I only wished to take up my fiefdom, but my elder brother forced me to rebel.

Sun Yiqian was startled by the angry roar.

He looked at Zhao Mingzhu in disbelief.

"How dare a wild girl from a security escort agency address me by my given name?"

Sun Yiqian raised her hand and threw the etiquette booklet on the ground.

"Do you really think this is your home?"

Several maids surrounded Zhao Mingzhu, blocking her way.

The head maid tried to dissuade her, but the Sun family steward stepped forward and pushed her aside.

"My young lady is now a concubine of the Prince of Xiang."

"If your Imperial Household Department cannot distinguish between superiors and inferiors, Hongxing will no longer supply silk and medicines to the palace."

The female officials looked at each other, but no one stepped forward to stop them.

Hongxing was the largest imperial merchant in the Dayong Dynasty.

Nearly one-third of the silks, spices, and medicinal herbs purchased by the palace each year were supplied by the Sun family.

Sun Yiqian's father had close ties with the eldest prince, Prince Xiang, so how could ordinary officials of the Imperial Household Department dare to provoke the Sun family?

Zhao Mingzhu bent down to pick up the etiquette book and then dusted it off.

"And what about the Prince of Xiang's concubines?"

"I am the Crown Prince's concubine, appointed by His Majesty."

Sun Yiqian was taken aback for a moment, then laughed.

"The Crown Prince's concubine?"

"You?"

"If you are the Crown Prince's concubine, why didn't you even bring a single palace maid with you?"

Zhao Mingzhu pointed out the female official in charge of registration.

"If you don't believe me, just ask her!"

Before the female official could speak, she was stopped by the steward of the Sun family.

"Miss, why listen to her excuses?"

"His Highness the Crown Prince is of very high status, how could he possibly take a fancy to a woman who works as a镖师 (bodyguard/escort)?"

"She probably just wants to use the Crown Prince's name to pressure you."

Sun Yiqian turned her gaze to the other people in the room.

"What is the punishment for impersonating the Crown Prince's concubine?"

The head nun quickly explained.

"Consort Sun, Miss Zhao is indeed the one His Majesty has bestowed upon us today..."

Sun Yiqian raised her hand to interrupt her.

"How much silver did you receive from the Zhao family?"

"How dare you help her impersonate a member of the Crown Prince's household?"

The head nun, too afraid to continue, took a half-step back.

Sun Yiqian pointed at Zhao Mingzhu.

"Hold her down!"

"Today, I, as a concubine, will teach her a lesson on manners on behalf of the Imperial Household Department!"

Upon hearing this, the two maids pounced on him and grabbed him.

Zhao Mingzhu wasn't the type to be bullied; she wouldn't tolerate anyone who came to her.

She acted swiftly, grabbing one of the men's wrists and using the momentum to throw him aside, then kicked the other one away.

In the blink of an eye, the two maids were lying on the ground, their faces showing pain.

Sun Yiqian was surprised that Zhao Mingzhu actually dared to make a move, and her face immediately darkened.

"You dare hit my people?"

"They attacked first."

"Still trying to argue!"

Sun Yiqian grabbed a teacup from the table and threw it.

Zhao Mingzhu turned her head away.

The teacup flew past her and hit the young eunuch who had come to mediate the fight.

The young eunuch fell to the ground, and two eunuchs quickly helped him up.

"Consort Sun, fighting is forbidden in the palace!"

"Get out of here!"

Sun Yiqian pushed the eunuch aside and reached out to pull Zhao Mingzhu's hair.

Zhao Mingzhu grabbed her sleeve and pulled her to the side.

Sun Yiqian lost her balance and bumped her head into the clothes rack.

The outer palace dress was caught on a wooden hook and tore open with a ripping sound, revealing the inner garment underneath.

She looked down and saw the torn clothes, her eyes turning red with anger.

"Zhao Mingzhu!"

"You bitch!"

"Tear her clothes off!"

Six maids and the steward of the Sun family all surrounded them.

Although Zhao Mingzhu knew martial arts, the room was filled with tables, chairs, and fabrics, making it difficult for her to even turn around.

Since she couldn't draw her sword in the Imperial Household Department, she had no choice but to use her arm to block these people.

