Qi Changyi's scalp was pulled so badly that the pain made his eyes misty.
He wanted to break free from Qi Yirou's hand, but because his body was still weak, he had no strength at all. He could only cry out in pain and continue to explain, "Third sister, I really haven't seen Yingying. I fell into the lotus pond today and caught a cold. I slept in the palace all afternoon. Ah..."
Qi Yirou seemed to become even angrier after hearing this.
"What do you mean by that? Are you saying that I caused you to catch a cold? Are you blaming me? Also, you are not allowed to call me sister. I am not your sister. Your mother is just a foreign monster, a traitor who collaborated with the enemy. When can you be compared with me?"
The fourth prince and his mother, Concubine Ning, was a seductive foreign woman. However, the entire palace knew that since the foreign tribe had rebelled, Concubine Ning was charged with treason and was executed by slow slicing. Her death was extremely tragic.
It is said that Concubine Ning's collusion with the enemy was reported to the emperor by her own son, the Fourth Prince. Before her death, Concubine Ning only asked the emperor to treat the lonely and somewhat foolish prince well in the future, and the emperor agreed.
The fourth prince, who had made the discovery and sacrificed his own relatives for the sake of justice, gained the emperor's trust and rose rapidly in the court.
Later, the emperor issued a secret order, forbidding anyone to mention anything about Concubine Ning again. Anyone who dared to talk about her behind her back would be dragged out, have their tongue pulled out, and then be tortured to death.
Now, hearing that the Third Princess, who was used to being so bold and reckless, actually dared to mention the prince's mother twice, the palace maids, servants and guards who knew the inside story dared not even breathe.
Qi Changyi usually has a gentle personality and speaks softly. He knows that he cannot mention his mother in the palace, but he doesn't know the reason, so he can only suppress his longing for his mother deep in his heart.
However, his eyes turned red when his beloved mother was slandered in this way, and he used all his strength to push Qi Yirou away.
"You're talking nonsense! My mother didn't have it!"
Qi Changyi's hair was messy and fluttered in the wind in the dark night. He was still wearing a white undershirt, and his eyes were bloodshot. He had completely lost the soft and cute look of a docile little white rabbit in the past, and looked like an angry little beast that had lost its mind.
Qi Yirou was caught off guard and was pushed back by him. The palace maids behind her hurried to help her, but she still fell heavily to the ground.
Several strands of black hair were pulled out from between her fingers, and Qi Yirou was stunned on the spot.
This idiot! How dare he push her! She must punish him! Punish him for multiple crimes!
The second princess, Qi Bingzhi, who had been standing silently behind the crowd, came out at some point and went over to help the third princess, who was sitting on the ground in a rage, up.
"Third sister, please get up quickly. The ground is cold." Her voice was gentle and soft, with a soothing power.
Qi Yiru finally stood up. The complicated gauze skirt she was wearing was covered in dirt.
"Qi Changyi! How dare you push me? You are a traitor! If you don't hand Yingying over today, I will bury you with me!"
Qi Yirou's eyes were wide open, and she waved her hand in a domineering manner. The guards behind her immediately dispersed and began to search the rooms in Qi Changyi's bedroom. No matter what they saw, they smashed it and threw it out.
These are not the guards who are searching, they are clearly bandits who have come down the mountain to rob!
Qi Changyi stood there with his hands clenched, biting his lower lip without saying a word. His originally pale and bloodless lips had now turned red from being bitten by him.
The third princess asked a eunuch to kneel on the ground, and she sat comfortably on his back, with two palace maids feeding grapes into her mouth.
The second princess, on the contrary, looked up at Qi Changyi a few times, with a rare hint of worry in her eyes.
After an unknown amount of time, the guards who were searching finally stopped. The leader walked up to the third princess and whispered a few words. The third princess's face immediately turned ugly.
"Useless, a bunch of useless! Why did your father keep you here? This place is so small, and we can't even find a dog!"
She kicked the chief guard aside, then pointed at Qi Changyi who was not far away and said, "Bring him to me. I want to go and talk to my father."
A group of people came out of the prince's bedroom in a mighty manner, shuttled between the tall palace walls in the night, and headed towards the emperor's Yangxin Palace.
Qi Changyi walked at the end of the queue, with two guards following behind him and pushing him constantly to ensure that he kept up with the third princess' sedan chair.
There was a black figure on the rubble not far away, secretly watching everything. Before the group stopped at the Hall of Mental Cultivation, he walked away lightly along the palace wall.
Before entering the palace, Qi Yirou pinched the inside of her thigh fiercely, and tears flowed out instantly. She shouted loudly, "Father, you have to make the decision for your daughter. Someone is bullying my daughter..."
The emperor's heart almost broke when he heard his beloved little daughter crying. He hurried out to greet her, holding her tearful face and asked, "What's wrong? Who dares to bully my good daughter? Hmm? You don't want to live anymore, do you?"
At this time, Qi Changyi, who was following behind, also stepped into the Yangxin Palace. The emperor frowned when he saw the white undershirt he was wearing.
Qi Yirou cried in grievance as she exaggerated Qi Changyi's evil deeds, not forgetting to emphasize the detail of how he pushed her heavily to the ground.
The more the emperor listened, the angrier he became, and he looked at Qi Changyi fiercely.
"I originally thought that you lacked intelligence but had a kind heart. Now it seems that you dared to torture my sister's beloved dog to death and even dared to talk back to my elder sister. You are so cruel and ruthless at such a young age. I should discipline you!"
The emperor flicked his sleeves angrily, and Qi Changyi quickly knelt on the ground, crawling on the ground, his voice choked with sobs.
"Father, I really didn't do that. I will never admit anything I haven't done."
The emperor said sternly, "If you still don't admit it, will Rou'er still wrongly accuse you?"
Qi Yirou pouted and tears fell again, which made the emperor heartbroken.
"Come here, hand the prince over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I will punish him for deceiving the emperor today!"
When Qi Changyi heard the word "Imperial Household Department", he began to tremble with fear, but his mother had taught him that he should never lie at any time, so he would not plead guilty.
The guards dragged Qi Changyi up from the ground without mercy, and led him out forcefully as if he were dragging a rag or straw mat.
Looking closely at the place where Qi Changyi had just been lying, there were some tear stains mixed with a little scarlet.
The sharp-eyed eunuch hurried forward and wiped the floor clean.
The emperor comforted his little daughter for a while, but was interrupted by a eunuch who rushed in at the door.
"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Pei has something important to discuss with you."