When He Jiuniang saw Prince Jing enter, she didn't feel guilty at all and continued wiping away non-existent tears.
"Your Majesty, you must do me justice! It has been so difficult for me to come all the way from Jingzhou to the capital. I have been worried about Your Majesty's illness and have been unable to sleep at night. Now that I have finally arrived, I am being bullied by Prince Jing. It makes me feel like my family is just a bunch of country bumpkins and my husband is of low rank and has little influence, which is why we are looked down upon by the nobles..."
He Jiuniang was already beautiful, especially with her deliberately feigned fragility and her sobbing voice, she looked absolutely pitiful.
If Prince Jing hadn't been the one who got beaten, he might have felt sorry for her.
Not to mention the old emperor, who had been celibate for a long time. Although he dared not have any improper thoughts about He Jiuniang now, it did not stop him from standing up for the beauty.
"Sixth Brother, you're really something! You can't do anything productive all day, and now you're bullying a woman. You've completely disgraced the royal family!"
The old emperor started cursing without even noticing the bruises and swelling on Prince Jing's face.
"Father, it was I who was beaten! I didn't even touch a single hair on that woman's head!"
Prince Jing could hardly believe it. He had always known that his father was incompetent and biased, but he never expected that his father's bias would be this extreme.
He Jiuniang didn't care about any of that and continued, "Your Majesty, when Prince Jing saw me, he demanded that I kneel and kowtow to him three times. Normally, I would not have said a word! But today I have to see Your Majesty, and it is really too late to delay. So I pleaded with His Highness to perform the ceremony another day, but His Highness refused no matter what and came forward to hit me. I really had no way to fight back. I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"
That's what he said, but he didn't look afraid at all, nor did he seem to be begging the old emperor to punish him. Instead, he looked at Prince Jing with a smug smile.
Prince Jing had no way to express his bitterness, and only then did he truly understand the meaning of the ancient saying that "only petty men and women are difficult to deal with."
He was the one who got beaten, but He Jiuniang said everything. What could he say?
The old emperor was furious and said fiercely to Prince Jing, "Is this how you bully a woman? Do you know that I invited Madam He to treat my illness? How can you make things difficult for her like this? Where do you put me?"
Prince Jing hurriedly knelt down and begged for forgiveness: "Father, please calm your anger, things are not like that..."
"What, are you going to say that this He woman framed you? She's just a lowly woman who came to the palace only to treat my illness. Why would she frame you? I've been too lenient with you all these years, which is why you've become such a petty and narrow-minded person!"
Prince Jing looked bewildered: "Huh?"
"What do you mean 'huh'? Come over here and apologize to Madam Lu!"
"ah?"
Prince Jing's eyes widened again: "Father, it is your son who is injured!"
"You deserve it! Who told you to go and provoke Madam Lu!"
The old emperor didn't think there was anything wrong with what he said, and even glared at Prince Jing, telling him to apologize immediately.
Prince Jing never expected things to turn out this way. He thought that his injury would at least make his father favor him a little, but who would have thought that his father would so indiscriminately side with He Jiu Niang.
I had long heard that my father was biased towards He Jiu Niang, and whatever He Jiu Niang said was the truth. Her words carried more weight than those of the wicked concubines in the harem. I always felt that the relationship between He Jiu Niang and my father was unusual!
"I ordered you to apologize! Did you hear me? How dare you disobey me!"
After waiting for a while, the old emperor became even angrier when he saw that Prince Jing did not speak.
Prince Jing was extremely frustrated, but finally gritted his teeth and said, "I apologize, it was my recklessness."
He Jiuniang then slowly said, "Since Your Highness has apologized, then this humble woman will not say anything more. In any case, Your Highness is a prince, and this humble woman is just a lowly woman. Even if I have a great grievance, I dare not say anything more."
As she said this, she deliberately lowered her head and put on a wronged look. Prince Jing was dumbfounded. He never expected that this woman could act so well!
The old emperor listened attentively and immediately said, "Did you hear that? Go back and prepare generous gifts to apologize to the Lu family. We can't let this go like this!"
Prince Jing was heartbroken. He had already apologized in public, but now he still had to come to apologize in person with generous gifts. This was like humiliating Prince Jing in front of him!
"Did you hear me!"
The old emperor roared in anger, and Prince Jing had no choice but to grit his teeth and agree.
After that, Prince Ling was driven out, and only then did He Jiu Niang begin to treat the old emperor.
"Didn't you say you'd come once a month? Why have you taken so long? I haven't been feeling well lately. If you hadn't come soon, I would have sent someone to Jingzhou to fetch you!"
The old emperor complained with a face full of grievance, looking just like an overgrown child begging for candy.
He Jiuniang snorted coldly and said, "Is that so? This humble woman could not see that His Majesty was so eager to see a doctor. If I hadn't been able to do something today, I would have really been bullied by Prince Jing. I haven't been here for so long, and His Majesty hasn't sent anyone to check on me. How dare you say such a thing?"
"Oh, so you vented your anger by beating up Lao Liu, didn't you? I'm totally siding with you, aren't I? Lao Liu is never one to suffer a loss, but he really got the short end of the stick this time. You should be grateful."
The old emperor wasn't truly ignorant; he naturally understood that Prince Ling was the one who had been beaten. However, in his view, the one who started it was the one who was despicable, and Prince Ling shouldn't have provoked this woman in the first place. This outcome was deserved.
Moreover, his condition depends on He Jiuniang, and he needs He Jiuniang to prolong his life if he wants to live a few more years. In the face of his own life, nothing else matters.
He Jiuniang curled her lips into a smile. This old emperor didn't seem as incompetent as the rumors suggested.
It makes sense, really. How many people who become emperors are fools? It's just that everything is within their calculations.
In his eyes, everything in this world was divided into two categories: things he cared about and things he didn't care about. It all came down to what the old emperor cared about.
She used to care about the Crown Prince and the other princes, but now that she has seen the situation clearly, her heart has started to lean towards Prince Chen.
Without further ado, He Jiuniang began to give him acupuncture. Seeing that his body was recovering well, she realized that he did not have the serious illness he had described.
It seems that the old emperor was quite ruthless to himself in order to survive, and he cherished his body very much, which is why his health improved so significantly.
This is a good thing, but it's not a good thing either.
The reason why He Jiuniang can get the old emperor to listen to her now is mainly because the old emperor needs her help. As long as the old emperor recovers, he may be the first one to deal with her.
Of course, this is just speculation. After all, the current emperor doesn't have that much courage. Even if he recovers, He Jiuniang still has the ability to hold him hostage.
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