Gu Jiangli was dozing off on the cushions in the ancestral hall when the approaching footsteps outside woke her up.

She jolted awake, straightened her back, and knelt upright, devout and sincere.

Prince Yu frowned subconsciously when he saw her thin back.

"Lotus said you knelt down in the ancestral hall to admit your mistake. What...did you do wrong?"

Gu Jiangli timidly looked up, her large, watery eyes filled with innocence.

She pouted slightly, trying to sound coquettish, and explained:

"It was my fault for not knowing the proper etiquette; I overslept and missed the time to serve tea to the mistress."

“My mistress taught me manners, and I thought she wasn’t thirsty and didn’t want tea, so I put the tea aside.”

"Perhaps because they thought I was born out of wedlock and had no manners, the young princess also scolded me a few times, and I couldn't help but talk back."

"As a result, my little nephew Yu'er rushed up and kicked me twice. I held back and slapped him on the butt instead."

After listening quietly, Prince Yu looked at Gu Jiangli's aggrieved expression and asked, "That's all?"

Gu Jiangli exclaimed in shock:

"Does Your Highness think this is a trivial matter? I was disrespectful to the mistress, I talked back to the princess, and I beat my nephew. Shouldn't I kneel down and admit my mistakes?"

She looked remorseful and regretful. "I've made such a mess on my very first day as a princess. I bet the mistress and the princess are already starting to hate me."

"I've already made up my mind. I'll kneel here for a day and a night. Maybe that will make the patriarch of the Prince's family see my piety, and then the mistress and the princess will stop holding a grudge against me."

Prince Yu looked at her remorseful and earnest expression, and a beautiful smile appeared on his lips.

He crouched down beside Gu Jiangli, gently brushing the dust off her dress with his hand, and whispered:

"Alright, stop kneeling. I will handle these matters."

"But I still..."

"What do you mean, 'return what'? The mistress deliberately made things difficult for you first, and Lan Shuang scolded you and Yu'er hit you afterward. There's nothing wrong with you retaliating appropriately."

He took pictures for a while and found that there were more dirty marks than he had expected, so he frowned and said:

"That brat, he kicked so hard."

Gu Jiangli quickly added fuel to the fire: "Kids will be kids, they don't know their own strength, I don't blame him..."

Prince Yu's brows visibly furrowed even more.

"Alright, really, stop kneeling and get up now."

Gu Jiangli said "Oh" and tried to move her feet, but found that her blood had been stagnant for a long time and her feet were numb.

"What's wrong? Do you really want to kneel until tomorrow?" Prince Yu asked again when he saw that she didn't move.

Gu Jiangli looked at him and smiled a little embarrassedly: "Hehe, my legs are numb from kneeling for too long."

Prince Yu shook his head helplessly, sighed, and held out his hand: "Give me your hand."

Gu Jiangli reached out her hand, thinking that Prince Yu wanted to help her up.

Unexpectedly, the next second, she was suspended in mid-air and before she could even scream, she was being held horizontally in Prince Yu's arms.

Prince Yu wouldn't be planning to carry her out, would he?

Actually... she could walk by herself.

But before he could even utter the words of refusal, Prince Yu strode out of the ancestral hall in a few steps.

The palace was filled with maids and servants, and their wide-open mouths and astonished gazes made Gu Jiangli feel shy for the first time.

"Your Highness... I feel like my legs aren't as numb anymore..."

Prince Yu remained expressionless and replied:

“The servants in the palace also have to read faces to act. If they see my actions, they will not dare to bully or humiliate you in the future, and you will be able to hold your position as the princess consort securely.”

As soon as Prince Yu finished speaking, Gu Jiangli nodded blankly.

He makes a good point.

In the royal palace, a princess favored by the prince is far more respected by the servants than a neglected one.

This principle applies everywhere.

Gu Jiangli was somewhat surprised. She hadn't expected that Prince Yu, who seemed cold on the outside, was actually thoughtful and considerate of her.

She also noticed that Prince Yu, perhaps so that his mistress would see him carrying her back to her room, even went out of his way to pass by the room in the backyard where his mistress was.

She had a premonition that after today, she would become the subject of gossip among the many servants in the Prince's mansion.

Back in the room, Prince Yu carefully placed her on the bed and then gently removed her outer garment, which was covered in footprints and stains.

Lifting the hem of her skirt, you could still see a few bruises.

Prince Yu's eyes darkened; such marks on his fair, jade-like legs were truly jarring.

"Yu'er is becoming more and more unruly. I don't know what Lan Shuang, as her mother, is teaching her!"

Hearing the displeasure in his tone, Gu Jiangli nodded inwardly. Yes, yes, he's just a brat!

But he said:

"I think the young princess tried to stop her, but Yu'er is strong and probably couldn't. It's alright, Your Highness, I'm not in any pain."

Prince Yu: "There's no need to call her Little Princess. She's not a princess at all. She just gave herself the title of 'Princess' and made everyone treat her like one. From now on, you can just call her Lan Shuang, like I do."

Prince Yu comforted her for a while and then left.

Gu Jiangli guessed from his direction that he must have gone to stand up for what was right.

After this incident, at least on the surface, Gu Jiangli will no longer be suppressed by the mistress and her sister-in-law.

————

The mistress's room in the backyard.

The mistress and Lan Shuang listened in astonishment as the maidservant recounted what she had witnessed that day.

Both of them were extremely shocked.

"Brother carried that woman all the way back to his room? How is that possible?" Lan Shuang was both angry and anxious. She had never seen her brother treat any woman so well before.

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