Chapter 24
A Mere Commoner
Bai Wutong thought for a moment. “It should be a special privilege. The blood brothers of the same mother might be close.”
Lin Yue looked at the huge private army and felt that Bai Wutong might be right.
After all, they were brothers. It was not a big deal to allow the guards of honor to be larger in scale.
Moreover, the Yan Kingdom was in a difficult situation.
This team should be bringing people to help the Imperial City by transporting so much food and supplies.
After the storm, the road was muddy. The other party’s carriage was too heavy and was completely stuck in the road.
As soon as they stopped, the entire team blocked the road.
Suddenly, a domineering voice came from the carriage. “A bunch of trash! You can’t even move a carriage!”
The servant reported fearfully, “Princess Qingping, Commander Luo said that it’s not that he can’t push it, but he’s afraid of disturbing Consort Ping and you. He also said that if it’s convenient, please get out of the carriage first. This way, we can lift the carriage and can continue on our way.”
Qingping’s reprimand immediately came from the wide carriage. “Tell him to get lost! This place is so dirty and surrounded by a group of lowly commoners. I won’t get down.”
The fact that Consort Ping did not speak or reprimand Qingping meant that she did not want to get out of the car either.
The servant had no choice but to tell Commander Luo their exact words.
Commander Luo frowned and could only say to his subordinates, “Lift the carriage first and push it forward. Be steady and don’t scare Consort Ping and Princess Qingping.”
The soldiers lowered their weapons and stepped into the mud to lift the wagon.
However, there were too many things in this luxurious carriage driven by four horses. There were five people on it, including the attendants, Consort Ping and Princess Qingping. Moreover, the carriage was made of agarwood and was even heavier.
As soon as the soldiers raised it, their feet slipped and the carriage shook violently.
The expensive steamer on the tea table, along with the tea mat, fell to the carriage floor and shattered into pieces.
Princess Qingping and Consort Ping were frightened. In the next second, the carriage shook and they were flung from one end of the carriage to the other.
In unison, Princess Qingping and the Consort hit the solid wall of the carriage. They screamed, but their cries were drowned out by the soldiers’ voice.
Their heads hurt, and they felt dizzy. They even felt like vomiting. If they continued, her image and that of Consort Ping would be completely ruined.
Princess Qingping shouted angrily at Commander Luo outside, “Dogs, how did you lift the carriage! Stop quickly!”
A few more jolts and she would really throw up.
The thought of those filth made her want to whip the servants outside.
Commander Luo was busy directing the carriage. Seeing that it was about to be lifted, he did not respond to Princess Qingping in time. A good white jade bracelet was suddenly thrown out of the window and landed heavily on Commander Luo’s head.
Instantly, blood poured from his forehead.
The soldiers thought there was an a.s.sa.s.sin and drew their swords. The carriage that had just been lifted suddenly fell down again.
This time, Princess Qingping rolled onto the carriage floor and twisted into a ball.
The attendant, who had lost her balance, was still on top of them both.
When the servant reacted, she was sitting on Princess Qingping’s face. Her face instantly turned pale as she hurriedly helped Consort Ping and Princess Qingping up.
Princess Qingping held her head and thought of her sorry state just now. She slapped the attendant hard.
The attendant’s cheek swelled rapidly.
The pain was scorching. She knelt down without a word and said in fear and trepidation, “Princess, please calm down.”
Princess Qingping felt as if her nose had been flattened and stepped on the servant fiercely. “Someone, drag her out and punish her with 50 strokes of the cane.”
The attendant begged bitterly, and Princess Qingping sneered. “Add another 20!”
The attendant was completely desperate.
She certainly wouldn’t survive 70 strokes.
The moment she was pulled out of the car, she thought that instead of being beaten to death, she might as well kill herself.
The attendant aimed at a soldier’s saber and pulled it out with a whoosh. She threw it at her neck and fell straight onto the carriage.
Blood splattered all over the carriage. When Princess Qingping heard the commotion, she pulled open the curtain and felt warm blood. Her gaze landed on the body that had been dragged down and she was instantly furious.
Before Commander Luo could deal with the big wound on his head, he was accused of failing to protecting his Masters and was scolded by Princess Qingping and the Consort.
If that servant had not committed suicide and had entered with a knife, they would have died just now.
The more they thought about it, the more terrified they became. Especially since this carriage had a dead person in it made them feel even more disgusted.
Princess Qingping got out of the carriage and asked the servants to arrange another carriage as soon as possible.
The servants brought over good cashmere carpets and the maidservants tidied up their appearances. Only then did Princess Qingping get out of the carriage carefully with the help of the maidservants.
As soon as she got out of the carriage, Bai Wutong saw how dazzling Princess Qingping was.
With every step there was a carpet laid down.
Those who didn’t know better would think that she was on a catwalk.
Bai Wutong asked Lin Yue, “Are they Duke Ping’s concubines?”
Since they dared to dress so extravagantly in front of all the starving refugees, Duke Ping should not be anything good either.
Lin Yue guessed, “It should be Consort Ping and Princess Qingping.”
“Princess Qingping?” Bai Wutong found this t.i.tle a little funny.
She did not look poor at all.
Lin Yue glanced at the other party and lowered his voice. “It’s rumored that the emperor feels that Duke Ping is even more extravagant than him, so he specially gave Princess Qingping the t.i.tle to restrain him.”
The corners of Bai Wutong’s mouth twitched. He was not even a good person, yet he still asked others to restrain themselves.
If this was the result after he restrained himself, how extravagant would he have been before?
It could be seen how corrupt the Yan Kingdom’s royal family was.
Bai Wutong stared at their carriage and suddenly thought of another question.
Since the emperor could not even tolerate his younger brother being more extravagant than him, how could he possibly allow Duke Ping to use the grand imperial carriage that only the emperor could use?
Bai Wutong’s gaze landed on the head of a slightly older and charming woman. She asked Lin Yue, “Can all the relatives of the Yan Kingdom wear a phoenix crown?”
What Bai Wutong asked was a question of common sense. Lin Yue immediately said, “No, only women with a cla.s.s in the harem can wear it.”
Bai Wutong was surprised. She stared at the woman’s gorgeous phoenix crown and fell into deep thought.
Could it be that the woman the emperor asked Duke Ping to take care of…
How was this possible? Did Duke Ping also want to take the opportunity to rebel?
Bai Wutong felt that it couldn’t be. Was she overthinking? It couldn’t be.
After all, they were biological brothers.
It was also possible that it was a special honor for Consort Ping, but this was completely inconsistent with the emperor’s style of doing things.
Bai Wutong was about to secretly ask Lin Yue if it was possible for Duke Ping to rebel when Princess Qingping noticed them.
When she saw Bai Wutong and the others sitting safely on the mule cart and not immediately kneeling down to salute, Princess Qingping’s face instantly darkened.
How dare a group of lowly commoners ignore her.