Madam Zhu didn't expect to be rejected so bluntly. Her half-closed eyes widened instantly, "Your Highness, why?
I am about to die. Your Highness, are you unwilling to fulfill my last wish?
My dowry is enough for them to have food and clothing, but I am afraid that they will be bullied, so I want to ask Your Highness to take care of them. How can Your Highness be so cruel to refuse me?"
At the end of her speech, Mrs. Zhu couldn't control her tears.
The girl kneeling beside him rushed forward and cried bitterly, "Mother! Mother, please don't say that! I hope you'll be fine. Father is gone, are you going to leave me too?"
The boy also started crying, tears streaming down his face, but at the same time he held his hands tighter.
Every time she looked at Li Junyan, the emotion in her eyes would come out uncontrollably.
Madam Zhu raised her hand tremblingly and touched the girl's hair lovingly, "Mother... I also want to stay with you all the time, but I can't. From now on, you stay with the prince, you have to-"
"Madam Zhu." Li Junyan interrupted her coldly, "Although you are going to die, you are a mother and a daughter. Even if you are going to die, you should understand the principle of being cautious in your words and actions.
You speak and act in such a rebellious way. After you finish speaking and leave, have you ever considered your relatives who are still alive?
I am the Emperor's biological son and was granted the title of Prince of Chen. Apart from the Emperor, the only ones who can disregard my wishes and directly impose people or things on me are the Empress Dowager.
I have just refused, but Madam Zhu turned a deaf ear to it and directly stuffed your two children into my hands. Could it be that you call yourself the Queen Mother or the Emperor?
Is it the Zhu family that has the intention of rebellion, or is it your mother's family that has the intention of rebellion?
If this matter gets back to Chang'an and reaches the emperor's ears, your two children will no longer need anyone to take care of them. They should be able to reunite with you in the underworld soon."
Mrs. Zhu's face was already very pale. After Li Junyan finished speaking, Mrs. Zhu's face instantly became almost transparent. After shaking violently, her body fell directly onto the bed.
Seeing this scene, Sang Jueqian's heart tightened.
She was not worried about Madam Zhu, but was worried that if Madam Zhu died like this, there would be rumors that she was angered to death by Li Junyan.
Just as she was worried, she saw Madam Zhu struggling to stand up again, "Your Highness! It was my fault! I was sick and confused, and I said some nonsense. I absolutely did not mean to force my two children on Your Highness. I...didn't dare."
Li Junyan's face remained expressionless. "If time is running out, please say goodbye to your family. I have things to do."
Before Li Junyan turned around, the girl suddenly turned around and knelt straight in front of Li Junyan, looking at him with a weak expression but firm eyes.
“The people of Xizhou all say that the prince loves the people like his own children, but in my opinion, that is not the case!
Your Majesty, you are taking your anger out on my mother and me because my father made a mistake. Is this fair?
My mother is already in this state. She just wants to pass away in peace. She entrusts her son to Your Highness before her death. Isn't Your Highness willing to agree to her request?
Even if...even if it's just to let her go with peace of mind? Why can't you agree? Or is Your Highness worried that this minister and my brother will become dependent on You?"
The girl's voice was clear, but at this moment it sounded like a cuckoo crying blood, and every word was filled with tears and grievances.
She tilted her head slightly and looked at Li Junyan, her eyes wide open, her eye circles red, tears rolling around in her eye sockets, and finally rolled down her cheeks, falling to the ground and breaking into pieces.
Li Junyan lowered his eyes and looked at the girl. The girl was not afraid of him at all. She still held her neck and back straight, as if she was not afraid of power and was determined to seek justice for herself and her mother.
Watching the two people confronting each other, Sang Jueqian's breathing slowed down a lot.
Compared with this scene, all the previous TV dramas are so weak!
Sang Jueqian was also really curious whether the high and mighty prince would be attracted to such a stubborn and willful girl.
Just as I was thinking about it, I saw Li Junyan move.
He raised his foot and took a step towards the girl.
The moment he saw Li Junyan moving forward, Sang Jueqian felt as if his heart was lifted up, and as if it was wrapped in a ball of cotton.
This feeling came suddenly and was very strange. Sang Jueqian himself didn't understand why.
Before Sang Jueqian could think about the reason carefully, Li Junyan had already stopped.
He stood one meter away from the girl, looking down at her, with a cold expression on his handsome face.
"Your father made a mistake, but are you innocent?"
The girl was stunned when she heard this, and her tears began to fall even faster. "What do you mean, Your Highness? Are you going to execute my entire family because of my father's mistakes?"
"Zhu Wanying, fifteen years old, came to Xizhou with her father Zhu Wuyou four years ago.
After arriving in Xizhou, you said that the number of maids you brought was insufficient, so you asked someone to buy maids for you in Xizhou City."
Having said this, Li Junyan stopped.
Zhu Wanying's eyelashes trembled slightly, and a hint of panic flashed in her eyes, but she quickly forced herself to calm down.
"How does the prince know this? Is there any problem with this?"
Hearing Zhu Wanying's words, Li Junyan's eyes turned completely cold, "It doesn't matter how I know this, what's important is that I know more than just this.
Soon, all the human traffickers in Xizhou City brought girls of marriageable age to the governor's mansion for you to choose, but you rejected them all on the grounds that they were not good-looking.
You said you wanted a good-looking woman with her own unique qualities, preferably one who could read and write, to be your maidservant, so that she would be worthy of your status as the daughter of the governor's mansion.
With such maids and servants as a foil, others can see your goodness more clearly."
"Your Highness...I don't understand what you mean." Zhu Wanying frowned slightly. "I just have slightly higher expectations for my maids and servants. Is there anything wrong with that?"
Li Junyan took a step forward and looked at Zhu Wanying with a sharper look. "If that's really the case, then of course there's no problem. But I'm asking you, is that really the case?
A woman who meets your requirements, even if she is not rich or noble, must come from a well-off family and would never be willing to be your slave. But how did you do it?
Relying on your father being the governor of Xizhou, you coerced and bribed these people. I was a little scared and had no choice but to send my daughter to you as a slave.
Some of them refused to give in, and in the end they were forced to break up their families, and the women you liked were all sent to brothels.
The fate of those maids around you was not much better. You forced them to marry old men as concubines. They lived a life worse than death every day, but they dared not die because you said that if they dared to die, you would let their families be buried with them..."
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