Chapter 283 You Die

At the Apricot Blossom Banquet, not long after Hao Ren and others left, the people from Prince Gong's Mansion and the He Mansion also went back.

Murong Wan couldn't stop crying almost as soon as she got on the carriage.

When Old Madam Yan said, "The girls in the He family really care about their reputation," she was not only referring to the He family, but also to her.

Murong Ming did something stupid in public, which damaged her reputation as well.

Murong Wan has always been proud of her identity and her family.

She is the emperor's niece, the daughter of a prince, and her grandfather is a powerful official in the court.

Since she was a child, her food, clothing and other necessities were second only to those of the princesses. She learned music, chess, calligraphy and painting better than the princesses in the palace.

If we talk about marriage, she is the only one who looks down on others, and it is definitely not someone else's turn to choose her.

But today, for the first time in her life, she felt so many strange looks.

A merchant's wife could actually criticize Prince Gong's Mansion to his face.

Murong Wan felt that she had suffered a great humiliation today.

She really wanted to open her brother's brain and see what was inside!

My brother is the crown prince after all, how could he bother with someone as lowly as an ant? And he even did such a stupid thing with his own hands.

Murong Wan's tears kept falling.

She was crying, and suddenly said to He Yan:

"Why should I have a brother like this? He doesn't deserve to be my brother."

He Yan sat next to him, her face ashen, and she hadn't said a word since getting on the carriage.

She used to think that she was blind in her youth and insisted on marrying Murong Xun, and now it was retribution that the couple was disgusted with each other.

But now I know that the real retribution is giving birth to a son like Murong Ming.

The carriage arrived at the palace.

The family got out of the car with stiff faces.

The servants noticed that the atmosphere was not right and fell silent.

As soon as the gate of the palace was closed, Murong Xun said coldly:

"Tie up this rebellious son and take him into the house!"

"Tie me, tie me, tie me! You only know how to tie me up and beat me! These are the only tricks you have!" Murong Ming kicked away the servant who brought the rope.

He kicked one away, and then five or six others pounced on him.

Murong Ming was still kidnapped.

He Yan angrily scolded: "Don't you know your mistake?"

Murong Ming shouted, "What have I done wrong?! I'm the Crown Prince, who is she?! Who allowed her to be so prominent in the martial arts academy? Who allowed her to beat me up in Instructor Lin's class? I was just teaching her a lesson!"

After Murong Ming was taken into the house, He Yan asked all the servants to leave, leaving only the four of them in the house.

Bang!

He Yan slapped her son, her eyes red with anger.

When she struck this blow, Murong Xun and Murong Wan, who were present, frowned, and even Murong Ming was so startled that he stopped talking.

He Yan had never hit anyone herself before, and today was the first time in her life.

Her chest heaved, her breathing uneven:

"Ming'er, this is the first time I've taken action today. Do you know why I've never done it before?"

Murong Ming's face burned with pain: "Because you have Nanny Lin and other servants to beat you! You don't have to do it yourself."

"You're right. I don't need to dirty my hands when punishing others. Those people are not worthy of my personal punishment."

He Yan looked disappointed:

"But why did you dirty your own hands today? You also know that Miss Su's status is low. Even if she becomes famous, her status cannot surpass yours. Why would you bother to argue with such a family?"

"Okay, even if you hate Miss Su to death and really want to do something, you can tell Mom. She's just a little girl, we have plenty of ways to deal with her, but you chose the dumbest one!"

Murong Ming was still unconvinced: "I just want to make her look bad today, so that she can't get married and can't hold her head up in the capital—"

"How stupid!" He Yan almost couldn't help but slap him again.

"She's a woman studying at a martial arts school, hanging out with men all day, and has a humble family background. Any decent family in the capital wouldn't even consider getting engaged to her!"

"Most of the people who would be engaged to her family are from small families who don't care about a woman's reputation. Those families don't care about what you did at the Apricot Blossom Banquet."

"What you did today only harmed the reputation of both our families and your maternal grandparents! You ruined your own marriage and also implicated your sister!"

