Chapter 77 Chapter 77 Are you still embarrassed enough?

"Bullshit!" Fart, "How dare you!"

When the words were on the tip of her tongue, Jingyi remembered that this was not the cold palace where eunuchs were rampant, but the Chongzheng Palace of the previous dynasty. The word "fart" was obviously not suitable for her current status, so she had to swallow it back.

"Why do I need to prove this? Wasn't Wei Yangbo present when this quarrel between you and me reached this point? Wei Yangbo, tell me, who did the Prince Consort save that got me kicked out?"

These words kept turning around and around, and finally came back to Duan Wenpei.

Even a clay man has some clay characteristics, let alone Wei Yangbo, who is not a good person to begin with.

Duan Wenpei raised his lips in a half-smile, his cold gaze sweeping from Jingyi to Li Zhan. "Your Highness was, of course, trying to save the second daughter of the Yong'an Marquis's mansion, an old friend of the Li family, and my wife. After all, as your Highness, you couldn't just stand by and watch the princess break into a minister's house and strangle a woman of high rank. Your Highness's actions were both a sign of loyalty to the princess and a way of protecting the daughter of a noble family who was once like a sister to you. Why would you have to get into this mess with the princess?"

He spoke slowly and steadily, but every word struck a chord with everyone.

When Li Zhan heard the word "sister", a look of unwillingness flashed across his pale face; but Li Junji, who was kneeling on the side, heard the word "old friend" and hurriedly looked up at Emperor Xuanwu, only to see the emperor turning the new ring on his thumb, and his expression could not be seen clearly.

Jingyi spat in her heart and was about to retort, but Duan Wenpei didn't give her a chance.

"Speaking of this matter, I am actually a little puzzled. I have a question and would like to ask the princess for advice."

Jingyi had no idea what he was up to, so in front of everyone, she could only arrogantly ask, "What?"

Duan Wenpei straightened his posture, his smile growing even deeper. "They say the princess and the prince consort are a match made in heaven, a model of a royal family. But why didn't the prince consort try to stop the princess, but instead blocked the way in front of my wife... Could it be that the princess is not as good as my wife?"

This sounded familiar, and Jingyi instantly understood that he was mocking her for comparing Nanxu to a prostitute.

But she is a princess, what is Nan Xu?

"How dare you! How dare you insult me!"

"Wei Yangbo, be careful with your words!"

"Duan Qing!!!"

The emperor raised his hand to stop Princess Jingyi, who was about to pick up the jade ruyi on the dragon couch and throw it at her, and gave Duan Wenpei a warning look.

Li Junji's forehead was covered in cold sweat after hearing this, but he still stood firmly on the side of the princess and whispered to Duan Wenpei that he was disrespectful. He was completely focused on the emperor and the princess, but he didn't notice Li Zhan, who was pale just now. He rarely looked at Duan Wenpei with approval.

Duan Wenpei took in everyone's reactions and, ignoring the princess's rage, stood up and apologized to Emperor Xuanwu. "Your Majesty, please forgive me. As the princess said before, you compared my wife to the women from that kind of place. My wife is very good. Your Majesty, I was really confused when you asked me that, so I wanted to ask you. I didn't expect you to..."

"Bullshit! You clearly did it on purpose! Come, arrest this disrespectful, foul-mouthed man, drag him out and give him a good beating..."

"That's enough! Don't you think you've lost face enough?"

Princess Jingyi was so angry that she didn't care about anything else. She clamored to punish Duan Wenpei. Emperor Xuanwu couldn't bear it anymore and slapped her on the dragon table.

With a "pop" sound, tea splashed everywhere, the dragon table was noisy, and Jingyi, who was sitting next to her, trembled a little, and a trace of fear finally appeared on her face.

"Emperor…Emperor Brother."

There was a hint of fear in her eyes that was rare in her usual look.

Emperor Xuanwu frowned, and a place in his heart loosened for a moment, but only for a moment, before it was firmly imprisoned again by the supreme imperial power.

He closed his eyes in disappointment, then opened them again, looking at Jingyi with a cold, intimidating look in his eyes. "Princess, you are raised by the people of the world, so you must set an example for them. Jingyi, you can scold me and criticize me all you want, but you chose to marry your husband. I never forced you to do anything. You can't arbitrarily humiliate your husband because of your temper. Where do you put me and the Li family? Where do you put the reputation of the royal family and mine?"

Emperor Xuanwu rarely spoke to her in such a harsh tone. This was the second time today. Jingyi stared at Emperor Xuanwu's lips opening and closing, standing there in a daze.

After all, she was his own sister whom he felt guilty about. Although Emperor Xuanwu wanted to put an end to this farce and kill Jingyi's prestige, he couldn't bear it when he saw her stunned look. He couldn't help but slow down his tone and said, "While Li Qing and the prince consort are here, you should admit your fault to the prince consort. This matter will be over and those rumors outside will be stopped."

As soon as Emperor Xuanwu finished speaking, Princess Jingyi finally moved. Her slightly dull eyes swept across everyone's faces. She pointed at Li Zhan on the ground in disbelief, not even calling him "Brother Emperor" anymore, "You want me to admit my mistake to him?!"

Emperor Xuanwu nodded in agreement.

Jingyi twitched her lips in self-mockery, then pointed at Duan Wenpei, "He called me worse than that bitch Nanxu, and you didn't care?"

Emperor Xuanwu's face turned grim. "What a bitch! I once called the Concubine Mother. Nanxu is our cousin, after all. How can you call her that? Besides, you were the one who spoke rudely first. Wei Yangbo was just asking you, 'Why? Are you no match for Nanxu? The late emperor praised Nanxu highly. Have you ever earned his praise?'"

