Luo Xue also urged:
"Yes, Ah Hong, you have to tell us what's going on. Only then can the Queen make the decision for you. You are the closest person to the Queen. If she slaps you in the face, it's like slapping the Queen in the face. If you endure the bullying this time, someone will come to bully you next time. You are not helping the Queen, you are harming her."
Luo Xue's words seemed to make Ahong understand something. When she was slapped in the face by the maid beside Princess Yongning, she felt that she could not tell the Queen, otherwise the Queen would definitely go to Princess Yongning to settle the score. In this way, according to Princess Yongning's posture of deliberately finding trouble in the laundry department, the Queen would inevitably cause a verbal battle because of her. At that time, the Queen would definitely be angry. She didn't want the Queen to hurt herself because of her anger, nor did she want the Queen to worry about her, so she chose to conceal it. Until Acai discovered her abnormality, she still wanted Acai to conceal the matter for her.
Now that Luo Xue reminded her, she suddenly felt that what she said made sense.
If she chose to keep this matter in her heart, Yongning would definitely think that the Queen was easy to bully and would definitely cause trouble for the Queen without any scruples.
Thinking of this, she knelt on her knees.
"Your Majesty, this is what happened. This morning, I took your clothes to the laundry, intending to speak to the maid in charge. But not long after I arrived, Princess Yongning arrived with her people. She directly threw the dirty clothes of her servants on your clothes. I hurried to pick them up, thinking that I couldn't let the servants' dirty clothes soil your clothes, but Princess Yongning stepped forward and stepped on my hand..."
At this point, Ah Hong probably thought of that scene and started sobbing again.
Luo Lan's heart was about to jump out of his throat.
She gritted her teeth and asked again,
"What else?"
"I didn't react at the time, thinking she hadn't seen my hand, so I tried to pull it out. The moment I pulled it out, she suddenly took a few steps back in fear and stumbled... Then, she accused me of committing treason and deliberately causing her to fall. Without waiting for my explanation, she had my hands tied behind my back and then had someone hit me in the face, saying it was to teach me a lesson for my blindness. She beat me like this."
Listening to Ah Hong's words, Luo Lan's anger had reached its peak. Even though she wanted to be a dignified and generous queen, she didn't want to tolerate this matter any longer.
Then she groaned softly,
"She's not slapping Ah Hong in the face, she's slapping me in the face. If I don't seek justice today, I won't be able to be the queen anymore. Luo Xue, go to Fengyi Palace and wait for me. The rest of you, come with me to Qixia Palace."
After leaving these words, she angrily waved her hands, turned around and walked out the door, heading straight for Qixia Palace where Yongning was.
Along the way, she was thinking that if Yongning and Yongping did not stay here for long with the prince and princess of Nanping Kingdom, she could turn a blind eye to their actions no matter how excessive they were, and she could also try to accommodate them as much as possible because they had not returned for many years.
But she could tell from Yongping's words that they didn't seem to be leaving in the short term, which meant that they might stay here for a long time.
Now, Yongning actually bullied her people in her territory. This was obviously looking for trouble with her. Even if she wanted to endure it, she absolutely could not tolerate it this time.
Thinking of this, she quickened her pace, her eyes filled with resentment.
When they arrived at Qixia Palace, they saw Yongping, Yongning, Xingnan and Daji drinking tea and chatting there, looking very happy.
Seeing her coming hurriedly, everyone stood up and saluted.
"Long live the Queen."
Only Yongning bowed slowly without saying a word, and his attitude was very tough.
Luo Lan looked straight at her and asked,
"Princess Yongning, I heard that Ah Hong offended you in the laundry department. I brought her here today to apologize to you. However, I am here to hold her accountable. Even if she is at fault, it is my responsibility as her master to discipline her, not your servants. So, please call out the servant who slapped her. I want to see how many hands she has to dare to lay hands on my people."
Her words were clearly filled with dissatisfaction. Yongning sat there with a raised eyebrow, feeling somewhat guilty. Seeing this, Yongping stepped forward in surprise and asked:
"Empress, what happened? What's this laundry department? Who hit Ah Hong?"
Luo Lan raised her eyelids slightly and looked straight at Yongning.
"Can't you see, Big Sister? Ah Hong's face is so red and swollen because of Yongning's servants. Today, I am here to seek justice for her."
When she said this, her eyes showed a stern look. Yongping frowned and she turned to look at Yongning.
"What's going on?"
"Big sister, it was that girl named Ahong who pushed me first, causing me to almost fall. That's why I punished her. She was just a girl, so what if she got slapped? Is it necessary to come to me and ask for an explanation for such a small matter?"
"Girl? Second sister, she is not an ordinary girl. She is an imperial attendant, a fourth-rank official. The emperor must have a reason to hit her. Not to mention you are just a little girl. She dared to hit a fourth-rank female official of the imperial court. This is really a bit bold. As the master of the harem, if I don't punish her today, how can I manage this harem in the future?"
After saying this, she looked at the girl beside Yongning and asked in a raised voice:
"Ah Hong, who hit you? Point it out to me."
Ah Hong looked up at the girls, raised her hand, and pointed at the girl closest to Yongning.
"That's her."
A sharp look flashed across Luo Lan's face, and then he took two steps forward, looking at the girl seriously.
"You are in the palace of Daning State, so you must abide by the rules of Daning State. According to the laws of Daning State, you assaulted an official of Daning State without any reason and should be executed. For the sake of Princess Yongning, I will punish you today. Come, take this girl out and chop off her hands..."
Hearing this, Yongning looked at Luo Lan in surprise, while the girl knelt on the ground in panic.
"Please spare my life, Queen. I was just following orders. I was wrong, I was wrong."
"Acting on orders?"
Luo Lan repeated what she had just said, walked slowly to her, and looked down at her.
"You said you were following orders? Whose orders? Princess Yongning?"
Princess Yongning's face turned ashen at this moment. She gritted her teeth and looked at Luo Lan with an arrogant look.
"Yes, she was following this princess's orders. Ah Hong almost made this princess fall to the ground. It's not too much to slap her a few times!"
Luo Lan turned to look at Yongning with sharp eyes and raised his voice to question,
"If Ah Hong offended you, you could have slapped her a few times, that's not excessive, but I heard that you were the first to disrespect me by throwing the servants' clothes on mine, and that Ah Hong rebelled. So, since I'm the mistress of this harem, can I say you're committing insubordination?"
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