I woke up as the Villainous Empress

"Also, do you think wearing clothes like men can turn you into a man?" The man sarcastically commented, laughed, and said, "Go away and focus on cleaning and cooking. Get out of here before you get into trouble."

Yang Ning\'s smile disappeared upon hearing the man speaking rudely to her. However, she maintained her composure considering that they were just doing their jobs and the guards didn\'t know that she was the Crown Princess. Before she could say anything, Xiaowei beat her to it and explained to the guard, "We are here for self-defense training on His Highness\'s orders.

I came here yesterday with Guard Gu Lan; don\'t you recognize me?"

The man frowned and pursed his lips when he saw Xiaowei speaking up. She was standing behind the other woman and was wearing the training uniform. When she introduced herself, he recognized her as the same woman who accompanied Guard Gu Lan yesterday. However, he couldn\'t recognize the woman standing at the front.

He glanced at the other guard for confirmation and then turned to Xiaowei, responding, "Yes, you\'re allowed to go inside. However, we only have orders for you to enter the training grounds." The man looked at Yang Ning with a frown and said, "You cannot go inside. Strangers are not allowed to enter this area on impulse.

Go away and bring the pass to enter the area if you want to train." He ordered her and carelessly pushed her on the shoulders, urging her to leave.

Yang Ning\'s eyes darkened at the man\'s unnecessary use of touch and careless attitude. His duty was to guard the area, but he had no right to treat anyone disrespectfully, even if they were maids at the palace. If a person seemed suspicious, they could conduct an inquiry and report to the senior guards for in-depth investigation. This kind of attitude was unnecessarily rude and arrogant.

Witnessing Yang Ning being touched and pushed by the man carelessly, Xiaowei\'s eyes widened in anger and disbelief. She immediately came in front of Yang Ning, protecting her behind her. Pointing at the guard who pushed Yang Ning, she bellowed at him, "You insolent man! How dare you touch Her Royal Highness? Do you wish to die?"

The guard, whose expressions were cold and uninterested, widened in shock upon hearing Xiaowei\'s words. His gaze shifted from Xiaowei to Yang Ning and stared at the woman who was also wearing a training robe and dressed like a man.

He had thought that she was also a maidservant like Xiaowei, and that\'s why he stopped her according to the protocols. Even though Xiaowei was the maidservant, she had the Princess and Guard Gu Lan supporting her and even had permission to enter the training ground premises.

However, he wasn\'t planning to go lenient on the other maidservant, even though she was pretty and just his type, he could not allow her to enter the area. Not now, at least. If she meets him after his duty, he might consider giving her a tour of the training grounds while having some fun with her.

Innocent maidservants like her are easy to be fooled, after all!

However, what he failed to recognize was that the training robe the woman was wearing was not a common one. It was not an ordinary training robe; the material used to craft the training clothes appeared to be smoother and shinier than the usual one. The robe had intricate silver thread embroidery on the handcuffs and border of it, and it even had a signature black belt with a certain crest on it.

It was none other than His Highness\'s training clothes.

Although he had seen the Crown Princess before, since the woman was wearing man-like training clothes, and he wasn\'t expecting to see her like this, he couldn\'t recognize her at a glance and inadvertently put himself in trouble.

When the guard who disrespected Yang Ning noticed these details, the words of Xiaowei started to make sense. Upon realizing that he had been rude to the Crown Princess and dared to not only touch her but push her, he felt his soul leaving his body and sensed his legs giving way.

His face went pale as he stared at Yang Ning, who was shielded by Xiaowei and pleaded with her. The man\'s hands trembled as he immediately kneeled on the ground and sincerely apologized while begging for mercy. "Your Highness, please forgive me for my impudence earlier. I failed to recognize you. I have made a huge mistake."

"I have a family of six, including my old and fragile parents, wife, and three children. Please forgive me, Your Highness. Please have some mercy," the guard pleaded, his head lowered in remorse.

Yang Ning maintained a stern expression, studying the man who was kneeling on the ground with a contemplative gaze.

The other guard, realizing the gravity of the situation, bowed deeply to the Princess and begged for forgiveness, "Your Highness, please forgive us for being disrespectful. We have made a huge mistake by not recognizing you."

The kneeling guard, prodded by his companion, stammered out another apology, "Y-Your Highness, I am truly sorry for my impudence. I beg for your forgiveness. Please have mercy on me and spare my family."

The other guard kicked him and added, "Apologize again and show proper respect to Her Highness!" The kneeling guard quickly complied, repeating his apology with more sincerity, his face showing genuine remorse.

Yang Ning didn\'t address the kneeling guard and turned to the other one, commanding, "Open the doors. I am here to look around the training ground." The guard hesitated, citing the prohibition for women in the area.

Yang Ning\'s voice turned stern, "Did you not hear me? Do I look like any ordinary woman to you? Did your Crown Prince specifically say that I cannot enter the training grounds? If you insist on blocking my way, I can go and report this incident to the Crown Prince."

Realizing the gravity of their mistake, the guard swiftly opened the large iron gates for the Crown Princess. Before entering, Yang Ning glanced at the kneeling guard and said coldly, "You\'re here to guard the area, not to treat others disrespectfully."

"From today onwards, you won\'t be guarding the training grounds area. I will have you appointed to the stables to clean and look after the horses for the next six months. Consider this your punishment for not knowing how to be polite and carry out your duties without being rude." With that, she turned and walked inside the training grounds, Xiaowei following her.

The guard who had disrespected Yang Ning felt an invisible slap across his face. As a guard at one of the most respectable departments of the palace, being transferred to the stables to work and clean horse stalls would be a significant humiliation.

"This can\'t be true. How can I work at the stables?" the man mumbled in disbelief. The other guard added, "Consider yourself lucky that Her Highness didn\'t give you a harsher punishment. If it were His Highness, you might have to worry about the safety of your hands that touched Her Highness.

Be thankful your punishment is not more severe." The guard advised him to refrain from complaining and to appreciate that his life had been spared.