"Whether it's the Queen, the Seventeenth Prince, or anyone else in the palace who has bullied you, you don't have to forgive them."

As Jiang Rao spoke, Rong Ting listened quietly without interrupting her, his demeanor calm and docile.

"There is no need to retaliate in a bloody and brutal manner."

Jiang Rao's voice gradually weakened as she spoke. She felt that the second half of her sentence was a bit redundant. There was no need to remind her of this. He would not do that now.

…

In Jinxiu Palace, Empress Jiahe heard about the competition in the martial arts field and was so angry that she almost overturned the tables in front of her.

The seventeenth prince knelt in front of Queen Jiahe with his head lowered.

He had just told Empress Jiahe the news from the martial arts arena. When the Empress heard that the Seventeenth Prince had been defeated and Rong Ting had won, she became furious.

Emperor Zhaowu didn't come to see her, but she dressed up carefully every day. Now she was furious, with messy hair, and roared: "I have arranged everything for you, but you insisted on going to trouble you again. Why did I give birth to a fool like you! I was the one who drugged you, and you shouldn't have gone to the martial arts arena to compete again this time. Others wouldn't know whether you could win or lose in the end, and at least you would have saved your face."

"I have taken all the blame on myself. Why did you choose to suffer? Why did you choose to embarrass yourself? Why did you choose to provoke that cripple and give him the opportunity to show off..." Empress Jiahe was choked up suddenly. Thinking of Rong Ting's leg disease having healed and he could stand up again, she had no place to vent her anger. She lay on her back for a long time, her eyes red and her face full of tears.

Confined in Jinxiu Palace, she had no way to reverse the situation. She could only guess from the few words that the Seventeenth Prince brought back when he secretly came to see her that what Emperor Zhaowu was investigating now was the matter of her father raising assassins.

Fortunately, she had noticed the matter of the assassins long ago and reminded her father to change the list to the Silver Snake Seal. However, there was solid evidence that she had drugged Adanu last time, so she was destined to be punished.

Whether it is a minor or serious matter depends entirely on Emperor Zhaowu's thoughts.

Empress Jiahe's voice gradually changed from anger to sadness, "Yuan'er, Yuan'er, you are the only one left to me."

It would be fine if any other prince was the one seeking the limelight, but why did it have to be Rong Ting!

The seventeenth prince lowered his head, feeling suffocated by Queen Jiahe's words, but he did not say a word in rebuttal.

Before the first competition, Hu Tang promised him that if he could defeat the Qiang warrior, he would continue to compete with him in martial arts, so he wanted to win so much. Beating Adanu was almost the happiest moment in his life. But it turned out to be just a beautiful dream that his mother had concocted for him using despicable means.

Dreams will end.

He should have been angry, but everything his mother did was for his own good, so he couldn't even lose his temper.

Empress Jiahe touched the Seventeenth Prince's head with tears in her eyes, "Yuan'er, don't stay here too long. Don't let your father know. Your mother doesn't want to see you get punished. Go, go. Don't come here again until your father says you can come see me."

If Emperor Zhaowu was determined to make her lose power, the only one she could count on would be her son.

The seventeenth prince nodded woodenly.

He looked stunned. He was led by the palace servants, with his head lowered and his face covered, and slipped out of the Jinxiu Palace through a side door. He walked a long way away before he lowered the sleeves that were covering his face.

The sun was shining brightly outside, so bright that he couldn't open his eyes.

He didn't dare disobey his mother's arrangements, and he couldn't get angry with her.

He doesn't dare, he can't.

When will he be able to live like Hu Tang?

The seventeenth prince gradually became distracted.

He ran to the martial arts field to practice martial arts, and he himself couldn't tell whether he was doing it to practice martial arts or to secretly take a few glances at Hu Tang.

She is just a girl who behaves without rules and dresses without courtesy. She always has a plain face without any makeup. She is not delicate or pretty enough. Her laugh is louder than a man's. She lives a vulgar and disgusting life.

But it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to take his eyes off her.

She always had a small bell tied by her mother on her wrist, which would jingle when she moved. Even so, she would always play with the whip or the spear.

He was always followed by a palace maid arranged by his mother and grandfather to watch over him. That palace maid was like a bell tied for him by his mother and grandfather. The bell followed him like a shadow, so he dared not move.

His bell rang again.

When they were at a deserted place, the palace servant who followed the Seventeenth Prince quickly caught up with him and said to him, "The father-in-law asked me to tell Your Highness that there was no need for you to apologize to the girl from the Ning'an Marquis's residence outside the martial arts field."

The Seventeenth Prince's eyes were filled with disgust. He recalled Hu Tang's ridicule and mockery of him outside the martial arts arena, and his embarrassment reached its peak.

Her joke on him was like a slap in the face to him.

This time, the fault was not with his mother, but with Rong Ting who let the drugging be exposed.

Otherwise, he would have had what he wanted long ago.

After realizing this, the Seventeenth Prince's face darkened and he ordered in a cold voice, "Prepare the carriage. I'm going to visit my grandfather."

…

Ning'an Marquis's Mansion.

Jiang Xingzhou saw off the guests who came to visit his house and took a detour to the pavilion. Seeing Jiang Rao there as expected, he walked over and sat down opposite her.

The little girl came back from the south and had been busy doing something all day long, either running to the palace or to the martial arts field. This was the first time he saw her in the mansion in broad daylight.

Jiang Xingzhou sat down next to Jiang Rao and knocked on the table. "Why didn't you leave the house today?"

Jiang Rao rarely answered immediately.

Seeing her silence, Jiang Xingzhou said in a particularly good mood: "I don't want to detain you in my house, I'm just asking."

Rong Ting not only returned from Huaizhou, but also had his legs healed. Others thought Rong Ting was amazing, but in Jiang Xingzhou's eyes, it was all his daughter's ability. He was extremely arrogant these past few days. Because of Rong Ting, many people wanted to visit him, and he met them one by one, just to show off his daughter.

Jiang Xingzhou said, "I want you to have him come to our house when you have time. He has been in the limelight recently, but too much is too little. This child has no one to teach him since he was young, so I have to teach him some lessons."

Jiang Rao saw through her father's thoughts at a glance, "You just want to get him to drink with you."

Jiang Xingzhou frowned and looked at her, then said with a sigh, "Then I have to teach you a lesson first. There are some things you can understand, but don't say them out loud. If I weren't your father, it would be embarrassing."

Jiang Rao pursed her lips and said nothing. Jiang Xingzhou gave in and said, "Then I promise you that I won't let him drink. When do you plan to bring him to your house?"

Jiang Rao felt a little confused.

As for marriage, since he didn't mention it, she didn't ask either.

But after she came back, she couldn't help but think of the last time he wanted to deliver medicine to the Seventeenth Prince. She felt that by hiding it and not asking, she seemed like a bad person who took advantage of him because he was easy to bully.

She was not the type to keep things to herself for long, and she decided that next time she met Rong Ting, she would ask him about their marriage.

I have thought the matter through, but I dare not see him.