Chapter 82 Planting Thorns in the Heart

The King of Qin was angry inside, but his face remained amiable.

"You are a prince, it is only right that they kneel before you."

Father is right, and you are right to punish him.

If something like this happens again, just come and tell me.

Third Brother will avenge you.

"Father is busy with countless affairs every day, don't bother with such a small matter, understand?" The King of Qin smiled and comforted the Seventh Prince.

The seventh prince nodded and then headed towards the empress's palace.

Before leaving, she did not forget to give instructions to the Seventh Prince.

"Third brother, I don't think Father will punish them. You are their cousin, so you can punish them."

This is your family matter, you absolutely have to stand up for me!

"I'm your younger brother!"

After saying that, he ran towards the Empress's palace.

The King of Qin paused for a moment, then fiddled with the folded fold in his sleeve and thought for a while.

If Xiao Qi complains like this, Father Emperor will definitely have a grudge, and whatever he says will surely be rejected.

Let's try again another time!

The King of Qin, who originally intended to go to the Hall of Diligent Governance, also turned around and left the palace.

Upon returning to his residence, the King of Qin went to the Queen Consort's room.

Princess Qin, who was reading a book, rushed over to greet her.

"Didn't Your Highness go to see Mother Consort today? He said he would have dinner in Mother Consort's palace. Why did you come back so early?"

"But what's wrong?"

As she spoke, the Queen Consort of Qin helped the King of Qin change his clothes.

With a stern face, the King of Qin recounted the Seventh Prince's complaint.

"My maternal uncle's family is really something. When they're out in the world, with so many people watching, shouldn't they follow the proper rules?"

Do you still think this is a family dinner?

They don't follow any rules at all.

To contradict a prince in public like this—if the Shangguan family finds out, he'll be impeached again.

Whenever my father wants to give me an important position, something always happens to my maternal uncle's family.

"Is that why Father Emperor dislikes me so much?" The more the King of Qin thought about it, the angrier he became.

Thinking back to when I first started school as a child, my father seemed quite happy. He personally checked my homework and praised me from time to time...

Seeing that the King of Qin was getting angrier and angrier, the Queen Consort of Qin had no choice but to try to persuade him gently.

"Father loves His Highness."

Otherwise, it would have been impossible to bestow the title of King of Qin upon His Highness so early on.

However, since Father is the Son of Heaven, there are some things that cannot be explained very clearly.

My cousin from my maternal uncle's family did something wrong, but that's also because she's too familiar with His Highness.

Your Highness, please be more careful in the future.

It's a good thing the Seventh Prince complained; it'll give his father and mother a warning and prevent bigger trouble in the future.

As she spoke, the Queen Consort of Qin helped the King of Qin fasten the buttons of his everyday clothes.

She knew that the two young ladies from the Duke of Anguo's mansion would cause trouble sooner or later.

Back when she first married the Prince of Qin, the Empress Dowager and the Lady of the Duke of Anguo's mansion gave her quite a hard time.

And then there's Zheng Mengli, every time she sees the King of Qin, she calls him "cousin" in a sweet, coquettish voice...

Princess Qin is not stupid.

Of course she knew what the Duke of Anguo's family was planning.

But with the King of Qin's great cause at hand, she couldn't do much more.

"Your Highness, please don't worry about this. I reckon Father will have an explanation."

That's my maternal uncle's house; it's inappropriate for you to say anything there.

However, we still need to pay attention to these rules in the future, as Father values ​​rules the most.

"These past two years, Father has repeatedly given the Crown Prince's side opportunities, isn't it because my maternal uncle's family has sometimes broken the rules?" Princess Qin whispered, trying to persuade him.

The King of Qin nodded.

That's right, Father Emperor values ​​rules the most.

Now that his father is in his prime and his maternal uncle holds real power, all he can do is follow the rules.

However, my maternal uncle's family had no other choice but to support themselves.

Otherwise, once the crown prince ascends the throne, the first family he'll deal with will be his maternal uncle's family.

"You understand me best!"

"However, since Xiao Qi has told me about this, we still need to do something. What do you think we should do?" King Qin asked, looking at Queen Qin.

Princess Qin smiled.

"Your Highness, this matter can be either a big deal or a small deal."

Doesn't everything depend on how Father handles it?

If the Emperor himself issues the decree, then this is a major matter, and Your Highness might have to submit a memorial.

If it was just an imperial edict from the Empress Dowager, then it was a minor matter.

This shows that the Emperor did not want to embarrass His Highness, since they were His Highness's maternal family.

At that time, Your Highness need not appear in person; your concubine will prepare a generous gift and send it to the Duke of Dingguo's residence.

This is also a gesture, a way for His Highness to apologize on behalf of his two cousins.

"As for the Seventh Prince, Your Highness will still need to personally coax him. But since he's family, he'll definitely be easier to deal with than the Crown Prince," Princess Qin said, expressing her thoughts.

The King of Qin stroked his chin and thought for a moment, finding it quite reasonable, but...

"Is it mandatory to apologize to the Duke of Dingguo's mansion?"

"Your Majesty, I understand your concerns."

Actually, this is what I think: it's not good to befriend the Duke of Dingguo's family, but there's no need to offend them either.

I could tell that the Duchess of Dingguo had a desire to protect herself.

If we show them goodwill, they won't stand against us anymore.

"An occasional gesture of goodwill is always better than turning against each other!" Princess Qin continued to persuade.

The King of Qin suddenly understood.

Yes, it's better for someone to be quiet than to keep talking badly about you.

"The princess is indeed clever!"

That evening, several groups of people left the palace.

First, Empress Xu sent a palace governess to the Duke of Anguo's mansion to reprimand Zheng Mengli and Zheng Mengdie in person.

They were also ordered to learn proper manners from their governess.

On the other hand, they also had to copy the Rules for Women ten times, so that the governess could take them back to the palace and present them to the Empress.

Then, Empress Xu prepared another batch of rewards and sent them to the estate outside the capital of the Duke of Dingguo's manor.

Princess Pingning was commended for upholding the dignity of the royal family.

Less than an hour later, the gifts prepared by the Princess of Qin were also delivered.

As a result of this commotion, all the noble families in the capital knew that the two young ladies of the Duke of Anguo's mansion had been reprimanded by the Empress for their inappropriate words and deeds.

That evening, all the young ladies from noble families received a serious lecture from the matriarch of their household.

“Follow the rules, and kneel when you should.”

Your fathers don't have the ability to earn you the title of princess.

You must abide by the rules.

Don't end up like those two young ladies from the Zheng family, forced to kneel by the mountain path as punishment. How shameful!

......

For a time, the two young ladies of the Zheng family became negative examples of how noble families raised their daughters.

As for the positive example, Shen Qingyue, after receiving the reward, she and her younger siblings began to worry about a person they had picked up on the edge of the estate.