The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1117 - 1117 542 Reward (first update)

Chapter 1117: 542 Reward (first update) Chapter 1117: 542 Reward (first update) As it turned out, Xiaoba was still too naive to contend with a bad brother-in-law.

Xiao Hen was just teasing him. Having picked the flower, wouldn’t throwing it away be a waste?

Xiao Hen then picked the flower back up and handed it to him, saying, “Here, I was just teasing you, it’s not poisonous.”

Xiaoba looked at the little flower with suspicion and did not reach out to take it.

The credibility of the bad brother-in-law was already gone; Xiaoba no longer believed what he said.

Thus, Xiao Hen held onto the flower for him, to prevent the kid from wreaking havoc on other flowers.

All the way, Xiaoba observed the bad brother-in-law, now glancing at his hand holding the flower, then at his face.

“Why do you keep looking at me?” Xiao Hen asked.

“I’m checking to see if your brows turn dark,” Xiaoba said honestly.

Xiao Hen: “…”

It wasn’t until they entered Renshou Palace that Xiaoba, seeing no signs of poisoning in the bad brother-in-law, finally took the flower back.

Now that Xiao Hen was serving both in the Hanlin Academy and the Ministry of Justice, more eyes were on him. He could no longer visit Renshou Palace as capriciously as before; it was only under the pretext of escorting Xiaoba that he could avoid giving others something to criticize.

Despite claiming he didn’t want to enter the Imperial Palace, once inside, Xiaoba was quite happy to frolic around.

“Hello, Sister Feicui!”

“Hello, Sister Zhenzhu!”

After greeting each palace maid in Renshou Palace, he went to find his granny.

The Empress Dowager’s condition was not good. Perhaps too heartbroken over Princess Ning An and her son, she looked somewhat haggard, especially after each visit from Huangfu Xian, she would be lost in thought for a long time.

Today at noon, Huangfu Xian had just visited, had some food, and then left.

The Empress Dowager sat by the window in a daze, looking at the scenery in the courtyard, when suddenly a small round head popped up from below the windowsill.

“Granny!”

The Empress Dowager’s eyelids twitched abruptly: “Why is it you again?”

Standing on tiptoe, Xiaoba handed the flower through the window from outside, “A beautiful flower for my beautiful granny!”

The corner of the Empress Dowager’s mouth twitched.

You could at least have come up with a different excuse instead of being so perfunctory.

Dispassionately, the Empress Dowager took the Peony Flower, asking, “Did you cause trouble with Princess Xinyang’s flowers again?”

Xiaoba placed his little hands behind his back and seriously said, “I took it from my brother-in-law’s hand!”

He wasn’t lying; he had indeed taken it from the bad brother-in-law’s hand just now!

Though, in truth, he had picked it himself.

Didn’t the Empress Dowager understand him?

The Empress Dowager snorted and looked at the dazzling Peony Flower, “Why the sudden kindness? What made you think of bringing me a flower?”

Xiaoba sighed, “Ah, not really, it was the bad brother-in-law who said the flower was poisonous, so I couldn’t give it to Jiaojiao.”

The Empress Dowager: “…”

After entering Renshou Palace, Xiao Hen didn’t rush to find his granny but went first to see Eunuch Qin.

“The Empress Dowager’s condition, ah…” Upon hearing Xiao Hen inquire about the Empress Dowager, Eunuch Qin didn’t conceal anything, “To tell you the truth, it’s not good. Princess Ning An had such a hard time at the border that her return deeply tormented people… The one who is most distressed is Young Master Xianxian… To suffer such an ordeal at a young age… The more wayward he becomes, the more it grieves the Empress Dowager…”

Huangfu Xian, after moving into the Imperial Palace, caused quite a few disturbances. On his first day, he bullied Qin Chuyu, and not long after, he managed to scare two little Princesses whom Consort Zhuang kept in the palace. Not greeting the Empress or Consorts or showing them a displeased look was considered minor.

The key point was that whenever someone complained to His Majesty, he would deny it!

“How can such a good child turn out like this?” The fault of the son lies in the father. In Eunuch Qin’s view, Huangfu Zheng truly deserved to die, “This child’s cunning.. ahem ahem.”

Realizing he was about to speak out of turn, Eunuch Qin decisively stopped himself.

Xiao Hen acted as if he hadn’t heard the last sentence, “Then I’ll go see the Empress Dowager.”

When Xiao Hen came to the outer area of the Empress Dowager’s study room, he patted Xiaoba on the shoulder, “Go play. I’m going to talk to granny for a while.”

“Okay, I’m leaving now, granny!” Xiaoba waved his little hand and turned to go out.

Xiao Hen stayed in the study room to talk with the Empress Dowager, while Xiaoba went to Kunning Palace to find Qin Chuyu.

Considering last time’s lesson, they did not head towards Bixia Hall this time.

“Let’s go feed the fish!” Xiaoba suggested.

There is a Taiye Pool in the Imperial Palace, where numerous koi fish are kept, each one plump and adorable to look at.

But Qin Chuyu’s mood was not as cheerful.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy?” Xiaoba asked in concern.

Walking along the flower-lined path, Qin Chuyu sighed, “My little dog is gone.”

“Why is it gone?” Xiaoba was puzzled.

Qin Chuyu sadly explained, “Mother said it was because last time it ran around and caused me to bump into Huangfu Xian and was bullied by him, so now she won’t let me keep it anymore.”

