Chapter 261 Punishing Liu Zixuan
Seeing Wen Li'er and Qiu Ying whispering to each other, Liu Zixuan thought they were cowardly and raised her chin even more arrogantly.
"What? Are you scared now? You're a bunch of disgraceful people!"
As she spoke, she suddenly raised her voice and pointed her nail-painted finger directly at the gold filigree butterfly hairpin that Liang Qingning had just inquired about the price of. She said, "Boss, I want this hairpin. Please pack it for me."
The shopkeeper responded with a smile, asked his clerk to bring a wooden box, and personally wrapped the hairpin for her.
Liu Zixuan was unyielding: "Boss, my sister and I still have to see the rest. Drive these filthy village girls out! Don't pollute our eyes!"
Everyone looked sideways again. The shop was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Liang Qingning's face turned red because of Liu Zixuan's words. She twisted her ten fingers together tightly and looked at Wen Li'er as if asking for help.
Wen Li'er could feel her body trembling slightly, a tremor mixed with anger and humiliation.
She reached out and patted the back of Liang Qingning's hand, then walked slowly forward and chuckled.
"Ma'am, you buy your things, and we look after ours. We shouldn't interfere with each other. It's not appropriate for you to insult us so rudely and unreasonably, is it?"
Liu Zixuan seemed to have heard some huge joke.
She laughed heartily. "Unreasonable? This lady is acting bravely for justice! Who knows if you poor fellows sneaked into Linglong Pavilion hoping to take advantage of the situation and steal a thing or two?"
After she finished speaking, she looked at the shopkeeper and raised her voice: "What? Why don't you send them away? Do you want me to do it myself?"
Cold sweat broke out on the shopkeeper's forehead, and his eyes shifted between the two sides.
He couldn't afford to offend Mrs. Luo.
She couldn't afford to offend Mrs. Xie Si, who was playing with a set of red coral headdress beside her as if nothing had happened.
Judging from his many years of experience in entertaining distinguished guests, the person who just chuckled must be a person of noble status.
The other person seemed to be dressed simply, but she had an extraordinary demeanor and it was unknown which family she was from.
"This...this..." The shopkeeper hesitated, and suddenly an idea came to him.
He gestured to Wen Li'er to invite her in. "Madam, there's a new batch of top-quality headwear upstairs. Why don't you go upstairs and see if there's anything you like?"
"No need." Wen Li'er interrupted him with a smile on her lips.
"I'm a little tired today and don't feel like going upstairs to look. Boss, how many sets of the latest high-quality headwear are there?"
The shopkeeper respectfully replied, "Ten sets."
Wen Li'er nodded: "Pack them all for me, I want them all."
Not only was Liu Zixuan stunned, even Liu Ziling, who had been standing aside and had nothing to do with it, was stunned.
She finally looked at Wen Li'er carefully.
Liu Zixuan burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, this is hilarious! I've seen people who can pretend, but I've never seen anyone as good at it as this! Do you know how much ten sets of top-grade hairpins are worth in silver? At least five thousand taels!"
She turned to look at the shopkeeper and said sarcastically, "Shopkeeper, don't be so foolish as to believe this. If you really pack it up for her and then can't pay the money, it will be your Linglong Pavilion that will be embarrassed!"
Wen Li'er took out a white handkerchief from her sleeve slowly and gently wiped her fingertips without even lifting her eyelids.
"Green bamboo."
Qingzhu, who had been standing quietly behind her, stepped forward, took out a stack of banknotes from his arms, counted out five and slapped them on the counter.
"This is five thousand taels of silver from the Tongbao Bank. Could you please check it?"
The sound of the banknotes hitting the sandalwood counter was crisp and pleasant, but it was like a slap in Liu Ziling's face.
Her smile froze, and her lips trembled slightly: "No... Impossible..."
When the shopkeeper saw the stack of banknotes, his scalp tingled.
What kind of wealthy family can they be to casually spend five thousand taels to buy jewelry?
