Madam Su gritted her teeth. She had always lived in Dingzhou and never used her power or money to oppress others. She never expected that in the capital city, where even a plaque could crush a group of nobles, her status, even with the title of Fifth-Rank Lady, was a weakness.
Yueyue panicked, "Auntie, no! Aunt Su is our guest!"
Princess Qingping ignored her completely. "This is a matter between me and her. I'll say it one last time: kneel down and kowtow three times to me, and this matter will be over. Otherwise, I will charge you and your county princess daughter with the crime of disrespecting the royal family!"
Su gripped Xiao Youran's hand tightly. She didn't care about being humiliated herself, but she didn't want to be humiliated in front of Xiao Youran... or to implicate Xiao Youran...
Princess Qingping held her head high, looking at her with utter contempt.
Su gritted her teeth.
Another old woman came up and was about to kick Su's knee.
Xiao Youran quickly turned around and kicked the old woman again.
With a "crack," the old woman was thrown ten feet away, landing on the ground and crying out in pain.
Princess Qingping roared, "You have committed such acts of insubordination three times! You deserve to die! Guards, seize them!"
At this moment, a group of guards gathered from not far away.
Yueyue shouted, "Stop! She is a distinguished guest of our Princess's residence. Who dares to touch her?!"
Qingping snorted coldly, "Just because you're a guest doesn't mean you dare to disrespect this princess! You dare to be disrespectful to your superiors? Why aren't you making your move?!"
A guard stepped forward two more times.
Princess Qingping stared at Madam Su with disdain once more. "Since Yueyue has said that you are honored guests of the Princess's residence, I will be lenient with your crime of insubordination. How about each of you receive thirty strokes of the cane in court?"
Su's pupils suddenly contracted.
Princess Qingping looked up at the sky again. "Thirty strokes of the cane is too long. How about we do as we just said and have you kneel down and kowtow to me three... no, six times! I will be magnanimous and forgive your petty mistake!"
Yueyue was in a difficult position, "Aunt!"
Princess Qingping pushed Yueyue aside. "So? Thirty strokes of the cane each, or six kowtows?"
Su gritted her teeth and prepared to slightly bend her knees.
No matter what, she would protect Xiao Youran!
Xiao Youran pulled her mother tightly, then flipped her little hand over, revealing a gleaming gold medal in her palm. "Mother, didn't Godmother say last time that with this gold medal in hand, you wouldn't be afraid of anyone?"
Why do I suddenly find the term "godmother" to sound so nice?
So this is what it feels like to rely on power?
When Madam Su looked at it, she saw that it was the same gold token that the Princess had lent her last time, a token that granted her immunity from death.
She breathed a sigh of relief, took the pardon from Xiao Youran, and showed it to Princess Qingping. "May I ask, Princess, upon seeing the late Emperor's pardon, are you not going to kneel down?"
There was a hint of ruthlessness in his voice.
The guards beside him immediately knelt in a circle.
Princess Qingping's expression changed drastically. "You... how did you get this get-out-of-jail-free card?!"
Xiao Youran grinned, "Of course it was given to me by my godmother!"
She didn't dare say it was "borrowed".
Yueyue breathed a sigh of relief; she hadn't expected that they carried this get-out-of-jail-free card with them.
Princess Qingping was so angry she couldn't utter a word. She stomped her foot, turned around, and left. Seeing the maid lying on the ground, she kicked her in anger, yelling, "Useless thing! Get up and go back to the manor!"
The maid clutched her stomach in pain, but dared not disobey her. She struggled to her feet and followed Princess Qingping with a hunched back.
As for the old woman with the broken leg, no one paid her any attention.
Xiao Youran was still calling from behind, "Hey, you scumbag father's second wife, why are you leaving? The late emperor's imperial gold medal is right here. If you don't kneel down and pay your respects, you're simply showing no respect for your elders and disrespecting the royal family. Is this how your mother taught you?"
The soft, adorable little voice uttered these words, which softened Su Shi's heart, made Yue Yue want to laugh, and made Princess Qingping's anger rise three feet high.
...
Half an hour later, Madam Su returned to the flower hall with the two little ones. Almost all the guests had arrived, so the princess ordered the guests to take their seats and have dinner served.
At the banquet, the eldest princess first expressed her feelings about how hard it was to have Xuan-ge'er, and then announced the important matter of adopting Xiao You-ran as her goddaughter.
Amidst everyone's attention, Xiao Youran raised her cup—which contained only tea—walked to the Princess, knelt down, and kowtowed three times. The Princess then presented her with the prepared gifts, thus formally acknowledging their kinship.
"Godmother, may you live a peaceful and joyful life!" A clear voice echoed throughout the hall.
Xiao Youran called out "godmother" with such joy.
Yes, she will be good to anyone who is good to her mother!
She solemnly wrote this wish down in her little notebook, treating it the same way as her mother.
The notebook gave the same comment: "Master, your luck is insufficient to support her for a lifetime."
Xiao You Ran: ……
Fine, she could only sincerely add, "I wish you good luck!"
This time, the little notebook remained silent.
Hearing the soft and cute voice, the princess felt her heart melt.
Then, Xiao Youran toasted Madam Xue again, saying, "Grandmother, this cup is for you. May you be healthy and happy forever."
After saying that, she winked again, "And I wish you good luck too!"
She also wrote this sentence down in her notebook.
Madam Xue chuckled and drank her cup. "Good boy, good boy, you and Yueyue can come to Grandma's house to play another day."
At this moment, both the Princess and Madam Xue felt a sudden sense of relief, as if the gloom that had been weighing on their heads had vanished, and the future looked promising.
When Xiao Youran returned to her seat, a lady next to her said sarcastically, "She doesn't respect her own grandmother, but comes to show respect to her adoptive mother's mother-in-law. She's really clever. Even when she recognizes an elder, she chooses someone more powerful and influential."
Upon hearing this, Madam Su snorted coldly, "Is there a grandmother who would threaten to expel her own granddaughter from the family genealogy and say that her very existence is a sin? A grandmother who fawns over her granddaughter like this probably doesn't even know how she died."
Someone looked around and asked in a low voice, "Why didn't Lady Yong'an come today?"
"How dare she show her face? Haven't you heard that the Earl's Mansion sent a box of mooncakes to the Princess's Mansion and sent their own Minister of Revenue's son to the Dali Temple?"
The eldest princess said in a deep voice, "Matters of the court should not be discussed lightly."
She turned to Madam Su, "I sent an invitation to the Yong'an Marquis's residence earlier, mainly because the Marquis's residence is the ancestral home of the young county princess. It would have been impolite not to send an invitation. But I did not expect the Marquis's residence to send me such a generous gift. Naturally, I will not be polite and will pass it on to the Emperor. Since the Yong'an Marquis's residence cannot accommodate you and your daughter, from now on, I will only discuss marriage with you. Everything else will be disregarded."
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