Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 617: Plea and Discipline
The Third Prince was stunned to see Zhu Ying talking to herself as soon as she came in, but she kicked away the thorns that he had wanted to take off the Fourth Prince's back from the beginning, and even began to pull out the thorns with swift hands and feet. However, he couldn't help but gasp when he saw Zhu Ying immediately take the porcelain bottle handed over by Yuquan after cleaning up the tiny thorns, and sprayed it with a sip after drinking it.
No matter whether there is medicine or liquor in it, how painful would it be if it suddenly touched the wound?
As expected, the Fourth Prince screamed in pain, but Zhu Ying ignored him. He felt as if the pain was in his own body and subconsciously wanted to rush over. But before he could even take a step, his wrist was firmly grasped by someone. Looking back, who else could have grabbed him if not the Queen Mother?
He looked at the Queen Mother with an almost pleading look, but in return, she only gave him a more stern look. When he turned around again, he saw Zhu Ying slapping the Fourth Prince's buttocks several times, which made him even more anxious.
Princess Deyang was also terrified, especially when she saw the Third Prince almost crying. Thinking of how the Third Prince had come to her house early this morning and begged her to come and plead for mercy, how could she, who was already soft-hearted, just sit there and watch? Although she was always the most timid in front of the Queen Mother, she still gritted her teeth and said, "Grandmother, my fourth brother is still young..."
"Yes, yes!" The Third Prince saw that Princess Deyang didn't seem to know what to say next, so he pleaded, "It was all my negligence as a brother in the past. If he needs to be beaten or punished, I should bear the responsibility on his behalf... "
"You are confused!"
The Queen Mother finally flew into a rage. She slapped the armrest and stood up. "This is a big deal, but you guys just told me it was just a young and ignorant mistake? One of you is so dumb that you don't know how to beg for mercy, and the other just knows that it's all my fault. If you two were half as smart as Yingying, the Emperor and I wouldn't have to worry!"
What does this mean?
The Third Prince was stunned for a moment, and when he turned his head to look, he found that Zhu Ying had slapped the Fourth Prince's butt twice, and he suddenly cried out in pain. At this point, even if he was slow to react, he had already realized one thing - that was that after the thorns were removed and the medicine was sprayed, he and Princess Deyang hurriedly pleaded for mercy, but it seemed that they had hardly heard the Fourth Prince scream.
So, Zhu Ying's action of spanking the fourth prince just now...was it fake? Was it for the Queen Mother to see?
The Third Prince's heart moved, and he immediately looked at Zhu Ying , but he saw that Zhu Ying didn't even raise her eyelids, and continued to slap the Fourth Prince's buttocks again and again: "Will you dare to show off the palace affairs outside next time? Your teacher has warned you many times to use your brain before speaking, why didn't you listen? You made the emperor and the queen mother so angry, where is your filial piety? Hmm?"
He looked left and right, and saw the Fourth Prince crying, dancing, and shouting something like "wrong". He couldn't see any signs of falsehood. He was slightly confused at first, and then he suddenly understood. It turned out that the Fourth Prince realized that he was cooperating with Zhu Ying in acting after hearing the conversation between him and the Queen Mother!
Princess Deyang, who was looking in the direction of the voice, was truly confused. She had no idea what Zhu Ying was thinking.
When the Queen Mother saw that one of the siblings had finally woken up, and the other was so easily deceived, she couldn't help but feel angry and amused. Her anger was instantly extinguished. She took a deep breath, then simply sat down, and said with a half-smile, "Okay, Yingying, stop pretending to teach Silang a lesson!"
"When Zhou Yu fought Huang Gai, at least one was willing to fight and the other was willing to be beaten. You two are different. Not only did you pretend to fight to fool me, but you even coordinated so poorly! Can you call that fighting? It's more like tickling Si Lang!"
Seeing that her and the Fourth Prince's trick had been exposed, Zhu Ying smiled awkwardly.
However, she did not show any fear. She lifted the Fourth Prince from her body, took the soft towel handed over by Yuquan, and wiped the Fourth Prince's face twice. Then she hooked two chairs side by side with her feet, and then pressed the Fourth Prince on them to lie down, and poked the back of his head with her finger: "Lie down honestly, I will deal with you later!"
Seeing that her skirt was wrinkled because of the rescue, Zhu Ying adjusted it with some regret, then walked forward, bowed calmly and said: "The Queen Mother just said that Silang and I were faking it, that was really wrong. I beat him so hard that he cried and screamed, and his tears and snot almost flowed all over me, how could it be fake? If you don't believe me, I can ask Yuquan to check the injury later, my hands are quite strong!"
