Chapter 116 It Wasn't Wise
Chapter 116 It Wasn't Wise
Leng Jingyan sighed. He didn't know how to explain it to Emperor Mingyuan.
"I know you summoned Princess Chu not Princess Qi, your majesty. The conflict between two
princesses doesn't bother you. You are the ruler of the country, and you have more important things to
do," Leng Jingyan guessed.
"You have a point. Then why do you think I summoned Princess Chu?" Emperor asked casually while
drinking tea.
"To declare her guilty. The fact that she was asked to be in the Palace, be in front of you itself had
already condemned her. I believe she can't even say something to defend herself before you can
declare her guilty," Leng Jingyan replied peacefully.
"You really believe that? This is your plan?"
"It's just my assumption, your grace."
"No, this is your plan!"
"Yes, this is my plan, your grace."
‘Just calling someone guilty without giving her a chance to defend herself? How could I think of such a
despicable plan! I shouldn't have said something. Now it became my plan?' Leng Jingyan wondered.
Emperor Mingyuan praised, "This is a good plan. I can just declare her guilty first, and tell her that if
she wants me to exempt her from punishment, she has to cure Yu Wenhuai! And if she fails, I can give
her a free pass this time, and I will have her dirt on my hand. You are a smart man, Lord Leng."
"You are too kind, your grace. All I thought about was to serve you and resolve your problem, and it just
came to me," Leng Jingyan answered calmly. He cleaned the chessboard and asked, "Another round?"
"Another round? What do you do at work every day? I think you spent all your hours in my workroom
nowadays. You have to keep your mind sharp! Go read and educate more talented scholars for me!"
Leng Jingyang nodded and left the room. It wasn't easy to be the emperor's favorite.
Four hours later, Yuan Qingling arrived at the Royal Workroom and knelt on the ground.
The emperor shouted, "You are a princess! You should behave like one wherever you are! You didn't
care about Yu Wenhuai when you visited him! If you did, you wouldn't get into a fight with Princess Qi! I
heard you even wanted to kill her! This is a serious crime!"
Yuan Qingling answered with terror, "I have my regrets! I was wrong, your grace! Please forgive me!"
Yuan Qingling had the feeling that the emperor was serious. ‘He stressed that I had tried to kill Princess
Qi! He is onto something," Yuan Qingling thought.
Emperor Mingyuan knew he had to yell at her before he could reveal his thoughts. "Forgive you? How
can I forgive you in this situation? This is not the first time you being impetuous! If my father hadn't
interceded for you, I would have sentenced you to death!" the Emperor vented.
"Please forgive me, your grace!" Yuan Qingling repeated.
"You can't just beg for my forgiveness. You have to think of a way to make up for it!"
"I don't know what to do, your grace. But you are the smartest man I know, and if you have the
solution, please tell me."
Emperor Mingyuan cleared his throat and replied, "It's easy, actually. You just have to cure Prince
Huai."
Yuan Qingling had known that was the Emperor's intention. "I don't know everything about Yu
Wenhuai's condition. I don't know whether I can handle the job or not. If I fail..."
The Emperor said with a stern tone, "If you fail, you will be punished. I am sure of that! Don't tell me it's
not fair or things like that! I owe people an explanation. Someone has to be responsible for the
incident."
"So why me? Why am I the only one here? Why didn't you summon Princess Qi?" Yuan Qingling
asked.
Emperor Mingyuan sneered, "I thought you know."
‘Doesn't this girl know the difference between her and Chu family? I can't piss Chu family off! They are
powerful!' Emperor Mingyuan thought.
Emperor Mingyuan wouldn't dare to provoke another big house after he wiped out Lord Huiding and his
family! Yuan Qingling certainly knew what he meant, yet she couldn't say anything about it.
"When I fell into the water with Princess Qi, everyone said that I had pushed her, and the Chu family
believed them. After you summoned me and asked me to cure Yu Wenhuai, the people from the Chu
family can't harm me. I know you're doing this to protect me from Chu Family and I'm grateful for it and
I will do everything I can to help Yu Wenhuai."
