The emperor coughed and said, "Sister, this is a New Year's banquet, please be careful with your words."
At this time, Lin Yuzhi was turning the wine glass in his hand, looking at Wen Yu thoughtfully, as if he understood something, and slightly curled the corners of his lips.
"I'm very careful with my words. She dared to deceive the emperor, so I can't say she's talking nonsense?" Wen Yu was unconvinced and looked at Chen Xiuling, "What do you think?"
Chen Xiuling was so frightened by the word "deceiving the king" that he fell to his knees. Cold sweat broke out on his back uncontrollably. He opened his mouth but said nothing.
This word is too serious, so serious that it could cost her life.
Even Lin'an Hou hurriedly stood up and knelt beside Chen Xiuling after hearing this, and asked respectfully and nervously: "I don't know why the princess said this, I really can't bear the word "deceiving the king"."
Wen Yu touched her chin and did not answer Lin'an Hou's question. Instead, she looked at Li Qingyi and said, "I'll have to ask Li Qingyi about this."
Everyone's eyes were focused on her. Li Qingyi's hands and feet were so stiff that she was even more nervous than when she presented the New Year's gift just now.
She understood what the eldest princess meant, and she was standing up for her.
But as soon as she opened her mouth, she would be offending Chen Xiuling to death. Did she really want to do this?
However, when she saw Wen Yu's gentle gaze, Li Qingyi's originally uneasy heart suddenly calmed down.
She took a breath and said, "Your Majesty, I am not good at writing poetry. When I was in the plum forest, I did not write any amazing plum poems. But Miss Chen just said that I..."
Li Qingyi paused and said, "I don't know why Miss Chen said that just now."
Wen Yu nodded and poked the emperor's arm: "Look, my brother, isn't this deceiving the emperor?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the young ladies who had been in Merlin before all tightened their handkerchiefs tacitly, fearing that they would be implicated as well.
The ministers thought for a while. Everyone could see from the scene just now that Li Qingyi had offended Chen Xiuling, and Chen Xiuling was using literary competition to teach her a lesson.
But no one expected that such a small matter that everyone saw through but didn't say it out loud would be elevated by the eldest princess to the level of deceiving the emperor.
But to say that I did not deceive the king, then I did.
This Chen Xiuling is so bold as to borrow the emperor's name to teach others a lesson. Does she think she is the eldest princess?
The ministers felt a little complicated for a moment.
The emperor looked at the kneeling father and daughter and said calmly, "Does Chen Xiuling have any explanation?"
When Chen Xiuling heard his name coming from the emperor's mouth, he couldn't help but shudder.
She couldn't admit it. If she did, it would be a crime of deceiving the emperor and she would be finished.
But she didn't understand how the eldest princess knew that Li Qingyi didn't write the poem and stood up for her.
Chen Xiuling gritted her teeth and took a gamble, saying, "These are just her one-sided statements. I would like to ask the princess, have you seen it with your own eyes?"
Wen Yu shrugged: "I didn't see it."
Chen Xiuling clenched her palms when she heard this: "Your Majesty, please understand. At that time in Meilin, she and I competed in poetry with a silver hairpin as a prize. If my poem won over hers, she would give the silver hairpin to me."
"But now the silver hairpin is still in Li Qingyi's hair, which means her poem is better than mine."
Li Qingyi didn't expect her to say that and was completely stunned. She subconsciously touched her silver hairpin and looked at Wen Yu nervously.
Wen Yu lazily leaned back in the chair, holding her cheek and saying, "Old sows wear bras, one set after another."
emperor:……
Minister:…
Wen Yu said slowly: "Although I didn't see it, Lin Yuzhi saw it, right, Prime Minister?"
Lin Yuzhi acted indifferent, as if he had expected Wen Yu to mention him.
He said calmly, "Your Majesty, I did see the incident with my own eyes. What Miss Li said is true. The Princess was with me at the time and saw it clearly."
Wen Yu glared at him. Was the following sentence necessary?
The emperor had a strange look on his face. Why was his sister getting involved with the prime minister again?
Then there was a flash of helplessness in his eyes when he looked at Wen Yu, as if saying: Imperial sister, I knew you were still thinking about the Prime Minister, so stop pretending.
Wen Yu: ...
At this time, Chen Xiuling's face was pale and he fell to the ground, trembling.
Marquis Lin'an closed his eyes and made a decision in his heart. Now that things have come to this, he should bear the pain and give up.
"Your Majesty, I have deceived you and I deserve death..."
The emperor raised his hand to interrupt him, not wanting to listen: "Imperial sister, you are the one who brought up the charge, what do you think?"
Wen Yu said: "I see with my eyes."
The emperor held his forehead, looked at the audience, and said in a deep voice: "Considering that you are ignorant, stupid, and a first-time offender, the death penalty will be pardoned. But the death penalty can be pardoned, but the living punishment cannot be escaped."
"Where is the Dali Temple Minister?"
Jiang Qi stood up and said, "I am here."
"Thirty strokes of the cane and three years of house arrest."
Chen Xiuling closed her eyes upon hearing this, her eyelashes trembling constantly, but she did not dare to let the tears fall.
Ignorant and stupid, these comments made her feel more uncomfortable than killing her. Her pride was crushed by the emperor's words.
She could no longer hold her head up among the circle of noble ladies.
In a trance, she seemed to hear the mocking and sneering voices of the other young ladies, which lashed her heart like a whip, and inferiority and shame surged up wildly.
At that moment, she seemed to understand why the eldest princess stood up for Li Qingyi.
Chen Xiuling raised her head slightly and met Wen Yu's lazy gaze.
Wen Yu looked at her and said, "Forget about the caning. It's New Year's Day, don't make it bloody. Three years of house arrest and confinement are enough. Hmm... add a 30,000-word self-criticism."
The emperor had no objection: "Then let's do as my sister says."
The New Year's Eve party also came to an end with the conclusion of this incident.
After the ministers dispersed, the emperor asked leisurely, "Are you satisfied, sister?"
Wen Yu chuckled, grabbed the emperor's sleeve and shook it: "I know that you understand me, my brother."
The emperor sighed: "The crime of deceiving the emperor, such a big name, you can think of it."
"How can she scare people if she's not famous? When she bullied Li Qingyi in the Plum Garden today, she was so arrogant, even more arrogant than me, the eldest princess. Later, she used you as a scapegoat to continue humiliating others. I didn't even use your name to bully others, but she did it first. I'm wondering, am I the eldest princess or is she the eldest princess?"
Wen Yu kept talking.
The emperor was at a loss whether to laugh or cry: "Didn't you use me to show off?"
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