Murong Ming listened to the first two sentences He Yan said, but when he heard the last sentence, he also exploded:

"You only care about Murong Wan! Because she's smarter than me and better at studying, you're only partial to her!"

"It's been like this since we were little. Whenever I quarreled with her, you just told me to give in. You didn't believe or listen to anything I said, you only believed what she said! You only knew how to praise her, and when you saw me you shook your head and sighed. Yes, I'm not as good as her, but I'm the Crown Prince, and I'm the one who will inherit the palace in the future!"

Murong Ming was hysterical, his voice was hoarse:

"Hit me, hit me! Beat me to death. Who will inherit the palace? If I die, how good will Murong Wan's marriage be?"

Murong Wan had been listening, her eyes bulging like bloodshot. She walked up to Murong Ming and said word by word:

"Okay, you die. You die—"

She hated herself for having such an incompetent and useless brother who dragged down the palace time and time again and made her efforts go to waste.

He was a stain on the entire palace, the mud that could never be washed off her skirt.

She would rather not have such a brother, would rather he disappeared.

She was so angry that she pulled out the pearl flower on her head, and regardless of the few strands of hair falling, she stabbed Murong Ming with the tip of the pearl flower.

"Ming'er!"

"Wan'er!"

Murong Ming was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat. He didn't expect Murong Wan to really take action and thought he was going to die.

Tick.

Blood flowed down.

Murong Ming was not stabbed, as Murong Xun's arm blocked it in time.

Plop. The pearl flower fell to the ground.

He Yan and Murong Ming were speechless when they saw Murong Xun's arm was stabbed.

At this moment, Murong Xun's face was exhausted and a feeling of powerlessness arose in his heart.

He had just seen He Yan and her two children losing control and felt that the family was in chaos.

Husband and wife are not harmonious, and brothers and sisters are at odds with each other.

This house is like an old wooden box wrapped in silk. It looks shiny on the outside, but the inside has been eaten away by insects and ants.

"That's enough. That's enough."

When Murong Xun entered the mansion, he wanted to teach his son a lesson, but now he suddenly lost his strength and even felt tired standing.

He inexplicably thought of Hao Ren's family, wondering if they also had such a farce at home.

He Yan asked someone to call the palace doctor.

The court physician went out to check on medicinal herbs today and happened to be returning home at this time. He was directly pulled over to check Murong Xun's injuries.

The court doctor took a look and found that it was not a serious injury. The wound was not deep, so he just needed to apply some medicine and give it a simple bandage.

"Your Highness's injury is not serious and he will be fully recovered in a few days."

The court doctor saw Murong Xun's depressed look and said something funny:

"I was just passing by the street when I saw quite a few people coming out of the palace. What a grand ceremony! I thought they were going to confer an official title on someone. But when I asked around, I found out it was the Emperor who gifted Lord Hao a plate of apricot blossom cakes. What a grand ceremony!"

The spring scenery is dazzling.

Murong Xun turned his head and his arm hurt even more.

…

A plate of apricot blossom cake sent down from the palace was escorted to Heishan Mansion by eighteen brightly dressed palace maids.

The palace is at the northernmost part, and Heishan Prefecture is at the southernmost part.

After this, at least half of the capital city knew about it.

When the plate of apricot blossom cake was delivered to Heishan Mansion, Hao Ren accepted it with profuse gratitude.

As soon as the gate was closed, the apricot blossom cake went into the stomachs of several hens in the backyard.

The hens clucked after having the snack and laid several eggs with joy.

At dinner time, Hao Ren went to the kitchen and fried two poached eggs for Su Zhizhi.

The poached egg is as round as the sun, not burnt at all, and has neat edges.

Hao Ren brought two poached eggs to Su Zhizhi:

"It's Dad's fault. I'm sorry for the injustice I've suffered today."

Su Zhizhi took a bite of half a fried egg:

"Dad, I'm not wronged. Today, Caiwei, Qingning, and I flew kites together, ate apricot blossom cakes, and I was very happy when I was painting. Murong Ming's tricks didn't bully me."

