The two people hated that iron could not be made into steel, but there was nothing they could do. They could only keep admitting their mistakes to the little emperor.
Ji Heng had already played the role of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys. It was useless to take these two people now. Keeping them might become a stumbling block for Prince Lian in the future.
"You will also have your salaries reduced. In addition, kneel and go to the Shoukang Palace to plead guilty. As for how the Queen Mother will punish you, I won't care."
The two people had no choice but to leave with aggrieved tears in their eyes under the gazes of so many palace people.
Now there were only three people left. The little emperor was too lazy to hide so much. He shook the dragon robe on his body.
"When did the prince become so useless? He couldn't even handle such a small matter. If I hadn't taken action myself, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to suppress these people today."
Hearing the blame and warning in his tone, Prince Lian gritted his teeth: "It's my incompetence in handling affairs. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
"Alright, starting from today, you will start to return to the court. Don't always stay in the mansion. Otherwise, if you become a useless official as a prince, I won't be able to explain it to so many people."
"I understand, Your Majesty."
After Prince Lian came out of the palace, the guard stepped forward respectfully.
"Your Highness, shall we return to the mansion now?"
Prince Lian's face was gloomy: "Return my ass. Wait for those two spineless things to come out. I won't let this matter go."
"Yes."
At this moment, the two people who came to plead guilty were kneeling at the door of the Shoukang Palace. They had lost a lot of face today. Almost all the palace people knew that they had knelt from the imperial study to the Shoukang Palace.
Looking at the maids who were constantly mocking him around, one of the officials was not happy.
"If you hadn't told me so much beside me and said that Prince Lian could keep us safe, I wouldn't have followed you to do such a stupid thing. Now it's good. I've lost a lot of face in the palace directly. Maybe after today, I won't be able to hold my head up."
Hearing this, the other official's anger was ignited. He replied angrily.
"Do you think I want things to become like this? Who knew that Prince Lian was so useless. He didn't even dare to say a word in front of the emperor. Besides, it's not just you who was punished."
"If there is such a thing next time, don't call me. From today on, I've seen through the true face of Prince Lian. I won't listen to him anymore."
The two people were quarreling at the door of the Shoukang Palace. They didn't know that on the other side of the palace gate, there were two people listening with relish.
Xiao Xiao helplessly supported her forehead. She didn't know what her master's hobby was.
"Master, isn't it a bit bad for us to eavesdrop here?"
Shi Muyuan rolled her eyes and ate sunflower seeds.
"They came to beg for my forgiveness. Now I'm just giving them some hardships. What's wrong with that?"
This seemed to make sense. Her master was second only to the emperor and was respected by everyone. They actually came to her for some false things. They really deserved some hardships.
With this thought, the two people had been listening to the two officials quarreling behind the palace gate.
It wasn't until the sun was about to set and the two officials were about to fall that Shi Muyuan asked Xiao Xiao to open the palace gate.
"I don't know what the two of you are here for?"
The two officials didn't care about scolding each other at this time. They wiped the cold sweat on their foreheads and began to kowtow on the ground.
"Queen Mother, we know our mistakes. Please give us a way out."
"I don't even know what you are here for."
The two people looked at each other. Finally, they gritted their teeth and told all their actions.
After Shi Muyuan finished listening, she said meaningfully.
"So it's you two who led people to the door of the imperial study and wanted to pull me down?"
She suddenly said such a sentence. The two officials were immediately stunned. They didn't know what she meant for a moment. Did she not want to forgive them?
Xiao Xiao held back her laughter. Her master's bad intentions had already been written on her face. If it weren't for the fact that the two officials didn't dare to look up, they would have been exposed.
However, in order to help her master be more realistic, she coughed twice and said beside her: "The two adults offended their superiors. This isn't something that our master can forgive just by saying so. Why don't you go to the Dali Temple to have a look?"
The coldness slowly climbed up the officials' backs. Joke, if they really went to the Dali Temple to have a look, they would have to peel off a layer of skin.
Thinking of this, they kowtowed more forcefully.
"Queen Mother, we also hope that you can forgive us this time. If it weren't for the people with ulterior motives, how would we dare to offend our superiors?"
Shi Muyuan smiled slightly: "It's not impossible for you to want me to exempt you from punishment. How about we make a deal?"
The remaining two officials were completely confused. They clearly came to apologize. Why did the Queen Mother make a deal with them?
But seeing the Queen Mother's expression, they seemed unable to refuse.
There was no way. They could only ask carefully.
"Why do we need to talk about a deal with the Queen Mother? The Queen Mother is our master. It's only natural for us to serve the Queen Mother."
"Don't talk nonsense. If it spreads out, others will think that I have other thoughts."
"Then the Queen Mother should just say it directly. We will definitely go through fire and water and never refuse."
"There are no other requirements. I just heard that the two of you are particularly talented in spreading rumors. So I want you to help me find out who is spreading rumors outside and slandering my reputation."
The two people directly lowered their heads. They naturally knew who was spreading rumors behind this, but they couldn't afford to offend this person. So this person abandoned them at the most critical moment.
"Isn't the Queen Mother making things difficult for us? We are just ordinary civil officials. How can we investigate cases? It's better to hand this matter over to the Minister of Dali Temple." Anyway, the Minister of Dali Temple had offended many people outside.
She knew that the two of them would definitely not agree easily. The knife that the emperor had given her would come in handy.
Shi Muyuan pretended to be angry and pursed her lips slightly: "If the two of you are not willing, then don't blame me."
She waved her hand. Xiao Xiao quickly went to get a sword.
Shi Muyuan took it and looked at it carefully in her hand. The words she asked almost made the two people on the ground incontinent.
"This sword was personally made for me by the late emperor when he was alive to protect me. I've never seen its effect before. I don't know if it's true that it can cut iron like mud."