Marrying the Crown Prince

"Um, could you please tell her that I didn't mean it?" Yang Yu'an scratched his head, looking rather simple and honest, not at all like the "Little Yama" they described.

"Whether it was intentional or not, the damage has already been done. Young Master, your words are far too light," Zhou Zhou retorted sarcastically, not buying his act.

He's usually the one mocking others; no one else gets to grumble in front of him.

The innocent look on Yang Yu'an's face vanished instantly, replaced by an arrogant sneer. "So what? I am a member of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion. Don't even mention a nobody like you. Even the Sixth Princess, what can she do to me?"

"I've long heard of the young master of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion's reputation, and seeing him today, I can confirm it's well-deserved." When it comes to words, Zhou Zhou has never lost.

Hearing Zhou Zhou's words, Wang Qingwu couldn't help but chuckle, covering her mouth as she laughed—what kind of reputation could Yang Yu'an possibly have? His infamy was rather poor.

Seeing that he couldn't win the argument, Yang Yu'an clenched his fists so tightly they cracked.

Fearing that this madman might go berserk, Wang Qingwu quickly stepped in front of Zhou Zhou, tilting his head slightly, his eyes resolute yet warm, as he looked at Yang Yu'an.

"You two seem to have a deep sisterly bond." With that, Yang Yu'an turned and left.

Wang Qingwu breathed a sigh of relief, turned to look at Zhou Zhou, and put his hands on her shoulders. "That person is a madman. Remember to stay away from him in the future."

"Don't worry, he won't," Zhou Zhou patted Wang Qingwu's hand reassuringly.

"You won't?" Wang Qingwu's eyes widened, his voice involuntarily rising. After what just happened, he still says he won't fight back?

Zhou Zhou shrugged. "Intuition."

Wang Qingwu fell silent. There was no other reason than that Zhou Zhou's intuition was incredibly accurate, and so far it had never been wrong.

Soon, Li Zixiao finished getting ready, pushed open the door, her hair was loose, and a palace maid took a handkerchief to dry it for her.

Zhou Zhou and Wang Qingwu went inside. They didn't ask any unnecessary questions, just exchanged a few pleasantries, and were relieved to see that she was not feeling unwell.

Li Zixiao didn't intend to hide it from others and told the two of them the whole story directly.

It turns out that Li Zixiao ran into Yang Yu'an riding horses in the city again today. She let him off the first time, but she couldn't stand it the second time, so the two of them started arguing in the street.

One was a favored daughter of heaven, and the other was the son of a duke; naturally, neither would give way.

But the man was tall, and Yang Yu'an had good genes, especially in height. When they argued, he was very aggressive. Moreover, he kept pressing forward, which scared Li Zixiao into taking two steps back.

The two were arguing on the shore. It would have been better if Li Zixiao hadn't retreated, because she slipped and fell into the water with a "plop".

When Yang Yu'an saw her fall into the water, he was stunned for a moment. When he realized that she couldn't swim, he jumped into the river without thinking and pulled Li Zixiao out.

Afterwards, it was just as Zhou Zhou and Wang Qingwu saw it.

After listening, Wang Qingwu rubbed his temples and asked uncertainly, "So he saved you, and you still cursed him because..."

"One thing at a time. I'm grateful that he saved me, but when it comes to insults, I'm not going to lose!" Li Zixiao clenched his fist, his expression menacing.

Seeing that she remained optimistic, and considering the impact of this incident, Wang Qingwu and Zhou Zhou exchanged a glance and decided it was best not to tell Li Zixiao. Perhaps things wouldn't develop as they expected?

But sometimes what you fear most comes to pass, and things ultimately unfolded as Zhou Zhou had predicted.

The news that the young master of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion had a public argument with the sixth princess and even kicked her into the lake spread like wildfire.

Memorials impeaching the Duke of Dingguo and his family flew to Emperor Chenze's desk like snowflakes.

Looking at the thick stack of memorials, Emperor Chenze felt that these pedantic fellows were just too idle. Even Li Zixiao, who fell into the river, didn't ask him, the old father, to make a decision, but these old guys were making a huge fuss.

Finally, when the memorial contained the words that the Duke of Dingguo harbored rebellious intentions, Emperor Chenze was furious. He threw the memorial down and severely reprimanded the ministers who impeached the Duke of Dingguo in court.

No one knew the reason for Emperor Chenze's anger.

Perhaps it was because he wholeheartedly trusted the Duke of Dingguo, believing that even with an army of 100,000 and being the protector of the people, he would not have any intention of rebelling; perhaps it was because he feared that the Duke of Dingguo might have rebellious intentions, which was then revealed by his ministers, thus enraging him; perhaps it was because he feared that if he did not express any opinion, the generals stationed on the frontier would lose heart...

On the other side, upon hearing of this, the Duchess of Dingguo personally took a whip and lashed Yang Yu'an half to death, then dragged him before Emperor Chenze to beg for forgiveness.

Lady Dingguo knelt upright. "Your Majesty, it is my fault for failing to educate my son properly, which led him to commit such a terrible disaster. I am truly ashamed of the trust and affection that Your Majesty and the Duke have shown me."

“Madam, there’s no need to worry,” Emperor Chenze said, looking at the half-dead Yang Yu’an and then at the Duchess of Dingguo. His tone was very kind. “He’s just a child, he likes to play around. I didn’t take it to heart.”

If they really didn't care, they would have already called someone to help the mother and child up.

"Yes, Your Majesty is magnanimous and broad-minded," said the Duchess of Dingguo, looking ashamed and regretful. "It was I who judged you with my petty mind. I deserve to die. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

Emperor Chenze waved his hand and chuckled, "Why do you say that, Madam?"

"The Duke of Dingguo is a pillar of the nation, fighting for me on all fronts. You are his wife, and I have always respected you as much as the Duke of Dingguo. How could I reprimand you for such a trivial matter?"

After saying that, Emperor Chenze seemed to only then notice that the Duchess of Dingguo and Yang Yu'an and his mother were still kneeling. He turned around and scolded Wei Yi, "You good-for-nothing, didn't you see that the Duchess is still kneeling? Go and help her up!"

"It is this servant who deserves to die." Wei Yi bowed and repeatedly apologized.

"Knowing you deserve to die, why don't you get over there already?" Emperor Chenze said coldly.

Finally, the Duchess of Dingguo and Yang Yu'an were helped up and sat down in chairs.

Emperor Chenze looked at Yang Yu'an, who was pale and weak, with concern in his eyes, "Why do you look so pale? Should we call the imperial physician to take a look?"

Whether or not to proceed was not up to Yang Yu'an, nor was it up to the Duchess of Dingguo, so the imperial physician came.

The imperial physician lifted the back of Yang Yu'an's clothes and saw that his back was covered with whip marks and was slightly bleeding.

A hint of a smile flashed in Emperor Chenze's eyes when he saw that Yang Yu'an's entire back was covered in blood and gore.

"Duchess, you went too far." Emperor Chenze looked extremely distressed; anyone who didn't know better would think the person lying on the bed was his son.

Lady Dingguo sighed, "This son is unreasonable and domineering. If we let him cause trouble like this again, I really don't know what to do."

As she spoke, the Duchess of Dingguo wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief.

At this point, the Duchess of Dingguo seemed to remember something and knelt down again. "My ignorant son has committed a grave mistake, tarnishing the princess's reputation. Yet the Emperor refuses to punish him. I am truly unable to eat or sleep in peace."