Chapter 55 The Fifth Prince is Beaten

Xia Zhengqi shouted angrily while walking towards the Fifth Prince in two steps.

"Your sister is less than 4 months old, and you actually want to feed her mutton skewers!?"

"Where's your brain? She is so young, how can she eat meat?"

Xia Zhengqi grabbed the Fifth Prince's belt and lifted him up like a chicken.

"Father! Father! I mean well!" The Fifth Prince was so scared that tears flew out.

"I thought my sister hadn't eaten meat yet, and I wanted her to have a taste!"

Xia Zhengqi listened to the Fifth Prince's explanation and softened his heart instantly.

He has always liked children. He has been a father for nearly 20 years and has never beaten a child. Today, he is also eager to love his daughter and can't control himself for a while.

Xia Zhengqi slowly put the fifth prince down, calmed his mind, and said in a gentle tone: "My sister hasn't grown teeth yet. If you give her meat, she won't even chew it. She will choke."

"I know I was wrong. I won't do it again next time." The fifth prince wiped his tears.

Xia Zhengqi was about to lean over to hug his daughter, but suddenly he caught a glimpse of the afterglow of the setting sun, and his mind was awakened.

"Huh? That's not right. What time is it now?" Xia Zhengqi looked at the palace maid and asked.

"Your Majesty, it's about 2:45 in the evening." The palace maid lowered her eyes and answered.

"Your Highness, school is just over at 2:45 in the evening on weekdays, and you've already come to Kunning Palace with mutton skewers!" Xia Zhengqi stared at the fifth prince as if he had suddenly realized something.

"Your Highness... Your Highness..." The Fifth Prince's face turned pale in an instant, and he stammered and couldn't speak.

"Well, Xia Chengshun, you dare to skip school!" Xia Zhengqi roared angrily.

"I've been busy lately, and I've been to the main hall less often, so you dare to skip school, right?"

Xia Zhengqi's face was as ugly as a freshly steamed crab, and his big eyes were even more scary.

"Father!" The Fifth Prince was so scared that he burst into tears.

Although Xia Zhengqi has a gentle personality, he has always attached great importance to the education of his children. He suffered academic losses when he was young.

When he was young, Empress Dowager Jiang rarely asked about his studies. As the second son who was not valued, he did not have any great ambitions, so he was careless in his studies. It was not

until he was pushed to the throne that he realized that his academic deficiencies were a fatal shortcoming.

In order not to be looked down upon by the court officials, he had to study hard in secret, and finally made up for this shortcoming in his studies.

So when it came to his own children, he was very strict with their studies.

[Wow, Daddy is angry! It looks so scary! Is the fifth prince going to be beaten?]

Xia Miaoyuan sat on the rattan mat, staring blankly at Xia Zhengqi and the fifth prince.

For a moment, the anger of seeing the fifth prince feeding his daughter lamb skewers and his anger for skipping school accumulated together.

Xia Zhengqi felt his head was in a mess, and a breath of air hit his chest.

Xia Zhengqi picked up a rattan fly swatter nearby, grabbed the Fifth Prince by the collar with one hand, and hit him hard on the butt with the fly swatter.

"You are already nine years old, and you are still skipping school!"

"How dare you skip school!" Xia Zhengqi roared while hitting the Fifth Prince's butt hard.

"Your Majesty, please calm down, don't let your anger damage your body!" Eunuch Debao, who was standing by, was just frightened by Xia Zhengqi, but he reacted and hurried over to persuade him.

Several eunuchs and palace maids came over to persuade him.

"All of you go away, I don't want you to care!" Xia Zhengqi shouted angrily.

"Oh my, what's going on? Why are you beating a child for no reason?" The queen was preparing dinner in the small kitchen in the backyard, and she rushed over when she heard the noise.

After she realized that it was Xia Zhengqi who was beating the fifth prince, she hurried forward to stop him.

When the palace servants saw the queen coming, they consciously made way for her.

"Your Majesty, stop it! Chengshun is only 9 years old, he can't stand being beaten like this. He needs medical treatment if he is injured."

[He needs medical treatment if he is injured? ]

[So, you persuaded dad not to beat him because you are worried about the medical expenses? ]

[Mother, you are really good at persuading people. ]

Xia Miaoyuan watched Xia Zhengqi beating the fifth prince with great interest.

The queen stepped forward and stretched out her hand to hold the fly swatter in Xia Zhengqi's hand.

Xia Zhengqi stopped his actions, but his left hand was still grabbing the Fifth Prince's collar, cursing angrily.

"Your Majesty, what happened?" A gentle female voice suddenly came in.

Everyone looked up and saw a beautiful woman in a dark green palace dress hurriedly walking in.

"Greetings to Her Majesty Shufei!" The eunuchs and maids in the palace said in unison.

Shufei bowed to Xia Zhengqi and the Queen and said, "I just found out that Chengshun took the skewers and ran to Kunning Palace. I was worried that he was naughty, so I hurried over."

"What happened to Chengshun? Has he been naughty?" Shufei looked at the Fifth Prince who was grabbed by Xia Zhengqi's collar, her face a little embarrassed.

[Empress Shufei, you wronged the little fool. In fact, he was beaten before he had the chance to act naughty!]

Xia Miaoyuan covered her mouth with her chubby hands and laughed secretly.

Xia Zhengqi was a little less angry when he saw Shufei coming.

Shufei and he were an old couple. When he was a prince, he had already married Shufei. At that time, the queen was the principal wife and Shufei was the concubine.

Shufei was indifferent and did not fight or compete. When she was in the prince's mansion, although she and the queen did not have close contacts, they treated each other with courtesy and lived in peace.

The prince's mansion at that time was peaceful and warm. Xia Zhengqi was truly a leisurely prince.

Later, Xia Zhengqi ascended the throne and became the emperor, and his two concubines, one principal and one concubine, became the queen and concubine.

However, after moving into the palace, life changed drastically. Xia Zhengqi suffered from the tug of war and confrontation with the court officials, while the empress was caught up in the annoying palace struggle. Only Shufei remained calm and indifferent, and did not join any palace struggle camp.

In Xia Zhengqi's heart, although he did not have too much admiration for Shufei, nor any passion, he had a unique warmth and trust.

He respected her character, envied her heart, and was grateful for her non-troublemaking.

As for why Concubine Jiang Gui was deposed and the Fifth Prince was handed over to her for upbringing, it was also for this reason.

"I found out that he was playing truant from school, and I was so angry that I beat him." Xia Zhengqi loosened the collar of the Fifth Prince and threw the fly swatter to the ground.

The long handle of the rattan fly swatter had been bent.

The Fifth Prince covered his buttocks and burst into tears, his little face covered with tears and snot.

"My Lady Concubine Shu, save me!" The Fifth Prince cried.

"It's all because of my poor parenting. Your Majesty, please punish me." Concubine Shu lowered her eyes, her voice a little panicked.

The Queen held Xia Zhengqi's arm and said softly, "Your Majesty, what's wrong with you today? You actually beat the child."

"It's common for children to play around. We just need to keep an eye on them."

"Hey, stop it. Ask the two maids to send the fifth prince back to apply medicine. Concubine Shu, you stay and have dinner together. We haven't had dinner together for a long time."