Queen Pei followed Princess Changhe's gaze and looked at Gu Yanran, feeling somewhat dissatisfied.
Then she heard Princess Changhe asking her for an explanation: "Empress, I didn't lie about any of this. I was just talking about what Yanran said. If the person who pushed me was Shen Qingqiu, would I still speak up for someone who had a malicious heart and wanted to harm me? I hope the Empress will give me justice!"
"Today I am here to select tutors for the princes and princesses. Seeing you youngsters playing around, I am here to make the decision for you."
Queen Pei's tone sounded friendly, but there was little sincerity in her eyes.
Now it's nothing more than a farce. Asking her to administer justice at this moment just means wanting her to put some pressure on Gu Yanran and others and impose some punishment on them.
Gu Yanran immediately smiled and said, "I really didn't mean it. I know I was wrong now. Qingqiu, for the sake of the Gu family, please don't trouble the Queen. I will apologize to you when I get back, okay?"
Shen Qingqiu turned her face away. She didn't expect Gu Yanran to have good intentions. She knew that what Gu Yanran said now were just polite words, and she would turn her head and turn her face away. So she said with a bit of sarcasm: "No need, I can't bear your apology! I think if you want to apologize, you should apologize to Princess Changhe."
"You are right, you must apologize to this princess!"
Princess Changhe had a serious expression and raised her voice a little as she continued Shen Qingqiu's words.
Gu Yanran's eyes widened in disbelief. She had already tried to think of ways to make a big deal out of a small matter, but Shen Qingqiu was so ungrateful? Did he have to make her apologize in public before he would let it go?
Asking her to apologize to a fat pig? Don't you think about your own behavior? "Princess Changhe, what do you mean by this?" Gu Yanran said, "It's true that I didn't recognize Princess Changhe's identity before, and I played a joke on you. Please don't mind it."
"Then can I also give you a push and then say I was just joking?" Shen Qingqiu sneered, seeing through Gu Yanran's tricks and not taking them seriously at all, "Paying back debts is a matter of course. Don't you, Gu Yanran, have to apologize for doing something wrong?"
Gu Yanran was speechless and said with a wry smile, "That's not what I meant. Don't misunderstand me."
"My words were just based on facts, but you misinterpreted them?" Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes in amusement, wanting to see how Gu Yanran would shoot herself in the foot. "Gu Yanran, since you are capable of pushing others, why can't you say sorry? It's my fault that Princess Changhe and I were aggressive. We are not blind, so we can tell whether you are lying or not!"
After hearing this, Gu Yanran's face turned pale, and she felt that Shen Qingqiu was bullying her.
"Yanran, after all, you were the one who was rude first, why don't you apologize to Princess Changhe!"
Queen Pei glanced at her indifferently and scolded in a deep voice.
Gu Yanran gritted her teeth. Her dignity had been trampled under their feet, but she had to apologize to them. How could she bear to do this? Moreover, she was unwilling to accept it. Why should she apologize? But after seeing the expression of Queen Pei, Gu Yanran finally suppressed her displeasure and apologized: "I'm sorry, I was wrong. I shouldn't have offended Princess Changhe!"
Then, Gu Yanran looked at Shen Qingqiu reluctantly and said "I'm sorry" again.
Shen Qingqiu raised his eyebrows and curled the corners of his mouth.
Oh, after scolding her, you still want to brush it off with a light “I’m sorry”? Do you really think that Shen Qingqiu is a paper tiger that is easy to bully? “Since you know you are wrong, then kneel down! This will make you look more sincere, right?”
"Don't go too far! I've already apologized, but you still asked me to kneel down. I think you just want to humiliate me!" Gu Yanran said angrily when she heard that.
"It seems that you are not really apologizing to us. There is no sincerity at all."
Shen Qingqiu laughed, and then asked Princess Changhe who was standing beside him: "Princess Changhe, do you think I went too far by asking her to kneel down and apologize?"
Princess Changhe shook her head without hesitation, feeling very happy.
"It's not too much, not at all! She was the one who made the mistake first, so she should be taught a lesson so that she will remember it!"
"Look, Princess Changhe has said so. It depends on what you do." Shen Qingqiu raised his eyelids and said nonchalantly.
Gu Yanran's willingness to lower her posture and apologize was already a concession. If it weren't for the presence of Queen Pei, she would have been so angry that she would have cursed Shen Qingqiu. How could Shen Qingqiu have the chance to bully others? If it weren't for the support of Princess Changhe, how could Shen Qingqiu have the nerve to talk to her? Gu Yanran attributed all this to Shen Qingqiu's tricks to win people's hearts. In her heart, she felt that Shen Qingqiu was disgusting and hypocritical. She gritted her teeth and knew that sooner or later, Shen Qingqiu would be taught a lesson! She bit her lower lip tightly and did not move for a long time. She looked at Queen Pei, just hoping that she could help her out.
