Time travel, quick transmigration

"Don't call me that. Shut your mouth. Your voice is an affront to my ears."

"Who gave you the audacity to look me in the eye!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he kicked Wu Jinyao to the ground.

This furious kick terrified everyone present, and they all knelt down in the tunnel.

"Your Majesty, calm down..."

Wu Jinyao, a delicate and pampered empress, had never suffered hardship. Now, having been kicked by the emperor himself, she dared not cry out in protest or make a move, fearing that she would anger the emperor and suffer an even more miserable fate.

Liu Jieyu was already stunned with fright, and was immediately thrown into a panic, not knowing what to do.

At this moment, the Crown Princess Wei was no longer angry. She only blamed herself for being foolish. Now, she felt only fear and shock, as well as shame for her inappropriate words and actions as the Crown Princess.

"Lady Wei, as the Crown Princess, you are not careful with your words and actions, and you should set an example for the harem, but you act like a gossipy woman. You are not fit to be the Crown Princess, nor do you need to be. I will issue an edict to have the Crown Prince depose you."

The emperor's voice struck like a thunderbolt, and Lady Wei collapsed to the ground in despair, tears streaming down her face.

“Father, it was my fault, I was wrong, but please forgive me this time, considering that the Crown Prince is young.”

Lady Wei looked earnestly at Li Longji.

Jiang Caiping also felt a pang of pity, thinking that although the Crown Princess had made mistakes in her words and actions, her crime did not warrant such a severe punishment. If the Crown Princess were truly deposed, the situation would become even more serious.

"Your Majesty, please forgive the Crown Princess this time and give her a chance to correct her mistake. The Grandson still needs his mother's guidance. I believe that from now on, the Crown Princess will take this as a warning, regulate her words and deeds, and become a qualified Crown Princess."

When Li Longji saw the pleading look in Jiang Caiping's eyes and the Crown Princess's remorseful and sorrowful tears, his anger subsided somewhat.

"For the sake of the true grandson of the emperor, I will spare you this time. You shall return to the Eastern Palace to reflect on your mistakes and remember to recite and memorize the 'Rules for Women' and 'Instructions for Women' every day. I do not wish to see you on New Year's Day this year, so you shall remain confined to the Eastern Palace."

Compared to being confined to her quarters, the fact that she was not deposed already overjoyed Lady Wei, and she knelt on the ground to thank the Emperor for his boundless grace.

Li Longji was preoccupied with the heartbroken Shi Yan and was too impatient to look at the ugly faces of the people in front of him any longer.

“Wu Jinyao has committed moral transgressions and offended the Emperor. She shall be fined three years’ salary, slapped twenty times, and confined to Anle Palace for one year.”

"Liu was stripped of her title, fined four years' salary, slapped thirty times, and confined to Anle Palace for two years."

Wu Jinyao and Liu Jieyu looked ashen-faced and slumped their shoulders upon hearing the devastating news, unable to bring themselves to look directly at the emperor who held the power of life and death.

"Gao Lishi, you will personally supervise this. I want to see who dares to gossip in the palace from now on. If I hear any more rumors, I will smash their mouths."

Gao Lishi accepted the decree with trepidation.

After Li Longji finished speaking, he looked at Jiang Caiping, who was still kneeling on the ground.

"Why are you still kneeling, my beloved concubine? Get up quickly. I have other matters to attend to and must leave now."

"I will visit you in your palace again when I have time."

Jiang Caiping was helped to her feet by Lian Qiao. Knowing where Li Longji was going, she simply smiled and did not try to stop him.

"Your Majesty, please go. Your concubine will be waiting for you in the Plum Garden."

Li Longji gave Jiang Caiping a deep look, but ultimately said nothing and turned to leave.

After His Majesty the Emperor left, the palace attendants who accompanied him immediately followed.

After the emperor had gone far away, Jiang Caiping returned to Zichen Palace. Only the clear sound of slapping still echoed in the garden.

After parting ways with Li Longji, Shi Yan took Xiao Die back to Nanxun Palace, instead of returning to Li Longji's bedroom, Ganlu Palace.

"Your Majesty, are we really sure it's alright to just leave His Majesty like this?"

Although she was also angry and indignant about the unpleasant things the Crown Princess and others said behind her back, they had no power base in the palace and their voices were weak. If they angered the emperor and were talked about, she was more worried that Shi Yan would displease the emperor and be punished.

Shi Yan walked to a couch and sat down, looking up at Xiao Die.

"No need to worry, His Majesty will not blame you, so you can rest assured."

"I'm thirsty after walking all this way. Could you please pour me a cup of tea?"

Xiaodie nodded immediately.

"This servant will bring you tea right away."

As soon as Xiaodie left, Shi Yan started talking to 0804.

"Xiao Ba, how is it? Has the Emperor questioned those people?"

0804 chuckled and felt a surge of satisfaction.

"Yan Yan, let me tell you something. The Crown Princess who talked about Yang Yuhuan behind her back was scolded by the Emperor and almost lost her position as Crown Princess. The Emperor ordered her to be confined to the Eastern Palace and not allowed to leave for a year. As for Consort Wu and Consort Liu, they were both slapped and had their salaries reduced for several years. They were also confined to the palace and not allowed to leave."

"The worst off was Wu Xianyi, who was kicked by the emperor and almost vomited blood."

When Shi Yan heard that Wu Xianyi had been kicked by Li Longji, she was also taken aback.

"It's really quite tragic."

"Sigh, what does this have to do with me? They brought it on themselves. Why should I pity Wu Xianyi? She's the one who wanted me dead. Being merciful to the enemy is being cruel to yourself."

0804 nodded.

“Yan Yan is right.”

"Yan Yan, the Emperor has arrived and is already outside the palace."

Upon hearing this, Shi Yan immediately adopted a sorrowful expression and even squeezed out two tears, which were about to fall but were about to, making her look extremely pitiful.

When Li Longji entered the palace and saw the beautiful woman sitting alone on the couch, grieving, he felt a pang of heartache and immediately went over to comfort her.

"Yu Huan, I have already punished them, so don't be sad. I know you feel wronged, but you just left me like that, how can I feel good about it?"

"Didn't you want to see that Li Bai? I will hold a banquet at the Agarwood Pavilion tomorrow and invite Li Bai to the palace to compose a poem for you, how about that?"

Shi Yan did not respond. She raised her hand to wipe the corner of her eye, turned her face to the side, and sat there sideways.

"Your Majesty, please return to Ganlu Palace. I just cried and my eyes are still swollen. Please allow me to be alone for a while."

Seeing Shi Yan's stubbornness, Li Longji didn't know how to comfort her. At this moment, he became even more annoyed with the Crown Princess and others for causing his beloved such heartache.

"Very well, I'll leave you to your own devices. I'll return to Ganlu Palace now."

He stood up and sighed inwardly at Shi Yan, who was bowing her head in silence. He didn't understand how a simple stroll through the garden had suddenly turned into this.

"They went with high hopes but returned disappointed."

"It's all those gossipy old women's fault; they have absolutely no manners befitting royal concubines."

Upon leaving the Nanxun Palace, Li Longji felt a surge of anger.

That night, a chaotic scene unfolded outside a tavern in the bustling West Market. Two groups of people, who had just finished drinking at the tavern and were walking together, started fighting over a minor disagreement. Both groups had been drinking and were unwilling to back down. Moreover, they were all young masters from well-to-do families in Chang'an City, who had nothing better to do than be brave and violent.

They were all sons of officials, and ordinary people wouldn't dare to offend them. Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, no one dared to step forward to stop it or try to mediate.