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◎My second brother got into a fight with his study partner!◎
Any major event discussed at the court meeting was no longer a big secret in the inner court of the imperial palace and the residences of high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital. It was just that some people heard about it early and some heard about it late.
On the morning of the second day after visiting the South Camp, during the break between two classes, the second prince Qin Bing wanted to go to the toilet. He was eleven years old and did not need a eunuch to serve him, nor did he need a study companion. After asking around and making sure that no one else was going with him, Qin Bing ran away by himself.
There were two eunuchs in charge of cleaning the Chongwen Pavilion's bathroom. When Qin Bing was unbuckling his belt and preparing to step in, he suddenly heard someone in the inner room mention "Yuan Chongli", his study partner.
What happened to Yuan Chongli?
Qin Bing walked lightly and quietly approached the gauze curtain door hanging in the inner room.
"Looking at the Second Prince still treating Yuan Chongli like a brother, he probably doesn't even know about the Marquis of Pingliang's embezzlement of land."
"Yes, but there's no evidence yet whether Pingliang Hou is corrupt or not. Perhaps it's just..."
"Come on, with so many local commanders, why did the Censorate only accuse Pingliang Hou? As the saying goes, a fly won't bite an egg without cracks. Pingliang Hou must have been corrupt. It's only because he's a founding hero that the Emperor gave him the chance to pay his land and make amends... Ah, Second Prince!"
The young eunuch who was cleaning the door leaned over the curtain and half of his body came out. He suddenly saw the second prince hiding nearby and almost lost his soul in fright.
Qin Bing's face looked very ugly. If Pingliang Hou was really corrupt, why was he still so nice to Yuan Chongli? Wouldn't he be the one being taken advantage of?
"Who told you that?" Qin Bing asked with gritted teeth, staring at the two young eunuchs kneeling on the ground.
"This, I also heard it from other eunuchs in the eunuch room. I think it must be news from the previous dynasty."
Qin Bing was so uncomfortable that he went to the toilet first. While doing so, he was thinking about this matter. The eunuchs even knew how his father dealt with Pingliang Hou. This must be true. Great, three brothers were study companions, Uncle Wang and Duke Weiguo both served his father honestly, but their Yuan family dared to embezzle, and even he was laughed at by the palace people!
After tying his belt, Qin Bing, furious, ran out without even washing his hands.
In the courtyard of the lecture hall, several people from Qingyang were playing tossing pots, each person in a group taking turns throwing.
When Qin Bing ran over, Yuan Chongli happened to hit the target with an arrow, and the others cheered for him in unison.
Yuan Chongli, who was only twelve years old and still a young boy, walked aside proudly.
Seeing that he still had the nerve to laugh, Qin Bing became even more angry. He pointed at Yuan Chongli and asked him in the corridor: "Your father embezzled land. Did you know about this?"
Yuan Chongli was stunned and subconsciously looked at the people around him.
Crown Prince Qin Hong lowered his eyes and avoided his gaze. Crown Prince Qin Liang tilted his head to the side. Third Prince Qin Ren looked bewildered. Zhang Su had the same expressionless face as usual. The little princess...
Yuan Chongli ignored the three-year-old child. Seeing Qin Bing approaching and glaring at him angrily, Yuan Chongli, who knew the difference between loyalty and treachery, good and evil, and shame, blushed and instinctively defended his father: "My father is not corrupt. Your Highness, don't listen to other people's nonsense."
Qin Bing: "Bullshit, this matter has already spread inside and outside the palace, and you still have the nerve to pretend to be a good person in front of me!"
As he spoke, Qin Bing reached out and pushed Yuan Chongli.
Qin Hong quickly stopped him and said, "Don't do it. The matter has not been thoroughly investigated yet. Second brother, don't do anything rash."
Qin Bing glared at him: "Okay, big brother knows it too, right? You all kept it a secret from me, and now I treat the son of a corrupt official as my brother!"
Yuan Chongli angrily said: "My father is not a corrupt official!"
Emperor Xingwu had only been emperor for three or four years, and Yuan Chongli had only been his companion for three or four years. Before entering the palace, he was the second young master in the family, loved by his father and doted on by his mother. After entering the palace, the second prince treated him kindly, eating, drinking, playing, reading, and practicing martial arts together, just like his own brothers, except that he had to be a little more respectful. Suddenly, the second prince came to scold him, and said that his father, the marquis, whom he had always been proud of, was a corrupt official. How could Yuan Chongli bear it?
Qin Bing: "How dare you glare at me!"
