lcionline Chapter 1178: Concubine Zhuang is reprimanded by the Emperor (129 million reward points plus additio
Chapter 1178: Concubine Zhuang is reprimanded by the Emperor (129 million reward points plus additio
The carriage curtain with a bright yellow dragon pattern was lifted from the inside by a large hand with distinct joints.
Nangong Xuanyu's handsome and solemn face was revealed, and his deep eyes were filled with displeasure at being disturbed.
He looked down at the eldest princess who threw herself to the side of the carriage, her face flushed and her hair disheveled as she ran.
"Yun'er?"
The emperor's voice was low, and it was hard to tell whether he was happy or angry: "Why are you so panicked?"
The eldest princess tilted her little face up, her chest heaving violently, she gasped for breath, tears welling up in her eyes.
She didn't care about her manners. She pointed her little hand in the direction of the prison van at the back of the team and cried out anxiously and incoherently, "Father! Grandpa... Grandpa is in the cage!"
"He... he's so pitiful..."
"Grandpa knows he's wrong! He must know he's wrong! Father, can you please forgive him? Please forgive Grandpa!"
"Yun'er, please! Father..."
The eldest princess almost screamed the last few words, with the most straightforward and desperate plea of a child.
Her little hands clung tightly to the cold shaft of the cart, as if it was her only life-saving straw.
The eldest princess looked up at the emperor with eyes full of desperate hope.
The scene was dead silent...
The air seemed to freeze in an instant.
Countless eyes, some frightened, some sympathetic, and some watching the show, all fell on the tiny figure of the eldest princess.
Nangong Xuanyu's face darkened at a speed visible to the naked eye.
This is a gloomy feeling that a storm is about to come!
A cold, furious wave surged in his deep eyes. The pressure emanating from him caused the nearby guards to subconsciously hold their breath and lower their heads.
"boom!"
A sharp cracking sound suddenly exploded!
The thin green jade teacup on the low table next to Nangong Xuanyu was suddenly flicked to the ground by him and shattered into pieces in an instant!
The warm tea and green tea leaves splashed everywhere, leaving a messy wet mark on the dark brown car board.
A few pieces of broken porcelain even rolled to the edge of the eldest princess's embroidered shoes.
"presumptuous!"
The emperor's voice was not loud, but it was like the cold ice of the Netherworld. Every word carried a thousand pounds of force, hitting everyone's heart hard.
The eldest princess was so frightened that her small body trembled violently and her face turned as pale as paper in an instant.
"The crime of treason is unforgivable! How can it be atoned for with just the words 'admit one's fault'?"
"Who taught you to be so ignorant of the difference between high and low, and to be so careless as to plead for the traitor?!"
The emperor's sharp gaze passed over the eldest princess, whose tears were welling up in her eyes but she dared not let them fall, and looked behind her.
Concubine Zhuang hurriedly got out of the car and hurried over.
She was obviously shocked by this sudden change. The usual gentleness and calmness on her face cracked, revealing an unconcealable panic.
Concubine Zhuang didn't even have time to straighten her skirt that was blown by the wind. She walked forward quickly with her skirt lifted up and knelt down deeply beside the emperor's carriage without hesitation!
Her forehead hit the cold, hard official road covered with dust and dead grass debris.
"Your Majesty, calm down! I am guilty!"
Concubine Zhuang's voice, trembling with a stifled effort, echoed clearly in the dead silence, "It was my own failure to discipline and control her that allowed Yun'er to behave so unbecomingly and speak so recklessly, thus offending Your Majesty."
"I am guilty of this, even if I die! I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"
She lay on the ground, her posture humbled in the dust, her wide sleeves spread out like a butterfly with broken wings.
Only the string of red sandalwood Buddhist beads, which she never took off, was tightly grasped in the palm of Concubine Zhuang's right hand. Her nails were so deep that they almost dug into the hard sandalwood beads.
Nangong Xuanyu's cold gaze lingered on Concubine Zhuang's prone back for a moment, his eyes so sharp that they seemed to be able to penetrate her skin.
In the end, he didn't even glance at the princess shivering on the ground, but just let out a very cold snort from his nose.
"Keep an eye on your daughter!"
The emperor's voice was low, but every word was icy cold: "If it happens again... don't blame me for being merciless!"
The bright yellow curtain was thrown down with a loud "swish", blocking everyone's sight and completely extinguishing the last glimmer of hope in the eldest princess' heart.
After a brief pause, the carriage restarted, and the dull sound of wheels was heard at the scene.
Concubine Zhuang continued to kneel in the cold dust until the emperor's carriage moved forward several feet. Only then did she stand up stiffly with the help of Ruoli and Ruoji.
She didn't even immediately pay attention to the eldest princess who was still frozen in place, her face pale and crying silently.
He just looked in the direction where the imperial chariot left and said in a low voice: "Take the princess back!"
"Yes!"
Night falls quickly.
In Concubine Zhuang's carriage.
The eldest princess's small body was wrapped in a brocade quilt, revealing only her little face, which was red and swollen and covered with tear marks.
The immense shock and grievances during the day, as well as the fear of being scolded by my father, fermented into even deeper sadness and confusion in the quiet night...
Her small shoulders twitched and her suppressed sobs came out intermittently.
Concubine Zhuang sat on the edge of the couch with her back straight, and the string of red sandalwood Buddhist beads in her hand was slowly twisted between her fingers, making a subtle and regular "tapping" sound.
The dim light outlined the profile of her face. She was still gentle, but without her usual compassion, only a deep calm remained.
During the day, the humiliation of her kneeling in the dust seemed as if it had never happened.
"Mother..."
The eldest princess's voice, with a heavy nasal tone, sounded timidly, breaking the suffocating silence.
She stretched out her small hand and gently tugged at the sleeve of Concubine Zhuang's dress that had fallen to the side of the couch, as if grasping at a single piece of driftwood. Tears welled in her eyes as she asked, "Yun'er...Yun'er, did you really do something wrong?"
Concubine Zhuang twisted her Buddhist beads with her fingers and paused for a moment, imperceptibly.
She slowly turned her head and her eyes fell on the eldest princess's swollen eyes.
The eldest princess sniffed, her small brows knitted in confusion, her voice filled with sadness: "Grandpa... Grandpa is Yun'er's relative..."
"He made a mistake and was locked up in a cage. It's really pitiful..."
"As the sages say, there is no greater virtue than to admit one's mistakes and correct them. But why, why is Father so angry?"
"Why...why don't you help Yun'er save grandpa?"
Her small hand tugged at Concubine Zhuang's sleeve, and with a desperate persistence, she said, "Mother, you are the most compassionate!"
"You chant sutras and worship Buddha every day. Didn't the Buddha say that saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda? Could you please talk to my father? Please, mother! Save grandpa..."
The eldest princess's childish words were like the sharpest awl, chiseling Concubine Zhuang's heart and the hard shell inside.
"despair."
The twisting Buddhist beads suddenly stopped.
Concubine Zhuang's breathing seemed to be suffocated.
A tiny crack finally appeared on her gentle and calm mask.
Those eyes that were always lowered, with a look of compassion or gentleness, were now looking straight at the eldest princess, eyes filled with confusion, pain, and the last glimmer of hope.