Hearing this, Ji Lingxue raised her eyebrows and glared at the uncle. "Uncle, what you said is wrong. What do you mean by making a fuss? Is it common to have signature dishes with exactly the same names? Are your thoughts the same as mine? Then why didn't Uncle's Deqinglou come up with the signature dish name before me?"
The prince's beard twitched and he pointed at Ji Lingxue's nose. No one dared to talk to him like that.
"Also, I want to emphasize that I smashed your store not because we have the same signature dishes, but because your people hired thugs to smash my store and injured my people. My chef even had half of his hand cut off in order to get the recipe back..."
"You know how important a pair of hands is to a chef. You know that without these hands, she will no longer be able to cook, she will no longer be able to hold a knife, and she will have no income. I smashed your shop to seek justice for them. Besides, I didn't hurt anyone from you. At least I am more moral."
“You…you…” How dare you, a yellow-haired girl, insult the Yuan Dynasty in front of the emperor in the imperial study
In front of the emperor, the uncle did not say the second half of the sentence. He pointed at Ji Lingxue's nose with a shaking finger and was speechless for a long time. The next moment, his knees softened and he knelt in front of Xiao Yimo and cried, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I am innocent. I definitely did not send any hooligans to Qingfeng Yashe to cause trouble. Maybe I accepted those people and did something wrong out of jealousy. Your Majesty, please forgive me. It was my fault for not disciplining them strictly... I will go back to find out the truth and give justice to Princess Chen."
Xiao Yimo nodded in agreement. It was not easy for him to handle this matter. On one side was the Queen's brother, and on the other side was his younger brother who had made many contributions. It was really difficult to keep the balance. Now that the King's uncle had found a way to save his brother, this matter could be considered an explanation.
Xiao Yimo said, "Well, I'll give you three days to investigate this matter and then apologize to Princess Chen. Princess Chen, you acted a little impulsively. No matter how angry you are, you can't just bring people to smash other people's shops. Not only will it affect your image, but you almost let your prince take the blame for you."
Ji Lingxue turned her head to look at Xiao Yichen who was standing beside her, and there was no sign of unhappiness on his face.
Xiao Yimo continued to scold: "Princess Chen, do you know your mistake?"
Ji Lingxue knelt on the ground with her head down and pleaded, "Please punish me, Your Majesty." When there were no outsiders around, Xiao Yimo always called her "sister-in-law", but now that he was acting like a prince, she really couldn't get used to it.
Xiao Yimo nodded and said, "Then I will punish you to kneel at the Meridian Gate for half a day." He waved his hand, signaling the three of them to go out. He had been disturbed all morning and had no peace.
Xiao Yichen took Ji Lingxue to pay their respects and leave, and the king's uncle walked out of the imperial study room one step slower than them.
At the Meridian Gate, Ji Lingxue was kneeling obediently on the ground, with the scorching sun above her head. On one side, Xiao Yichen and the King's Uncle were greeting each other with a bow.
Ji Lingxue rolled her eyes at the sky. This uncle of the emperor was really good at pretending. Perhaps he became so smooth and tactful because he had been in officialdom for too long. He seemed to be suffering from grievances in front of the emperor the moment before, and then he became the noble uncle of the emperor once he left the palace.
After the uncle left, Xiao Yichen was the only one left standing beside Ji Lingxue. Ji Lingxue looked up at Xiao Yichen and said, "Your Highness, the sun is very strong. You should go back."
The emperor punished her to kneel alone, and he didn't have to accompany her to bask in the sun.
Xiao Yichen curled the corners of his mouth slightly, he has quite a bad temper.
Xiao Yichen turned around and strode away. Ji Lingxue turned her head to look at Xiao Yichen's back and curled her lips.
Just as Ji Lingxue was kneeling with her legs and feet weak and the sun above her head made her dizzy, suddenly a shadow enveloped her. Did the sun go into the clouds
Ji Lingxue looked up and saw an oil-paper umbrella covering her head. Xiao Yichen was holding the umbrella and looking at her with a smile. At that moment, the wind was light and the clouds were clear. The wind blew through Ji Lingxue's sweaty long hair and touched her throbbing heart.
"Why are you back again?" Ji Lingxue asked after a long time.
"Accompany you!" Xiao Yichen stood straight, holding the umbrella and not moving.
Ji Lingxue smiled and said, "Thank you."
The two of them stood and knelt for two hours before the eunuch came and said, "Princess Chen, please stand up. The emperor said that you have a good attitude in admitting your mistakes, so you should go back and rest early."
Ji Lingxue nodded, her body stiff and unable to move. Xiao Yichen stepped forward to help Ji Lingxue up, handed the oil-paper umbrella in his hand to her, and carried her sideways.
Ji Lingxue held the umbrella with one hand and put her other arm around Xiao Yichen's neck, resting her head on his shoulder. Although she felt aggrieved, she felt warm. At this moment, Xiao Yichen made her feel that she had someone to rely on.
Xiao Yichen carried Ji Lingxue all the way back to the palace in a ostentatious manner, attracting many passers-by to look at him and whisper to him. She didn't know what these people said, but she kept her eyes on Xiao Yichen and her thoughts were flying.
In Prince Chen's Mansion, Yilan Courtyard, Xiao Yichen put Ji Lingxue on the bed, dismissed Mo Xiang, and personally massaged Ji Lingxue's numb feet with extremely gentle movements.
