Female-to-male: I live on farming

Chapter 271 Punishment

When Lu Youqing was called to the palace, he saw the eldest princess talking to His Majesty, and guessed the reason. It would be more appropriate to say that she was complaining rather than talking.

What happened in Changlefang yesterday spread throughout the capital overnight.

Lu Youqing naturally heard about this "interesting thing", especially since it was somewhat related to her. Or it could be said that she was the one who instigated this matter.

"Mr. Lu, have you heard about what happened in Changlefang yesterday?" Jinyang sat there, his head propped up on his forehead, obviously having a headache about it.

"Your Majesty, I have heard something." After Lu Youqing finished speaking, he turned sideways to look at the Grand Princess sitting beside him and asked with concern: "I heard that Master Xie was injured. I wonder if he is okay?"

The eldest princess had a gloomy face and did not appreciate Lu Youqing's concern. She said coldly: "My son is very lucky, his life is not in danger."

Jin Yang saw that she was taking her anger out on Lu Youqing, and wanted to mediate between them, pointing out the key point: "Although this is just a fight between young people, the one who hurt him is the Cheng family member. According to the people present, the Cheng family member was using your name, Lu Qing, to bully others."

Lu Youqing pretended to be wronged, bowed and explained: "Your Majesty, my surname is Lu, his surname is Cheng, and I have nothing to do with him."

Jinyang knew Lu Youqing's personality very well, and watched her acting with a smile on his face.

But the eldest princess was not familiar with her. When she heard this, she frowned and asked, "I remember that Cheng Heng is Lu Tong's half brother. How can there be no relationship? Besides, everyone knows that it was Lu Xiang who arranged for Cheng's son to enter the Imperial Academy. Is Lu Xiang saying this to distance himself from the matter?"

"The Grand Princess should know about the grudges between me and the Cheng family. I have had no dealings with the Cheng family since returning to Beijing. I also arranged for Cheng Heng to enter the academy because I wanted to bring my mother's tablet back to the Lu family. It was a compromise I made."

The eldest princess was just a little anxious and had a bad attitude at first because she felt sorry for her son. Now she calmed down a little after hearing what Lu Youqing said.

The meaning of Lu Youqing's words was very clear. She had long since severed ties with the Cheng family. This matter had nothing to do with her and she would not interfere.

This was actually good news for her. Cheng Heng, who had hurt her son, had to pay the price. If Lu Youqing intervened to protect him, she might not be able to do anything.

Moreover, Lu Youqing is now in the emperor's favor and holds a high position of power. There is no benefit in offending her.

After all, anyone with a discerning eye can see that His Majesty favors Lu Youqing.

Otherwise, she would have come to the palace to complain early in the morning. When His Majesty heard that Lu Youqing was involved, he would have only summoned her to the palace to make his position clear, instead of calling Cheng Li to come with him and confronting him face to face.

Thinking secretly, this action was actually to protect Lu Youqing and not want her to be involved.

After realizing this, the Grand Princess became more friendly and gentle towards Lu Youqing, and even apologized softly for her previous rudeness.

"It's natural for the Grand Princess to love her own flesh and blood. I wouldn't mind it." Lu Youqing smiled faintly and lightly let the matter go.

"Since this matter has nothing to do with Lord Lu, you can go and do your business first. But I still need to pay more attention to disciplining him in the future. Although it wasn't you who did it, if it was done in your name, you would also be responsible for negligence." Jinyang criticized Lu Youqing indifferently.

"I have failed in my duty. Thank you for your consideration, Your Majesty."

Looking at Lu Youqing's retreating figure, the eldest princess lowered her eyes, secretly thanking her luck that the Cheng family had little relationship with Lu Youqing, otherwise, based on His Majesty's attitude towards her today, it would be difficult for her to vent her anger.

As for the other side, Cheng Li’s premonition turned out to be correct.

As soon as the sun rose in the morning, the eunuchs from the palace came to summon him into the palace for questioning.

He slipped a silver ingot to the eunuch who announced the decree, and the eunuch quietly reminded him that the Grand Princess had been waiting at the palace gate early in the morning to request an audience with His Majesty.

Cheng Li's heart skipped a beat, thinking that the Grand Princess would certainly not give up, and he wondered how she would explain this to His Majesty.

Because of his complicated emotions when he entered the palace, he did not notice that in the carriage at the palace gate, Lu Youqing raised her hand to lift the curtain and looked at him indifferently.

With trepidation in his heart, he was led by the eunuch into the imperial study, only to see the eldest princess sitting on a chair at the bottom, her face haggard and dark circles under her eyes.

One look and you'll know he hasn't slept all night.

Cheng Li knelt down and apologized before His Majesty could say anything. "Please forgive me, Your Majesty. It is all my fault that I did not teach my son well, which led to this disaster."

Now that the real master has arrived, the eldest princess can no longer sit still. She stood up and said sarcastically, "My son is still lying in bed. The imperial physician said that if he exerts more force, he might become mentally retarded. As a godparent, you don't have the energy to teach him, so why not just let it go?"

"This..." Cheng Li knew he was in the wrong and couldn't refute.

Seeing that the eldest princess was speaking with a sarcastic tone and her emotions were getting more and more agitated, Jinyang said, "Mr. Cheng, I heard that this is not the first time that Cheng Heng has been to Changlefang. He has made countless friends in the short time since he entered the academy, and he is always the center of attention whenever he goes out."

It was only the beginning of May and the weather was not yet warm, but Cheng Li was sweating profusely and his head drooped lower and lower as he listened.

"The Queen established the academy for the purpose of education, to cultivate talents for Dayan. However, you entered the academy but did not know how to cherish it and make progress. Instead, you indulged in wine and meat all day long, fought for power, and behaved in a rude manner, which failed the Queen's expectations."

Cheng Li felt more and more depressed kneeling on the cold floor. His Majesty mentioned the Empress, and Heng'er might not be able to escape this disaster.

"Your Majesty, please calm down..."

But he could only repeat this sentence over and over again.

In the end, in order to appease the Grand Princess's anger and considering the bad atmosphere caused by this incident in the capital, His Majesty severely punished the culprit who damaged the reputation of the Royal Academy.

Cheng Heng was sentenced to expulsion from the academy because he was unable to bear the heavy burden and failed to live up to the Queen's painstaking efforts and could not be the future of Dayan.

Moreover, Cheng Li was his father, who had no idea how to educate his son and allowed his son to behave unruly, so he was fined half a year's salary.

Such an imperial decree basically cut off Cheng Heng's future official career. Although Cheng Li was not demoted and only lightly fined his salary, everyone could see that Cheng Li had displeased the emperor.

The Queen Mother is now His Majesty's Achilles' heel. Wouldn't it be an offense to His Majesty if we destroy the academy that the Queen Mother has worked so hard to build?

Moreover, Cheng Li now has only one son, Cheng Heng, and his offspring’s career is cut off. This means that the Cheng family has no future and it will be difficult for them to rise again.

For a while, the Cheng Mansion was deserted and everyone was avoiding Cheng Li.

It is said that he had gone to Prime Minister Lu's residence many times to submit visiting cards and ask for a meeting, but Prime Minister Lu refused to see him.

Coupled with the words of the Grand Princess, everyone knew that Lu Xiang had no feelings for the Cheng family, and those who wanted to use the Cheng family to get to know Lu Xiang had to give up the idea.

His Majesty also sent an imperial physician to the Grand Princess's residence to take good care of Xie Qingfeng and gave her many precious supplements. Upon seeing this, the Grand Princess accepted this result.