Chapter 99: I did a lot of things wrong in the past
Wang Jin moved her eyes slightly, looking at the dense mass of Jinyiwei, and suddenly felt frightened. She shrank back and said, "No... Your servant... Your servant accepts the punishment. I beg Your Highness not to imprison me in the imperial prison."
Xiao Mingyi's expression remained unchanged as he spoke slowly, "Since you accept the punishment, Miss Wang will receive thirty lashes and three months of house arrest for defaming Miss Song, to reflect on your mistakes."
When Wang Jin heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was going to punish her with flogging, she was so frightened that her legs went limp and she fell to the ground.
After these thirty strokes of the board, she would probably lose half her life.
Lord Wang felt sorry for his daughter, and was even more afraid that the Crown Prince would be displeased after he pleaded for mercy, so he could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger.
After a while, the Jinyiwei took the three women away for punishment, and only people from the Lu and Pei families were left in the garden pavilion.
Pei Tingyou bowed respectfully and said, "Fortunately, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is here to uphold justice. Otherwise, tonight's incident would not have been so easily resolved."
Xiao Mingyi curled his lips in a faint smile, his gaze flickering over the silver-red figure. He said calmly, "Master Pei, there's no need to be polite. This matter is also my fault. Last time, out of consideration for Changyang's reputation, I didn't punish the Zhao and Lin families, which led to what happened later."
"No, no, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is wise and powerful. How could he bother with two women? It's them who are unrepentant and keep bullying Lingyi..."
Listening to Pei Tingyou's repeated defense, Xiang sneered in her heart. She wanted to take advantage of the situation, but she didn't expect that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would come out and interfere.
It's really strange.
To put it bluntly, a fight between girls is just a matter within the harem, and is not worthy of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's intervention.
Lord Song Zhao led his troops to aid Danyang County and sacrificed his life for the country, which is worthy of admiration. However, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has fought in so many battles and sacrificed so many soldiers, but he actually remembered a mere captain and stood up for the captain's daughter. It is really unbelievable.
Not only Xiang thought so, Lu Tanwei next to her was also wondering.
Just because Song Zhao supported Danyang County, he stood up for his niece. The relationship was too distant.
"Lingyi, have you known His Royal Highness the Crown Prince before?"
Song Lingyi was stunned for a moment, then lowered her eyes and whispered, "I've met him a few times."
"Really? Why do I feel like..."
The uncle and nephew were whispering to each other when they suddenly realized that the eyes of the people around them were focused on them, and they all raised their heads.
"Lingyi, why are you still standing there? Come over here and thank His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Pei Tingyou greeted the girl with a smile on his face.
The uncle and nephew looked at each other in tacit understanding.
Song Lingyi narrowed her eyes, as if to say, "Uncle, you go and thank me."
Lu Tanwei rolled his eyes and ventriloquized, "Your Highness is helping you, so be open and honest. Go quickly."
“…”
Song Lingyi pursed her lips, met that deep gaze, stepped forward, knelt, and saluted, thanking him dryly: "Thank you for tonight, Your Highness."
Xiao Mingyi looked at the girl silently. Only because there were other people around would she bow and thank him so obediently. Before that, she kept calling him a "bastard".
"No need to be so polite."
He leaned forward slightly and reached out to help the girl up.
Song Lingyi's heart skipped a beat, mistakenly thinking that he was going to do something to her in front of the two elders. She immediately straightened her knees, took a half step back, and avoided his hand.
Xiang narrowed her eyes slightly and moved her gaze between the two of them. She keenly noticed that the girl's expression was a little strange.
"Your Highness, now that the matter has been resolved, let's hurry back to the front yard. I'm afraid the guests will become suspicious if I'm away for too long."
After Xiang finished speaking, Pei Tingyou also echoed.
"Right now, the guests in the front yard should have no time to care about these things." Xiao Mingyi had a faint smile on his lips, and his tone was meaningful.
The others looked at each other, all confused. Only Xiang had a complicated look in her eyes, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.
"I wonder what Your Highness the Crown Prince means?" Pei Tingyou asked with a bow.
Xiao Mingyi said nothing and glanced at the girl who kept her head down and tried hard to draw a clear line between them.
"This matter is complicated and is related to Pei Erlang. I can't say more. You should go to the backyard and take a look."
Upon hearing this, Pei Tingyou and Lu Tanwei's faces were filled with anxiety, and they hurried to the backyard. Xiang, always maintaining her composure, lagged behind them a few steps, glancing behind her from the corner of her eye.
Then he saw the prince stretched out his hand to stop the girl, as if he was concerned about the injury on the back of her hand.
Although there was nothing wrong with it, Xiang felt strange.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been regent for more than half a year, and the position of Consort in the Eastern Palace has been vacant. I heard that the ministers in the court requested to hold a selection of concubines several times, but were all rejected by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
The rumor in the capital was that the Crown Prince was too busy with government affairs to care for romantic matters. But today, it seemed that the Crown Prince was always protecting Song Lingyi and even took the initiative to care for her injuries. He didn't seem like someone who was ignorant of the affairs of men and women.
While she was thinking, Xiang had already stepped onto the corridor and didn't look any further.
On the gravel path, Song Lingyi noticed that all the elders had left. Facing Xiao Mingyi alone, she no longer felt the same sense of helplessness.
"It's just a minor injury. It will heal in a few days. What happened to Brother Jianzhi?"
"Did you do something to him?" Her voice was still soft and gentle, but it was sharp.
Xiao Mingyi frowned in displeasure.
"Whatever you ask me to do, I've already said that this marriage won't happen even if I don't stop it."
After saying that, he glanced at her thoughtfully and said, "I just helped you, and this is how you think of me?"
Song Lingyi's eyelashes flickered slightly, and she felt guilty, but she still insisted: "...You never assumed me like this before."
The garden was guarded by the Embroidered Uniform Guards, so there was no need to worry about others seeing and causing trouble, so Xiao Mingyi spoke without so many reservations.
After a long silence, he finally spoke:
"I did a lot of things wrong in the past."
Hearing this, Song Lingyi was suddenly startled. She looked up as if she saw a ghost, but met a pair of black eyes filled with deep affection. She was choked by saliva and started coughing violently.
“…” Xiao Mingyi frowned slightly.
He raised his hand and patted her back to help her breathe more smoothly, his movements were natural and intimate.
The Jinyiwei present were watching closely, and even if they saw it, they would not dare to make random guesses.
After catching her breath, Song Lingyi lowered her eyes and said softly, "Your Highness the Crown Prince is of noble status, how could he be wrong? I can't bear it."
Xiao Mingyi was speechless for a moment. He lowered his eyes to see her cheeks flushed, tears welling in the corners of her eyes, and her dark pupils misty. Just because he said he was wrong, she was so scared. He didn't know whether to be angry or happy.
“How can it not be wrong?”
A deep voice descended from overhead, speaking slowly and unhurriedly, "Back at Hexian Tower, I said I wanted to change your personality. But then I realized it's fine with you being quirky like this. If you'd been so cautious from the start, we probably wouldn't have gotten together. And on that Mid-Autumn Festival, I shouldn't have said those words to push you."
Song Lingyi raised her eyes and looked at him strangely: "Do you admit that forcing me to break off the engagement was wrong?"
"It's not this." Xiao Mingyi's expression moved slightly.
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