The next day was the riding competition in "Da Xia".
The riding competition in "Da Xia" was divided into horse riding and carriage driving. Riding was somewhat similar to equestrian events in later generations, but with fewer tricks and more focus on practicality. Carriage driving was somewhat like a driver's license test in later generations.
Jiang Yuqing had only ridden "Bai Xiaoshi" before. When carrying her, "Bai Xiaoshi" was afraid of letting her fall, so he didn't run fast.
Seeing the contestants galloping on the field, Jiang Yuqing automatically took herself as a cheerleader, loudly clapping and cheering them on. She wished she could go on the field herself and run a lap or two.
Seeing how much she liked horses, Jing Yan stroked her little head and said, "When you grow up a bit, should I teach you to ride a horse?"
"Mm-hmm, good!" came the voice from the dumpling mouth, while her eyes still didn't miss staring at the field...
In the afternoon was archery, just as exciting as ever, but in the eyes of the old generals in the court, these were just children playing house.
The last day was a football match. It was held at the football field west of "Baoyue Building".
This was a very popular sport, and the common people in the capital all had their own favorite football teams. As a new arrival, Jiang Yuqing didn't know any of the teams, so she just watched randomly.
On the way, "Qin Yu" came over to whisper a few words to Jing Yan. Jing Yan frowned, then lowered his head and said to Jiang Yuqing, "Qingqing, stay here and watch for a while. I have something to take care of and will be back soon."
Jiang Yuqing nodded: "Mm, go ahead with your business, I can take care of myself."
Over the past few days following him out, she didn't even bring a maid. Jing Yan had no choice but to instruct the little eunuch attendant, "Deng Sanshui", to be sure to take good care of her.
After Jing Yan left, Jiang Yuqing continued to watch the game.
During halftime, she felt a little hungry and went to the stalls outside to buy some snacks, then sat down to eat them on a stone bench under the shade of a tree outside the football field.
After eating too many snacks, she felt a little thirsty. Her little attendant eagerly volunteered to go buy her sour plum soup, which Jiang Yuqing agreed to.
There were still two pieces left in the oil paper bag. Jiang Yuqing decided to finish them all at once to avoid waste.
At that moment, she felt her clothes on her back seemed a little odd.
She looked back alertly and met a pair of thievish toad eyes. It turned out to be a seven or eight-year-old boy.
One of his plump hands was holding her skirt, flipping it up, while the other was pulling down her pants, grinning wickedly.
Jiang Yuqing was instantly furious. Where did this little brat come from, doing something so indecent to a little girl at such young age? He was simply lawless.
"Let go!"
"I won't let go!" The toad eyes even shook her skirt up and down defiantly.
As it was already summer, her clothes were very light. With that shake, Jiang Yuqing's underpants were completely exposed.
Jiang Yuqing said coldly, "I'll say it one more time, let go!"
The toad eyes made a grimace and grinned, "I won't let go, I won't let go, I just won't let go. What can you do about it?"
Jiang Yuqing didn't bother talking to him anymore. To deal with such a brat, she needed to give him some intuitive loving education.
She immediately threw away her snacks, clenched her little fist tightly, jumped up and punched him hard in one eye, then in the other eye as well, very evenly distributed.
The boy was attacked so suddenly that he didn't have time to defend himself and took the punches right on target. He immediately cried out in pain. Covering his eyes, he staggered back two steps and fell on his bottom on the grass.
Jiang Yuqing circled around the stone bench and jumped on the toad eyes, fists raining down like hailstones, hitting the most painful spots. She beat him until he begged for mercy with ow ow sounds, without the slightest ability to fight back.
Jiang Yuqing was in no mood to let him off easily. She flipped and tossed the toad eyes like a pancake, pounding him violently.
As she hit him, she scolded him, "I told you not to flip my skirt and pull my pants. You little bastard, little rogue, if I don't show my power, you take me for an old sick cat!"
With her eight layers cultivation base, her strength was much bigger than ordinary adults.
If not for fear of beating this brat to death and getting sued, she would not have stopped so easily.
Even so, after Jiang Yuqing climbed up, she still couldn't resist kicking the toad eyes twice more before finally stopping.
