"You want me to seduce the Crown Prince? Why are you crying now that I've entered the pala

Chapter 53 Remember this: Suffering a loss is not a blessing.

Qin Su sensed something was wrong as soon as she returned to the Prime Minister's residence.

The servants who usually ignored her were now looking at her with strange expressions—surprise, curiosity, suspicion, envy… The complexity of their gazes made her question her own professionalism.

"What's going on? Have these people finally gone mad?"

The system has quickly collected information and drawn conclusions based on the host's requirements.

But clearly, even it found the result absurd: [The host will find out soon...]

As if confirming the system's words, a servant immediately stepped forward to invite her: "Third Miss, Master is waiting for you in the flower hall."

Qin Su raised an eyebrow: Oh, so this wave is indeed aimed at her.

She nodded, her quiet and gentle demeanor unchanged from usual.

But she didn't overlook the strange look in the eyes of the person leading the way.

Qin Su: Unfavored young ladies really have a miserable life; they can't even gouge out the eyes of their servants.

system:? ? ?
Host, do you want to listen to the lewd and inappropriate things you're saying?
-
"So it's that simple? You didn't even get to see His Highness?"

With her scumbag father's impatient questioning, Qin Su finally understood what was going on.

She had some guesses in her mind, but a look of realization appeared on her face: "So that's His Highness the Crown Prince sitting in that carriage, no wonder..."

As soon as Qin Qionghua stepped into the flower hall, she heard the girl's seemingly surprised tone. She paused, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes: "I heard my sister encountered danger. Were you alright?"

After speaking, her gaze swept over the girl's body, which was somewhat disheveled but completely intact, and she was clearly taken aback.

Is this how those useless people do things?
He couldn't even handle such a small matter, which not only allowed her to escape a disaster but also led her to encounter His Highness the Crown Prince?

Her mind raced, and she thought of many things in an instant, almost unable to suppress the smile on her face.

As soon as Qin Su heard the sound, she turned around and saw a beautifully dressed girl approaching with her servants. Seeing her dignified and considerate smile, her wrist began to ache again.

If she hadn't been prepared, she would be the one with a broken hand and a disability today.

Thinking of this, she stepped forward, a naive and grateful smile on her face; "Thank you for your concern, sister, I'm alright. If it weren't for your permission to go out today, I wouldn't have had the chance to save that little girl, and I wouldn't have..."

Her voice trailed off at the last sentence, and she lowered her head without even saying a word.

The girl's shy and excited appearance was enough to spark the imagination.

Qin Qionghua's breathing rose and fell, her face momentarily darkening, and her gaze fixed on Qin Su with chilling coldness.

But when the girl looked up, he regained his composure, gently took Qin Su's hand, and smiled warmly: "My sister is kind-hearted, you deserve all of this."

Qin Su shook her head, revealing a shy, girlish smile:
"It is His Highness the Crown Prince who is so kind and skillful, caring so much about the suffering of the people that even a nobody like me could notice. If... if I have the opportunity to meet His Highness, I will definitely thank him properly."

If Qin Qionghua had remained calm, she would have noticed the difference in her half-sister's attitude compared to before.

But she was young after all, and under Qin Su's deliberate prompting, seeing her admiring and worshipful look at the Crown Prince, the resentment rising in her heart was almost uncontrollable.

She gripped Qin Su's hand tightly, her smile tinged with coldness: "Don't worry, little sister, there will definitely be a chance."

Despite the pain, Qin Su smiled even more shyly.

Seeing through her act of being furious but pretending to be magnanimous, she really looks like a clown.

Just as the two locked eyes, and lightning flashed, a male voice, tinged with laughter, suddenly rang out from behind:

"Sisters are one body. Seeing you two sisters so close makes me very happy."

Not to mention Qin Qionghua, even Qin Su was almost disgusted to the point of vomiting by her scumbag father's sudden remark.

Are you blind?
Didn't you see we were almost tearing each other apart? How are we being affectionate?
However, no one spoke. Instead, the two sisters exchanged a glance and simultaneously curtsied.

The eldest sister spoke first: "Father, rest assured, I will take good care of my younger sister and will not let you worry."

Qin Su smiled slightly and followed up: "I will also follow my elder sister's teachings and work with her to do my best for the family."

This statement hits the nail on the head regarding the scumbag father. He may be biased towards his children, but the children are expected to be filial, especially to contribute to the family.

Along with this, she smiled more sincerely at her usually unremarkable third daughter: "It's good that you're all so sensible. You must be tired from your trip, go back and visit your family."

What they're looking at is self-evident.

