Looking at her pitiful little girl, Lady Irgen Gioro's heart softened instantly, but in a moment her expression turned cold and stern again. She frowned and coldly rebuked, "Your mother will no longer tolerate this. Little Seven, since you say that you were the one who did it, you will kneel in the ancestral hall and copy the 'Admonitions for Women' one hundred times."
"Mother!" Yan Yue exclaimed, her eyes wide, trying to stop her, but was interrupted by a cold glare from Irgen Gioro Clan: "You too!"
Yan Yue immediately wilted and pouted, looking aggrieved.
That night, Heyue and Yanyue knelt together in the ancestral hall, copying the precepts for women as they knelt. Knowing that their mother was truly angry this time, the two dared not slack off and behaved exceptionally well.
Looking at her messy handwriting, Heyue quickly crumpled it up and stuffed it into her sleeve when her sixth sister wasn't looking.
Yan Yue exclaimed in surprise, "Seventh Sister, what's wrong?"
"N-nothing," Heyue mumbled, her heart pounding with anxiety. What if her sixth sister saw her handwriting? She'd be exposed in no time.
Heyue bit her lower lip, stealing a glance at her sixth sister, whose face was also contorted with worry and whose handwriting was crooked. Soon after, she crumpled up several sheets of paper and threw them on the ground, then burst out laughing. Her depressed mood improved somewhat.
Hearing her laughter, Yan Yue frowned, threw down her brush, plopped down on the ground, rubbed her wrist, and sighed, "When will this night end?"
Sixth Sister was good at wielding weapons, but writing was more painful for her than killing her. For some reason, He Yue felt a sense of sympathy for her.
“I finally understand why the Fourth Prince and his wife didn’t punish us, but treated us kindly and even promised to make the Thirteenth Prince apologize.” Heyue also put down her pen and sat cross-legged on the ground.
The night was long and incredibly boring. The two sisters, who were in the same predicament, decided to chat to pass the time.
"Why?" Yan Yue asked, puzzled.
Heyue snorted lightly: "Sixth Sister, think about it. We are daughters of officials, and we are young and ignorant. If the Fourth Prince and Fourth Princess want to punish us, they will lose face. It was the Thirteenth Prince who was in the wrong first, so they are in the wrong. But they can't swallow this insult. What should they do? Naturally, they should let the people who are qualified to discipline us do it. Mother can't not punish us, otherwise she won't be able to explain to the Fourth Prince. If the Fourth Prince wants to take revenge on us, even if he can't do it to us two children, Father, who is in the court, will not get away with it."
Mother naturally understood this principle, so no matter how much she loved her children, she had to punish them, and punish them severely.
Hmph, as expected, he's a vindictive person. Heyue bit her pen, mentally imagining the Fourth Prince as a little man and giving him a good beating.
"Huh?" Yan Yue's eyes widened, and her face instantly fell. "It seems that Mother won't let us off easily this time."
Heyue never regretted what she had done. Even if she had known the other party's identity at the time, she would not have let it go. She moved closer to Yanyue, hugged her arm, and shook her head indifferently: "Sixth Sister, don't worry. As long as tonight is over, Fourth Prince will not pursue it anymore. Although we were punished, thinking of Thirteenth Prince's pig-headed appearance, it was still very satisfying. Humph, tonight it's not just the two of us who suffer."
Yan Yue chuckled, nudged her, and scolded, "You little rascal, when did you become so mischievous?" Suddenly, as if remembering something, she stroked her chin, gave her a few deep, thoughtful glances, and said with a puzzled look, "Speaking of which, Seventh Sister, you are really quite different from before. It really surprises me. You used to be so timid that you wouldn't even dare to step on an ant, but now you hit people without batting an eye."
"Is it bad that I'm like this? Or does Sixth Sister not like me doing this? I think it's great. Sixth Sister doesn't know, but I felt really relieved back then. I didn't know hitting people was so fun." He Yue smiled smugly with her eyes narrowed, as if she was talking about something very interesting.
Yan Yue couldn't reconcile the image of the seventh sister in front of her, who described hitting people as a funny story, with the gentle and shy woman she used to be. However, the seventh sister in front of her was clearly more energetic and more likable.
"You, be careful that your mother doesn't hear you saying that, or I won't be able to save you." Yan Yue tapped her forehead, with a hint of schadenfreude.
"Huh? Shouldn't Mother be punishing Sixth Sister? I've always been well-behaved; I must have learned it from Sixth Sister." Heyue widened her eyes, looking as innocent as could be.
Yan Yue felt a sharp pain in her tooth and pounced on him like a hungry tiger, yelling, "You naughty girl! I'll teach you a lesson!"
Heyue giggled and dodged Yanyue's outstretched hand: "I'm just telling the truth. Sixth Sister got angry and wouldn't let me say it. Sixth Sister is so mean!"
Yan Yue found it even more amusing and reached out to tickle her.
He Yue almost laughed herself silly, curled up into a ball, and after laughing and joking for a while, both of them felt much more relaxed and picked up their pens again to start writing the Women's Precepts.
Heyue didn't care about her illegible handwriting; getting through this hurdle was the priority. However, she couldn't help but curse the culprit, the Thirteenth Prince, in her heart.
※
Fourth Prince's Mansion
After Lady Irgen Gioro and the others left, the Fourth Prince's wife went to visit the Thirteenth Prince again. The Thirteenth Prince was still resentful about apologizing to He Yue and the other woman.
"Why did Fourth Sister-in-law make me apologize to that brat's sister? Who do they think they are? They're the ones who hit me; they're the ones who should apologize."
If it weren't for his fourth sister-in-law's insistence, he wouldn't have let that brat go; he would have skinned her alive. The thirteenth prince thought bitterly.
All the injuries on my body were caused by that brat. I'm so unwilling to let her go like this.
"You child, how did your fourth brother raise you? You must be calm and composed in the face of adversity, and not fight on impulse. Besides, you were the one who started this whole thing, so what's wrong with her defending her sister?"
The Thirteenth Prince had always respected his virtuous Fourth Sister-in-law. Hearing her reprimand, he lowered his head in shame, but still muttered defiantly, "I'm just not reconciled."
"So what if you're not happy? Do you want to beat her up and get her back?" Fourth Princess glared at him angrily.
The Thirteenth Prince was speechless for a long time, unable to bring himself to lay a hand on a little girl, yet he couldn't swallow his anger.
Seeing his reaction, the Fourth Princess knew exactly what was going on and found it amusing, but she pretended to be serious: "Let's not even talk about the fact that she's just a girl, and the daughter of the Vice Minister of War. How can you just decide to deal with her or beat her as you please? In the end, even if this matter goes to Father Emperor, you won't have a single point of reason."
The thirteenth prince lowered his head even further, filled with shame.
Fourth Prince's wife stopped attacking him and gently advised him, "Thirteenth Brother, please rest and recover. I have already sent someone to tell Mother and Consort Zhangjia that you are ill and will stay outside the palace for a while."
"Thank you, Fourth Sister-in-law." The Thirteenth Prince stopped dwelling on the matter and softened his attitude.
After the Fourth Prince's wife returned to the inner quarters, night fell. The Fourth Prince returned from the palace and had his meal in the main courtyard of the inner quarters. After tea was served, the Fourth Prince's wife brought up the events of the day.
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