mtl008 Chapter 71 "You bitch!!"
Chapter 71 "You bitch!!"
Lu Chiying suddenly lost all her strength and turned her head away, no longer looking at her good brother.
Lin Shiming glanced at her and sighed inwardly.
"The third thing is that the second prince consort knew that he could not take a concubine until he was thirty and childless after marrying the princess, but he still became too close to a merchant's daughter and they had a deep affection for each other. Later, he even introduced her to the Prince of Ping's mansion as a concubine, and after she entered the mansion, he had illicit relations with her many times, which led to her pregnancy."
Zhuang Jingyi's face suddenly turned ashen, and he slumped to the ground, filled with fear and disbelief.
King Ping was trembling with shame and indignation, and was just short of rushing up to punch Zhuang Jingyi twice.
"Your Highness!" Lu Chiying exclaimed in astonishment, standing up while supporting herself on the table. "Is what Your Highness said true?"
“It was discovered on the day of the spring hunt, and Father Emperor and Prince Ping were both present. There is no doubt that the woman's month of pregnancy is wrong, and she immediately confessed that her lover was the Second Prince Consort. I also sent people to investigate, and everything she said matches up.”
Lu Chiying was so angry that her vision blurred. She pointed at Zhuang Jingyi's nose and cursed, "You shameless!"
Zhuang Jingyi was completely flustered and frantically tried to exonerate himself, "It's not my fault! It's you, it's you who didn't give me a son and wouldn't let me take a concubine! I... I was just confused for a moment, so what!"
"A moment of confusion?" Lin Shiming laughed in anger. "A moment of confusion that led to an ambiguous relationship with that woman for several months, followed by elaborate schemes to get her into the Prince Ping's residence, and four carefully arranged secret meetings. You call that a moment of confusion?"
"me..."
"You cannot escape these two crimes: disobeying the imperial edict and confusing the royal bloodline."
"Chi Ying, Princess, I know I was wrong. Please save me. I didn't mean to... I know my mother and I treated you badly before. Don't worry, I will definitely change. I will treat you well. I will send my mother back today..."
Lin Shiming remained silent, instead observing Lu Chiying's performance with an impassive expression.
Lu Chiying took deep breaths, and after a long while, she flicked her sleeves and sat back down in her chair, ignoring Zhuang Jingyi who was still crying and pleading.
Lin Shiming met Lu Yuxi's gaze, who had been standing next to him as a background figure for a long time, and the two nodded in tacit agreement.
"Don't rush to cry." Lin Shiming was getting tired of sitting, so he shifted his weight and leaned half of his body on Lu Yuxi next to him.
You know what, sitting close by has its advantages!
Lu Yuxi moved her arm to make Lin Shiming more comfortable.
"There's one last thing I haven't mentioned yet."
Lu Chiying gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and waited for Lin Shiming's next "blow".
"When my people were inquiring about things at the princess's residence, they discovered that Princess Fenglin, as the only daughter of the emperor and a royal princess, actually lived in the most remote and dilapidated courtyard of the residence. So they took the opportunity to investigate further."
Lin Shiming's smile was somewhat ruthless.
"Only then did we realize that it was Madam Zhuang who had gone to find this Taoist priest to tell the princess's fortune. He said that the princess was not blessed and that her fate was incompatible with Madam Zhuang's, so she should be sent far away and raised at will."
"Prince Ping, this matter is so important, don't you know?"
"Your Majesty, I have heard of it, and so has my Mother. But I think what the Taoist priest said makes sense, and besides, it's just sending Maple Forest a little further away to be cared for, so there's nothing wrong with that..."
"Nothing wrong with it? Lu Yusheng, Fenglin is your own sister's daughter, whom she carried for ten months and risked her life to give birth to. You are her uncle! Instead of thinking about her, instead of investigating whether this Taoist priest has been bribed, you just let this crazy woman treat your own niece like this?!"
"If it weren't for my elder sister's love for her daughter, and her decision to move to the neighboring courtyard to take care of her every day, your niece would probably have been tortured to death by those servants!"
King Ping was so ashamed by the scolding that he stammered and couldn't utter a word for a long time.
Lu Chiying, standing beside her, had already begun to silently shed tears. But as she cried, she realized something was amiss. "Your Highness just said 'bribe'?"
“Yes.” Lin Shiming nodded. “It’s been found out. This Taoist priest was just a fake who only learned the basics and was expelled from the Taoist temple for dishonest means. He had only been swindling people on the street for two days when Madam Zhuang brought him back.”
The old Taoist priest, who had been hiding for half a day, quickly crawled over, pleading, "Honorable sir, spare my life! It was that old woman who gave me a large sum of silver and told me to say those words!"
