Lu Jinshuang was startled to hear what the chief eunuch had said. She had only been in the palace for such a short time, and already those two children had gotten into a conflict with someone.
But on second thought, she was certain that others must have provoked them. Little Lan'er was so well-behaved that she would never hurt anyone without reason.
The old emperor's gaze toward the Seventh Princess had turned several degrees sharper, and his tone grew even colder. "So you've actually acknowledged two commoners as your sisters? Have you thrown all decorum to the dogs? Don't forget who you are. You are a princess of the Great Jing Dynasty. Just any stray cat or dog can't become relatives of the royal family. Those two rough and crude girls who brawled in the streets are worthy of such regard from you? Bringing them into your residence is one thing, but acknowledging them as sisters? Do you take me for a dead man?"
Hearing this, Lu Jinshuang could no longer hold back. She immediately retorted in anger.
"Father, you're being unreasonable here. Without even asking who was right and who was wrong, you've already demeaned them like this. Everyone in the capital knows how arrogant and domineering the Young Master of the House of Duke An is! If he got beaten, it must be his own fault. Besides, it's my own business that I've acknowledged them as sworn sisters. It's not like I've asked you to take them as daughters, nor have I had them entered into the royal genealogy."
At these words, the old emperor was so enraged that one hand clutched his chest while the other pointed at Lu Jinshuang, trembling uncontrollably. The veins on his forehead bulged and pulsed with fury.
Standing nearby, Lu Shiwan chose not to intervene this time. She simply stood quietly on the sidelines, playing the part of a background prop.
However, Lu Jinshuang was not finished. "Father, even the Ministry of Justice has to clarify what happened between the plaintiff and the defendant before ruling on a case. You can't just say that whoever got beaten is automatically in the right, can you? If that were the case, then in the future, anyone who commits a crime could just lie down on the ground, pretend to be sick, and get away with it! Also, Father just said that fighting in the streets is a trivial matter, especially when it's just children. If Father has to worry about even this, then when would you ever have time for your alchemy?"
The eunuchs and maids in the hall all fell to their knees with a thud, keeping their heads low and hardly daring to breathe, terrified that the emperor might take his anger out on them.
Even the chief eunuch, Du Chun, was wiping cold sweat from his brow. This Seventh Princess truly had audacity beyond measure—she dared to say anything and argued with the emperor so self-righteously.
The old emperor's hand shook as he pointed at the Seventh Princess. "Get out! Get out of my sight! Go back to your princess residence and do not set one foot outside the gate for the next three months!"
"Your son obeys the decree! Your son takes his leave!" Lu Jinshuang calmly performed a salute and withdrew from the great hall.
Lu Shiwan also bowed. "Father, please take care of your dragon health! I will go and reason with Seventh Sister. I take my leave as well!"
The old emperor waved his hand in irritation. Out of sight, out of mind. If he let them stay any longer, he feared he might die of rage. If they had been sons, he would have already ordered them flogged. But since they were princesses, and daughters at that, beating them would be a loss of royal dignity.
Still, his heart was so pent up that he simply went off with his attendants to watch the alchemy works. He couldn't be bothered to deal with such a trifling matter as a street brawl.
As Lu Jinshuang walked out of the great hall, Dongxue was pacing anxiously back and forth outside.
Seeing her come out, she rushed forward, her tone urgent. "Your Highness, you've finally come out! Something has happened outside the palace. Little Lan'er has beaten up the grandson of the Duke of An. I heard even a physician has been called. There's a chance they might be arrested at any moment. If you hadn't come out any later, we might not have been able to save them in time."
She had received the news from outside the palace and wanted to inform the Seventh Princess, but with Her Highness being reprimanded inside, there had been no way to get the message through.
Upon hearing this, Lu Jinshuang instead revealed a faint smile, more out of curiosity. "Oh? What exactly happened? Tell me in detail. Elder Du didn't explain properly inside either. All I knew was that Little Lan'er had beaten someone. Don't worry, they won't be arrested that easily."
