While patting Emperor Jingming's back, the Empress suppressed a laugh and glanced at Qiuqiu out of the corner of her eye.

The fair-skinned little girl was covered in mud, with tear stains on her face. Her big, round eyes were filled with tears, but she stubbornly held them back. It was both funny and heartbreaking.

"Why did Chiu Chiu turn out like this?"

The Empress raised her hand, and the palace maids attending her immediately picked her up, without even a glance from the group of people paying their respects behind her. It could be said that the Emperor and Empress's attention was entirely on Qiuqiu.

Chiu Chiu reached out for the Queen to hug her, then suddenly withdrew her hand and said weakly, "It's dirty."

The usually strong-willed little one is now so aggrieved; someone must have bullied her!

Princess Fu Ning grabbed her father's dragon robe and stood up, shaking her head: "Bad! Wow, great!"

"Waaah!" Chuchu was touched. There are still many good people in this world!

Emperor Jingming was struggling to breathe, and his thighs ached from his youngest daughter's jumping and stomping. To maintain the dignity of an emperor, he couldn't show it, which was incredibly frustrating.

The emperor, feeling aggrieved, naturally wanted to vent his anger, and he aimed his spear at the unfamiliar Yun Sheng.

"This is...cloud, cloud..."

Emperor Jingming racked his brains for a long time but still couldn't remember who this person was. It was Eunuch Liu who spoke up to help Lord Yun out of the predicament: "Your Majesty, this is a Hanlin Academy Clerk."

A Hanlin Academy Clerk, a seventh-rank official. So low-ranking that he didn't even need to attend court. If it weren't for his daughter, Consort Yun, Emperor Jingming probably wouldn't even know his surname.

Emperor Jingming seemed to be deep in thought. He glanced at the father and son who were kneeling there respectfully, and then noticed the unusually angry expressions on Qiuqiu and the Su couple's faces. He knew who the culprit was today.

"I can't remember."

He said it casually, but Lord Yun felt as if he were immersed in ice water, his whole body chilled. What hope was there for a courtier forgotten by the monarch?

Emperor Jingming's move was clearly to support Qiuqiu. Qiuqiu stood with her hands on her hips, looking quite lively; she certainly had powerful backers.

Eunuch Liu, as if he could read Emperor Jingming's mind, understood the emperor's meaning with just one sentence and then added fuel to the fire: "Your Majesty, this is Consort Yun's father, and the one next to him is her half-brother. Consort Yun's father-in-law was once the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy. You've forgotten, he once asked you to promote Consort Yun."

He is His Majesty's most loyal blade; whoever His Majesty commands to stab, he will do so without hesitation!

Emperor Jingming seemed to be deep in thought, then gave a meaningful "Oh".

Lord Yun was humiliated. This was a blatant slap in the face, accusing him of climbing the social ladder through women. His pride couldn't take it, but it was the truth.

"Hmm, Su Qing, what brings you and Yun Sheng to the palace?" He pointed at the group of people, "And you even brought your children along, treating my palace like a garden?"

Su Junyao said aggrievedly, "Your Majesty, I, Su Junyao, wish to file a complaint against Yun Shengyun, a compiler of the Hanlin Academy, for allowing his son to sell his daughter and for insulting young children!"

Emperor Jingming: "???" What the hell is he talking about?

"Whose daughter are they going to sell, Chuchu?"

When Qiuqiu met Emperor Jingming's gaze, she hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Just consider it selling me out, and give me a harsh sentence."

Emperor Jingming was indeed furious, and threw the cup in his hand at Lord Yun: "Yun Sheng, how dare you!"

Lord Yun dared not dodge, the porcelain cup struck him squarely on the forehead, blood trickling down his cheek before he kowtowed and begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, I am innocent! I never intended to sell Miss Su, I was selling... no, no, no! I didn't intend to sell anyone!"

Emperor Jingming: "Oh?"

Emperor Jingming sensed something amiss with the dark-faced little princess in his arms. The usually languid princess struggled to get down from his embrace. Princess Funing walked more steadily than Qiuqiu, her steps firm as she made her way to Lord Yun.

