After spending a few days enjoying herself out on the town and successfully extending her lifespan to a month, Ye Qiong returned to the manor feeling quite satisfied.
The moment she stepped through the gates, Eunuch Fu, who had been waiting for her, caught her and dragged her back to the palace. However, it wasn't the Empress Dowager who wanted her this time, but the Emperor himself.
When Ye Qiong arrived at the imperial study, she saw her father, who was supposed to be locked up in the Imperial Clan Court. With a series of frantic looks, Prince Duan signaled to his daughter.
'Daughter, are you in trouble?'
Ye Qiong shook her head and signaled back with a look of her own.
'Dad, are you the one in trouble?'
Prince Duan shook his head. 'Then why did your Imperial Uncle call us both here?'
'Maybe he thinks we've been behaving well lately and wants to lift our house arrest,' Ye Qiong suggested.
Prince Duan thought his daughter's logic was perfectly sound, and with a newfound confidence, he straightened his back.
With their heads bowed, the Emperor watched the pair kneeling below as they exchanged silent glances without a hint of remorse. He thought of the mountain of petitions on his desk accusing Prince Duan's Manor of misconduct, and his mother, who was so angry at these two idiots that she had locked herself in her private shrine to chant sutras. A surge of fury rushed to his head, and he slammed his hand down on the dragon desk.
"You absolute fools!"
"Kneel properly!"
With a synchronized shudder, the father and daughter immediately straightened their posture and knelt as stiffly as boards.
With gritted teeth, the Emperor spoke. "A Prince and a Princess—the two of you have completely humiliated the imperial family."
The pair looked up at the same time, their faces full of confusion.
With an expression full of grievance, Prince Duan said, "Imperial Brother, I've been stuck in the Imperial Clan Court these past few days. I haven't gone anywhere."
"He's right, Imperial Uncle! I've been staying in my room copying Lessons for Women!" Ye Qiong chimed in to show her cooperation. Even though she had climbed over the walls to sneak out several times during her house arrest, she had avoided everyone in the manor. She always made sure to show up on time for meals, so no one had noticed her absences.
The Emperor looked at the two idiots and their innocent expressions, and he felt his temples throbbing with pain. He turned to the eunuch standing nearby. "Fu Hai!"
"This old servant is here," Eunuch Fu replied immediately.
"Tell these two fools exactly what has been happening in the Capital lately."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Eunuch Fu cleared his throat and slowly explained the situation to the two masters of Prince Duan's Manor. "A few days ago, the madam of the Spring Breeze Pavilion sent a bill to Prince Duan's Manor. As it happened, the Prince was in the Imperial Clan Court at the time. The manor's steward saw the staggering amount on the bill and couldn't make a decision, so he had no choice but to send the bill to the palace."
He paused and stole a glance at the Emperor's darkening face, and his voice dropped a few decibels. "When the Empress Dowager saw the bill, she discovered that Prince Duan had actually purchased the entire brothel."
When Prince Duan heard this, several metaphorical question marks popped up over his head. When did that happen? Was it possible he got drunk and was tricked into buying a brothel?
Eunuch Fu continued, though his tone now carried a hint of indignation. "Then, just yesterday in the streets of the Capital, Prince Duan kidnapped a man in broad daylight and dragged him back to the manor."
"What!" Prince Duan jumped up. "Imperial Brother, this is a blatant slander! Someone is definitely out there ruining my reputation! I didn't take a single step out of the Imperial Clan Court yesterday! And I definitely didn't buy the Spring Breeze Pavilion! You must investigate this, Imperial Brother! Someone is clearly trying to frame your younger brother!"
In his agitation, Prince Duan looked like he was about to collapse at his brother's feet and wail. He had already spent several miserable days in the Imperial Clan Court, and now he was being framed. He felt incredibly wronged.
With a look of pity, Eunuch Fu glanced at Prince Duan before explaining, "The Spring Breeze Pavilion was purchased by the Princess using the Prince's name. When the man was snatched off the street, she was also shouting the Prince's name."
"Now the rumors are everywhere," Eunuch Fu added. "People are saying the Prince doesn't just like women, but has developed a certain... unspeakable preference for men as well."
Prince Duan, who had been pacing the study and shouting about being framed by villains, felt like he had been struck by lightning. He slowly turned his head toward his daughter, who was currently huddling on the floor and trying her best to disappear.
Sensing her father's murderous gaze, Ye Qiong slowly lifted her head and offered a very shy smile. "Dad, listen, I can explain."
Prince Duan glared at her with gritted teeth. "Fine. Explain!" He wanted to see how this traitorous daughter of his was going to talk her way out of this.
Ye Qiong's knees were starting to hurt, so she simply sat cross-legged on the floor. "Father, I originally wanted to invite the top courtesan back to the manor to help me copy Lessons for Women. But the madam at the Spring Breeze Pavilion refused to let her go. She kept talking about the rules of the establishment and how their girls—especially Lady Liu—never do house calls. Well, rules are fixed but people are flexible, right? I had no other choice, so I just bought the whole Spring Breeze Pavilion."
"Then why did you use my name!"
"I didn't have that much money, so I had to put it on your tab."
"And what about kidnapping a man in the street?"
"I was playing the hero and saving a beauty."
Ye Qiong felt she was the victim here. After buying the brothel yesterday and seeing her lifespan increase by ten days, she had been heading home in high spirits. But then, on a crowded street, she had accidentally bumped right into a man. When their eyes met, she just knew—it was fate.
Sure enough, a name appeared on her floating screen: [A Nu].
At first, she wasn't sure if the man she bumped into was actually named A Nu. But then a group of people came chasing after him, shouting, "A Nu, you stop right there!"
Ye Qiong recognized them as people from the Gu family. Then she remembered the Empress Dowager's warning from a few days ago: 'If I hear about you causing trouble and ruining your reputation again, I'll send you to the Imperial Clan Court to keep your father company!'
With a sudden jolt of fear, Ye Qiong had started shouting her father's name at the top of her lungs while throwing the man over her shoulder and sprinting for home. Luckily, she always dressed in men's clothing and wore a servant's outfit when she snuck out so no one would recognize her.
"But why did you have to use my name to kidnap a man!" Prince Duan was fuming. He might be a bit of a rogue, but he never messed around with women, let alone men. His usual mischief involved getting drunk on fine wine or going to the gambling dens to watch cricket fights. At his worst, he might get annoyed by the censors and go to their houses to act like a drunken madman.
"I couldn't use my own name!" Ye Qiong argued. "I'm a girl! If people found out I was kidnapping men in the street, my reputation would be ruined!"
"So my reputation isn't important?"
"Dad, your reputation has been trash for years. One or two more scandals won't make a difference. I'm still young and have a bright future ahead of me! I can't let it be ruined!"
"You ungrateful girl! Your future is important, but mine isn't?"
"Dad, what 'future' do you even have?"
"My future is Prince Duan's Manor!"
"But Prince Duan's Manor is going to be mine eventually anyway!"
"..."
"..."
With a dark expression, the Emperor sat on his dragon throne and watched the two fools bicker. They went from arguing about their reputations to their futures, then to their inheritance, and finally, they both decided to sever their father-daughter relationship. They even demanded the Emperor issue a decree immediately, declaring that they should never speak to each other again for the rest of their lives.
The Emperor felt a strong urge to strangle them both.