Chapter 82 Chapter 27: Is this protecting her?
Liu's words were certainly reasonable, so Xiao Mingzheng didn't think much about it and directly ordered: "Drag them out and beat them all to death with sticks to serve as a warning to others!"
"Yes!" After receiving the prince's order, several guards came in from outside immediately. They stepped forward to grab Nanny Jiang, the tied guard and Xier, and prepared to take them out and beat them to death with sticks.
Seeing this, several people were naturally frightened and begged for mercy loudly. Zhong Min was shocked to see that Xier was about to be beaten to death. He subconsciously rushed to Xiao Mingzheng, grabbed his sleeve and said, "Your Highness, wait a minute!"
"What's the matter?" Seeing Zhong Min's anxious expression, Xiao Mingzheng couldn't help but soften his tone. "They hurt you like this, are you really going to plead for them?"
Seeing this, the bound guard quickly took the opportunity to call out to Zhong Min for help: "Miss, save me, Miss, save me, Miss, you said..."
"Shut up!" Zhong Min was afraid that the bastard guard would say something he shouldn't say, so he quickly stopped him. Then, after thinking about it, he had to tiptoe slightly and whispered a few words to Xiao Mingzheng's ear.
The tied guard thought Zhong Min was secretly pleading for him, so he immediately shut his mouth and waited with hope on his face.
After hearing what Zhong Min said, Xiao Mingzheng couldn't help but look at her, but he didn't ask anything in person. He just waved to the servants beside him, signaling them to let Xier go, and the other two continued.
Seeing this, the servant naturally let go of Xier immediately, and then quickly pulled out Nanny Jiang and the tied guard. The tied guard had no time to react, but just screamed like a slaughtered pig a few times, and was soon dragged to another place and beaten to death with sticks.
Seeing the natural and intimate gestures between Zhong Min and Xiao Mingzheng, Concubine Liu couldn't help but look at Zhong Min with a different eye. However, she was much smarter than Concubine Zheng and wouldn't foolishly attack anyone who showed up.
She was afraid that she would have to be extra nice to Zhong Min in the future. Maybe one day she would become the new sister in the back garden. It was always better to have more friends than more enemies, especially someone as smart and capable as Zhong Min.
"Ms. Liu, from now on, the affairs of the palace's back garden will be temporarily left to you. No more unnecessary chaos must be allowed to occur." After Xiao Mingzheng said this, he did not stay here any longer. He glanced at Zhong Min, motioned her to go back with him, and then turned and left.
Seeing this, Zhong Min quickly bowed to Liu with a smile to express his gratitude, and then looked at Xier soothingly. It was not appropriate to say anything more in front of everyone at this time, so he turned around and quickly followed Xiao Mingzheng.
Along the way, Xiao Mingzheng didn't ask Zhong Min a single question until they reached Mo Garden and entered the study. Then, with a stern face, he said to Zhong Min, "You're quite courageous. You knew they were going to harm you, but not only did you not report the truth to me, you even went off to solve the problem yourself. Do you take me seriously?"
Seeing Xiao Mingzheng's unhappy expression and hearing what he said, Zhong Min knew that this master was going to come after her. Although he had just punished Zheng Fei and her gang, it was a one-on-one affair. Zheng Fei and her gang were in trouble, but that didn't mean she was free of it.
After hesitating for a while, she whispered, "It's not that I don't want to report it to the prince, but this kind of thing has no evidence. If I tell you about it before it happens, will you believe it? After all, it's yours who wants to harm me..."
"You haven't even said anything, how do you know I won't believe you?" Xiao Mingzheng interrupted Zhong Min, a hint of unintentional annoyance flashing across his face. "Could it be that I am so confused about right and wrong, public and private, in your mind?"
"No, no, no, that's not what I meant." For some reason, Zhong Min always felt weird seeing Xiao Mingzheng like this. Her usual self-righteous and indifferent demeanor seemed to have been restrained a lot. She rarely saw Xiao Mingzheng with such an expression. It seemed that he was really angry this time.
She could only say in a gentle voice, "I just felt that I could handle this matter myself, so I thought I'd let the truth come to light first, and then I'd be more confident in telling the prince."
"That's right. I forgot who you are, Zhong Min. With your ability and knowing their plan in advance, how could you let them succeed?" Xiao Mingzheng saw Zhong Min's heartless look and couldn't help but laugh at himself, "I've been worrying for nothing."
As soon as these words were spoken, Xiao Mingzheng was stunned for a moment, as if he suddenly realized that he had overreacted. However, the words had already been said and could not be taken back, so he had to remain silent and stop talking.
Zhong Min was also a little confused by Xiao Mingzheng's mood. She couldn't help but secretly look up at Xiao. Seeing that he stopped talking, she thought for a moment and had to give in. "I was not careful in this matter. I shouldn't have made decisions without telling the prince. I will never do this again in the future. Please calm down, Your Majesty."
