Chapter 509
“Strange, where is the prince?”
The eunuch's voice continued: “He was just here a moment ago, where did he disappear to?”
Yan Qingqing's face turned crimson, her body stiff, barely daring to move.
If she were discovered in this position, with the Fifth Prince here... doing all sorts of things... she would have a hundred mouths but still couldn’t explain herself.
The Fifth Brother… the Fifth Brother isn’t wearing any clothes!
His chest was warm, and her face was even hotter, the two of them together forming a furnace, both feeling the heat.
This time, Yan Qingqing also heard the "drumming" sound in the Fifth Prince's chest.
But she still didn’t dare to move, because the imperial physician stepped forward and examined the cloth by the bed: “He must have bandaged himself. Look, the bloody cloth is still here. And this, this Golden Healing Ointment is for external wounds.”
So that’s how it is, their prince is really capable, bandaging himself so quickly and then leaving.
The young eunuch smiled at the physician: “Thank you for making the trip, Imperial Physician Yi.”
“Creak——”
Only after the door closed again did Yan Qingqing, who had been too afraid to move, push the Fifth Prince away with all her strength.
Unexpectedly, her hair got tangled in the Fifth Prince’s clothes, she cried out in pain, falling back, and her flailing hands caught the Fifth Prince’s arm. In the Fifth Prince’s shocked gaze, Yan Qingqing only felt a warm touch on her lips, their four lips meeting, both pairs of eyes staring in astonishment.
This is... did they just kiss?
Yan Qingqing's big eyes widened even more, the Fifth Prince’s hand on the back of her head, impulsively almost deepening the kiss.
But…
He couldn’t!
Yan Qingqing didn’t like him, he didn’t want to take advantage of her.
Their lips only touched for a moment, and the Fifth Prince immediately pulled back, freeing the girl’s hair.
“Smack!”
Out of nowhere, the boy received a slap.
“Yan Qingqing!”
Shen Mingsheng gritted his teeth, almost wanting to strangle the indignant girl, but upon seeing the stubborn tears in her eyes, his heart softened, and he let her go.
Regaining her freedom, Yan Qingqing turned and ran, shedding golden tears over her easily stolen first kiss.
Joyful music echoed from the garden. Under an ancient willow tree, the Emperor held Jiang Xinyue’s hand: “Why didn’t I see Qingqing today?”
Usually, she never missed such a lively gathering.
Jiang Xinyue looked at the third princess: “Lan, weren’t you with Qingqing earlier? Where is she?”
Without her chattering away, it felt quite unusual.
The third princess blinked her bewildered eyes: “I don’t know, but I feel like Qingqing might be in a bad mood.”
“Bad mood?”
Jiang Xinyue frowned: “Did someone bully her?”
Shen Minglan shook her head: “But I don’t think anyone would dare to bully her.”
With Qingqing’s personality, not bullying others would be a blessing.
Moreover, with her background, no one would dare to bully her.
Jiang Xinyue thought it made sense. If no one bullied her, it must be teenage troubles.
Rumors outside said she was the destined Crown Princess, but the girl didn’t want to enter the palace at all.
Not to mention that Yan Qingqing didn’t want to become the Crown Princess, Jiang Xinyue didn’t want to arrange the marriage between her and her son either.
Ancient people might not understand, but she was from the twenty-first century, and Jiang Xinyue and Jiang Xin Yan were sisters. Her son and Jiang Xin Yan’s daughter were close relatives.
Two close relatives together could lead to severely problematic children...
Even if they were lucky and had a normal child, she still couldn’t allow her niece to marry her nephew.
That’s incest, isn’t it?
Seems like the marriage was worrying the young girl.
Away from the sound of song and dance, the palace maids bustled about.
“Smack!”
“Yan Jinsha, do you still think you’re a noble lady? You smash the wine pot of the Internal Affairs Department on a whim?”
A group of palace maids surrounded a beautiful maid, their eyes full of contempt and ridicule.
The maid in the middle, Yan Jinsha, had a stubborn gaze and a cold face. Clearly, she was framed, but she didn’t defend herself, only quietly bent down to pick up the shattered porcelain.
“I’m talking to you.”
The leader of the maids stepped on Yan Jinsha’s hand, her malicious gaze fixed on her: “Can’t you hear me?”
Her fair and tender fingers were crushed under the sharp shards, intense pain struck, and bright red blood flowed from beneath the maid’s foot.
“What are all of you crowding here for?”
Steward Zhang from the Internal Affairs Department frowned as he walked over: “Everything’s in chaos up front, don’t you all want to work anymore?”
The surrounding palace maids scattered, Steward Zhang glanced at Yan Jinsha placing the shards on a tray, his frown deepening.
“Go kneel outside.”
Yan Jinsha looked up, surprised, while a few maids watching from the side laughed even louder: “The Yan family were huge corrupt officials; after their house was raided, the gold and silver found could fill the national treasury, so much of the people’s blood and sweat they had stolen. What we’re doing is eliminating harm for the people; you mustn’t feel sympathetic towards her, don’t stand up for her, this is her rightful punishment.”
“Even Steward Zhang doesn’t care about her anymore, let’s see how she maintains her noble airs now.”
I hate corrupt officials the most. My parents almost starved to death, which is why they sent me to the palace to be castrated. And Yan Jinsha is the daughter of a corrupt official; she deserves to die.
Frankly, people like her should be made to serve as state prostitutes; their wealth came from the people, and their bodies should serve the people, shouldn't they?
“Make her kneel, and no one give her dinner.”
The truth was, these palace maids didn’t torment Yan Jinsha because her father was a corrupt official; it was due to jealousy over her beauty.
The corruption of Yan’s family was a thing of the past, and back then, they were implicated in the Qin Province Corruption Case. Whether they were truly corrupt was uncertain.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t have taken years after the fall of the entire Qin Province faction before the Yan family was charged.
When the Yan family’s women were sent to the Palace of Exile, Yan Jinsha was only five years old, helping a few elderly maids with chores until she grew up and was assigned to the Internal Affairs Department.
Her beauty caused her to be ostracized by several palace maids on her first day.
Especially the past two years, at fifteen, her appearance had become even more exquisite, often drawing attention from the higher-ranking officials. The Internal Affairs Department could no longer tolerate her.
If not for Steward Zhang’s overt and covert protection, she would have long been defiled by some noble.
Those noblemen, after pulling up their pants, wouldn’t acknowledge anyone. Was a mere low-ranking palace maid expecting to gain a title?
Now, even Steward Zhang no longer protected her, and her end was nigh.
“One, two, three, four, five…”
“Reporting to the Emperor, Empress, it’s the Crown Prince who won.”
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“Clap clap clap clap…”
Everyone around applauded, praising the Crown Prince for his bravery.
The Crown Prince, however, didn’t get carried away with pride. Instead, he threw down his bow and arrow: “It was thanks to my brothers letting me that I could come first by luck. Father, Mother, that pair of small court boots, I’d like to give them to Big Brother.”
Mother’s handmade boots, he had plenty, but Big Brother had only one, he wanted it, so why not give it to him?