After a moment of silence in the main hall, Lu Yuxi couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.
Lu Chiying then came to her senses and immediately lunged at the timid and fearful Madam Zhuang, tearing at her forcefully.
"You bitch!!"
Seeing his mother's disheveled hair and cries of pain, Zhuang Jingyi anxiously tried to rush over and pull Lu Chiying away, but was held down firmly by the Imperial Guards.
Madam Zhuang was still gagged and could only groan as she was beaten. It wasn't until Lu Chiying got tired of beating her and was helped back to sit by a maid that she collapsed to the ground, disheveled and exhausted.
Lin Shiming glanced disdainfully at Madam Zhuang, who was twitching occasionally on the ground, and then turned his gaze to Prince Ping.
"Prince Ping, this is the 'good family' that you and your mother used both soft and hard tactics to force your second sister to marry into. All your efforts weren't to protect your family, but to harm them!"
Stop using the excuse of protecting your mother and sister to cover up the truth that you are vying for the throne for your own ambition.
Prince Ping wasn't a fool like Prince An, and besides, Lin Shiming was practically pointing his finger at him and cursing him, so he naturally understood.
"Your Majesty, it was truly just a momentary lapse in judgment..."
"Alright." Lin Shiming completely ignored him. "I've already said, I'm not here today to argue about right and wrong. I'm here to decide how this matter will be handled."
He looked at the Second Princess and said, "In the end, these matters are all family affairs of my elder sister and Prince Ping. As for how to handle them, His Highness the Crown Prince and I will naturally listen to my elder sister's opinion."
They were willing to support Lu Chiying and stand up for her. But it all depended on her own wishes. Otherwise, if they were just putting in a lot of effort and Lu Chiying regretted it later, wouldn't she blame them for meddling and make it her fault?
The hatred in Lu Chiying's eyes had not yet faded. "I wonder what suggestions Your Highness has?"
"It's not really a suggestion, it's just to show my sister our attitude. My sister is the princess of Changping, with the Emperor as her father and the Crown Prince as her younger brother. We are willing and able to give you and the princess the greatest honor and support." Lin Shiming said earnestly, "The Emperor also shares this attitude."
Zhuang Jingyi struggled to lean against Lu Chiying, "Princess, Princess, please forgive me this once. A princess cannot be without a father! It would be bad for her reputation!"
He had cuckolded Prince Ping, and even if Prince Ping cared deeply about his grandfather's position as the Crown Prince's tutor, he wouldn't save him. Zhuang Jingyi knew in his heart that the only person he could turn to was Lu Chiying.
The only sound in the main hall for a moment was Zhuang Jingyi's pleading.
Lin Shiming got up and pulled Lu Yuxi up as well.
"Your Majesty, this is a serious matter. Please take your time to consider it. Lu Yuxi and I are going out for lunch and will be back around 1:00 PM."
Lin Shiming paused and looked at the silent Prince Ping beside him.
“Prince Ping, please give your elder sister some private space to think. After all, you are clueless and one of the culprits, so you probably won’t say anything good.”
After saying that, Lin Shiming ignored the King of Ping's reddened eyes and walked out side by side with Lu Yuxi.
Lu Chiying and the Prince of Ping hurriedly saw them off with courtesy.
Just as he reached the door, Lin Shiming seemed to suddenly remember something and turned back to look at Lu Chiying.
"This matter concerns the princess's growth and future. Why don't you talk to your little niece and hear her opinion, Your Highness?"
*
Lu Yuxi and Lin Shiming went to a decent-looking restaurant near the Princess's residence. When they left, they arranged for someone to queue up and buy two roast ducks.
The dishes he ordered at the restaurant had already been served, but Lin Shiming was still biting his chopsticks and waiting patiently for his roast duck.
Lu Yuxi raised her hand to pour him a cup of tea. "Fenglin is not even two years old yet. Why did you ask your elder sister to ask for her opinion?"
Lin Shiming looked at the fragrant dishes in front of him with a resentful expression and swallowed hard.
"So what if she's two years old? Two-year-olds can already tell who treats them well and who they dislike. Their understanding of good and evil is the purest and most direct."
It won't involve the interests and face-saving considerations of adults.
Lu Yuxi easily understood Lin Shiming's meaning. He nodded and said, "Eat if you're hungry. If you can't eat anymore, we can take the roast duck back for dinner."
"No!"
Lin Shiming's eyes hardened.
"Aren't we supposed to be asking Father and Mother about their relationship tonight? If we bring the roast duck back, it might not end up being eaten by us!"
I don't believe my father!