The room was completely silent.
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, one should be gentle and virtuous, well-educated and well-mannered, and should not stir up the friendships among the royal family. Instead, one should promote intimacy and settle disputes.
He thought Ming Jiuju was just young and ignorant, so she had to remind the future Princess Chen in such an occasion. However, he did not expect that she would act with complete disregard for the dignity of the royal family and only knew how to blindly 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 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 room by the wind. The Zheng family members who were kneeling on the ground felt that these noises were upsetting.
"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 up behind Prince Chen. Today she did not wear her hair in a bun as she usually liked, but in a lively flying fairy bun. When she ran, the phoenix-wing hairpin under her bun looked like a flying phoenix descending, shining brightly under the red lanterns.
The moment the King of Qi looked up, he was blinded by the flashing light and closed his eyes. He opened his eyes and looked at Ming Jiuzhu again, feeling an urge to get rid of her as soon as possible.
"Fourth brother." Prince Chen suddenly met his gaze and pulled Jiuzhu behind him: "Goodbye."
Watching Yun Duqing take Ming Jiuzhu away, the King of Qi sighed tiredly and looked back at the Zheng family: "You go back first. I will think of a solution when the princess and I go to the palace to serve tea tomorrow."
"Thank you, Your Highness. Thank you, Your Highness." Although Lady Pingyuan was the aunt of the King of Qi, she did not dare to put on airs in front of the King of Qi. On the surface, everyone said that the Pingyuan Marquis's Mansion was Concubine Ning's maiden home, but she knew in her heart that Concubine Ning and her husband were not born of the same mother. The Bo family and Concubine Ning are just using each other.
"Although my second cousin is still young, he should be properly disciplined." The King of 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 King of Qi stared at the Zheng family for a moment, then bent down to help the Lady of Pingyuan up, and softened his 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 in the future and will not cause any trouble to Your Highness."
"Aunt, how can the affairs of my grandparents 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 home."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Lady Pingyuan understood that His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi was disappointed with them, but he was kind-hearted and could not bear to put the Earl's family in trouble.
The servants on duty at the Pingyuan Marquis's mansion were lazily discussing in low voices how grand the wedding at the Qi Prince'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 steward stopped Scarface and said, "Scar, don't go over there. The master said that you are not 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 departing back, Scarface touched his chin, his eyes filled with anger and resentment.
Thinking of the dead girl who scratched his face, Scarface bit his back teeth tightly, still feeling unsatisfied. If he had not been afraid that leaving a corpse and bloodstains would be difficult to deal with and would arouse other people's suspicion, he would have cut her into pieces and tortured her to death bit by bit.
Tying her hands and feet, gag her, and throwing her into the river to drown her would be a good idea for her.
After a while, he heard the servant mention the reason why the masters returned home early.
"That Miss Ming seems to have a grudge against our family. We always have bad luck because of her."
"As servants, how can we know what's going on between the masters? Anyway, whoever offends the King of Chen will be in trouble. Miss Ming is the King of Chen's fiancée, so she is naturally in the same group with the King of Chen."
Scarface touched the flesh mark on his chin, recalling how Prince Chen and Miss Ming disliked his ugly appearance and had him humiliated in the Jingzhao Yin's government office. His eyes became gloomy and ferocious.
Life in Dacheng is prosperous, and the curfew in the capital and several prosperous main cities has been lifted. After Jiuzhu left Prince Qi's Mansion in a carriage, he could still see small vendors setting up stalls on the roadside.
Shen lifted the carriage curtain and glanced at Prince Chen who was riding a horse beside the carriage. Prince 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 whose little head was as round as a woodpecker, and reached out her hand to gently embrace her, letting her lean on her shoulder.
Jiuzhu rubbed Shen's neck and fell asleep peacefully.
Shen shook her head helplessly. This man was heartless and had the personality of someone tall enough to hold up the sky even if it fell. He 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." Prince Chen secretly glanced at the carriage where Jiuzhu was sitting, 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 have fallen asleep in the carriage." Shen lifted the curtain of the carriage: "Your Highness, please go slowly."
He can eat, sleep, and doesn’t like to use his brain. If he’s not a pig, then what is he?
Upon hearing that Jiuzhu had fallen asleep, Prince Chen turned his horse around and left in a leisurely manner.
In the night fog, a snack stand owner was cleaning up the dishes and chopsticks used by the customers. A Jinwu Guard with a sword rode by on horseback, reminding the street vendors to be careful with fire and to clean up the ground where their stalls were set up.
