"I want to... sob sob... I want to see my mother..."
"Waaaaah..."
Qin Jue came to his senses and began to coax Xiao Xi'er.
"Don't cry, sweetie."
"Don't cry, don't cry."
"Father... Mother... Waaah... I want Mother..."
Qin Jue didn't know how to respond to Xiao Xi'er's words, so he fell silent, gently patting her back.
Xiao Xi'er cried for a while longer, and while she cried, Qin Jue silently patted her back.
After an unknown amount of time, Qin Jue stopped hearing Xiao Xi'er crying. He put Xiao Xi'er down and saw that she had cried herself to sleep.
Her face still bore traces of tears, and her little mouth was pouting, making her look utterly wronged.
Qin Jue wiped away the tears from Xiao Xi'er's eyes, then put her on the bed and covered her with a blanket.
After looking at the bleeding prick in his palm where his fingernail had pierced his skin, he put his hand behind his back.
"Sanhezi"
"Your Majesty, what are your orders?"
Hearing Qin Jue call his Sanhezi, he quickly walked up to Qin Jue.
"Go and fetch Feng Feng, let him examine the princess."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
With that, Sanhezi left the inner hall and headed towards Feng Feng's room.
Meanwhile, those who had been kneeling at the entrance of the Imperial Study gradually returned to their own residences.
In front of the carriage of the Earl of Nantong
"The Earl of Nantong, etc."
The driver stopped the carriage when he saw it was arithmetic and turned to speak to Ma Bin inside.
"Sir, it's the Calculator Eunuch!"
"knew"
The arithmetic master walked over to the carriage, looked at it, and said, "Lord Ma, please wait a moment."
Hearing the sound of arithmetic, Ma Bin lifted the curtain and looked at the arithmetic.
"What business does the arithmetic master have with me?"
"His Majesty instructed me to tell the Earl of Nantong that if he cannot control Miss Ma's mouth, His Majesty will not hesitate to take over."
As Suanshu spoke, he fixed his gaze on Ma Yuling. Ma Yuling felt Suanshu's gaze and shivered slightly.
Ma Bin's eyes turned cold as he looked at the calculus expert who had come specifically to warn him. But remembering that Qin Jue had sent him, his expression returned to normal.
"Please trouble the eunuch to convey to His Majesty that I will discipline this rebellious daughter properly."
"Very well. His Majesty has one more message for me to convey to Miss Ma."
Hearing the conversation about herself, Ma Yuling hid behind Ma Bin. Ma Bin gave her a look, so Ma Yuling had no choice but to step out from behind him. She looked at the arithmetic and stammered.
"I don't know... I don't know what His Majesty asked... to have the arithmetic eunuch convey to me... to tell me what matter?"
"Miss Ma, you shouldn't offend people in the palace so easily. You'd better watch your words."
"in addition……"
"His Majesty has prepared a surprise for Miss Ma. She will find out when she returns home."
After speaking, Suanshu turned his attention back to Ma Bin.
"Since there's nothing else, this servant will take his leave."
As he looked at Ma Bin, he smiled and said...
"Goodbye, Mr. Math Master"
Once Ma Bin had watched the arithmetic move away, he lowered the curtain in front of the carriage.
His eyes were filled with rage, and remembering the smug smile on his face when he did the math, his expression turned disdainful.
His teeth were grinding together, and he spoke through gritted teeth.
"He's just a dead eunuch, what's there to be so arrogant about?"
"Sooner or later, I'll make you wish you were dead."
Seeing Ma Bin's face darken, Ma Yuling felt uneasy and hesitated to speak.
But Ma Bin spoke first.
"Since you won't be able to go to the palace school anymore, you should stay at home. Your father will find you a tutor to teach you various etiquette, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting."
"Understood, Father."
After Ma Yuling finished speaking, she saw Ma Bin close his eyes. Thinking about what she had just said about arithmetic, she then spoke to Ma Bin again.
“Father, just now… Grandpa Math said…”
"Tell me... His Majesty has prepared a surprise for me... This..."
Upon hearing Ma Yuling's words, Ma Bin opened his eyes, saw the dust on his legs, and patted it off.
“I don’t know either, but…”
"You injured the princess, and then His Majesty sent you a gift. It's definitely not something good. You should be prepared for that."
"Father, your daughter understands."
"Um"
Ma Bin closed his eyes again and leaned against the carriage wall to rest.
Ma Yuling was far from sleepy; on the contrary, the thought of being beaten fifty times upon returning home filled her with dread.
Then I remembered seeing Qi Sinan holding the pearl hairpin on the cigarette butt a couple of days ago, and my eyes were filled with rage. And Qi Sinan had seen me kneeling as punishment yesterday and today.
His face almost contorted from thinking about it.
Ma Bin opened his eyes, glanced at Ma Yuling, then closed them again. He quickly calculated what Ma Yuling was thinking.
"Yuling, you are my most beloved daughter and my most cherished child. I love you even more than your younger brother."
"My daughter knows."
Hearing Ma Bin's words, Ma Yuling thought of the affection he had shown her in the past, and replied to Ma Bin...
"Do you still remember what your father told you: don't rush into anything you want; plan carefully and patiently."
"Daughter...daughter remembers."
"Just remember it. It doesn't matter if you don't get it right away; what matters is getting it in this lifetime."
Upon hearing Ma Bin's words, Ma Yuling gripped her knee with her hands, gradually tightening her grip before loosening it again after a while.
"Your daughter will plan this out slowly, Father."
"That's excellent."
After saying that, Ma Bin stopped talking to Ma Yuling.
After a while, the carriage arrived at the gate of the Earl of Nantong's mansion.
Ma Bin got off the carriage first, followed immediately by Ma Yuling.
Ma Bin brought Ma Yuling back to the mansion, whereupon the butler rushed over.
"Master, Third Miss, you're finally back!"
"Steward Ma, is there something wrong at the manor?"
Butler Ma recalled the scene from yesterday when a group of men claiming to be imperial guards stormed into the mansion and, without a word, forced the madam, the concubines, and the two young masters onto long benches and beat them with sticks.
He then spoke to Ma Bin with concern.
"My lord, you don't know, not long after you went to the palace yesterday, some people claiming to be imperial guards came and had all the masters in the mansion flogged fifty times."
Upon hearing the housekeeper's words, Ma Yuling looked up at Ma Bin in front of her.
"Father, is this the surprise His Majesty was talking about for me?"
"Maybe so. I guess they want you to know that since you hit the princess, everyone in the manor will be punished."
“Father, I didn’t mean to, I…”
"Father...I...I'm sorry..."
When Ma Bin heard Ma Yuling's remorseful apology, he turned to look at her, his eyes showing no reproach. Instead, he patted Ma Yuling's head.
"It's alright, your father doesn't blame you."
Upon hearing Ma Bin's words, tears welled up in Ma Yuling's eyes.
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