"Arrest him and bring him to apologize to me!"
Prince Jing said angrily in a deep voice and strode out.
Without even a word of advice, Jiang Xue's legs went weak and she collapsed to the ground. Instantly, she felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen and screamed in horror, "Someone—someone come quick!"
"Imperial Physician—"
"Notify—immediately notify Brahma!"
...
When Prince Jing arrived at the clinic, Mr. Li was haggard, with red eyes, and looked angry and heartbroken, as if he had aged ten years in a single day.
"It's the students' fault for not disciplining them properly, and the students will definitely give you an explanation."
Prince Jing bowed and apologized.
Jiang Liu was immediately arrested. When Jiang Liu learned that the dead were Mr. Li's only son and daughter-in-law, he was so frightened that he hid outside and dared not go back. When he was arrested, he was in a sorry state and crawled and begged for mercy to Prince Jing.
"Brother-in-law, I was wrong! I know I was wrong!"
"I really don't know who that young lady is!"
"He started it! I just gave him a push, I never thought he'd fall like that! Brother-in-law—brother-in-law—I didn't mean to! Please save me!"
The way Prince Jing looked at Jiang Liu was as if he were looking at a dead man.
The murderous intent emanating from his eyes made Jiang Liu shudder. A patch of yellow urine appeared beneath him, and the onlookers immediately covered their mouths and retreated, filled with disgust and loathing.
"I heard that Jiang family scoundrel developed a habit of wetting his pants whenever he was startled after that incident at the Red Mansion. I didn't expect it to be true!"
"Serves him right! Bah—he abuses his status as a marquis to act arrogantly and domineeringly, smashing up countless shops and stores. Any decent-looking young lady has to avoid him!"
"Now that the Marquis's mansion is gone, he's throwing his weight around because of Prince Jing! Now that someone has died, I want to see if Prince Jing will protect him!"
"Those who died were Mr. Li's only son and daughter-in-law! You and I both received instruction from Mr. Li's teachings. A teacher for a day is a father for life. We must seek justice for Mr. Li!"
"Yes! We must seek justice for Mr. Li!"
"If Prince Jing dares to protect this child, we will certainly send ten thousand petitions to His Majesty!"
The common people and students were filled with righteous indignation and raging anger. Prince Jing clenched his fists and bowed to Mr. Li and the crowd once again.
"Rest assured, everyone, those who deserve punishment will be severely punished. I will show no leniency!"
That's all.
They actually had Jiang Liu held down, ignoring the fact that he was covered in excrement and urine, and gave him fifty lashes on the ground.
From Jiang Liu's screams and wails, it was clear that the blows were delivered solidly and without mercy. The anger of Mr. Li and the others was vented and calmed down by these screams.
After fifty strokes of the cane, Jiang Liu's back was broken, his flesh was mangled and bloody, and he fainted, barely clinging to life.
This isn't over yet.
Prince Jing bowed to Elder Li again, "Please calm down, sir. The students will send him to the Prefect of the Capital for any punishment!"
The crowd gasped.
The last bit of anger dissipated, and the look in his eyes as he looked at Prince Jing changed from fury to respect.
Especially those scholars, who thought that Prince Jing would protect them, but to their surprise, not only did he not protect them, but he also punished them in public and sent them to the authorities to handle the matter officially.
This shows that King Jing was benevolent and virtuous, truly a wise king.
Mr. Li's anger subsided somewhat, though his grief remained, he regained his usual demeanor, "Let's do it this way. I still have to take my unfilial son and daughter-in-law home. Farewell."
"A teacher for a day is a teacher for life; the teacher's affairs are the student's affairs, but..."
Prince Jing hesitated for a moment, then bowed again and said, "Now is the crucial time for the selection of officials after the third-ranked scholars have been chosen. We need you to be here to give us your guidance, but you may not have time to leave the capital. How about I petition the Emperor to allow Brother Li and his wife to be buried in the Imperial Mausoleum and enshrined in the Huangjue Temple?"
These words were spoken.
A gasp of surprise erupted from the crowd.
Those who can be buried in the imperial mausoleum and enshrined in Huangjue Temple must be kings, marquises, generals and ministers with great merit. This is the highest honor. Mr. Li has a half-teacher relationship with His Majesty and a teacher-student relationship with several princes. His students are all over the world. He can be called a teacher of all students in the world.
