Liu Rushuang scowled and asked, "Tell me, were you all bullying your crown prince?"
"We did not, Your Majesty! Please, we are innocent!"
The handmaidens and guardsmen quickly looked up, scowling with looks of utter sincerity.
"Mother, I told you they would never admit it! Just listen to me and dismiss them!" Longyuan pleaded, looking up at her as well with a grimace.
"We are innocent, Your Majesty! Please don't dismiss us!"
The handmaidens and guardsmen all pleaded their innocent again—the crown prince was proving a tough nut to crack.
However, the smart guardsman kept calm, and solemnly defended their case.
"Your Majesty, we, your humble servants definitely did not bully His Highness. He wanted to climb up a boulder, but we stopped him, and he told us he would complain to you."
Liu Rushuang nodded..
The guardsman was certainly quick on his feet and showed composure, not to mention that he was neither proud nor too humble.
"What is your name?" She asked with a clear voice.
The guardsman was stumped at that—why would Her Majesty ask for his name?
Even so, he answered with due reverence and without delay, "My name is Cang Mu, Your Majesty!"
"Cang Mu, I hereby appoint you as the crown prince's personal guard. You will be supervising everything he does from now on, and it would be ideal if you could stay at his side like a brother as he grows. Do you understand what I'm getting at?"
Cang Mu was stunned for an instant, but managed a quick-witted reply, "Yes, Your Majesty. I will do my best to supervise His Highness in the future! I will not let you down!"
Liu Rushuang nodded in satisfaction. She could see that Cang Mu held stern character and had the look of a person who maintained justice, so there was no better person than him to be Yuan'er's personal guard.
"Uh… No,
Mother! How could you let that angry man be my guard? Dismiss him! I don't want him watching me! Sob…"
Longyuan promptly cried out in disbelief, hugging Liu Rushuang's leg as he pleaded miserably, "Mother, they bullied me… dismiss them! Sob…"
"Your Majesty, we definitely did not bully His Highness!"
The handmaidens and guardsmen all promptly tried to defend themselves—the crown prince was truly rotten! They all felt sympathy for Cang Mu right then, having to watch over such a blackhearted prince every day despite his promotion… the very thought of it was tragic.
Liu Rushuang picked him with a swoop and firmly said, "Children should not lie, Yuan'er. Understand?"
"I'm not lying, Mother! They bullied me! You have to dismiss them!" Longyuan simply insisted that he was bullied, and continued to push Liu Rushuang so that she dismissed the handmaidens and guardsmen.
Liu Rushuang scowled at that.
Her son caught on to everything bad immediately, while taking his sweet time to learn anything good…
And now, he learned to lie.
"You told me that these handmaidens and guardsmen pulled your hair, but it looks neat to me!" She said coolly.
"That's… That's because they straightened it up for me after that!" Longyuan retorted naively after some thought.
"And didn't you say they slapped you? But your face is all clean, without any wounds!"
"That's… They slap me lightly because they are afraid you would notice!"
"And you said that they took off your pants… but you're wearing open underwear! It's visible even if you don't take off your pants!"
Liu Rushuang whispered that last part into Longyuan's ear.
"Sob… They stripped me! They really did!"
Longyuan pursed his lips and defended himself loudly, looking bent on insisting that he was bullied.
"Pfft…"
The handmaidens and guardsmen kept their heads lowered as they giggled—the crown prince was really proving to be a funny one.