Meanwhile, Fu Wenzheng also received some news.
Not only was Shi Qingluo not stripped naked and thrown on the street, she even told the local ruffians to report the case to the capital magistrate.
Fu Wenzheng was angry.
However, she did not take it to heart.
If this did not work out, she would let her servant girl handle it and wait for the limelight to fade before she deal with her.
Then, when she heard that Shi Qingluo and Xi Rong had entered the palace, she was a little confused.
However, she did not think that the emperor would punish her for the sake of a village woman since she was her daughter-in-law.
Wouldn’t that cause the royal family to be humiliated too?
However, she still called the servant girl who had gone to bribe the local ruffians over and also coerce her family members to back her up.
If the emperor really took action, she would volunteer her servant girl.
Anyway, it was true that she did not know about this.
Presumably, the emperor would not really pursue the matter further.
After the Fu family members found out about this, they did not think much about it.
The emperor was more concerned about his reputation.
He would not go so far as to punish his daughter-in-law for this.
Shi Qingluo thought too highly of herself.
She actually wanted to complain at the palace.
Although their daughter had gone a little overboard, Shi Qingluo was making too much of a fuss.
Nevertheless, nothing like this had happened before.
However, since there were already some tensions between them, they could not just wait for things to happen.
They still had to suppress Xiao Hanzheng so that he would not have an opportunity to stand out so much.
The third prince also found out about this and was a little disappointed with Fu Wenzheng.
Shi Qingluo had not provoked her back then, so how did she become so angered that she wanted to strip her naked and throw her out onto the street?
His eyes turned gloomy.
Was it because of his second brother again?
In the Xi family.
Today was a rest day for the officials.
Xi Xinheng and the others were playing Mahjong with Old Master Xi.
Recently, Old Master Xi had lost a lot of money playing Mahjong with his peers.
Hence today, he called his sons to join him.
Very soon, someone came to report what Shi Qingluo did.
Xi Rui was originally beside Old Master Xi was watching the stuns and coming up with various ideas.
When he heard the report, his face was full of anger.
“Fu Wenzheng really thinks she is that important. She actually bullied Qingluo.”
He even dared to burn the hair of the princess that others doted on.
Of course, he was not afraid of the third prince’s consort.
He didn’t want make things easy for the third prince, and he could go a step further if he wished to.
After all, he had a great-aunt who doted on him.
He stood up and said, “I want to enter the palace to see my great-aunt.”
He could not go directly to find trouble with Fu Wenzheng due to gender sensitivity.
However, he could go to the palace to complain and ask his great-aunt to teach Fu Wenzheng a lesson.
When Xi Xinheng saw that his son was about to rush out, his face darkened. “Stop.
“Who are you to address her as Fu Wenzheng? She is the third prince’s consort.”
Xi Rui said disdainfully, “So what if I did?”
Xi Xinheng sighed,his hand itched.
He said helplessly, “Don’t be so disrespectful outside and let others catch you.”
He was also extremely disgusted by the third imperial consort’s way of doing things.
“It seems that you also think that she went too far.”
Xi Rui said again, “So why are you still stopping me from entering the palace.”
Xi Xinheng raised his hand and rubbed his eyebrows. “It’s not that you’re not to go to the palace, but now is not the time.
“Since Shi Qingluo chose to go to the capital to report to the magistrate, she should have a backup plan. Let’s wait and see.”
Xi Rui then sat back down. “That’s right. Qingluo is so smart, and she’s not that big-hearted. She definitely won’t let this go just like that.”
Xi Xinheng sighed, are you complimenting or insulting your friend?
He raised his eyebrows. “You’re not big-hearted, but you still hang out with people like her?”
Xi Rui smiled proudly and said, “I don’t have a big heart either! We are just good at judging people, Okay? Of course we treat our friends well.”
Then he thought for a moment and got up. “No, I still have to go to the palace.”
Xi Xinheng’s face darkened. “You don’t understand what I’m saying, do you?”
Xi Rui said stiffly, “My friend is being bullied. Shouldn’t I go and help?”
Xi Xinheng had a headache. “I didn’t ask you not to help her. I asked you to check it out later.”
Xi Rui curled his lips. “Come on, you just want to see what Qingluo is going to do so that you can judge how much our family is worth.
“I don’t want to think about this. I only know that she is my friend. If she is bullied, so am I.”
He snorted. “So, I want to stand up for her. It’s that simple.”
Xi Xinheng was stunned by his son’s words.
He was also a little embarrassed that his son had exposed his thoughts.
After years of being enveloped in the imperial court filled with tactics and schemes, he could not help but think more about everything.
The first thing he thought subconsciously was the benefits and losses.
At this moment, Old Master Xi said, “Go, but don’t anger your great-aunt.”
Xi Rui chuckled. “Grandfather is the best. How can I anger my great-aunt?
“I don’t even have enough opportunities to cheer her up.
“I’m leaving!” Then, he immediately left.
Old Master Xi looked at his eldest son with a complicated expression and said, “He is helping his friend purely out of good intentions. Let him keep it up.”
He then added meaningfully, “There’s a difference between lending a helping hand to someone in need and adding icing to the cake.”
Xiao Hanzheng and Shi Qingluo were his grandson’s friends, so there was no need for them to manage this situation like how they did in court.
Xi Xinheng thought for a moment and laughed. “Father is right. I was wrong.”
On second thought, his youngest son was doing quite well.
In the Liang family.
Liang Youxiao was also playing Mahjong with Old Master Liang.
The old man had been addicted to Mahjong recently.
If he didn’t go out to play, he would ask his son and grandson to accompany him.
He heard someone report this matter.
Liang Youxiao finished playing the card in his hand. “Grandfather, I still have something to do.”
Liang Mingcheng didn’t play Mahjong.
He didn’t like it.
However, he deliberately came here to accompany the old master. He sat at the side and watched while drinking tea.
He frowned and looked at his son. “What do you want?”
Liang Youxiao replied straightforwardly, “Of course, I’m going to look for trouble.”
“The third imperial consort thinks too highly of herself.”
It had to be said that since he and Xi Rui could become brothers, they share similar thoughts in many occasions.
Liang Mingcheng’s face instantly darkened. “Can you say that? Where is your dignity?”
Although the third imperial consort’s actions were indeed despicable, his son was too bold.
Liang Youxiao curled his lips. “I’ll just talk about it at home. What’s there to be afraid of?”
“Father, you’re really getting more and more timid now.”
Liang Mingcheng sighed,he wanted to beat him up.
With a darkened face, he asked, “What can you do? Don’t tell me you want to foolishly go to the third prince’s residence to pick a fight?”
Liang Youxiao raised his eyebrows. “I’m indeed not that stupid.
“But since she’s so vicious in her schemes to bully my friend, I have to pay it forward in disgust as well.
“I will create problems for the shops she owned and ruin her reputation in the capital.”
He could using any of the things that Fu Wenzheng had done against her.
In the past, no one went to find trouble with her as the males in the Fu family doted on her.
He was unafraid of the Fu family and the third prince.
That woman wanted to ruin Qingluo’s reputation, so he would make his first move.
Liang Mingcheng pointed at him. “Unfilial son, let’s see what you can do.
“No matter what, the third prince’s wife is still the daughter-in-law of the royals. If you go and ruin her reputation, isn’t that the same as ruining the royal family’s reputation?”
