I just want to be a princess, no, you want to be a queen

Chapter 151 The Queen Mother's Punishment

"Great, great."

Thinking of his brother Zheng's angry look, Qin Miao was so excited that he couldn't sleep all night. He rushed to Shoukang Palace early the next morning and complained with exaggerated details.

When Lu Mingyang entered, the empress dowager's face was ashen and extremely gloomy.

She knelt on the ground, quietly listening to the Queen Mother's scolding, occasionally complaining about her injustice, but it was just to keep up the occasion. The main thing was that she couldn't deny this matter.

"Grandmother, I only brought them into the palace because I didn't want them to ruin your highness's reputation. I never thought they would ruin your highness's reputation."

"You still dare to quibble!" There is no way to deal with those prostitutes, but they insist on bringing them into the mansion.

The Queen Mother hadn't expected the princess she'd chosen for her grandson to be so jealous and unpresentable. Alas, she was just a country girl, so shallow and ignorant. It was all her fault for having made such a mistake.

"Today I will punish you with twenty slaps to teach you a lesson. I will teach you to reflect on what it means to be a good wife. Xu Pei, give me a good slap."

Really fight!

Lu Mingyang watched Xu Pei approach. Even before she was slapped, her face already started to hurt. If she got slapped twenty times, she wouldn't be able to see anyone for a month or two.

The key point is that it is too embarrassing. How can she, as a princess, have any prestige in the future?

Qin Miao was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling. She suggested, "Grandmother, Aunt Xu is old, why don't you let my sister count the numbers herself?"

"Very good, let her remember this lesson." The Queen Mother's order was unquestionable. Xu Pei had no choice but to respond "yes" and stood beside Lu Mingyang to carry out the execution.

The crisp sound of slaps rang out, and she had to endure the humiliation and count.

"One, two..."

"Your Highness, Your Highness, please wait for me to report this to you. Please don't barge in!"

Before the young eunuch could finish his words, Chu Mingzheng kicked open the palace door, picked up Lu Mingyang, and protected him behind him.

Qin Miaoben was sitting beside the empress dowager. Seeing Chu Mingzheng protecting Lu Mingyang, she hurriedly knelt down and pretended to be pleading for Lu Mingyang.

"Grandmother, I was just confused for a moment. If you want to punish me, punish Miao'er. Please spare me!"

"Grandmother!" Chu Mingzheng drowned out Qin Miao's voice and said directly, "This matter was done by my grandson. It has nothing to do with the princess."

Qin Miao's eyes widened in shock, and that shock gradually turned into sadness and fear. Why was Brother Zheng so angry and still protecting her?

She couldn't understand it, not at all.

"You?" The Queen Mother thought it was reasonable and angrily scolded Chu Mingzheng a few words. She ordered: "Xu Pei, follow Princess Ningyuan back to the palace and teach her to sell all those prostitutes."

"Emperor Ancestor..."

Chu Mingzheng pulled Lu Mingyang, who was about to speak, back again, walked to the Queen Mother, brushed his clothes and knelt down.

"Grandmother, my grandson was seriously ill. He lay alone in a cold bed, unable to move. No one listened to his words, and he didn't even have a sip of hot water. It was only because you didn't despise me and took care of me wholeheartedly that I am still alive today."

As he spoke, he wiped away his tears sadly.

Lu Mingyang couldn't bear to watch. Was it really that exaggerated? How could she remember him living a comfortable life?

The Queen Mother indeed softened her heart.

Chu Mingzheng choked up and said, "I promised them that if I could get out alive, I would redeem them. Grandmother, I don't want to be someone who goes back on his word."

"But the royal family's reputation..."

"Grandmother!" Chu Mingzheng continued to cry, "I have already redeemed them. If I drive them away again, they will either die or be humiliated. Wouldn't I be even more criticized by those officials?"

"That's true." The Queen Mother thought for a moment and said, "How about this, let them live in the Clear Water Pond for now, and then make plans after a while."

"Thank you, Empress Dowager!" Chu Mingzheng stood up and pulled Lu Mingyang away.

