Your Majesty, Please Stop!

Chapter 190: Aunt and Cousin

Jiang Yuqi was already fourteen years old, with a graceful figure and a somewhat handsome appearance. However, she had a mischievous and tomboyish nature.

Upon hearing this, she pouted and said, "I understand, Mother. What is there for my older brother to be afraid of? He's just a big child, a few years older than Yuqi. He probably hasn't studied outside and both his name and the name of the Song family's brother have the character 'qing' in them. He's probably far inferior to the Song family's brother!"

Princess Zhengguo couldn't help but furrow her brows and reprimand her, "That Song Ruqing is ultimately an outsider. How can he not protect his own older brother and side with an outsider? You are becoming more and more ignorant!"

Jiang Yuqi snorted heavily and turned her head away.

At this moment, the voice of a maid outside could be heard, "Prince!"

Princess Zhengguo immediately straightened up and pulled Jiang Yuqi to sit properly.

Xin Zhuo entered the room and glanced at the mother and daughter. He gestured for Sai Qingzhu to put down the various gifts and greeted with a smile, "Greetings, Aunt."

"Aunt doesn't need to be so polite. Why bring gifts when you're at your own home? It's ridiculous," Princess Zhengguo said with a slight reproach. Then, she kindly gestured for Xin Zhuo to sit down. After some consideration, she said, "I invited you here for a reason. Aunt is someone who speaks her mind. If there's something, just say it. That person of yours... that Xin Si, who later changed his name to Xin Aotian, was actually a servant... a retainer under Aunt's command. During the chaos in the mansion back then, he took you away. Aunt is responsible for this matter and has caused you to suffer these years. Yuqi, you must not blame Aunt."

So that's what happened. In fact, Xin Zhuo had already let go of this matter. His grandfather's bones had rusted, and it didn't matter who was right or wrong. However, his thoughts suddenly stirred, and he pretended to be curious, "What exactly happened back then? Why would Xin... Si take me away? The Jiang family has many servants, and the rules are strict. Isn't it somewhat... unreasonable?"

"There's nothing to hide about this matter. You will know sooner or later..." Princess Zhengguo sighed, "Fourteen years ago, in the twelfth year of Tian Shou, the seven kingdoms of the Western Regions launched a massive invasion with an army of five hundred thousand. The Western Qin army was defeated three times, and within a month, they lost thirty-one cities!

The late emperor ordered the thirty-one legitimate heirs of the Jiang family's five marquisates and twenty-six direct descendants to go to war. As a result, the entire army was annihilated, and not a single person survived. The Western Qin border lost twenty-seven prefectures and two provinces.

When the news spread, the people in the capital were in panic. The Jiang family fell into chaos, and coincidentally, there was a rebellion by the bandits. They rampaged everywhere, killing and looting. Some of them took advantage of the chaos and broke into the Jiang family. Twelve legitimate male children of the Jiang family were beheaded. If it weren't for the old dowager and your mother, my sister Ji Jiuwei, being strong-willed and protecting Yu Gui, and even beheading seven rebel generals to stabilize the situation, I'm afraid... it was at that time that Xin Si took the opportunity to take you away. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had a chance."

As she said this, she looked at his expression and continued, "Later, the old dowager and your mother led a group of widows to go to war, and even Aunt personally killed one or two hundred people. In the end, they completely defeated the enemy forces in the Western Regions and regained the lost territories.

In short, you don't need to worry about this matter. The Jiang family is full of loyal and righteous people, and their reputation resounds throughout the eighteen provinces. Both the royal family and the court owe our family!"

Xin Zhuo nodded. That battle must have been the battle against the Kunxu demons. The entire Jiang family's army was annihilated. Sister Dajie in Wuzhu City said it was a trap. According to Princess Zhengguo's words, this matter was indeed somewhat suspicious!

Twelve legitimate male children of the Jiang family were killed, but there were no female children...

Princess Zhengguo had already pulled Jiang Yuqi over, "Come and greet your older brother!"

"Greetings, older brother. Yuqi pays her respects!" Jiang Yuqi blinked her big eyes like a fan and looked Xin Zhuo up and down. Suddenly, she said, "Older brother is the legitimate heir of the Jiang family. I'm afraid you will inherit the position of the marquis soon. In the future, as the head of the Jiang family, can you arrange a marriage for Yuqi? Yuqi likes Song Ruqing, the brother of the Song family!"

"Yuqi!" Princess Zhengguo said with indescribable embarrassment.

Xin Zhuo found it somewhat amusing. A woman's heart is unpredictable. He asked, "What is the background of the Song family? Tell me about it."

Jiang Yuqi tilted her head and said, "He is the son of the Right Deputy of the Ministry of Personnel. He is currently serving in the Sword-Bearing Division!"

His official position is not small, and it can be considered a good match. Xin Zhuo waved his hand, "Alright! When the time comes, I will test this person myself. I will definitely follow the instructions of our grandmother!"

