Upon hearing this, the Emperor's smile vanished instantly, replaced by an even sterner expression: "Yes, unauthorized use of torture is indeed something I should severely punish you for..."
When Fourth Master heard this, he had already expected it, so he did not show any surprise.
He waited quietly for his father's punishment.
He waited for a few moments but didn't hear his father's voice. He waited a while longer before finally raising his eyes in confusion.
The father and son looked up and met each other's eyes.
His Majesty clapped his hands again, then turned to Liang Jiugong and said, "I thought the Fourth Prince wasn't worried about punishment... or was he afraid?"
The words "not afraid" were on the tip of the Fourth Prince's tongue. He paused, thinking of his father's tone when he spoke earlier: "How could I not be afraid? I have done something wrong, so naturally I am afraid of angering my father."
He shifted the conversation from the perspective of ruler and subject to that of father and son. His apology earlier was made from the perspective of a subject, acknowledging that he had not performed his duties perfectly.
What I just said was that I was afraid of being punished by my father, because I was afraid of angering him.
The Emperor understood. He was somewhat surprised that the fourth prince would say such a thing, but he quickly figured it out.
"Now that he's married, the fourth son is more mature than before..." and he's also more thorough in his actions.
Liang Jiugong just smiled and agreed.
The Emperor then announced the punishment: "You've just returned to the capital, and I'm entrusting those pirates to you. Your punishment is to pacify them; if you disobey, you will be punished."
The imperial court doesn't lack those kinds of people. Not punishing them is merely a way of demonstrating the court's leniency to the outside world.
The Fourth Prince was somewhat surprised by this decision. He looked up again, but this time he didn't dare to meet the Emperor's gaze.
His Majesty waved his hand: "Don't stand there. You've traveled such a long way. Sit down and have your meal."
Fourth Master accepted the order and sat down, and that was the end of the matter.
The subsequent rewards were not so important. The Fourth Prince understood his father's attitude and left the Qianqing Palace with a satisfied heart.
Following behind him, Su Peisheng was carrying a pile of medicinal herbs in his arms. Fu Lu, who was waiting outside, quickly ran forward to help his master.
Fourth Master turned around and cupped his hands in greeting to Liang Jiugong, who then saw him off.
He had just seen the Fourth Prince out when he saw Prince Zhi walking towards the Qianqing Palace. Liang Jiugong had a smile on his face.
"Prince Zhi".
Prince Zhi's gaze shifted from the Fourth Prince to the boxes piled up in the arms of Su Peisheng and Fulu behind him: "The Fourth Prince is back... What is this? I think I smell herbs?"
The two brothers greeted each other, and the Fourth Prince smiled and said, "Brother, you have a very keen nose. Father Emperor asked me to give this to Mother. I need to go see Mother, so I'll take my leave now."
Yes, those medicines were all instructed by the Emperor to be given to Consort De. It was said on the surface that they were for Consort De, but in reality, once they were in Consort De's hands, they could naturally also be given to the Fourth Prince.
Prince Zhi smiled, saying nothing more, but as he passed by the Fourth Prince, he raised his hand and patted the Fourth Prince's shoulder sharply: "Fourth Prince, remember to give my regards to Mother De for my elder brother..."
Su Peisheng, standing behind Fourth Master, subtly changed his expression. He gritted his teeth and kept his face expressionless.
The Fourth Prince remained unfazed, bowed once more to Prince Zhi before leaving, and strode away.
When the Fourth Prince was almost at Yonghe Palace, he raised his hand to rub the spot on his shoulder where Prince Zhi had patted him earlier, and he almost couldn't stop grimacing.
Wow, that's some serious strength! And those hands are really dark too.
At this moment, the Fourteenth Prince is in the Imperial Study. The Fourth Prince did not inform the Fourteenth Prince, otherwise, once the Fourteenth Prince reached out to him, there would be no end to the trouble.
The Fourth Prince didn't want Consort De to worry too much, so he answered his mother's questions in a evasive manner. Consort De also noticed that the Fourth Prince looked tired, so she didn't keep him any longer and just told him to go back and rest early.
When the Fourth Prince came out of Yonghe Palace, Su Peisheng and Fulu were carrying a lot of things behind him, and He Zhongyi was also following behind, carrying a lot of things.
The Fourth Prince returned to the mansion by carriage. After arriving, he instructed Su Peisheng to put his belongings back in the front yard.
At this time, neither too early nor too late, Fourth Master went straight into the backyard, where it was quiet.
The Fourth Prince then remembered that today was the first day of the month, and everyone should have already gone to the main courtyard to pay their respects to the Princess Consort.
The servants and maids sweeping the garden were both surprised and delighted to see the Fourth Master. The Fourth Master walked straight past them and quickly arrived at the East Courtyard.
The east courtyard was also quiet at this time.
The two children had already gone to the front yard to study. Apart from the wet nurses, Lüju and Dongsheng were also with them. They went to the main yard to pay their respects. Today, Li Chenjiao was accompanied by Qiuhu, Lümei, and Xiaoluzi.
In the east courtyard, Green Bamboo was picking vegetables with Pingniang and Qiaoniang in the small kitchen. This girl didn't mind the stuffy heat in the small kitchen at all.
Under the covered walkway, only Granny Lin was watering the potted plants.
Fourth Master didn't go to the main house. He felt a bit stuffy, glanced around, and finally sat down on the swing under the locust tree, much to Fu Lu's astonishment.
To prevent the swing from hurting people, both sides were wrapped with layers of fine silk thread in different colors and various kinds of silk thread, which looked exceptionally pleasing to the eye.
Fourth Master sat on the swing set and swayed gently. The wind was a bit stuffy, and he slowly closed his eyes.
Fulu thought for a moment, but still didn't move. He stayed by the Fourth Master's side, waiting for his master to arrive.
It was quite a while before Granny Lin noticed that there were guests visiting in the courtyard.
She saw it from afar, but waited a while longer before deciding not to disturb the Fourth Master. However, she went to the small kitchen and asked them to prepare tea.
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