Xiao Jin’s voice echoed outside the palace, lingering for a long time.
The voice was strong and powerful, not at all like someone who was dying could produce.
Inside the study, Taijian Ting heard the voice and his smiling face instantly stiffened. His hand holding the feather duster even trembled.
Not only the eunuch, even the birds perched on the yellow tiles chirped and flew away at this moment.
Due to the sudden change, the last note on the guzheng was inevitably out of tune.
The pipa players snapped out of their daze and quickly put down their instruments, kneeling down with the eunuch in panic.
“Your Majesty, please calm down!”
At this moment, the fourth prince sitting on another chair slowly got up.
He had the closest relationship with the Qi Emperor, so he calmly kneeled down and said with a smile, “Third Brother has always been like this, straightforward and impulsive. Father, please calm down.”
He had already pleaded for mercy for Xiao Jin, and as for whether the Qi Emperor was angry or not, it had nothing to do with him.
A paper with strong and powerful calligraphy was hung on the wall of the study. However, the emperor sitting on the chair below the paper had an extremely ugly expression.
Xiao Ce had been the emperor for so many years, and had always felt aggrieved.
Although the people of Qi praised the crown prince, they had some doubts about his rule. That was okay, but now even Xiao Jin dared to challenge him openly in front of everyone.
What kind of etiquette is this?
The Qi Emperor immediately darkened his face and said to the eunuch beside him, “Go and invite the Yan Prince in!”
The eunuch’s face turned pale, and he hurriedly agreed before running out.
The Fourth Prince, Xiao Yi, knelt on the carpet and secretly thought that Xiao Jin really knew how to pick the timing.
He was wondering what he could do to make the Qi Emperor heavily punish this person when Xiao Jin himself came knocking on the door.
Two pipa players knelt on the side, their foreheads pressed tightly against the ground, not daring to breathe. After a while, they faintly heard the sound of wooden wheels rolling over the carpet.
When the sound of the wheels stopped, it seemed that someone coughed twice.
The pipa players knew that this person was probably the famous Yan Prince, so they cautiously glanced at him out of the corner of their eyes.
As soon as they saw his face, they dared not look again.
But they thought to themselves that the Yan Prince was really handsome. His appearance didn’t quite resemble that of a man; he was fair and delicate, with a pair of eyes that were indifferent and emotionless.
But in rumors, the Yan Prince was said to be violent and overbearing.
Despite his outstanding military achievements, he was not popular among the people of Qi.
Xiao Jin, who was the focus of everyone’s attention, was not worried at all.
She didn’t care whether everyone in the room was happy or not. She was just feeling extremely satisfied after her earlier outburst.
Xiao Jin calmly sat in her wheelchair with Chu Shao and saluted the Qi Emperor together, saying, “Your child, Xiao Jin, accompanied by Queen Consort Chu Shao, pays respects to the father emperor.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the study fell into another deadly silence.
Whether it was the real Xiao Jin or the fake one, it seemed that they had a talent for quickly cooling down the atmosphere. No one, from the emperor to the common people, was spared.
In fact, Qi Huang was somewhat angry.
He had five sons, some of whom were useless, while others were too capable.
Looking at Xiao Jin, Qi Huang didn’t know which category to put him in.
To say that Xiao Jin was capable, he certainly was.
At a young age, he was appointed as the Prince of Yan and promoted to the rank of General of the State with the second-highest rank. He had made many contributions to the Qi country.
To say that Xiao Jin was useless, he was indeed quite useless.
He often did outrageous things, such as saying that he would go to war against Yao country and even directly trying to kidnap someone for marriage.
Just now, he deliberately shouted loudly outside the study room to embarrass him, which really made him unable to suppress his anger.
Qi Huang’s face looked ugly, and he intended to scold Xiao Jin.
However, when he saw Xiao Jin sitting in a wheelchair, frowning and coughing, he couldn’t bear it.
Not to mention the black fur coat that made his face even more pale.
Thinking that his son was about to die of illness, his anger suddenly subsided.
Qi Huang suppressed his anger and was about to say “you may rise.”
Who knew that the Fourth Prince, who was kneeling on the carpet, suddenly stood up and bowed to Xiao Jin with a smile, “Congratulations, Third Brother.”
Xiao Jin did not respond immediately, just took out a silk handkerchief and coughed on her own.
The snow-white handkerchief couldn’t conceal the blood, and the inkstone on her hand was stained with deep red.
After coughing, she slowly raised her eyebrows and asked the Fourth Prince in a calm and measured tone, “Fourth Brother, I wonder what the good news is?”
Her voice was very soft, perfectly selling Qi Huang a pitiful image.
The Fourth Prince smiled at Xiao Jin, “There are two good news. One is that my younger brother thought that Third Brother’s voice was as loud as a bell just now, so his body should be very healthy now. The second good news is naturally to congratulate Third Brother on her new marriage and being happy.”
Xiao Jin was almost laughed at. It was sour, really sour.
She also learned from the Fourth Prince and bowed politely, saying lightly, “Fourth Brother is too kind. We are brothers, we share joy and sorrow.”
One turned pale, the other turned green, indeed it was a great joy.
