The whole room was quiet.
King Qi did not expect Jiuzhu to say such a thing.
According to the royal family rules of the Yun family, as a royal wife, she should be gentle, virtuous, well-educated and well-mannered. She should not provoke royal friendships, but should promote intimacy and settle disputes.
He thought Ming Jiuzhu was just young and ignorant, so he had to remind the future Princess Chen in this situation. However, he did not expect that she would act without any regard for the dignity of the royal family and only knew how to obey the Prince Chen.
The Prince of Chen's sneer broke the silence in the room. He stood up and looked down at the Zheng family members who were kneeling on the ground to apologize: "Today is the fourth brother's big day. If there is anything, we can talk about it tomorrow."
The eunuch of Prince Chen's mansion bowed and opened the door. The laughter of the guests was carried into the house by the wind. The Zheng family members who were kneeling on the ground felt that these noises made people feel upset.
"A good night should not be wasted." Prince Chen walked to the door and made a gesture of invitation: "Fourth brother, please."
After saying this, without waiting for King Qi to reply, he waved to Jiuzhu and said, "Ming Xiaozhu, follow me."
Jiuzhu trotted to the back of Prince Chen. Today she did not wear her hair in a bun as she usually liked, but a lively flying fairy bun. When she ran, the phoenix-wing hairpin under the bun looked like a flying phoenix descending, shining brightly under the red lantern.
The moment King Qi looked up, he was blinded by the flashing light and closed his eyes. He opened his eyes and looked at Ming Jiuzhu again, and he felt an urge to get rid of her.
"Fourth brother." Prince Chen suddenly met his gaze and pulled Jiuzhu behind him: "Goodbye."
Watching Yun Duqing take Ming Jiuzhu away, Prince Qi sighed tiredly and turned to look at the Zheng family: "You go back first. I will think of a solution when the princess and I go to the palace to offer tea tomorrow."
"Thank you, Your Highness, thank you, Your Highness." Although Lady Pingyuan was the aunt of Prince Qi, she did not dare to put on airs in front of Prince Qi. On the surface, everyone said that the Pingyuan Marquis's House was the Ning Concubine's natal family, but she knew in her heart that Ning Concubine and her husband were not born of the same mother. The Marquis's House and Ning Concubine were just using each other.
"Although my second cousin is young, he should be properly disciplined." Prince Qi glanced at the second young master of the Zheng family with a cold and ruthless look: "Ming Jiuzhu is the future daughter-in-law that Concubine Su values. Who gave you the courage to go against her?"
"Your Highness." Mrs. Pingyuan knew that the King of Qi was still worried about the two servants, so she explained, "Those two servants were not arranged by my house. Please be careful, Your Highness."
The prince of Qi stared at the Zheng family for a moment, then bent down to help the wife of the Marquis of Pingyuan up, and said in a gentle tone: "Aunt, you are too serious. I am just giving you a few more words of advice. People are treacherous, and everyone knows that my grandparents are very close to me. I am afraid that someone with ulterior motives will harm you out of jealousy."
"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I will manage the harem strictly and not cause any trouble to Your Highness."
"Aunt, how can the affairs of my grandparents' family be a problem for me?" King Qi put his hands behind his back and smiled, "It's late at night. I'll send someone to take you back to the palace."
"I thank your Highness."
Lady Pingyuan understood that Prince Qi was disappointed with them, but he was kind-hearted and could not bear to put the Marquis's family in trouble.
The servants on duty at the Marquis Pingyuan's mansion were lazily discussing in low voices how grand the wedding at Prince Qi's mansion was, when they heard a servant from the outer gate come to report that their masters had returned home.
The servants were busy working, secretly wondering why he came back so early.
"Hey, wait." A big steward stopped Scarface and said, "Scarface, don't go over there. The master said that you will not be allowed to do anything that requires you to show your face outside in the future."
Scarface smiled and said, "What kind of job will I get in the future?"
"Wait for the master's arrangements." The steward flicked his sleeves and left in a hurry.
Looking at the butler's leaving back, Scarface touched his chin, his eyes filled with anger and hatred.
