A Good Country Wife
Chapter 421 - 415 - _1

Chapter 421: 415 Chapter_1

"But, Princess..." Lin Yue was still somewhat worried. She didn’t believe for a second that Princess Yong’an’s martial arts skills were any good. After all, which royal princess would seriously practice martial arts? Most likely, it would be all show—a case of style over substance. The palace servants, eager to curry favor with their masters, naturally wouldn’t dare to strike hard. But out in the real world, who cares if you’re a princess? They won’t pull their punches just because of that. So when Lin Yue heard that Princess Yongle seemed to be looking for a fight, her anxiety only deepened, and her troubled expression was impossible to hide.

When Lady Roujia saw Lin Yue like this, she knew the girl was worrying too much. "Alright, alright, Yueyue, stop fussing. Since we’ve already decided, why talk so much? It’s better if we just head out quickly. It’s getting late, and if we delay any further, there won’t be much time left for us to enjoy our outing."

"Yes, let’s hurry up and not waste any more time dawdling," said Princess Yongle as she took the lead and walked out. Lady Roujia and Lin Yue hastened to follow her.

The gatekeeper, seeing three men coming toward the side gate to exit, initially wanted to stop them, but upon recognizing who they were, he was startled and knelt down with a thud. "Your servant has seen the Princess and the Commandery Princess."

"Shh, we are incognito. Don’t let anyone find out about our whereabouts. You mustn’t make a fuss, and no one is allowed to speak of our outing, or I won’t let you off the hook," Princess Yongle threatened the servant, who hastily complied in fear. They were not among the favoured servants who attended to Princess Yongle and Lady Roujia and wouldn’t dare go against the princesses’ wishes—there was only one consequence for doing so.

"Your servant obeys, I would never dare to divulge any information about the Princess and the Commandery Princess."

"Smart of you. Roujia, the servants in your residence seem to know their place, unlike those deadbeats in my palace, each only obeys my imperial brother. Let’s go," said Princess Yongle, pleased with her successful intimidation of the servants, and even rewarded them with a few taels of silver from her purse.

Lady Roujia looked at Princess Yongle doing so, shook her head with a smile, and Lin Yue also began to understand—this wasn’t Princess Yongle’s first time doing something like this.

Lin Yue had been worried at first, but once they reached the street and started to indulge in food, drink, and shopping, she too began to enjoy herself. Shopping with the princesses was truly different. Both high-ranking figures, they were not likely to be bothered by anyone with a modicum of sense; for the senseless, there was no need for politeness—just move directly to action if words failed, with no fear of trouble later. The Commandery Princess aside, Princess Yongle was the Emperor’s own blood sister, his legitimate close relation, and he had always shown her partiality and protection. Even if she maimed someone, no one would dare to raise a voice. Challenging a princess and then being beaten was simply asking for it.

"Time to collect the protection money! Cough it up quickly, else I’ll make sure you can’t do business here." A few thugs shouted loudly.

Following Princess Yongle and Lady Roujia to the City God Temple, Lin Yue witnessed this all-too-classic and melodramatic scene. While it may have been melodramatic, it was a common occurrence for ruffians to bully common folks and merchants. Even when Magistrate Chen had been in charge of Xin’an City’s administration and had enforced clear governance, such incidents could not be totally prevented, just mitigated. And in the capital—with its plethora of royalty and nobility, officials as common as dirt—who knew which powerful backer these ruffians had found to support their antics? These phenomena were even more rampant.

Princess Yongle was exactly the kind of person who couldn’t stand to see injustices, always eager for the chance to intervene. The moment she saw how rampant the rogues were being, she wanted to take action but was pulled back by both Lady Roujia and Lin Yue, "Princess, don’t rush into things. Let’s assess the situation first. This kind of extortion is unavoidable everywhere. As long as it doesn’t go too far, merchants and peddlers are willing to pay a certain protection fee for safety. Otherwise, even if you step in this time, these thugs will simply take out their frustration on the merchants and vendors afterwards. Your good intentions might actually end up hurting them."

"Yes, Yongle, Yueyue is right. We should either not get involved at all, or we need to handle it thoroughly. Actively intervening without careful consideration can end up causing more harm than help," Lady Roujia joined Lin Yue in persuading her. She lived outside the palace and had some understanding of these matters, unlike Yongle who grew up inside and was unaware of the ways of the world.

"Alright, then let’s wait and see." Princess Yongle was not obstinate. Hearing what Lady Roujia and Lin Yue had to say, she no longer intended to take immediate action.

Lin Yue relaxed when she saw that Princess Yongle was willing to take advice. Her earlier reason was one concern, but she was more worried about the safety of the princess and the commandery princess. Neither had brought guards with them; if it really came to a fight, how could they possibly be a match for these roughians? It would be terrible if anything happened. Of course, things had to develop in the direction she least wanted to see.

These thugs were extorting so viciously that some small vendors couldn’t afford to pay, especially an old lady in tattered clothes, who was selling mountain goods at her stall. The lack of humanity from these rogues was appalling as they resorted to threats, and even when the old lady couldn’t pay, they took away her goods and started to beat her.

Upon witnessing such a scene, Princess Yongle could not contain her anger any longer. She stepped forward, "You vile brutes, how dare you bully an old lady like this; it’s despicable! If I don’t give you a good lesson today, you’ll never learn the principles of being human."

"Oh, look who we have here, a pretty little master from some household. Such a pity you’ve got a nosy nature. Why don’t you come back with me, and I’ll teach you a lesson or two about the ways of the world?" The rogue mocked when he saw a delicate-looking young master intervening, a smirk on his face. He had clearly recognized that Princess Yongle was in disguise as a boy. Lin Yue had long felt that their attempt at cross-dressing was poorly executed but didn’t voice her thoughts; by now, she guessed that nearly everyone on the street who wasn’t utterly unobservant had figured it out.

Princess Yongle couldn’t bear such crude talk and, without hesitation, kicked fiercely at the thug, leading to a fight. Lady Roujia quickly joined in the melee. With both the princess and the commandery princess engaged in the brawl, Lin Yue naturally couldn’t just stand by. If there were to be an inquiry later, she couldn’t afford to be implicated, plus she was not one to forsake loyalty, so she reluctantly joined the fray too.

Lin Yue thought that she might not come out of this unscathed if she didn’t perform heroically. Before rushing in, she wisely gave two taels of silver to a vendor and implored him to rush to the government office to report the crime.

"Tell the official that there’s a gang of ruffians here attacking the princess and the commandery princess, and he needs to bring troops for rescue immediately. If anything happens to the princess and the commandery princess, his head won’t stay on his shoulders! Make sure the message gets through, as you’ll also be held accountable if it doesn’t. If the Emperor gets angry, it won’t be as simple as just losing heads."