Princess Jia Ning never expected this woman to be Gu Shaoqing’s sister, the daughter of the Grand General had just found.

It turns out she’s a wild one, with no sense of propriety at all.

“She dares to hit me? Even if your father were here, he couldn’t protect her. I’ve already mobilized troops. If you have any sense, surrender quietly. Otherwise, don’t blame me for reporting this to my brother, the Emperor.”

She was the most prestigious princess of the Great Xia Empire, and the current Emperor, Xiao Ruici, was her full-blooded older brother.

This woman dared to strike her, and she would make her pay for it.

Gu Qingwan didn’t expect this princess to be such a foolish, brainless idiot, so arrogant and domineering.

She didn’t even think about it—her father had just returned victorious, and if the new emperor wasn’t an idiot, how could he punish the daughter of a hero just for the sake of his own sister?

Although she didn’t have her father’s protection, she could still deal with this princess.

But it felt nice to have someone backing her up.

Shen Qingwan poked Gu Shaoqing’s back and whispered, “Brother, if I beat her up, will Dad be able to bear it?”

Gu Shaoqing was stunned for a moment but whispered back, “As long as she’s still breathing, it won’t be a problem.”

The dragon-head staff in his grandmother’s hand was almost as powerful as an imperial pardon.

It could buy the life of any royal family member.

Plus, his father’s military achievements and his sister’s current position—her status probably wasn’t much lower than the princess’s.

The northwest was not yet at peace, and the Emperor was still consolidating his position.

His father was still expected to risk his life.

So, at this moment, even if his sister had killed Jia Ning, the Emperor would probably call it an accidental killing.

“Then what’s there to be afraid of?” Shen Qingwan muttered a curse and grabbed a stick from the crowd, heading straight for Princess Jia Ning.

The onlookers were shocked.

What was she going to do?

“Qingwan, stop!” Gu Shaoqing rushed over to stop her, but his movements were slower.

As soon as he reached her, he was accidentally struck by the stick, and he shouted in pain, telling them both to stop fighting.

Princess Jia Ning had no ability to fight back.

This wasn’t a fight between two people; it was clearly a one-sided beating from Shen Qingwan.

Jia Ning’s followers rushed over to protect their princess, but they were all struck by Shen Qingwan’s stick, groaning in pain.

But Shen Qingwan didn’t hit too hard—every blow was perfectly timed, painful enough for them to scream but not enough to knock them out.

Jia Ning, in particular, was being suppressed and beaten.

Shen Qingwan focused on hitting places that were hidden, so her arms and face weren’t injured, but every other part of her body was targeted.

In the end, Jia Ning fainted from the pain, and Shen Qingwan finally stopped.

When she saw her brother coming, Shen Qingwan rubbed her head hard, then wiped some blood from her lip.

She dramatically fell into Gu Shaoqing’s arms.

Being from the royal family, Shen Qingwan was still worried that the Emperor might feel displeased with her father, but she really wanted to beat someone up.

So, she decided to outwit them.

After all, wasn’t it just acting?

She could handle that.

Half an hour later, in the Imperial Study, Xiao Ruici was looking at the group of people kneeling before him with a headache.

Madam Gu was standing there with the dragon-head staff.

Xiao Ruici dared not let her kneel.

Gu Tingyi knew he was in the wrong, so he took the initiative and knelt, not getting up, acting perfectly obedient.

Gu Shaoqing knelt next to him, and Shen Qingwan lowered her head, looking stubborn, not kneeling even when she saw the Emperor.

She portrayed a wronged but unyielding girl who wouldn’t admit her mistake so well that it was almost too convincing.

Seeing her expression, even Xiao Ruici felt that Jia Ning was the unreasonable one.

It was clear Jia Ning had bullied Shen Qingwan and then wanted her to apologize, which had made her so angry.

Although Xiao Ruici didn’t know Gu Qingwan very well, he knew exactly what kind of person his royal sister was.

Jia Ning’s personality was such that she would never let herself be wronged.

From their appearances, it was obvious that Shen Qingwan was in a worse state, while Jia Ning just had a messy dress.

Her makeup hadn’t even smudged, and although her hair was disheveled, it still looked better than Shen Qingwan’s messy bun.

“Your Highness, quickly arrest Gu Qingwan. She dared to hit me. I’ll kill her!” Princess Jia Ning, with tears in her eyes from the pain, still shouted that she wanted to kill Shen Qingwan.

Xiao Ruici’s expression darkened as he reprimanded her coldly, “Jia Ning, do not be rude. Today’s incident was caused by your own actions. Don’t blame others. Go apologize to Miss Gu’s family, and we’ll consider this matter settled.”

When Shen Qingwan heard this, she was surprised that the Emperor was so reasonable and didn’t protect his sister blindly.

Princess Jia Ning was gritting her teeth in anger but was too hurt to even breathe easily. “Why should I apologize? Clearly, she hit me! I’m the one who got hurt, and now you want me to apologize to her?”

“If you say I hit you, then why don’t you show His Majesty where your injuries are?” Shen Qingwan smiled at her, and the sarcasm was unmistakable.

Jia Ning, furious, stood up and rushed at Shen Qingwan to hit her again.

Her injuries were all in hidden places, so how could she show them to anyone?

Shen Qingwan was doing this on purpose.

“Your Majesty, save me!” Shen Qingwan saw Jia Ning take out a whip from her waist and quickly ran to hide behind the Emperor, scaring Gu Tingyi so much that he gasped and hurried to help.

“Shen Qingwan, I’ll make you pay for this!”

Jia Ning swung the whip at Shen Qingwan, but Xiao Ruici saw her running toward him like a frightened deer.

In that instant, he stepped forward and caught the whip.

The pain in his palm was sharp, but Xiao Ruici didn’t feel it.

He turned around to look at Shen Qingwan, who was now safely behind him.

Princess Jia Ning was furious, but Shen Qingwan had a mischievous smile on her face.

Xiao Ruici, seeing her smile, was suddenly struck by a realization.

Jia Ning was deliberately provoked by Gu Qingwan.

His royal sister was the kind of person who acted impulsively and easily got angry.

Today, she had fallen right into Gu Qingwan’s trap.

“Enough, Jia Ning.”

Xiao Ruici was furious, and Jia Ning was frightened.

She hadn’t meant to hurt her brother, but now she saw the injury on his palm and felt a wave of panic.

“Your Majesty, I’m sorry, it wasn’t intentional. It’s all Gu Qingwan’s fault.”

Jia Ning still tried to argue, but Xiao Ruici interrupted coldly, “Silence. This matter ends here. Guards, Jia Ning has acted inappropriately in front of the Emperor. From now on, she is forbidden to carry weapons in the palace and is confined to her quarters for a month. She will also relearn the palace etiquette.”

“Your Majesty,” Princess Jia Ning tried to protest, but she was intimidated by the Emperor’s icy glare.