Chapter 100 Clinging to a Thigh and Refusing to Let Go
Ji Qingwu covered her right cheek, her shoulders hunched, and her voice was strained and incoherent.
"If you want to find fault, you can always find a reason. Even if Your Highness is angry, you should have calmed down by now. You already slapped me without any regard for the consequences. Isn't that enough?"
Ji Qingwu's eyes were red, her body was trembling, and she looked so frail that she could be blown away by a gust of wind.
Princess Qingyun, seeing her expression, could not utter a word of rebuttal.
Yuchi Lianping frowned, surprised that Qingyun was so ungrateful.
He sighed inwardly, thinking that although Miss Ji had become a little more perceptive, it was still not enough.
She should have just run over, clung to the emperor's leg, and cried and begged for his help.
No, perhaps she doesn't even need to shed tears. She can just look at the emperor with red eyes and doesn't even need to say a word.
Before everyone arrived, Ji Qingwu had always appeared calm and composed.
Her sudden display of grievance reminded Princess Qingyun that it was this seemingly delicate fifth cousin who had risked her life to save her.
She is a woman too; she can be afraid.
"Zhao Jiayun".
At that moment, someone uttered three words in a low voice.
Princess Qingyun's full name is Zhao Jiayun, but no one has called her that for a long time; she is always addressed by her title. No one in the entire palace dares to call her by her name...
Emperor Wusu sat high on his horse, his expression indifferent, looking down at her with unfathomable depths in his eyes.
Princess Qingyun glanced at it, her eyes trembling, and immediately stopped speaking, lowering her head.
Li Yuzong coughed and said, "Why doesn't the princess bow when she sees His Majesty?"
Eunuch Li's words were a wake-up call for her. Princess Qingyun quickly knelt down and said hastily, "Your Majesty, I was just... just frightened, so I lost my composure in front of the Emperor."
"Who did you just say deserved to die?"
Princess Qingyun bowed her head and knelt obediently, no longer daring to be presumptuous.
Emperor Wusu's face was cold and stern as he lowered his gaze to look at her: "I see, it is you."
Princess Qingyun's pupils contracted.
Although the emperor and she were not born of the same mother, he had been quite indulgent towards her since she could remember, and rarely scolded her for making mistakes. This was the first time he had spoken to her so harshly.
Emperor Wusu's words made her realize this clearly.
The person before her was an unapproachable emperor, not her brother who could tolerate her tantrums and outbursts.
Emperor Wusu's gaze fell on the marks on the ground again. He could imagine how dangerous it had been. He said in a deep voice, "If it weren't for Miss Ji saving you, you wouldn't be alive today."
"You recklessly pursued your prey, and even after escaping by sheer luck, you remained oblivious, dragging others down the cliff with you. And you were so mean to the person who saved your life. Is this the kind of behavior you've learned all your life? Who taught you this?!"
Princess Qingyun murmured, wanting to explain herself, but her brother was right; what she had done was indeed utterly unreasonable.
Emperor Wusu was utterly disappointed in her, his eyes turning icy, and he said directly, "You are not even as good as a four-year-old child, making me lose all face."
These words hurt her a thousand times more than being slapped.
Princess Qingyun's eyes welled up with tears as she pleaded, "Royal brother, Qingyun knows she was wrong."
Emperor Wusu said coldly, "If you know you're wrong, kneel here and reflect on your mistakes."
"Brother..."
Princess Qingyun only dared to call him softly, not daring to anger him any further.
What happens to a princess who falls out of favor and loses the emperor's affections? The previous dynasty provided a bloody example. She was sent to barbarian lands for political marriages, marrying three men in succession—a father, his sons, and his brothers—enduring endless humiliation and ridicule.
Ji Qingwu also felt that the princess's willful nature should be changed.
Making her kneel on the edge of the cliff is a good form of punishment; it will allow her to recall just how dangerous the situation was.
Ji Qingwu glanced up at the emperor, only to find him still staring at the edge of the cliff, veins bulging on the back of his hand, as if he was suppressing his emotions that were about to explode.
The crowd waited quietly, but Emperor Wusu rode away, the sound of his hooves fading into the distance.
A group of people also left.
Ji Qingwu frowned as he watched the main force disappear, his feelings a mix of emotions.
She pushed herself up from the ground and deliberately walked to the princess who was kneeling as punishment, circling around her.
Princess Qingyun was scolded and being punished. She looked at her guiltily, her arrogant demeanor gone.
Ji Qingwu knew that the sense of loss welling up inside her was not because of Qingyun.
Li Yuzong remained there and stepped forward to Li Chengxun, saying, "Lord Li, the princess is kneeling here to be punished, but she cannot be left unattended. Please keep an eye on her."
As she was leaving, when she passed Ji Qingwu, Eunuch Li coughed a few times, as if urging her to leave quickly as well.
That was exactly what she wanted to do, and she didn't want to stay here with these two.
The pure black horse was still waiting for her nearby. It was still quite a distance from here to the camp, and Ji Qingwu's mind was foggy; she really didn't want to walk.
She mounted the horse and, holding the reins, belatedly realized that her right arm and shoulder were aching terribly, probably from the strain of hanging from the tree.
Only two people remained at the edge of the cliff.
It was already dark. Princess Qingyun, her clothes were dirty, and she knelt on the sandy road full of hard stones. After kneeling for only a short while, her knees ached so much that she broke out in a sweat.
Li Chengxun frowned and said, "Princess, Miss Ji and I are completely innocent. You shouldn't have made such a scene in front of His Majesty."
Princess Qingyun is now feeling extremely guilty and distressed.
She was jolted awake by the emperor's words and realized that she had gone too far.
But it was one thing for her brother to scold her, but she also had to be lectured by Li Chengxun. Qingyun said angrily, "You not only saved her first, but you also spoke up for her. Who knows if the two of you did something behind my back, just like you and that maid from Liangxiang Pavilion."
Princess Qingyun eventually learned about Mo Lingling's situation.
No one in the royal family is truly foolish. It would be easy for her to find out Li Chengxun's whereabouts outside the palace. After the Empress Dowager learned about this, she advised her not to worry too much. What man doesn't have affairs? Besides, the two of them hadn't officially married yet.
That lady-in-waiting is nothing more than a plaything from a brothel. Send someone to investigate. If she is indeed pregnant, a bowl of abortion medicine can solve the problem. It's not worth hurting their relationship.
But Qingyun just couldn't swallow her anger and argued with Li Chengxun for several days.
Li Chengxun sighed and said, "Princess, after the Deer Cry Banquet that night, my colleagues said they wanted to celebrate for me again. I only went to Liangxiang Pavilion because of their obligation. I was drunk and confused, and mistook her for you, so..."
So that's what happened. Qingyun's gloom of the past few days dissipated, and even her knees didn't hurt as much. She said shyly, "Why didn't you say so sooner? You made me misunderstand for so long."
He lifted his robe and knelt beside her, making Qingyun feel even sweeter inside.
Seeing that the princess had been appeased, Li Chengxun lowered his eyes and frowned almost imperceptibly, his hand that had been holding Ji Qingwu slowly closing.
*
As Ji Qingwu rode her horse past the forest where the wild beast had been seen earlier, her ears twitched and she heard a faint rustling sound. Her heart tightened; the beast might still be nearby.
Surely it can't be that unlucky...
She squeezed the horse's belly, wanting to get away from this place as quickly as possible.
Suddenly, she heard something rushing towards her from behind, moving as fast as the wind, passing by her.
She didn't even have time to exclaim in surprise.
The man pulled Ji Qingwu off the horse by the waist as easily as plucking tender leaves from a tree.
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