Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress
Chapter 368 - 365: Sympathy for the Suffering_1

Chapter 368: Chapter 365: Sympathy for the Suffering_1

Thus, the Princess of Zhen broke the legs of the Left Prime Minister’s son and threw him in front of the Prime Minister’s carriage.

The common people praised this act, remembering how the Princess of Zhen once beat up a Bai family member who bullied them on the main street, and punished the Fourth Young Lady of the Bai family, Bai Jinzhi, for whipping a rogue who caused trouble at the Bai Mansion.

They could not help but sigh at the Bai family’s genuine love for the people of Dadu City, treating them as their own flesh and blood.

The Left Prime Minister allowed his son to bully the civilians, and the Official Government did not dare to interfere, but the Princess of Zhen did.

Li Mao, the Left Prime Minister, wept bitterly before the Emperor, admitting that after covering up his son’s crime, he was tormented by his conscience daily and felt deeply ashamed of betraying the Emperor’s trust. Now that the Princess of Zhen had uncovered the truth, he felt relieved yet utterly ashamed and came to ask the Emperor to punish him.

The Emperor trusted Li Mao and was angry but somehow also felt a sense of empathy for him.

When Li Mao’s son was targeted by Bai Qingyan, Bai broke his legs.

When the Emperor’s own son was targeted by Bai Qingyan, she forced the Emperor to demote his legitimate son, King Xin, to a commoner and exile him to Yongzhou.

But, even in an ordinary family, if there are many children, there will be one or two unworthy descendants. Which father does not clean up his son’s mess?

Should everyone be like the Duke of Zhen’s family, punishing their children righteously when they make mistakes?

In Dadu City, how many noble officials clean up the messes for their children? Isn’t Prime Minister Lu always cleaning up after his mischievous grandson?

It could only be said that Li Mao was unlucky to be targeted by Bai Qingyan. It was also his own fault for not cleaning up his son’s mess, leaving room for Bai Qingyan to catch him.

But as the Emperor, he could not say this to Li Mao.

"Forget it..." The Emperor looked at the weeping Li Mao kneeling on the ground and said, "You were just too protective of your son. Let him heal first. Though he did not personally kill anyone, he forcibly defiled someone’s wife. According to the law, he should either be exiled to the frontier for 20 years of hard labor or have his legs broken. Since the Princess of Zhen has already done so, let it be. You failed to discipline your son, so I will deduct six months of your salary. After returning, you should send someone to compensate the victim’s family. This matter is settled."

The Emperor thought of Bai Qingyan, who gave him a headache, and closed his eyes, saying, "As for the Princess of Zhen, you don’t need to worry. Go..."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Li Mao looked up in tears, gratefully at the Emperor, and kowtowed heavily. "This humble servant cannot ease Your Majesty’s worries and instead troubles you. I deserve to die! Your Majesty’s kindness towards this sinner, even if I were to be ground to dust, would be hard to repay. This humble servant will surely repay Your Majesty with my life."

"Enough! Stop with the flattery, go!" The Emperor, leaning on the golden dragon pillow, waved his hand at Li Mao.

Li Mao respectfully stood up and retreated from the hall, only standing straight when he saw the flagstone floor outside covered in sunlight.

He let out a long breath. Though he was penalized six months’ salary, as long as the Emperor still trusted him, it was enough.

Li Mao clenched his fists and walked towards the palace gates. To him, nothing mattered more than the Emperor’s trust and the future Emperor’s trust.

The biggest difference between him and Bai Weiting was that Bai Weiting had high morals and was highly regarded among the people, seeking to live with a clear conscience.

Whereas he did not care how the people viewed him, nor did he care about a clear conscience. He only cared about the Emperor’s view of him.

As long as those truths were buried or never seen by the Emperor, he feared nothing.

After Li Mao left, the Emperor called for the Crown Prince, asking him to tell Bai Qingyan that he was aware of what happened to Li Mingtang. Since Bai Qingyan had already broken Li Mingtang’s legs and he had docked Li Mao’s salary for six months, the matter was settled.

The Emperor also instructed the Crown Prince to personally deliver rewards to the Princess of Zhen’s Mansion. Regardless of private views on Bai Qingyan, publicly, the Emperor needed to show the people his approval of the Princess of Zhen’s protection of them.

The Crown Prince, shocked by the news, did not expect Bai Qingyan to be so resolute, directly breaking Li Mao’s son’s legs without hesitation.

Qin Shangzhi was also puzzled by Bai Qingyan’s true intentions, even feeling worried for her. After all, the Left Prime Minister Li Mao was not someone to be trifled with.

Who knew that in the end, Li Mao would go to the palace to admit his guilt while the people praised the Bai family’s love for the people.

It became such a mess that even Qin Shangzhi’s mind was muddled.

Could the Left Prime Minister be so easily defeated, frightened by the Princess of Zhen?

Qin Shangzhi squinted his eyes, wondering if Li Mao had something grasped by the Princess of Zhen, forcing him to act this way.

But Qin Shangzhi did not voice this suspicion to the Crown Prince, as it concerned his benefactor Bai Qingyan, and he could not speak lightly.

The sky grew dim. The long street lined with shops had already lit their lanterns inside the taverns and tea houses, though the lanterns under the blue-tile eaves swayed but were not yet lit.

The setting sun’s bright afterglow dazzled, casting half of Dadu City in golden light.

The Crown Prince, carrying the Emperor’s words of praise and rewards, personally arrived at the gate of the Princess of Zhen’s Mansion.

Even the Emperor praised the Princess of Zhen. Who in Dadu City would dare to call her arrogant?

In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the western sky had only a faint remnant of darkening twilight, and the Crown Prince stepped out of the Princess of Zhen’s Mansion.

Mrs. Dong led the entire family to see him off at the gate, saluting and bidding farewell to the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince smiled and said, "Commandery Princess, may I have a word?"

Now, the Crown Prince treated Bai Qingyan as one of his own, inevitably giving her some advice.

Bai Qingyan agreed to escort the Crown Prince to his carriage and heard the Crown Prince say, "Commandery Princess, in the future, you should act cautiously. You can’t always resort to battlefield methods, hurting people at every turn. You could have let me handle this matter. Why offend the Left Prime Minister? He is not a broad-minded person!"

Bai Qingyan quickly saluted the Crown Prince, "Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness. The Emperor is ill, and you handle state affairs with great effort. How could I trouble you with such a trivial matter?"

"And although the Left Prime Minister is not broad-minded, Li Mingtang was at fault first. I fear that if this matter were resolved privately, with the Left Prime Minister as a precedent, future officials in Dadu City would follow suit. If this trend spreads across the royal court, when Your Highness inherits the throne... wouldn’t it leave trouble for you?"

Hearing this, the Crown Prince felt extremely gratified, realizing Bai Qingyan took such drastic measures against the Left Prime Minister to protect him.

The Crown Prince nodded, his voice growing softer, "While that is true, still..."

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