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"My father taught me."

Emperor Xingwu actually wanted to let his little daughter see what cricket fighting was like, so as to satisfy her curiosity and not waste the crickets he had confiscated from the young men. However, his little daughter was too lazy to look at them again after just one look, so Emperor Xingwu had no choice but to let Jie Yu take the cage away and deal with it as he pleased.

The rain continued all night long and finally stopped before daybreak.

There were no classes today, and the royal brothers were all under house arrest. Mother and the imperial concubine would definitely stay indoors to reflect on themselves after being implicated. Considering that the grass and the lake outside were all wet mud, Qingyang looked at the raindrops still dripping slowly under the eaves for a while, and decided not to go out today.

The little princess could stay out of it. The fathers, brothers, uncles or mothers of the children of meritorious officials who were also punished by the emperor were waiting outside the inner palace early in the morning, waiting to apologize to the emperor.

After the guards passed the message, two eunuchs were sent from Hanyuan Palace. One led the officials to meet Emperor Xingwu, and the other led the female relatives to meet the imperial concubine.

To be honest, it was not a big offense for young men to fight crickets, and Emperor Xingwu's punishment was only light. Therefore, when meeting these ministers' wives, Emperor Xingwu and the imperial concubine mainly tried to comfort them, saying that Emperor Xingwu regarded the sons of the meritorious officials as his own sons and nephews and had high hopes for them, hoping that they would be both talented and virtuous. As the saying goes, the deeper the love, the more severe the punishment. Otherwise, at most a verbal reprimand would be enough, and there was no need to whip them or make them reflect on their mistakes behind closed doors.

The ministers and their wives thanked the emperor, blamed themselves, and promised to discipline their unfilial sons and nephews in the future. Then the matter was over.

But even if other families can end it, the wife of Pingliang Hou cannot do nothing.

She knelt for a long time, refusing to get up. After the other ladies had left and only she and her daughter Yuan Jie were left, Pingliang Hou's wife began to cry and plead, "Your Highness, this is all my fault for not teaching Chongli well. Not only did I let him indulge in his own playfulness, but I also brought the Second Prince into this. Yesterday, I gave Chongli a good beating after he returned. He knows he was wrong. Please, Your Highness, consider that he has been the Second Prince's study companion for nine years and ask the Emperor to help Chongli and let him continue to be his study companion!"

The second prince is seventeen years old. In three years, he will be crowned a king and serve as an official. By then, his son should be able to directly join the Imperial Army or the Four Great Capital Camps and take on the post of a thousand households, just like Qin Liang, the prince of Yong. Later, he can be promoted slowly based on his military achievements.

This is not only the real benefit of an official position, but also the favor bestowed upon her family by the emperor. How could she watch her son get lost because of cricket fighting?

The wife of the Marquis of Pingliang really felt that the punishment the emperor gave to her son was too severe. What boy doesn't like to play? Not to mention her husband's past merits in assisting the emperor in founding the country, just looking at her husband's military exploits in defending Liangzhou for nine years, the emperor shouldn't embarrass his family like this!

The imperial concubine could hear the grievance behind the crying of the wife of Marquis Pingliang.

The imperial concubine wanted to laugh. She considered herself magnanimous for not hating the Yuan family because Yuan Chongli seduced her son into indulgence in pleasure. But this man actually wanted her to help plead for mercy?

If the imperial concubine had known that Yuan Chongli was only well-behaved in the palace and revealed his playboy nature after leaving the palace, she would have begged the emperor to change her son's study partner!

"Madam, do you think the emperor's punishment for Chongli is unfair?" the imperial concubine asked indifferently.

The wife of the Marquis of Pingliang paused in her tears and said hurriedly, "I dare not," "I just..."

Imperial Concubine: "Since the Emperor's punishment is correct, Madam, there is no need to say anything more. Please withdraw."

The senior eunuch beside her came forward to escort the wife of Marquis Pingliang and her daughter out.

