Girl, There's Something Wrong With You - Chapter 6

Wang Wanrou glanced at the unappetizing bowl of noodles, raised an eyebrow slightly, and turned to glare at Cheng Jinyang. However, her line of sight was quickly blocked by Princess Nankang’s deft sidestep.

“Wanrou,” the princess said with a bright smile. “I heard you had some subpar noodles for lunch, so this time I made sure to pick a place with authentic flavors. Go ahead and give it a try—see if it suits your taste?”

“This…” Wang Wanrou took a bite. “It’s overly greasy.”

“If it’s too greasy, just skim off the oil,” the princess said, grabbing a spoon and unceremoniously scooping the oil slick off the broth for her.

“It’s too salty,” Wang Wanrou said, her eyelid twitching.

She wanted to snap back with a biting remark but knew full well that the princess wasn’t here with kind intentions. If she pushed too far and broke into open hostility, she’d undoubtedly be the one to suffer.

“If it’s too salty, plain water will balance it out perfectly,” the princess replied, pouring a glass of hot water and setting it down beside her.

Cheng Jinyang watched the exchange from behind, utterly dumbfounded.

So this is what it means for a scholar to meet a soldier! Understood, understood—turns out Miss Wang can be bullied like this. Better make a note of that.

Wang Wanrou’s expression remained unchanged as she rinsed the noodles in the plain water, silently eating half of them one strand at a time. Finally, she dabbed her mouth with a napkin and said, “Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness. I appreciate the gesture, but there’s no need to trouble yourself like this in the future. I’ll simply accompany Jinyang to eat next time.”

“No need to be so polite,” the princess said, withdrawing her thinly veiled intimidation once she saw Wanrou outwardly concede. “Young ladies should come out and move around more often. Staying cooped up in a room all day isn’t good for your health.”

“You’re absolutely right, Your Highness,” Wang Wanrou replied with a faint smile.

That smile made Cheng Jinyang break into a cold sweat.

Oh no, this means she’s holding a grudge now!

“Ahem, let’s not dwell on this,” Cheng Jinyang interjected hurriedly, trying to mediate. “Wanrou, since you’re willing to come out, why don’t the three of us go for a late-night snack?”

—

After wandering around the underground city, they quickly discovered that while everything here was expensive, staple grains and mushrooms were relatively cheap.

The reason was simple: staples and mushrooms (the primary source of vitamins) were produced locally. However, due to insufficient lighting in the underground agricultural bases, they didn’t taste very good. All other meats and vegetables were imported from the outside world, making them pricier but with better flavors.

Of course, this “expensive” was relative to ordinary residents. For someone like Miss Wang, a favored daughter of the heavens, even prices ten times higher wouldn’t faze her.

The greasy, unpleasant mushroom noodles at lunch had been an unfortunate accident caused by a certain someone picking the wrong restaurant.

At the barbecue joint, Wang Wanrou watched with narrowed eyes as the princess placed several skewers into Cheng Jinyang’s bowl and smiled faintly.

“Jinyang, Her Highness truly treats you like a younger brother,” she remarked.

Cheng Jinyang had no idea what she was up to, but he was certain it wasn’t anything good. He decided to feign ignorance and keep silent.

“Jinyang and I have known each other for a long time,” the princess replied with a smile. “Back when I studied under the teacher, I even mentored him for a time. The teacher treated me with great kindness—how could I not be good to Jinyang?”

Known each other for a long time? Cheng Jinyang paused mid-bite and frantically searched his memories.

“I see,” Wang Wanrou said, still smiling. “But your kindness is almost excessive—I’m starting to feel jealous of him. When Your Highness marries someday, won’t your husband end up feeling jealous of Jinyang too?”

Before either of them could respond, she suddenly added, as if remembering something, “Oh, by the way, just recently, Yu Zhongshu was discussing Your Highness’s marriage with my father.

With the empire enduring two consecutive civil wars, the imbalance between strong branches and a weak trunk has become evident. And now, with Yu Siao from the Shenwu Army about to retire, someone trustworthy will surely need to take over.”

