The Imperial Guard will not bother to reason nicely.
He kicked Gao Qianqian to the side.
And sternly warned, "The Emperor has decreed a thorough investigation of all the teachers at Mingyang Academy. Anyone who dares to obstruct or interfere will be punished with thirty lashes at the least or banished to the frontier at worst."
Gao Qianqian fell to the ground, tears streaming down her face out of fear.
Normally arrogant and domineering, relying on her father who was an authoritative teacher at Mingyang Academy, she often bullied others.
Who would have thought that today, she would nearly lose everything.
Kicked aside by the Imperial Guard, Gao Qianqian could only cry and no longer dared to obstruct.
She watched helplessly as her father was taken away, stuffed into a sack.
Seeing the Imperial Guard leave, everyone quickly dispersed, fearing that if they left too late, the Emperor might turn back and take their lives!
Crying, Gao Qianqian clutched Madam Li’s sleeve: "Aunt Li, please beg Uncle Li to save my father!"
With a cold face, Madam Li pushed Gao Qianqian away: "It’s already good enough that I didn’t say your father got us into trouble!"
How could a teacher not even recognize the Princess!
Filled with anger, Madam Li stormed off.
Gao Qianqian then went to grab Madam Wei, who avoided her as if she were the plague and ran off.
Finally, Gao Qianqian ran to Wang Xuanwen, crying as she wiped her tears: "Cousin, you can’t just ignore my father!"
Wang Xuanwen avoided her and lowered his voice: "Intervene? How? If you ask me, you brought this upon yourselves!"
"Who else but the little princess did you dare provoke?" Luckily, he didn’t join in bullying her!
Wang Xuanwen prepared to leave quickly.
Furious, Gao Qianqian stood her ground and raised her voice, almost a sharp roar.
"Cousin! You’re really heartless! Every year my father gave all the gold and silver he collected to your Wang Family, and now that he’s in trouble, you refuse to help!"
Wang Xuanwen, infuriated, turned back and slapped Gao Qianqian hard, making her fall to the ground.
"Stop this nonsense!" He glanced furtively around him.
Quite a few students from other classes stood nearby, secretly watching.
Wang Xuanwen deliberately shouted angrily: "My father already advised your father not to abuse his power, but he wouldn’t listen."
"Now look, he provoked the Princess and was reprimanded by the Emperor, right? In my view, he should be in prison right now, seriously reflecting on his wrongdoing. Stop your nonsense, or I’ll send you to the government too!"
After all, Gao Qianqian was young and, sitting on the ground, could only kick her legs in anger.
Having no idea how to refute.
Wang Xuanwen, fearful of getting involved in the scandal, dashed off with his servant.
Not far away, behind an unnoticed corner, Chu Ping, who had been standing there for an unknown amount of time, quietly turned and left after watching the entire scene unfold.
Once most of the Mingyang Academy folks had dispersed.
Fang Wushen came in, panting: "Sister, did Little Jing come or not? I circled around several times and didn’t see her!"
Fang Youzhen almost forgot about her foolish younger brother.
She raised her hand to pat Fang Wushen’s shoulder: "From now on, you can’t call her Little Jing anymore."
"Why not? What happened to her?" Fang Wushen asked nervously.
"Nothing happened to her, it’s just... you know Princess Cui Cuo, right?"
"I do, the Emperor’s biological daughter, treated like a treasure."
Fang Youzhen nodded and said calmly: "The Little Jing we thought we knew is actually Princess Cui Cuo."
Fang Wushen was stunned, his mouth wide enough to fit an egg.
"Then, then, then the Emperor came today for the... for the..." he stuttered.
Fang Youzhen nodded again: "That’s right, just as you thought, he came to defend the Princess."
Those powerful figures, each more formidable than the last, originally thought Little Jing would surely be bullied.
Who would have thought she would directly bring out a powerful protector?!
And say he’s her father?!
Fang Youzhen grabbed his collar: "Let’s go home first. The Emperor replaced all the teachers at Mingyang Academy. The court is sure to be abuzz with memorials, so let’s quickly inform our father."