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"I think Father's anger today was all fake."

For the first time, Qingyang was stopped outside his father's palace by the imperial guards.

"Princess, don't worry. The prince has already gone in to plead for the two princes." Knowing how favored the little princess was, the royal guard whispered a piece of news.

Qingyang didn't want to embarrass the guards, so she took Jie Yu, who was holding an umbrella for her, and moved aside. But she didn't understand, since her father allowed her elder brother to plead for mercy, why didn't he want to see her?

The sound of the rain blocked out any possible noise coming from inside. Qingyang looked at the red palace wall next to him and began to think.

Furthermore, Qingyang wasn't surprised that Second Brother had done something like this. Third Brother, though lazy, had been quite well-behaved, aside from refusing to listen to Mr. Wu's teachings. So why had he gone gambling? And Zhang Su, did he know about it? Did he go gambling too?

The sound of hurried footsteps in the rain came from afar. Qingyang looked up and saw the figure of Prince Yong's uncle at the other end of the palace road. He was wearing a purple official robe and was not holding an umbrella.

Soon, King Yong was also stopped by the guards and did not receive any answer from them.

Prince Yong was at a loss. He walked over and asked his niece under the umbrella, "What exactly happened? I was in the camp and rushed over when I heard the news. I didn't have time to ask for details."

Qingyang doesn't know much either.

Confirming it was gambling, Prince Yong pounded his fist anxiously, "It's over. Eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling are four wasteful behaviors. Your father hates gambling the most. He will definitely not let you off lightly this time."

His father was a gambler, the poorer he got, the more he gambled. He'd lost his life in a ditch while fleeing from debt while still in his mother's womb, leaving his mother with a lot of hardship raising him and his brother. As a child, Prince Yong knew only that his family was poor, occasionally hearing his mother scold his father for being a gambler. He had no idea how deeply his eldest brother hated gambling. It wasn't until he was dragged by some playmates to gamble for small sums and spanked by his eldest brother with the sole of his shoe that Prince Yong truly remembered the lesson.

Just as he finished speaking, a shrill cry came from inside.

Qingyang's heart skipped a beat. That seemed to be his third brother's voice?

The first sound was "Ah", and the second sound was "Father, I was wrong, can you please stop hitting me?", followed by two more "Ahs".

Worried that there would be more "ahs", Prince Yong considerately covered his little niece's ears to prevent her from having nightmares in the middle of the night.

Although Qingyang couldn't hear, tears welled up in his eyes. How on earth was his father punishing his third brother?

After waiting for a while, there was a chaotic sound of footsteps inside. Qingyang wiped his eyes and stared nervously at the palace gate behind the guards.

The palace gate opened from the inside, and Qin Hong and Qin Bing walked out one after another. Seeing his uncle Wang and sister standing by, Qin Hong lowered his head in shame. Qin Bing, who didn't mind being whipped three times but was depressed because he lost his good friend to study with him, didn't want to pay attention to anyone. He asked Yuan Chongli to leave first, followed by Qin Ren, who was supported by Zhang Su.

When the brother and sister met, Qin Ren's heart ached and he was about to cry, but after seeing his sister's tears fall first, he took a few deep breaths and forced a smile: "It's okay, sister, don't be afraid, third brother is not hurt!"

Qingyang wanted to rush over to hug her brother, but the considerate Jie Yu pulled her back in time to prevent the little princess from hurting the third prince's injury.

"Uncle Wang, our father has ordered us to stay at home and reflect on our mistakes. We will be leaving first."

After greeting with his eyes lowered, Qin Hong also left. The other sons of nobles exchanged greetings and followed suit.

"You guys should go back soon. I'll go see the emperor." Prince Yong sighed and patted his third nephew's shoulder.

Qin Ren: “…”

Qingyang asked Jie Yu to hold the umbrella over the third brother's head. Qin Ren smiled bitterly and said, "Forget it. I'm soaked. It's not worth walking a few steps."

Jie Yu continued to hold an umbrella for the little princess.

Qingyang asked distressedly, "Where is Third Brother injured?"

Qin Ren pointed to his back.

Qingyang walked over and looked up for a long time before he found three long, slightly torn threads on his third brother's blue satin robe.

Zhang Su explained, "The Emperor punished the Third Prince with three lashes."

The emperor's anger was real. The imperial guards who carried out the execution whipped loudly but not hard, otherwise one whip would have stained the fabric with blood. Including the princes, a total of eleven people were punished, and only the third prince, who had hardly suffered, cried out.

