Upon hearing this, Nianci was first stunned, and then tears welled up in her eyes again.
He looked at Jiang Ling and said, choking back tears, "Mother, I'm sorry, I was too anxious just now! That's why I spoke without thinking!"
He Shunsu and Gu Aqi approached nervously after seeing Nianci's emotions gradually stabilize.
“Nian… Nianci, it’s my fault, I shouldn’t have abandoned you!” Gu Aqi said, looking at Nianci with red eyes.
He Shunsu, standing to the side, didn't say anything out of respect for being the Third Prince. He just looked at Nianci with mixed feelings and finally said, "Let's go back first. There are too many people around!"
The group returned to the Third Prince's residence. Jiang Ling looked at Nianci and suddenly seemed to remember something, asking with some surprise, "How did you end up here?"
Nianci frowned and looked at Jiang Ling, saying, "My uncle and aunt forced me to come here!"
"What?" Jiang Ling looked at Nianci in surprise.
"What exactly is going on?" Jiang Ling asked, her eyes wide.
It turns out that ever since the last time Old Madam Jiang asked Jiang Zhitang to secretly observe Nianci's whereabouts, she had the idea of sending Nianci over.
Today, taking advantage of Jiang Ling's absence, Jiang Zhitang and Ma's parents forcibly brought Nianci here.
Nianci wasn't stupid; she knew what the two were up to, but since she was just a child and outnumbered, she decided to pretend to agree for the time being.
Just then, Nianci ran into Gu Aqi, who was about to leave, at the door. Upon seeing Gu Aqi, Nianci immediately called out "Mother."
Gu Aqi looked at Jiang Zhitang and Madam Ma warily. After explaining his purpose, Gu Aqi led the two into the Prince's mansion.
The two of them are currently sitting in a side hall, waiting for news.
As he spoke, Gu Aqi led He Shunsu and Jiang Ling to the side hall.
Gu Aqi pointed to the two people drinking tea and eating snacks and whispered, "Look, aren't these your younger brother and sister-in-law?"
After seeing it clearly, Jiang Ling cursed under her breath, then nodded.
The three of them disappeared silently outside the side hall once again.
"Nine times out of ten, they came here to curry favor, thinking that if they tied Nianci up, they would get a reward. I guess Ma Shi overheard me chatting with Nianci a few days ago!" Jiang Ling recalled the scene from a few days ago, just as Jiang Shan caught Ma Shi eavesdropping at the door.
Thinking of this, Jiang Ling looked up at the Third Prince, bowed to him, and said, "I beg you, Third Prince, to teach those two in the side hall a lesson! However, that woman is pregnant, so please show mercy, as the child is innocent!"
The Third Prince immediately understood Jiang Ling's meaning. He nodded and said, "Yes, don't worry!" Then he walked towards the side hall.
"The Third Prince has arrived!" Xiao Hai's voice pulled Jiang Zhitang and Madam Ma back to reality from their dream.
The two exchanged a glance, their mouths practically splitting open in a wide grin. They immediately knelt down and bowed respectfully to the Third Prince.
"This humble subject, Jiang Zhitang, and my unworthy wife, Ma, pay our respects to the Third Prince!" Jiang Zhitang said to the Third Prince, his whole body trembling.
Ma was so frightened that her face turned pale and she didn't even dare to lift her head.
The Third Prince, seated in his chair, glanced at the two of them disdainfully and said, "Get up!"
The two men scrambled to their feet, trembling, and sat down on the chairs nearby.
"Did you send that child over?" the Third Prince asked.
Jiang Zhitang glanced up at the Third Prince and thought to himself that something was wrong. The person he had secretly seen last time was not the same person he was seeing this time.
Thinking of this, Jiang Zhitang quickly shook his head and denied it, saying, "Your Highness... this child was not sent by us!"
Upon hearing this, Madam Ma was shocked and quickly turned to look at Jiang Zhitang. However, Jiang Zhitang had his head down and did not see Madam Ma looking at him. Moreover, they were in the Third Prince's residence, and he dared not do anything underhanded in front of the dignified prince.
She could only bite her lip, completely bewildered.
"Oh? This child wasn't sent by you? But you said you sent that child, and since you don't know the child, why did you send him here? Could it be!" At this point, the Third Prince suddenly slammed his hand on the chair.
"Xiao Hai! These two are assassins, arrest them!"
At a single command, before Jiang Zhitang and Ma Shi could react, Jiang Zhitang had already been pinned to the table by Xiao Hai.
Startled, Madam Ma smashed her teacup and collapsed to her knees.
Jiang Zhitang was so frightened that he urinated, and the stench immediately filled the entire room.
"We're innocent! Third Prince, we're innocent!" Jiang Zhitang immediately cried out.
Having taught Xiao Hai a lesson, the Third Prince waved for him to leave. Xiao Hai then flashed back to the Third Prince's side without saying a word.
"If you claim you're innocent, then where does your injustice come from?" The Third Prince looked with great interest at Jiang Zhitang, who was so frightened he wet his pants.
"That...that child, I..."
"I'll give you a chance. If you can answer, this matter will be dropped. If you can't answer, don't blame me for being ruthless!" With that, the Third Prince deliberately crushed the teacup in his hand in front of the two of them to create momentum.
Jiang Zhitang was so frightened by the sight that he trembled all over and slapped Ma Shi across the face.
"Your Highness! It's all this wretched woman's fault!" Jiang Zhitang pointed at Madam Ma and knelt on the ground.
Madam Ma was completely bewildered by the beating, but seeing her husband kneeling on the ground, she couldn't say anything and remained trembling and silent.
“I am the younger brother of Lady Jiang, a fifth-rank official. This wretched woman is my wife. Once, I overheard Lady Jiang talking in her room. She said that the child was not hers, so we secretly observed her and discovered that Lady Jiang had come from the Third Prince's residence one day, so… so…”
"Oh? So, you tricked this child into coming here to claim a reward, is that what happened?" The Third Prince, annoyed by Jiang Zhitang's rambling, simply relayed what Jiang Zhitang was about to say.
Jiang Zhitang immediately gasped in astonishment, his whole body trembling like a leaf, and dared not say another word.
The Third Prince smiled faintly, his authority undiminished, and said, "Do you know that kidnapping my Third Prince's child is punishable by death by a thousand cuts?"
Jiang Zhitang was so frightened he almost fainted. He gasped for breath and shook his head like a rattle drum.
"Alright, consider this a lesson for you! Get out of here now!" the Third Prince roared.
Jiang Zhitang and Madam Ma were already so frightened that they ran away unsteadily towards the door.
"Alright, come in, but the smell isn't very good!" He Shunsu said, having already spotted Jiang Ling watching the show from the sidelines.
Jiang Ling walked in confidently, followed closely by Nianci and Gu Aqi.
The Third Prince looked at Jiang Ling and thought for a moment before saying, "So, now, shall we talk about our serious business?"
Jiang Ling's eyes flickered, and she involuntarily looked at Nianci.
Nianci shrank back, wanting to run towards Jiang Ling, but Gu Aqi held her hand tightly, preventing her from moving.
"Third Prince, please speak!" Jiang Ling said, mustering her courage.
He Shunsu nodded, pointed at Nianci, and asked, "What should we do about him?"
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