Fortunately, he did not offend anyone together with Mrs. Luo.
The shopkeeper hurried forward to check the banknotes, then took out two hundred taels from behind the counter and returned them to Wen Li'er with both hands.
"Madam, these ten new headpieces have arrived, and they cost a total of four thousand eight hundred taels. I will go upstairs and bring them down for you. Please wait a moment."
Wen Li'er signaled Qingzhu to return the extra banknotes.
Then he looked at Liu Zixuan, who was stunned, and his voice suddenly turned cold.
"Please wrap up the golden filigree butterfly hairpin in this lady's hand as well."
Liu Zixuan's face turned pale in an instant, and she threw the box in her hand directly to the ground.
With a "clang", the hairpin fell right at Wen Li'er's feet.
Because of such a big reversal, the air in Linglong Pavilion froze.
Everyone looked at the butterfly hairpin that Liu Zixuan threw to the ground, and then looked at Wen Li'er, wanting to know who she was.
At this moment, a burst of orderly footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.
Ten guards in plain clothes filed in, and the leading imperial guard, Lieutenant General Zuo Qing, knelt on one knee to apologize.
"Your Highness, I am late! Please punish me."
Imperial Concubine?!
The whole room was in uproar!
Liu Zixuan's expression changed again and again, her face full of disbelief.
The strangest one has to be Mrs. Xie Si, Liu Ziling.
Liu Ziling tightly grasped the handkerchief in her hand and was so frightened that she took several steps back. Her legs went weak and she fell to her knees and sat on the ground.
Not long after she married into the Rongguo Mansion, Xie Zhenbao was deposed from his position as Crown Prince.
Therefore, she had not attended any palace banquets in the past three years, but she had been to Fengyi Palace with her mother-in-law many times.
She only knew the Imperial Noble Consort, but had no idea what she looked like.
Wen Liren raised his eyebrows slightly when he saw Liu Ziling falling to the ground in fright.
Am I really that scary? No...
A hint of doubt flashed through her mind. How could this Fourth Madam Xie be the Empress's sister-in-law? Why was she so afraid of her?
Looks like... guilty?
What is she guilty of?
Wen Li'er couldn't figure it out, so she stopped thinking about it.
She walked slowly forward and looked down at Liu Zixuan who was kneeling on the ground.
"Mrs. Luo is so capable! You insulted me in the street. Do you know your crime?!"
Liu Zixuan trembled all over, her forehead resting on the ground: "Your Majesty, please forgive me! I was blind and didn't recognize the great man..."
"Forgive me?" Wen Li'er sneered.
"When you forced my grandmother, who was over sixty years old, to kneel and kowtow in the snow, did you ever consider the word 'forgiveness'?"
She turned to look at Zuo Qing and asked, "As the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, what crime should Luo Fuyang be punished for allowing his daughter-in-law to oppress the people? What crime should Duke Wen be punished for failing to educate his daughter?"
Zuo Qing clasped his fists and replied, "Your Majesty, according to Dayan law, if an official's family bullies the people, the consequences will be a fine or demotion at the very least, or dismissal and investigation at the worst!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Zixuan crawled forward on her knees and tried to grab Wen Lier's skirt, but was kicked away by Qiuying.
"presumptuous!"
Liu Zixuan burst into tears and begged for mercy: "My Queen! Please forgive me!"
Liu Ziling seemed to have come to her senses.
She frowned slightly, but finally pleaded for her sister.
"My dear Imperial Concubine, my sister is ignorant. I beg you to be magnanimous and forgive her this time for the sake of the Rong and Wen Dukes' Mansions."
Wen Li'er didn't reply. She just glanced at Liu Zixuan and said calmly, "One hundred slaps on the face, make him kneel in front of Linglong Pavilion for two hours, and then send him to Jingzhao Yinfu."
After giving the order, she walked away, ignoring the wailing cries of ghosts and wolves behind her.
Liang Qingning, Liang Qingyou, Ji and He hurriedly followed.
…
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