Jiang Yuqing angrily put her hands on her hips and said to the toad eyes who were curled up on the ground crying loudly, "If you dare flip little girls' skirts again in the future, I'll beat you every time I see you! Stinky rogue!"
At this time, there was a chorus of shocked cries, getting louder and nearer. A noble lady led a swarm of maids rushing over like bees, picked up the toad eyes from the ground and started crying her heart out while hugging him tightly.
"My son! Who is the damned one who beat you like this? They want your mother dead!"
Seeing the backer arrive, the toad eyes immediately pointed at Jiang Yuqing and tattled, "Mother, it was that cheap girl who beat me! I hurt so bad, my whole body hurts, it hurts to death!"
As soon as the noble lady heard this, her willow eyebrows inverted into a frown: "Good for you cheap girl, beating my son like this! Today I must kill you!"
"Lin Mama, tie up this cheap girl and throw her into the lake!"
Jiang Yuqing stood there without moving an inch. In her sweet voice she said coldly, "You dare! I am the Magistrate of "Linghui County" of the "Qing Prefecture Marquis Mansion"! Besides, it was your son's fault to begin with in this matter.
You didn't bother asking what had happened before wanting to tie me up and drown me. Where is the reason in that?"
The woman was so angry that the hair ornaments on her head shook violently. "Bah! Even if you're a county magistrate I'm the "Empress"!
Lin Mama, what are you still standing there for? Hurry up and tie her to drown her in the lake!"
Seeing that the other party really dared take action, Jiang Yuqing had already started making hand seals in her sleeves. She decided to teach this shrew a good lesson.
Just then, a voice cold enough to make one shiver said, "I don't know since when the "Empress" of "Da Xia" got replaced.
Or are you of the opinion that it's time for a change of dynasty?"
These words were nothing short of a capital offense, enough to doom nine generations of one's family.
The speaker was Jing Yan. After taking care of his business he had come back, but didn't find Jiang Yuqing in the football stands so figured she couldn't have gone far.
Glancing around, he soon saw the little eunuch "Deng Sanshui" buying sour plum soup at a roadside stall.
After finding Deng Sanshui he came over in Jiang Yuqing's direction and saw from afar that she was arguing about something with someone, afraid she was being bullied, so he hurried over at a run.
Just in time to hear this woman spouting nonsense about tying up the little lass and drowning her in a lake. How vicious can one be?
Deng Sanshui recognized this woman. She was Lady Zhong, wife of Tong Fuqiu, Vice Minister of Rites and younger sister of the exiled "Marquis Muen"'s wife.
Lady Zhong also recognized Jing Yan.
Realizing what she just said after reacting, she immediately collapsed limply to the ground, deathly pale and trembling all over.
Seeing him return, Jiang Yuqing immediately grabbed his hand and angrily tattled on the toad eyes.
"Brother Yan, I was just here eating, and this one bawling loudly, this stinking toad eyes, this little rogue.
He flipped my skirt from behind and pulled down my pants.
I told him to let go but he wouldn't. He even made faces at me saying what could I do if he doesn't let go. I really couldn't stand it anymore so I punched him.
What's more, he's so much bigger than me but still lost to me. All he can do is cry. Such a disgrace."
Then she complained tearfully, "Brother Yan, I don't want to drown, I'll die! If I die I won't be able to see Daddy, Mommy and you anymore! Qingqing is scared! Wah-"
Given her textbook performance, "Bai Xiaoshi" inside the spirit space gave her two big thumbs up, "You deserve an Oscar statuette!"
As for her spirit beast's praise, the Young Lady wholeheartedly agreed.
Jing Yan also didn't want to waste words with this fool of a woman. He waved his hand and several guards immediately surrounded them. "This woman intended to murder the Magistrate of "Linghui County". Bring her back to "Ministry of Justice" for questioning!"
He also pointed to the toad eyes who were already scared speechless. "Those filthy hands are useless. Cripple them!"
Only then did Lady Zhong suddenly realize the gravity of the situation. She cried loudly begging for mercy, "Crown Prince spare our lives! This servant knows her wrongs! Crown Prince, spare me and my son! He's still young!"
With a miserable shriek, young master Tong's hands were already contorted into freakish angles at the wrists. They were most likely crippled.