However, it would be a great honor for Mr. Li's son and daughter-in-law to be buried in the imperial mausoleum.
Old Master Li paused, then looked at Prince Jing with a stern face, "Is this true?"
"Rest assured, sir, I will do my utmost to facilitate this matter!"
A glint of light flashed in Prince Jing's eyes.
Sure enough, Mr. Li's weakness was his only son. Unfortunately... Prince Jing's gloomy gaze swept over Jiang Liu's bloodied and mangled back.
If it weren't for that bastard Jiang Liu!
Young Master Li's life will be in Jiang Lingtian's hands. In this way, he can naturally bring Old Master Li to the Jingwang Mansion and completely sow discord between Old Master Li and Jiang Lingtian, the Jin family, and even... Seventh Brother!
Unfortunately, it was too late.
The only way to win back Jiang Liu's favor with Mr. Li is to risk his life.
As for inviting Elder Li to be Prince Jing's teacher, we can only proceed slowly. In any case, King Fan said that Elder Li is destined to be his man.
There will be an opportunity.
Having received Prince Jing's promise, Mr. Li finally calmed down. Just then, Jiang Lingtian arrived with a group of students, burned incense and kowtowed, and took the bodies of Young Master Li and Xiangling back to the Jin residence.
In a swift action, they kept Prince Jing's men outside.
Jiang Liu was, after all, the head of the guards of Prince Jing's mansion, and Prince Jing was too embarrassed to suggest that his own men escort the bodies of Young Master Li and his wife.
They watched helplessly as Mr. Li, supported by Jiang Lingtian, boarded the carriage and left.
...
The South Hall of the Imperial Palace.
Jiang Jiaojiao and Chen Jin'er nestled on the bed, the gauze curtains fluttering in the breeze, while the palace maids and nannies were all sent away.
The two chatted away for half the night.
From poetry...cough cough...from past lives to the present life to King Jing and King Fan, interspersed with a few loud praises of food and snacks.
"You're really leaking information like a sieve. People probably know how many bites we ate and how many times we frowned. Aren't you going to do anything about it?"
Jiang Jiaojiao rinsed her mouth with tea and said sleepily.
Chen Jin'er yawned at night, "Why should I care? I'm a bewitching concubine who brings ruin to the country now. They won't feel at ease unless every move and word I make is under their watchful eyes."
"I eat and drink as I please, and I don't let things bother me."
"Let them keep staring if they want, it's best if they get really angry."
Chen Jin'er looked indifferent.
Jiang Jiaojiao puffed out her cheeks, looking like a chubby little squirrel. "That's right. They're really furious when they find out about the Emperor's punishment. They're all thinking of using this incident to smear you, hoping to alienate you from His Majesty and make you fall out of favor."
"Disloyalty? You need to have the heart to be loyal. The emperor's heart was never with me to begin with, so what kind of loyalty is this?"
Chen Jin'er suddenly laughed.
Jiang Jiaojiao was taken aback. "Aren't you... sad?"
Chen Jin'er tapped Jiang Jiaojiao's head with her finger, "You have to have expectations to be disappointed and heartbroken. Men's hearts are fickle, and so is the heart of an emperor. What I want is not the heart of an emperor, so the two of us... um... are like partners, each getting what we need."
"Ah! But..."
Jiang Jiaojiao sat up. "I think the emperor is still... still quite attentive to you."
"Life is like a play, and it all depends on acting skills."
That's all.
Chen Jin'er lay down with a smile, staring at the sky above the curtain, her thoughts wandering for a moment. "Tell me, is that Brahma King out of his mind? What kind of Buddhist disciple is he? I think he's a demon."
Jiang Jiaojiao nodded and lay down beside her. "That's right, that's right. If we hadn't reacted quickly, our eldest brother and second brother... would have ended up like they did in their past lives."
"Hmm...we still need to be more careful."
"If you don't sleep now, I won't be able to get up tomorrow. Once I leave the palace, I'll be confined to Prince Chen's residence and probably won't be able to enter the palace for some time. You'd better be careful in the South Palace."
"Um……"
In the South Palace, the two slept soundly through the night.
The Prince Jing's mansion was brightly lit all night long.
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