The night was dark, and the road from the East Palace to the Purple Palace was extremely quiet, with only the occasional sounds of cicadas and frogs.

The sedan chair stopped at the Zichen Palace. Even before people went in, they could hear the bustling noise inside.

Pei Yan slowly got off the sedan chair, his beautiful peach blossom eyes slightly narrowed, there was a show to watch.

He brushed his robe lightly, straightened his shoulders, and strode in.

Princess Jingyang's scolding was extremely penetrating. Pei Yan couldn't hear clearly what she scolded at the beginning. When he got closer, he heard a sentence -

"Cry, you still have the nerve to cry! You did such despicable things, and now you feel wronged?"

While Princess Jingyang was taking a breath, Li Gui took the opportunity to report, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived!"

The messy hall was silent for a moment, and everyone present looked towards the door.

Tao Ti's gaze was the most active, and it immediately locked onto the tall and straight figure.

Pei Yan was seen wearing a loose bamboo green brocade robe and a light-colored narrow belt. Compared with his dignified demeanor during the day, this attire was very leisurely and elegant, just like an elegant scholar walking out of the bamboo forest of Wei Jin.

Pei Yan walked in calmly, bowed to the Emperor, Empress and the Princess, then walked towards Tao Ti naturally.

His black eyes stared at her straight, as if asking: Are you okay?

Tao Ti curled her eyes and answered him: I'm fine.

They stood side by side, and he gently held her hand through the cover of his wide sleeves.

Tao Ti felt warm in her heart. She remained expressionless, but secretly stroked his palm with her little finger.

After a brief intimate moment, the two quickly returned their attention to the court.

Princess Jingyang pointed at Pei Lingbi who was beside Empress Zhou and started scolding her again. She didn't use a single dirty word the whole time, but her scolding was extremely harsh. Every word pierced people's hearts. Empress Zhou, her daughter, and Pei Changzhou were scolded so hard that they didn't dare to raise their heads the whole time.

After cursing to her heart's content, the princess breathed a sigh of relief, turned her head and looked straight at Emperor Zhaokang who was sitting on the throne, with a sad expression on her face:

"Brother, you know how difficult it was for me to be pregnant with Qinghe. I had just gotten pregnant when the Duke led his troops to the battlefield. I was alone with my big belly, and I had to take care of the child in my belly and worry about the Duke on the battlefield. Was it easy for me?

Later, the Rongdi invaded Pingyang City. I was almost eight months old at that time, and I was still wearing armor, wandering around the city walls every day, fighting those Rongdi soldiers. I didn't get a good night's sleep for seven days and seven nights, and Qinghe almost died! Even so, she was born with congenital deficiencies, like a kitten, so small that she didn't even have the strength to cry. It hurt me to see her..."

At this point, the princess choked up and took out a handkerchief to touch the corners of her eyes. "I swore at that time that I would do my best to be good to Qinghe, give her the best, and never let her suffer any grievances!"

She changed the subject, and her cold eyes were like two sharp swords, shooting straight at Queen Zhou and her daughter, "I never thought that the pearl I held so carefully in my hands would be treated like this by them after returning to Chang'an!"

Queen Zhou's body was half frozen, and the facial expression she was always so proud of was a little out of control.

Pei Lingbi was even more panicked. She huddled behind Queen Zhou, her scalp tingling.

She felt wronged, angry, and mad.

She was so ashamed and angry when she found out that she slept in the same bed with her third cousin and was caught by a group of people. But before she could figure out what was going on, she heard that Tao Ti, that bitch, had left Zhuyuan Villa with Qinghe.

She was naturally anxious, both anxious and afraid, fearing that Tao Ti and the others would find out the truth and run to her father and aunt to complain.

She didn't have time to think about how she ended up lying with her third cousin. She pulled her royal brother and hurried to the palace. She had to discuss a countermeasure with her mother before Tao Ti and the others.

At first, she knew that Qinghe was timid and was too embarrassed to tell others about such a thing that would damage her reputation.

But what she didn't expect was that Tao Ti had given Qinghe some kind of magic potion, and the two of them actually ran in front of the princess and exposed the matter.

At first, Pei Lingbi wanted to use the identity of a "victim" to get herself into trouble, but Princess Jingyang didn't buy it at all.

The usually dignified and graceful princess was now like an angry lioness, with fire in her eyes. Her cold gaze was like a sharp blade, as if she wanted to eat Pei Lingbi alive.