Jiang Yuqi blinked her eyes, "Brother, you don't need to test him. Song Ruqing has a high level of martial arts and literary talent. You can't compare to him!"

Xin Zhuo: "..."

Based on what you just said, your marriage is off! Your older brother holds grudges.

Princess Zhengguo couldn't help but angrily scold, "Yuqi, you don't understand the rules!"

Jiang Yuqi stuck out her tongue and made a face at Xin Zhuo, "That's what I said. The prince can't do anything!"

Xin Zhuo looked at Princess Zhengguo and almost said, "Can I beat her up?"

"After your fourth uncle left, Auntie's discipline became lax, which made Princess Zheng Guozhang even more embarrassed."

"No worries, he's still young! Besides, that incident with Xin Si is over, so Auntie should just focus on peace of mind!"

The two of them chatted for a while longer, and then Xin Zhuo gestured to have some scriptures sent in the afternoon for Jiang Yuqi to copy ten times, as a sign of his deep love and care for his older brother. He then got up and bid farewell.

Just as they were leaving the courtyard, a steward hurriedly approached from a distance and bowed, saying, "Prince, the second young master requests your presence!"

Second young master? Jiang Yuguai?

In fact, Xin Zhuo was quite curious about this brother. It was said that this kid was only half a year younger than him, and he excelled in everything from eating, drinking, whoring, gambling, and playing. He was notorious in the capital as one of the infamous young ruffians.

But he was... a refined person!

Following the steward, they bypassed layer after layer of pavilions and finally arrived in front of the "Fengxing Courtyard."

The "Fengxing Courtyard" was also the residence of the Jiang family's legitimate son, and it differed from Xin Zhuo's "Fengwei Courtyard" by just one character. "Wei" seemed to carry an extra layer of meaning compared to "xing."

"Come closer, closer, good! Don't move!"

A shout came from the spacious and luxurious courtyard. They saw more than twenty servants in blue clothes pushing a large wooden ladder, on which sat a young man in brocade clothing. He had a square face, round eyes, and at first glance, he seemed quite serious, but upon closer inspection, he was full of cunning and slyness.

At the moment, he was building... a fake mountain? Or a jumble of stacked blocks.

Starting from the bottom with a wooden table, then chairs, rocks, water jars, screens, wooden boxes, they were stacked layer by layer without any support, leaning and tilting, yet still standing at a height of three zhang without falling.

"Second young master, be careful!"

A dozen or so maidservants nearby were extremely nervous, even though they clearly didn't have the ability to catch their own young master, they still extended their arms.

"Prince, please wait a moment!" The steward leading the way respectfully brought over a grand chair.

"No need!" Xin Zhuo waved his sleeve and sat down confidently, raising his head to once again observe the only third-generation male descendant of the Jiang family, apart from himself.

Fifth rank in martial arts, how should I put it, without such a family background, if he were born in an ordinary rural household, I'm afraid it would be difficult for him to find a wife.

"Change positions, add another table! It can still be stacked!"

Jiang Yuguai, sweating profusely, shouted and gestured for the servants to move the cart, struggling to lift a large table and place it on top of the "stacked blocks mountain."

Quite boring!

Xin Zhuo withdrew his gaze and looked at the worried servants of the Fengxing Courtyard not far away. He turned to the four women and said, "Look at their maidservants, and then look at you!"

Sai Qingzhu's mouth curled slightly, her eyes focused on her nose and her nose focused on her heart. Shanyao and Hongshu snorted and turned their heads away.

But Xiongzhang blinked his eyes and shook his pointed ears. "Prince, go up, we'll follow you!"

"That's not necessary!" Xin Zhuo calmly continued to observe.

After Jiang Yuguai had been busy for a while, he finally finished. He jumped down from the wooden ladder, looked at his masterpiece with satisfaction, and then remembered Xin Zhuo. He turned around without any courtesy and greeted him as if they were old friends, saying, "How is it?"

Xin Zhuo pretended to carefully appreciate it and said, "Impressive!"

"Impressive? Haha, that's a good word! My older brother is a refined person!"

Jiang Yuguai beckoned for his servants to bring over another chair and sat down next to Xin Zhuo. He also called for some snacks and casually picked up a piece of osmanthus pastry, shaking his head and speaking unclearly, "This skill, apart from me, there are few people in the entire capital who can do it. I plan to pass it on to future generations. What does my older brother think?"

"Well, I think it's a good idea!"

Xin Zhuo nodded and asked, "But are you sure... it's fun?"

"It's fun!" Jiang Yuguai blinked and handed over a piece of candy pastry. Seeing that Xin Zhuo didn't want it, he grinned and said, "Finding balance is not something ordinary fools can do. It requires both skill and intelligence. Does my older brother have intelligence?"

(End of this chapter)