Thinking of the dead girl who scratched his face, Scarface bit his back teeth tightly, still not satisfied. If he hadn't been afraid of leaving a corpse and bloodstains that would be difficult to deal with and arouse others' suspicion, he would have cut her into pieces and tortured her to death bit by bit.
Tying her hands and feet, gag her, and throw her into the river to drown her would be a good thing for her.
After a while, he heard the servant mention the reason why the masters returned home early.
"It seems like that Miss Ming has a grudge against our family. Our family always suffers because of her."
"As servants, how can we understand what's going on between the masters? Anyway, whoever offends the Prince of Chen will be in trouble. Miss Ming is the Prince of Chen's fiancée, so she is naturally in the same group with the Prince of Chen."
Scarface touched the flesh scar on his chin, recalling how Prince Chen and Miss Ming disliked his ugly appearance and made him suffer humiliation in the Jingzhao Yin's government office. His eyes became gloomy and vicious.
Life in Dacheng was prosperous, and the curfew had been lifted in the capital and several other prosperous cities. After Jiuzhu left the Qi Palace in a carriage, he could still see small vendors setting up stalls on the roadside.
Shen raised the window curtain and glanced at the Prince of Chen who was riding a horse beside the carriage. The Prince of Chen noticed her gaze and gave her a friendly smile.
Giving a slightly stiff smile in return, Shen lowered the curtain, looked at her daughter who was very sleepy and had a head that looked like a woodpecker, reached out her hand and gently embraced her, letting her lean on her shoulder.
Jiuzhu rubbed Shen's neck and fell asleep peacefully.
Shen shook her head helplessly. This heartless man, who would hold up the sky even if it fell, was exactly like her father.
The carriage arrived at the gate of the Ming family. Ming Jingzhou got off the carriage in front and walked in front of Prince Chen: "Thank you, Your Highness, for seeing me off all the way."
"Lord Ming is too polite. I am just passing by." The Prince of Chen secretly glanced at the carriage that Jiuzhu was sitting in, but did not see the little girl getting off. "Then I will take my leave."
"Your Highness, please forgive me for not being able to get out of the carriage to see you off. I always go to bed early, and I have fallen asleep in the carriage." Shen lifted the curtain and said, "Your Highness, please go slowly."
He can eat, sleep, and not use his brain. If he is not a piglet, what else could he be?
Upon hearing that Jiuzhu had fallen asleep, Prince Chen turned his horse around and rode away in a leisurely manner.
In the night mist, the owner of a snack stall was clearing away the dishes and chopsticks used by the customers. A sword-wielding Jinwu Guard rode by on horseback, reminding the vendors on the street to be careful with the candles and to clean the floor where their stalls were set up.
A drunk man staggered by and nearly fell into the oil pan next to him. After being taken aside by the leading Jinwu Guard, he was still mumbling nonsense. The stall owner, on the other hand, was so scared that he was sweating all over and kept thanking the Jinwu Guard.
"Hey, it's you again." The Prince of Chen saw this and said to the Jinwu Guard who saved the drunkard, "What's your name?"
The captain of the Jinwu Guard was struggling internally. Was it a good thing or a bad thing to have his name remembered by this prince?
"I am Yu Jian, the humble general, and I am here to pay my respects to Your Majesty." Yu Jian dismounted from his horse and bowed to the Prince.
"Yu Jian." Prince Chen nodded and said, "I think you are quite skilled. It would be a waste for you to be a mere captain of the Jinwu Guards."
Yu Jian's scalp tightened. Would the Prince of Chen take him away and make him a running dog in the Prince of Chen's palace?
However, the Prince said nothing. He just looked at him for a few seconds and rode away.
He looked at the Prince's back as he left, then glanced at the drunk lying on the ground and talking nonsense: "Take him back, and wait for him to sober up and go back on his own."
He looked at the direction where the Prince of Chen left again, and he felt a little confused. What exactly did His Royal Highness the Prince of Chen mean? Actually... if the monthly salary was enough, it would not be impossible to be a running dog under the Prince of Chen's mansion.
As soon as the sky was bright, Prince Qi and Princess Qi arrived outside the Taiyang Palace early, waiting to meet the emperor.
"My Lord, my Lady, I am here to congratulate you both on your wedding. However, I am in the palace and cannot go to the palace to ask for a glass of wedding wine. I hope you will forgive me." Liu Zhongbao walked out of the palace gate and saluted to the two of them: "Your Majesty, please let you in."
