Chapter 258 Severe Punishment
Chu Huining was really frightened by Emperor Chengde's anger today. Years of favor had made her almost forget that her brother was the emperor first and her brother second.
And they are not siblings from the same mother.
Chu Huining nodded blankly and let Nanny Duan help her get on the carriage and leave the palace.
In Chengqian Palace, Hu Qian called the palace maids to clean up the debris on the ground and served Emperor Chengde another cup of tea.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. Princess Huining has just returned to the capital from Ningzhou. The journey was long so it is inevitable that she will know about what happened recently later. Prince An is the princess's lifeblood, so it is inevitable that he said something wrong in a fit of anger." Hu Qian advised with a smile.
Emperor Chengde took the teacup and took a sip, then glanced at him gently: "You accepted her benefits and you speak for her like this?"
It's really infuriating.
He had coaxed his son back to the capital with all kinds of tricks, and he himself couldn't bear to say a harsh word to him. But today, Chu Huining actually slandered him like that. He had been so tolerant of her over the years. Did she really think that he was a soft persimmon that she could squeeze and twist at will?
Hu Qian groaned, immediately knelt down in fear and said, "Your Majesty, please understand. My loyalty to you is evident to all. I am not speaking for Princess Huining. I just feel sorry for your majesty for getting so angry over someone who is not worthy of you."
Emperor Chengde stretched out his legs and gently kicked him: "Get up, your kneecap is stiff, isn't it?"
How could Emperor Chengde not trust Hu Qian, the eunuch who had served him since he was young?
I'm just too angry and can't help but vent.
Hu Qian quickly climbed up along the pole, grinning from ear to ear: "I know that the emperor loves me and is reluctant to let me kneel."
Emperor Chengde rolled his eyes in annoyance and turned to walk to the desk.
Seeing that he was writing with enthusiasm, Hu Qian immediately trotted over to grind ink for Emperor Chengde.
"Your Majesty, are you going to approve the memorial?"
"No, Zheng Wenwu is too arrogant because he is the princess's son. I must punish him severely, or he really thinks he can dominate the capital."
Emperor Chengde gritted his teeth.
Hu Qian stopped talking and just ground silently.
There are some things the emperor can say, but he cannot respond.
No matter how angry the emperor is with Princess Huining, she is still a princess of the royal family. If a servant like him responds to her, it would be an act of insubordination.
Moreover, after serving the emperor for so many years, Hu Qian knew when to speak and when to remain silent.
Soon, Emperor Chengde wrote an imperial edict, put down his pen, stamped it with the imperial seal, and threw it to Hu Qian. He said with a gloomy face: "Go to the princess's mansion and convey my edict. Zheng Wenwu's crime of treason and offending the eighth prince is unforgivable. Considering his serious injuries, I will spare his life, but the death penalty can be spared, but the living crime cannot be escaped. Today, he will be stripped of his title of county prince, and after his injuries are healed, he will be beaten with fifty sticks as a respectful example."
Hu Qian held the bright yellow imperial edict in panic, and was shocked when he heard the emperor's words.
Does this mean the title will be revoked?
"What are you standing there for? Go quickly." Emperor Chengde slammed the table and shouted.
Hu Qian bowed quickly and left.
After leaving Chengqian Palace, his apprentice Hu Liang came running over and asked, "Master, what are you doing?"
Hu Qian glanced at him and raised the imperial edict in his hand: "Have you got any eyes? Hurry up and prepare a sedan chair for me."
"Hey, I'll go right away."
Xiao Liangzi immediately went to make arrangements.
Soon the sedan stopped at the palace gate. Hu Qian got on, followed by dozens of imperial guards. Xiao Liangzi followed beside the sedan and asked quietly across the sedan, "Master, first the steward Deng from the Eighth Prince's residence came into the palace, and then Princess Huining came in angrily. What happened?"
He was serving outside the palace. Just as Butler Deng left, Princess Huining arrived, and he didn't even have a chance to ask his master.
However, there was a lot of noise in the palace. Although they did not hear everything outside, they knew that Princess Huining had angered the emperor, which was an unprecedented thing.
Xiao Liangzi was young, so he naturally couldn't help but ask, but if his master couldn't tell him, he wouldn't ask any further questions.
But this can be said.
The emperor has asked him to take the imperial edict to the princess's mansion, and to severely punish Anjun... No, he can't be called Prince An now, he has to be Young Master Zheng, so it's not a secret.
Hu Qian sat in the sedan chair and told the whole story.
Xiao Liangzi was dumbfounded: "This...Isn't Princess Huining overstepping her authority..." He wanted to ask if Princess Huining was getting too arrogant.
But it would be disrespectful to say this, so I didn't dare to say it.
Although she is a princess, what qualifications does she have to compare with the prince?
Not to mention a prince.
This is still an offense. The Eighth Prince beats people with confidence. Even if Prince An did not offend Your Highness, if the Eighth Prince wants to beat people, then Prince An, as a subject, can only bear it.
Princess Huining even dared to go to the palace to ask the emperor for help.
Xiao Liangzi clicked his tongue and was speechless.
"So the emperor is furious." Hu Qian said.
No matter how noble Princess Huining was, she was actually not as noble as the emperor's daughter. It was just that the emperor took good care of Princess Huining because of the kindness between her and the Zheng family, but Princess Huining used this as a capital to become arrogant.
In the past, she had not touched the emperor's sore spot, so the emperor did not bother with her.
Didn’t you just pull out the whiskers from the tiger’s mouth today?
The two of them complained in their hearts at the same time and stopped talking.
After all, it is the master's business. If they say more and it gets out, it will be their fault.
The princess's mansion was not close to the imperial palace. When Princess Huining returned to the mansion and stepped into Zheng Wenwu's yard, she heard the servants come to report that Eunuch Hu had arrived.
Chu Huining's heart skipped a beat and he turned and went to the front yard.
Hu Qian stood at the head with a solemn look on his fair face. Xiao Liangzi stood one step behind him, and the Imperial Guards stood on both sides. The atmosphere was heavy no matter how you looked at it.
"Your servant greets the princess. May the princess be blessed."
Hu Qian bowed to Xiao Liangzi.
Chu Huining pulled the corners of his mouth stiffly and said, "Eunuch Hu, please stand up, but what do you want me to do, my brother?"
She looked at the imperial edict in Hu Qian's hand, and her heart began to beat fast for some reason.
If Hu Qian had brought the imperial edict before she entered the palace, she might have thought complacently that the emperor must have known about the bad things Chu Jinyan had done and that was why he issued the edict to appease her and her son. But after entering the palace and feeling the emperor's wrath, Chu Huining is still trembling with fear, so she really doesn't dare to have any good thoughts.
"The emperor ordered his servants to deliver his decree. Princess, please accept it."
Chu Huining responded and knelt down to receive the order.
"By the will of Heaven..."
Hu Qian held up the imperial edict and read it. Chu Huining's face turned paler with every word he heard. In the end, he knelt so hard that he was about to fall.
After the imperial edict was read, she looked up at Hu Qian in disbelief: "My brother is so cruel that he actually abolished the title of Wenwu Prince?"
Hu Qian's mouth twitched slightly, and he thought to himself, Princess, are you really not afraid of death?
How dare you question the emperor's decision and even say that the emperor is cruel?
"Princess, please accept the order." Hu Qian said.
He pretended not to hear what was just said.
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