Mingzhu sat upright, Su Lan helped her put on her shoes, and then she supported Su Lan’s hand, slowly and majestically walking towards Funing and the others. Funing had never suffered such humiliation before, not even when Imperial Consort Min had her detained in the palace. She stared at her bloodied hands, angrily wanting to attack Mingzhu. However, when faced with Mingzhu’s cold and stern gaze, she couldn’t help but shrink back and cried out, “You bully me! I’ll tell my mother and royal brother!”
“Sister, don’t worry. Later, I will go with you to see Mother and His Majesty.” Mingzhu signaled to Xia Xue and Su Lan to step forward. Xia Xue grabbed Funing’s flailing arms, while Su Lan helped Zeng Yaqiu up, comforting her, “Don’t be afraid, Her Majesty is here.”
Zeng Yaqiu, tears in her eyes, gratefully bowed to Mingzhu. Seeing her clothes soaked, Mingzhu took off her cloak and draped it over her, then took a handkerchief to wipe her face, asking, “Where does it hurt?”
Funing glared viciously at Zeng Yaqiu. “You can eat a meal, but you can’t say whatever you want!”
At this point, Funing dared to threaten someone in front of her. Mingzhu sneered, half-closing her eyes, “Take everyone involved in this matter, give them twenty strokes of the cane, then bring them back for interrogation.”
Most of the people here were Funing’s trusted palace maids, so almost all of them were implicated. The palace maids wailed and begged for mercy, but Funing, feeling nervous and scared, had to turn to Mingzhu. “I knew you didn’t like me, it was my command. Why did you have to target them?”
Mingzhu glanced at her calmly. “His Majesty and Empress Dowager placed them by the Princess’s side to serve and take care of her, not to let the Princess make mistakes. Not stopping the princess who made a mistake and even acting as accomplices, what use are they?”
Funing still wanted to argue, but Mingzhu continued, “If the Princess doesn’t want them to suffer, it’s also possible. You can take their punishment for the twenty strokes of the cane. Oh no, you’re a Princess, your status is different. I’m showing favoritism, so let’s count each person once. There are ten palace maids here, so ten strokes each.”
Funing thought she was the Princess, the emperor’s only sister, who would dare to really hit her? It was just a matter of making a gesture. So she arrogantly agreed. But when those palace maids heard about it, they were all terrified and begged her not to be punished. Instead, they rushed to receive the cane, “Please punish me first, please punish me first.”
Funing was dumbfounded, only able to understand that these palace maids loved her so much that they couldn’t bear to see her suffer. But seeing Mingzhu’s demeanor, it didn’t seem to be the case. So she grabbed one of the palace maids and asked for the reason, but the palace maid, fearing Mingzhu, didn’t dare to speak. Mingzhu calmly said, “I’ll tell you the reason. They could still have a way out if they honestly accepted the punishment. If they dare to incite and let the master take the blame for them, His Majesty and Empress Dowager will never allow them to live, and they will be killed immediately. Understand?”
Funing angrily asked, “Who made the rules?”
Mingzhu calmly replied, “It was established by the founder of the dynasty. Also, there’s another rule: when the master makes a mistake and can’t be punished, those close to him must bear the punishment.”
After the caning was completed, Mingzhu briefly questioned a few people, singled out a few lead palace maids, and then had people assist Zeng Yaqiu and bring Funing to Empress Dowager Min’s palace. Empress Dowager Min had already heard about the incident. Without waiting for Funing to argue, she slapped Funing hard, then rewarded Zeng Yaqiu generously, comforting her kindly, and had her sent out of the palace with a royal physician accompanying her.
With no outsiders present, Empress Dowager Min’s expression turned serious. “What happened to the wound on Funing’s forehead?”
Mingzhu slightly bowed. “I was afraid she would blind Zeng Yaqiu, fearing it would cause a big disaster, so in a moment of urgency, I threw my shoe at her. I usually wear cloth-bottomed shoes, but today, I wore ceremonial attire and forgot that the soles were embedded with jade stones, causing an accidental injury. I have good medicine; a few applications will heal it, and there will be no visible scars.”
Reasonable, with a remedy in place, Empress Dowager Min couldn’t find fault with Mingzhu, although she resented Mingzhu’s heavy-handedness. She asked, “What about His Majesty?”
“I’m here.” Yuwen Chu walked in slowly, rubbing his forehead displeasedly. “I rarely feel happy, just had a few more drinks, and then this mess happens.”
Empress Dowager didn’t expect him to come as soon as she mentioned him. Her original intention was to discuss with Mingzhu and keep this matter secret, not let Yuwen Chu know. But now that Yuwen Chu had already arrived, she could only say, “Your sister is ignorant. Mingzhu has already punished her. Let it go.”
