The Empress Dowager’s face darkened. “Xu Shu, don’t you dare spout nonsense!”
“When did I ever say I would beat you to death?”
Xu Shu loudly protested, “Empress Dowager, you didn’t say you’d beat me to death—but you did say I’d get twenty strokes of the board!”
“With twenty strokes, how is that any different from killing me?”
“Your Highness, you must save me!”
Xiao Jinghan glanced at Xu Shu, then shifted his gaze to the Empress Dowager.
“Empress Dowager, what made you so angry that you’d lay hands on a child under nine years old?”
The Empress Dowager let out a cold snort.
“Xian Prince, before questioning me, perhaps you should first ask what Xu Shu has done!”
Xiao Jinghan did not immediately ask Xu Shu what happened.
Instead, he raised a hand and pointed at a palace maid nearby.
“Go bring a chair for this prince. I’ll sit and listen.”
The Empress Dowager’s face turned even darker with anger.
In this palace, the only one who dared act so arrogantly was Xiao Jinghan.
The maid, called out, hurried inside and brought out a chair.
Xiao Jinghan sat down and then asked for tea as well.
The maid had no choice but to go back and prepare it.
The Empress Dowager stood to the side, her face almost turning green, but she did not dare speak a single word. She could only swallow her anger.
Xu Shu saw this and was secretly delighted.
He silently decided: from today onward, the Prince was his idol!
Once the tea was served, Xiao Jinghan spoke unhurriedly.
“Alright, who goes first?”
Xu Shu immediately shouted, “Me! Me! Me!”
Xiao Jinghan glanced at him. “Sit up and speak.”
As soon as those words fell, Xu Shu’s face collapsed.
He said miserably, “Your Highness, I also want to sit and speak—but I can’t.”
“I just got hit twice, they struck really hard. I feel like my butt is ruined.”
“It hurts so much… wuwuwu…”
As he spoke, Xu Shu even began wiping away tears and crying.
The Empress Dowager: “???”
Xiao Jinghan then shifted his gaze back to her.
“Looks like Xu Shu can’t speak properly. Then Empress Dowager, you explain instead.”
The Empress Dowager opened her mouth to respond, but was stopped by an elderly maid beside her.
The maid spoke up, “Your Highness, I was present at the scene. Perhaps this old servant can explain on behalf of the Empress Dowager?”
Xiao Jinghan toyed with the teacup in his hand and said lightly, “Do you think you can become the Empress Dowager?”
The maid’s expression changed drastically as she dropped to her knees.
“This servant would never dare!”
Xiao Jinghan gave a cold laugh.
“Since you don’t dare, what right do you have to speak in her place?”
He glanced at the inner attendants.
“Drag her out and give her twenty strokes of the board.”
The moment those words were spoken, everyone froze.
They hadn’t even reacted before another round of punishment was announced—only the target had changed.
The maid’s face turned pale instantly.
She hurriedly turned to beg the Empress Dowager, “Your Majesty…”
The Empress Dowager’s expression was extremely ugly.
She said coldly, “Xian Prince, are you deliberately going against me?”
“Clearly we are discussing Xu Shu’s matter—yet you are finding trouble with me instead?”
Xiao Jinghan replied indifferently, “I am punishing a servant. Yet the Empress Dowager says I’m finding trouble with you.”
“Then by that logic, when the Empress Dowager punished Xu Shu, wouldn’t that also be…”
The Empress Dowager immediately panicked and cut him off sharply.
“Xu Shu encouraged the Emperor to leave the palace. The Emperor is the ruler of the nation—if anything happened outside, who would bear responsibility?”
“Xian Prince, can you take that responsibility?”
Xiao Jinghan’s expression remained calm, unmoved.
The contrast between him and the Empress Dowager was stark.
The Empress Dowager looked increasingly like someone pushed to the edge.
Xiao Jinghan raised a brow and said casually, “It seems he didn’t even manage to leave the palace?”
Those words instantly silenced her.
But she quickly reacted.
“They didn’t succeed because I stopped them!”
“If I hadn’t stopped them, they would have escaped the palace!”
“And if they were targeted by criminals, what then?”
Xiao Jinghan replied calmly, “This is the imperial capital. There aren’t that many criminals.”
“Moreover, they never even left the palace. Everything after that is purely your imagination.”
“To use imagined outcomes as grounds for punishment—no matter where you take it, it doesn’t stand.”
The Empress Dowager still wanted to argue. “Xian Prince…”
But Xiao Jinghan had no interest in wasting more words.
He still had more important matters to attend to—he did not want to keep Feng Jingge waiting too long.
“Empress Dowager, save your arguments for later. When the Old Marquis and Assistant Minister Jin arrive, you can explain everything to them properly.”
Xiao Jinghan stood up and pointed at two attendants.
“You two, carry Xu Shu back to the Dingbei Marquis Residence on the long bench like this.”
“Jin Anhao, you go with them to the Marquis Residence.”
“Xiao Yu, follow me to the imperial study.”
After giving the orders, he did not even glance at the Empress Dowager before turning and leaving.
When the Regent gave an order, who would dare disobey?
The attendants gritted their teeth and carried Xu Shu away. Jin Anhao hurried after them.
Xiao Yu quickly followed Xiao Jinghan.
Eunuch Chen waved his whisk and hurried after the young emperor.
The matter seemed to be over—but it was not.
The real climax had yet to come.
Shortly after, Xiao Jinghan and Xiao Yu arrived at the imperial study.
Seeing the two enter, Eunuch Chen was about to close the door when Xiao Jinghan called him back.
“Eunuch Chen, find a marriage edict scroll for me.”
A marriage edict?
Eunuch Chen froze.
Xiao Yu’s eyes widened in confusion and curiosity as he looked at his uncle.
Seeing Eunuch Chen still standing there, Xiao Jinghan spoke again.
“What are you standing there for? Go find it.”
Eunuch Chen snapped back to reality.
“Yes, yes, yes! This old servant will go find it right away!”
He hurried to a row of bookshelves and began searching.
Xiao Yu asked, “Uncle, are you planning to get married?”
“Yes.”
After Xiao Jinghan responded, Xiao Yu asked again, “Is it the young lady of the Feng family?”
“Yes.”
Then Xiao Jinghan asked in return, “What do you think of today’s events?”
Xiao Yu lowered his gaze, looking dejected.
“Does Uncle want the truth?”
Xiao Jinghan replied calmly, “Naturally.”
Xiao Yu gave a bitter smile.
“The truth is… I think I’m quite useless. I couldn’t even protect my own friend.”
“The servants don’t listen to me at all, even when I claim authority as the emperor.”
“But with Mother Empress there, they simply ignore me.”
“Even when I use ‘I’ as the emperor’s term, they still obey her instead.”
“Useless?” Xiao Jinghan chuckled lightly. “At least you’ve recognized yourself clearly.”
Xiao Yu: “…”
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