These words made Princess Nankang’s expression change drastically. Even her mood for grilling meat instantly vanished.

Among the empire’s four military commands, the strongest was the Longxiang Army, followed by Shenwu, then Xiaoqi, and lastly Feixiong.

Since the aristocracy’s southward migration, the Longxiang Army had been firmly controlled by the Taiyuan Wang clan. Meanwhile, the Sima imperial family had strategically placed many of its clan members within the Shenwu Army, trying to exert influence over it and maintain a balance of power between the eastern and western factions.

However, while the imperial clan members could serve as mid- and low-level officers, they were never allowed to command the Shenwu Army as a whole. After all, they were already of imperial blood—putting them in charge of one of the four armies would essentially make them comparable to vassal kings with their own military forces. Even though this world hadn’t seen figures like Li Shimin or Zhu Di, the basic logic of politics was clear to everyone: one with both status and power would inevitably be tempted to seize the throne.

Thus, the top position in the Shenwu Army had always been reserved for ministers trusted by the emperor.

But things had shifted. With the young emperor on the throne, the empress dowager acting as regent, and the Prime Minister being her elder brother, the new head of the Shenwu Army didn’t need to be someone the “emperor” trusted—what mattered now was whether they were trusted by the Yu clan.

Yu Yuan’gui, however, had even grander ambitions. After Wang Chuzhong’s failed rebellion, the Taiyuan Wang clan lost its control over the Longxiang Army, which was temporarily handed to Tao Shixing for oversight.

Tao Shixing, though, was even older than Yu Siao. The moment the elderly Tao retired, Yu Yuan’gui would seize control of the Longxiang Army, ensuring the aristocracy’s submission through sheer military deterrence.

In such a scenario, the aristocracy could not possibly allow the Yu clan to also gain control of the Shenwu Army. If the Yu family held two of the empire’s four armies, they might as well crown Yu Yuan’gui emperor outright.

In other words, once Yu Siao retired, the Shenwu Army would face a dilemma: appointing someone from the Yu faction would incite fierce resistance from the aristocracy, while appointing someone from the Five Noble Clans would almost certainly lead to rebellion from the imperial Sima clan within the army itself.

The ideal candidate, then, would have to be someone of noble lineage, yet still seen as aligned with the imperial family, and grudgingly acceptable to Yu Yuan’gui. A compromise like this was rare, but a potential solution was to… marry a noble into the royal family and make him the princess’s consort.

This was precisely why Wang Wanrou had brought up Yu Yuan’gui and her father Wang Maohong’s discussions. At this point, Princess, you no longer have the luxury of choosing your husband based on personal preference. The position of consort must be someone who represents a balance among all three political factions.

After three or four minutes of silent thought, Princess Nankang finally pieced together the implications. Her gaze toward Wang Wanrou subtly shifted.

“Can you influence your father’s decisions?” she asked bluntly, dropping any pretense. “I thought your third brother was the heir to the Taiyuan Wang clan.”

“I only need to tell my father that I wish to marry Jinyang, and he won’t be able to become the imperial consort,” Wang Wanrou replied with a faint smile.

Cheng Jinyang, listening nearby, was taken aback. What? Wanrou wants to marry me? Hahaha, Wanrou really does love me! But saying this in front of the Princess is too much—how will she recover from that embarrassment?

Ah, you two need to get along! Don’t fight! He began wracking his brain for something to defuse the tension, completely unaware of how differently the same words sounded to the Princess.

The Taiyuan Wang clan, one of the Five Noble Clans, how could they ever allow their daughter to become a secondary wife to the imperial consort?

If Wang Maohong truly doted on his youngest daughter and was willing to intervene for her, the question of whether Cheng Jinyang became the imperial consort or married into the Wang family would become a battleground of political struggle between the Taiyuan Wang clan and the Yu-dominated imperial in-laws.

Wang Wanrou, you truly are venomous, the Princess thought coldly. To use your personal whims as a pretext to threaten a full-scale conflict between the aristocracy and the imperial clan!

Her eyes glinted icily as she sneered, “Well then, let’s see how this plays out.”