I patted my heart; I never imagined that this thing would have such uncertainties.
I always thought it would only make a sound when the ring was pulled.
The Marquis twitched his lips as he stood to the side. He knew this emperor was a bit unreliable, but he never expected him to be so frivolous, daring to sleep with this thing after learning of its power.
"Ahem, Xiao Dezi, take this away." The Emperor coughed twice, making a fist, to cover his embarrassment.
Xiao Dezi quickly took the hot potato off the bed, his heart filled with shock.
Seeing Xiao Dezi leave, he turned to the Marquis and asked, "Didn't you take the little princess to suppress bandits? How come you're back so soon after only two hours?"
Before the Marquis could speak, Su Muyao asked, "Who did you give those crossbows that I gave you to keep?"
The emperor was puzzled as to why the topic of crossbows had suddenly come up.
"I handed it over to Lord Li, is there something wrong with it? You look unhappy, little fellow."
Su Muyao pouted and said, "How can I be happy when someone else sells the things I worked so hard to make?"
Upon hearing this, the emperor was immediately shocked: "What did you say? That old scoundrel dared to sell the things I entrusted to his care."
Su Muyao rubbed her ears. Did this old man really have to speak so loudly right in front of her? Her ears were about to go deaf.
The Emperor was filled with anger. He had always thought that Lord Li was a good person, but he never expected that he was also a two-faced person.
Just then, Xiao Dezi returned and saw that the Emperor was furious. It was obvious that this little rascal had angered the Emperor, or said something that had angered him.
"Xiao Dezi, go and summon Lord Li and tell him to bring over all the crossbows that I left with him."
Xiao Dezi went to handle it, while Su Muyao sat down in the chair without any hesitation.
The Marquis looked at the chair next to him, itching to sit down, but since the Emperor was there and hadn't offered him a seat, he dared not be as impolite as this little brat.
As if he could tell, the emperor pointed to the chair next to Su Muyao and said, "My lord, please sit down."
The Marquis didn't stand on ceremony and plopped down in his seat.
"I wonder how much the Marquis earned from his bandit suppression campaign this time?" the emperor asked tentatively.
The little girl thought about how much grain the bandits had looted from the people on the mountain, and figured they must have reaped quite a lot.
However, they left in a hurry, leaving only their lieutenant and the others to clean up the mess.
It must be the emperor's fault, it's truly tragic that the national treasury is empty of both money and grain.
"Your Majesty, you must be joking. There are only a few people on this bandit mountain, and they all have families to support. What else could they possibly have?"
The deputy general is still packing up over there. I just came with the young princess to ask about the situation. It wouldn't make sense for me to take the young princess away and not bring her back.
However, although it's not much, it's still not as good as subsidizing military rations later. I wonder what Your Majesty thinks?
The Emperor cursed Lord Wu in his heart, thinking he was a fool.
I had already found out that the place I was going to was the only bandit stronghold near the capital.
I heard that there are at least 10,000 bandits in the mountains, and this is the information that the Grand Steward found out.
They wanted to find some grain to hand over, but it seems he's completely blocked that path. What could they do? They could only nod in agreement.
But the thought that all that money and grain had gone into that old scoundrel's pocket made him feel terrible!
Su Muyao then remembered to ask, "Uncle, where on an ordinary mountain could so many people gather, and how could you not know after so long?"
The emperor nodded in agreement, having never heard anyone report these bandits to his superiors before.
After all, if they had said so, they would have sent people to suppress the bandits long ago. How could they possibly bully the common people under the heavens?
If these poor people are still being bullied under the emperor's very nose, then the emperor himself is truly incompetent.
"Oh, do you know who's behind this?"
The little girl shook her head. Yes, how could she know at this point?
Li Mansion
When a servant came to report that Eunuch De had arrived, Lord Li felt a jolt of surprise.
"What wind blew you here, Father-in-law? I knew that the magpie's call on the branch today meant that a distinguished person was coming."
Seeing Lord Li's nervous appearance, Xiao Dezi didn't waste any words with him and said directly, "His Majesty has decreed that Lord Li should bring all the crossbows to the palace."
Upon hearing this, Lord Li took several steps back, his legs went weak, and he almost knelt on the ground. Fortunately, someone next to him helped him up.
"Alright, we're still waiting to return to the palace. Hopefully, Lord Li can hurry up a bit."
Lord Li was sweating profusely; the young princess had brought a total of thirteen crossbows.
But now he can only return ten crossbows. What should he do? Given how much the emperor values these crossbows, he'll probably just cut off his head.
"What a tragedy! What a disgrace to our family! What a disgrace to our family!"
In the end, Lord Li carried the ten crossbows and followed Eunuch De to the palace.
Upon arriving at the main hall, they saw the Prime Minister and the young princess kneeling down before Lord Li.
"I am guilty"
Seeing Lord Li's state, what else could the Emperor say? It seemed Lord Li must know the reason behind it all.
"Tell me, you were entrusted with the supervision of thirteen crossbows, but when you retrieved them again, there were only ten of the original three."
Lord Li now longs to go back home and strangle his rebellious son to death.
It was because that unfilial son in the family lost a lot of money gambling, and since he didn't dare to tell her, he actually came up with the idea of using a crossbow.
After selling three crossbows, he realized he could look for the three more, but it was too late.
"Your Majesty, it is my fault for failing to discipline my son properly, which allowed him to steal three of them and sell them."
As soon as Lord Li finished speaking, the Emperor came down to the side and kicked Lord Li.
"What audacity! We only let you manage things because we trust you."
Now that your crossbow has been sold, you haven't gone to retrieve it in time. Even if you can't find it, you should at least report it to me.
Instead of letting me discover the crossbow's whereabouts outside, you truly disappoint me.
Lord Li was kicked backward, but he immediately got up and knelt down.
Su Muyao sat eating melon and only felt that her butt hurt after sitting for a long time.
After looking around, I finally saw the soft cushion on the dragon throne.
He picked it up with a few loud thuds, put it on his stool, and sat down.
The Marquis stared wide-eyed. He had long heard that the young princess was an extraordinary person, but she was even more remarkable than he had imagined!
They even dared to take the cushion off the emperor's dragon throne; would they even dare to sit on the dragon throne itself?
However, he is indeed young. If he were older, he would definitely be dragged out and beheaded, right?
Especially now that the emperor is still angry, it's uncertain whether the little girl's actions will anger him.
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