A drunk man staggered by and almost fell into the oil pan next to him. After being carried aside by the leading Jinwu Guard, he was still mumbling nonsense. However, the stall owner was so scared that he was sweating all over his forehead and kept thanking the Jinwu Guard.
"Oh, it's you again." Seeing this, the Prince of Chen said to the Jinwu Guard who saved the drunk, "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 Highness." Yu Jian dismounted from his horse and bowed to Prince Chen.
"Yu Jian." Prince Chen nodded and said, "I think you have good skills. It would be a waste for you to be a small captain of the Jinwu Guard."
Yu Jian's scalp tightened. Would the Prince of Chen want to take him over and make him a running dog in the Prince of Chen's palace?
However, Prince Chen said nothing. He just looked at him a few times and rode away.
He looked at the back of Prince Chen 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 again at the direction where Prince Chen left, feeling somewhat conflicted. What exactly does His Royal Highness Prince Chen mean? Actually... if the monthly salary is high enough, it is not impossible to become a running dog under the Prince Chen's palace.
As soon as the sky brightened, the King of Qi and his wife arrived outside the Taiyang Palace early, waiting to meet the emperor.
"Your Majesty, Princess, I am here to congratulate you two on your wedding. However, I am in the palace and cannot go to the palace to ask for a glass of wedding wine. Please forgive me, Your Majesty and Princess." Liu Zhongbao walked out of the palace and saluted to the two of them: "Your Majesty allows you to go 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 double happiness characters printed on the red envelope. Liu Zhongbao took it with both hands, bowed and thanked him: "I will shamelessly 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 and met 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?"
"This is the first time I have brought my new bride into the palace to pay my respects to you, Father. I dare not neglect you." The King of Qi took a cup of tea from the maid's tray and knelt down on his knees: "Please have some tea, Father."
Sun Caiyao held the teacup and knelt down with the King of Qi: "Please have some tea, Father."
Liu Zhongbao was about to pass 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, accompany each other for the rest of your lives, know each other's minds, and stay together until you grow old."
"Your son 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."
The King of Qi held the treasure box high above his head, expressed his gratitude again, and left Taiyang Palace with his wife.
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 your body?"
Sun Caiyao nodded shyly.
"Mother also likes Lanxiang. It's a good thing for you to be like this." Just as the King of Qi finished speaking, he saw Concubine Su holding a red plum blossom, sitting on a sedan chair, and walking towards him with a crowd of people following.
"I wonder who it is. It turns out to be His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi." Imperial Concubine Su sat lazily on the sedan chair, looking down at the Prince of Qi and his wife who were paying their respects to her. She also did not refrain from their greetings: "I have heard about the excitement that happened in the Prince of Qi's mansion last night. After all, he married a girl from the Sun family, so he is more confident than the other princes. He even dared to plot against my daughter-in-law."
"Please understand, Your Majesty, this matter..."
"I asked you to explain?" Concubine Su glared at him with her beautiful eyes, with a hint of sarcasm in her charm: "Your Highness Prince Qi has learned etiquette since he was a child, how come he has 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 the rules and etiquette are. The Zheng family does not know the rules, so I will teach them. If Your Highness the Prince of Qi does not know the rules either, I do not mind teaching you on behalf of Concubine Ning."
"I apologize for my mistake, Your Majesty." The King of Qi bowed again.
"Today is the first day of your wedding with Miss Sun. For the sake of Princess Qi, I will not bother with you." Concubine Su sneered, "But you must remember, there will not be a next time."
"Thank you, Madam Concubine."
The King of Qi raised his head and watched Concubine Su and her group heading towards Taiyang Palace. He lowered his head and gave Sun Caiyao a bitter smile: "Princess, I am sorry for making you accompany me and suffer."
Sun Caiyao shook her head: "It's not your highness's fault."
It’s all…it’s all Concubine Su’s fault for being too arrogant.
After the Prince of Qi and his wife came out after serving tea to Concubine Ning, news came from Taiyang Palace that the Earl of the Zheng family was reduced to the lowest rank of Baron, without any regard for the fact that today was the first day of the Prince of Qi's marriage.
Upon hearing the news, Sun Caiyao immediately understood that Concubine Su had gone to Taiyang Palace early in the morning with a few red plum blossoms 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. Her mother... was probably not going to be too happy.
