jdhmnovel Chapter 161 Confrontation
Chapter 161 Confrontation
Sigh, if only Prince Duan were here. These three mischievous monkeys are not only afraid of the Emperor, but also terrified of Prince Duan. It's a pity that it's not easy for Prince Duan to come these days; otherwise, those three definitely wouldn't dare to cause too much trouble.
On the afternoon of the day the imperial plaque was hung up, the Prime Minister's child was forced to kneel at the gate of the academy as punishment.
The headmaster said sternly, "Kneel properly for two hours before you are allowed to stand up! You must kneel properly and not be perfunctory, otherwise it will be a great disrespect to His Majesty, which is punishable by death!"
The words "beheading" were like a curse, making the three of them tremble with fear.
Anyone who isn't a fool is unafraid of the emperor. Even a three-year-old knows that the emperor has the power of life and death; whoever he dislikes or doesn't want to live, will lose their head!
These three children were all from the preliminary imperial examination class. The oldest was only twelve years old, the youngest was ten, and the middle one was eleven. The eldest and the youngest were the grandsons of the Prime Minister, named Xie Yuan and Xie Jin, and the youngest was named Pan Yu.
The Xie family specially built a two-courtyard house in Wuliping and arranged for a servant to come and take care of the three children's daily life.
This is a family of seven: a middle-aged couple in their forties, three sons, and a daughter. The eldest son is twenty years old and just got married last year; they don't have children yet. The second son is fifteen, the third son is twelve, and the youngest daughter is eight. The second son, named Tusheng, is the shared page of the three young masters.
The three children were forced to kneel as punishment. Tusheng turned pale with fright and ran home as fast as he could to report to his father: "Father, the young masters have been forced to kneel at the gate of the academy. The headmaster said they have to kneel for two hours. And this time, they won't let it go so easily. I wonder how they will be punished!"
Upon hearing this, Tu Sheng's father was immediately alarmed and hurriedly said, "I'll go back to the capital to find the master right away. You must take good care of the young master and wait for me to return!"
Tusheng quickly said, "Father, are you going back to the capital at breakneck speed again? Why don't you let my eldest brother go instead? I'm getting old! It's several hundred miles from here to the capital!"
Tusheng's father said, "No, your eldest brother's horsemanship isn't as good as your father's, and I don't trust him to go! Don't worry about me, you and your eldest brother take good care of the three young masters and wait for me to come back!"
Tusheng: "Then, Father, please be careful on your journey!"
After seeing his father off, Tusheng ran back to the academy's main gate and stood far away behind a century-old elm tree, secretly watching the three young masters being punished by kneeling. He couldn't go forward; if the young masters saw him, they would feel ashamed in front of him and who knew how angry they would be. If the young masters got angry and gave him a beating and scolding, the headmaster might punish them by making them kneel for even longer. In that case, the young masters would suffer even more, and he would be unlucky too.
Time ticked by, and Tu Sheng remained hidden behind a large tree, too afraid to move. Half an hour passed, and Xie Jin was the first to give in and fainted.
Xie Yuan and Pan Yu shouted shrilly, "Something terrible has happened! Someone's going to die!"
Tu Sheng was immediately shocked and rushed over, shouting, "Headmaster, my young master has fainted! Someone come quick!"
The headmaster, accompanied by several teachers and students, slowly walked out: "What are you shouting for? So you just fainted? Useless thing, you only knelt for a short time and you fainted! So useless, instead of hiding it, you dare to shout it out, what a disgrace!"
Tu Sheng was dumbfounded, as was Xie Jin, who was pretending to faint. Xie Yuan and Pan Yu, who hadn't fainted, all lowered their heads, feeling ashamed for the first time. They were usually mischievous and took pride in their playfulness, and they truly felt deeply ashamed of what the headmaster had mocked them for fainting after kneeling for so short a time.
Yes, they were fearless, yet they were afraid of such a small punishment as kneeling. Xie Jin was afraid of hardship and fatigue, and unwilling to kneel for the full two hours, so he pretended to faint, which aroused the suspicion of the two men.
Headmaster: "Bring a bucket of cold water to splash him awake, or bring a long needle to prick him awake!"
Xie Jin, who was pretending to be unconscious, shuddered and quickly put on the appearance of being awake, but still lay on the ground, looking very weak.
The headmaster snorted coldly: "Kneel properly! Don't even think about having lunch until you've knelt for two full hours today!"
Xie Jin pleaded weakly, "Headmaster, I'm dizzy!"
Headmaster: "You may kneel for two hours or receive twenty slaps on the hand. Choose one!"
Xie Jin was speechless. He obediently knelt up straight and muttered softly, "Then I'd better kneel. It must hurt so much to get my hands slapped!"
The headmaster turned around and sneered, "You dare to cheat under the imperial plaque? If this happens again, you'll get thirty lashes and be sent to jail. I won't let you off lightly!"
"We won't dare again!" the three of them quickly promised in unison.
No matter how mischievous or unruly the three children were, they knew that the Emperor's face could not be offended. If today's events were to reach the Emperor's ears, their grandfathers would undoubtedly be reprimanded. If their elders were reprimanded, the three children would certainly not fare well and would inevitably be punished by their elders.
Although my grandfather (maternal grandfather) rarely got angry, when he did, he showed no mercy when he struck with the cane. Ten strokes of the cane would leave one unable to walk for ten days. Remembering the pain of the caning, the three of them knelt obediently for two full hours without supervision before daring to rise.
The Prime Minister has a very prestigious name, Xie Gongming.
When Tu Sheng's father returned to the Prime Minister's residence in the capital, the Prime Minister was not yet home. He went to see the Prime Minister's wife first: "Madam, the young masters have been punished by being made to kneel at the entrance of the academy. I heard they have to kneel for two hours. Moreover, if they don't behave well after kneeling, there will be other punishments! How can this be allowed? The sun is blazing hot today, how can the young masters endure it!"