Lord Yun met the little princess's large, dark eyes and couldn't help but tremble. He had a bad feeling about this!

Fu Ning is a loyal little dumpling; if her best friend is bullied, she'll help her get revenge. If Qiu Qiu says she's sold, then she's sold.

All explanations are just sophistry!

Would Chiu Chiu possibly lie to her?

To everyone's surprise, Princess Fu Ning gave Lord Yun a big slap on the spot without saying a word.

"Smack!"

The crisp sound of the slap startled Emperor Jingming. "The princess has quite the imposing presence I had back in the day!"

Empress: "..." Praising everything will only harm you!

Yun Zihan kept his head down, not daring to look at his father who had been slapped, afraid that the princess's slap would land on his face at any moment. Just hearing the sound of that slap made his teeth ache.

The incredibly strong Princess Fu Ning would not let anyone who bullied Qiu Qiu get away with it, and slapped Yun Zihan across the face again.

After receiving the rain and dew equally, they walked back with firm steps, like a valiant and spirited female general.

Princess Fu Ning fired the first shot in punishing evil and promoting good!

Chirping and cheering for her friends, she was arguably the busiest person there.

Su Junyao quickly realized what had happened and recounted all the "grievances" that Qiuqiu had suffered that day, with a particular emphasis on the feud between Yun Zihan and Zhao San.

The Zhao family hadn't even cleaned up the mess caused by the Gongye family, and now they were suspected of trying to win over and threaten court officials, which immediately displeased Emperor Jingming.

Emperors all prefer obedient ministers, but the Zhao family is particularly adept at producing troublemakers!

Emperor Jingming's face immediately darkened: "That Lord Yun really knows how to pick a son-in-law. He'd rather marry his daughter to Zhao San, who's old enough to be her father, than Gao Xun? Very well, I'd like to see what Zhao San has up his sleeve to make you, Yun Sheng, so infatuated!"

"Liu Debao, have Zhao Fengyuan bring Zhao San in here to see me!"

For some reason, Emperor Jingming felt an inexplicable rage rising within him, a burning desire to consume these two individuals before him, making him increasingly restless. The fact that Marquis Wenyang had exposed him was one thing; who knew how many more unseen secrets he might possess.

Today she can sell her own daughter, tomorrow she can sell someone else's. Yun Zihan is so guilty she's practically burying her head in her pants; it would be a miracle if there wasn't something fishy going on!

Today he's going to skin these monsters and demons alive!

They've really messed with the Yun family father and son; now their fate is truly uncertain.

Lord Yun could barely kneel, while Yun Zihan trembled like a leaf, her lips completely drained of color, and her forehead was covered with large beads of sweat despite it being winter.

His unusual behavior was so sneer-worthy that he probably wouldn't even need Zhao San to arrive before he confessed everything.

Everyone knows these tricks; [that's called psychological warfare!]

The psychological warfare was not only tormenting the Yun family father and son, but also Zhao San, who was happily preparing to marry his bride.

Zhao San was the youngest in his family and was spoiled by his grandmother. He had spent his whole life playing around and was now nearly forty and ready to get married.

Everyone else thought there was something wrong, but the old lady happily thanked her ancestors every day.

Zhao Fengyuan, the current head of the Zhao family, has been unable to advance in his official career for many years due to the influence of his half-sister. Recently, he was also reprimanded for the Gongye family's rebellion.

He returned home looking haggard, and before he could even catch his breath, his mother, along with the troublesome Zhao San, stormed right up to him.

"Boss, the third brother is getting married. Can you make the arrangements?"

Zhao Fengyuan: "???"

He opened his mouth, just about to ask what this ancestor was up to this time, when the butler came running in, tumbling and crawling: "Master, something terrible has happened!"

"master!"

"Someone from the palace has come and says that you must bring Third Master into the palace now!"

Zhao Fengyuan slumped back down, yelling, "What trouble have you gotten yourself into now, you good-for-nothing?!"