The Adventures of the Crying Princess

Morning the next day

On the first day after Yuwen Ji recovered from his injury, he attended the morning court. For some reason, he felt uneasy as soon as he went out.

Su Beiqing, the Minister of Rites, stepped forward and pointed out that the Grand Princess had returned to Beijing a long time ago and should return to her fiefdom according to ancestral rules, and it was inappropriate for her to delay leaving.

Just as he finished speaking, he heard a commotion outside the palace, and the eunuch outside the door reported, "Your Majesty, the guards at Yuhua Gate mutinied, and someone from the Inner Court was also involved.

The rebels are now heading towards the Qinzheng Palace, Your Majesty, please make plans early."

Emperor Chengde only felt that this year was a bad year with constant wars and banditry.

Bai Yinan seemed to remember what his younger sister said, and hurriedly stepped out, "I am willing to quell the mutiny and then apologize to Your Majesty."

Bai Yiyang and Bai Yisong also stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, please allow us to go with my elder brother."

"Accurate!" Emperor Chengde rubbed his temples.

Seeing the emperor's gloomy face, all the civil and military officials looked at their ears and noses, lowered their heads and kept silent.

About an hour later, the mutiny was quelled and the door of the Qinzheng Hall was opened.

"Your Majesty, the rebellion has been quelled, and the leader of the rebellion has been beheaded." Bai Yinan knelt on one knee, "As the Minister of War, I failed to supervise my subordinates and frightened Your Majesty. Please punish me."

Bai Yimeng stood up in black and a mask, "Your Majesty, this matter has nothing to do with Minister Bai. It was my poor performance that frightened Your Majesty. I hope Your Majesty will punish me."

Bai Yinan was confused and asked in a low voice, "What are you acting like?"

Bai Yimeng ignored his elder brother and said, "Your Majesty, the Inner Court is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War, but the Ministry of War is responsible for much more than that. Not to mention the Five Directions Military Department, the Patrol Department, the guards and secret guards of each mansion,

The soldiers of the Jingzhao Prefecture, the Ministry of Justice and other big government offices were all under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War. If they were just listed in the Ministry of War, would the Minister of War have to bear the responsibility if they committed a crime?

As I take over the Dragon Roar Guard, I have the responsibility to protect Your Majesty and the Imperial City. I ask Your Majesty to punish me."

"You also know your responsibilities, and you also know that you should be punished?" Emperor Chengde's eyes widened with anger, "Someone come and arrest him."

"Father, please spare the princess's life for her contributions in suppressing the rebellion." Yuwen Ji immediately knelt down and pleaded for Bai Yimeng.

The prince also stood up and bowed, "Father, please calm down. The princess has done a great job in protecting the emperor before, but you have not rewarded her yet. This time, why not forgive her for her meritorious service?"

Emperor Chengde stared at Bai Yimeng for a long time. "Well, I should have given you a good beating to teach you a lesson. But for the sake of Prince Yi and the Crown Prince, I will punish you by making you kneel until the court is dismissed. If you do it again, I will not let you off lightly."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your mercy. Thank you, Crown Prince and Prince Yi, for pleading for me."

Emperor Chengde secretly breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately someone pleaded for her.

Bai Yimeng secretly nudged his elder brother and whispered, "Going to court has nothing to do with you. I was just punished to kneel, it's okay.

Emperor Chengde kept staring at Bai Yimeng so much that he didn't even hear what the Minister of Rites Su Beiqing said to him.

Su Beiqing was not as smooth as Su Beichen. Seeing that the emperor ignored him, he deliberately raised his voice and called out, "Your Majesty!"

"What did Lord Su say?" Emperor Chengde shifted his gaze back.

"I say, according to ancestral rules, the eldest princess should return to her fiefdom."

"Go back, the Ministry of Rites can handle it." Emperor Chengde's eyes moved to Bai Yimeng again, seeing that she seemed to be a little bit unable to kneel, "If you, my dear ministers, have nothing to do, let's adjourn the court."

After that, he told Chen Gong to go over, "Little Chenzi, go and keep the princess, and tell her to have breakfast with me."

"Yes, slave, go right away."

Bai Yinan came out and helped his sister up. "My little sister scared me to death. If I really have to be beaten, I would rather be your second or third brother than you."

"Little sister, you scared us to death. When did you become a Dragon Roar Guard?" Bai Yi Yang also followed to check on his sister's condition.