"What? You have to kneel for two hours? Is there anyone watching you kneel?" The Prime Minister's wife was heartbroken when she heard this.
Native father: "It seems like no one is watching over it."
Madam: "Oh dear, you stubborn fool! Since there's no one watching them and it's right at the academy gate, why don't you let the young masters take a break and hide in the shade of the trees?"
Tusheng's father: "Oh dear, Madam, that's an imperial plaque! The young masters are kneeling on an imperial plaque! How can we fake it? If word gets out, it will have a bad influence on the adults!"
Madam: "What? You're kneeling on an imperial plaque?" Oh dear, this is troublesome! Kneeling on an imperial plaque can't be faked! Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel extremely distressed: "Oh, my little grandson! How could that headmaster be so heartless? He's such a young child, and he has the heart to punish him by making him kneel. Kneeling is one thing, half an hour at most, why punish him so severely! That heartless scoundrel, how vicious his heart is!"
The native father couldn't help but feel annoyed.
To be honest, his young master was indeed quite mischievous; calling the three of them the "three rotten apples" of Wuliping Academy wouldn't be an exaggeration. He actually approved of the academy punishing the young master by making him kneel before the imperial plaque, but the time was too long. He worried that the young master wouldn't be able to endure it, and if anything happened to them, he wouldn't be able to explain it to his masters. Moreover, once punished, twice; this time it was two hours, but next time it might be even more severe. Otherwise, he wouldn't have traveled all the way back to the capital to report to his masters.
Just then, Xie Gongming returned. As soon as his wife saw him, she rushed over and cried, "Oh my, my lord, you're finally back! Quickly send someone to Wuliping to bring the children back. We'll find another academy!"
Xie Gongming couldn't help but frown: "What's going on? Why bring them back?!" You see, he had risked his reputation to ask the Emperor and Prince Duan to intercede in order to get the three children into Wuliping Academy. Only then did Prince Duan have no choice but to make an exception and take those three brats in.
Madam: "My lord, that headmaster of Wuliping is so vicious! In this scorching sun, he actually forced the children to kneel at the entrance of the academy. And to make them kneel for two hours straight is unacceptable. Isn't he deliberately trying to antagonize the Xie family? If we don't bring the children back soon, they'll die!"
"What nonsense are you spouting! You're just a woman with long hair and short brains! Those three children are so naughty and mischievous. If they're not properly disciplined, they'll be three menaces when they grow up!"
Xie Gongming waved his hand impatiently and glared at Tusheng's father: "You rushed back for such a small matter, showing no sense of responsibility at all! Kneeling is punishment, it's only for two hours, will it kill someone? Those three rascals, if we don't teach them a lesson, they'll probably tear the roof off the academy! In the future, you don't need to report such things! I sent them to Wuliping Academy to toughen them up and let them suffer!"
He glared at his wife with dissatisfaction: "Originally, I planned to let the three of them live at the school, but you absolutely refused and insisted on building a house in Wuliping and sending people to serve them! I've decided that from now on, they will live at the school! The pageboys are not allowed to come to the academy to serve them either!"
Madam: "Oh dear, sir, how can this be?" You see, they have always lived a life of "being waited on hand and foot." If they go to the academy to stay, and there isn't even a page, who will serve them when they get dressed and wash up?
Xie Gongming: "Why not? That's how it is, I'm in charge!" He then said to Tusheng's father: "Listen carefully, they must not be brought back to the house until the day off! I will write a letter of divorce to the headmaster and ask him to discipline the three brats properly. They are not allowed to step out of the academy until the day off!"
The lady cried out, "Oh dear, sir, how could you be so heartless?" As she spoke, she burst into tears.
Upon hearing the news, the eldest son Xie Jue and the second son Xie Feng both came over with their wives. The wife then cried to her sons, "Eldest son, second son, your father is so cruel! He wants to send Yuan-ge'er, Jin-ge'er, and Yu-ge'er to the academy for boarding, and he won't even allow them to bring their servants! Oh dear, isn't this going to kill me? And today, the three children were even punished by kneeling for two hours. Oh dear, it breaks my heart!"
Xie Yuan is Xie Jue's eldest son; Xie Jin is Xie Feng's eldest son.
The second young mistress couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Oh dear, two hours of kneeling as punishment? How can this be? Was this Princess Yulin's idea? This vicious woman, no wonder she's already fifteen and still not engaged! What decent family's son would want to marry such a vicious woman?"
Upon hearing this, Xie Gongming flew into a rage and shouted, "You foolish woman, you vicious person, isn't that you? So what if your sister has taken a liking to Prince Duan, but Prince Duan only wants to marry Princess Yulin and doesn't fancy her? Just because of that, you dare to speak ill of me in front of me! You've gone too far! Princess Yulin is listed in the royal register; how dare a commoner like you gossip about her?! If there's a next time, believe me, I'll kick you out of the Xie family!"
The second wife trembled with fear, but still asked, unwilling to give up, "Father-in-law, how do you know that your daughter-in-law's sister likes Prince Duan?"
Xie Gongming glared at her fiercely: "With your sister's infatuated look, anyone in the capital with a brain knows that your sister dreams of being Prince Duan's woman."
The second wife was initially terrified, but then she fell to the ground, kowtowing repeatedly, unable to utter a single word.
Xie Gongming: "Listen carefully, all of you! Princess Yulin has rendered great service to the nation. She is a benevolent and kind person, and should be a role model for the world. Moreover, she is the woman Prince Duan loves, the woman he swore he would marry no one but him. From now on, you must not be rude to Princess Yulin! Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite!"