The next day, in the court.

"I have a memorial to report. The Fourth Princess held a flower viewing banquet in Wei Garden a month ago, which was very expensive. The snowstorm and famine just ended a year ago, and the treasury was empty after the disaster relief. The Fourth Princess' extravagant behavior may cause dissatisfaction among the people."

Emperor Shao Yuan glanced at the report of the emperor, and then glanced at Prince Ning who looked relaxed. He understood that Prince Ning was expressing his dissatisfaction with the fourth princess.

There is no airtight wall in the palace, let alone hiding it from the emperor. Yesterday, as soon as Ning Xihua entered the Linhua Palace, someone came to report to him that the fourth princess was indeed too arrogant.

Fortunately, Princess Yuexi did not encounter any serious problems. In order to keep peace and tranquilize the people, Emperor Shao Yuan prepared to give her a symbolic punishment of imprisonment as a warning.

But His Highness Yu Shi continued, "Not only that, ten days ago, the Fourth Princess took dozens of her grandsons and sons to go outing in the suburbs of Beijing. In order to have fun, they ignored the farmers' pleas and let their horses trample over fifty acres of farmland."

Na Yushi said with great sorrow: "It is the spring planting season now. The seedlings damaged by the Fourth Princess are enough to make nearly a hundred farmers in the suburbs of Beijing have no harvest for the whole year."

Emperor Shao Yuan frowned after hearing this.

Damage to farmland is not as easy to cover up as alleged extravagance.

The Li Dynasty has always attached great importance to agriculture, and agricultural production is the foundation of the country. In a small sense, the fourth princess affected the income of nearly a hundred farmers. In a big sense, the fourth princess's behavior was shaking the foundation of the country.

As a princess of the royal family, if such behavior is not severely punished, it will create a bad impression among the people that the royal family does not care about the people's livelihood.

Before Emperor Shao Yuan could speak, another minister of His Highness stood up.

"I also have something to report. Sun Wei, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Personnel, sold official positions and titles and made a profit of ten thousand taels. This is the list of accounts I have obtained."

After that, he asked the eunuch to present the memorial and the account book. After reading it, Emperor Shao Yuan was so angry that he threw the memorial and the account book to the ground.

A small official in the Ministry of Personnel, a mere sixth-rank official, made a profit of tens of thousands of taels just by selling low-level official positions and evaluation and transfers! It was enough to cover the annual tax revenue of some small counties!

"Sun Wei, is he from the Sun family?"

The Minister of Justice Sun Xueyao fell to the ground in fear and said, "He is a collateral branch of my family, and is already five generations out of mourning."

It’s the Sun family again.

Although they were five generations apart, anyone with a discerning eye knew that these branches of the Sun family in the capital had obtained their official positions thanks to the talents of Concubine Sun and Minister Sun.

Emperor Shao Yuan looked up at the historian who had informed on Sun Wei, Zhang Mo. This was a talent he had personally promoted from the Hanlin Academy years ago, and he was not Prince Ning's man.

He rubbed his temples and issued an edict: "Sun Wei sold official positions and titles. He should be stripped of his official position and exiled to a remote state. Anyone who bought official positions or bribed others will also be investigated and punished."

He paused and looked at Prince Ning again. Prince Ning still looked calm and composed.

He sighed and then issued an order.

"The fourth princess was arrogant and ignorant, and damaged good farmland. She was not virtuous, so she was fined for three years. She was ordered to face the wall in Yuanlu Temple for six months to reflect on her mistakes. The property in her palace was confiscated to compensate the farmers. Sun Guifei was not good at teaching and neglected to supervise her children, so she was fined for one year."

All the ministers bowed and saluted, "Your Majesty is wise."

After the court session, Prince Ning returned home and went to ask for credit from his concubine.

"The Fourth Princess would not have been punished so severely. Who would have thought that Sun Wei would be caught up in the scandal of selling an official position? His Majesty was upset, and Concubine Sun was also implicated."

Prince Ning sighed and said, "It's also because the Sun family has been too rampant recently. I don't know how many people have been offended by it."

