Chapter 98: Did I say that a trip to the Imperial Prison would make things clear?
"No, no, how dare we say these words." Zhao Chengyu waved his hands repeatedly, his face full of grievance and fear.
"We were just strolling in the garden, and she rushed up and beat us without saying a word."
"Yeah, we didn't say those things."
Hearing this, a hint of mockery flashed across Song Lingyi's eyes. Under pressure from the prince and the elders, she didn't expect the three of them to dare to tell the truth.
Xiao Mingyi stared at the girl with her head drooping dejectedly, then shifted his gaze slightly to Zhao Chengyu and Lin Yan beside him.
"You really never said these words?"
A chilling sense of oppression pierced through his deep gaze. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince rarely reprimanded his subjects. When facing the civil and military officials in the court, he was both gentle and dignified, rarely showing a cold face.
With such cold questioning, the officials in the court could see that the prince was on the verge of anger, and their hearts trembled inside, not to mention the three young girls.
Zhao Chengyu swallowed hard and said under immense pressure, "Your Highness, please understand. We really didn't say that. These are just Song Lingyi's one-sided statements. She is the favored cousin of the Duke's Mansion. How dare we offend her?"
Lin Yan and Wang Jin also nodded in agreement.
Xiao Mingyi's expression darkened completely as he taunted, "If I heard correctly, Miss Wang just now blurted out that Miss Song was from a remote and impoverished area and had no manners. Her words were full of sarcasm and showed no respect at all."
Facing the sharp gaze of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Wang Jin's shoulders trembled slightly. He subconsciously hid behind Lord Wang, not daring to speak.
The atmosphere was silent for a moment.
"Last time at Old Madam Pei's birthday banquet, I personally heard Miss Zhao and Miss Lin mock Miss Song for being orphaned and alleging that she seduced the Second Prince of the Pei family. The young master was impatient and taught you two a lesson, but not only did you not repent, you even instigated Changyang to come to me and complain, hoping that I would punish the young master and Miss Song."
Xiao Mingyi raised his eyebrows: "Am I wrong?"
“…”
How dare Zhao Lin's two daughters talk to the prince? Their faces immediately turned red with embarrassment.
"Your Highness, those were things that happened in the past. How can they be generalized with what happened today?" Lord Wang was still dissatisfied.
"Did I ever tell you that a trip to the Imperial Prison will reveal everything?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present panicked, and the three women turned pale with fear.
The Imperial Prison was a place no girl could enter. The three girls were already of marriageable age. If they were left with scars from the torture, how would they find marriage in the future? No respectable family in the capital would be willing to marry a woman who had been in the Imperial Prison.
"No, Your Highness!"
The elders of both the Zhao and Lin families immediately began to plead, saying, "Our daughters are young and ignorant, and we didn't mean to offend," and "Why send someone to the imperial prison for such a small matter?" They even dragged their two daughters and demanded that they apologize to Song Lingyi without any explanation.
"Why is Your Highness so protective of Miss Song? It's just a little disagreement between the girls. No matter what, you shouldn't resort to violence, right?" Lord Wang questioned.
Xiao Mingyi squinted at him and said angrily, "Last year, pirates besieged Danyang County. The treacherous officials at court schemed to delay the dispatch of reinforcements. It was Miss Song's father who led the troops to rescue them."
"To attack her with the words 'fatherless and motherless' is foolish and absurd! Given a choice, who wouldn't want to be reunited with their family and enjoy the company of their children? Lord Song is a man of great integrity and should be respected. Yet, you repeatedly ridicule his wife and daughter, even speaking harshly to them. Can you call this 'a little disagreement'?"
Everyone finally understood that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was clearly intending to support Song Lingyi tonight.
In fact, these three families more or less knew that Song Lingyi's father died for the country, but Song's father held a low official position, and Song's mother's regret of the engagement had caused a lot of uproar, so no one took an orphan seriously.
Lord Wang was an official in the court and was not someone who did not know how to adapt. Seeing that the situation was unfavorable to them, he immediately softened his attitude and dared not confront them anymore.
"In my opinion, Miss Song took action to protect her parents' dignity, which is indeed a filial act." Xiao Mingyi said.
"..." Filial piety?
The girl who was praised raised her eyes slightly, looked at Xiao Mingyi, then looked at Lord Wang who had calmed down, and found it inexplicably funny.
When reasoning doesn't work, how satisfying it is to use power to pressure others.
Xiao Mingyi cast his gaze towards the two Zhao Lin girls, his eyes revealing clear disdain. "You two were rude last time, and even after being taught a lesson, you still refuse to repent. I don't think I need to show you any mercy."
"Each of them will be slapped sixty times and confined to their homes for three months. As for Miss Wang..."
Before Xiao Mingyi could say how he was going to punish Wang Jin, she couldn't help but burst into tears, shouting in grievance, "How could His Royal Highness be so biased towards Song Lingyi? We were the ones who got beaten, and our bodies are covered in bruises. She only had a few scratches, so why are you punishing us only..."
Wang Jin was used to being spoiled at home, and without even thinking, he questioned the fairness of the Crown Prince's decision. Lord Wang, who was standing beside him, was horrified and scolded him, "What nonsense are you talking about? Shut up!"
The atmosphere in the garden became increasingly solemn.
The Zhao and Lin families accepted the punishment, the Pei couple and Lu Tanwei remained silent throughout the whole process, only Lord Wang, with trembling legs, caught up with his crying youngest daughter and apologized to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
"My daughter is young and naive, so please don't blame me, Your Highness."
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a chuckle, and several eyes were cast at Song Lingyi, some with confusion, some with reproach.
There was no expression on Xiao Mingyi's face, but the moment his sharp gaze fell on the girl, it softened a little.
"why are you laughing?"
Under everyone's gaze, Song Lingyi looked up at Lord Wang and said leisurely, "When Lord Wang reprimanded the younger generation just now, he also said that one cannot use youth as an excuse to escape responsibility. Why is he now saying that Wang Jin is young and ignorant? Your Highness, please don't blame me."
Xiao Mingyi laughed when he heard this. This girl is always irritating.
"You..." Lord Wang was so angry that he pointed at the girl and couldn't speak for a long time.
After all, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's attitude was clear, and he didn't dare to scold Song Lingyi easily as he did before.
"Uncle." Song Lingyi ignored him, gently tugged at the corner of Lu Tanwei's clothes, and began to complain, "The injuries on Wang Jin's body were not caused by me, but by Lin Yan's kick. I didn't touch her from beginning to end, and she just insisted on blaming me for the injuries and asking me to apologize."
"What? There's such a thing?!"
Lu Tanwei's thick eyebrows raised in anger, and he took a deep breath. "It seems that Lord Wang needs to teach his daughter a lesson. Besides making up stories behind people's backs, she also lies and slanders people. Is this the cultivation of the women in your family?"
The Wang family father and daughter wanted to argue, but were glared back by Xiao Mingyi, who said calmly:
"Miss Wang is dissatisfied with my arrangement. Clearly, you don't realize where you're wrong. But that's unimportant. I have plenty of ways to convince you."
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