"Yes, yes. When your second brother made a mistake and was beaten when you were little, you took the family cane at a young age and said you would help your grandmother and your father beat him. As a result, you beat him until he was out of breath and his butt was red. In fact, the skin was not even broken. You and your brother have cooperated so many times since you were young. What's the big deal about you beating Shiro now?"
Zhu Ying had never thought that even the little things between her and her second brother could be known to the Queen Mother, and she could not help but feel embarrassed. She pretended not to see the Third Prince's stunned expression, lowered her head and saluted again.
"The Fourth Prince did make a big mistake this time, but he really didn't mean it. What's more, others are calculating. If not this time, there will be a next time. He is not very scheming. If he doesn't get fooled this time, he will get fooled next time."
"He deserves to be taught a lesson, but the emperor had already ordered people to bring all the thorny brambles last night. He probably really wanted to beat him up, but it was useless in the end. That's because the emperor still remembered that Liu Feng was from the Qianqing Palace after all. If he knew that he came from the Qianqing Palace to the Qingning Palace to plead guilty with the thorns on his back, the emperor might not even want to attend court."
"I know what the Empress Dowager is thinking. She is angry that the Emperor did not teach the First and Second Princes well in the past, and now he is so indulgent to the Fourth Prince. What if all his sons are raised astray? What will happen then? However, even though the Fourth Prince is reckless and impulsive, and often does things without considering the consequences, he has a good heart."
"So I just acted in an emergency, and without asking you, I untied the thorns for him, removed the thorns and applied medicine to him, and slapped him... Although this is not my business, but since the emperor has told the story of Yongping and me in public, I think it is always right for me to treat him as a half-brother."
"I only have a brother, no sister or younger siblings, and the Fourth Prince has always called me Sister Yingying, so it's rare for me to do what a sister should do. If the Queen Mother wants to punish him, why not make him copy books for a while to control his self-righteous temper? If he's still angry, don't punish the Third Prince, and don't blame Princess Deyang, just blame me."
At this point, Zhu Ying bowed and said, "I think about it. The Third Prince is steady and Princess Deyang is decent. The only bad example that the Fourth Prince can learn from in this palace is probably me! If the Queen Mother wants to blame someone, just blame me for corrupting him!"
The Queen Mother looked at Zhu Ying prostrating herself on the ground in disbelief. She felt that for the first time in her life she truly got to know this girl who she always thought was self-willed but actually sincere and frank.
When she saw the Third Prince wiping his eyes vigorously with his sleeves and about to rush over to beg for mercy, she raised her hand and pointed, and saw Yuquan dragging the Third Prince over, and by the way, he also grabbed Princess Deyang who was about to come over, and she couldn't help laughing.
"It is said that a red bird becomes redder when it is near a red bird, and a black bird becomes blacker when it is near a black bird. Yingying, you have become a completely different person since you met Zhang Shou, this eloquent fellow!"
Zhu Ying was not surprised by the Queen Mother's words. She bowed her head lightly and said calmly, "Marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog. I have been with Ah Shou for a long time, so I will naturally learn his good points. After I marry him, I will learn even more!"
"I'm not praising you!" The Queen Mother laughed dumbly, but that smile eventually dispelled her anger. "You used to be sharp-tongued, but now you're even more slick! Silang used to have his elder and second brothers in front of him, so he hid his impulsiveness. Now he has no natural enemies, and his best third brother is going to be the crown prince, so he's lawless!"
When he heard Zhu Ying praising him and putting the blame on himself, the Fourth Prince was very upset and wanted to rush over to stop Zhu Ying. But when she left him to plead guilty in front of the Queen Mother, she blocked his mouth with a handkerchief.
But Yuquan pulled the Third Prince and Princess Deyang back to his chair. He had no room to struggle, so he could only frantically pick at the handkerchief that was blocking his mouth. When the Queen Mother said this, he felt even more wronged. He wanted to shout "I didn't", but he also vaguely realized that he had been too proud in recent days.
The queen was deposed, the most hated eldest and second princes were both expelled from the capital, and the favorite third brother was about to become the crown prince. With three huge mountains on his head that he would never see again, wasn't he doing whatever he wanted?
Zhu Ying was also slightly distracted by the Queen Mother's judgment, and then she smiled and said, "The Queen Mother is right. Without natural enemies, one feels relaxed and naturally loses control of one's words and deeds. This is not just the case with the Fourth Prince, I am the same! I have hated the Queen and those two guys since I was a child. Now that they are gone, my father and eldest brother have returned safely and have been appointed to new positions, and my mother has also returned. I have finally gotten what I wanted..."
