The Adventures of the Crying Princess

The journey that was originally supposed to take five days was stretched to ten days. After Yuwen Ji settled Bai Yimeng, he was about to go to the palace to report.

"I'll go with you." Bai Yimeng held Yuwen Ji's hand and said, "If His Majesty makes things difficult for you, we will shoulder the responsibility together." Bai Yimeng jumped into Yuwen Ji's arms.

Valley Master Long and Doctor Guo lowered their heads silently. As people of their age, they really can't bear to watch too many corny scenes.

"Child, father won't make things too difficult for me. After all, this disaster relief effort was very successful." Yuwen Ji said this without feeling confident.

Bai Yimeng didn't care about that and insisted on going with him. Bai Yinan pulled his sister down and said, "Even if there are mountains of swords and seas of fire ahead, Prince Yi has to go through this stage by himself. What will happen if you go?"

Besides, as a princess, you left the capital without permission. If His Majesty blames you, do you think you can bear it?"

Bai Yinan lied to his sister. Before he left Beijing, he had already asked for permission from Emperor Mingde. Otherwise, how could he, as a general, just leave like that?

Bai Yimeng thought for a while and said, "You are not right. I have never heard that the princess has to report before leaving the capital. I am neither in charge of the army nor in power, so there is no need for me to report. I don't care, I'm going." Bai Yimeng hugged Yuwen Ji again, and she was determined to follow him into the palace.

"You are relying on your illness to be arrogant. You are relying on your injuries and your big brother is reluctant to hit you, so you dare to act recklessly, right?" Bai Yinan raised his eyes, "Little girl, come down quickly, don't force your big brother to do it."

Yuwen Ji saw this and hurried to help, "Be good, kid. Father won't make things difficult for me. I'm not stupid. Why do you come to the palace without any preparation? Be good, or your elder brother will really beat you up."

Bai Yimeng let go of his hand obediently, waited for Yuwen Ji to walk away, stepped on Bai Yinan and ran back to the room.

Not long after Yuwen Ji entered the palace, Eunuch Chen came and asked Bai Yimeng to go to the palace to meet the emperor.

On the way into the palace, Eunuch Chen told Bai Yimeng not to talk back to Emperor Chengde and to be a good boy.

"Why, eunuch, did the prince make His Majesty angry?" This was what Bai Yimeng was most worried about.

"No, Your Majesty is unhappy about the affairs of Xiling Kingdom. Just a few days after the little princess left, the King of Xiling died of illness and the Prince of Xiling inherited the throne.

The first thing the new king did after ascending the throne was to ask His Majesty to return the high priest and the princess. He also asked His Majesty to severely punish the person who killed the princess.

"Your Majesty, are you going to hand me over?"

"How is this possible? Little princess, don't worry. His Majesty is a wise ruler and will not wrong his people. It would be too embarrassing to give Xiling whatever it wants. His Majesty will not do anything to the little princess. That's all I have to say. Little princess, just wait a moment and be sweet-mouthed."

"Thank you for the reminder, eunuch." Bai Yimeng understood and took out a pain-relieving pill from his pouch.

When they arrived at the door of the imperial study, Yuwen Ji and the Minister of Revenue were still inside, and Bai Yimeng stood there obediently.

Not long after, Yuwen Ji came out. He was startled when he saw Bai Yimeng, then he thought of something. He touched her head and whispered to comfort her, "Don't be afraid. Father won't make things difficult for you. I'll be waiting for you at the palace gate."

Bai Yimeng nodded listlessly. She was not afraid of death, but she was afraid of pain. His Majesty's way of solving problems was mostly rough.

"Prince Yi should go back. His Majesty may have a long conversation with Princess Sui'an." Eunuch Chen nodded to Yuwen Ji, as if to say, 'It's okay.'

As soon as Bai Yimeng entered the imperial study, she knelt down with weak legs, "Your Majesty, your servant greets you."

"Well, get up." Emperor Chengde put away the memorial and waved his hand, "Come here and let me take a look. Prince Yi said you were injured. Is it serious?"

"Fortunately."

Seeing Bai Yimeng's listless look, Emperor Chengde was puzzled. "What's wrong? If you are unhappy, tell me and I will be happy."

