The Prince of Jin didn't move, so Song Jingyang could only hurriedly go out to greet him.
He blushed and asked, "Xiu'er, has your mother agreed to our relationship?"
Xiu'er: "What are you thinking! I really want to slap you across the face! Although the Prince is not good, he is still your proper master! He has only been dead for a few days, and you have the nerve to think about all this? You are not even as good to the Prince as our young lady, no, the Princess Consort!"
Song Jingyang: "..."
Your Highness, you're really causing trouble!
"I don't think someone like you is reliable. As for our relationship, don't ask anymore. Asking means it's not going to work out," Xiu'er said.
Song Jingyang: "No, no, let me explain..."
"No words! Her Highness the Princess Consort said you need to prepare one hundred guards to be at her courtyard first thing tomorrow morning. They need to be tall, young, and strong!" Xiu'er said crisply. "Did you understand?"
"A hundred guards?" Song Jingyang was stunned. "What... what are they planning?"
Tall, strong, and young... Is the Princess going to hold a talent show?
He couldn't imagine the Prince of Jin of Jin's expression right now, and said, "Xiu'er, this won't do. Go back and tell the Empress that the rules of the Prince's residence state that men from outside the household are not allowed to enter the second courtyard."
"The Prince's mansion has rules?" Xiu'er rolled her eyes and said, "Stop talking nonsense and just behave!"
"No, what exactly does Your Highness want to do?"
"What's it to you?" Xiu'er said, "I told you to find someone, so hurry up and find someone!"
Song Jingyang returned to Prince of Jin with a bitter expression. "Your Highness, what do you think of this?"
The Prince of Jin's voice was unreadable, conveying neither joy nor anger. "Do as she says."
He vaguely guessed her intention.
Given her intolerant nature, he already found it strange that she had tolerated him until now.
He's really looking forward to seeing how she performs tomorrow.
Ever since Tang Zhuyun appeared before him, shock and surprise have always gone hand in hand.
The next morning, Tang Zhuyun had a chair brought out, and she sat on the veranda wrapped in a fox fur coat, leisurely sipping hot tea.
Linlin and Yanran stood beside her, while Nanny Rong stood behind her. Xiu'er stood on the steps, glaring angrily at the servants whispering and pushing each other in front of her.
Tang Zhuyun lifted her eyelids slightly. "Where's the housekeeper?"
The butler stepped forward and bowed to her.
"Where's the family roster?"
The housekeeper was notified yesterday, so he quickly presented the roster.
Tang Zhuyun casually flipped through the list, then tossed it aside. "I'm too lazy to look at it. Butler, what do you say?"
Despite it being the dead of winter, the butler's forehead was still beaded with sweat.
Everyone says this new queen is easy to please, but those who rise to the top in one step are never just lucky.
What's more, she beat up the Seventh Prince, gained all the advantages, and even got the position of Princess Consort.
The steward said, "His Highness dislikes large groups, so there are only 283 people in the manor, including 212 under death contracts and 71 under living contracts..."
"Now count for me, how many have come?"
"Your Majesty, they've arrived! More than two hundred and twenty people have come."
Tang Zhuyun said with a half-smile, "What did I tell you?"
The butler wiped his brow. "... You absolutely must come; you cannot be absent."
"So those who are absent now are either hard of hearing or not quite right in the head; the Prince's mansion can't keep them here," Tang Zhuyun said with a sneer. "Every single one of those who didn't come is to be sold to the mines to do hard labor!"
"Your Majesty!" the steward exclaimed in surprise.
The others dared not utter a sound, their heads bowed, each more obedient than the last.
Tang Zhuyun: "What, does the steward think that I, the princess, cannot make the decision?"
"No, this servant wouldn't dare."
"Song Jingyang, take your men and bring them here." Tang Zhuyun casually adjusted her hair, "This princess has changed her mind. No one is perfect; everyone makes mistakes. Give them a chance to explain. Bring them here first!"
Song Jingyang quickly brought his guards and the remaining nearly sixty people with him.
One of the kitchen maids was the same one who had been caught stealing when Tang Zhuyun entered the Prince's mansion. She cried out, "Your Highness, this old servant was on night duty last night and only managed to doze off at dawn, which is why I missed it... This old servant didn't mean to..."
Tang Zhuyun glanced at Xiu'er.
Xiu'er immediately rolled up her sleeves, stepped forward, and slapped the old woman across the face repeatedly. Hands on her hips, she yelled, "Who do you think you are, yelling at the Empress like that? The Empress says you did it on purpose, so you did it on purpose! Empress, I think we should sell this old woman first!"
Tang Zhuyun nodded slightly. "I think that's fine. Song Jingyang, drag her away, don't let her pack anything, don't let her say goodbye, just sell her off directly."
"Yes!"
With a wave of his hand, Song Jingyang immediately sent two guards forward to drag the old woman, who was screaming like a pig being slaughtered, away.
Tang Zhuyun looked at the remaining people. "Come on, who has any more troubles? Speak up."
No one answered; only the whistling wind responded to her.
"Since you won't speak, then you have no reason. In that case, it's not unfair that you neglected the princess and were sold off, is it?"
Suddenly, someone in the crowd knelt down with a thud, crying, "Your Highness, my daughter had a fever yesterday, which is why we were delayed!"
Tang Zhuyun tilted her head and looked at Yanran: "Yanran, what do you think we should do in this situation?"
Yanran frowned, clearly troubled. After a long while, she said, "Mother, should we investigate whether what she said is true or false?"
Tang Zhuyun said, "There's no need. I said I'd come no matter what, so even if she's carrying a child, she should crawl here. What if you were in danger and I needed her to save you? If that delayed your rescue, do you think she should be forgiven? As a servant, she should stick to her duty!"
This is not her value system, but it is the value system of this world.
She cannot be unconventional; she can only stay grounded!
She didn't believe the woman's story at all! If she were truly an honest and dutiful servant, she would come to her master's summons even if the sky were to fall—that's what it means to be dutiful!
"Take him away!" Tang Zhuyun said.
"Your Highness, my servant, my husband, and our child are all in the manor. Please have mercy on us..."
"Don't worry," Tang Zhuyun smiled coldly, "As long as your husband behaves himself, I'll reward him with someone new to replace you. Sleeping with your man, beating your child—your 'loyalty' deserves this end. Take him away!"
After dealing with those two, Tang Zhuyun clapped her hands. "Forget it, it's too cold, I'm too lazy to ask them one by one. Let's stick to what we agreed before: those who didn't come today, sell them off!"
The people below immediately knelt down, not daring to offer any more excuses, and kowtowed repeatedly, begging her to show leniency.
This princess is not to be trifled with; they all misjudged her!
Tang Zhuyun raised an eyebrow. "Forgive you? There has to be a reason to forgive you. Let me think, how can I test your loyalty? Hmm... Oh, I've got it!"