Ninth Imperial Glorious Phoenix Chapter 255

Chapter 255: Offense Defense

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Li Quanxin stared for a while, smiling inwardly. This little Wangfei had some sense. While he was laughing in his heart, his eyes were red, and he took out a neatly folded handkerchief to wipe his eyes, saying, “Yes, Your Highness, don’t listen to the instigations of evil people. Everyone sees how well His Highness treats you. You must trust His Highness.”

Zhu Changsheng was also a bit confused. He deliberately said that to provoke Mingzhu’s anger and force her into a confrontation. If she were angered and beat him up on the spot, it would appear to others that she resorted to violence to force him to produce the account book. Then she would lose. But if she didn’t hit or scold him, and instead retreated herself, she would still lose. Then, next time, she wouldn’t dare to provoke him so easily.

However, she didn’t play by the rules at all. Instead, she sat here crying and said that she was less useful than a servant in His Highness’s eyes, feeling so sad and miserable, saying she was insulted and had no face to live. Did she really intend to seek death?

This made him, who had been aggressive, almost make the Wangfei feel bullied and forced to death? But that’s not what really happened! Can a woman be shameless like this? Zhu Changsheng was angry, and suddenly heard Zheng Momo sternly shout, “Zhu Changsheng! Do you know your crime?”

Zhu Changsheng didn’t even regard Mingzhu highly, let alone Zheng Momo, who was brought in explicitly to deal with him. He was even more unwilling to admit such accusations. At this point, he could only continue to plow ahead with a stiff scalp. He bet that Mingzhu couldn’t keep up the act of crying for long. As long as he pushed her a little more, she would reveal her true colors. The fiercer, the better. He was afraid she wouldn’t be fierce enough. He didn’t dare to directly confront Mingzhu, but talking to the Momo beside her was acceptable. He was the chief steward and was appointed by the Imperial Consort to assist Ying Wang. It was perfectly reasonable to teach an unruly old servant a lesson.

Zhu Changsheng sneered, disdainfully saying, “Zheng Momo, I’m just conveying His Highness’s meaning. When did I disrespect the Wangfei? It’s all because of Li Quanxin, this little villain, inciting discord.”

“The mansion is indeed different from ordinary households, so as the Momo in charge of the Wangfei’s residence, you should advise the Wangfei to trust the virtuous and distant the evil. Don’t listen to biased words. Otherwise, if something happens to the Wangfei, do you know what kind of crime it is?” 

Zheng Momo sneered back. “You, the great steward, dare to rebuke the Wangfei and even want to punish me on behalf of the master? Since the mansion is different from ordinary households, you, as the steward, can also ignore the Wangfei. If something happens to the Wangfei, can I take it as a threat, intimidation, or even a curse? Steward Li, did you hear that?”

Li Quanxin immediately said, “We all heard it. This old thing is completely blindfolded by lard. How dare he show such disrespect to the Wangfei? This completely goes against His Highness’s intentions.”

Mingzhu cried even more fiercely, “Momo, is he saying that His Highness looks down on me? He even wishes for something bad to happen to me, right?”

Just ordinary women’s boring tricks of crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide. Zhu Changsheng really looked down on it. Even if the Fu family and His Highness were married, they still had their guards up against each other. How could such an important account book be easily handed over to Fu’s daughter, who had only recently entered the house? It was simply unreasonable! He didn’t do anything wrong at all! If they had the guts, they should come and confront him! He was waiting for it. After enduring this beating, it would just further demonstrate his loyalty, letting His Highness know how he was being bullied and insulted for defending His Highness’s secrets. But his adversaries, both master and servant, just stood there thundering with no action.

Seeing this, they must have realized it wouldn’t end well, so they regretted it and pretended to cry again to save face. Zhu Changsheng straightened his back a bit and said firmly, “I owe His Highness a great debt of gratitude. Whatever His Highness orders, I must fulfill my duty. Please forgive me, Your Highness.” He didn’t believe Mingzhu could continue this standoff with him. Let’s see how she would end this.

However, Mingzhu had no intention of continuing the standoff. She simply covered her face with the handkerchief and walked into the inner room, crying bitterly, “Quickly, go find His Highness and ask him if he really looks down on me like this, suspects me of being a thief, and refuses to trust me.” Once inside the room, she laid comfortably on the bed, stretched lazily, felt sore all over, and couldn’t help but curse Yuwen Chu again. “I’m sleepy again, I’ll lie down for a while.”

Zheng Momo solemnly said, “Your Highness, rest assured, the old slave will be here.”

As for Zhu Changsheng, who was still kneeling outside, let him kneel. Everyone was competing in patience and thick skin, waiting to see who would last. He was righteously advising Mingzhu to stay in her place and asserting that he didn’t disrespect her at all, right? So, until Mingzhu spoke, he wouldn’t dare to stand up on his own, otherwise, it would prove his contempt and disrespect.

Mingzhu turned over comfortably, smiled, and said, “I heard he has gout, so he needs to kneel. Although he was punished before, that was His Highness’s punishment. This one is mine. If I don’t torment him a little, how can I repay his respect for me?” 

Zheng Momo whispered to her, “Although this scoundrel needs to be disciplined, even if he disrespects you, in front of His Highness, he is loyal to him. It’s not right to let him off lightly, but mishandling it will cause discord with His Highness. From the moment he received the letter to come in, he should have secretly sent a letter to His Highness. His Highness will probably return soon. What to do next needs your careful consideration.”

Mingzhu said, “Only reasonable and sensible people talk about rules. I’m not sensible, I don’t understand reason. I only know that His Highness promised to let me manage household affairs, so it’s only natural for me to ask for the account book. Even if Zhu Changsheng wants to be loyal to His Highness, he shouldn’t disrespect me like this. Not mentioning making him kneel, I could even have someone beat him up. If I don’t make him cry and beg for mercy, that’s already saving face for His Highness. As for Momo, if His Highness asks you to take my things privately, you would refuse to be loyal to me, but would you dare to disrespect His Highness like him? He has tried several times to provoke me to hit him, but I just won’t do it.”

Forcing Zhu Changsheng to jump into the pit was an attack, while not being provoked by Zhu Changsheng and resorting to violence was defense. Zheng Momo said, “The Wangfei is right. But when His Highness returns later, you should be softer.”

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