Chapter 352: Spineless Crown Prince

Chapter 352: The Spineless Crown Prince

Today, she was going to live up to the label of "domineering and arrogant"—otherwise, how could she live up to Ji Qingqing's slander?

Seeing Ji Yuntang wasn't backing down, Ji Qingqing grew anxious, worried that if this dragged on, it would hurt Luo Jingshen.

"Sister, everyone misspeaks sometimes. The Crown Prince didn't mean it that way at all—you're reading too much into it and twisting his words. Why do you have to keep pushing?"

The moment Ji Qingqing finished speaking, a slap came out of nowhere, knocking her senseless!

Before she could even process it, she saw Ji Yuntang raise her right hand and slap her again, hard, right across the face.

"Smack!"

The slap was so hard her cheek swelled up instantly.

Ji Qingqing clutched her face, eyes welling up, staring at Ji Yuntang in utter disbelief.

"You... you actually hit me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Ji Yuntang curled her lips coldly. "I'm the arrogant, overbearing princess—anyone who crosses me won't end well. Weren't those your own words?"

"You also just said I have poor comprehension and I'm relentless. Hearing that made me unhappy, so I had no choice but to reward you with two slaps so you'd never forget today's humiliation."

"If you cross me again, I'll keep rewarding you with slaps—after all, I'm just that unreasonable."

Ji Qingqing: "..."

Ji Qingqing: "!!!"

She remembered—those were the very words she had just said to Luo Jingshen. Now Ji Yuntang was throwing them right back at her!

Ji Qingqing felt completely humiliated. In her distress, she threw herself into Luo Jingshen's arms and burst into loud sobs.

"Crown Prince, you have to stand up for me! Sister hit me in front of everyone—how am I supposed to show my face in the future?"

Luo Qianxue had been sitting nearby, watching the drama unfold. Now that she saw a conflict brewing between Ji Qingqing and Ji Yuntang, she felt her opportunity had arrived!

Luo Qianxue immediately stood up and egged things on: "Second Miss Ji is right—Princess Ye is way too arrogant and has no respect for anyone!"

"She dares to strike the Crown Princess today, tomorrow she'll strike the Crown Prince, and the day after she'll strike the Emperor. If this keeps up, our Dongchen Kingdom will be in complete chaos!"

Luo Qianxue was thrilled. God knows how much she hated both Luo Jingshen and Ji Yuntang.

Now that she had a chance to watch the two of them go at each other, Luo Qianxue fanned the flames with everything she had.

"Princess Ye throws her weight around and acts like a tyrant. I'm her own sister-in-law, and she's hit me more times than I can count! She only cares about herself and doesn't give a damn about any of us royals."

She then called out to Luo Jingshen, "Second Brother, your future Crown Princess is being bullied—are you just going to stand there?"

"If you don't do something today, what will the people think of you as Crown Prince?"

"Enough!" Luo Jingshen roared, whipping his head around to glare at Ji Yuntang, teeth clenched as he said:

"Princess Ye, you don't get to bully my people. I'm ordering you right now to come over and apologize to Second Miss Ji!"

Ji Yuntang scoffed lightly. "If you want me to apologize, fine."

"As long as the Crown Prince apologizes to me first, I'll apologize to Ji Qingqing—after all, he's the one who misspoke first."

"What do you say? Seems like a fair deal, right?"

Luo Jingshen: "..."

Luo Jingshen: "!!!"

How dare she!

She actually wanted him to apologize to her?

He fumed, "I didn't do anything wrong, so why should I apologize to you!"

Ji Yuntang shrugged, looking unconcerned.

"Oh, well then, I didn't do anything wrong either, so there's no need for me to apologize to Second Miss Ji!"

She hadn't expected Luo Jingshen to swallow his pride and apologize to her anyway.

So when she hit Ji Qingqing, Ji Yuntang had used nearly full force, showing no mercy at all.

Luo Feizhou, who never missed a chance to stir the pot, chimed in: "I think Third Sister-in-law was right to do what she did. Setting aside the fact that the Emperor's betrothal decree hasn't even come down yet, Second Miss Ji isn't technically the Crown Princess."

"Just look at what she said earlier—on the surface, she was saying Young Master Jiang voluntarily gave up the competition, but in reality, she was implying he was forced by Princess Ye, painting Princess Ye as some kind of loudmouthed harpy."

"Is this how sisters treat each other? To me, this looks like outright enmity—she can't stand seeing her own sister win."

Ji Yuntang gave Luo Feizhou a surprised look. She knew full well he was saying all this just to get under Luo Jingshen's skin.

But she had to admit—coming from him, those words sounded pretty damn good. For the first time, she thought Luo Feizhou had actually done something right.

At that moment, Luo Jingshen wished he could rip Luo Feizhou to shreds!

But he knew the guy had a point.

"Crown Princess" was just something he'd said in passing. To solidify Ji Qingqing's status, Emperor Jingyang would have to issue an imperial decree. Then Luo Jingshen would have to marry her and have her name entered into the royal genealogy—only then would she truly be the Crown Princess.

As it stood, Ji Qingqing was still just the Second Miss of the Yongning Marquis's household.

Luo Jingshen knew he couldn't push this any further—pushing would only cause him more trouble. So he forced himself to speak to Ji Qingqing patiently:

"Qing Qing, let's just call today a misunderstanding. Let's both drop it."

"Once today's competition is over, I'll send you a good jar of jade cream. Apply it to your face for now, and in a couple of days, I'll have the Emperor issue our betrothal decree."

Ji Qingqing's sobbing stopped abruptly. She felt her heart sink.

Luo Jingshen was telling her to let it go—to drop the whole thing!

So, she'd just taken that beating for nothing?

Ji Qingqing had always wanted to marry the Crown Prince, believing his status was above all other princes and ministers, and that her own standing would rise with it, letting her look down on Ji Yuntang.

But now, for the first time, she realized just how spineless the Crown Prince really was.

He didn't even have the guts to talk back to Luo Feizhou—all he could do was tell her to swallow her pride and let it go.

Ji Qingqing would be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed, but she couldn't let it show. She could only pretend to be obedient and go along with him.

"I'll do as the Crown Prince says."

Luo Jingshen was pleased with how tactfully she behaved. He liked Ji Qingqing's meek, compliant look.

That way, he could use Ji Qingqing to have the whole Marquis Yongning household under his thumb.

Luo Jingshen gently stroked Ji Qingqing's head and called her maid over to escort her to the inner guest room to rest.

As Ji Qingqing was helped away by Cui Liu, her face instantly turned cold. She snatched up the celadon vase from the table and was about to smash it, but Cui Liu stopped her just in time.

"Second Miss, you must not! This is a Qianqiu Tower item. If it breaks, we're doomed!"

Ji Qingqing said disdainfully, "Do you think I can't afford to pay for a broken vase?"

Despite her words, she still set down the vase and instead went for the incense ball on the cabinet.

Cui Liu had just set the vase down when she saw Ji Qingqing holding an incense ball, about to smash it—she nearly jumped out of her skin!

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