“Royal brother, no matter you are the monarch of the country or the elder of the family, you must give me an explanation for what happened today.” Princess Jingyang looked at Emperor Zhaokang steadily, her eyes firm and fearless.

Emperor Zhaokang felt a sharp pain in his head, "..."

After a moment's silence, his eyes swept towards Queen Zhou's position, deep and cold.

Queen Zhou clenched her fists under the wide sleeves of her robe. She didn't feel any pain even when her nails dug into her flesh. She knew that Emperor Zhaokang was biased. Even though Lingbi was his biological daughter, he still favored Jingyang.

Suddenly, she stood up and knelt respectfully before Emperor Zhaokang. She folded her hands on the cold floor, rested her forehead on her hands, and begged in a low voice, "Your Majesty, this time... Lingbi was bewitched. She wanted to bring Qinghe and Shaohui together. She did something bad with good intentions. She already knows she was wrong."

Upon seeing this, Pei Lingbi immediately knelt down with a plop, tears welling up in her eyes, "Father, I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong..."

Queen Zhou said, "Your Majesty, considering that Qing He is harmless, but Ling Bi has... ruined her reputation, please forgive her this time."

Emperor Zhaokang's mouth corners were tightly tightened.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Queen Zhou turned to look at Princess Jingyang. She was still kneeling, her posture was humble enough, her tone was sad enough, and she cried, "Jingyang, we are both mothers, and I know you love Qinghe. It is true that Lingbi was wrong, but we are a family after all, and Qinghe is also your niece... She has learned a lesson this time... You are a magnanimous person, for the sake of our family, please forgive her this time. I will apologize to you on her behalf, and I kowtow to you."

Princess Jingyang immediately took two steps back, as if she was afraid of being scammed, with her eyebrows raised, "No, no, no, don't try this on me!"

Queen Zhou had a worried look on her face, like a loving mother who was worried about her children.

Tao Ti was amazed watching from the side. Such an adaptable attitude, such tears that came at any time, and such rich and full emotions. If she was born in modern times, she would definitely be a movie queen.

She glanced casually to her side and saw Pei Yan with a cold and handsome face, a clear jawline and a cold and sarcastic arc at the corner of his lips.

It seems that Pei Yan also saw through Queen Zhou's acting skills.

Tao Ti was very pleased and leaned closer to him, continuing to be a quiet spectator.

Just when the two sides were deadlocked, Emperor Zhao Kang broke the deadlock.

"Shut up!"

The crying Queen Zhou said, "..."

The furious princess said, "..."

Emperor Zhaokang swept his cold eyes over the people present, and finally landed on Empress Zhou, "Since your Zhou family wants to marry into the royal family so much, let Lingbi marry Zhou Shaohui."

Queen Zhou shuddered. With the first half of His Majesty's sentence, did he mean that this was arranged by her?

Before she could explain, Pei Lingbi screamed out of control, "No, Father, no, I don't want to marry my third cousin! I don't want to marry him!"

There was no warmth in Emperor Zhaokang's narrow black eyes, and he said coldly, "You have slept in the same bed together. If you don't marry him, who else do you want to marry?"

Pei Lingbi shook her head, looking around helplessly and panicked, her gaze fell on Young Master Xie and paused twice.

Young Master Xie frowned immediately and turned his head away with undisguised disgust.

Pei Lingbi's face turned pale, as if her bones had been pulled out. Her shoulders slumped down and she cried, "Anyway, I don't want to marry him. Father, please don't marry me to him!"

The third cousin was ugly and had a romantic nature. Although he had not married yet, he had secretly played with many women. How could such a man be her consort?

Princess Jingyang sneered, "Your Majesty, look at this. You praised your nephew so highly in front of me before, but now your own daughter is sleeping in the same bed with him, and she still refuses to marry him. This shows how much of a fool your nephew is!"

Queen Zhou's face turned red and white. She suppressed her emotions and just knelt straight in front of Emperor Zhaokang.

Emperor Zhaokang was annoyed by Pei Lingbi's crying and scolded her impatiently, "If you don't want to marry into the Zhou family, then go to Rongdi to make peace with her!"

When these words came out, everyone was shocked.

Pei Lingbi also stopped crying, widened her eyes, and looked at Emperor Zhaokang in disbelief.

