Chapter 236: I Believe It Is Unnecessary

Chapter 236: I Believe It Is Unnecessary

Prince Kang fell silent. He didn’t see Ci Xin in the crowd, which piqued his curiosity.

Even though they suffered heavy losses, Ci Xin, known for his kindness, did not step forward to intervene.

“His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Great Wei, I demand to see Prince Ci Xin!” Xiao Qing was led forward under escort. She looked at Xiao Yin and said, “I don’t believe he could be so heartless. I have something to ask him!”

“What, is there more poison hidden somewhere to frame Prince Ci Xin after what you did yesterday?” Xiao Yue asked.

“Princess Royal of Great Wei, no matter how you put it, I have remained pure for Prince Ci Xin, but what about you?” Xiao Qing looked at Xiao Yue and sneered. “You are a woman with two children…”

With a swift motion, Xiao Yue raised her hand and took a handkerchief from Dong Ju’s hand. She coldly looked at the woman in front of her, watching as a cut appeared at the corner of the woman’s mouth.

“Oof!”

At first, Xiao Qing only felt a coolness at the corner of her mouth, followed by warm liquid trickling down. As she was about to cry out in pain, she realized that if she opened her mouth, the cut at the corner of her mouth would hurt unbearably. She immediately fell to the ground, covering her mouth.

“Prince Ci Xin is not for others to comment on, and neither is my status as a princess!” Xiao Yue said coldly.

“Princess of Great Wei, do you know that Xiao Qing is a female official of the Southern Mingyue Kingdom!” The Prince of Kang stomped his foot and shouted.

“Official or not, on Great Wei’s territory, I merely silenced a gossiping woman!” Xiao Yue said coldly.

“Support Princess Royal! Support our Emperor of Great Wei! The Southern Mingyue Kingdom is acting outrageously. Your Majesty should teach them a lesson!”

“Yes, Your Majesty, we’ve already taken the North Sea. Taking the Southern Mingyue Kingdom would be no problem. We are not afraid!”

It was unclear who started it, but the townsfolk began shouting.

Xiao Yin did not interact with the crowd. He turned around and slowly walked towards the inner gate.

Coming to the tavern opposite the gate, he led Xiao Yue up the tavern steps.

“Ting Er, make sure the gate area is cleaned up. We will head back to the capital later this afternoon,” Xiao Yue said.

“Yes, Aunt!” Xiao Yuting nodded, then ordered people to drag away the bodies, clean the gate area, and brought an ordinary carriage to toss the two Southern Mingyue nationals inside. “Escort them to the southern border and let the carriage proceed unattended. Send a message back that if the Southern Mingyue Kingdom causes trouble again, it won’t be a crippled Prince Kang and a disfigured official we send back, but two corpses or two heads!”

This incident was considered an aside and was thus concluded.

There wasn’t much public commentary on the methods used by the emperor and Princess Royal.

However, the identity of the Imperial Tutor and the current situation of the Southern Mingyue Kingdom, as well as their attitude towards the Imperial Tutor, became topics of conversation over tea and meals for many.

“Did Xiao Qing really have something with Prince Ci Xin?!”

This was the question everyone was most concerned about.

“Princess Royal’s methods are truly ruthless. Disfiguring the girl is worse than killing her!”

This was the talk among the people. Though they did not criticize Princess Royal’s methods, many speculated about her relationship with the Imperial Tutor.

“I actually think Wen Xu, Imperial Physician, suits the Princess Royal better!”

“I agree. Physician Wen is gentle and considerate, and his family background is simple. Both his father and grandfather are imperial physicians, having served the royal family their entire lives!”

“Prince Ci Xin is also good to the princess, especially to the little princess. Shouldn’t the decision rest with the little princess?”

However, what followed became an even more intriguing topic of secret discussion.

"In the royal family of Great Wei, tensions have risen between the eldest prince and the second prince."

"It is said that it all started when the eldest prince's sleeve arrow nearly hit the second prince. The two brothers seem to have developed a rift."

"It's quite a spectacle that the empress caned the second prince for encouraging the eldest prince to visit the training ground. It's truly astonishing that the empress would act so arrogantly!"

Upon returning to the palace, Xiao Yin briefly rested before summoning the Imperial Tutor and the Minister of Public Works.

In the imperial study, many memorials were piled up.

"Your Majesty, these are the memorials from the past few days. Everyone knew you had returned, so they prepared these memorials for you." said a minister from the internal affairs department.

"Are they trying to ensure I’m overwhelmed? If all the departments in the court were doing their jobs properly, there wouldn't be much to report, right? Can't the Imperial Tutor manage it?" the emperor sat down and said.

"Your Majesty, these matters still require your attention." The Imperial Tutor bowed and said, "This old minister can supervise the various departments, but there are some things I am unable to handle!"

"Hmm, what’s this? So many memorials impeaching the Imperial Tutor and the Empress?" Xiao Yin casually opened some of them. "Oh, and there are also requests to select ladies-in-waiting for me."

"Your Majesty's harem was only selected once during your ascension. It's been a year now, it's about time for another selection!" said the minister from the internal affairs department.

"I don’t think it’s necessary. My harem has the empress, consorts, and royal children. That's enough!" Xiao Yin said.

"Your Majesty, you could have a few more princesses!" said a court official.

"Are you laying a trap for me?" Xiao Yin's gaze fell lightly on the internal affairs department elder who had spoken. He was a senior official who had served three dynasties, on par with the Imperial Tutor in status, and like the Imperial Tutor, he was concerned about the emperor's matters.

"Your Majesty’s affection for the little princess is wonderful. It shows you prefer girls, so maybe you could have more little princesses to add some liveliness to the harem!" said the internal affairs department elder.

"Are you implying that my consorts can’t bear daughters, so I need to select new ladies-in-waiting? Or do you think that if they had daughters, I wouldn’t like them?" The emperor furrowed his brow slightly and said, "Elder, when I left, I put you in charge of the internal affairs department to take care of the harem. What happened? What’s going on with Heng'er?"

The second prince, Xiao Yu Heng, was still lying on the bed with a beaten backside.

"Your Majesty, the second prince... he talked back to the empress, which is why he was punished by Her Majesty." said the internal affairs department elder.

"Hmph!" Xiao Yin snorted coldly and said, "Enough, let me finish reviewing these memorials first, and we'll discuss other matters during the court session tomorrow morning!"

After the senior officials left, Xiao Yin opened the memorials and went through them one by one.

The Imperial Tutor was indeed conscientious; he hadn't touched any memorials that required the emperor's personal review.

Several memorials accused the Imperial Tutor of misconduct, with Censor Zhang Zhidong claiming that the Imperial Tutor was dominating the court, being unfair, and showing favoritism toward the second prince.