"The Third Prince's injury should not be exposed to the rain for too long. Let's go back first." Zhang Su said, quickening his pace slightly.

The little princess was so worried that she followed him closely.

When they arrived at Qin Ren's palace, Fu'an and other palace servants had not returned yet. Jie Yu helped the third prince to the inner room to take care of him. Qingyang was persuaded by his third brother to stay outside, so he asked Zhang Su for the details.

Zhang Su had been reading in his room in the afternoon. It was only after he was called over by Emperor Xingwu that he learned about the two princes gambling.

Qingyang: "Since Big Brother didn't gamble, why was he grounded?"

Zhang Su lowered his eyes and said, "The Emperor blames the Crown Prince for not being able to dissuade the Second Prince."

Qingyang: “…”

Zhang Su looked outside and said, "If Your Highness has no other instructions, I will take my leave first." This is the inner palace of the Western Garden, and he should not stay here for long.

Qingyang then noticed that his clothes were all wet and sticking to him. He pointed at the umbrella stored under the eaves and said, "You can use it."

Zhang Su said no need and turned to leave.

Qingyang's mind returned to his third brother. When Jie Yu told him that his third brother had changed into his undershirt and was ready to apply medicine, Qingyang rushed in despite his third brother's obstruction. When he got to the bedside, he saw three red whip marks on his third brother's white tofu back.

Jie Yu opened the blood-clearing plaster he had found and comforted the little princess: "Fortunately, the skin is not broken. It should be healed after applying the plaster for three or four days."

Qingyang felt sorry for his third brother, but also felt that he deserved it. He asked angrily, "Why did you go gambling?"

Qin Ren lay on the pillow with an innocent look on his face. "I didn't intend to gamble. I went there purely to watch the cricket fight. Anyway, I only fight one cricket at a time, and if I lose, I only lose one or two crickets. Does that count as gambling?"

Qingyang: "If you really think it's true, why did you hide away in the official residence to play, and didn't even dare to tell me and Zhang Su?"

Qin Ren remained silent.

Qingyang: "Neither you nor my second brother is wronged. Only my eldest brother was implicated by you."

As Jie Yu began to apply the medicine, Qin Ren started to cry out again. At this time, Concubine Li also came over after hearing the news. She took the ointment from Jie Yu's hand and kept crying while taking care of her son. Her tearful appearance stunned the little princess sitting next to her.

After Fu An and other palace servants who were also whipped for failing to serve their master came back, Qin Ren officially began to put them under house arrest, and Concubine Li and her daughter were politely asked to leave.

Concubine Li wiped her tears and said to her daughter, "Your third brother deserves it. Lin'er, go back obediently and pretend you don't know about this. Don't blame your father."

Qingyang: "Okay, where's mother?"

Concubine Li: "I'm back to the palace too."

Not to mention that she didn't blame the emperor, even if she did, she didn't dare to lose her temper with him.

.

Yongkang lived in Nanso and received the news that his father had caught his second and third brothers gambling on cricket fighting before his sister. Yongkang thought his father should be angry and did not think of going to Hanyuan Hall to plead for his brothers.

The princes lived in the inner palace, but the sons of nobles such as Yuan Chongli lived in official residences. The young eunuch sent by Yongkang secretly made inquiries and brought back bad news: the prince who helped to plead was also whipped three times!

Yongkang could no longer sit still. He hurried into the inner palace regardless of his shoes being wet by the rain, wanting to visit his brother. The prince, who had obeyed his father's orders, had already closed the door and started house arrest. He did not open the door even though he knew his sister was coming, but only asked Lu Wenrong to tell his sister that his injury was not serious and there was no need to worry.

Yongkang couldn't get in, and he didn't dare to blame his father for being rude, so he came to see the imperial concubine angrily.

"This is clearly my second brother's fault. Father is taking his anger out on the Crown Prince. Why didn't Mother stop him? Aren't you the most virtuous and fair?"

The imperial concubine was both troubled and ashamed when her own son caused such a thing. She was too embarrassed to go to Hanyuan Palace after receiving the news. She just wanted to wait for the emperor to calm down his anger before going to apologize for not being able to teach his son well. How could she persuade the emperor not to punish the prince if she didn't even go there?

But the imperial concubine knew Yongkang's temper very well. Ever since she entered the Qin family, the child had regarded her as a vicious stepmother and was wary of her. No matter how hard she tried to get close to Yongkang, she was regarded as harboring evil intentions. As time went on, the imperial concubine simply took care of Yongkang and the prince's food, clothing, and shelter, and no longer asked for any favors.

