Chapter 234 Misplacement
"Sister Yuxuan, this is so beautiful! Can I have this lamp first? I want to take it home and hang it in my bedroom so I can look at it every night before I go to sleep..."
Qi Yuxuan smiled and agreed, then touched Qi Minying's fluffy hair, which had become frizzy with excitement.
So after solving the riddles and taking the lantern, Qi Jun, who was returning with his hands behind his back in a dignified and elegant manner, saw this scene.
The beauty's gaze was radiant, and the smile that curved her lips was fleeting, like a brief moment in time, causing the surrounding candlelight and lanterns to dim.
However, in front of her stood a young girl who was already holding a lotus lantern and laughing like a silly child, and a young and handsome stranger wearing a black fox fur cloak.
Who is this person?
Qi Juncai's good mood after winning the lantern was completely destroyed.
Who is this?
"Brother, you're back?" Qi Minying suddenly remembered that she had an older brother, and with a grin, she hid the lamp in her hand behind her back.
"Hey, brother, you won the lantern too! Brother, you're amazing!"
Qi Minying tried to appear surprised, but she had already looked at it closely, so pretending now would only make it more obvious.
Qi Yuxuan's gaze fell on Qi Jun. She saw him holding a lantern in one hand and with the other hand behind his back, his expression indifferent. She smiled at him as well.
It was only natural that the Crown Prince would win the lantern festival; it would be strange if he couldn't. Therefore, she didn't show much surprise.
Zhao Yinchen inexplicably sensed a strange hostility emanating from this nobleman.
However, after racking his brains, he couldn't find any memory of ever offending the other party.
Could it be some misunderstanding that even he himself is unaware of?
"This is Zhao Yinchen, the young master of the Zhao family business," Qi Yuxuan had no choice but to introduce him, then looked at Qi Jun: "This is... Young Master Qi."
Her words were simple, and Zhao Yinchen guessed Qi Jun's identity. Just as he was about to bow in greeting, he saw the other party coldly raise her hand:
"No need for such formalities."
Zhao Yinchen was so uneasy that he couldn't sit still. After standing there for a short while, he excused himself, saying he had to go inspect the shops.
Qi Minying, holding two glass lotus lanterns in each hand, looked around with great delight, seemingly poised to become the biggest winner of tonight's lantern festival.
Zheng Yanling wasn't very interested, but when she saw a hot drink stall next door, she volunteered to queue up and buy some for them.
Qi Wenyue and Bai Mingluan were each looking at their own lanterns not far away.
Qi Jun, noticing his younger sister who was too busy grinning to pay attention to him, turned to Qi Yuxuan beside him, who was smiling at him, and asked casually, as if having a chat:
"Young Master Zhao is so accomplished at such a young age, I wonder if he is married?"
Qi Yuxuan was taken aback. Would the Crown Prince pry into other people's affairs? She thought he wanted to know something, so she simply sent the Qilin Guard to investigate.
She thought about it for a moment and realized she really didn't know about it.
When she was with Zhao Mei, she rarely mentioned her family, afraid that it would remind Qi Yuxuan of the Xiao family. And when she cooperated with the Zhao family during the epidemic, she only focused on how to get the Zhao family to willingly contribute money and effort, without inquiring about these matters.
"I don't know either. If you're curious, why don't you wait until we get back and ask the Qilin Guard?"
Qi Jun nodded and gave a nonchalant "hmm":
"The court is in dire need of personnel. The rules between the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Merchants have remained unchanged for several dynasties. The regulations on procurement, materials, and accounting are lengthy and complicated. I plan to discuss the matter of revising them with my father in a few days."
Qi Yuxuan immediately understood.
Is the Crown Prince trying to cultivate his own talent and promote Zhao Yinchen at the same time? But the two of them only exchanged two or three words just now, how can he tell that Zhao Yinchen is a capable person? Not having figured it out, he simply stopped worrying about it.
She wasn't an expert at judging and employing people. She had suffered a major setback in the past because she hadn't seen through the true nature of the Xiao family and the Xie family's mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Now, she had been able to survive a year without any major incidents after her rebirth, all thanks to her past memories.
Suddenly, a loud gasp rang out from Qi Wenyue and Bai Mingluan's direction.
Qi Minying's hand trembled slightly in fright, and she immediately looked up, "What's wrong?"
But she was small and short, and even when she stood on tiptoe, she couldn't see what was happening over there.
Qi Jun glanced sideways into the distance.
Not far ahead of them, two drunkards with dislocated wrists were sitting on the ground, wailing and crying, pulling at the patrolling constables and saying that they had encountered evil people who had broken their hands.
The people stopped in their tracks and stood watching.
"Heavens above, who could be so cruel?! How could such a perfectly good pair of hands be broken like this?!"
"My family runs a clinic. Their hand was just dislocated; we can just straighten it by bending it. It's just scary-looking..."
"You're talking nonsense!"
Upon hearing this explanation from the crowd, one of the drunkards immediately retorted loudly.
"Your Honor! My hand is broken and useless! That wicked woman ordered her servant to break my hand, and I demand compensation!"
The constable was being dragged along, but he was still quite good-natured. He asked the constable what the person who had injured him looked like, and if he could give them his height and age, it would be easier for them to find him.
"It's a woman, not very old, wearing a pink padded jacket and vest, and she's very beautiful! If I saw her again, I'd definitely recognize her!"
"What did you do to provoke them to hit you?"
Seeing the lecherous expressions on their faces as they recalled the man's appearance, the constable guessed what kind of people they were, and his tone immediately turned cold and stern.
"According to the laws of the Great Qi Dynasty, anyone who harasses or follows a woman in the street shall be fined ten taels of silver and flogged thirty times. If you did something improper, the other party only twisted your hands, which is considered lenient."
"No, no, no! We just saw her alone and thought she was lost..."
Qi Yuxuan and her group approached and overheard this conversation.
Qi Minying was stunned. She looked at the cherry-pink jacket and skirt and the satin vest with auspicious patterns that Qi Yuxuan was wearing. Why did it seem like she was talking about her?
"It was her! She's the one who ordered her servants to beat us up! We demand compensation!"
One of them recognized Qi Yuxuan, who was exceptionally beautiful and eye-catching in the crowd, and without bothering to explain to the yamen runners, quickly shouted it out loud.
The people's eyes followed his finger and turned over. The air was silent for a moment, except for the increasingly exaggerated wailing of the two big men.
"Oh dear, my hands! My hands are completely ruined. I have elderly parents and young children to support. How am I supposed to make a living now? Your Honor, if she doesn't compensate us with five hundred taels of silver, how are our two families supposed to survive?"
Bai Mingluan looked at Qi Yuxuan, covered her mouth in surprise, and asked in a sweet voice:
"What's going on? Princess Chang Le, is what he said really true? Why did you send people to injure them?"
Her voice was loud enough for the people around her to hear clearly.
"Princess Chang Le?!"
The sound was like a thunderclap. As soon as the words fell, a group of people within a radius of several meters centered on Qi Yuxuan immediately knelt down.
"Greetings, Princess Chang Le!"
The sounds of greetings and salutations rose and fell, and the entire long street seemed to shrink considerably as most of the people knelt in worship.
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