"Thank you, eunuch." Sun Caiyao thanked him and took out a red envelope from her sleeve: "Eunuch, you have worked hard in serving my father. This is a wedding gift specially prepared for you by His Highness."
There were two Chinese characters for "happiness" printed on the red envelope. Liu Zhongbao took it with both hands, bowed and thanked them, "I, your old servant, would like to share in the joy of the prince and princess. Please follow me into the palace."
Liu Zhongbao did not put away the red envelope. He held it in his hand until he entered the palace to meet Emperor Longfeng.
"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness and the Princess come to greet you and offer you tea."
Emperor Longfeng smiled gently at Prince Qi and Sun Caiyao: "Why are you here so early?"
"Today is the first time that I have brought my new bride into the palace to pay my respects to the emperor. I dare not neglect it." The prince of Qi took a cup of tea from the tray held by the palace maid and knelt down on his knees: "Please have some tea, emperor."
Sun Caiyao held the teacup and knelt down with the King of Qi: "Please have some tea, father."
Liu Zhongbao was about to bring the tea to Emperor Longfeng, but Emperor Longfeng waved his hand, took the teacup himself and drank two sips: "You are already husband and wife, so you must cherish each other in the future, support each other for life, know each other's hearts, and accompany each other until old age."
"I will follow your father's instructions."
Looking at his respectful son, Emperor Longfeng turned around and took the two carved and gem-inlaid boxes brought by the eunuch, and placed them in the hands of the two men respectively: "Kneel down and pay your respects."
Prince Qi held the treasure box high above his head, thanked the Queen again, and left Taiyang Palace with Princess Qi.
After leaving Taiyang Palace, he looked at Sun Caiyao tenderly, and was very satisfied with her thoughtful behavior: "Princess, there seems to be a faint orchid fragrance on you?"
Sun Caiyao nodded shyly.
"Mother also likes Lanxiang very much. It's a good thing that you are like this." Just as the Prince of Qi finished speaking, he saw Concubine Su holding a red plum blossom, sitting on a sedan chair, and walking towards them with a crowd of people following.
"I wonder who it is. It turns out to be His Royal Highness Prince Qi." Su Guifei sat lazily on the sedan chair, looking down at Prince Qi and Princess Qi who were paying respect to her. She also followed their greetings: "I have heard about the excitement that happened in Prince Qi's mansion last night. After all, he married a girl from the Sun family, so he is more confident than other princes. He even dared to plot against my own daughter-in-law."
"Please understand, Your Majesty, this matter..."
"Did I ask you to explain?" Concubine Su glared at him with a hint of sarcasm in her charming tone, "Your Highness Prince Qi has learned etiquette since childhood, how come you have forgotten even the basic palace rules?"
The King of Qi bowed deeply and said no more.
Concubine Su did not let him go just because he did not speak: "Now that you have established a family and a career, you should understand what rules and regulations are. If the Zheng family does not understand the rules and regulations, I will teach them. If His Royal Highness Prince Qi does not understand the rules and regulations either, I do not mind teaching you on behalf of Concubine Ning."
"I am sorry for my words being spoken carelessly. Please forgive me, Your Majesty." The Prince of Qi bowed again.
"Today is the first day of your marriage to Miss Sun. For the sake of Princess Qi, I will not bother with you." Concubine Su sneered, "But you must remember, there will be no next time."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Prince Qi raised his head and watched Concubine Su Gui and her group heading towards Taiyang Palace. He lowered his head and gave Sun Caiyao a bitter smile: "Princess, I am sorry to have you accompany me and suffer injustice."
Sun Caiyao shook her head: "It's not your fault, Your Highness."
It’s all…it’s all because Concubine Su was too arrogant.
As soon as Prince Qi and Princess Qi came out after serving tea to Princess Ning, news came from Taiyang Palace that the Earl of the Zheng family was reduced to the lowest baron, without any regard for the fact that today was Prince Qi's wedding day.
Upon hearing the news, Sun Caiyao immediately understood that Concubine Su had gone to Taiyang Palace early in the morning with a few branches of red plums in order to complain to her father.