"Empress, Yanran has knelt before the elders in the family, before the Buddhist temple, and before the emperor. How can she kneel before her peers? Yanran will never bend this knee!"
Empress Pei looked at Gu Yanran, who was frowning, and then looked at Shen Qingqiu and Princess Changhe. After a moment, she said, "Forget it, since Gu Yanran has already admitted her mistake and apologized, let her copy poems and books with those ladies!"
Seeing that Empress Pei had already spoken, Shen Qingqiu just smiled and said nothing more.
It was much more respectable to copy a book than to kneel down and apologize in public. Empress Pei had come up with a compromise. She was indeed a person who was well versed in the harem's schemes and knew how to be smooth with people better than anyone else. She not only punished Gu Yanran and the ladies, giving them enough face, but also made the matter go away. She took both sides into consideration.
Soon, a maid brought up the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone. Shen Qingqiu had no interest in supervising them copying poems and books, so he took Princess Changhe to play on the swing.
There happened to be a swing here, so Shen Qingqiu asked Princess Changhe to sit on it while she pushed it from behind.
But there was a hint of fear in Princess Changhe's eyes. She looked at the two vines hanging on the swing, then lowered her head to look at the pile of fat on her body, and refused to listen to Shen Qingqiu and sit on the swing.
"Or you can sit on it. You are so light, I am sure I can push you!" As she said this, Princess Changhe had already walked to the swing.
"Princess Changhe, this is for us to play on the swing. I am not the only one who has the swing." Shen Qingqiu couldn't help but look at her with amusement, "Who said I want you to push me? We can take turns to play."
Just as Shen Qingqiu was about to pull Princess Changhe to sit on the swing, she lowered her head and refused.
Princess Changhe knew that Shen Qingqiu meant well and wanted to play with her, but she also realized that she was too fat and too heavy. Once she sat on the swing, it would be a question whether Shen Qingqiu would be able to push her. Whether she would break the swing frame was another question. She didn't want to embarrass herself.
"If you want to play on the swing, I can accompany you." Princess Changhe said, "But I won't sit on it. I'm afraid the swing will be damaged by me."
Shen Qingqiu moved closer and smiled at her, "Princess Changhe, you've always been worried about this and that. What do you have to be afraid of when I'm here?"
Princess Changhe happened to be looking at her at this time, and a hint of timidity in her eyes fell into Shen Qingqiu's clear and bright black eyes, and she couldn't help but look away.
"But I'm too heavy..."
"Just because you're too heavy, you can't play on this swing?" Shen Qingqiu frowned slightly, "People say you're fat and heavy, so are you going to stop eating and drinking and ruin your body just because of these words?"
"But I'm too fat. I have to wear the largest size clothes on weekdays. I also want to lose weight, at least to be as heavy as a normal person." Princess Changhe couldn't help but think of the joke she made because of her bloated body. She said with some inferiority, "I really envy your slim body. I still have to think about how to lose weight."
Hearing this, Shen Qingqiu comforted her and said, "This is not your problem. As long as you are healthy, you don't have to care about other people's eyes, and you don't have to deliberately change yourself to cater to other people's eyes."
When Princess Changhe heard this, she was stunned for a moment, and the next second she was pushed onto the swing.
Shen Qingqiu smiled and said to her: "How can you play on a swing like this? Look, I'm going to push you high up!"
Then, Shen Qingqiu exerted force, and Princess Changhe was swung out. At first, she was a little panicked, fearing that the swing would break halfway through, after all, she knew how fat she was. But not long after, Princess Changhe felt the breeze blowing in her face. She had never felt this way before! "Qingqiu, push higher! Push higher!"
"Princess, swinging on the swing is fun, isn't it?" Shen Qingqiu laughed and exerted some strength, "Don't worry, I've held the vines of the swing firmly, and I will definitely not let you fall, just hold on tight."
Princess Changhe had never been as happy as she was now. She had not even dared to sit on the swing before, so she immediately responded to Shen Qingqiu's words with a smile on her face.
One of them was pushing the swing from behind, while the other was overjoyed being pushed. This scene happened to be seen by Changhe County Lord's mother. She did not expect that Shen Qingqiu could make Changhe County Lord laugh so much, so she went to recommend Shen Qingqiu to Concubine Rou.
"Empress Roufei, I think Shen Qingqiu is a smart girl, why not let her be the ninth princess's study companion?"
She pointed at the two girls who were having fun over there and motioned Concubine Rou to look over there.
"Seeing how caring she is to Princess Changhe, I'm sure she'll be a good playmate for the Ninth Princess and can help her relieve her boredom. What do you think, Concubine Rou?"
Concubine Rou saw Shen Qingqiu at first sight, and she found him to be quite attracted to him. She was delighted to hear his bell-like laughter.
He immediately smiled and said, "I also think it's a good idea, so let her be the ninth princess's companion!"
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