Jingyi's expression changed from disbelief to shock.

These words were like cutting her heart with a knife.

Why does she hate so much! Why does she resent so much! Why does she act so willfully!

Others may scold her and dislike her, but Emperor Xuanwu cannot!

Anyone can spit on her like this! Except Jun Yuanqi!

Tears welled up in her eyes almost instantly. Jingyi held her head high and sneered in disdain, "The late emperor? Haha! My royal brother has a really good memory. You've forgotten how the late emperor treated us so quickly. You're right. You're the emperor now, so high and mighty. How could you possibly understand my suffering?"

She raised her hand to wipe away the tears, the pain in her eyes gradually turning into silence. She turned and walked a few steps towards the Li family father and son, then slowly squatted down, placing her rough palm on Li Zhan's shoulder. "Prince Consort," she called out coldly, "Why are you still kneeling? Why don't you get up and return home with me?"

The contest between the emperor and his sister had frightened Li Junji to the point that he didn't know what to do. Seeing Jingyi coming over, he was afraid that she would affect Li Zhan again, so he stared at her without blinking. When he heard her say this, he felt relieved and smiled at the princess and the emperor.

"Your Majesty is wise, the princess is wise."

He nudged his indifferent son, his words full of respect for the princess and the emperor.

Emperor Xuanwu smoothed the dragon pattern on his robe and gladly accepted his kneeling.

Duan Wenpei watched all this indifferently, his eyes falling on the motionless Li Zhan.

"Your Highness, why don't you thank me?"

Li Zhan felt the gaze falling on him and the increasingly forceful hand on his shoulder. He lowered his head and tightly grasped the corner of his clothes, without saying a word for a long time.

The princess has already surrendered, but he still refuses?

Emperor Xuanwu looked a little unhappy.

Li Junji quietly reached out and twisted his arm to remind him to speak quickly.

Duan Wenpei kindly reminded him, "Prince Consort, it's time to express your gratitude."

His voice was cold and toneless, and it sounded like a death warrant to his ears. Li Junji was so anxious that cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He was about to say a few good words on Li Zhan's behalf, but he never expected that the person kneeling beside him slowly spoke, "Your Majesty, I thank you. I have written to the princess and will accompany her back now."

Emperor Xuanwu looked at Duan Wenpei with satisfaction and asked the eunuchs to help the Li father and son up.

"Go, go. You two haven't been together for a long time, and you must have a lot to talk about. I won't keep you any longer. Li Qing and Duan Qing stay." Then he asked Guo Huai to personally escort Jingyi and Li Zhan out of the palace.

Jingyi threw off the eunuch's support and walked out without looking back. She did not bow to Emperor Xuanwu. Guo Huai wanted to remind him, but Emperor Xuanwu waved his hand nonchalantly, indicating that it was not necessary. Turning to look at Li Zhan, who was bowing a little behind, he gave a final warning: "The princess is the monarch, and you are the subject. You must treat the princess as you would respect me. Do you understand?"

Li Zhan had already lost heart and answered "yes" respectfully like a puppet.

The emperor raised his eyebrows and let him go with satisfaction.

*

After talking about personal matters, it’s time to talk about official matters.

Emperor Xuanwu handed the disaster report submitted by the governor of Shu to Duan Wenpei and Li Junji, then got off the dragon bed, stood at the window with his hands behind his back, looking at the unstoppable rain in the sky, waiting for their reply.

After skimming through the entire document, Li Junji was furious: "What is Prince Yi planning to do? He's actually ordering local officials to open their granaries to provide disaster relief! Isn't this overstepping authority? Prince Yi is planning a rebellion, Your Majesty!"

He spoke with full energy, completely different from the way he had just been kneeling on the ground begging for mercy.

Duan Wenpei closed the memorial and placed it on the dragon table. He calmly retorted, "It's just about opening the granaries to provide disaster relief. Shu is the fiefdom of King Yi, so he has the right to interfere. Lord Li, aren't you being too alarmist?"

Li Junji had just been somewhat grateful to Duan Wenpei for suppressing Princess Jingyi's arrogance with just a few words, forcing the emperor to intervene and make the princess bow her head. But now, hearing him contradicting him, he suddenly felt unhappy. "According to what you mean, my Lord, this is actually a good thing! If that's the case, then today we're just ordering the granaries to be opened for disaster relief, but next time we can order the local troops to enter the capital and purge the emperor's court!"

"alright!"

The emperor stretched his hand out of the window, caught a handful of rainwater, then poured it out with his palm, and shouted at Li Junji with an unfathomable look.

"What's the point of clearing the court? It's not that serious."

"Huaizhou is right. Natural disasters are merciless. Hundreds of thousands of people in Shu were displaced. The memorial clearly states this. You only saw King Yi opening the granaries to provide disaster relief, but you didn't see the countless bones beneath the floodwaters. Li Qing, you have lost the original intention of being a minister."

Li Junji: ...

Why did His Majesty suddenly change his attitude towards King Yi?

Li Junji apologized and looked at Duan Wenpei with some confusion, expecting to find the answer on Duan Wenpei's face, but he could not see anything on Duan Wenpei's cold face.

The king's mind is unpredictable, he cannot figure it out for sure and dare not speak rashly.

Emperor Xuanwu didn't count on him either. He asked Duan Wenpei, "Huaizhou, what do you think?"

Duan Wenpei: "Your Majesty, please commend King Yi."

"Then what?"

"Send another capable person to Shu with the imperial edict. It may appear to be a commendation, but it is actually an opportunity to seize power."

"The governor of Shu dares not do anything to King Yi because he is wary of his status and the Fu Hu Army under his command. As long as Your Majesty sends a suitable person, everything can be planned slowly."