Emperor Mingyuan suggested, "I knew you would say things like that. If you really had the confidence
to cure Yu Wenhuai, I will give you a chance to prove yourself. Go and don't let me down."
Yuan Qingling was shocked! She never said she could cure Yu Wenhuai!
"Go and do what you have to do then!" Emperor Mingyuan looked at her warningly, hinting her to stop
talking.
Yuan Qingling stood up while crying inside. It wasn't fair, she knew it and so did Emperor Mingyuan.
Yet Yuan Qingling sighed with relief when she left the palace.
Yuan Qingling hadn't known what move to make when it came to Yu Wenhuai. Though it was wise to
avoid the risks altogether by not handling it, she felt somewhat guilty. It had been torture. However,
after it had been decided for her by Emperor Mingyuan, she was relieved.
Yuan Qingling had the feeling that Emperor Mingyuan wouldn't punish her for real if she failed. Yet, she
wasn't sure about Queen Lu. Queen Lu was a fierce woman. It could get ugly!
Yuan Qingling went to Qinkun Palace after the talk with Emperor Mingyuan.
Retired Emperor looked vigorous and was doing some woodwork.
When Yuan Qingling went inside the palace, she noticed servant Chang was holding a saw and Retired
Emperor was measuring a small piece of wood with a ruler.
"May I ask what are you doing, your grace?" Yuan Qingling approached them and asked.
Retired Emperor looked at her. Yuan Qingling could see the sweats on his forehead and his reddish
face. "Can you guess what is it?"
"Are you making something that could hang your clothes over it? Like a clothesline pole or something?"
she guessed.
"What the hell is clothesline pole?" Retired Emperor asked with confusion.
"Then what is it?" Yuan Qingling asked with doubt. It did look like a pole for clothes!
"I knew you couldn't guess it! This is my gift for you?"
Yuan Qingling answered with shock, "For me?"
‘Why is he giving me a staff? Why can't it be jewelry or gold? What does that mean?" Yuan Qingling This is property © NôvelDrama.Org.
thought.
"This is called a husband-discipline-staff. If Yu Wenhao pisses you off, you can hit him with it! Do you
like it?"
Retired Emperor put down the staff and grabbed the saw from servant Chang and started to shorten it.
Yuan Qingling chirped, "Yes! I love it!" It was the perfect gift.
Servant Chang chuckled and added, "Other than the husband, you can also hit others. Especially the
women that push others into a lake!"
Yuan Qingling gasped, "Really?"
"Of course! Those are Retired Emperor's exact words."
Yuan Qingling was touched. She looked at Retired Emperor with admiration and found he was
perfecting the staff with all the energy he had. ‘He looked tired? Is it really that hard to polish a piece of
wood?' she wondered.
"I assume you had already heard about what happened?" Yuan Qingling asked softly.
"Of course. I know everything! And I'm embarrassed for you! You were just useless!" Retired Emperor
answered while holding the staff.
Yuan Qingling sat beside him and grabbed the staff to fix it for him to operate. "It was an accident," she
explained.
"Why didn't you kill her then?" Retired Emperor asked.
"I can't do that. She is a human being. We have to be civil," Yuan Qingling said gently. She wasn't sad
over what happened in the Royal Workroom anymore after hearing Retired Emperor's words. She
could see the irony in it. She was still willing to work for the Royal House after all those dramatic things
if they showed the slightest kindness.
"That is the way it is! If you don't kill her, she will kill you," Retired Emperor looked at her and added,
"But still, good job with the Lord Huiding."
"Prince Wenhao helped a lot," Yuan Qingling said meekly.
"Yeah, that wasn't really a compliment. You shouldn't have done the things you've done. You defeated
Lord Huiding out of luck, and luck is a tricky thing. What if it had left you? You wouldn't even know how
you died!" Retired Emperor reminded her coldly.
"What was I supposed to do then?" Yuan Qingling asked.