Everyone at the table in Heishan Mansion was sharpening their knives.

"Damn it! I'm going to teach that kid a lesson about the dangers of the world."

"What does it mean to be as ferocious as a tiger? Let him open his eyes."

"Don't rush to do it these two days, don't let anyone notice it, wait for a while..."

In response, Hao Ren only reminded the bandits who had long since turned good:

"There are many eyes watching the various prefectures in Chang'an now, so we can't attack them in their houses."

But for the next few days, Murong Ming and He Wenhan were locked up in the mansion and were not allowed to go out, not even to the martial arts school.

It was a good thing they didn't go, because Zhou Jijiu and Lin Jiaotou from the martial arts school had also heard about it and were eager to teach them a lesson. Dr. Xiong even found Murong Ming's "Dragon and Tiger Fight" and showed it to everyone...

Su Zhizhi was the calmest person, concentrating on her own affairs.

She practiced martial arts and sparred with Yuan Caiwei every day, and called Gu Qingning and Wu Zhan to join her during her days off.

Spring cannot be retained, seasons keep changing.

Gu Qingning and Wu Zhan stayed in the capital until late spring and were about to return to Lingnan together.

On the day they left, Su Zhizhi took leave from the martial arts school to see them off.

Su Zhizhi accompanied him all the way to a bamboo forest a few miles outside Chang'an City.

Gu Qingning took Su Zhizhi's hand and shook it again and again:

"Zhizhi, take care of yourself in Beijing. If you ever return to Lingnan, please tell me."

"I'm afraid... there won't be any chance to come again."

She is already fourteen years old, and her family will arrange a marriage for her next year at the latest. After that, she probably won't be able to travel far away anymore.

Wu Zhan scratched his head. "That's not the case. If you marry a husband who travels a lot, you'll have a good chance of traveling far away."

Gu Qingning ignored Wu Zhan and hugged Su Zhizhi. Her eyes were a little red.

Su Zhizhi said, "Qing Ning, I'm doing well in Beijing. When you go back, whether you get married or not, don't let anyone bully you. If someone bullies you, you have to bully them back. Tears can't kill people."

Gu Qingning burst into laughter:

"I understand. I've learned a lot this time in Chang'an and figured out how to deal with some things."

Su Zhizhi looked at Wu Zhan again and said, "Be careful on your way. I'll leave the things we bring to Liangmin Village to your caravan."

Heishan Prefecture bought a lot of local specialties in the capital and asked Wu Zhan's caravan to bring them back to the village.

Wu Zhan patted his chest and said, "Okay, leave it to us!"

After saying goodbye again and again, Gu Qingning and the others finally set off.

Su Zhizhi waved at them from where she stood.

Swing very hard.

Gu Qingning and the others disappeared in the bamboo forest path, but Su Zhizhi still refused to let go of her hand that was waving high.

Wu Yingniang stood beside Zhizhi, with her hands on her daughter's shoulders:

"Knowing, there is a time for gathering and separation. When there is gathering, there is separation, and when there is separation, there will be reunion."

Su Zhizhi nodded, but she still felt reluctant:

"I know, but I want the reunion to happen soon."

Kick, kick, kick. Kick, kick, kick.

The sound of galloping horses rang out again in the bamboo forest.

Su Zhizhi and Wu Yingniang looked up, thinking that the Wu family caravan had forgotten something and rushed back.

Two tall and strong horses with dusty faces were seen running out of the woods, with dusty men sitting on them.

One is an adult man with a handsome face.

The other one was slightly shorter, like a young boy, with most of his face covered by a gray headscarf.

The young man suddenly sped up and rode his horse towards Su Zhizhi.

When he got close, he suddenly reined in his horse, raising a cloud of dust.

In the dust, the young man jumped off his horse with swift movements, his clothes rising and falling happily.

His eyes were blazing, and his tone was filled with excitement and joy:

"Aunt Ying, Zhizhi! Are you here to pick me up?"

"How did you know I was coming today?"