After saying that, he had other things to do and left first.

Watching their scumbag father's departing figure, Qin Su and her elder sister bowed respectfully to see him off.

Just as she was about to get up, she heard the woman's cold, smiling voice: "Little sister, you are so lucky. I am so happy for you. I hope you can continue to be this lucky."

Qin Su paused, looked up, and smiled innocently: "Thank you, elder sister. Everyone has their own good fortune, and you will definitely have yours too."

As she spoke, her gaze subtly swept over the girl's handkerchief, which she was nearly crushing, before she casually said, "I'm going back to visit my mother now. I'll take my leave."

As Qin Su turned and left, Qin Qionghua's smile vanished instantly, replaced by a gloomy expression.
-
Even if you succeed, you'll be so angry that you won't be able to eat when you get home, given the other person's vindictive nature.

The system was both pleased with the host's success and couldn't help but worry:
[Host, that crazy female supporting character probably won't let this go easily.]

Qin Su: "They're already so unwilling to give up that they're going to have someone cripple my hand. Does it make any difference whether I provoke them or not?"

The system thought about it and agreed.

If the original owner of this body were here, she would definitely have tolerated it and would never have deliberately provoked them.

Qin Su guessed what it was thinking and simply said, "Remember, suffering a loss is not a blessing."
-
What Qin Su didn't expect was that although he guessed that the Zhang mother and daughter wouldn't let Qin Su go, he didn't expect the retribution to come so quickly.

She hadn't even returned to the backyard when she was stopped by Granny Chen on the only way to the backyard.

The old nanny, accompanied by several tall, burly, and rough-looking women, sternly reprimanded Qin Su:

“Third Miss, you have gone out without Madam’s permission. You are shameless and have disgraced the family. In order to prevent people from saying that Madam is not strict with her children, you will be punished with thirty lashes and then kneeling here for three hours.”

The deliberately amplified and undisguised shrill voice instantly attracted the attention of the servants around her, who cast curious, indifferent, or gloating glances at Qin Su.

Wasn't the Third Miss just rewarded by His Highness the Crown Prince?
What happened again?

They actually went out without permission; how shameless!

I thought she was finally going to turn her luck around, but she's still so unlucky. Serves her right...

Qin Su clenched her fists, making a gesture of trying to explain: "Granny, I went out with my elder sister's permission. You can ask her if you don't believe me. If not..."

Unsurprisingly, Qin Su was brutally interrupted by Granny Zhao before she could finish speaking:
"Third Miss is truly incorrigible. Even after being caught red-handed, she still dares to argue. Not only is she shameless, but she also dares to try and drag Eldest Miss down with her! Madam is right, you deserve a lesson. Guards, bring out the family discipline!"

At that moment, the old women nearby immediately surrounded Qin Su, grabbed her shoulders, and slammed her to the ground.

The other one had already raised his whip.

The malice surrounding her seemed intent on stripping her naked. Of course, there were also some sympathetic glances, knowing what situation the Third Miss was in the manor.

However, no one stood up for her or went to get help.

Qin Su struggled a bit, her pretty, snow-white face tilting upwards with effort; her delicate yet stubborn appearance was simply stunning.

"If you want to find fault, you can always find a reason. If I didn't have my elder sister's waist token, why would the gatekeeper let me out! Aren't you afraid of retribution for bullying people like this?"

Qin Su's words did not arouse any guilt in Zhao Mama; instead, they made her even more vicious: "Third Miss is getting more and more sharp-tongued. If we don't teach her a lesson today, she might cause trouble! Do it!"

System: [Don't worry, host. Protection mode is activated. You won't feel any pain.]

Qin Su didn't speak, but stared at Zhao Mama with red eyes, stubbornly refusing to admit defeat. Her pitiful appearance was very endearing, and it also made the servants watching feel sorry for her.

"Snapped--"

The sound of whips whistling through the air rang out, and some people even closed their eyes in reluctance.

"what?"

The old woman whipping the whip was clearly stunned for a moment. She had clearly aimed for the Third Miss, so why did her hand seem to have slipped out of her grasp?
She was momentarily confused and stopped moving.

Seeing this, Granny Zhao's face darkened: "What are you doing? Could it be that she's swayed you?"

"No, it's just..."

The old woman was about to explain the accident that had just happened, but before she could even speak, she was interrupted by a panicked voice: "Someone come here! Something terrible has happened! Granny Zhao, Granny Zhao! You must be there, something has happened to Miss!"

The messenger was a maid who had been following Qin Qionghua, and she looked panicked, as if her mother had died.