"Well, it's a long story. I'll tell you in detail when we get back home."

"Alright."

"Little sister, feel my heart and see how it's beating." Bai Yisong pointed to the spot in his heart.

Yuwen Ji followed far behind. He knew that the three brothers of the Bai family didn't like him.

"Princess Sui'an, please stay. His Majesty has ordered that you have breakfast with us."

Bai Yimeng turned around and saluted, "Your Highness obeys your command."

"Little sister, please be careful with your words and don't offend His Majesty." Bai Yi Yang helped his sister tidy up her clothes.

Yuwen Ji smiled, turned around and followed him. Eunuch Chen noticed Yuwen Ji, smiled and turned around to salute, "Your Majesty just wants the little princess to accompany you for breakfast, Prince Yi, please go back."

"I am hungry too. Father will not want to miss this meal."

Eunuch Chen couldn't persuade Yuwen Ji, so he had to let him go.

In the side hall of Chen'an Palace, the old emperor glanced at the three people, and Eunuch Chen quickly pleaded guilty, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. The prince was worried about the little princess, so he followed me."

"Never mind, serve the food."

Emperor Chengde said nothing during the meal. When the food was cleared away, he asked, "Are you full?"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the meal." Bai Yimeng knelt down to express his gratitude.

Emperor Chengde helped the man up and said, "Looks like you're full. Okay, go lie down over there."

“Didn’t you say you would spare your servant?” Seeing that the old emperor didn’t want to joke, Bai Yimeng had no choice but to do as he asked.

"Father..."

Emperor Chengde interrupted Yuwen Ji and said, "It's none of your business. Stay aside."

He took out a bamboo stick and placed it in front of Bai Yimeng. "Let's play a game. I ask you questions and you answer them. If you tell the truth, you won't be beaten. If you lie, you will be beaten. Are you ready?"

"No! Can a servant not play?"

"Sure, then just beat him until his skin is torn and his flesh is exposed. I advise you to just play." Emperor Chengde looked earnest and turned his head to glare at Yuwen Ji, "Do you want to play? If not, get out!"

Yuwen Ji realized that his father was trying to scare the little girl. He was relieved and shook his head quickly, "My son is grown up, he doesn't want to play anymore."

"Let me ask you, who asked you to take the blame? Was it your elder brother or someone else?"

"It's me."

Emperor Chengde seemed to have expected this answer. "Okay, I'll ask you again, why did you take the blame?"

"Your Majesty, do you still remember asking me to investigate the case of Prince Yi being framed?

Guess who I met? I met Zhang Jue. It was also on that day that I had a bold idea. Prince Yi was wrongly accused, maybe it was a trick. Their target was the six tribes. "

Emperor Chengde picked up the bamboo stick and was about to hit him, but he put it back and suddenly picked it up again and hit him again.

"Ah! Your Majesty, I didn't lie." Bai Yimeng was stunned. "I'm beaten even if I tell the truth? What kind of game rules are these?"

"It's not because of you." After a pause, "It's also because of you. Why are you a girl? If you were a boy, I would definitely give you an important task."

"Then why did you hit me? This is my parents' fault. You can't blame anyone but me." Bai Yimeng rubbed it hard. "It hurts so much. It must be swollen. I don't want to play anymore. It's not fun."

"Okay, I won't joke with you anymore. Tell me your plan." The fact is that I am taking the blame is for Your Majesty.

If the Minister of War is punished, the consequences will be disastrous. When Yuwen Ji was here, I got the news late. If you are angry and beat me, it is not a loss. "

"Who do you suspect?" Emperor Chengde asked without any clue.

"You must first promise not to hit anyone. No matter who I name, you cannot hit anyone."

The old emperor stared at me and threatened, "You tell me or not, if you don't, I will do it."

"Prince Ying, the identities of those people in the capital have been found out. They were brought in by Prince Ying. I have evidence."

"This is all up to me. In the future, be careful with what you say and do. If no one pleads for you today, do you think I should beat you or not? I don't want to beat you, but the etiquette and laws of our ancestors are there.

The beating you just now was meant to teach you a lesson. You were in so much pain before I even used all my strength. If I really beat you with fifty boards, you would have died.

"Be good in the future and don't always cause trouble. Your brothers are men, they are tough and strong, they can handle a few beatings, but you can't, remember that?"

"I've made note of this."