Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"You bastard Shen Lang, ouch...you dare hit me...hiss...I've lost my tooth..."

That night, Luo Hu covered his face and cursed all the way back to the palace.

As soon as they entered the side courtyard of the Prince's Mansion, they bumped into the steward who came out to release water.

Upon seeing Luo Hu, the Dean of Students instantly awoke from his drowsiness and made a move to shout.

"Don't shout, Lao Zhong, it's me, Luo Hu."

"Luo Hu?"

Zhong Guanyuan immediately looked closely.

"Commander Luo, what happened to you? Who did this?"

Upon seeing Luo Hu's current appearance, which even his parents wouldn't recognize, Director Zhong was immediately thrilled, his eyes filled with excitement.

Luo Hu hurriedly said, "It was dark, and I accidentally tripped and fell, which is why I'm like this now."

"You're a martial artist at the peak of the Acquired Realm, yet you still managed to trip and fall at night? Don't try to fool me."

It's obvious that Zhong Guanyuan is determined to get to the bottom of things.

Luo Hu said with an embarrassed look, "Alright, Steward Zhong, I'll go back and pack up. I won't talk to you anymore."

After saying that, she bypassed him and ran towards her room as if fleeing.

Just then, Director Zhong remembered something and shouted loudly behind Luo Hu:

"By the way, Commander Luo, I heard you were taken away by the Duke's men today. How are you doing? Are you alright?"

Upon hearing this, Luo Hu wished he could tear that foul mouth of his to shreds.

You really know how to bring up the most sensitive topics. How can someone be so lacking in social skills?

So he ran even faster, wanting to get as far away from this guy as possible.

As a result, not long after Luo Hu returned to his room, someone came to deliver a message: "Commander Luo, the Prince is waiting for you in the side hall. Hurry up and go there."

Upon hearing this, Luo Hu had no choice but to put down the liniment he had just taken out and follow the person to the front hall.

On the way, the messenger asked in a low voice, "Master Luo, I heard that you held a knife to the Duke of Renguo's neck yesterday. Is that true?"

Luo Hu's injured face twitched a few times, but he did not answer.

"We knew Master Luo was a man of great things. He was even willing to risk the Duke's life. That's the kind of courage he had!"

As the servant walked, he gave Luo Hu a thumbs-up.

This scene made Luo Hu wish he could disappear into a crack in the ground.

He had previously boasted about how he taught the current Duke a lesson, but in the blink of an eye, he was beaten up. This is a perfect example of being slapped in the face.

Fortunately, it was nighttime, and the servant couldn't see the injury on Luo Hu's face clearly, otherwise he would have been subjected to another round of questioning.

He quickened his pace, shook off the servant, and went straight to the side hall of the Prince's mansion.

"where have you been?"

As soon as Luo Hu entered the room, he heard Jiang Chong's questioning voice.

Looking up, I saw Jiang Chong sitting in the main seat, holding an account book, speaking without raising his head.

"Your Highness, I went out to take care of some business. May I ask what you need me for?"

Jiang Chong put down the ledger, looked up, and was about to speak.

Not wanting to see Luo Hu looking like he wouldn't even recognize his own parents, he suddenly couldn't bring himself to say the words he was about to utter.

"What... what's wrong with you? Did you go to a brothel without paying?"

Luo Hu hurriedly said, "I'm sorry to have troubled you, Your Highness. It's just a small matter, no need for you to worry about it."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chong became furious: "My people from the Prince's mansion have been beaten outside, and you're telling me not to worry about it?"

"No, Your Highness, I fell and hurt myself..."

"Still trying to deny it! You fell? You try falling again!" Jiang Chong slammed his hand on the table. "Tell me what happened, or get out of this palace and go back to your beggar's den!"

Upon hearing this, Luo Hu immediately knelt on the ground and cried, "Your Highness, please calm down and don't send me back to be a beggar. Okay, I'll tell you. It was Shen Lang who captured me."

"Shen Lang? Why did he arrest you?"

Jiang Chong's tone instantly became wary.

"Your Highness, he... he's taking revenge on me!" Luo Hu said, looking aggrieved. "Yesterday, because I held a knife to his neck, he's been holding a grudge ever since."

Today at the brothel, he sent people to cause trouble. I wanted to reason with them, but these people were of extremely low character; they came up and immediately started insulting my mother.

I was so angry that I cursed back a few times, but I didn't expect these guys to be so uncivilized and start fighting.

I fought them for a full three hundred rounds, and just when I was about to defeat them all, they suddenly used a dirty trick and poisoned me.

I wasn't paying attention, and that's how they kidnapped me. Then, Shen Lang locked me in the room and gave me a severe beating.

"Your Highness, this matter has brought shame upon the Prince's residence, which is why I dared not tell you. I did not intend to deceive you."

Luo Hu thought Jiang Chong would fly into a rage after hearing his explanation, and might even beat him up in a fit of anger. So, as soon as Luo Hu finished speaking, he immediately buried his head in the ground.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Chong did not react immediately this time.

"You mean, Shen Lang went to all that trouble to capture you just to avenge the humiliation you caused him yesterday?"

"It seems so. He beat me up badly, broke my fingers and front teeth, but didn't do anything else."

"Don't you want to think about this again? Is it really just that they grabbed you and beat you up?"

"Your Highness, I swear to God that Shen Lang did nothing else besides hitting me."

Luo Hu's confident demeanor reassured Jiang Chong somewhat.

But just to be on the safe side, I still asked, "He only hit you, and didn't do anything else? Like, ask you anything?"

After being reminded, Luo Hu realized that he seemed to have answered a few questions from Shen Lang in a daze.

However, because I was in a depressed state at the time, I was not sure whether I said anything or not.

However, these are probably just some trivial topics.

So he shook his head: "No, he just said a few harsh words, saying that I am a lackey of the Prince's mansion and cannot be brought to the table."

Your Highness, Shen Lang didn't just slap this humble servant, he slapped Your Highness's face!

After confirming that Luo Hu had simply been reprimanded by Shen Lang, Jiang Chong couldn't help but laugh out loud: "As expected, commoners can't accomplish anything great. They start abusing the little power they have."

"He wouldn't even spare a lowly guard! How could someone like that become the son-in-law of the Emperor of Great Chu? My sister's judgment is absolutely terrible!"

After saying that, he pointed at Luo Hu and said, "Alright, get up now."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Luo Hu stood up to express his gratitude.

But the next moment, he was stunned.

"Go to the punishment hall and get twenty strokes of the cane."

"Ah? Your Highness, what's wrong...?"

Jiang Chong smirked: "You idiot, you've made me lose face, shouldn't you be punished? Just like you said..."

Shen Lang didn't just slap you, he slapped my face! Since you've brought shame upon the royal palace, shouldn't you be punished? Go now!

Luo Hu was on the verge of tears. He lamented his bad luck, having been beaten up by Shen Lang and now getting beaten up again upon his return.

Seeing that Luo Hu was still not leaving, Jiang Chong directly scolded him: "Go and receive your punishment. After you are punished, go to Ba County and bring me my White Water Divine Sword."

Luo Hu was taken aback: "Your Highness, what do you want to do with the divine sword?"

"Go and be punished. You talk too much."

"Yes."

Luo Hu left with a face full of resentment, while Jiang Chong stared at the account book in his hand with a gloomy expression.

He kept thinking to himself, "Once these silks are processed, I will have the capital to seize the world and will no longer have to depend on anyone."