There were two spectacles at the entrance of the Princess Mansion.
One was Shen Yunfeng, the husband of Princess Jingning, lying on the open ground in front of the mansion, occasionally struck by lightning.
The other was a large number of commoners kneeling at the entrance, praying for forgiveness from the heavens and Princess Jingning.
These two spectacles attracted the other half of the people in the capital. They flocked there to get a look.
When Ping Hai returned with the imperial edict, he witnessed this scene.
The Princess Mansion was surrounded by commoners, making it difficult to get in. Leading the little eunuch, Ping Hai held the imperial edict high. After struggling to squeeze in, he found a group of kneeling commoners inside.
Ping Hai had good eyesight. He even noticed that some of the commoners who had gossiped the most that morning were among those kneeling. Not only were they kneeling, but they seemed to be doing it willingly.
Looking at the same scene and the same people, Ping Hai couldn't help but recall the previous situation. Although it was the same place and the same people, the situation had changed completely.
Had Guard Zhao managed to suppress the trouble - makers? And what was going on with Shen Yunfeng?
Ping Hai looked at the imperial edict in his hand suspiciously. He didn't think Guard Zhao alone could achieve such a result, and neither could he. That was why he had gone back to the emperor to get the imperial edict.
While Ping Hai was in a daze, Bai Zhi at the entrance noticed him and quickly welcomed him in.
Bai Zhi led Ping Hai and the others through the kneeling commoners and let them enter the mansion first, while she herself stood at the entrance.
Ping Hai had met Bai Zhi a few times. Seeing her suddenly stop, he also instinctively stopped.
"Twenty - five strikes!" Bai Zhi happily counted the number of times Shen Yunfeng had been struck by lightning before realizing her impropriety.
She had actually left Eunuch Ping Hai standing there and let him enter the mansion on his own!
Bai Zhi immediately apologized, "It was this servant's oversight. I was so focused on counting the number of times the county marquis was struck by lightning that I forgot you were here. This servant will lead you into the mansion right away."
And Ping Hai finally understood why Shen Yunfeng was lying on the ground. His eyes widened, and his voice trembled, "The... the... the number of lightning strikes!"
Ping Hai was extremely excited, "Hurry, hurry, you guys go to the palace and invite the emperor here. There's someone being struck by lightning here!"
Such a rare thing, Ping Hai was definitely going to present it to the emperor.
If he wasn't afraid that the lightning would hurt the emperor, Ping Hai would have even wanted to carry Shen Yunfeng to the palace and let him perform being struck by lightning there.
Seeing that the Princess Mansion had overcome the crisis, Ping Hai also threw his task to the back of his mind. He stood at the entrance with Bai Zhi, watching Shen Yunfeng being struck by lightning.
Unlike Bai Zhi's happiness, Ping Hai was a bit worried. Every time Shen Yunfeng was struck by lightning, he would pray for another strike, fearing that the emperor would come too late and miss this wonderful sight.
...
In Shen Haiyan's courtyard.
Princess Jingning was still resting. Shen Heqing simply brought Shen Baozhu to find Shen Haiyan and also told Shen Haiyan about Shen Yunfeng's miserable state.
This was the first time Shen Haiyan had seen Shen Heqing so angry when talking about Shen Yunfeng. He asked curiously, "The last few times I told you that Shen Yunfeng was not a good person, you told me to read more books. Why have you changed so much now?"
Thinking of the past, Shen Heqing's fair face blushed. It was so embarrassing. He had actually not believed Shen Haiyan's words before and had whole - heartedly protected Shen Yunfeng.
Looking at Shen Baozhu beside him, Shen Heqing didn't explain too clearly. He just said vaguely, "As I've grown older, I've naturally seen things more clearly."
Knowing that Shen Haiyan was smart and definitely wouldn't believe this, Shen Heqing quickly took out the silver notes he had divided up last time and stuffed them into Shen Haiyan's hand, "Shen Yunfeng was going to use these silver notes to save Bai Xinrou. I secretly took them out and divided them into several parts. This is yours."
