The merchant's rebirth led to the complete downfall of the Marquis's mansion.

Having experienced more, Mrs. Jiang reacted immediately and pulled Jiang Qianqian down to kneel.

"Princess, calm down!"

Jiang knelt firmly, while Jiang Qianqian was forced to kneel, and she came to her senses after kneeling down.

Just because she says she's a princess doesn't mean she is.

The people here, including Qin Yao who almost married into the Marquis's family, were all merchants; how could they possibly know a princess?

Not to mention that even her aunt, who had been an official's wife for so long, didn't recognize her.

Therefore, Jiang Qianqian felt that this was just a bluff, an attempt to scare her.

Thinking of this, Jiang Qianqian broke free from Jiang's hand and stood up.

"What princess?! Qin Yao, if you're going to hire someone to impersonate you, at least find someone decent! This person reeks of money!"

Jiang was so frightened that she tried to pull her away, but her hand was trembling and she was easily shaken off by Jiang Qianqian.

Qin Yao and Liu Qingping both wanted to reprimand her, but the princess had already spoken.

"Oh, so you mean I'm impersonating a princess?"

"Is not it?"

Jiang Qianqian immediately retorted, saying that the highest-ranking official she had ever met was Chen's father.

Looking at Madam Chen and Chen Yiru's attire, one can form an impression of the housekeeper.

It's definitely not the kind of flamboyant style that Qin Yao would wear in public.

Looking again at the princess's dazzlingly gorgeous dress, she became even more certain of her guess.

This woman is probably like Qin Yao, with some money in her family.

She even calls herself a princess!

That's incredibly bold!

Here, perhaps only the uncle-in-law holds the highest official position, so what is she afraid of?

Seeing that the woman remained silent and the people around her did not move, Jiang Qianqian became even more arrogant.

"Auntie, I told you she was a fake! You invited her here! You even had me arrested. Today I'm going to send you all to jail!"

Jiang propped herself up and slapped him across the face.

"Smack!" Jiang Qianqian was so hit that she staggered and almost fell to the ground.

"Shut up!"

"Your Highness, my niece has gone mad. I will punish her severely when I return! Please forgive me!" Madam Jiang kowtowed again.

Chen Yiru also went over and knelt down with Jiang.

But she didn't say anything.

Plead for Jiang Qianqian? Forget it, as long as they don't implicate the Chen family, that's enough.

"Miss Chen, please get up! You are a sensible person," the princess said calmly.

Chen Yiru glanced at Madam Jiang, then stood up. With the princess's words, it was highly likely that the Chen family wouldn't be blamed.

"However, Madam Chen is a bit confused. She teaches her daughter well, but her niece is not so good at it. Today, I will teach her for you!"

"Guards!" The princess's voice suddenly rose, filled with imposing authority.

"This young lady will be punished with ten strokes of the cane as a warning to others!"

"Yes!"

Before Jiang Qianqian could react, two guards had already stepped forward and grabbed her from both sides.

"You! What are you doing! Auntie! Auntie!"

Jiang Qianqian didn't expect them to actually dare, and that's when she panicked.

Unfortunately, Jiang was in dire straits herself and couldn't help her either.

Jiang Qianqian screamed as she was dragged into the courtyard, where a guard quickly brought over a bench.

Jiang Qianqian was pressed down on top.

"No! This is illegal! I'm going to report you! Aunt! Stop them! Granny Zhou, are you dead?"

"Gag me!"

As soon as the princess spoke, a guard stepped forward and stuffed a piece of cloth into Jiang Qianqian's mouth.

"Crack!" The first blow landed.

A muffled groan of pain came from Jiang Qianqian.

Jiang shuddered and lowered her head even further.

The sounds seemed to hit her directly.

"Granny Zhao, let's continue."

When the princess spoke, everyone snapped out of their daze and continued watching the ceremony.

Zhao Mama's serious expression vanished, replaced by a beaming smile.

"Today, our Qin family is honored to have Her Highness the Eldest Princess preside over our young lady's coming-of-age ceremony..."

Accompanied by the sound of clapping, the coming-of-age ceremony proceeded in an orderly manner.

After Jiang Qianqian was beaten, she was thrown to the ground and no one paid any attention to her.

After the ceremony was completed, Madam Jiang got up, but she didn't dare to pay any attention to Jiang Qianqian.

Others are even less likely to provoke them.

Liu Qingping insisted on seeing everyone's gifts, so Qin Yao told her to open them first.

Liu Qingping glanced at the princess's mother before carefully taking the box out.

The box was opened, and a luminous pearl appeared before everyone's eyes.

"Wow! So beautiful!"

"Ah! It's colorful!"

……

A chorus of praise erupted from the crowd.

Liu Qingping smiled smugly.

This was something she had spent a lot of time and effort to obtain.

"What hasn't Sister Qin seen! When giving gifts, it's the thought that counts, not the gift! So I gave her the light of the night!"

After Liu Qingping finished speaking, she took several boxes from the maid's hands.