She looked back at Lanxu Palace. In just a few days, the Zheng family had been demoted one after another. My mother... probably wouldn't be too happy.
The Zheng family almost became a laughing stock in the entire capital. Even so, they still had to face the strange looks from people in the capital and go to Minister Ming's residence to apologize.
The head of the Zheng family is still seriously ill, and the ones who came to apologize were Mrs. Zheng and the eldest son Zheng Wangnan.
When they learned that the Zheng family was coming, Minister Ming's residence not only did not make things difficult for them, but instead opened the door and welcomed them with a smile. Anyone who saw them would praise the Ming family for their generosity.
However, to the Zheng family, the more polite the Ming family was, the more uneasy they became, and they felt like they were sitting on pins and needles in the main hall of the Ming family.
"Miss Ming, all of this is my fault for not being strict in teaching my son. Please accept these gifts." Madam Zheng handed over the gift list with both hands.
"You are too polite, Madam." Jiuzhu stood up and performed the evening greetings. "Since the matter has already passed, please don't take it to heart."
Madam Zheng felt a sharp pain in her heart: "..."
The Zheng family's title was demoted and they lost face. Is this something they can just ignore?
She was angry and sad, but she still had to force herself to keep smiling. What kind of life was she living?
"Master, Madam, Miss!" The servant ran into the main hall happily: "The master has returned to Beijing!"
"Really?!" Ming Jingzhou was overjoyed. "Big brother hasn't lived in the mansion for many days. The servants in the mansion must not have served him well enough. I will go and welcome big brother into our mansion now."
"Master." Shen called him, "It's cold outside, don't forget to put on your coat."
After saying that, she looked at Jiuzhu and said, "Jiuzhu, you go with your father."
Jiuzhu, who had long been curious about her uncle, jumped off the chair and ran out behind Ming Jingzhou after hearing her mother's words.
"Ah, why do both father and daughter have the same problem? They don't wear cloaks when they go out." Shen smiled and turned to see Madam Zheng and Zheng Wangnan seemed to be shivering. She smiled and asked, "Madam Zheng, Master Zheng, is it a little cold in the room?"
"No, it's not cold." Zheng Wangnan's face was pale: "Thank you for your concern, Madam."
They were not cold at all; they were just frightened to death after hearing the news that Ming Jinghai had returned.
Everyone in the court knew that Ming Jinghai was not only a learned scholar, but also an excellent swordsman. When he went to Beijing to take the imperial examination, he was able to defeat more than ten bandits by himself and bring them to the government office to collect the reward.
After His Majesty ascended the throne, he held the Imperial Sword and killed countless corrupt officials. The common people called him the Honest Lord, but the officials and nobles in the capital were very afraid of him and privately called him the Black-Faced Evil.
They just wanted to come and apologize, and didn't want to be killed by Ming Jinghai's sword.
The first time Jiuzhu saw her uncle, she felt that he was very different from ordinary civil servants. He had dark skin, thick eyebrows and big eyes, a thick beard on his chin, a sword hanging from his waist, and walked with great vigor.
"This is..." Ming Jinghai saw Jiuzhu's fair and tender face and lowered his high voice: "This is my dear niece?"
"Uncle." Jiuzhu saluted Ming Jinghai and looked at him without blinking.
"My niece is so pretty." Ming Jinghai felt around in his arms and found that he had no suitable gift for the little girl. Finally, he pulled off the purse at his waist and said, "Uncle doesn't know what you little girls like. Spend this money."
"Father." Ming Cunfu looked at the purse in Jiuzhu's hand with envy. His father had never been so generous to him.
Ming Jinghai, who was originally smiling, suddenly became serious when he saw his son's face: "During the time I was away from the capital, did you read books? Did you write? Did you take good care of your sister?"
Ming Cunfu: “…”
"Brother, Cunfu has been studying very hard these days and has never slacked off." Ming Jingzhou held Ming Jinghai's arm and said, "Come on, come on, come back with me to wash up first, and we'll have lunch and reminisce at noon."
"Then it's Brother Lao San." Ming Jinghai didn't bother to be polite with his younger brother. He followed Ming Jingzhou back to the Minister's Residence. Along the way, he looked at Jiuzhu curiously many times. Jiuzhu noticed his eyes and squinted at him and smiled.