One of the maids pulled off her hairpin, while another person hugged her waist from behind.

The steward of the Sun family also grabbed a wooden ruler used for tailoring and slapped it at her shoulder.

Zhao Mingzhu broke free from the person behind her, but the wooden ruler still landed on her arm, leaving a red mark.

Sun Yiqian retied her sash and came to her.

"Keep fighting."

"The daughter of a lowly bodyguard dares to compete with me, a concubine."

"Even if the Crown Prince were here today, he would still have to give Prince Xiang and the Hongxing Company some face!"

"Who needs my face?"

Lu Yuan led Su Bo'an into the Imperial Household Department.

The meeting at the Hall of Mental Cultivation had just ended, and he originally planned to summon several businesses in the capital, with Hung Hing being the first to be met.

When Lu Yuan passed by the Imperial Household Department, he heard that Zhao Mingzhu was having her clothes taken there, so he decided to stop by and explain the matter of the body double.

To their surprise, as soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw Zhao Mingzhu being surrounded and beaten by a group of people.

The steward of the Sun family did not recognize Lu Yuan. Seeing that there were only two people coming, he reached out to push him out.

"Consort Sun is handling matters; all irrelevant personnel must get out of the way!"

Lu Yuan grabbed his wrist and kicked him in the back of the knee.

The steward knelt down with a thud. Just as he was about to get up, Su Bo'an's scabbard was already pressing down on his shoulder.

Seeing their manager suffer a loss, the other two servants from the Sun family also rushed towards Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan dodged the punch coming at him, pushed the person against the wall with his backhand, and then picked up a wooden stool and smashed it on the leg of another person.

The man clutched his calf and fell to the ground, unable to get up for a long time due to the pain.

Su Bo'an stepped forward and kicked away the remaining servants of the Sun family.

"You're all blind!"

"They even dared to hit His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Zhao Mingzhu shook off the maid beside her and gathered her disheveled hair back behind her head.

Lu Yuan came up to her and immediately noticed the red mark. His face darkened.

"Who hit him?"

Zhao Mingzhu pointed at Sun Yiqian.

She said I was impersonating the Crown Prince's concubine.

"They even said that since the Crown Prince is here, we have to give face to Prince Xiang and Hongxing."

Lu Yuan turned to look at Sun Yiqian.

"Who are you?"

Sun Yiqian glanced at Lu Yuan's casual clothes, not taking Su Bo'an's words seriously.

"Miss Sun Yixi of Hung Hing."

"My father was a royal merchant of the Yong Dynasty, in charge of most of the silk and medicinal herbs in the capital."

"Now I am the concubine of the Prince of Xiang."

"You injured the Sun family members and tore my palace clothes."

"Kneel down and apologize now, and I may only hold Zhao Mingzhu accountable."

Lu Yuan walked up to her.

"You want me to kneel down?"

"Return me to the palace? Impersonating the Crown Prince is a capital offense."

Sun Yiqian raised her chin, "Let Zhao Mingzhu slap herself twenty times first."

"Make her crawl out of the Imperial Household Department on her knees again."

Snapped!

Lu Yuan slapped her on the left cheek.

Sun Yiqian turned her head to the side after being hit, and before she could speak, a second slap landed on her right cheek.

She covered both sides of her face, and after a long pause, she looked at Lu Yuan.

"You dare hit me?"

"I'm going to hit you."

Lu Yuan pulled Zhao Mingzhu to his side.

"Someone come here!"

"Where have all the stewards of the Imperial Household Department gone?"

Officials inside the courtyard heard the commotion and rushed over with a group of eunuchs.

Seeing the servant of the Sun family lying on the ground, and then looking at Sun Yiqian whose face was swollen on both sides, no one dared to ask what had happened.

They already knew what was happening here.

However, they heard that Zhao Mingzhu was just the daughter of a merchant, and although she was named the Crown Princess, she was certainly not highly regarded.

Sun Yiqian was a concubine of the Prince of Xiang, and the prince's darling.

So I pretended not to know.

I never expected that His Highness the Crown Prince would actually stand up for her.

The leading official, holding up his robe, ran into the room and knelt before Lu Yuan.

"Your subject, Ling Yiyang, Steward of the Imperial Household Department, pays respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince!"