Unable to entangle herself, the Pingliang Marquis's wife left with hatred. Despite her hatred, she had to continue to work hard for her son. She quickly calmed down and said to her daughter, "The Imperial Concubine hates your brother, and Concubine Li probably resents the Second Prince more. So, I will go and ask Concubine Li for help, and you go and ask Princess Qingyang. If either of them is willing to help us, it will be more effective than the Imperial Concubine."

Yuan Jie's eyes were firm: "The princess has always been kind to me, she will definitely agree to me."

After discussing it, the mother and daughter went their separate ways. Because they were women from the marquis's mansion who often came to the inner palace to accompany the second concubine and the little princess for tea and fun, as long as the mother and daughter did not trespass into the palace guarded by the guards, the guards would not come forward to question or stop them.

Concubine Li lived next door to Concubine Gui. The wife of Marquis Pingliang arrived first and stood obediently outside the palace gate, waiting for the palace servants to pass on the message.

"Your Majesty, the Marquis' wife must have hit a wall with the Imperial Concubine, and is now asking you to intercede for Young Master Yuan."

Concubine Li sighed and said, "No, let her go."

Her son made the mistake first. The emperor didn't come to see her or ask her to come over last night. He must be angry. At this time, Concubine Li is too busy hiding from the emperor. How could she be so stupid as to rush to be scolded by the emperor for Yuan Chongli?

Qingyang had Yuan Jie brought to him.

Yuan Jie followed her mother's example and knelt down, crying and begging.

The little princess really couldn't bear to see her former playmate crying so sadly, so she asked Jie Yu to wet a towel and handed it to Yuan Jie to wipe her face. After Yuan Jie calmed down a little, she continued, "I want to plead for my third brother, but the emperor won't see me. Your second brother is the culprit of this cricket fight. If I really plead for him, the emperor will definitely punish me as well. Do you want him to confine me too?"

Yuan Jie: "No, the Emperor loves the princess the most..."

Qingyang: "Father loves me because I have always been sensible. If I were no longer sensible, Father would no longer love me."

Yuan Jie continued to cry, and Qingyang continued to ask Jie Yu to pass her a towel.

How could Yuan Jie's tears never flow? As she cried, her tears turned into sobs. She secretly looked at the little princess and saw that she was just sitting quietly on the couch, looking at her with a pair of beautiful and innocent eyes, as if she was curious about why she could cry so much.

Yuan Jie finally said, "Princess, if you don't help, our Yuan family will lose face. I won't have the face to come out and play with you again, wuwu..."

Qingyang: "Your second brother made a mistake, what does it have to do with you? I like you so I can ask you out to play. If anyone dares to laugh at you, I will teach that person a lesson for you."

Yuan Jie: "..."

When the mother and daughter were leaving the inner palace in vain, they met the eldest princess who was rushing over with her maid.

Just as the wife of the Marquis of Pingliang was about to try the eldest princess's approach, Yongkang gave the mother and daughter a cold look, obviously taking his anger for the prince's punishment on the Yuan family. The wife of the Marquis of Pingliang was so frightened that she lowered her head and stepped aside in shame.

Yongkang didn't bother to pay attention to her and continued walking forward.

The eldest princess and the wife of Prince Yong did not need to be informed when entering the inner palace. Yongkang came to the prince first, and after scolding Lü Wenrong through the door, Lü Wenrong did not dare to disobey the prince and let her in. Only then did Yongkang completely give up the idea of visiting his brother and go to find his sister instead.

Because of the difference in relationship, Yongkang did not go directly to the back hall to find his sister, but sat in the living room of the front hall waiting.

Not long after, the sound of children running was heard in the corridor. Yongkang put down his tea bowl, looked up, and saw his nine-year-old sister running in from outside with an excited look on her face, holding a small bamboo basket in one hand.

"Big sister, you've come just in time. Let's go to the grassland and catch crickets together!"

Yongkang: "...You are not allowed to catch crickets. Father just whipped the prince and his men for this. Don't you know?"

Qingyang: "I know. Second brother and the others were beaten because of gambling. We just need to stop gambling."

Yongkang: "You are not allowed to catch them either. I hate bugs the most, especially black ones."

The little princess had no choice but to hand the bamboo cage to Jie Yu in disappointment.

