Then she turned around, wiggled her hips, and ran to Ning Chunlin's side, leaning her whole body against him, and began to sob and complain:
"Brother Chunlin, I know Aunt Xu has never liked me, but I never expected her to frame me in something like this. I really have no way to explain myself, sob sob..."
Ning Chunlin's heart softened immediately upon seeing Lian Yao's pitiful, tear-streaked face. He quickly patted Lian Yao's shoulder to comfort her:
"Okay, okay, I know they wronged you. Don't be afraid, I'm here. Let's not cry anymore."
Lian Yao's lips curved slightly, then she looked up at Ning Chunlin with reddened eyes and a tear still glistening in the corner of her eye.
"Brother Chunlin, thank goodness you're here, otherwise Lianyao really wouldn't know what to do..."
Looking at Lian Yao's state, Ning Chunlin longed to kiss her right then and there, but remembering that they weren't the only two present, he suppressed his burning desire, calmed himself, and then glared at Xu Qianqian.
"How dare you, as a concubine, speak in front of Mother? Don't try to implicate Lianyao; she didn't mean to!"
Xu Qianqian blushed with anger upon hearing this.
"You, you, you're just going to protect this little slut!"
Seeing this, the princess glared at Ning Chunlin with disgust and said:
"Aunt Xu is not worthy to speak to me. Does she think she's worthy, coming from a brothel?"
As the princess spoke, she stepped forward and removed the coral earrings that Jiang Yuwei was wearing.
"Yuwei, this piece of jewelry has been touched by something unclean. Let's keep it and give it to the servants later. You can go and pick out a few more pieces that you like."
Jiang Yuwei smiled and nodded. She didn't want these things, but Ning Chunlin and his group made her change her mind.
These things originally belonged to my mother-in-law. A bunch of outsiders were staring wide-eyed at them and trying to snatch them. Why should I be modest and give in? It would only dampen my own spirits and boost the prestige of others.
So Jiang Yuwei took Ning Wan's small hand and said:
"Since Grandmother is going to reward you, then Wan'er will also go and pick out a few things you like."
Ning Wan nodded happily upon hearing this. In fact, she had already set her sights on a piece of shimmering brocade fabric. The fabric sparkled in the sunlight, and Ning Wan had taken a liking to it at first sight.
If her mother hadn't kept stopping her, Ning Wan would have already held the fabric in her arms.
Now that she had her mother's permission, Ning Wan didn't stand on ceremony and walked directly to the piece of fabric, smiling at the princess and saying:
"Grandmother, Wan'er likes this fabric."
The princess looked up and saw the pink shimmering brocade. She smiled and nodded. This material was not suitable for someone of the princess's age. The princess had originally intended to give it to Jiang Yuwei, but now that Ning Wan liked it, it was a good opportunity for her.
Ning Xin, who was standing nearby, also spotted the gleaming fabric from afar. She immediately released Sun Shi's hand, ran over, shoved Ning Wan to the ground, and shouted angrily:
"These are all mine, you good-for-nothing, don't even think about taking them from me!"
He then stepped forward, hugged the piece of cloth tightly, and cursed at Ning Wan:
"Grandma is right, you shameless little beast! That's my grandmother, why are you trying to steal her from me!"
Jiang Yuwei knew that the grandmother Ning Xin was referring to was Chen Guixiang. Without thinking, she rushed forward to help Ning Wan up, then turned and slapped Ning Xin across the face.
“Your mother didn’t know how to teach you how to be a person, so I’ll teach you. Others say you’re not presentable, and you really are!”
Seeing her daughter being beaten, Mrs. Sun could no longer remain calm. She rushed forward to shield Ning Xin behind her, glaring angrily at Jiang Yuwei and cursing:
"You should be grateful that our Prince's Mansion is willing to take your family in. You always try to take everything from us, you really think you're human!"
As she spoke, Madam Sun glared at Ning Wan, who was in Jiang Yuwei's arms, and cursed:
"You've been an ill-mannered child since you were little. Now that you're living in our mansion, you even dare to snatch things from Xin'er. I think you just want to move out as soon as possible!"
While Sun was cursing fiercely, she didn't notice that the princess was already staring at her with a dark expression.
Right now, his own granddaughter is being bullied like this by an imposter, but he can't openly scold her back. Even his daughter-in-law is being scolded along with her by an unknown village woman.
The princess felt an inexplicable anger rising within her, and when she turned around and saw Lian Yao clinging to Ning Chunlin's arms, crying and whimpering, she became even more furious.
If there were no one else around, these two would probably have already had a child.
Thinking this, the princess no longer wanted to tolerate it and directly said to Ning Chunlin:
"You dared to throw away this prostitute in your arms, a gift from the Empress. If this matter goes unexplained, it's simply unacceptable. Guards, drag this woman out and give her twenty lashes. She's never to appear before me again, lest she offend my eyes!"
Seeing that the princess was truly angry, Lianyao became frightened and quickly looked at Ning Chunlin with a panicked expression. She then knelt down before the princess and begged for forgiveness:
"Your Highness, it was my fault. I was careless. But wasn't the other person also at fault for not catching it?"
Seeing that she still dared to casually drag Jiang Yuwei into things even now, the princess glared at her and angrily said:
"You still have the nerve to drag others into this? If you hadn't been so impulsive as to take the hairpin from Yuwei's hair, how could it have ended up on the ground!"
Seeing that Lian Yao was trembling with fear, Ning Chunlin quickly stepped forward and bowed to the princess, saying:
“Mother, Lianyao did it unintentionally. There’s no need to make such a fuss. There are no outsiders in this courtyard right now, so no one will tell anyone.”
The princess glanced at Ning Chunlin with disdain. He was nothing like her own son. Not only was he short, but he was also ugly. She couldn't understand how she had been so blind as to mistake him for her son.
Thinking this, she couldn't help but turn around and glare at Wang Ma standing beside her with a hint of resentment. Wang Ma didn't know why the princess suddenly glared at her, and she was immediately flustered.
After glaring at her, the princess turned to Ning Chunlin and slowly said:
"Chunlin, you're being foolish! How can you deceive your superiors like this? If we offend the royal family for the sake of a prostitute, and if this gets out, our royal family's position will be in jeopardy."
As she spoke, the princess glanced at Lianyao, who was still kneeling on the ground, and slowly began to speak:
"In any case, twenty strokes of the cane is the lightest punishment. If you don't want this woman to be punished, then you can do it for her."
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