"Twenty in total! That'll make Sister Qin's room as bright as day!"

Everyone was envious, but Chen Yiru felt like she had shot herself in the foot.

This shows that the gift is meaningful and shows deep affection!

As expected, when a princess makes a move, there's no such thing as a meager gift.

"Sister Qin, do you like it?" Liu Qingping looked at Qin Yao with bright eyes, waiting for praise.

"I love it! Each one is a treasure, let alone twenty!" Qin Yao finally understood the worry Chen Yiru felt when she received the jewelry.

This gift is difficult to return.

They may have a good relationship, but Liu Qingping's status is what it is...

It's not true that a small gift carries great meaning.

If the delivery is not done properly, it could offend the princess's residence.

Liu Qingping was delighted. "I'm glad you like it! Sister Chen, what did you give me?"

If it weren't for her years of refined manners, Chen Yiru would have just rolled her eyes.

Needless to say, no one present could compare to Liu Qingping.

Caixia took the box over, and Chen Yiru placed it directly in Qin Yao's hands.

"It's a small gift but a big sentiment!" Chen Yiru said in advance, offering a heads-up.

To avoid too much disappointment.

Qin Yao chuckled and opened the box.

Inside was a house deed. Liu Qingping looked at it with Qin Yao, puzzled.

"What is this?" Liu Qingping's eyes widened when she saw the address on it.

"This...this isn't the shop next door?" Liu Qingping looked at Chen Yiru in surprise.

Qin Yao also looked at Chen Yiru with an ambiguous expression.

Even Jiang looked over in surprise.

Coming-of-age ceremony, isn't it usually about giving jewelry and such? Why give a house deed? And a shop of considerable value at that!

Although Madam Jiang had also prepared something, it was just some inexpensive hairpins. Why was her daughter being so extravagant?!

Chen Yiru whispered to the two of them:

"This is a purchasing agency, which is exactly what our hot pot restaurant needs!"

Liu Qingping nodded, agreeing with the point. Although she had never run a shop before, she knew that food needed to be purchased.

With so many people around, it wasn't appropriate to say much, so Qin Yao could only express her gratitude first.

He looked at the gifts one by one until one remained unclaimed.

Granny Zhao flipped through the gift list and discovered that it was actually sent by the Jiang family.

Granny Zhao didn't intend to take it out, but unexpectedly Liu Qingping had already opened it.

Liu Qingping took out the wooden hairpin from inside and handed it to Qin Yao.

"It looks quite unique!"

The craftsmanship is just a little lacking.

Qin Yao looked at the wooden hairpin and had a guess in her mind.

There was no one else but Jiang Su who could afford expensive things and whose workmanship was rough.

"Qingzhi!" Qin Yao put the hairpin into the box and handed it to Qingzhi.

"This is a small gift with a big meaning. I wonder who sent it?" someone joked.

Qin Yao responded with a smile, "It was probably put in the wrong place."

The princess had already been invited to the inner hall by Granny Zhao, and now only the young ladies remained, so everyone was much more relaxed in their conversation.

Qin Yao led everyone to the garden, but Chen Yiru did not follow.

The princess did not mention the punishment for Jiang Qianqian, so Jiang had someone help her up and prepared to return to the mansion to fetch a doctor.

As a daughter, Chen Yiru naturally had to go back with her.

At this moment, Jiang Qianqian was pale and had fainted from the pain; her skirt was also stained with blood.

Jiang didn't bother to scold Chen Yiru and returned home in silence.

As soon as they arrived home, Madam Jiang busied herself calling for a doctor and sending someone to find Chen Minzhi.

She dared not approach Chen's father, for she might offend the princess, and what if Chen's father blamed her again...

She had already lost her composure in front of Mr. Chen, and she couldn't afford to leave a bad impression on him again because of Jiang Qianqian.

Looking at Chen Yiru standing to one side, Madam Jiang instructed:

"Don't tell your father about what happened today."

"Yes, Mother," Chen Yiru replied meekly.

"Alright, you can't be of any help anyway, go back to your own yard!"

Chen Yiru bowed and took her leave.

As soon as the doctor arrived, Madam Jiang told her maids and nannies to wait for him, while she waited outside for her son.

After waiting for a while, Chen Minzhi hurried over.

"Mother, what's the matter that you're in such a hurry to find your son?"

Jiang suddenly found her pillar of support and recounted what had happened at the Qin family.

Chen Minzhi was furious after hearing this, "How could my cousin be so disregard for the bigger picture?! If this gets out, what will become of her reputation! And if the princess blames us, it will probably implicate us too!"

Jiang sighed helplessly, "Yes, but what's done is done, we have to think of a way!"

Chen Minzhi paced back and forth during the meeting, saying, "Have my uncle take action as soon as possible. If that doesn't work, then abandon this plan."

Chen Minzhi didn't think it had to be Jiang Qianqian; he also had a good relationship with his older sister.

It's just that Jiang Qianqian is easier to control, so whether this piece is useless or not doesn't really matter.