Ji Lingxue was silent for a long time and then asked, "Aren't you angry?" After all, she had caused a big trouble today, offending the most powerful uncle of the emperor and making another enemy for him.
Xiao Yichen raised his eyes to glance at Ji Lingxue and said with a smile: "My woman loves to act up because I spoil her. With me here, if anyone bullies you in the future, just come back and I will support you."
Ji Lingxue smiled, "But I offended the uncle today. The emperor is not likely to get angry with him, but I'm sure he will do something to harm you behind your back."
Xiao Yichen raised his hand and pinched the tip of Ji Lingxue's nose, "In fact, we have offended the king's uncle a long time ago."
Ji Lingxue blinked, "Ah?!"
Seeing Ji Lingxue's cute confused expression, Xiao Yichen was moved and kissed Ji Lingxue on her red lips, then said: "Remember the underground gambling house in the west of the city? That was also the place where the prince's uncle raised money. It was raided by the king and all the money was confiscated. He was angry but dared not say anything."
Ji Lingxue rolled her eyes and said, "Why does the uncle want so much private property? Aren't you afraid that the emperor will be jealous?"
Xiao Yichen nodded: "It is because the emperor knows that the uncle has a lot of private property that he allowed me to confiscate a few at will. Besides, today, the emperor punished you to kneel at the Meridian Gate to give an explanation to the uncle. This is also a warning to the uncle that he has already punished you. If he makes any small moves again, he will not tolerate it."
Ji Lingxue exclaimed, "So that's what I mean." It turned out that the emperor's words contained so much thought.
Ji Lingxue said: "It seems that the emperor favors me. Haha, it's not in vain that I cooked to bribe the wrong person. Next time I will cook more delicious food to thank him."
Hearing that Ji Lingxue was going to make delicious food to bribe other men, his face turned dark, "Ji Lingxue, you are really..." You are such a traitor!
Ji Lingxue pulled Xiao Yichen's hand and shook it, "Prince, I'm tired, let me take a nap." Then she yawned.
Xiao Yichen twitched his lips, which meant that he should finish the job.
Xiao Yichen said: "This prince doesn't like to clean up the mess. If you give me some benefits, I can consider it."
Ji Lingxue didn't say a word and held up Xiao Yichen's face and kissed him, blinking and saying, "My Lord, I'm counting on you!"
Xiao Yichen suddenly hugged Ji Lingxue's neck and kissed her deeply...
Half an hour later, Xiao Yichen walked out of Ji Lingxue's room contentedly, with the tenderness between his brows still lingering.
In the study, Chi Feng was already waiting. When he saw Xiao Yichen coming, he immediately went to greet him, "My Lord, you are back."
Xiao Yichen regained his composure and nodded, "How's it going?"
Chi Feng nodded. "After the princess was summoned to the palace by the eunuch, I found a safe place to lock up the chef and the gangster, so as not to give the uncle a chance to kill them and silence them."
Xiao Yichen gave Chi Feng an approving look, "Well done."
Chi Feng continued: "My Lord, I have something to tell you..."
Xiao Yichen raised his eyebrows. He looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated. Could it be that something big had happened
Chi Feng immediately said, "After the princess entered the palace, I found a teahouse to drink tea. I didn't expect that someone was spreading the message that the princess was not Ji Baichuan's daughter. Your Majesty, if this is true, I'm afraid it will be bad for the princess."
Xiao Yichen frowned, "Can you find out who is spreading the rumors behind this?"
Chi Feng shook his head, opened the door and asked someone to bring in the storyteller. The storyteller's gray beard trembled even more violently after seeing Xiao Yichen, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, I am just telling a story for entertainment, and I have no intention of slandering the princess."
Xiao Yichen's cold eyes deepened, "Who told you to say that?"
The storyteller stammered, "Yes... someone gave me a hundred taels of silver and a picture book and told me to read the story. I thought it was a waste of money, so I read the story."
Xiao Yichen spread his hands and asked the storyteller to hand over the picture book. The storyteller nodded and immediately took out the picture book from his arms and gave it to Xiao Yichen.
While Xiao Yichen was flipping through the sketchbook, Chi Feng asked, "Who is the person you are talking about?"
The storyteller said with a bitter face: "The man wore a mask, so his face couldn't be seen clearly. He was about your height, and his accent... I don't remember his accent. He didn't speak Chinese fluently, and he had a slight stutter."
Chi Feng twitched his lips. With just this little information, it would be hard to tell what was happening!
Xiao Yichen glanced at the sketchbook, then raised his hand, and the notebook in his hand was crumpled in his palm. He looked at it again, and it turned into pieces of flying ashes and flew away with the wind.
The storyteller's mouth was trembling, and the look he gave Xiao Yichen became fearful and awed, his legs and feet were shaking, "Your Highness, everything I said is true, I am not lying."
Xiao Yichen suddenly laughed, "Have you thought about what you are going to say about tomorrow's book?"
The storyteller felt a chill on his neck and nodded vigorously, saying, “I think… I’ve thought about it…” He didn’t want to turn into ashes, so he had to think about it.
Xiao Yichen nodded and said, "That's good. Tomorrow the king and the princess will go to the teahouse to listen to your storytelling. Chi Feng, let the old man stay in the palace and treat him well."
"Yes." Chi Feng dragged the storyteller with weak legs and walked out.
After a while, the palace guard stepped outside the door and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, Captain Shao wants to see you. He said there has been progress in the case of the faceless female corpse."
(End of this chapter)