Forget it, it's okay to bow your head and admit your mistakes, no matter whether you are right or wrong. In fact, she could also hear that Xiao Mingzheng didn't really mean to blame her, but instead there was a rare bit of concern in his heart. After all, he was still a prince, so there was no need to always argue with him.
Seeing Zhong Min's words, Xiao Mingzheng simply stopped trying to hide his true feelings and said sternly, "I know this matter very well. Although Zheng was the one who instigated it and harmed you first, you also took advantage of the situation and played many tricks. Although Concubine Zheng is not smart, she is not foolish enough to tell a guard about her intention to eliminate Liu. And that guard was willing to honestly follow your instructions to identify Zheng, and he also said it exactly according to your wishes at the most appropriate time. You must have had some influence over all of this!"
Hearing this, Zhong Min couldn't help but tense up. Xiao Mingzheng was truly incredibly clever. He hadn't asked any questions, but with just one glance, he'd already figured out the entire situation. This was truly stressful for her. Looking at his expression and hearing his tone, was he seriously planning to punish her?
To be honest, although what she did seemed to be nothing special and natural to her, in the eyes of different people, especially from the perspective of Xiao Mingzheng, her thoughts might not be much different from Concubine Zheng's. The only difference was that one was taking the initiative and the other was passively counterattacking.
"Your Highness is wise and wise. Zhong Min dares not lie. I did indeed manipulate some things, but I had no other choice. Otherwise, I would not be able to let everyone see Zheng's true face, and there would be no way to obtain the so-called evidence. Therefore, Zhong Min begs Your Highness to forgive me."
She pouted slightly, thinking to herself, if Xiao Mingzheng really punished her for this, she would use the outer defense of the capital as a threat and see what this stinky prince dared to do to her. If he had offended her, so be it. It wasn't the first time anyway. At worst, she could make preparations in advance and take the opportunity to slip away on the way back from the outer defense, saving herself the constant worry about this master.
Xiao Mingzheng naturally didn't miss Zhong Min's little trick just now. Seeing this, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly, and then changed his tone and said, "I'm just telling you, if you're going to do it, you have to do it as cleanly and thoroughly as possible, and don't leave any handle for others. If you hadn't beaten that guard to death immediately and given him a chance to speak, do you think you could have gotten away with it so cleanly?"
Zhong Min was completely dumbfounded. She stared at Xiao Mingzheng in disbelief, clearly not expecting him to say such words. This time, his meaning couldn't be clearer; even a fool could tell he was intentionally defending her.
"Your Highness, you, you... I, I..." She stuttered for a moment, not knowing what to say at this moment.
"What do you mean by 'you'? What do I mean by 'my'? I'm asking you, did you get the antidote for the knockout drug in advance?" Seeing Zhong Min's expression, Xiao Mingzheng couldn't help but curl his lips into a beautiful arc. "Who helped you get the antidote?"
This woman would rather find someone else to get her the antidote than tell him the truth. He felt very uncomfortable, but seeing how Zhong Min had acted just now, he didn't care anymore.
Zhong Min reacted immediately after hearing this and said quickly, "I asked Xie Feng to get the antidote for me in advance, but I only asked him to help me and didn't tell him where to use it."
"He is very nice to you. As the commander of the guards, someone in the mansion asked him to get the antidote for the knockout drug, but he didn't even ask the reason. It seems that he has thrown all the rules of this mansion aside." Xiao Mingzheng snorted coldly, as if he was going to hold Xie Feng accountable.
Seeing this, Zhong Min was naturally worried that Xie Feng would be implicated by this matter, so he blurted out, "Your Highness, please don't blame Commander Xie. He only agreed after I begged him and promised that I would not harm you."
She naturally knew what Xiao Mingzheng was worried about, so she immediately reacted and added this sentence.
"Okay, you can't even take care of your own affairs, and you always take on too much responsibility for others. I know what's going on, so you don't have to say more. There are less than four days left before you go to Beijing, so just do what you need to do!" After Xiao Mingzheng finished speaking, he picked up the report on the desk and started reading, no longer paying attention to Zhong Min who was standing below him.
Seeing this, Zhong Min naturally knew what Xiao Mingzheng meant, so she didn't say anything more. She obediently left the study and prepared to go about her business.
Unexpectedly, not long after she left Mo Garden, she saw Ning Zhiyuan walking towards her with a smile on his face. The difference was that this time, Ning Zhiyuan was not accompanied by the four attendants, only him.
"Are you okay, Miss Min'er?" Ning Zhiyuan walked straight to Zhong Min and stopped, asking with a concerned look on his face. His expression was as natural as that of a familiar friend.
Seeing this, Zhong Min could only force a smile and said, "Right Prime Minister, you are truly thoughtful. It seems you are well-informed. You knew what a little servant of mine just encountered so early."
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