Chapter 54 The whole family kneels in the ancestral hall, feeling so good
After hearing what the prince said, some common people who were close to the prince squatted down to look at the wounds on Wei Mingyuan's face.
"Ah! The head of the Wei family actually beat Wei Mingyuan!" One of the clever young men shouted angrily.
"Oh, this child's face is full of wounds!" Another person echoed.
"Everyone, look, such a good child, a child praised by the emperor, his family head actually beat him like this!" A nosy lady cried out.
"It's really outrageous, such a young child can be hurt."
In an instant, the crowd was talking, and countless people were blaming Wei Duan. There were
also a few people with bad tempers who took some vegetables from the vegetable stalls, ripped off the leaves and threw them at Wei Duan and his wife.
There was also a child who took two eggs from the basket in his mother's hand, walked up to Wei Duan and his wife, and smashed them on their heads.
In a moment, Wei Duan and his wife's body and face were all covered with rotten vegetable leaves and egg liquid.
"It's not me, it's not me, it's a fight between the children in the private school!" Wei Duan wiped the dirt on his face and explained vaguely.
"It's not you who beat them, it's your children who beat them, you are the clan leader, so it's your fault!" The eldest mother who shouted before pointed her finger and said angrily.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince must uphold justice for Wei Mingyuan!" someone in the crowd shouted.
"Yes, yes, such a good child was beaten so badly, the prince must seek justice!" Someone in the crowd echoed.
"Seek justice! Seek justice! Seek justice!" Many people shouted in unison.
Seeing this, Wei Duan and his wife trembled even more.
The prince smiled and waved to the people, saying loudly: "Please rest assured."
After hearing the prince's statement, the people calmed down.
The prince smiled brightly at Wei Duan and his wife: "I have always been kind to others, and I didn't want to bother with you."
After hearing this, Wei Duan and his wife's tense heartstrings immediately loosened: "Thank you, Your Highness!"
"But now the public is angry, the people are collectively denouncing and asking me to punish you." The prince said in an embarrassed tone.
"If I just brush it off, how can I explain to the people of Daxia?"
The prince raised his eyebrows slyly and continued, "And you said at the beginning that letting Wei Mingyuan stay in the Wei family private school would disgrace our ancestors!"
"Now, Wei Mingyuan has been praised by the emperor, which shows that you were fooling our ancestors before."
"If I just brush it off today, I won't be able to explain to your ancestors."
"So, in order to calm the anger of the people and your ancestors, all of you in the Wei family who have opposed Wei Mingyuan studying in your private school, and who have beaten him, please go to the Wei family ancestral hall and kneel down to beg for forgiveness."
"Everyone kneels in the ancestral hall and confesses to the ancestors ten thousand times. Only after they are forgiven by the ancestors can they come out."
The faces of the relatives of the Wei Duan family darkened instantly.
The private school of the Wei family is located in the Wei Duan mansion. The children of the two families usually study in this private school.
Wei Duan's five sons all live in the capital, and Wei Han's four sons, except for the eldest, are working in other places, so most of the ten or so children in the private school are from the Wei Duan family.
The children who bullied Wei Mingyuan a while ago are all Wei Duan's grandsons.
The prince glanced at the expressions of the Wei family and curled his lips with pride.
He paused and continued, "As for the matter of the arrogant and treacherous slave, the person you assaulted is, after all, the Crown Prince of Da Xia, the eldest son of the Emperor and Empress. I may not pursue the matter, but for the sake of the Emperor and Empress's face, if no punishment is imposed, it will be a disgrace to Da Xia!"
"Come on, drag that evil slave away and give him 50 lashes," the Crown Prince ordered coldly.
"As for the masters of the evil slaves, the clan leader and the clan leader's wife, I will not beat you because of your advanced age."
"You should copy the part of the Great Xia law regarding the management of domestic servants a hundred times."
"In order to save time, just copy it while you kneel in the ancestral hall to ask for forgiveness from your ancestors!"
After hearing the punishment announced by the prince, the crowd immediately burst into cheers of "The prince is wise, the prince is mighty!"
The prince left a few followers to supervise the Wei family to complete the punishment.
Wei Duan's family of more than 30 men, women, old and young, all of them were ashamed, like dogs that had lost their homes, and returned to the mansion in disgrace.
Wei Han's three ancestors and grandchildren saluted the prince again, staring at the prince's receding carriage for a long time to express their gratitude.
The excited common people trotted after the prince's carriage, clapping enthusiastically.
That night, the Wei family ancestral hall was
filled with wailing. The ancestral hall was crowded with people kneeling.
Wei Duan and his wife knelt at the front, with a low table in front of them. They copied with difficulty despite the wounds on their foreheads.
The children knelt at the back, shedding tears and mumbling confessions.
In the early autumn evening, the hot air finally disappeared with the sunset, and a few cool breezes blew in the air.
Inside Kunning Palace, the palace servants spread a large rattan mat on the open space in the front yard. Xia Miaoyuan, wearing a light pink soft satin shirt, lay on the rattan mat, occasionally lying down, trying to stretch her arms and crawling forward.
[Oh, it's really hard to be a baby. ]
She couldn't help but complain.
[Turning over, sitting up, crawling, all have to be learned, and I don't know when I can walk! ]
[Oh, it's really annoying. ]
[Prince Yan, why can't you arrange an adult role for me? Why do you have to dress me as a baby? ]
She was complaining non-stop, and suddenly, the fifth prince trotted into the courtyard of Kunning Palace.
"His Highness the Fifth Prince is here, what's the matter?" asked the palace maid in charge of taking care of Xia Miaoyuan.
"I'm here to see my sister, no need to inform the Queen." The Fifth Prince ran straight to Xia Miaoyuan.
[Hey, isn't this a little fool?]
The Fifth Prince: I'm your lovely fifth brother, okay? I'm not stupid. Can you please stop calling me a little fool?
"Look, sister, what did I bring you?" The fifth prince took out two skewers of lamb from behind his back in a mysterious manner.
[Ahhhh... It's meat, it's lamb skewers!]
Since Xia Miaoyuan became a princess, she hasn't tasted meat for several months. Now, seeing the greasy and fragrant lamb skewers, her saliva immediately flowed down.
She immediately sat up, with one hand struggling to support herself on the rattan mat, and the other hand stretched forward to reach the lamb skewers in the fifth prince's hand.
"Fifth Prince, no!" The palace maid was frightened and shouted in shock.
"The princess is still too young, you can't give her this..." The palace maid stretched out her hand to stop it.
"It doesn't matter, just give her a taste!" The fifth prince dodged the palace maid.
"Chengshun! What are you doing!?" Suddenly, a deep male voice came over.
Followed by a chaotic sound of footsteps.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, only to see Xia Zhengqi walking hurriedly towards the rattan mat.
The palace maids and eunuchs present hurriedly saluted Xia Zhengqi. The
palace maid in charge of taking care of the little princess reported cleverly: "I am looking after the little princess in the yard to cool off. Just now, the fifth prince came to play with the little princess and suddenly took out a kebab of mutton..."
"He wanted to give it to the little princess, and the maid stopped him..." The palace maid said the latter part, wanting to say more but stopped.
Xia Zhengqi's eyebrows raised instantly, and he shouted: "You kid, you actually want to give Miao'er kebabs!"