Chapter 54 The Second Princess is that little lowly slave from before!
After receiving the imperial decree, the little boy watched as the palace servants cheerfully carried the items into the storeroom. Confused, he asked Xie Yunchuan, "Brother, what's going on?"
Xie Yunchuan had already learned from Zhuifeng that Xie Yuxiao had also sent a bodyguard to secretly protect Shengsheng.
"Father must know about what happened tonight," Xie Yunchuan said. "Giving you this reward is both an affirmation of your actions and a warning to those people."
Sheng Sheng was still half asleep and only understood the first half of the sentence: "Huh? Father knows? Brother, you told Father so quickly."
Xie Yunchuan chuckled and didn't correct him: "Yeah, go back to sleep. Someone will take care of these things."
"Okay, goodnight, brother!"
The little dumpling gave Xie Yunchuan a big kiss on the cheek, warming Xie Yunchuan's heart.
The little dumpling was taken back to sleep by Zijuan. Xie Yunchuan rubbed his thumb, recalling one of the three people standing behind Xie Yubin today, his expression full of deep meaning.
...
At this moment, outside the palace, the same drama was unfolding at the Jingguo Duke's Mansion, the Ye family, and the Li family.
Take the Duke of Jingguo's mansion as an example.
Duke Jingguo, Qin Zhizhong, was holding a wooden stick about the thickness of a little finger and was chasing after Qin Xiang, hitting him on the buttocks.
Qin Xiang covered his backside and ran away as fast as he could, crying and begging for mercy: "Dad, please don't hit Dad!"
"You still dare to run away! We've spoiled you too much. It's one thing to bully those lowly commoners, but you even dare to bully the princess!"
"Father, I didn't! Father, when did I bully the princess? Which princess?"
Qin Zhizhong felt a surge of anger. Unable to catch up with Qin Xiang, he threw the thick stick hard at Qin Xiang's buttocks.
Qin Xiang was caught off guard and hit on the buttocks, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground.
Lady Yi, the wife of the Duke of Jingguo, was heartbroken to see her son being beaten like this. She rushed to shield her son from the Duke of Jingguo who was hurrying over, saying, "Your Excellency, the child is still young. Please talk things out!"
In official circles, Qin Zhizhong, to put it nicely, is a man of principle. To put it bluntly, he's just mediocre.
Thanks to his ancestors in the Duke's mansion, Qin Zhizhong inherited the title of Duke of Jingguo, but he had no real talent.
He barely disciplined his children, and now His Majesty's edict has arrived at his home, severely criticizing him for failing to raise his children properly. He has completely lost face!
The Duke of Jingguo's mansion had already declined, and now it has been treated like this by His Majesty. How can the Duke of Jingguo's mansion stand in the court now?
"Get out of my way, let me teach him a lesson!" Qin Zhizhong was so angry that his beard was crooked. "It's one thing to mess around on ordinary days, but this Second Princess is Consort Rong's precious darling. It was so hard to find her. How dare you bully the princess? His Majesty's leniency in demoting you to a commoner is already a blessing from my Qin family's ancestors! You really have to wait until you're exiled to that desolate place to realize your mistake!"
Although Qin Xiang usually acts irrationally, it doesn't matter if he follows behind the Prince of Yong.
Even the most spoiled brat should know what's important!
That second princess's mother is Consort Rong, and behind her is General Rong Kuangzhi, who is in charge of protecting the country!
With His Majesty's decree, not only has the Duke of Jingguo's mansion lost all face, but Qin Xiang's life is over!
Qin Xiang, with a bitter face, got up: "Father, I really didn't bully the princess! If I had to bully someone, it would be—"
Qin Xiang's voice abruptly stopped.
How should he put it?
They're not bullying the princess, they're bullying the fourth prince?
They're all royal offspring, what's the difference?
Upon hearing his words, Lady Yi assumed there was some misunderstanding or difficulty involved, and anxiously said, "Who is it? Xiang'er, don't be afraid. As long as it's not someone from the royal family, your father and mother will plead with His Majesty for you!"
Qin Zhizhong was also staring at him.
Qin Xiang let out a wail and decided to just accept it: "It's the Second Princess!"
Qin Zhizhong raised the stick to continue hitting him, but Qin Xiang suddenly had a flash of inspiration and widened his eyes, saying, "I remember! I remember!"
He suddenly realized why the second princess looked so familiar!
"Father, Mother, that second princess, that second princess is that little lowly slave we used to raise!"
Qin Zhizhong was taken aback, and Yi Shi was also very surprised; both of them had astonishment written all over their faces.
"Xiang'er, you can't just say such nonsense!"
"That child was thrown out by Butler Wang and his men the very night your sister had her blood transfusion!" Qin Zhizhong said sternly. "It was pouring rain that night; that child definitely wouldn't have survived!"
"It's absolutely true, Father and Mother! I didn't recognize her at first because the Second Princess was dressed so elegantly and wasn't as thin as that little servant girl. I just thought she looked familiar. Although I've only seen that little servant girl a few times, her features are exactly the same!"
The Duke and his wife exchanged a glance, their surprise turning into panic.
Madam Yi was shocked: "Lord Duke, what, what should we do! How could that little lowly servant become the Second Princess's child? That was the child that Master Qian personally found! No wonder she punished Xiang'er like this, she must be retaliating against our Duke Jing's Mansion!"
Qin Xiang thought about it carefully and denied it, saying, "It shouldn't be. The Second Princess didn't recognize me when she saw me."
"Does she not remember?" Madam Yi guessed. "Then, why is that?"
"Why, why? No matter who the Second Princess is, your son has dared to bully her! Even if the Second Princess wasn't that child, His Majesty would still issue this decree. Blame this unfilial son for his insolence and stubbornness!"
Yi defended Qin Xiang: "Lord Duke, Xiang'er is your own son! Bin'er is now serving as the magistrate of Nanlin County and has a bright future. Whether our Duke's Mansion can regain its glory depends on Bin'er. We can't afford any mistakes at this time."
"You still know Bin'er! If you really did, you should have disciplined this unfilial son more strictly!" Qin Zhizhong threw down the thick stick. "Someone, call Steward Wang here!"
A servant went to fetch Steward Wang, and Qin Xiang muttered to himself, saying that his father had never really cared about him.
Qin Zhizhong's heart skipped a beat when he heard this: "Shut up!"
"Father, what should I do? I don't want to be demoted to a commoner!"
"What else can we do? This is His Majesty's will. Are you trying to defy the imperial decree? Not only have you offended the princess, but now the Second Princess might also be...!"
Qin Zhizhong flicked his sleeves, now he could only hope that the Second Princess had lost her memory, just as Yi had guessed.
It would be best if Qin Xiang was mistaken, otherwise, the entire Duke Jingguo's mansion might be doomed!
Tonight, the entire Duke Jingguo's mansion is in chaos.
Outside the Duke's mansion, Chu Yi secretly wrote down everything about the Duke's mansion, wrote it on a piece of paper, tied the paper to a pigeon's leg, and then released the pigeon.
Besides the Duke of Jingguo's mansion, the Ye and Li families, who were also guarding the capital, were also experiencing this chaotic scene.
Lord Ye, the garrison commander of the capital, held an important position and was deeply favored by the emperor. He immediately and personally beat Ye Zhongshu, the third son, half to death.
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