The Prime Minister’s Darling-Chapter 449 - : 227 Punishment (Second Update)_2

Chapter 449: 227 Punishment (Second Update)_2

In the morning, he fell and cried his eyes out, but now he was thundering towards her, suddenly throwing himself into her arms.

She wanted to pick him up, but he shook his head and said, “Don’t, Jiaojiao is too tired.”

Suppressing the urge to be held, he took hold of Gu Jiao’s hand.

“Is your leg still hurting?” Gu Jiao bent down to pull up his little pant leg.

Little Jing Kong shook his head, “Not hurting!”

In truth, it still hurt a bit, but Little Jing Kong was spoiling others under the premise of not adding more burden to Gu Jiao.

“Sister!” Gu Xiaoshun heard the movement at the door, dropped the carpentry work he was halfway through, shot out like a little monkey, and helped Gu Jiao to carry her small basket, “Give it to me!”

Gu Xiaoshun insisted on carrying the small basket and carefully placed her first aid kit in her east room.

Gu Yan had been working in the courtyard shoveling chicken dung for Little Jing Kong. He was so busy that smoke was practically coming out of his ears. He wasn’t as free as Little Jing Kong nor as fast as Gu Xiaoshun, so he was the last one to see his sister, his handsome face smooched with black dirt.

Gu Jiao was amused by his appearance.

Gu Yan embarrassingly turned his back.

Gu Jiao went to coax him.

Others found it hard to placate him, but wasn’t it easy for Gu Jiao? With a tug at his hand, all his temper dissolved.

The Yao Family’s mother brought out a plate of steamed cakes fresh from the pot. Seeing her daughter she softened entirely, “Jiaojiao is back? Just in time. I’ve made some refreshments. Jingkong, can you go and see if the old lady is awake yet?”

“Yes!” Little Jing Kong loved to make rounds in the old lady’s room, he always found something. It gave him a great sense of accomplishment!

Little Jing Kong scurried off to the old lady’s chamber.

The old lady was holding a jar of sweets, munching away.

The old priest sat silently across from her, watching her eat an entire afternoon’s worth.

Can anyone eat this much?

Did the late Emperor starve you for years?

“Grandma!” Little Jing Kong dashed over!

The old lady stuffed the jar of sweets into the old priest’s arms like a flash of lightning moving too fast to be stopped.

The old priest stared at the jar that suddenly appeared in his arms, “…”

Did you pin me here for an entire afternoon just for this moment?

The old priest didn’t want to take the blame, he promptly handed back the jar to the old lady.

The moment Little Jingkong entered the room, he saw the old priest stretching out the jar of sweets to the old lady, who had her arms crossed and was decidedly rejecting it!

The old lady snorted, “I told you I won’t eat, no matter how much you try to manipulate me, it’s useless!”

Follow current novℯls on ƒгeewёbnovel.com.

The old priest: “…”

So, half a jar of sweets was eaten by a ghost, was it?

Can’t she hold a little dignity as a former siren who brought great calamity?

The old priest sighed.

No wonder Ahen felt comfortable keeping the siren by his side. Looking at the siren’s current state, she really posed no threat.

It was he who suffered.

Day after day, he was either robbed or scapegoated. It was a pathetic old age!

Meanwhile, after bidding farewell to Gu Jiao, the Prince of An county first went to the Medical Hall, ordering a batch of wound dressing from Miaoshoutang.

He had upset her today, so he wanted to support her business as a way to appease her.

Then, the Prince of An county rode his carriage back to his mansion.

Prime Minister Zhuang was already waiting in the Flower Hall.

The incident with the Dowager Empress worried Prime Minister Zhuang a lot, and it aged him considerably.

“Grandfather.” The Prince of An county bowed as he entered the room.

Prime Minister Zhuang calmy glanced at him and seriously asked, “Why are you returning so late? Have you been tailing him all day?”

The Prince of An county lowered his eyes, “No, I bought something on my way back to the mansion.”

Prime Minister Zhuang closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, “Did he do anything unusual?”

The Prince of An county reported, “He went to inspect the recently repaired Suo Bridge, probably to check for the quality.”

The repair of the Suo Bridge was supervised by Lord Gu, it was said that Lord Gu was recently beaten up by the Old Lord and was recuperating at home, so for the Old Lord to check the bridge on his behalf seemed reasonable.

But the Old Lord was not a simple military general, he was shrewd and brave, calculating ten steps ahead for each one he took.