"So, I was unscrupulous to begin with, and now I am even more lawless. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare to block the outer court of the Imperial Household Department!"
"How dare you say that!"
The Queen Mother was finally amused by Zhu Ying's anger, but her mouth soon drooped again, and she scolded her angrily: "In order to plead for Si Lang, you dare to bring up the stupid thing you did before... You think that the Emperor and I have always indulged you and will not punish you, right?"
"Of course I wouldn't dare." Zhu Ying straightened up without thinking, still smiling, "Chu Kuan, the head of the Imperial Household Department, can plot against himself, so isn't it normal for outsiders to plot against the Imperial Household Department? The Fourth Prince and I are both brainless people. We are impulsive and reckless, and we only act on impulse. But I have so many elders and Ah Shou to look after me, and the Fourth Prince..."
Zhu Ying glanced at the Fourth Prince who had finally taken out the handkerchief from his mouth, and a sly smile appeared on the corner of her mouth: "It is naturally good for Ah Shou to be the Third Prince's teacher, but the Fourth Prince needs stricter discipline. If the Queen Mother really wants to teach him a lesson, besides punishing him to copy books to temper his temper, it would be better to choose a stricter teacher for him to discipline him properly. For example..."
With a roll of her eyes, the eldest lady said casually, "For example, a teacher like my eldest brother."
Boom—instantly, the fourth prince fell to the ground. Fortunately, in this weather, the main hall of the Queen Mother in Qingning Palace was covered with thick furs, which were good things that the emperor gave to his mother, so he didn't fall hard, but the fear in his heart was extraordinary. He even screamed loudly before he could get up.
"Grandmother, I accept the punishment. You can give me one hundred or two hundred punishments, or even make me copy books. I will definitely change in the future!"
Even though he was furious just now, the Queen Mother couldn't help but smile at the Fourth Prince's panicked attitude. She knew why the Fourth Prince was afraid of Zhu Tingfang. Her grandson's nephew had a very strict temper. When he first entered the palace as a child, he made the First and Second Princes very upset. Later, when he was caught by the Emperor to teach the Third and Fourth Princes, he directly beat the Fourth Prince's palms so hard that they swelled up!
On the contrary, teacher Zhang Shou, who had the imperial ruler bestowed by the emperor, once gave it to Zhang Chen to administer. Many people in Banshan Hall had been punished with the ruler, but the third and fourth princes had never been punished once. Instead, they were obedient to this teacher, which was also an anomaly!
Being beaten would only cause temporary pain, and at most he would have to stay in bed for ten days or eight months. But if Zhu Tingfang were to be his teacher, the Fourth Prince felt that he would suffer pain every day for the next eight to ten years, and his life would be absolutely bleak. Although he knew how talented Zhu Tingfang was in both civil and military affairs, he only needed to be an idle prince in his life, so why would he need such abilities?
Therefore, he used his hands and feet to crawl in front of the Queen Mother and knelt down next to Zhu Ying. He was about to swear and confess his sins, but unexpectedly the Queen Mother said, "Yingying is right. Si Lang really needs discipline. The Emperor indulges him, San Lang lets him go, and his mother can't control him. As for Zhang Shou, there are so many students, and an honest child like San Lang is fine... "
"With Shiro's erratic personality, there's no way we can keep an eye on him all the time. He really needs a strict and powerful teacher like your big brother to discipline him!"
Seeing the Fourth Prince collapse to the ground, looking even more miserable than when he had just come to ask for forgiveness, the Queen Mother smiled and said calmly, "However, Yingying, your elder brother is too busy organizing the Five Cities Army to teach a naughty child for the Emperor. That would be a waste of talent. So, Zhang Shou's ruler should still be there, right?"
Zhu Ying just casually brought up her eldest brother to scare the Fourth Prince, and seeing that he really became as soft as mud, she was very satisfied with the result, so she was not surprised at all when the Queen Mother said that he was wasting his talents. But when the Queen Mother asked about the ruler, she was puzzled , and after hesitating for a moment, she nodded to indicate that of course it was still there. Unexpectedly, the Queen Mother said something that surprised her.
"Zhang Shou's attendant, I remember his name was Ah Liu? Remember the last time Si Lang failed the Jiuzhangtang exam and ran away, it was him who chased him back and taught Si Lang a lesson? Yuquan, send Si Lang over and have him give this brat thirty lashes of the ruler in front of you! If he really dares to hit him, have him bring along Zhang Shou's imperial ruler in the future, and beat him when he deserves it, without mercy!"