Seeing this, Lady Zhong's eyes rolled back and she fainted, whether from shock at her son's plight or fear of the imprisonment to come.
Even so, they still could not escape the fate of being thrown into prison.
Lady Tong was taken away, and the servants of the Tong family also carried away Half-dead Toad Eyes and ran away quickly.
Jiang Yuqing would not have any sympathy for this.
Behind every naughty child is a naughty parent, just like Toad Eyes and his mother.
When her son made a mistake, she didn't ask why, didn't teach her own child, but instead wanted to sink the victim into the lake.
With such a mother with negative triple views, even if Toad Eyes grows up, he won't have any good results.
Most likely he would follow in the footsteps of his cousin, who was the young master of Marquis Muen.
After punishing Lady Tong and her son, the two of them had no heart to watch any longer, so they turned around and went back to the mansion.
However, Jing Yan took her away directly to Jiaofang Palace of the Empress on the grounds that she was frightened.
No matter how she thought about it, she couldn't figure out what the relationship was between whether she was frightened or not and whether she went back to the mansion or not. How could there be any special medicine to treat "fright" in the imperial palace?
Coincidentally, the Emperor was also there.
Seeing the two little ones coming back, he asked quite calmly, "I heard that you threw someone into the Ministry of Justice?"
Jing Yan said dissatisfiedly, "You already knew, why bother asking again!"
The Emperor glared at him, "Just because I knew, I can't ask? I'm your father!"
Jiang Yuqing was afraid that the Emperor would blame Jing Yan, so she quickly admitted her mistake, "Your Majesty, I'm sorry, it's all my fault. Don't blame my brother, I was the one who started fighting with others."
"Oh–you're young, but you have quite the guts, daring to fight with others." The Emperor paused and then said, "Did you win?" His tone actually contained a hint of amusement.
The dumpling immediately lost her fear, raised her head proudly like a cocky little rooster: "I won!"
The Emperor crooked his finger at her, and the dumpling ran to him.
The Emperor reached out and stroked her little head, praising her, "Well done! When you encounter such little brats, you have to beat them back fiercely. If you can't beat them, call someone to help you. I'll cover for you if you beat them badly!"
"Okay!" The dumpling nodded happily.
The Empress "..."
Jing Yan "..."
The Emperor left satisfactorily, taking his son with him. Tong Fuqiu was still kneeling outside the Imperial Study!
The Emperor gritted his teeth.
He hadn't settled accounts with Tong yet regarding the previous incident with the scholar. And now Tong had stabbed another big basket for him. He thought that he might have been too good to his subordinates, so that a mere censor's wife dared to casually sink someone into a lake.
It was really bold as brass.
The Tong family didn't even try to defend themselves in this matter, and no one dared to dredge things up for them.
Who would dare dredge up someone personally delivered by the Crown Prince? Unless they wanted to die.
Moreover, the Zhong lady really was vicious. She dared to sink a titled madame in broad daylight. She really was incomparably crazy. Getting to this point now was just desserts.
In the end, Lady Tong Zhong was sentenced to death by strangulation for the crimes of "great irreverence" and "attempted murder".
Censor Tong was demoted to commoner status for "failure to govern his household" and "abuse of power for personal gain".
Tong Fuqiu was ultimately shown some imperial favor by keeping his life.
Otherwise, Lady Zhong's words and deeds would have been deemed "treason" rather than "great irreverence".
For treason, his entire clan would have been executed!
If that were so, all dozens of members of the Tong clan would have only been able to gather in the underworld.
The Tong family's affairs were handled swiftly and ruthlessly.
Some people privately ridiculed that the girl Jiang Yuqing was nothing but trouble.
First the Marquis Muen mansion, and now Censor Tong's mansion, whoever offended her ended up in dire straits.
But there were also those who spoke righteously: "Look at how biased your words are. The little girl had just arrived in the capital for a short time. Who did she offend?
Everyone was scrambling to find trouble with her, just because her guardians weren't around and they wanted to bully the weak, right?
Bumping blindly into an iron plate, they got what they deserved for their downfall. Who else can they blame?
Can it be that they can't teach their own sons properly, yet they blame the little girl?
This is a typical case of blaming the victim! I'm ashamed to be associated with the likes of you."
With that, the person angrily flounced their sleeves and left.
