing to do with you.”

Xia Jingxin weakly leaned into Baili Qingcang’s embrace. After a while, she stopped crying. “Your Majesty, it’s all my fault. I embarrassed myself in front of Ninghua.”

“No, you did not. It’s Ninghua who is rude.” Baili Qingcang turned to look at Shen Ninghua, and his brows furrowed slightly. “Ninghua, hurry and apologize to Noble Concubine.”

Shen Ninghua smiled. “Noble Concubine, I’m sorry for being rude. Please don’t mind me. I’ll be doomed if my words cause your heart to ache.”

Xia Jingxin lowered her head and lightly stroked her chest. “No, I’m not that fragile. Ninghua, quickly bring the two children over for me to take a look.”

Qing Que and Hong Ling, who were following behind, felt their hearts tighten, but Shen Ninghua seemed to not care at all. She walked forward and placed Baby Girl on the soft couch beside Xia Jingxin. “Baby Girl, sit quietly and let Noble Concubine take a good look at you.”

After saying that, Shen Ninghua let go of her hand and turned to hug Big Boy who was in Qing Que’s arms. Unexpectedly, just as she turned around, she heard Xia Jingxin suddenly exclaim in a particularly miserable voice.

“Ouch, it hurts!”

Baili Qingcang was looking at Big Boy in Qing Que’s arms when he heard Xia Jingxin’s exclamation. He quickly lowered his head to check on her. “What’s wrong, Xin’er? What happened?”

Shen Ninghua turned around and picked up Baby Girl with a puzzled look on her face. “Your Grace, what happened to you?”

Xia Jingxin covered her leg, and her face twisted in a painful grimace. “That child kicked me!”

Shen Ninghua furrowed her brows and looked a little displeased. “Your Grace, Baby Girl is not even one year old yet. She can’t kick that hard. If you don’t like her, just say so. You don’t have to say such an excuse.”

“No, Your Majesty. That child kicked me very hard.”

Shen Ninghua sneered, “Then I, as her mother, apologize to you on her behalf. It’s all Baby Girl’s fault because she is too strong!”

Baili Qingcang slightly frowned in dismay. “Xin’er, are you mistaken?” No matter how much he doted on Xia Jingxin, Baili Qingcang was not stupid enough to believe that a toddler would have so much strength to hurt an adult by her kicks.

“It’s true. I’m not lying.” Xia Jingxin covered her leg, feeling as if her leg was about to break. It was especially painful to move.

Shen Ninghua stood at the side and did not make a sound, but she was sneering in her heart. The closer she got to Xia Jingxin, the more she felt disgusted. Only Shen Linghan and Baili Jinze could make her feel this way. This woman was definitely not the reincarnation of her mother.

Shen Ninghua believed in the cycle of karma and believed in the natural bonding between mother and daughter. She could not feel it when she was not a mother. But after becoming a mother, she realized that no mother would have any malice towards her child, and every child would be able to recognize their own mother! So, after confirming that Xia Jingxin was not her mother, she had nothing to worry about.

“Well, I thought that Her Grace loves children, but I didn’t expect to irritate her. Father Emperor, if there is nothing else, I will take the two children back first.”

Baili Qingcang nodded. Originally, it was Xia Jingxin who wanted to see the two children, but he didn’t expect that she would not like them when she saw them.

“No, Your Majesty, I like the children. I want to stay with them for a while.” Xia Jingxin grabbed Baili Qingcang’s sleeve and insisted in a stiff tone.

Shen Ninghua’s eyes turned cold. This woman was so persistent. “Since Your Grace like the children, I’ll let them stay with you for a while longer.” As Shen Ninghua spoke, she took two steps forward and directly placed Baby Girl at the position she had just been at.

Xia Jingxin subconsciously wanted to stay away from Baby Girl, but before she could even move, Baby Girl kicked her thigh again. “Ouch!” This time, it was even more painful than before. She was in so much pain that she pushed Baby Girl out with one hand.

Fortunately, Shen Ninghua managed to catch Baby Girl, or the latter would have fallen from the couch. Shen Ninghua was enraged and hissed, “Your Grace, even if you don’t like Baby Girl, you don’t have to push her down from the couch. Who will take the responsibility if she falls?”

Baby Girl felt that her mother was in a bad mood. In addition, she was a little shocked. She immediately cried out. Her crying sound was particularly aggrieved, and it broke everyone’s heart.

Baili Qingcang frowned even more tightly. Just now, when Shen Ninghua went forward, she blocked his line of sight, so he did not see clearly what was going on, but it was completely impossible to say that a toddler could kick an adult so hard. “Xin’er, how are you feeling?”

Xia Jingxin clutched her chest, her face extremely pale. “I’m in so much pain. Your Majesty, that child kicked me so hard!”

“Baby Girl is not even a year old. How can she have any strength?”

“No, take a look. My legs must be bruised. She is very strong. She is!” Xia Jingxin refused to give up, and she pestered Baili Qingcang. Baili Qingcang did not have a choice but to avoid Shen Ninghua’s gaze and look at Xia Jingxin’s legs. However, her legs were pretty fine, and there was not even a red mark on them.

“Xin’er, there’s nothing on your legs. You must have felt wrong.” There was a trace of dissatisfaction in Baili Qingcang’s eyes.

Xia Jingxin was in so much pain that she broke out in a cold sweat. However, she did not know what to do since her legs looked completely fine. Suddenly, she saw a flash of light on the foot of Baby Girl, who was in Shen Ninghua’s arms.

“There’s something on Baby Girl’s shoes!” After Xia Jingxin finished speaking, she pursed her lips, and then quickly added, “It doesn’t matter if it hurts me, but what if she hurts herself? Your Majesty, quickly get someone to check it.”

Shen Ninghua sneered and did not say anything. She directly took off the shoes on Baby Girl’s feet. “Well, you can investigate all you like if you want to. Don’t miss anything.”

Xia Jingxin’s body stiffened, but she gestured for the maid beside her to take the shoes. After the maid carefully examined them, she shook her head slightly. “There’s nothing unusual.”

Xia Jingxin suddenly raised her head. Seeing the cold expression on Shen Ninghua’s face, Xia Jingxin immediately understood that she had fallen into Shen Ninghua’s trap. She was like a dumb person taking a dose of bitter medicine.