Emperor Yuming then realized what he had done to his most beloved daughter. He wanted to step forward to comfort her, but saw Princess Zhaoyang cover her cheek and take a step back, her eyes red-rimmed. She shook her head and suddenly laughed: "You hit me, just for an outsider, you hit me."

Her alternating crying and laughing made Emperor Yuming somewhat impatient.

In public, he is the ruler of a nation; in private, he is her father. So what if they fought? Should they be expected to defer to her?

Out of respect for the emperor, Emperor Yuming straightened his back and said without any pity, "You are arrogant because you are favored. I hit you for your own good. Otherwise, you will suffer in the future if you become spoiled."

Her eyes were filled with tears, yet she stubbornly refused to let them fall, which inexplicably irritated Emperor Yuming. He waved his dragon robe: "Considering your young age, I will punish you by confining you to your quarters for three months and making you copy the 'Record of Crossing the Wise' one hundred times. You have one day to return Miss Xu to the Xu residence unharmed, or you will be sent to the royal temple for quiet meditation."

Xu Wu'an wanted to say something more, but Emperor Yuming raised his hand and said with great understanding, "Minister Xu, there is no need to say more. This matter is decided."

Seeing his reaction, Xu Wu'an opened his mouth, waved his sleeve, sighed, and had no choice but to give up.

Princess Zhaoyang lowered her head, her eyes were red, but a cold smile played on her lips.

...

What was supposed to be a "good show" for Qin Qi was completely disrupted by that vile woman Xu Zi, while the person who was supposed to take the stage remained unscathed. Not only that, but she was also imprisoned by her father, the Emperor. If her mother hadn't come to plead for her, she probably would have been sent to a secluded retreat.

She tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice instead; how could she possibly swallow this insult!

Chi Cui was removing the hair ornaments from her head. Sensing her hatred, Chi Cui paused and comforted her, "Princess, there's no need to be distressed. That maid has already been beaten to death."

To everyone's surprise, Princess Zhaoyang became even more enraged upon hearing her words and roared at her, "What good will be killing a lowly servant girl? Will it appease Father Emperor's anger? Will it absolve me of my punishment?"

Seeing her anger, Chi Cui knelt down in front of her in a panic, kowtowing and begging for forgiveness: "This servant was too talkative, Princess, please calm down!"

Seeing that even the head maid of Xujing Palace had knelt down, the other servants who were attending to her dared not be negligent and knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Princess, please calm your anger! Princess, please calm your anger!"

Princess Zhaoyang was even angrier at their behavior. She reached out and threw the rouge and powder from the dressing table to the ground, roaring, "Get out! All of you, get out of here!"

The palace servants dared not disobey her orders and fled as if they were running away, leaving her alone to vent her anger.

...

...

Shu Mansion.

As soon as Lu Huai stepped into the spacious courtyard, he heard two voices confronting each other—

"I want to go home!"

"no!"

Then came a relaxed voice, one he'd heard for so many years, it was familiar. But the one before that…

Lu Huai raised an eyebrow, and instantly a candidate came to mind.

As I reached the door, I saw Xu Zi standing with her hands on her hips, striking a pose like a shrew yelling in the street: "I said! I want to go home!"

Shu Zhan was holding his ever-present folding fan, twirling it in front of her, his brows furrowed as he earnestly advised, "Grandma, I've told you, you can't go back now, why won't you listen?"

Xu Zi remained unfazed: "Then give me a reason! Are we that close? Why should I stay in your household?"

Shu Hua sat to the side, looking both amused and exasperated. She caught sight of Lu Huai out of the corner of her eye and was somewhat surprised.