"I am not unhappy, it's just that I haven't seen Your Majesty for a long time and I miss him very much."

Emperor Chengde smiled and pulled the man to his side, looking at him carefully, "Prince Yi is right, it seems that he is seriously injured. Xiao Chenzi will tell you about the succession of the new king of Xiling. What do you plan to do?"

Seeing that Bai Yimeng was a little nervous, Emperor Chengde pushed the fruit closer to her and said, "Sit down and eat while you think."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Bai Yimeng sat down and started eating grapes. After finishing the whole plate of grapes, he licked his lips and asked, "Your Majesty, do you have any more?"

"If you can't think of a solution yet, I'll think of one for you." Emperor Chengde snatched the plate.

Bai Yimeng lowered her head and searched for something in her purse. Chengde came forward curiously to take a look, "What are you looking for? Do you have any magic weapon?"

"It's not a magic weapon, it's a painkiller. Your Majesty, you can kill me or chop me up, just wait for me to take the medicine."

Emperor Chengde snatched the purse and looked at Eunuch Chen, "Little Chen, how did you relay it? When did I say I would kill her?"

Eunuch Chen immediately knelt down and apologized, "It's my fault that I didn't explain clearly. Your Majesty, please forgive me."

“I don’t blame Eunuch Chen. I just feel that if the King of Xiling wants to establish his authority, he will have to fight a tough battle, and Daxing will naturally be the first to bear the brunt.

Your Majesty is a benevolent ruler, and you certainly don't want to start a war and cause the people to suffer. Sacrificing your subject is the best option."

Emperor Mingde's face turned cold. "Princess Xiling took the initiative to provoke me. If I can tolerate this, how can I establish my authority in the future? He, the new king of Xiling, wants to establish his reputation and prestige, so why don't I do that?

When you were fighting with the King of Qi, I admit that I took sides. But you are Princess Sui'an of Daxing. If I hand you over, how will the people and the court officials view me?"

Emperor Chengde changed the subject and said, "Actually, this matter is not difficult to resolve. If you cure the prince of Qi, I will let you off the hook."

"Your Majesty, it's not that I don't know how to treat the King of Qi, it's that the King of Qi's illness is hysteria, and I don't know how to treat it."

"Fifty strokes of the cane or healing the King of Qi, choose one." Emperor Chengde said, and motioned to Eunuch Chen, "Bring me some more grapes, I haven't eaten them yet."

"Yes, slave, go right away."

After Eunuch Chen left, Emperor Mingde coughed and asked, "Do you suspect that the second son is playing dumb?"

Bai Yimeng secretly criticized the old emperor, saying that he knew everything but was pretending to be ignorant.

She nodded slightly, "I have my doubts about this. After all, I frightened the King of Qi at that time, and I think his psychological endurance should not be like this."

"Little monkey, there are no outsiders here, just speak your mind." Emperor Mingde knocked on the table. "I heard about the attack on you last time. Longyin Guards have selected fifty people for you to use. Remember, if you dare to do bad things, dare to have second thoughts about me, dare to tell the third brother, you will be beaten with a stick." Emperor Chengde handed her a token.

"I don't want it. Whether the King of Qi is pretending to be sick or what his intention is has nothing to do with me. I am just a girl and can't do anything." Bai Yimeng took a few steps back with her hands behind her back.

"You want to disobey the order?"

"Your Majesty, write a letter of guarantee that you will not hit anyone, and I will investigate."

Emperor Chengde was so angry that he laughed, "You dare to bargain with me? Go on, I don't need to make a promise to a little monkey like you. If you do it well, I will reward you. If you don't do it well, I will punish you. That's it. Go quickly."

After saying that, he forced the token to Bai Yimeng and said, "If you don't lend me your hand, I will beat you up."

"You are unreasonable!" Bai Yimeng pouted, looking both inexperienced and cowardly. "Your Majesty, I will be leaving in a few days. You should arrange for someone else to do it."

"I know. There is no rush to return to Wan'an Valley. I have already told your elder brother about this." Emperor Chengde patted Bai Yimeng's head. "Go quickly. You are not allowed to leave Beijing until this matter is completed."