The Zheng family almost became a laughing stock in the entire capital. Even so, they had to endure the strange looks from everyone 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.
Upon learning that the Zheng family was coming, Minister Ming not only did not make things difficult for them, but instead opened the door wide and welcomed them with a smile. Anyone who sees this will praise the Ming family for their magnanimity.
However, for the Zheng family, the more polite the Ming family was, the more uneasy they became, and they felt like sitting on pins and needles in the main hall of the Ming family.
"Miss Ming, this is all my fault for not educating my children well. Please accept these gifts." Mrs. Zheng handed over the gift list with both hands.
"You are too polite, Madam." Jiuzhu stood up and bowed as a junior. "Since the matter has 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 is angry and sad, but she has to keep smiling. What kind of life is this?
"Master, Madam, Miss!" The servant ran into the main hall happily: "The master has returned to the capital!"
"Really?!" Ming Jingzhou was overjoyed. "Big brother hasn't lived in the mansion for many days. The servants must not have served him well enough. I will go and welcome him into our mansion right away."
"Master." Shen called him, "It's cold outside, don't forget to put on your cloak."
After she finished speaking, 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 when she heard her mother's words.
"Hey, why do both father and daughter have the same problem? They don't wear cloaks when they go out." Shen smiled. She turned around and saw that 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 looked pale: "Thank you for your concern, Madam."
They were not cold at all; they were frightened to death by the news that Ming Jinghai had returned.
Everyone in the court knew that Ming Jinghai was not only a learned top 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 take them to the government office to collect his reward.
After His Majesty ascended the throne, he wielded the Imperial Sword and beheaded countless corrupt officials. The common people called him the Honest Judge, 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.
When Jiuzhu saw her uncle for the first time, 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 on his waist, and walked with great vigor.
"This is..." Ming Jinghai saw Jiuzhu's fair and tender face and lowered his high voice: "Is this my good 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 out the purse from his waist and said, "Uncle doesn't know what your little girl likes. 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 youngest son's face: "Did you read books and write during the time I was away from the capital? Did you take good care of your sister?"
Ming Cunfu: “…”
"Brother, Cunfu has been studying very hard during this period and has never slacked off." Ming Jingzhou held Ming Jinghai's arm and said, "Come on, come on, come back with me to the mansion to wash up. We can have lunch and chat about the past at noon."
"Then I'll have to trouble you, third brother." Ming Jinghai did not 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 what I give to my niece, you have no right to speak."
Jiuzhu looked up at Ming Jinghai, her eyes shining. Her uncle was so domineering.
As time passed, Zheng Wangnan's legs trembled as if he had a stroke, and sweat on his forehead kept rolling down.
"Madam, it's getting late. My son and I should leave now." Madam Zheng stood up with a pale face. "I'm sorry to disturb your family reunion. Goodbye, goodbye."
"Madam, I'm leaving." Zheng Wangnan's legs were weak, and he reached out to support Madam Zheng who was almost unable to stand: "Farewell."
"Madam and Master rarely come to visit, you should at least have a simple meal before leaving." Shen stood up and tried to persuade them to stay: "Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"
"No, no."
Mrs. Zheng looked at Shen with resentment and said, "I think 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 her head and smiled at the maid beside her: "Master and the eldest master, are you coming in from the main gate?"
"That's right, ma'am."
Shen's smile became even gentler.
As soon as the Zheng mother and son walked out of the main hall, they ran into the bearded Ming Jinghai.
"What? Which reckless brat dares to attack you from behind?" Ming Jinghai frowned when he heard that someone wanted to harm his niece: "You are 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, how come you can't 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: "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, the Zheng family, actually bullied my niece?"
"No, no, no, Master Ming, this is all a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding." Zheng Wangnan said in a trembling voice, "Please listen to my explanation... No, explanation, it's an explanation."
"What's there 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 have only this little girl. Would the little girl from the 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 rolled and crawled to his feet, and after taking two steps he remembered that he had left his mother behind. He quickly turned back to support Mrs. 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 would be too strong and hurt her, so he retracted his hand: "With uncle here, the Zheng family will not get any benefits."
"Thank you, uncle." Jiuzhu smiled sweetly: "But the Imperial Concubine and His Highness have helped me vent my anger. You just got home, don't worry about these trivial matters."
"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 sent gifts to their house every now and then.
Uncle Ming thought about it and nodded in understanding: "You are a favorite concubine after all, you must be of some use. If you allow others to bully you, what's the point of being a favorite 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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