Yuwen Chu sat down on the chair, his face as calm as water. “Funing, I came to ask you, if your sister had arrived late today, what would you have done? Would you really have blinded Zeng Yaqiu? Or would you have taken her life? Why did I arrange this marriage? Zeng Zixi made great contributions in the past! He was loyal to me. Besides marrying into the Shen family, I wouldn’t trust anyone else! I kept you in the palace because I wanted to temper your temperament. Your husband has been chosen, the youngest son of Jiang Shibi’s family, gentle and talented. I planned to build a Princess mansion for you and arrange the marriage later, but it seems unnecessary now.”
Funing trembled, “I, I…”
Empress Dowager interceded for her, “She was just scaring that child. She wouldn’t really dare to take someone’s life.”
Yuwen Chu glanced at Empress Dowager sternly, saying coldly, “I remember, she had killed palace maids around her a long time ago. Today, she dared to lay hands on a minister’s daughter just because she didn’t agree. Tomorrow, who will she harm? Mother? Me? The Empress? Or a few children?”
The Empress Dowager couldn’t intercede anymore. Mingzhu found an excuse to leave, leaving them, mother and son, to deal with it themselves.
The moon was beautiful, and the fragrance of osmanthus filled the air. Mingzhu stood under the osmanthus tree, picking the best flowers and having palace maids thread them into flower balls. Inside the hall, Funing’s sobbing cries were heard. With a light creak, Yuwen Chu walked out, frowning, “Even now, you’re still making flower balls. Don’t you know how to take a break?”
Mingzhu handed him the freshly made flower ball, “I was afraid Your Majesty would blame me for hurting Funing, so I quickly made a flower ball to apologize to you.”
Yuwen Chu rubbed his forehead with a headache, “Why would I blame you? If she can take someone’s life and gouge someone’s eyes out, can’t she bear a little pain herself? It’s her due.”
Mingzhu didn’t mention Funing’s matter to him, only saying, “Fortunately, nothing serious happened. Comfort the Zeng family well. Master Zeng is broad-minded, and he shouldn’t think too much about it. That girl is really good…” She vividly described Zeng Yaqiu’s performance to Yuwen Chu, who nodded repeatedly, “Old Zeng is very good at educating children.” Then he asked Mingzhu, “According to the Empress’s meaning, is she very satisfied with this marriage?”
Mingzhu smiled, “The sword is always given to the hero, the beauty is paired with the hero. Your Majesty has not treated Shen Ruilin unfairly.”
Yuwen Chu patted her hand, “Even if I can’t achieve both sides, I want to achieve as much balance as possible. Hearing what you said, I feel relieved. Don’t worry about Funing’s matter anymore. I will temper her well. Before, I just wanted to find someone gentle and tolerant for her, but now it seems that won’t work. I have to find someone who can control her. Otherwise, there will be no peace at home, it’s not about marriage, it’s about harming people.”
Mingzhu thought of his hard work day and night, feeling very distressed, and said, “Then Your Majesty shouldn’t find someone too fierce. Beating her every day for nothing, who can bear it?”
Yuwen Chu chuckled, “Do you think I’m a fool? I will arrange everything properly. From now on, you don’t need to manage her affairs anymore, I will handle it!” The more you manage, the more strained the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law will be.
Mingzhu hugged his arm tightly, leaning her head on his shoulder, “Hmm, I’ll listen to Your Majesty. Let’s try to suppress this matter as much as possible. Otherwise, it won’t sound good.”
In the autumn of the second year of Yuji, after two years of hard cultivation in the deep mountains, Funing finally married. The groom was the second son of the Jining Marquis, known as the “reckless second son” Gu Wangchao. This man was naturally powerful, able to effortlessly lift a 300-pound stone lock with one arm. He was also introverted, not prone to arguing with others when angry, but would endure and endure, and then with a slap, he would knock the person to the ground.
Because of his lack of speech and innate strength, he was regarded as a fool by the dignitaries in the capital, who refused to marry their daughters to him. After Yuwen Chu personally summoned him and talked to him behind closed doors for a long time, he determined that he was not only not foolish but very promising. Although he liked to use his hands, he was very restrained, so he decisively arranged the marriage.
On the day of the wedding, Funing refused to cooperate, sitting in the bridal sedan stubbornly refusing to get out. Everyone thought they were going to see a joke. Officials from the Court of the Imperial Clan were sweating profusely. Only the groom remained calm, calmly walking to the sedan and asking Funing, “The auspicious time has arrived, please get off the sedan, Your Highness.”
Funing ignored him completely, but he remained calm, asking again, “Your Highness, are you unwilling to get off?”
“Humph!” Before Funing could even snort, Gu Wangchao had already dragged her out of the sedan and lifted her onto his shoulder with a sudden jerk. He then strode confidently towards the wedding hall, loudly saying, “Prepare to pay respects to Heaven and Earth.”
Everything was beyond anyone’s control. After three times of crying, making trouble, and fighting, all in vain, peace came only when she behaved quietly. If she caused trouble, she would be slapped. The next year, Funing became pregnant. The nursemaid by her side came to the palace to report the good news. When mentioning her husband, she just laughed, “The Princess Consort never scolds the Princess. He only likes to lift her up like a stone lock or a club, spinning her around. The Princess is deeply afraid of him, so our home is peaceful.”