"Wait!" The Queen Mother looked at Lu Mingyang and scolded him, "Since you are in charge of the Ningyuan Palace's harem, you should advise your husband on everything instead of letting him do whatever he wants. But you..."

"Grandma!"

"Shut up!" The Queen Mother angrily scolded Chu Mingzheng and continued, "If I don't punish you, I think you won't learn your lesson. Xu Pei, get her a copy of the Rules for Women and have her copy it at Xiangguo Temple. One rule a day, and think carefully about how to be a royal wife, a prince's consort."

There are thirty rules for women, which means she has to stay in the temple for thirty days! She can't eat meat or run around. Lu Mingyang is so sad that he wants to cry.

"Grandma!"

Chu Mingzheng wanted to speak, but the Queen Mother stopped him again, "If you plead again, I will let Xu Pei continue the execution."

"Thank you, Grandma Huang!"

Lu Mingyang hurriedly pulled Chu Mingzheng away.

The palace door closed again. The Queen Mother helped Qin Miao up and asked, "Miao'er, do you know why I let her live in the temple?"

Qin Miao shook her head blankly.

The Queen Mother gently stroked his cheek and said, "Take advantage of this time and get pregnant with Zheng'er's eldest son as soon as possible. I will make him the Crown Prince."

The title of concubine sounds good, being only one rank lower than the princess, but with the princess around, she is nothing. Only by having her child become the crown prince can she ensure a lifetime of prosperity.

This is the only thing she can do for her parents' home.

……

The emperor stood on Jingshan Mountain north of the imperial palace, watching the carriage of Prince Ningyuan's palace leave the palace gate and laughing heartily.

Although Lu Shao was dead, his prestige in the army had always been a taboo for the emperor. So when Lu's daughter married Chu Mingzheng, the emperor felt like an invisible thorn in his heart that he couldn't pull out, but it was painful.

But now, she was just a country girl, her eyes only focused on the petty jealousies in the harem. With Prince Ningyuan's personal morality so corrupt, which minister would have the nerve to propose making him the crown prince?

"Your Majesty, how do you know that it was Princess Ningyuan who did the stupid thing, not Prince Ningyuan?" Concubine Song pretended to be ignorant and reminded him that it would be bad if Prince Ningyuan deliberately paralyzed His Majesty.

The emperor was not shy about talking to Concubine Song. He gently put his arm around her waist and said with a smile, "If it really is him, then there's nothing to worry about."

Concubine Song felt the emperor was overconfident. Even if Chu Mingzheng could successfully establish Hui'er as crown prince once he was fully grown, who could guarantee Hui'er would be able to inherit the throne after his death?

Thinking of this, Concubine Song's gaze fell on the traveling carriage again.

Inside the carriage, Chu Mingzheng looked at his slightly swollen cheek and said coldly, "Serves you right!"

"I deserve it! Thank you, Your Highness, and your kind-hearted grandmother, for your mercy."

Hearing the sarcastic tone, Chu Mingzheng laughed and said teasingly, "You made a mistake yourself, and you blame my grandmother?"

Lu Mingyang sneered, "Yes, it's all my fault. Your kind-hearted grandmother was so kind. When you were dying, you pointed at me serving you as a slave and thought I was gentle, considerate, understanding, and from a good family.

Now that you're all frisky, you're starting to think I'm taking over her family's place. You think I'm vulgar, shameless, a lowly country girl, and not worthy of you."

"What are you thinking about!" Chu Mingzheng frowned.

Lu Mingyang glanced over fiercely: "And you..."

"What's wrong with me? Didn't I come to save you?" Chu Mingzheng threw the medicine in his hand away angrily.

"I...thank you!" With a bang, Lu Mingyang stood up and hit his head on the roof of the car. He felt numb and painful, and tears welled up in his eyes.

"Your Highness, don't bother me. I'll just get out of here!"

After saying that, she opened the carriage door and jumped out.

"Yangyang!"

Chu Mingzheng chased after him and saw Lu Mingyang fall to the ground. As luck would have it, he was standing in front of a wedding procession. The groom riding on a tall horse was none other than Song Wei.