Chapter 82

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Protagonist:

Yan Qianqian

An Wang, burning with anxiety, brought Qianqian along on fast horses with added whip, racing all the way to the palace gate at breakneck speed. After nimbly dismounting, he casually handed the reins to the guard stationed at the palace gate, then took Qianqian's hand and hurried toward the Imperial Study.

Seeing this, the guard rushed to report inside: "Your Majesty, Prince An has come seeking an audience with the little Commandery Princess in tow!" The Emperor, busy in the Imperial Study, heard this and immediately set down the memorial in his hand, instructing: "Quickly summon them in!"

Before his words fell, An Wang led Qianqian in with quick steps. Qianqian spotted the Emperor at a glance, sprinted over, and threw herself into his warm embrace, saying in a coquettish voice: "Uncle Emperor, Qianqian missed you so much!"

The Emperor, face full of smiles, scooped Qianqian up and said dotingly: "Haha, indeed. Last time we met you fainted away, and I didn't even get a good look at you!" Immediately after, the Emperor asked with concern: "Did the Shangshufang have a holiday today?"

Eunuch Sun, standing to the side, hurried forward a step and replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, the Shangshufang held classes as usual today, no holiday was granted." The Emperor found this strange and pressed: "Since that's the case, why didn't you go to the Shangshufang?"

At this, Qianqian, who had been smiling, suddenly puffed up with anger, her little mouth pouting high, and said indignantly: "Qianqian was bullied!" Hearing this, the Emperor's face instantly darkened, his brows furrowing as he asked urgently: "What exactly happened?" So Qianqian began to recount the whole sequence of events in detail.

After hearing Qianqian's account, the Emperor flew into a rage, slamming the table and shouting: "Outrageous! The Shangshufang is a place for teaching and nurturing people; how can it tolerate these lawless people acting recklessly here! Utterly chaotic! Summon that Master Qian to me at once! I want to see how he disciplines his students! And that Song Qi, and bring Yan Jie along too."

The entire Imperial Study instantly filled with a tense and oppressive atmosphere... And Eunuch Sun, hearing the Emperor's decree, hurriedly dispatched his men to swiftly summon the several people to appear. With the Emperor's words, the hall fell silent, the atmosphere heavy for a time.

Eunuch Sun dared not show the slightest negligence, hastily received the order and left, arranging manpower to go summon them.

At this moment, the Emperor slowly turned his gaze to An Wang, his eyes holding a few parts doubt and scrutiny: "You bringing Qianqian here this time, is it to ask me to judge?" An Wang nodded slightly and replied: "Royal Brother sees clearly. If your younger brother did not come today, I fear in a few more hours the Minister of Rites would also come seeking an audience with Your Majesty."

Hearing this, the Emperor couldn't help a light laugh: "Hmm, what you say does have some reason."

Not long after, several guards led a group of people into the hall. The leader was precisely the key figure of this incident — Master Qian.

His expression was calm, his steps steady as he followed the guards into the great hall. Not the slightest inkling of what was about to happen; the rest of the people likewise wore solemn expressions, filing in one after another.

The moment they crossed the threshold, everyone knelt in unison and saluted, crying loudly: "We pay respects to the Emperor!" Though Yan Jie was still young, at this moment he too knelt on the ground properly like a little adult.

Seeing this, the Emperor raised his hand slightly, signaling them to rise. Meanwhile Qianqian and An Wang had at some point hidden behind a screen in the hall. Originally, this was An Wang's idea; he wanted to hide first and secretly observe these people's words and deeds, to see just how they would distort facts and invert black and white.

The Emperor spoke first: "I heard that a brawl occurred in the Shangshufang today?" Master Qian heard this and hurried forward a step, bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, it is true. Because we ministers failed to supervise properly, the little Commandery Princess of An Wangfu behaved improperly, overly arrogant and domineering, and actually injured the son of the Minister of Rites.

This minister has already severely reprimanded her and ordered her never to act so again; that little Commandery Princess also agreed wholeheartedly, promising to reform."

At this, Yan Jie standing to the side bit his lip tight, glaring at Master Qian, furious beyond measure. He saw that Master Qian actually inverted black and white, confused right and wrong so! He wanted to refute on the spot, but thinking of his father's admonition that before the Emperor he must never act recklessly, he forcibly suppressed his anger, his little face flushing bright red.

The Emperor naturally also noticed Yan Jie's oddness, so he turned his head to look at him and asked gently: "Yan Jie, you tell me, how exactly did things develop? Is it as Master Qian says?"

Hearing the Emperor question him, Yan Jie could no longer hold back his inner anger. He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and said: "Uncle Emperor, he's completely talking nonsense! The facts are nothing like that! Clearly Song Qi splashed vegetable soup on me, I asked him to apologize to me, but who knew he not only refused to admit fault, he also insulted me, and even said I'm not my father's biological son, but a fatherless bastard! Elder Sister couldn't stand to watch, that's why she struck to teach him a lesson."

After Yan Jie finished recounting the whole story with difficulty, Master Qian, who had been standing trembling at the side, finally seized the chance to interject. He hurriedly said: "Your Majesty! Excessive language absolutely cannot be an excuse for her to hit someone! Matters can be discussed calmly and slowly; our Shangshufang has explicit rules strictly forbidding brawling!"

Hearing Master Qian's words, the Emperor's expression eased slightly, but he still asked sternly: "Even so, Master Qian, tell me, how exactly did you handle this matter?"

Hearing this, Master Qian's heart couldn't help a jolt; he broke out in cold sweat from tension. He raised a hand to wipe the bean-sized sweat beads from his forehead, and replied stammering: "Your... Your Majesty, this minister feels that brawling is definitely a grave error, so I punished Yan Qianqian to stand at the Sixian Ban entrance for an entire afternoon, as a warning."

After speaking, Master Qian lowered his head and dared not utter another sound; the scene instantly fell into dead silence.

After a good while, seeing Master Qian speak no more, the Emperor could only break the silence again: "Hmm, then what about that Song Qi? How do you intend to punish him? It can't be that only one side is punished!"

At this, Master Qian seemed to wake from a dream, raised his head in a panic and replied: "Your Majesty, Song Qi's injuries are quite severe right now, he's still lying in bed unable to move. Once his body improves a little, this minister will order him to go apologize to Yan Jie face to face."