The Fourth Prince immediately restrained his smile. He wanted to provoke Xiao Jin a bit to make her lose her temper in front of the Emperor.
But unexpectedly, she not only didn’t lose her temper, but also retorted back along his words.
How could there be such a shameless person in the world who not only took his wife, but also dared to claim “we are brothers”?
Xiao Jin’s thick-skinned behavior and large heart really caught him off guard.
Although it didn’t have the desired effect, because of the Fourth Prince’s words, the Emperor QÃ realized that something was wrong.
After a moment, his face suddenly darkened.
Xiao Jin couldn’t die! How could a dying person shout so loudly just now?
So the Emperor became furious and scolded, “Xiao Jin, you treacherous person. You even want to take your brother’s wife. You–“
Before he could finish his scolding, the Emperor couldn’t continue, because he saw Chu Shao kneeling next to Xiao Jin.
It has to be said that when he saw the silver-blue pattern on Chu Shao’s forehead, he suddenly understood why Xiao Jin wanted to kidnap her.
It was rumored that the Emperor of the Yao Kingdom had a bright pearl that shone brightly in the deep night, filling the room with radiance.
But now, it seemed that this woman was even more dazzling.
However, Chu Shao did not notice the Emperor’s burning gaze, because she was focused on thinking about something.
As early as when she pushed Xiao Jin into the study, she noticed that there were two pipa players kneeling inside.
At this moment, she was guessing with great interest: were these two women invited by the Qi emperor himself, or were they offered by the Fourth Prince?
In fact, her guess leaned more towards the latter, but if it was really the case, it was quite funny.
Chu Shao smiled softly. She really didn’t understand why the Fourth Prince, who was the son of the imperial concubine, was busy stuffing people into the Qi emperor’s harem.
On the other hand, Xiao Jin had already figured out how to retort, but unexpectedly, the Qi emperor suddenly stopped cursing.
She frowned slightly, looked up, and found that he was staring straight at Chu Shaorou.
Xiao Jin was suddenly confused.
The Qi emperor was just a foolish ruler in online novels. Did he really think he was Emperor Cao? Staring at someone else’s wife, his eyes went straight, was this appropriate?
She immediately coughed violently twice and brought the Qi emperor’s wandering soul back.
After coughing, Xiao Jin put down the blood-stained cloth covering her mouth.
She looked directly into the Qi emperor’s eyes, and her voice suddenly became cold, “Your Majesty, it is freezing cold outside. My wife has been kneeling on the ground for so long. May I ask if you can allow her to stand up?”
Now she called the Qi emperor “Your Majesty” and referred to herself as “this official,” it seemed she was going to disown her family.
There was an underground passage under the imperial study, and as long as charcoal was lit in the fire passage, the heating would be circulated throughout.
Therefore, the study was as warm as spring, without any coldness.
After listening to Xiao Jin’s words, the Fourth Prince and the Qi emperor were silent as they felt the warmth in the study.
Even the pipa-playing women felt nervous for Xiao Jin. She was a royal prince, why did she like to talk nonsense?
Xiao Jin was a ruthless person. Even when the whole room was silent, she could still lead the way calmly and said to Chu Shao without changing her expression, “Father the Emperor has always been kind, and his silence now is his acquiescence. Princess, please stand up and express your gratitude.”
The Qi emperor: “……”
In the imperial study, Chu Shao was the only one who smiled throughout.
Chu Shao felt that it was reasonable for the Emperor Qi not to let her get up. After all, Great Yao had died, and she was now just an insignificant prisoner.
But it was also reasonable for Xiao Jin to ask her to get up because she and Xiao Jin were accomplices. As fellow criminals, they naturally had to protect each other from the charges.
Chu Shao could understand that Xiao Jin’s actions were for her own good.
So she stood up calmly and smilingly said to Emperor Qi, “Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty.”
Xiao Jin was very satisfied, it seemed that Chu Shao also had some talent for being a two-faced person.
Emperor Qi, however, was so angry that veins bulged on his forehead.
This was outrageous. His good son was only made a king, and he was already riding on his head and acting recklessly.
If it weren’t for Xiao Jin’s serious illness, coupled with his own debt to Xiao Jin, he would have long removed this son from the jade plate.
What can be tolerated and what cannot be tolerated?
Emperor Qi’s anger exceeded the limit of his patience. He picked up a memorial and was about to smash it on the ground.
But before he could gather enough force to do so, a small eunuch trembled and ran into the study.
The eunuch was pale, and his legs were shaking.
Knowing that Emperor Qi was furious, but also afraid to offend the person outside the hall, he could only kneel down and tremulously say, “Your Majesty, please calm down!”
Emperor Qi’s hand froze in mid-air, and he could hardly breathe.
Smashing was not good, and not smashing was not good either. He simply threw the memorial hard at the eunuch and shouted angrily, “Without my orders, why did you come in? Drag him out and execute him by caning!”
The eunuch was hit so hard that his legs went weak, and he realized that he was in big trouble.
In order to save his life, he could only scream out one sentence, “Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is seeking an audience–“
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jin narrowed her eyes.
The male lead has also arrived?
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Translator’s note: Hmm.. some translations may not be accurate because I’m not particularly familiar on Chinese history.
TO BE CONTINUE…
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