CHAPTER 335: CHAPTER 329: I AM THE MARQUIS MANSION DOWAGER 18

"Ah?"

Tang Pei’s mouth fell open in shock.

He had not expected Anning to encounter such an incident.

Upon taking another look at Anning, he suddenly realized that his great-great-grandmother now had the appearance of a girl in her twenties, and a rare, stunning beauty at that. No wonder just going out for a stroll had attracted a playboy.

Following that, Tang Pei started to get angry as well: "Where is this playboy? I’m going to settle the score with him."

"Just at that Taoran Inn."

Anning took another sip of tea: "The guy wasn’t bad-looking and seemed decent, but who knew he’d turn out to be such a scoundrel."

"Taoran Inn."

Tang Pei ground his teeth and rose to leave.

But just at this moment, Xu De came searching for them.

He entered with an anxious expression and immediately asked Anning, "Miss Sun, did you run into someone when you went out today?"

Anning did not hide it: "I just ran into a scoundrel. He already has a wife and children at home, and he even dared to propose to marry me. I couldn’t stand it and gave him a kick."

Xu De’s face became a colorful display of emotions.

Anning rubbed her wrist and stood up: "What? Has he come looking for trouble?"

Xu De stiffly nodded his head.

"Where is he?"

Anning and Tang Pei asked together.

Xu De pointed in the direction of the front hall.

Before he could say anything further, the two of them had already run off without a trace.

Xu De held his forehead, a headache coming on: "That’s, that’s the Emperor, my goodness..."

He hurriedly chased after them.

Anning, filled with anger, entered the front hall ready to hit someone: "Playboy, tricking me once is enough, but you dare to come looking for trouble?"

Tang Pei had already charged over.

Eunuch Wu was terrified and quickly stepped forward to block Tang Pei.

Tang Pei lifted him up with one hand.

"Stop, stop."

Xu De ran over with all his might, but was still a step behind. As soon as he entered, he saw the conflict unfolding, turning pale with fright.

Tang Pei glanced at Xu De.

Xu De hurriedly went over to rescue Eunuch Wu.

Afterward, Xu De knelt before the Emperor: "Your servant greets the Emperor, long live the Emperor..."

Tang Pei stared, dumbfounded, at the man with anger on his face: "You are the Emperor?"

The Emperor’s anger intensified, his face full of jealous suspicion glaring at Tang Pei: "And who might you be?"

It was no wonder the Emperor was jealous.

As soon as Tang Pei came in, he acted impulsively, appearing even more infuriated than Anning, a clear sign of their close relationship.

Moreover, standing with Anning he looked handsome and she beautiful, their ages seeming well-matched. They truly appeared to be a perfect pair.

The Emperor had already concluded that there was a romantic involvement between them.

Xu De hurriedly pulled Tang Pei down to kneel: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. This is Tang Pei, the new top scorer... He, he did not intend any offense."

But Tang Pei was fearless, countering indignantly: "I intended to offend. Just because you’re the Emperor doesn’t mean you can harass respectable women in the streets."

The Emperor looked sternly at Tang Pei, marking a note against him in his mental notebook.

He then turned to Anning: "And who is this to you?"

Anning fully understood what the Emperor was thinking.

Afraid that Tang Pei would be at a disadvantage, she quickly protected Tang Pei: "This is my grandson."

Eh?

This time, the Emperor and Xu De were the ones caught off guard.

Tang Pei stiffened his neck: "No."

The Emperor narrowed his eyes, his gaze growing even colder.

Tang Pei continued: "It’s the great-great-grandson. I can’t be of the same generation as my father."

Eunuch Wu stood by the side, now truly at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

Xu De plopped himself on the ground, looking at Tang Pei and asking: "Nephew, what on earth is going on here?"

Tang Pei truly didn’t know how to answer. He just pushed the responsibility onto Anning: "Ask her."

The Emperor, Xu De, and Eunuch Wu all turned their stares toward Anning.

Anning pulled over a chair and sat down.

She pointed to Tang Pei and said softly: "Her great-great-grandmother is my older sister."

Xu De’s head ached terribly. He did the math for Tang Pei’s age, and also calculated the age of the Old Dowager of Marquis Zhongyong: "If you say so... Your great-grandmother would be over seventy or eighty if she were alive, and she’s your sister. That math doesn’t add up at all."

Anning replied very calmly: "I was born to my parents late in their life. My father had my sister when he was in his teens and had me when he was in his sixties. There’s a gap of over forty years. Moreover, I’m not young anymore, I’m already in my thirties."

Calculated like that, it indeed made sense.

Xu De looked toward Tang Pei.

Tang Pei regained his senses; he was truly convinced now. He hadn’t expected such a clever ploy. The games of a great-great-grandmother were really unexpected, leaving people unable to guard against them.

If Tang Pei were in modern times, he would definitely say that the longest journey he’s ever taken was through the great-great-grandmother’s schemes.

Tang Pei nodded to Xu De, indicating that what Anning said was true.

Xu De quickly bowed to Anning: "I greet my great-aunt grandmother."

The Emperor, being left out, started to seek his presence.

He knocked on the table: "We don’t care about your relationships. I have some things I want to discuss with Mrs. Sun. You two, leave."

Xu De looked at Anning with concern.

Anning waved at Tang Pei and Xu De: "Alright, you two go ahead and leave."

Only then did the pair get up to leave.

Seeing this situation, Eunuch Wu quickly followed them out and carefully closed the door behind him.

The Emperor got up and walked over to Anning.

Getting closer, he looked at Anning again and felt more than ever that she was truly agreeable.

A spring breeze blew through the window, causing a few strands of Anning’s hair to fall down. The Emperor wanted to help her put them up but didn’t dare to.

He could only lower his voice, almost pleadingly: "I am not joking, nor am I mocking you. I truly wish to marry you. My legitimate wife passed away long ago, and since then I haven’t established any Empress. The current Supreme Empress in the palace was not conferred by me, but by my imperial son, and she’s merely a concubine. It was only out of consideration for my son that I agreed to her elevation. In my heart, I’ve never regarded her as my legitimate wife."

Anning sized up the Emperor, her expression contemplative.

The Emperor began to swallow nervously.

After a while, Anning finally spoke: "Do you mean to say that you want to confer me as the Supreme Empress?"

"Yes."

The Emperor nodded.

"Then I would enter the Imperial Palace with the etiquette of the Supreme Empress, seated on the phoenix carriage, through the main gate of the Imperial Palace. After entering the palace... If I enter the palace, apart from me, you can no longer bestow favor upon any Imperial Concubine or concubine, not even the Supreme Empress."

"Alright."

The Emperor smiled, his grin utterly jubilant: "I promise you, from now on, I will only cherish you."

Anning thought again: "Do you own any gardens outside of the palace?"

"Yes, I own several gardens."

Anning’s eyes gleamed with a cunning look: "Then I shall live in the garden, and you must live there with me as well. I have no desire to stay in the Imperial Palace to see you surrounded by a crowd of wives and concubines."

This was indeed in line with the Emperor’s wishes, and he happily agreed.

"Then you need to write it down. Spoken words hold no proof; let written words be the evidence."

Anning seized the opportunity to propose her conditions.