What an overbearing display of official authority!
Who would have thought that Yun Qianying had become so arrogant.
Right in front of Yi Zhen, she was pulling rank and ordering around Yi Zhen's people. An outsider might have thought that Yun Qianying was another favored princess in the palace.
Ye Xi subconsciously glanced at Yi Zhen.
Sure enough, she saw a flash of disgust in Yi Zhen's eyes.
Ye Xi secretly shook her head. She wondered how prudent and intelligent people like Liu Jingyue and Yun Qi could have raised such a stupid and venomous daughter.
But Sai Xing didn't have time to think so much. Seeing that Ye Xi's identity was about to be exposed, she quickly stepped in front of Ye Xi and said anxiously,
"No! The grand - master once ordered that unless the time is right, the appearance of our master must never be revealed. Otherwise, it will bring disaster to both parties!"
Everyone around was Yi Zhen's people. Without Yi Zhen's order, they wouldn't act rashly. Now, hearing what Sai Xing said, they became even more afraid, and no one stepped forward to carry out the order.
The order was given but no one responded, and the scene became awkward for a moment.
Yun Qianying felt humiliated and was both ashamed and angry. She didn't listen to Sai Xing's words at all. She slapped the table heavily and said arrogantly,
"What a ridiculous excuse! Are you trying to fool a three - year - old?"
"Even immortals and real people have portraits and statues. Who does she think she is? Not even allowing people to take a look at her. She's really putting on airs."
"I think there must be something shameful on your faces!"
"Ah—"
As she said this, Yun Qianying clapped her hands suddenly and said excitedly,
"I know! You two must be spies from another country!"
"Because your looks are different from people of our Dayin Dynasty, you always cover your faces for fear of being recognized. Humph—If so, isn't our Dayin Dynasty in great danger?"
"A Zhen, for the safety of our Dayin Dynasty, you must investigate thoroughly. Don't let the thieves get away."
The Shen family really hadn't told Yi Zhen about Ye Xi and Man Ping's identities. So she couldn't understand why Yun Qianying was so hostile to Man Ping.
However, with such a serious accusation, even if Yi Zhen didn't want to play along with Yun Qianying's nonsense, she had to investigate.
It was just a commoner anyway. At worst, she would offend Hun Yuan.
Hun Yuan was a person of good character and always fair in dealing with things. He wouldn't get involved in court disputes. She wasn't worried that Hun Yuan would take revenge on her and her mother - concubine by using some supernatural things.
Moreover, she had long wanted to see what the real appearance of the Immortal Man Ping was like. Since Yun Qianying took the initiative to cause trouble, she might as well go along with it.
"Since Miss Yun has said so,"
Yi Zhen frowned slightly, looking embarrassed. She said earnestly,
"If I don't investigate, wouldn't the immortal be wrongly slandered? To prove the immortal's innocence, I have no choice but to offend. Please don't blame me, immortal."
After saying that, she winked at Yu An beside her, signaling her to act.
Seeing her wish fulfilled, Yun Qianying smiled triumphantly.
She didn't know why, but she just didn't like this immortal. Every time she saw her, she felt annoyed.
Especially since this immortal always wore a veil hat, which always reminded her of the time when Ye Xi used to cover her face. It was really pretentious.
The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. Yun Qianying simply took two steps forward and reached out her hand to remove Ye Xi's veil hat herself.
Ye Xi was surrounded by several old nurses and couldn't move. Sai Xing was shouting hoarsely beside her, but it was of no use.
Ye Xi couldn't make a sound. She was both angry and anxious. Seeing Yun Qianying coming, she angrily kicked out.
But as soon as her leg moved, Hun Yuan's angry shout came from the side:
"Stop!"
Hun Yuan strode forward quickly, followed by Lian Yi in a hurry.
The two of them came to Ye Xi's side in a blink of an eye. Hun Yuan angrily pushed away the old nurses who were holding Ye Xi. Lian Yi even opened her small hands and protected Ye Xi behind her like a mother hen protecting her chicks.
"What are you doing!?"
Hun Yuan's eyes were full of sternness. He swept his cold eyes around and said,
"What crime has my junior sister committed that she has to be insulted by the Fourth Princess in public!"
"Please calm down, Master,"
Yu An quickly knelt down and explained,
"The princess didn't mean to offend the immortal."
She quickly and skillfully repeated what Yun Qianying had said before, quietly shifting all the blame to Yun Qianying. Yu An said sincerely,
"As a princess, she has her responsibilities. She's really in a difficult situation."
"Humph—"
Hun Yuan snorted coldly. He glanced at Yun Qianying out of the corner of his eye and was about to speak when Yun Qianying preempted him and said dissatisfiedly,
"Master Hun Yuan is wrong. The princess is just worried about our Dayin Dynasty and doing her duty to check. It's a reasonable thing. How can it be considered an insult?"
"Moreover, although she is your junior sister, she is just a commoner. It's a blessing she has accumulated for several lifetimes to catch the princess's eye. The princess hasn't even disliked her yet. Why is she being so coy? Is she more precious than the princess!?"
During his years in the palace, Hun Yuan had seen many concubines and female officials who were arrogant and self - important.
But someone like Yun Qianying, who couldn't see her own position clearly and just bit others recklessly out of her own impulse, was the first.
Hun Yuan was so angry that he laughed:
"So, Miss Yun means that my master has a poor judgment of people and has taken a spy as his disciple? Does he intend to disrupt our court and endanger our Dayin Dynasty?"
"The late emperor and the current emperor trusted and reused my master so much. Wouldn't that mean they were stupid and easily deceived?"
"If so, then as her senior brother, wouldn't I be deliberately covering up for her and harboring evil intentions? And if I'm still staying in this palace, isn't it extremely dangerous?"
"No, no..."
Hun Yuan's words were very heavy. Everyone present changed their expressions. Especially Yun Qianying, who quickly turned pale and began to defend herself.
But Hun Yuan directly interrupted her and clapped his hands with a smile:
"Miss Yun has analyzed it very well. Don't talk about this nonsense of whether to see the appearance or not. In my opinion, just send me and my junior sister to jail!"
Ye Xi and Sai Xing almost burst out laughing. They knew Hun Yuan was a good debater, but they rarely saw him being so sarcastic. He even involved the late emperor and the current emperor, completely blocking Yun Qianying's way out.
Well, it was Sai Xing who almost laughed out loud. Since Ye Xi couldn't make a sound at the moment, she just laughed heartily under the cover of her veil hat.
Yi Zhen and Yun Qianying had never known that Hun Yuan had such a side. For a moment, they were both shocked and couldn't react.
Especially Yun Qianying.
She never expected that Hun Yuan, who usually looked like an otherworldly and non - controversial person, would be so aggressive when he was really angry that she had no way to defend herself.
She couldn't help feeling a little regretful.
She should have known better than to make things difficult for this so - called immortal. Now, she had not achieved her goal and had instead gotten herself into trouble.
Yun Qianying stamped her foot aggrievedly. With tears in her eyes, she pulled Yi Zhen and looked at Hun Yuan to defend herself:
"I didn't mean that..."
"Master, please don't misunderstand. I'm just a young girl. How could I think of so many things? I just had some doubts in my heart and couldn't hold it in, so I wanted to verify them."
"Master is a highly - respected and enlightened person. I'm sure you won't haggle with a young girl like me."