The two of them were startled. Shen Qing turned around and found that Ji Qingshu had emerged from the corner where she had been standing. Holding a whip in her hand, she was now standing behind them.
"Greetings to the princess," the two exclaimed in shock upon seeing Ji Qingshu. They immediately bowed their heads and saluted. "Greetings to the princess."
Ji Qingshu helped Shen Qing up and looked at the one who had just spoken. "You're the son of the prime minister, aren't you? Tomorrow, I'll send someone to the prime minister's mansion to ask him if his dissatisfaction with my elder brother has made his son disrespect the royal princess."
Hearing this, the man's face turned pale instantly. "Princess, I was wrong. It was my foolish tongue. Please forgive me!"
The emperor had been waiting for a chance to catch his father's mistake. If the charge of disrespecting the royal family were to be laid on them, his family would be doomed.
Ji Qingshu sneered. "Regretting now? It's too late!"
"Come, take them to my aunt!"
The other man's face turned pale and he trembled. "Princess, spare my life. It was he who disrespected you. I didn't show any disrespect..."
"You didn't disrespect me, but you just didn't want to marry me. But you've worried for nothing. With your ugly appearance, I wouldn't even choose you as a male companion. Take them away. Don't get in my way!"
Ji Qingshu's maid immediately went to call someone, and the two men were escorted to the Grand Princess.
After they left, Ji Qingshu looked at Shen Qing sheepishly. "Sorry. I have a bad temper. I must have made you laugh. Thank you for speaking up for me."
"Your Highness is straightforward. You don't have to take other people's gossip to heart."
Ji Qingshu threw the whip behind her. The whip made a parabola and landed right in the hands of the maid behind her. Then she sat on the corridor nonchalantly.
"Actually... it's not really gossip. I'm just as they described me."
Hearing this, Shen Qing was a bit stunned by the implication of her words.
Shen Qing sneered and said, "No matter how beautiful a flower is, there will always be people who don't like it. Each person has their own preference. Some people who don't like a certain kind of flower will still belittle it based on their own likes, not realizing that they are just narrow - minded frogs at the bottom of a well."
Ji Qingshu's eyes lit up. "I like what you said. What's your name?"
"Shen Qing."
"Shen Qing?" Ji Qingshu thought for a moment. "Oh, I remember. You're the granddaughter of the Duke who protected the country. You're the Shen Qing who went to beg my elder brother with the imperial amnesty three years ago, right?"
Shen Qing felt a bit embarrassed. "Your Highness still remembers that incident."
"Of course. You don't know how much we admired your courage at that time. The day before, my elder brother had someone raid a family. Blood flowed like a river, and people on the whole street were too scared to go out for a month. Yet you dared to kneel at the palace gate with the imperial amnesty of the late emperor to beg him."
Remembering the tragic scene, Ji Qingshu couldn't help shivering.
"I didn't even dare to talk to my elder brother. How could you be so brave?" Ji Qingshu looked at Shen Qing with bright eyes.
In her eyes, Ji Junye was the scariest person she had ever seen. Shen Qing had dared to provoke him when he was in a fit of rage and had even succeeded. Ji Qingshu really admired her.
Shen Qing touched her nose. "It was so long ago that I don't remember it clearly."
Ji Junye was really scary when he was angry. Even after two lifetimes, she was only a little less afraid of him.
As for what happened back then, she really didn't remember much. She only remembered that she had fainted from kneeling at the palace gate without getting an audience. When she woke up, she was already at home. Then her mother told her that the Xu family had been pardoned and would soon be able to return home.
Ji Junye probably didn't know her at that time. Why did he agree to her request? Could it really be the effect of that imperial amnesty?
But after getting to know him for a long time, she felt that he wasn't the kind of person who would be influenced by an imperial amnesty of the late emperor. Moreover, he didn't target the Xu family again later.
She remembered that in her previous life, after she died, the Xu family was soon found to have made mistakes. Xu Yanchi was deprived of his title and his family's property was confiscated. Having no other choice, he had to turn to the King of Jin for protection.
Shen Qing felt as if something had flashed through her mind quickly, but she couldn't catch it.
However, Ji Qingshu didn't notice anything wrong with her at all. She was getting more and more excited to chat with Shen Qing. "I heard that you went to the border with the old duke when you were a child. Can you fight?"
Shen Qing nodded. "A little bit."
"What can you do?"
Shen Qing thought for a moment. "I can use a knife, a sword, and a spear a little bit, but I'm not very good at them."
Actually, her spear - fighting skills were quite good. Her grandfather had said that she had inherited his true skills. But it was better to be modest when out in the world.
"Can you teach me?" Ji Qingshu's eyes sparkled with expectation as she looked at Shen Qing.
Before Shen Qing could say anything, she quickly dismissed her own idea. "Forget it. I've never been good at anything since I was a child. And my nanny definitely won't let me learn."
Shen Qing frowned. "Why not?"
"Because my nanny said that it's not ladylike. A woman should read, write, and embroider at home. In the future, she should marry and take care of her husband and children."
As Ji Qingshu said this, she slapped her thigh. "Oh no. I was just having fun. I haven't finished embroidering the handkerchief my nanny told me to do!"
Ji Qingshu looked anxiously at the maid not far away. "Hurry, bring me the things. My nanny said I should finish embroidering it quickly. If the matchmaking is successful today, I'll give it to my future husband as a token."
Although there might not be a future husband, if she didn't finish embroidering it, her nanny would surely scold her.
Her mother had died when she was a child, and her nanny had always taken care of her. Her nanny was like a mother to her. She couldn't stand people nagging, especially those who had always accompanied her.
Ji Qingshu's maids seemed to be used to their princess's unexpected actions. They could calmly meet all of the princess's needs.
Shen Qing took a look at the handkerchief... It really didn't look like a handkerchief.
Even the embroidery she had done when she was just learning was more presentable than this.
But as soon as Ji Qingshu got the handkerchief in her hand, she made a sad face. "It's so difficult. Sister Shen, you should know how to do it. Can you help me?"
Shen Qing said, "I think I can."
Shen Qing asked for the needle and thread. She didn't even use an embroidery frame. Ji Qingshu only saw her fingers moving nimbly, and the needle and thread shuttling back and forth. The shape she had embroidered that a bit resembled a flying bird was modified by Shen Qing. Soon, a magpie appeared on the handkerchief.
After Shen Qing finished threading, Ji Qingshu's mouth was wide open in an "O" shape. "You're so amazing. Your embroidery is as good as the embroiderers in my palace!"
"Of course, I don't mean to compare you with the embroiderers."
Ji Qingshu quickly explained, afraid that Shen Qing might misunderstand.
Shen Qing folded the handkerchief and handed it to her. "Your Highness doesn't need to be discouraged. You're a princess. In the future, you don't have to work hard or please your husband's family after marriage. Learning these things is just for your own pleasure. There's no need to force yourself to do things you don't like."