Prime Minister Zhuang suspected that the Old Lord beating his son was intentional, just so he could legitimately inspect everywhere under the pretext of doing his son’s work.

The Ministry of Works had many projects, spread throughout every corner of Capital City, it wouldn’t be suspicious for the Old Lord to appear anywhere.

Of course, that was for others, not for Prime Minister Zhuang.

Zhuang Taifu tightly furrowed his heavy eyebrows in suspicion, “You only looked at the Suo Bridge? You didn’t do anything else? For instance, met someone? Encountered something?”

I bumped into the Empress Dowager…and Gu Jiao.

The hand of the Prince of An County, hidden beneath his wide sleeves, slowly gravitated towards the hem of his robe, “He just walked around the vicinity of the temple, he did not encounter anyone.”

Zhuang Taifu stroked his beard, deep in thought, “That’s rather strange, could it be that he really went to inspect the Suo Bridge?”

The Prince of An County lowered his gaze.

He didn’t respond.

For the first time in his life, he lied to his grandfather.

The Prince of An County had always been obedient. When he was sent to the Chen Kingdom as a hostage at the age of eight, he never voiced a complaint. Over the years, he had worked hard for the family, so Zhuang Taifu didn’t doubt him at that moment.

Zhuang Taifu waved his hand. “You can go now. Old Master Gu is a very cautious man. I’m afraid he might have noticed that you were following him today. Next time, do not go again. I will find another person.”

“Yes.”

The Prince of An County bowed and exited the Flower Hall.

“Brother!”

As he was passing by Chuihua Gate, Zhuang Yuexi unexpectedly appeared from behind a large tree.

The Prince looked at her and then back at the Flower Hall, asking, “What are you doing here?”

Zhuang Yuexi looked only at him. “I was waiting for you, brother.”

“I am tired and I’m heading back to the courtyard.” The Prince of An County said, his voice betraying emotional and physical exhaustion. Without another word, he brushed past Zhuang Yuexi.

Zhuang Yuexi’s gaze followed him as he moved away. She took a step forward, “Why didn’t you tell the truth, brother?”

The Prince of An County paused, then turned back to gaze at her with a wary expression.

Zhuang Yuexi’s voice was tinged with both confusion and a plaintive note, “You clearly saw Old Master Gu and…”

“Silence!” The Prince of An County cut her off sharply.

Zhuang Yuexi was momentarily stunned.

The prince was a handsome youth with a gentle manner, his character was inherently soft-spoken and well-mannered.

It was very rare for him to become so sharp and harsh.

“Were you spying on me?” His gaze was icy cold.

This was a side of the Prince of An County which nobody was familiar with, yet in reality, this was his true self, the person who survived the countless plots and intrigues while living in the Chen Kingdom.

“I didn’t.” Zhuang Yuexi was shocked and quickly shook her head, “I had no classes at the Women’s Academy today, Mengdie invited me to the temple to pray. You can ask her if you don’t believe me.”

“Did she see it too?”

“No, she didn’t.”

Zhuang Mengdie, that naive girl, was only interested in worshipping Buddha and eating vegetarian food.

“If you want to tell grandfather, go ahead.” The Prince of An County managed to say with an air of exhaustion. Without another word, he left.

Zhuang Yuexi’s heart was aching.

She wouldn’t tell their grandfather.

She couldn’t bear to see her grandfather punishing her brother.

She was simply confused as to why her brother was concealing the matter. Was he worried that the truth would cause troubles for that woman?

It was her, she was the one who changed her brother.

Her brother began to lie to their grandfather, started to scold her, started to change. He was no longer the brother she once knew.

All because of that woman!

Zhuang Yuexi’s fingers slowly clenched into tight fists.

—

The reprimand from the emperor to the old Marquis did finally happen.

The punishment was quite severe; although the old Marquis had unintentionally hit himself, he deliberately tried to hit the young divine doctor.

Having personally felt the sting of the whip, the emperor could vividly imagine what kind of discomfort it would have caused if it had landed on the young divine doctor.

The Marquis of Xuanping was punished as well.

Both the old Marquis and the Marquis of Xuanping were military generals. Whipping them was equivalent to tickling them, so the emperor punished them by making them copy military books.

Punishing the military men by having them copy books was as torturous as flogging the scholars. In both cases, the victims would be in unbearable agony.

The old Marquis knelt in the side hall of Jinluan Hall, looking at the military books and the brush on the table, filled with a sense of frustration.

Marquis of Xuanping indifferently tossed the brush down onto the table.

What a pain to copy it all!

Need to find son to do it!