无翼乌工口里番无色无摭挡

How could she go meet her uncle?

The old Emperor and the dog Crown Prince would not let her go out.

“Gucheng, can you help me see my uncle?” she asked.

“No.”

“Why not? If you’re with me, you must obey my orders!” Jiang Ning said.

Gucheng slightly furrowed his eyebrows, remained silent for a long time, and then slowly said, “I am here to protect you, Miss. Your safety is more important than anything else.”

“Including disobeying my orders?”

After another long pause, Gucheng said word by word, “Yes. If your orders endanger your safety, I will refuse.”

“You say no to this and that.”

Jiang Ning paced back and forth in front of him with her hands behind her back, then suddenly stopped and looked at him, “Gucheng, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Why do you speak so slowly?”

“…”

Gucheng did not answer.

And fell silent again.

For questions that don’t necessarily need an answer, he can always pretend not to hear.

Jiang Ning only asked casually, not really trying to pry into his privacy, and let it go when she didn’t get an answer, quickly putting it out of her mind.

Now, she was thinking about how to see her uncle.

Her uncle was a commanding general, holding hundreds of thousands of troops in his hands.

But he could not bring so many soldiers back to the capital with him, otherwise it would be considered treason.

By the rules, he could only bring his own personal Imperial Guard.

What if he didn’t bring Xingcheng with him?

Jiang Mubai was an outer minister. Without an Imperial Edict, he could not enter and exit the Harem at will. For Jiang Ning to see him, she would have to go to the front to find him or get the Emperor to issue an edict.

Neither of these was likely at the moment.

When Huang Ying learned of her troubles, she laughed and said, “My Master is overthinking this. General Mu is a close follower of the Crown Prince and often follows him around and in and out of the East Palace. It’s not necessary to steal his handwriting from his home; just ask him to write a few words.”

“Don’t you think I know that? But I can’t find a suitable, unnoticed reason.”

“True…” Huang Ying hesitated, “It’s odd to ask an Imperial Guard to write something without any special occasions.”

“Unless…” Jiang Ning’s eyes flickered.

Huang Ying quickly asked, “Master, have you thought of a way?”

“You could say it’s not really a solution.” Jiang Ning whispered a few words in her ear.

Huang Ying opened her mouth wide, “This… isn’t a good idea, is it?”

“It’s not real, just a few words in reply.”

“But you shouldn’t write the letter yourself. If there’s a misunderstanding, there will be trouble.” Huang Ying shook her head repeatedly, “It’s better to have someone else write the letter.”

“Who would be suitable? Huang Ying, what about you?”

“I can’t either. Although I can recognize a few characters, my handwriting is not presentable.”

“Exactly, among you all, only Xiachu is better. But in this kind of matter, the fewer people who know, the better. I’ll do it myself, don’t worry, I won’t sign my name and I’ll change my handwriting.” Jiang Ning decided on the spot.

She went to her desk, spread out a piece of paper, took up the brush, dipped it in ink, and thought for a moment before starting to write.

Huang Ying looked on, head tilted.

“General Mu, I admire you very much…” she read out a few words, trying not to laugh and worried at the same time, “Master, stop writing. You are the Princess Consort, writing such a letter to a subject, it just doesn’t feel right.”

“It’s fake.”

“I know it’s fake, but what kind of merit does Mu Jian have?”