She had even dared to hit the Fourth Prince, so she refused to believe that the guards of the House of Duke An would dare to casually seize the sister she had acknowledged.
In this imperial city, gentleness and courtesy were the most useless things. Little Ninth was a living example—the more good-natured and well-behaved one was, the easier it was to be bullied. Being a little fierce and audacious had its uses, at least enough to intimidate some people into not daring to touch her people.
Lu Shiwan walked over as well, offering a slight smile. "Let's go. We'll leave the palace first and talk about everything on the way."
The group had only just walked a short distance from the great hall when they ran into a nanny who had come looking for Lu Jinshuang.
Mama Su first greeted both princesses with a salute, and then looked at Lu Jinshuang with a delighted expression. "Seventh Princess, Consort Qin knows you've entered the palace today. She asked you to come by Lanlin Hall once you're finished. Her Ladyship hasn't seen you in quite a number of days."
Upon hearing this, Lu Jinshuang shook her head helplessly. "Alas, Father just ordered me confined to my residence—I'm not allowed to step one foot outside the gate for three months. And right now, I have people to rescue, so I'm afraid Mother will have to be disappointed."
Mama Su was quite taken aback. Hadn't she only just returned to the capital? And she was already being confined again?
Lu Jinshuang seemed to know what she was thinking. She smiled and patted Mama Su on the shoulder. "This order was just given by Father. Mama Su, tell Mother that I've acknowledged two sworn sisters, and they've gotten into a fight outside and need my help right now. Once I'm free of this confinement, I'll come see her immediately."
When she heard about the sworn sisters, Mama Su smiled so wide that wrinkles creased her face. "Princess, Her Ladyship heard you had brought two children back to your residence. She even said to bring them to the palace to play when you had the time. Since you've acknowledged them as sisters, that makes them Her Ladyship's goddaughters too. I'll go right now and deliver this good news to Her Ladyship."
Watching her hurry away in such a fluster, Lu Shiwan shook her head with a smile. This bad habit of only half-listening to what was said was truly something.
By the time they left the palace, Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan had already bought a great many things in the streets, most of which were food and drink. After shopping, they went to the capital's largest restaurant, Taiping Tower.
As Xi Qingyue pulled Xi Weilan into the restaurant, many of the patrons inside cast curious, appraising glances in their direction.
She had originally wanted a private room, but the restaurant was far too crowded and all the private rooms were taken. The two settled instead for a semi-private booth arranged by the waiter. It wasn't fully enclosed, but at least there was a screen as a partition, which was good enough since they just wanted to eat.
"Waiter, bring out all your signature dishes, and also one of each of your pastries and beverages."
No sooner had Xi Qingyue sat down than she gave her orders to the waiter, without asking a single question. After all, she intended to taste every good dish this place had to offer.
Beside her, Xi Weilan added, "And please be quick about it. My sister and I are starving."
The waiter was rather stunned at this. He confirmed hesitantly, "Young ladies, our restaurant has quite a few signature dishes—dozens of them in total, along with various pastries and drinks. That's quite a large number of items altogether."
Xi Qingyue waved her hand dismissively. "No matter. Just keep bringing them. If we can't finish, we'll take the rest to go. And don't worry about us not having silver to pay. When it's time, just send someone to Princess Mingyang's residence to collect the payment."
At that, the waiter's brows furrowed with even more confusion, but he did not voice any doubts or utter any mocking remarks. Instead, he respectfully agreed to her request.
He had heard that Princess Wenyang had acknowledged two new sisters, and as for why the collection should go to Princess Mingyang's residence, that was hardly his concern. After all, either way, they were still princesses.
The waiter had barely left when a voice dripping with ridicule came from the other side of the screen. "If you can't afford to pay, then don't come to a place like this to eat. And you even make Princess Mingyang cover the bill—now that's a thick face."
Upon hearing the voice, Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan reacted in perfect sync: both of them stretched their necks out to peek around the screen, wanting to see which idle busybody had nothing better to do.
