Even if they're a little ugly, they're still my biological child.

No mother is immune to loving her child, and the Empress was no exception.

Moreover, she disliked Princess Kangle to begin with, so she ordered, "Lock Princess Kangle up and deal with her after the princess recovers."

After saying this, she took the nanny, picked up the princess, and left.

The eunuchs and palace maids who had been kneeling on the ground dared to get up. Looking at the innocent Jiayin, they felt extremely guilty, but they dared not disobey orders.

So, two palace maids stepped forward and led Jiayin to a small house next to the Imperial Garden where tools were kept.

Jiayin was pushed inside, and then the door was locked.

A young eunuch ran to report to the head eunuch, and the palace maids, whether out of fear or wanting to consult a head maid or someone else for advice, also left.

In short, for a time, there wasn't a soul to be seen outside the tool hut.

Jiayin peered out the window and snorted coldly.

No wonder it is said that the imperial palace is the richest and darkest place in the world.

Human hearts are rotten to the core.

A dozen or so palace maids and eunuchs all knew that she was "wrongfully accused" and that the princess was targeting and bullying her.

But just now, no one said a single fair word.

The Empress was even more "interesting"—she didn't ask any questions, just picked up the princess and left.

They said they would keep her locked up until the princess recovered and then release her to find out the truth.

But if you didn't ask clearly, why lock her up? Doesn't that mean you've assumed she's done something wrong?

Indeed, prejudice can be inherited.

Behind every bratty kid, there's a bratty parent!

Fortunately, she was an old cucumber painted green, not a real child, otherwise being locked in a dark room would definitely have left a psychological scar!

She glanced out the window again, made sure no one was there, and then slipped into the space.

After all that commotion, she was thirsty and hungry.

So she took two steaming hot meat buns from the front yard, ate them in big bites, then took a slice of watermelon, and strolled to the back garden while munching on it.

Sanjo was lying on the rock, looking lazy. When he saw his master come in, he quickly went up and rubbed against his trouser leg, looking very affectionate.

Jiayin squatted down and stroked the fox's tail a couple of times, then couldn't help but tap its forehead and scold, "Are you a fox spirit or not? Can you just tell me for sure!"

"If you're a vixen, transform into a handsome man in a few years, bewitch that Third Princess, and then dump her mercilessly, giving me a good venting of my anger!"

Whether the little fox understood or not, it flicked its three tails and rolled onto the ground.

Jiayin was so excited her heart was about to jump out of her chest, thinking she was about to witness the fox spirit's glorious moment of transforming into human form.

As a result, the little fox rolled over, then leaped up into the tree, its tail whipping directly onto the cage hanging to the side.

The poor little green snake, once again became a spinning top, involuntarily spinning rapidly.

Jiayin was extremely disappointed. She threw the melon rind at the little fox and scolded, "Idiot! Where's the handsome man you promised? What kind of person bullies Little Green!"

The little fox misunderstood, thinking its master had joined the game, and jumped around even more, whipping the cage so much that it almost left afterimages.

The poor little green snake couldn't speak, otherwise it would have shouted, "Master, what are you doing in here?! Isn't it better to let this stupid fox just laze around like this?!"

Jiayin couldn't stand the stupid fox and the unlucky snake anymore, so she went to do some work in the pigsty and chicken coop. When she turned around and saw the rabbit family, which had grown much larger again, she decisively slipped away.

So heartbreaking...

In the Empress's Kunning Palace, three imperial physicians were carefully examining the princess.

But the princess's pulse was normal, her cries were strong, and she had no external injuries; she didn't look sick at all.

But then the princess said her stomach hurt!

The three imperial physicians were so anxious that they were sweating profusely, wishing they could pluck out a handful of their own hair.

At this moment, the emperor himself arrived, and the three imperial physicians quickly knelt down to one side.

"What exactly happened? Why does the Third Princess have a stomachache? Did she eat something bad?" the Emperor asked immediately, clearly unaware of the situation.

The third princess was delighted to see her father come in person. She sat up abruptly and cried out, "Father, my stomach hurts! That Li Jiayin hit me! Waaah, Father, please help me!"

The Empress, looking distressed and behaving like a loving mother, sighed, "The princess thought she had found a playmate, so she took her to the garden. Who would have thought that the child was so wild and unruly, and actually injured the princess!"

The Emperor frowned, instinctively unwilling to believe it, "No way, Fu Niu'er is so well-behaved..."

"Father, she's bullying me! She even said I was wearing the same dress as her, and that I'm... ugly!" The Third Princess, afraid that her father wouldn't believe her, jumped down and tore off her dress to show him.

The emperor didn't look at her skirt, but instead asked, "Didn't you have a stomachache?"

The third princess instinctively clutched her stomach, exclaiming in surprise, "Ouch, why doesn't it hurt anymore!"

The Emperor's face darkened, and he turned to the three imperial physicians, "Can you tell why the princess is having abdominal pain?"

The three imperial physicians felt as if they had swallowed a bitter pill, so bitter they couldn't even open their mouths.

The princess is clearly not sick, so what can they say?

To be honest, the princess was jealous.

If you don't tell the truth, the Emperor will punish you.

Finally, the oldest imperial physician replied, "Your Majesty, the princess may have caught a chill in the garden, causing a sudden bloating and some pain in her stomach. Now that Your Majesty has come, the princess is happy, and... well, it has eased a bit."

The Emperor was a very shrewd man; how could he not understand the subtext that the princess was faking illness!

His face darkened further. He gestured for the imperial physician to leave, then demanded sternly, "What exactly happened? Who can explain it clearly? If no one understands, then none of us need to live!"

The palace maids and eunuchs immediately knelt on the ground!

The eunuchs and palace maids who had followed Jiayin and the princess were mostly from Kunning Palace, but the eunuchs were all from the Imperial Study.

Seeing the emperor's anger, a young eunuch with ambitions for advancement decided to risk everything.

He crawled forward on his knees and recounted the conversation between the princess and the county princess in a factual manner, including how the princess pulled the county princess's braid, causing him to fall as well.

But the problem lies precisely in this pragmatism!

Because all that everyone heard and saw was that the princess bullied the princess over the dress, the princess tried to leave, the princess pulled the princess's braid, and the princess fell down because of the force, and then the princess claimed to have a stomachache and framed the princess...

The third princess turned pale and tried to explain, "No, it was she who made me fall! My stomach started hurting after I fell!"

The Empress felt guilty and regretted not asking more questions before taking action.

She quickly tried to add a few words, but the Emperor didn't give her the chance.

The Emperor looked coldly at the Third Princess and said, "Fine, you say Princess Kang Le bullied you. Then where is Princess Kang Le? Summon her here, and you two can confront each other!"

Before he finished speaking, the hall fell into an eerie silence once again.

The Emperor was puzzled, but after a moment's thought, he stood up and questioned the Empress, "What did you do to Princess Kangle?"

The Empress quickly replied, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. No matter what, I would never punish a child. I just... I just wanted someone to take Princess Kang Le to rest! I'll have someone bring Princess Kang Le over right away!"

"No need, I'll go myself!" The Emperor stood up abruptly, looked at the Empress, and his disappointment was obvious. "As the mother of the nation, the Empress should be virtuous, gentle, dignified, and respectful, but today she actually took her anger out on a child. I am truly disappointed!"

Having said that, he turned and left, leaving the empress pale-faced, it was hard to tell whether she was regretting it or angry...