Xiaoba thought about his family’s number one to number nine: “Actually, my chickens and birds also cause trouble. Didn’t Xiaojiu almost peck you last time?”

But Jiaojiao didn’t forbid him from keeping them.

Jiaojiao is really nice.

Qin Chuyu felt really pitiful.

He comforted Qin Chuyu, “If you like puppies, you can come to my house next time, and I’ll lend you Brother Yan’s Xiaoba to play with.”

“I just want my dog,” Qin Chuyu said sullenly.

“Huh? Listen!” Xiaoba suddenly pulled him to a stop.

“Listen to what?” Qin Chuyu asked strangely.

“Your dog!” Xiaoba crisply said.

Qin Chuyu looked around: “Where is it?”

“I heard it!” Xiaoba pointed, “Over there!”

The two children ran in the direction Xiaoba pointed, and behind a rockery, they indeed saw Qin Chuyu’s dog, although the scene was not as they had imagined.

Huangfu Xian was also here!

Huangfu Xian sat alone in the cold wheelchair. There were no servants by his side, and as usual, a thick blanket was covering his legs, with Qin Chuyu’s dog lying on it.

It was covered in blood, evidently having been either thrown or abused by someone.

Huangfu Xian had one hand around its neck while with the other he was forcefully pouring something into its mouth.

The puppy let out pained whimpers, but Huangfu Xian showed no mercy as he forcefully pried open the puppy’s mouth.

His expression was full of ferocity.

In that instant, he was no longer a young man with a disability, but a devil twisted to the extreme.

Qin Chuyu had never seen such a terrifying person. He was so scared that he fell on his butt on the ground, forgetting even to scream.

Xiaoba was also shocked, his eyes wide as he looked towards the person and dog in the wheelchair.

Huangfu Xian noticed the movement on the side. He slowly turned his head, revealing a pair of sinister eyes.

“Ah—”

The hairs on Qin Chuyu’s body stood on end, and he finally let out a scream.

Such a small child really couldn’t bear such a horrifying shock. Qin Chuyu shook like a leaf, almost crawling and rolling as he ran forward, “Help—Help—Someone is killing a puppy—”

He ran away.

Xiaoba didn’t run.

A flicker of faint surprise crossed Huangfu Xian’s sinister eyes, and he asked mockingly, “Aren’t you running, little thing?”

Xiaoba looked at him and then at the dying puppy on his leg. Whether he hesitated for a moment or what, in the end, he turned and ran off with a patter!

“Heh.”

A disdainful cold chuckle escaped from Huangfu Xian’s lips.

As the imperial court session was approaching, the Emperor summoned the cabinet ministers and the military ministers to the Imperial Study Room to discuss the matter of rewarding the frontier heroes.

Tang Yueshan was already the Grand Marshal of all the armed forces; he could no longer be promoted in rank, so the Emperor planned to bestow upon him a noble title.

As the heir to the Marquis Residence tasked with the emergency command to reorganize the Gu Family army and march north to face the enemy, Gu Changqing’s contribution was undeniable. The Emperor planned to promote him to the rank of a Third-rank General in charge of defending the North.

This was a promotion from a Sixth-rank commandant to a Third-rank in one go, regarded as the fastest promotion under this emperor’s reign.

Gu Chengfeng performed brilliantly in the battle at Yuegu City. The Emperor decided to appoint him as a Cavalry Commandant.

Other military generals also each received their rewards from the Emperor.

The ministers basically had no objections.

Everything in the Imperial Study Room was harmonious up to this point, and then the Emperor began to reward Gu Jiao and Princess Ning An and her child.

Gu Jiao up till now had not acknowledged her status as the daughter of the Marquis Residence; therefore, the Emperor planned to bestow the reward directly in the name of the owner of the Divine Healing Hall.

The Emperor granted her the Plaque of the Premier Physician and conferred upon her the title of princess, with the title to be drafted by the Hanlin Academy.

At this point, cabinet member Xu Cifu spoke, “Madam Gu is just a medicinal girl. Even though she has merit in treating the military officers, the title of princess might be too much for her to bear, wouldn’t it?”

Xu Cifu was a supporter of Grand Tutor Zhuang.

Grand Tutor Zhuang claimed to be sick today and did not come.

The Emperor looked at Xu Cifu displeased, “Why couldn’t she bear the title? Do you know how many people she saved?”

“This servant does not deny Madam Gu’s achievements. I just think Your Majesty could grant her some other reward. The Plaque of the Premier Physician is already a generous reward from Your Majesty. If further granted the title of a princess, it might indeed be against the traditional practice,” Xu Cifu said, with a bow.

He continued, “Moreover, compared to Madam Gu, this servant believes another person deserves the reward even more.”

The Emperor said indifferently, “Oh? Whom do you refer to?”

Xu Cifu said earnestly, “Princess Ning An. Princess Ning An nobly sacrificed her own kin to help the second young master of the Gu Family rescue the old Marquis, and assisted the heir of the Gu Family in rooting out the remaining enemies of the previous dynasty. If not for Princess Ning An’s intelligence and bravery, the commander of the Gu Family’s army might not have made it out of the snow-capped mountains. Princess Ning An’s contribution is immense; I propose that she be conferred the title of Princess Protector of the Nation!”

Being conferred the title of an Imperial Princess in Zhan Country was not something to be taken lightly—it was a princess with actual authority, on par with the feudal princes!