"You are throwing eggs at the Princess of Chen, which is an insult to the Prince of Chen. Besides, the royal family attaches great importance to the inheritance of blood. Every royal family marriage goes through the six rites, among which the most important are the Nacai, Wenming, and Jieji. If the imperial concubine is an illegitimate daughter with an unknown father, the empress dowager would not have designated her as the Princess of Chen so early. Article 1100 of the Dongqi Law states that those who despise and insult the royal family are guilty of disrespect and can be sentenced to death."
An Ge's voice was full of energy and carried with it inner strength, which spread throughout the teahouse. The tea drinkers who were originally intimidated looked at each other in bewilderment and shuddered in their hearts. They almost broke the law
The tea drinkers all looked at the storyteller, pointing at him and saying, "Did the storyteller say yesterday that Princess Chen was an illegitimate daughter, or an illegitimate daughter with an unknown father?"
They are innocent and have no intention of disrespecting the royal family. They were instigated by the storyteller. You should seek revenge on the storyteller if you want.
"Where is the storyteller? Come out and say something. Was it you who said yesterday that the Princess of Chen was an illegitimate daughter and was not worthy of the identity of the Princess of Chen?" someone in the crowd said loudly.
The storyteller, who was hiding behind the table and trying hard to reduce his presence, felt his scalp go numb and he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
A large hand grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him out.
The storyteller looked up and saw a man in black whom he did not recognize. "Sir, please tell me quickly, is Princess Chen an illegitimate daughter of an unknown father? Yesterday you told the story of Princess Chen in a very serious manner, and I was just curious. You said that you knew what would happen in the future. Please listen to the explanation this time. Please tell me quickly. Could it be that with Princess Chen here, you don't even have the courage to speak?"
The storyteller had a gloomy face, and looked like he was about to cry. Facing the questioning looks and words from the hundreds of tea drinkers present, he quickly waved his hands, "No... no, I... I'm not."
If he answered yes, then the crime of spreading rumors and falsely accusing Princess Chen would fall on his head. Once this big hat was put on him, he would be invited to the clan house for "tea", which was inevitable. He didn't want to be tortured in prison.
Someone in the crowd said loudly, "How could it not be you, sir? So many people were here yesterday and heard your story. Now can you tell me who the biological father of Princess Chen is?"
The storyteller had a constipated expression on his face. He didn't dare to say anything now. If he said something wrong, he would lose his head.
"Princess, are you okay?" Mo Xiang took out a handkerchief and wiped the egg white off Ji Lingxue's face. He felt very annoyed. Wasn't it said that the prince was in the teahouse? Why did the princess suffer such a great injustice
Ji Lingxue took out a handkerchief, wiped her hands, shook her head and said, "It's okay, I'm not hurt!"
Mo Xiang's eyes were red, and she muttered, "Why doesn't the prince come out to talk to you, princess?"
Ji Lingxue smiled indifferently, and at this moment the window of the private room on the second floor opened, and Xiao Yichen fell from the window like a god. Everyone looked up and saw him with black hair, a jade crown, and fluttering white clothes.
Xiao Yichen landed beside Ji Lingxue, held her hand and asked with concern, "Xue'er, are you okay?"
He originally thought that there would be no big problem in letting Chi Feng come down to pick up Ji Lingxue, but he did not expect these unruly people to be so unreasonable, directly attacking Ji Lingxue with words and throwing eggs at people. Presumably, there were people like the king's uncle among these ignorant people who were fanning the flames. So he asked the secret guards to quietly blend in and catch those troublemakers, so he showed up late.
Ji Lingxue looked up at Xiao Yichen and saw the shame in his eyes. She said, "Your Majesty, someone slandered me, defamed me, what do you think I should do?"
Xiao Yichen thought about it seriously and said, "Then pull him out and let the princess beat him to vent her anger."
On this side, "Why aren't you talking? Was the story you told yesterday just fabricated?" asked the man in black who was holding the storyteller.
The storyteller shrank his neck and bowed his hands to apologize, "Yesterday someone gave me 100 taels of silver and asked me to tell the story he gave me. I didn't know that the story was about Princess Chen. If I had known that the man had ulterior motives to frame Princess Chen, I would not have told it even if you gave me 1,000 taels."
The tea drinkers looked at each other and saw the storyteller's distressed expression with sympathy. They only blamed him for being too greedy and not knowing that he was being taken advantage of.
Xiao Yichen took off his outer robe and put it on Ji Lingxue. He looked coldly at the crying storyteller and ordered: "Take her back to the yamen. I have investigated the matter." After that, he put his arm around Ji Lingxue's waist and led her out of the teahouse, leaving behind a round of praise.
Perhaps Ji Yuqing didn't expect that the rumors about Ji Lingxue would end in this way. The message directly changed to one about the love between Prince Chen and Princess Chen. As for those who doubted Ji Lingxue's identity, they just thought about it and didn't dare to say anything.
Xiao Yichen sat in Ji Lingxue's room. After Mo Xiang prepared the hot water, he pushed Ji Lingxue into the bathroom and said, "Go take a hot bath and wash away the bad luck. Don't worry about the rest. I will help you deal with it. Those people are still waiting for you, Princess."
Ji Lingxue nodded with satisfaction and went into the bathroom to change clothes and take a shower. Xiao Yichen returned to the study, where Chi Feng and An Ge were already waiting.