Ming Jinghai's heart softened when his niece laughed, and he took off the jade pendant from his waist: "Zhuzhu, this jade pendant is of good quality, you can take it and play with it."
"Brother, you can't do that. This is a gift from His Majesty. How can you give it to a little girl who knows nothing..."
"Zhuzhu is your majesty's future daughter-in-law, so what if I give her this jade pendant?" Ming Jinghai held Ming Jingzhou with one hand, his attitude not allowing rejection: "This is for my niece, you have no right to speak."
Jiuzhu looked up at Ming Jinghai with her eyes shining. Her uncle was so domineering.
As time passed, Zheng Wangnan's legs trembled as if he had a stroke, and sweat kept rolling down his forehead.
"Madam, it's getting late. My son and I should say goodbye." Madam Zheng stood up with a pale face and said, "I'm sorry to disturb your family reunion. Goodbye, goodbye."
"Madam, I'm leaving now." Zheng Wangnan's legs were limp, and he reached out to support Madam Zheng, who was almost unsteady on her feet. "I'm leaving now."
"Madam and Master, it's a rare opportunity for you to visit. You should at least have a quick meal before you leave." Shen stood up and tried to persuade them to stay: "Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"
"No, no."
Madam Zheng looked at Shen with resentment and said, “I see that you don’t want to keep us mother and son for dinner, you want us to die.”
Shen smiled as she watched the Zheng family mother and son leave in a hurry. She turned to the maid beside her and smiled, "Master and eldest master, are you coming in through the main gate?"
"That's right, ma'am."
Shen's smile became gentler.
As soon as the Zheng family mother and son walked out of the main hall, they ran into Ming Jinghai, who had a full beard.
"What? Which reckless brat dared to attack you from behind?" Ming Jinghai heard that someone wanted to harm his niece, and his thick eyebrows wrinkled: "He is so ignorant!"
There was a clang, the sound of someone falling to the ground.
Ming Jinghai looked in the direction of the sound and saw Zheng Wangnan lying on the ground.
"Prince Zheng, why can't you even walk properly?" He walked up to Zheng Wangnan and picked him up from the ground.
"Uncle." Jiuzhu pointed at Zheng Wangnan in his hand and said, "It's his younger brother who pushed me from behind."
Ming Jinghai loosened his grip and threw Zheng Wangnan to the ground, his eyes widening with anger: "You Zheng family, how dare you bully my niece?"
"No, no, no, no, Master Ming, this is all a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding." Zheng Wangnan said with a trembling voice: "Please listen to my defense... No, explanation, it's an explanation."
"What do you mean to explain? Could my niece lie to me?" The first time he saw his niece, he knew that this was the little girl from their Ming family. The three brothers only had this little girl, would the little girl from their Ming family lie?
"I don't want to hear your explanation." Ming Jinghai waved his palm in the air, scaring Zheng Wangnan and his mother so much that they shrank their necks. "Get out of the Ming family right now. I'll settle accounts with you tomorrow."
Zheng Wangnan stood up and crawled. After taking two steps, he remembered that his mother was left behind. He turned around and supported Madam Zheng, and "escaped" from the Ming family's gate in a panic.
"Don't be afraid, niece." Uncle Ming wanted to pat Jiuzhu on the head, but he was afraid that his hand was too strong and might hurt her, so he retracted his hand and said, "With uncle here, the Zheng family will not suffer any harm."
"Thank you, uncle." Jiuzhu smiled sweetly: "But the Royal Concubine and His Highness have already helped me vent my anger. You just got home, don't worry about these little things."
"Are you talking about Concubine Su and Prince Chen?" Uncle Ming turned to look at Ming Jingzhou: "Is this true?"
Ming Jingzhou nodded: "Jiuzhu is right, Concubine Su and Prince Chen did help her vent her anger."
He had not yet told his elder brother that Concubine Su and Prince Chen would send gifts to their house every now and then.
Uncle Ming thought about it and nodded in understanding: "You are a concubine after all, you must be useful. If you allow others to bully you, what's the point of being Jin'er's concubine?"
Ming Cunfu turned his head silently when he heard this and said, "Father, what you said really sounds like that of a traitor."
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