The imperial concubine did not expect Yongkang's sincerity, so she would not be hurt by Yongkang's attitude and gave an explanation calmly.

Yongkang was still angry, and thought of another person: "Li Fei didn't go either?"

Imperial Concubine: "Yes, it's useless to go. Your uncle Wang and Lin'er wanted to plead for mercy, but they were stopped outside Hanyuan Palace."

There was no one in Yongkang to blame, so he could only walk away with a stern face.

In Hanyuan Hall, although Emperor Xingwu stayed in the study, he knew about all the movements in the inner palace. He expected that Concubine Li would visit the third son and Concubine Gui would not visit the second son. However, the news that his eldest daughter went to see Concubine Gui made him frown.

It was raining and something like this happened. Emperor Xingwu thought that the two concubines and his daughter would not go outside to enjoy the scenery, so he ordered people to close all the gates of the inner palace early.

After having dinner alone, Emperor Xingwu brought two small bamboo baskets and He Yuanjing to the little princess's palace.

Qingyang had just finished eating. When he heard that his father had arrived, he hurried to greet him. However, before he could run out of the corridor, he was blocked by his father who was walking towards him.

The little princess stopped and carefully looked at her father's face.

Emperor Xingwu smiled and said, "Don't worry, Lin'er hasn't done anything wrong. Father won't lose his temper."

Qingyang relaxed and walked inside with his father.

Emperor Xingwu held up the two small cages in his hands and said, "Lin'er, guess what's inside?"

Qingyang: "...Fruit?"

Sometimes the cherries and lychees that my father gave as a reward were delivered in bamboo baskets.

There was a beauty chair in front, and Emperor Xingwu sat down with his daughter, placed two bamboo cages in the middle, and opened the lids.

The little princess saw the two black bugs: "..."

Emperor Xingwu snorted, "That's exactly what your second brother and his friends are playing with. A dignified prince is playing with insects with the son of a meritorious official whom your father also has high hopes for. Do you think your father should be angry?"

Qingyang put the lid back on the bamboo cage, then looked at his father. He straightened up, leaned close to his father's ear, and whispered, "I think you've already let go of your anger, and your anger today is just fake."

Emperor Xingwu: “…”

He motioned He Yuanjing and Jie Yu, who were standing on either side, to step aside. Emperor Xingwu looked at his daughter and asked, "Why do you think so?"

Qingyang: "Father is not an impulsive person. In recent years, even when neighboring countries have been constantly invading the border, Father has always been calm. Even if Father is angry about the trivial matter of Second Brother and Third Brother fighting crickets, he would not be so impulsive as to personally go to the official residence to arrest them as soon as he got the news. If the news is wrong, wouldn't Father be embarrassed in front of Second Brother and Third Brother?"

"The fact that the Emperor has gone means that he has already investigated the matter and has gotten over his anger. He just chose to vent it today."

The little princess analyzed the answer carefully as if she was answering a question in a lecture hall. She was not afraid of making mistakes, nor did she show off her intelligence or pride.

Emperor Xingwu seemed to be able to hear his own heartbeat, and asked casually, "Then Lin'er, do you think that your father's punishment of them is fair?"

Qingyang finally showed some uncertainty: "Big brother didn't fight the crickets, but he got the same punishment as the second and third brothers, right..."

Emperor Xingwu said, "I'm not wronging him at all. He's the eldest brother, and it was his responsibility to discipline you. After he became the crown prince, his control over you has gained the power of command. Even so, he can't stop your second brother, and can't make you obedient. What will happen when your second brother grows up and becomes even more irritable, and continues to act arbitrarily in government affairs? It's like when the emperor asked your uncle to lead the troops to the east, but your uncle went west instead. He even disobeyed the military order. How can he be so disrespectful?"

Qingyang suddenly realized that if that was the case, his elder brother should indeed be more majestic.

"What about Yuan Chongli?" the little princess continued. "A tutor is only a lowly official, but it symbolizes the emperor's favor to the Yuan family. Now Yuan Chongli has lost his tutor status because of a cricket fight. The Yuan family has suffered a great loss of face. Isn't your father afraid that the Marquis of Pingliang will resent him?"

Emperor Xingwu: “…”

But this time, he simply replied with four words: "Of course I'm not afraid."

【Author’s words】

Here I come, 100 little red envelopes, see you tomorrow~