"My lords, there's no need for such formalities." Xingxing politely declined the formalities and returned the greeting with a respectful bow to the ministers.

After the ministers had walked away, the Vice Minister of Revenue smiled and said, "The real princess and the fake princess have completely different demeanors. The fake princess gives people the feeling that she is timid and cannot stand on the stage. Her feigned and natural aura is incomparable."

The other two ministers nodded in agreement. They had only met the fake princess once, but the men present were all shrewd and had a keen eye for people, so they naturally had their own judgment.

"Your subject kowtows to Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your subject has been bullied, Your Majesty must stand up for Your Majesty..." Xingxing recounted, embellishing the details of how the Third Prince and the First Prince bullied her.

"If it weren't for Brother Lin and Brother Fu protecting me, I would definitely be injured now. I'm so sad. Why don't my eldest brother and third brother like me? What did I do wrong?" Xingxing squeezed out a tear, her little mouth pouting, looking as aggrieved as could be.

The emperor, seeing her like this, quickly got up to coax her, took her hand and led her to the table. After offering a few words of comfort, he solemnly ordered someone to summon the Third Prince and the First Prince to see him.

The chief eunuch was about to go and make the announcement when he saw a group of young men surrounding the eldest prince and hurrying towards them, followed by two guards carrying a person.

The one lying on the shelf looks like the Third Prince?

Well, that saves him the trouble of making a trip; we can just welcome the person inside.

The eldest prince led his entourage into Kunning Palace, first bowing to the emperor, and then, before the emperor could speak, began to play the victim.

The eldest prince was quite clever. He knew that since the eldest princess had come to complain first, he was clearly at a disadvantage since he arrived later. Even if he was in the right, his father might not necessarily side with him. Complaining was no match for Linglong, so he could only try to play the victim and hope that his father would soften and not hold a grudge.

But the eldest prince underestimated Xingxing's position in the emperor's heart. The emperor was not listening to his words at all. All he could see was Xingxing's aggrieved little face. His most beloved princess had suffered for two years and had finally been found. How could he allow her to be bullied?

After the eldest prince finished his tearful tale of suffering, the emperor spoke expressionlessly, "Guards, the eldest and third princes have caused trouble for Princess Linglong without cause, and almost had her injured. Drag the eldest and third princes out and give them ten strokes of the cane each. The rest of them shall also receive ten strokes of the cane."

So the group of attendants accompanied the two princes and each received ten strokes of the cane. The emperor ordered the chief eunuch to oversee the beating, and they were all given ten real strokes. The boys' buttocks were bleeding from the beating, and they were all carried back to their residences, howling and screaming.

Soon, the imperial decree that Princess Linglong had recognized five Fu brothers as her elder brothers was also issued. The emperor also bestowed a mansion upon the Zhou family. The mansion was located in an area where many nobles and officials lived, and the security was very good. Imperial guards patrolled day and night.

That house once belonged to a corrupt official. Later, the official's property was confiscated, and the house was also seized by the imperial court. It had been uninhabited for a long time and needed to be repaired before people could move in. Of course, the emperor also paid for the repairs.

Alas, even the emperor was poor; the national treasury was empty, so he emptied his own private coffers.

The Fu brothers received six hundred taels of silver as a reward from the emperor, along with several boxes of silk brocade, as well as writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, and some books.

They accepted the gifts, but they felt embarrassed to accept the house. They considered Xingxing their own sister, so how could they accept so many benefits from her father? It felt like they were trying to sever their connection.

Moreover, they had heard Xingxing mention before that the emperor was actually quite poor.

The impoverished emperor: Where is the emperor's dignity?

It was Xingxing who persuaded them to accept it, saying, "It's just an uninhabited house. If you don't accept it, it will just gather dust. Besides, you all need a place to stay. I can't go to the Zhu residence every time I visit you. If you have your own house, you can come to the capital whenever you want and you won't have to worry about not finding a place to stay. You must accept this house."

In the future, when my parents and aunt come to the capital, we will have a house to stay in and won't have to look for a place to live.