Qin Bing bypassed the unprepared Qin Hong and pushed Yuan Chongli again. Yuan Chongli raised his hand to resist. This resistance provoked Qin Bing to change from pushing to hitting. Yuan Chongli continued to fight back, and the two of them instantly twisted into a ball.
Qin Ren quickly took his sister away and hid far away, while Zhang Su stood in front of the brother and sister.
They were young and powerless to stop the fight. Qin Hong was the eldest brother, so he immediately called Qin Liang to help.
Qin Hong was holding onto his own brother, but when Qin Bing went all out, even Emperor Xingwu had to exert some strength. Qin Hong, who had never fought before, was unable to hold on, and Qin Bing quickly broke free. While Qin Liang couldn't completely restrain Yuan Chongli, who was also struggling, he still had a hold on one of his arms, allowing Qin Bing to strike with both hands, while Yuan Chongli could only fight back while taking the beating.
"Stop, stop it!"
Several gentlemen in Chongwen Pavilion came over upon hearing the news and shouted sternly.
Qin Bing then stopped, and Yuan Chongli bent over and knelt on the ground, with blood coming from the corners of his mouth. He felt pain, anger, and shame, and couldn't control his tears.
Qingyang was protected in her brother's arms, with her head held down to prevent her from looking. Only then did she have the chance to turn around, and what she saw was Yuan Chongli kneeling there crying alone.
When Qingyang first learned that Pingliang Hou had embezzled land, she was very angry and even didn't want to play with Yuan Chongli anymore. But her father asked her to pretend that she didn't know, and Qingyang listened to her father.
Now seeing Yuan Chongli being beaten like this by his second brother, Qingyang felt a little bit reluctant. Besides, Pingliang Hou was far away, and Yuan Chongli lived in the palace almost all year round. How could he know what Pingliang Hou had done?
Qingyang pushed his brother away, walked cautiously to Yuan Chongli, and squatted down to look at him.
Yuan Chongli turned his head away, not wanting others to see his miserable appearance with a bruised face.
Qingyang: "Don't cry, I'll call the imperial physician to treat you."
Yuan Chongli raised his sleeve to wipe his face, stiffening his neck and saying, "No need."
Qin Ren was afraid that he would vent his anger on his sister, so he pulled her away again.
Several gentlemen asked about the cause of the incident, and asked the Crown Prince, the Third Prince, and the little princess to return to their respective classrooms for classes. They then took the Second Prince and Yuan Chongli to a separate place for criticism, and sent someone to report the matter to the Emperor.
Qingyang had a longer break between classes than his brothers. He refused to go back to the classroom early and stubbornly followed Mr. Du, who was teaching his second brother, to see how Mr. Du would deal with the matter.
Mr. Du couldn't do anything about the little princess, but fortunately the little princess sat obediently on the chair and didn't interrupt.
Regarding the corruption case involving the Marquis of Pingliang, who had not yet been convicted, Mr. Du did not dare to say much. He gave Qin Bing and Yuan Chongli a serious speech on the etiquette of classmates, and advised them to discuss disagreements calmly and analyze them rationally instead of fighting.
After all this was said, the little princess who did not participate in the fight remembered it very seriously, while Qin Bing and Yuan Chongli, who tilted their heads and did not look at each other, did not take it to heart at all.
Not long after, a eunuch was sent from Qianyuan Hall to summon Qin Bing and Yuan Chongli to Qianyuan Hall to meet the emperor.
Qingyang continued to follow.
Mr. Guo, who had been waiting in the lecture hall, saw this and walked to the door to ask, "Your Highness, are you not taking arithmetic lessons?"
Qingyang knew the difference between the important and the unimportant, and said without hesitation: "Let's skip it for today."
She had been studying in advance, so she could continue to take the classes she missed today next time, but her second brother wouldn't be fighting every day.
Qianyuan Hall.
Emperor Xingwu wasn't surprised his daughter had followed him. Leaving the throne, he approached Yuan Chongli to examine his injuries. Though the emperor hadn't spoken yet, his eyes were filled with concern, and his hands were gentle on the young man. Yuan Chongli's deepest grievances were brought out, dissolving into tears the size of beans.
The imperial physician also arrived. Emperor Xingwu asked the imperial physician to examine and apply medicine to Yuan Chongli first. He watched with his daughter in his arms and did not pay much attention to Qin Bing who was kneeling on the ground, even though Qin Bing had some bruises on his face.
After Yuan Chongli had finished cleaning up, Emperor Xingwu asked the imperial physician to leave.
Qingyang was concerned about his second brother and said, "Father, have the imperial physician apply some medicine to my second brother as well."
The imperial physician stopped.
Emperor Xingwu snorted, "Don't worry about him."
The imperial physician secretly glanced at the second prince, lowered his head and left.