Granny Zhao was taken aback: "What's wrong, Miss? What happened?"

The maid was almost in tears: "Miss's hand... what happened to her hand! It suddenly swelled up, it's so swollen, it looks like it's going to rot! Miss keeps crying out in pain, she's about to faint from the pain!"

As the little girl spoke, tears streamed down her face.

Granny Zhao's expression changed instantly: "How could this be!"

Now, she couldn't care less about disciplining the disobedient Qin Su and had the maid lead the way to the front yard.

The executioner was left behind, and looking at Qin Su kneeling on the ground, she seemed ready to continue her actions.

However, Qin Su stopped crying at this moment, looked up, and spoke coldly:
"Tell me, if His Highness the Crown Prince finds out that he bestowed a reward and then I, the recipient, was beaten, would he think I was wrong, or that someone disrespected him?"

The old woman was stunned for a moment, not quite reacting, but her intuition told her that this was not a good thing.

Sure enough, the third young lady's next sentence was: "Mother is the Prime Minister's wife. If she makes a wrong decision, at most she will be misled by the servants, but what about the person who did it?"

Under the old woman's surprised gaze, she smiled slightly: "According to the law, those who disrespect the Crown Prince are punished with beheading at the very least, and their entire family at worst. Do you want to try?"

"You, you're talking nonsense!"

The old women panicked. Although they said Qin Su was "talking nonsense," their eyes were already filled with panic.

"I...I'm also very worried about Miss's injuries and want to go check on her."

"Yes, I can run fast and call a doctor for you, Miss."

If one person backs down, the others will naturally stop trying to hold on.

Even ordinary people have their own instincts to seek advantage and avoid harm. Qin Su has already put it this way, so how should one choose?

If I didn't hit the Third Miss, at most I'd be punished by the Madam, and there'd even be Granny Zhao to cover for me; but what if what the Third Miss said was true...

Disrespecting the Crown Prince, how many lives do those few servants have?

The three old women ran away, one after the other.

Qin Su shook off the dust and slowly stood up from the ground.

System: [That scared the system to death! I thought the host was going to get hurt. The host is amazing; a few words and they're gone!]

Qin Su did not answer, but asked instead, "How is Qin Qionghua?"

Upon hearing her question, the system instantly snapped out of its drowsiness, gloating, "[She's practically going crazy with worry~]"

In less than three minutes, just as Qin Su left the room, Qin Qionghua's hand instantly swelled up like a blister. Her skin was oily and thin, as if covered with a layer of blister. The skin peeled off at the slightest touch, revealing bright red, pus-filled flesh.

She screamed in pain, hitting and cursing the maids and servants who were attending to her, and could no longer maintain her serene and composed image.

After hearing the retelling, Qin Su smiled and said, "It's a corrosive drug anyway, I hope 'sister' can get through this."

She doesn't believe in repaying evil with kindness. Since she's so eager to cripple her hand, she'll let her experience that feeling first.

"I believe she won't have time to be jealous for the foreseeable future."

The system remained silent. So why did it think the host was a pitiful little thing who needed protection?

Sure enough, it's a system that only cares about appearances.
-
The next day, early morning court.

When the summons to "summon the Crown Prince for an audience" rang out, almost all the court officials could not help but look towards the entrance of the main hall.

When that tall, imposing figure in the yellow robes of a crown prince appeared before them, almost all the ministers held their breath and showed expressions of excitement.

Look, this is the most admired Crown Prince of their Great Qi, revered by all, the hope of the nation!
Even courtiers who were not part of the Crown Prince's faction couldn't help but show reverence when they saw him appear before them.

This exceptionally talented Crown Prince displayed remarkable political acumen from a young age, employing a gentle yet firm approach.

He was kind-hearted, virtuous, knew how to use people well, and was good at accepting advice. He also enjoyed a very high reputation among the people.

The eldest son of the Empress, the legitimate heir of the royal family, and the rightful crown prince.

He even had an advantage that other crown princes didn't have—he was deeply favored by the emperor.

As long as he is around, the court officials will not have to worry about getting involved in the struggle for the throne.

In any case, no one can get past him.

Thus, the morning court session concluded smoothly with the Crown Prince's commendation for his return from disaster relief.

As soon as the court session ended, Chu Junyan was summoned to the Imperial Study.

"Your subject greets Your Majesty, and apologizes for causing Your Majesty worry."

Upon entering, His Highness the Crown Prince immediately knelt down to beg for forgiveness.

The emperor waved his hand, gesturing for him to rise: "How are you feeling? Have the imperial physicians examined you?"

(End of this chapter)