After Jie Yu left, Yongkang took his sister to a chair and sat down. He held her shoulders and said, "All three of your brothers have been whipped. Do you feel bad?"

Qingyang nodded.

Yongkang: "Then I'll go and ask Father to not punish them for so long, just three or five days, okay? Father loves you the most. If he doesn't agree, just cry, and he will definitely relent."

Qingyang: "But I can't cry."

Yongkang: "...Think about the saddest thing that happened to you. Think hard about it."

Qingyang: "...I have nothing sad to say."

Yongkang: "...Did you see Third Brother getting hurt yesterday? He must have been in so much pain. Aren't you sad?"

The little princess laughed, "I saw it. Three shallow whip marks. My third brother said that father only scolded me harshly, and the beatings were not severe at all. I can heal them after applying blood-clearing ointment for a few days."

Yongkang: "But you haven't seen them for a month, don't you miss them?"

Qingyang: "I might have thought that in the palace, there are so many fun places here, and I have my elder sister and Zhenzhen to accompany me, so it doesn't matter if I can't see them."

Yongkang: "...Big sister thought, in the capital, I had to go to the palace specifically to see them. Now that I can see them every day in the temporary palace, I can't eat or sleep well when I think of my brothers being punished. How can I have the mood to play?"

Qingyang: "Okay, I'll go find Father. If I can't cry anymore, I'll shake his arm."

Yongkang said happily, "What a good sister! By the way, if Father asks if I taught you that, just tell him that I cried the moment I saw you. I didn't say anything except that I was worried about their whipping injuries. You went there because you couldn't bear to see me cry."

The little princess agreed immediately.

Yongkang stayed with his sister and waited while Xie Yu followed the little princess to Hanyuan Hall. On the way, Xie Yu whispered, "Your Highness, are you really going to ask the Emperor for help, or is it because you can't refuse the eldest princess and have to go through the motions?"

Qingyang: "It's just a formality."

The emperor's words are final, and this matter had already reached the ears of the important civil and military officials accompanying him. How could he change his orders overnight?

But Qingyang was familiar with the elder sister's temper. After all her excuses, the elder sister still wanted her to go. If Qingyang refused again, the elder sister would blame her.

Qingyang may not care about Yuan Jie's resentment, but he doesn't want to be estranged from his elder sister.

We have arrived at Hanyuan Hall.

Emperor Xingwu was reading a memorial. When he saw his daughter come in, she glanced at him and then obediently sat down on the Luohan bed by the window. She picked up the "Astronomy and Astrology" he had left on the low table and flipped through it. Emperor Xingwu smiled and said, "Do you understand it?"

Qingyang: "...Father, can you understand?"

Emperor Xingwu: "...We have just touched upon this. Let the scholars explain it slowly. Lin'er, are you here to intercede on behalf of Yuan Chongli, or on behalf of your three brothers?"

Qingyang: "Father is really amazing. You know everything that's going on outside."

Emperor Xingwu: "That's right. If you can't even control the movements in the palace, how can your father keep an eye on the whole world?"

After saying that, he lowered his head and reviewed the memorials.

After waiting for a while, Emperor Xingwu looked up and saw that his daughter was still reading. He asked curiously, "Why don't you ask your father for help?"

Qingyang: "Your Majesty, you didn't do anything wrong in punishing them. I won't plead for them. When I finish reading this page, Your Majesty, please pretend to lose your temper and scold me and send me away."

Emperor Xingwu: "...At such a young age, you have learned to act."

Qingyang: "My father taught me."

Emperor Xingwu put down the memorial and walked over to tease his daughter: "If your father is mad at you, you have to cry to make it look real. Cry first and let me see."

The little princess thought about it and imitated her mother's frown yesterday when she felt distressed for her third brother. Although there were no tears, her sad eyes and brows also had some of the charm of Concubine Li.

Emperor Xingwu smiled with pity, grabbed his daughter's hand and pretended to slap it a few times. "Very good, tell your elder sister this. If anyone dares to plead for mercy again, I will punish her as well."

【Author’s words】

Here I come, 100 little red envelopes, see you in the evening~