Yuan Chongli, having calmed down, knelt down beside Qin Bing, keeping an arm's length away, and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I shouldn't have fought back against the Second Prince. I have injured him. Please punish me."
He had lived with the second prince for three or four years, and sometimes they would forget about hierarchy and play and joke with each other, but in front of the emperor, Yuan Chongli did not dare to overstep his bounds.
Emperor Xingwu: "Why didn't you fight back? I treat your father as a brother, so I also treat you as my own nephew. I allowed you to enter the palace to accompany the Second Prince to study for the sake of both of you. I hope that you will encourage each other and learn skills together to share my worries in the future. I didn't ask you to enter the palace to be his slave. It is against the law for a slave to disobey his master. As a study companion, you have the responsibility to advise the prince. If he makes a mistake, you must correct him. If he attacks without reason, you can avoid resistance. Don't indulge his bad habits."
Yuan Chongli felt relieved that the emperor was so fair, and cast his eyes on the second prince.
Qin Bing agreed with his father's explanation of his companion, but his father said he had acted without reason. He refused to accept this and raised his head, saying, "His father is corrupt, I..."
Emperor Xingwu's eyes turned cold. "Someone has accused the Marquis of Pingliang of corruption. I haven't investigated thoroughly yet. Who dares to convict the Marquis of Pingliang?"
Qin Bing: "...If he really wasn't corrupt, why did the Censorate single him out among so many others?"
Emperor Xingwu said: "A tall tree attracts the wind, and three people make a tiger. I value the Marquis of Pingliang, so naturally some people are jealous of him. Is it uncommon for them to frame someone out of jealousy? If I were to convict someone simply because they denounced my meritorious officials, then if someone accuses me of theft in the future, would I also believe them based on a few empty words?"
Qin Bing: “…”
He was speechless, but Emperor Xingwu's temper flared up. He glared at his son and said, "You fool, you believe everything you hear. It's fine if you suspect others, but Pingliang Hou is my right-hand man, and Chongli is your good brother who has been with you for over three years. Brothers, we share weal and woe. Someone bullied your brother, and instead of standing up for him and asking him to clarify the misunderstanding, you actually attacked your own brother. Who would dare to be your brother if you are so partial and disloyal?"
Young men love to talk about brotherhood the most. After being scolded by his father, Qin Bing finally realized that he had done something stupid, and he became embarrassed when looking at Yuan Chongli.
When Yuan Chongli saw that he knew he was wrong and felt guilty about it, he suddenly wasn't so angry anymore.
Emperor Xingwu directly asked his second son to apologize to Yuan Chongli.
Qin Bing apologized awkwardly. Yuan Chongli touched the corner of his mouth and said with a hint of complaint, "Your Highness, this is the first time you've encountered something like this. I don't blame you. I just hope that next time, Your Highness will trust me. At the very least, you'll give me a chance to defend myself."
Qin Bing nodded with an embarrassed look on his face.
Emperor Xingwu said: "We can make peace, but hitting someone is wrong. I will punish you by confining yourself to your room for three days. In two days, I will take your elder brother and the others to the Yellow River, and you don't have to go."
Qin Bing suddenly let out a wail.
Emperor Xingwu waved his hand in disdain and said, "Let's go. Chongli, go home to recuperate and come back to the palace after your rest." He also gave Yuan Chongli medicine and an apology.
After the two young men left, Emperor Xingwu sighed.
Qingyang looked up: "Father, do you really believe that Pingliang Hou is not corrupt?"
Emperor Xingwu kissed his daughter's head and whispered, "Father doesn't believe it, but Father must make those around him believe it, make Yuan Chongli believe it, and then use Yuan Chongli's words to make the Yuan family believe it. Father has been so good to them, and they still have the nerve to disobey Father. The people will scold them for being ungrateful on Father's behalf. When I punish them in the future, the people will also praise Father for punishing them."
The little princess pondered for a moment, then asked, "So, when the emperor scolded my second brother, was he also pretending to show it to Yuan Chongli?"
Emperor Xingwu: "...I said it to Yuan Chongli, but it's not a lie. Your second brother is really stupid. Whether it's brothers and sisters or different surnames, the affection between us is built up by your kindness to me and I'm good to you. How can you beat and scold without knowing right or wrong? Father suspects Pingliang Hou because he knows Pingliang Hou likes to take advantage of others, and the Censorate has produced some evidence. Your second brother doesn't understand..."
Qingyang: "Second brother knows shit."
Emperor Xingwu: “…”
【Author’s words】
Hahaha, 100 little red envelopes, see you in the evening for the second update, around 6 o'clock ha [milk tea]
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