Xiao Yichen glanced at Chi Feng, and Chi Feng knelt in front of Xiao Yichen and pleaded guilty, "I failed to protect the princess well, please punish me, Your Majesty."
An Ge lowered his head. The words he had just said to Ji Lingxue in the teahouse were all taught to him by Xiao Yichen. Although he was Ji Lingxue's secret guard, he was still as respectful to Xiao Yichen as before.
Xiao Yichen said: "An Ge, you can go back. You are the princess's person now. I will not punish you. You should keep an eye on the princess for the next few days."
An Ge lowered his head. Even though Xiao Yichen didn't punish him, he still went to receive the Ten Military Sticks before going back.
Xiao Yichen looked at Chi Feng's erect hair bun and said, "It was just an accident. It's not your fault. Besides, you are a scholar, and the tea drinkers were pushing and shoving each other in the teahouse. How could you protect the princess? Get up. I don't mean to blame you." If Ji Lingxue hadn't suffered a little injustice, he really wouldn't have been able to find out who was behind the trouble.
Chi Feng wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and stood up. "Your Majesty, those guys who mixed in the crowd and fanned the flames have been locked up. I interrogated them and they said they were just ordinary people watching the fun. These people are too stubborn and I guess they will have to be tortured and have a taste of the torture instruments in our palace."
Xiao Yichen sneered, "Cut off the hand that threw the egg." If you dare to be unreasonable to her woman, be prepared to lose your hands.
Chi Feng responded and was about to leave when he suddenly thought of something and asked, "Your Majesty, do you want to chop off one hand or both hands?" He didn't know which hand the other party used to throw the egg.
Xiao Yichen looked at Chi Feng with an idiotic look. Chi Feng swallowed and immediately left.
After Ji Lingxue finished bathing, she said to Mo Xiang who was drying her hair, "Mo Xiang, go prepare a brazier."
Mo Xiang: "Princess, are you still feeling cold?" There is already a heater in the room.
Ji Lingxue said: "I'm so unlucky today, so I have to jump over the fire basin to get rid of the bad luck."
Mo Xiang nodded smartly, "Master, wait for me. I'll go get the brazier right away." Then he turned and walked out.
Ji Lingxue called out An Ge, who looked a little pale, but still looked grim, "Princess!"
Ji Lingxue nodded, "Thank you today." If An Ge hadn't appeared in time to rescue her, she would not have been able to control her temper.
An Ge said: "I just did my duty. The prince taught me to say those words. An Ge was late and caused the master to suffer so much injustice."
Ji Lingxue pinched her chin and thought for a while before saying, "I feel it is necessary to win over the people. Go and prepare. Starting tomorrow, I will set up a porridge shop to do charity. Let Xiao Si and the others come to help."
An Ge responded and disappeared from the spot the next moment.
Mo Xiang was walking along with the brazier in his hand, and he met Ji Yuqing on the corridor. Ji Yuqing came forward and asked, "Mo Xiang, what are you doing with the brazier in your hand?"
Mo Xiang bowed her head and saluted. Although she didn't like Ji Yuqing, she still answered truthfully: "To answer the concubine, the princess asked me to take the brazier."
Ji Yuqing curled her lips into a smile, waved her hand to signal Mo Xiang to go and get busy, but when Mo Xiang passed by her, she deliberately kicked Mo Xiang and knocked him down.
Mo Xiang's steps were unsteady and he leaned forward. The brazier in his hand flew out and fell to the ground with a bang. Sparks flew and burned several trees in the yard.
Mo Xiang fell to the ground, his palms red and painful, as he was pressing on the bottom of the burning brazier.
Ji Yuqing scolded, "Useless girl, you can't even hold a brazier steadily. Look, there's already a fire. Are you going to burn down the palace?"
Mo Xiang turned his head and looked at Ji Yuqing who was sneering at the side, "It was you who tripped me, otherwise I wouldn't have fallen, and the brazier wouldn't have knocked over to the ground."
The crackling dry fire quickly spread, and the yard instantly became a sea of fire. "Help, help, there's a fire!" Mo Xiang struggled to get up and shouted.
Ji Yuqing turned around to leave, but suddenly her ankle twisted and her body fell forward, right where the burning branch happened to be. She screamed "Ah..." in fear.
Mo Xiang hurriedly walked to the water tank, picked up the water scoop beside him and poured cold water towards Ji Yuqing, while calling for help.
Several palace guards heard the noise and ran over. Seeing the fire in the yard, they immediately helped to put out the fire. Ji Yuqing, who had fallen to the ground, was helped up.
Ji Yuqing was not seriously injured, only a little hair was burnt. "Mo Xiang!" she said angrily, blaming all the fault on Mo Xiang. It was that girl who was clumsy and knocked over the brazier, otherwise her hair would have been burnt too.
Ji Yuqing was looking for Mo Xiang in the yard angrily, "Someone, bring that bitch Mo Xiang to me!" He made her so miserable and she ran away
After a while, the fire in the yard was extinguished. Ji Yuqing, holding up the blackened hem of her skirt and with her burnt yellow hair, rushed into Ji Lingxue's yard, "Mo Xiang, come out here... Prince, you have to make the decision for me!"
In the room, Ji Lingxue and Xiao Yichen were sitting opposite each other and talking about something. When they heard Ji Yuqing's noisy voice, they both turned around and looked outside.
Xiao Yichen frowned. Ji Yuqing had become increasingly unstable since she married into the palace, always shouting and yelling for no reason.
(End of this chapter)