Emperor Zhaokang was intimidating without getting angry, and said in a tone that brooked no argument, "I will give you two options -

The first is, if you marry the third son of the Zhou family, I will send him to be an official abroad, and you will go with him. Without an imperial decree, you are not allowed to return to Chang'an for three years.

The second option is to marry into the Rongdi tribe. In consideration of your contribution to the diplomatic relations between the two countries, I will prepare a rich dowry for you and give you a grand wedding. There are two options, you can choose. "

Pei Lingbi bit her lip, her heart trembling. She didn't want to marry her third cousin, and even more so, she didn't want to marry the Yelu Khan King who was over fifty years old!

"Father, are you forcing your daughter to die?" Pei Lingbi asked with red eyes.

Emperor Zhaokang frowned and said in a deep voice, "If I hadn't thought about the father-daughter relationship, I would have dragged you out and beaten you to death if it were someone else. Now I've given you two choices, but not only are you not satisfied, you're even trying to threaten me with death?"

Queen Zhou immediately heard the murderous intent in Emperor Zhaokang's words. She knew that what Emperor Zhaokang hated most in his life was being threatened with death.

She stepped forward and covered Pei Lingbi's mouth, "Choose! I will choose for her and let her marry Sanlang!"

Pei Lingbi widened her eyes, with a look of deep resentment in them.

Emperor Zhaokang stared at Empress Zhou meaningfully for a long while, and then said to Pei Lingbi with an indifferent look, "Then from today on, you will be confined to Jinyun Palace, and no one is allowed to visit you. I will ask the Ministry of Rites to prepare your marriage as soon as possible, and you can get married this year..."

It is now the end of July. If we get married this year, there will only be five months left. This shows how hasty the wedding was.

"And the Zhou family..." Emperor Zhaokang continued with a sullen face and a cold voice, "This incident happened in the Zhou family's manor, and I will also hold them accountable. A few people must die to serve as a warning to others."

Queen Zhou was sweating profusely, her eyes were red, and she cried out sadly, "Your Majesty!"

Emperor Zhaokang narrowed his dark eyes, his gaze was cold and indifferent, as if he could see through her thoughts.

Queen Zhou felt weak in the heart, and her throat seemed to be pinched, and she couldn't utter a word.

This included house arrest, marrying off, and being banished to another place without being allowed to return to the palace for three years, and the Zhou family being held responsible. All of these were enough to show Emperor Zhaokang's attitude.

Princess Jingyang was not the kind of person who would take advantage of an inch. After all, Pei Lingbi was still a princess and the biological daughter of her elder brother. It was impossible for him to kill Pei Lingbi for this matter.

But she felt a lump in her chest and it was really uncomfortable to hold it in.

She tried to hold back, but finally couldn't hold it in any longer. She strode forward and walked straight to Pei Lingbi. She grabbed her hair with one hand and slapped her in the face with the other hand.

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

One on the left and one on the right, two red handprints, very symmetrical.

Pei Lingbi was stunned by the blow, stars appeared in her eyes and her ears were buzzing.

Princess Jingyang said coldly, "This first slap is for your treacherous heart, for daring to plot against my daughter; this second slap is for your shamelessness, for daring to covet my son at this time!"

Pei Lingbi had never suffered such a direct humiliation since she was a child. Her cheeks were burning and she wished she could kill herself with tears streaming down her face.

Princess Jingyang no longer looked at her affected appearance. She passed by Empress Zhou, paused, and snorted, "What a good daughter you have raised!"

These sarcastic words were like a knife stabbing into Queen Zhou's spine. She knew very well in her heart that Jing Yang's two slaps were not aimed at Ling Bi, but at her, Zhou Mingmiao's face!

After Princess Jingyang slapped Emperor Zhaokang, she tacitly agreed to Emperor Zhaokang's punishment of Pei Lingbi.

Emperor Zhaokang softened his attitude, comforted Princess Jingyang, and said to Qinghe, "Qinghe, I'm sorry you were wronged this time. Don't worry, your uncle will compensate you."

Qinghe's little face was still pale at this moment.

After she was carried out by Taoti and the others, she finally sobered up a little in the carriage. Knowing that she was almost insulted by the bad guys, she broke out in a cold sweat and was still shivering.

Seeing that she was still absent-minded, Emperor Zhaokang felt even more guilty and planned to confer another title on her.

The conclusion was reached. It was already late at night, and Queen Zhou ordered Princess Jingyang and her family to disperse.

Pei Yan and Tao Ti were left alone by Emperor Zhaokang.