Prince Ning raised his chin with pride, as if he was waiting for praise.

Ning Xihua laughed and raised her thumbs in support, "Father is really amazing and always keeps his word. Concubine Sun and the Fourth Princess have been really having a hard time sleeping and eating during this period."

Isn't it true? Thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the Emperor. A family that completely relies on the Emperor's favor will have to tremble in fear once the Emperor becomes angry, fearing that it will be abandoned.

The salary fine was the worst punishment, the worst one was facing the wall in Yuanlu Temple.

Yuanlu Temple is not Lingshan Temple. It is a place where the royal family specially punishes the palace family members who have committed crimes. The environment is harsh and the servants are strict. The fourth princess was sent there for half a year, and she must have shed a lot of skin before she can get out.

In addition, the emperor commented that she was arrogant and immoral, which was a big blow to an unmarried princess. It seemed that the emperor was really disappointed with the Sun family this time.

His punishment of the Fourth Princess and Concubine Sun was no less than a slap in the face; it dealt a heavy blow to the Sun family, which had always been successful, and made the family terrified.

Ning Xihua didn't care whether Concubine Sun and the Fourth Princess would change sides or not. She was actually taking pleasure in the misfortune.

Salted Fish also has a temper. She is not the Virgin Mary. She cannot swallow her anger when being bullied. Her life purpose is to take revenge.

"By the way, when you feel better in the next few days, don't forget to go to the East Palace to express your gratitude. Although the Crown Prince has no power, he is still the heir apparent of a country. And since he helped you, you still have to follow the proper etiquette."

Ning Xihua was in tears when facing Prince Ning's admonition. She really didn't want to see Su Bi recently. She was afraid that she would be so embarrassed that she would die if she saw him again.

After reluctantly delaying for a few days, the five-day deadline agreed with Su Bi was approaching. Adhering to the concept of keeping one's promise, Ning Xihua still honestly and formally submitted a visiting card to Linhua Palace.

After arriving at Linhua Palace, Ning Xihua finally had a good look around the palace. When she was brought here that day, she went straight into the main palace and didn't even see what the outside of the main palace looked like.

Linhua Palace is quite special because it is the only eastern palace located outside the imperial city since the founding of Dali.

The Li Dynasty followed the old system of the previous dynasty, and the crown prince lived in the palace on the east side of the imperial palace, collectively known as the East Palace.

The Crown Prince of this dynasty is weak and has been bedridden for many years. Qin Tianjian advised that the true dragon energy in the palace is too strong, and the Crown Prince is too weak to bear it, and it may also affect the health of the emperor.

The emperor loved his son dearly, so he had no choice but to renovate and expand the former prince's residence closest to the imperial palace into Linhua Palace, and gave it to the prince to live in. From then on, the East Palace was moved out of the imperial city.

Because Su Bi was the first prince of this dynasty who did not live in the imperial palace, this matter was widely discussed by the subjects, who all said that the prince had lost favor and was not in the emperor's heart.

Ning Xihua looked at the carved railings and jade bricks of Linhua Palace and wondered which prince who had lost favor could live in such a luxurious and magnificent place? Isn't this much more grand and comfortable than some of the old palaces in the imperial palace?

Look at this large artificial lake, the lush forests and bamboos, the rockery and rocks, the plank bridges and corridors. She had thought that Prince Ning's Mansion was already luxurious enough, but now she realized that she had a narrow vision.

Ning Xihua was amazed all the way as she walked along. The eunuch who led the way introduced the various buildings and scenery to her enthusiastically and appropriately.

"The main hall is in front. There is a wisteria trellis in the southeast corner of the main hall courtyard. The princess will definitely like it."

Ning Xihua was puzzled. What use was it for her to like it or not? It wasn't her residence.

She wondered why the people in the East Palace were so warm and hospitable.

The eunuch's attentive attitude made her feel as if he was a real estate agent and she was here to inspect a house. He spoke as if he was afraid that the house would not be sold.

When they arrived at the main hall, the young eunuch did not take her to the front hall where guests were usually received, but led her to the inner room of the main hall, where Su Bi was already waiting for her.