Unlike Shen Danqing, Shen Haiyan was not short of money. On the contrary, he was the richest in the family. He was close to his maternal grandfather and had been given a lot of things.
So, he generously said, "Let Baozhu take them to play with."
If his hands and feet could move, Shen Haiyan would definitely have stuffed the silver notes into Shen Baozhu's arms and taken her out to buy things.
Shen Heqing didn't say a word. He just patted the silver notes, indicating for Shen Haiyan to keep them.
Shen Danqing laughed, "Third brother, you'd better keep them. Baozhu is the richest in the family now. Her gold can fill an entire room."
Looking at Shen Haiyan's skeptical expression, the Dragon King became a bit interested. With a wave of his hand, a piece of gold appeared in Shen Baozhu's arms.
The gold was a bit heavy. Shen Baozhu carried it to the ground and complained a bit, "This piece of gold is so heavy."
The Dragon King admitted his mistake and gave Shen Baozhu a smaller piece.
In the blink of an eye, there were two more gold ingots in Shen Haiyan's room, and they were not small.
The gold shone brightly, making Shen Haiyan's eyes hurt. He looked at Shen Baozhu and then at the gold ingots on the ground, shocked, "The gods can do anything!"
But Shen Baozhu shook her head, "No, there are things the gods can't do."
[Little cutie, don't talk nonsense. This king can do anything! This king has the fruit of child - bearing and can even make a man give birth. What can't this king do?]
"The gods can't stop big brother from teaching Baozhu to read!" As she said this, Shen Baozhu glared angrily at Shen Heqing.
She still remembered that Brother Lin Yu had given her a pill, and although she had become smarter, she still couldn't stop big brother from teaching her to read!
The Dragon King was defeated, [Well, this king really can't do that.]
Lin Yu also said, [Indeed, Baozhu's big brother is very serious about reading.]
[Shen Heqing studies in a solid and steady way. He can only rely on hard work and there is no shortcut. With him teaching Baozhu, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.] Master Qingyun commented.
Shen Heqing gently pinched Shen Baozhu's nose, "Do you dislike it so much? Then big brother won't take you to read books next time."
Shen Baozhu, who seemed reluctant to read books, was stunned. She just wanted to complain a bit. She didn't really want to stop reading.
Shen Baozhu could only tug at Shen Heqing's sleeve and act coquettishly, "No, big brother is the best!"
...
Two hours later.
Ninety - nine strikes!
Shen Yunfeng shrank in the quilt, gritting his teeth and muttering this number. He had made a fool of himself in public and been struck by lightning ninety - nine times. This was simply a great humiliation!
Especially in the end, the emperor and the queen had sat at the entrance of the Princess Mansion, and people from the entire capital had come to watch.
He had been like a monkey, performing in front of everyone.
Looking at the butler serving in front of him, Shen Yunfeng was about to get angry when a lightning bolt as thick as a thumb came down along the eaves and onto the couch, accurately striking him.
"Daddy?" Shen Baozhu stood at the door, peeping in, still clutching a wet handkerchief in her hand.
Hearing Shen Baozhu's voice, both Shen Yunfeng and the butler were stunned.
When Shen Baozhu saw Shen Yunfeng in the room, she was extremely happy and skipped in.
Walking to the bedside, Shen Baozhu clutched the handkerchief and wiped Shen Yunfeng's face, "Daddy, Baozhu will wipe your face for you."
The moment the handkerchief touched Shen Yunfeng, the Dragon King's subtitles immediately appeared.
[Well done!]
[Little cutie, wipe more. Try to let the fruit juice fall on Shen Yunfeng so that he can't sleep at night!]
Just now, when Shen Danqing had gone over the events, the Dragon King had just realized that Master Qingyun's lightning - attracting talisman and Lin Yu's prank gadgets had all been used, but his own fruit juice had been left out.
Thinking that he had specially squeezed several fruits, the Dragon King immediately threw a tantrum.
Unable to bear his tantrum, Shen Baozhu dipped the handkerchief in the fruit juice and came to wipe Shen Yunfeng's face.