Chapter 16 You Can't Not Laugh
"Have you not yet paid your respects to His Highness Prince Qi and Palace Attendant Cui?" Master Yue's words rang out at the opportune moment.
Everyone in the main hall, including Song Zhimian, quickly bowed.
"Greetings, Your Highness Prince Qi!"
Greetings, Aunt Cui!
When did these people come out? How come no one knew?
Did everyone hear what I just said? Will everyone be punished? Isn't it said that if someone in the Inner Court does something wrong, they will be punished with a cane or a slap on the palm?
Does this mean everyone is going to get beaten up on the first day?
King Qi took another step forward, looked at Song Zhimin who had her head down, and smiled.
"Song Zhimian, I just asked you a question! What were you all talking about just now?!"
When Song Zhimian was asked this question by the King of Qi, she was first stunned, and then her mind started working quickly.
Something's definitely wrong!
Otherwise, the King of Qi wouldn't have suddenly come over and asked him such a question.
After briefly meeting the Prince of Qi twice before, Song Zhimian quickly figured out his identity.
Xiao Huaijin, the seventh son of Emperor Xiao Xuan, was born of the same mother as the Crown Prince.
Song Zhimin hadn't thought of any other information yet, but she knew that both the imperial family and the crown prince took good care of this Prince Qi.
Apart from official duties for the imperial court, he was always willing to grant any other requests.
Furthermore, Song Zhimian met with Prince Qi twice at the Censorate, which indicates that Prince Qi and Lord Ye of the Censorate had a very good relationship.
I was recommended by Lord Ye, so based on that reasoning, Prince Qi shouldn't make things difficult for me.
Now that he has suddenly come to ask her this question, Song Zhimian dares not take it as a joke.
Song Zhimian initially wanted to say that she didn't know what everyone was talking about.
But upon closer reflection, that definitely won't work.
The King of Qi specifically asked you, and you said you didn't know. Wouldn't that be a slap in the face to the King of Qi?
Should I just tell the truth?
That would offend all the other female officials and physicians in the main hall.
When everyone is punished together, these people won't dare to have any complaints about Prince Qi and his aunts; they'll definitely take their anger out on Song Zhimian.
Although Song Zhimin wasn't afraid, it wouldn't be easy to handle if there were too many people!
then……
"Your Highness, we were just joking around," Song Zhimian quickly replied.
Normally, the King of Qi would have backed down at this point—oh, just kidding, let it go then.
And then that chapter was over.
But King Qi didn't follow the normal procedure; he insisted on getting to the bottom of things.
"A joke? What kind of joke? Tell me, I'm bored today!"
It's a promise, right? Since it's a joke, it has to make me laugh, doesn't it?
"You can't not laugh!" King Qi's tone remained cheerful.
Song Zhimian...
say what?
Is it a tragic love story between an uncle and his sister-in-law? Or is it about an orphan's revenge and annihilation of his uncle's family?
Neither of them can be said openly and honestly!
The other female officials and physicians in the main hall were also uneasy.
Who would have thought that King Qi and the Palace Attendant were actually in the side hall? If they had known, they wouldn't have dared to say a word!
Now look what's going on. People are talking about outside matters in the inner palace. What does the inner palace think it is? A teahouse or a roadside stall in the marketplace?
They are all praying that Song Zhimian won't sell them out...
“Song Zhimian? I’m asking you a question! What jokes were you all talking about? Raise your head.” Xiao Huaijin pressed on with another question.
Song Zhimian let out a long sigh and slowly raised her head.
"It was my sister-in-law who opened the door; I'm my brother."
"And there's also the story of how to pour boiling water into someone else's ant nest," Song Zhimian said slowly.
Everyone in the hall was dumbfounded.
Sister-in-law, open the door. It's me, your brother...
Boiling water poured into an ant nest...
Xiao Huaijin also opened his mouth, stunned for a long while...
That's... such a vivid image! Especially when my sister-in-law opens the door, and I'm my brother.
The description of the event was so vivid and lifelike...
What was originally a despicable act was made laughable by Song Zhimin's two lighthearted words.
And boiling water was poured into ant nests...
How vivid is that? Even the ant nest was flooded with boiling water. How could the rest of the family survive?
Hmm, this Miss Song is indeed clever!
Xiao Huaijin looked at Song Zhimin's beautiful and delicate face, which was still lovely even without makeup, and suddenly smiled at her.
This laugh immediately startled Song Zhimin, causing her to lower her head.
A handsome man suddenly smiling at me like that can't be a good thing...
really……
"Song Zhimian, this joke is not funny at all."
Fine, I'm in a good mood today, so I won't punish you too severely! I'll just punish you...
Copy all the regulations and palace rules of the inner court! After you're done, give them to Aunt Cui.
Aunt Cui, could you please watch over her until she finishes copying?
After Xiao Huaijin finished speaking, he walked away.
Song Zhimian...
I still couldn't escape it, but thankfully, the punishment was just copying palace rules, not being beaten with a cane.
Thankfully, it wasn't copying Buddhist scriptures or anything like that; there probably weren't many palace rules or regulations...
But when Yue Siyi led Song Zhimin into the side hall, Song Zhimin was dumbfounded when she saw the two thick stacks in front of her.
You might as well just copy a Buddhist scripture!
"You copy first today, Aunt Cui will give a lecture to everyone outside."
Whether you listen or not... it doesn't matter anymore.
"If you can't finish copying it today, you can continue copying it in the evening after class tomorrow." Master Yue said with a smile.
Indeed, the first person to be punished by copying palace rules and inner court regulations has appeared.
Song Zhimian had no choice but to resign herself to her fate and begin grinding ink.
Fortunately, the original owner had very beautiful handwriting, and relying on muscle memory, Song Zhimian was also able to write a beautiful small regular script...
While Song Zhimian was copying inside, the candidates for female officials and female physicians outside all breathed a sigh of relief.
They all knew that Song Zhimian had taken the blame for everyone today...
Master Yue glanced at Song Zhimin, who was diligently copying, and seeing no resentment on her face, smiled and left the side hall.
Did His Highness Prince Qi come here early in the morning just to punish Song Zhimin by making her copy the palace rules?
There's a good chance someone will come to cause trouble today!
...
As noon approached, everyone, starving, waited for Aunt Cui to finish her lecture.
Suddenly, a sound came from outside the main hall.
"Aunt Yue, have these candidates for female officials finished their studies yet?"
A young woman's voice faintly reached everyone's ears.
Aunt Cui glanced at everyone and gently tapped the table in front of her.
Everyone immediately snapped back to reality.
Outside the main hall, Master of Ceremonies Yue was respectfully speaking to a woman dressed in red.
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