The Emperor looked at Duanhua, rare to reprimand, "Duanhua, you’re acting too recklessly."
Duanhua felt extremely wronged, "Uncle Emperor, why can’t I go to Jiangning County? Just because his fiancée will be in Jiangning County, can I not go and play?"
At this time, Princess Sheng An spoke up, "You can go, but not with Zhou Gu. If you want to go to Jiangning County, wait for some days. The Duke Residence will be going to Jiangning County to present betrothal gifts, I am also thinking about going for a visit. I can take you with me."
Duanhua widened her eyes.
"How about it?" asked Princess Sheng An, "Isn’t it just a tiny Jiangning County? As a county princess, where can’t you go in this world? You can invade the Duke Residence, you can enter the Imperial Palace, let alone a tiny Jiangning County."
Duanhua was momentarily speechless. She did want to go to Jiangning County, but definitely not with Princess Sheng An.
She dropped her head, muttering without giving a definitive answer.
Princess Sheng An sneered, "What? You disagree if you are with me? Is it okay if you are with Zhou Gu? Where are you going to have fun in Jiangning County? Isn’t there another plan?"
Duanhua wanted to cry again. She couldn’t withstand the momentum of Princess Sheng An, and turned to look at her mother.
Princess Qingping’s face was bluish-black, but what else could she do? Zhou Gu had apologized. Didn’t he consciously admit his mistake and apologise? Feeling resentful in her heart, she said: "Two bottles of jade cream, isn’t that too light?"
Princess Sheng An, on the other hand, laughed, "What kind of compensation do you want?"
Princess Qingping immediately said, "Beat that guard named Ziye thirty times with a board by the officials of the Imperial Court. Then, let this matter go."
She didn’t open her mouth to kill Ziye because she knew it was impossible.
Princess Sheng An shook her head, "No, he was ordered by Zhou Gu.", she paused, then said: "Two bottles of jade cream, it indeed seems a bit light. How about this, as the master, I make Zhou Gu take out another five thousand tael of his private money and give it to Duanhua as a gift."
Princess Qingping still wanted to argue, but the Emperor coughed to stop her, "In my opinion, it can be done, so let it be!"
With the Emperor’s decree, Princess Qingping could only hold her tongue. Duanhua also dared not cry anymore. The matter was thus put to rest.
Princess Sheng An stood up and said to the Emperor, "Brother Gu had been launching a hard campaign and he hadn’t rested after arriving home when he was summoned into the Palace by your Majesty. Now that the matter has been resolved, I will take him home."
The Emperor nodded, "May you have a safe journey, Aunt."
After he spoke, he paused, then stood up as well, "I will go back to the Imperial Study Room, and take the opportunity to send you off, Aunt."
Princess Sheng An smiled kindly, waving at the Emperor, "Emperor, haven’t you finished your dinner yet? You don’t need to escort me. You should take care of your health, stay up late and take care of your Dragon Body."
After she finished speaking, she didn’t wait for the Emperor to speak again. She took a step forward, Zhou Gu performed a farewell ritual to the Emperor, and then, supporting Princess Sheng An, they left Xianfei Palace.
The Emperor could only order, "Li Quan, see off your Aunt."
Li Quan agreed and hurriedly followed out.
The Emperor sat back down, his gaze shifting to Princess Qingping and Duanhua. He sighed and said to Duanhua, "You have to learn from this. Zhou Gu doesn’t like you, so stop pestering her. There are many good men in the capital city, it’s not like there’s only Zhou Gu."
Duanhua’s eyes welled up, but she remained silent.
Seeing her like this, the Emperor knew that she hadn’t let go of Zhou Gu yet. With a headache, he said, "Why not like somebody else? Why Zhou Gu? If it were anyone else, even if it’s my own prince, I could arrange for him to marry you."
Feeling wronged, Duanhua cried out, "Uncle Emperor..."
The Emperor didn’t look at her any longer, but instead turned to Queen Qingping and said, "Qingping, take her back! As you can see, even though Duanhua was reasonable this time, she wasn’t in the past. Your Aunt didn’t care about it before because she couldn’t be bothered, but now that she is seriously dealing with you, it’s paying old debts and new debts together, I have no reason to favor Duanhua."
After finishing speaking, the Emperor reminded her again, "Indeed, it was those things Duanhua did in the past that have annoyed Zhou Gu. Your Aunt was not wrong, what do you want me to say?"
Princess Qingping understood in her heart. Although unwilling, she didn’t have no gain today. At least Zhou Gu was lightly punished. Two bottles of Jade Cream, worth two thousand gold coins, plus five thousand silver taels could compensate Duanhua’s suffering this time. As for other things, they would find a way to get them back later.
Princess Qingping stood up, "What the Emperor said is something."
She stretched out her hand to pull Duanhua, took a few steps, but still feeling somewhat unwilling, she stopped, "Emperor, don’t you think that your Aunt is becoming more and more unscrupulous before you because she takes advantage of the fact that Duke Residence has military power?"
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