My Lord, your wife is spreading rumors about you again.

Chapter 46: A Punch

Everyone hurriedly stood up and knelt, shouting: "Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, may His Royal Highness live a thousand years and live a long life!"

Zhang Zhi knew that Mingli didn't quite understand the many rules of Kyoto City, so he stretched out his hand and led her to perform the ceremony together.

There were hundreds of people in Crown Prince Shen Ke's ceremonial entourage, but most of them stayed outside, and he only brought a dozen guards inside.

He was dressed in a dark gold python robe, a golden crown tied high on his head, and had a strong and upright look on his face.

"Okay, I'm tired of hearing these high-sounding words! It's just a competition, but there are so many conspiracies and calculations in it." Shen Ke walked straight towards Mingli, Zhang Zhi and others. He sneered, "It really makes me feel sick!"

Shen Ke pulled Zhang Zhi up and said with a smile, "No one's hand was broken, right?"

"No." Zhang Zhi stood up and pointed at Ming Li with a smile. "The little girl refused to give in and said she wanted to seek justice. I have no choice but to comply."

Zang Bei knew that Zhang Zhi and the prince were cousins, and the prince probably came today to support him.

He took a step forward and said, "Your Highness, this is a banquet for officials and their wives. Why are you here, your noble body?"

"Why?" Shen Ke glanced at him and said, "Lord Zang can come to a place where I can't? Or does Lord Zang also want to give me a lesson?"

Zang Bei bowed quickly: "Your Highness, you are joking. I would never dare to do that even if I die."

Shen Ke ignored her and looked at Zhang Zhi with interest. The little girl was wearing a plain riding suit, with a pair of almond-shaped eyes that sparkled with water. She looked delicate and sweet, and stood quietly beside Zhang Zhi.

"This is Miss Ming II?"

Mingli raised her eyes and said politely, "Your servant Mingli greets His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Shen Ke helped her up and then climbed onto the main seat in the audience hall. "Today, I went out of the palace to look for someone. I didn't expect to hear people passing on the bet between the Ming and Zang families. So I became curious and came to see it." Shen Ke suddenly sneered, "It's a good thing that I came today to witness this competition with my own eyes. Otherwise, a talent like the Second Miss Ming would have been wrongly killed by you guys."

Seeing this, Zang Bei knew that there was no way to reverse what happened today. He winked at Zang Ying, signaling her to stand up and admit her mistake.

After all, the crown prince is the heir to the throne. Even if their Zang family stands on the side of the second prince, His Majesty has not abolished the crown prince after all, so it is not easy to offend them.

However, Zang Ying was young, how could she bear this? She ignored the elders' reminder, threw away the hand of the maid who was supporting her, ran forward in two steps, and knelt down in front of Shen Ke.

She cried, "Your Highness! Please help me! In the competition just now, it was Mingli who broke the rules first. She deliberately shot my arrow and attacked me without following the rules. The horse was frightened and went crazy. I was almost thrown to death on the horse field!" Zang Ying pointed at Mingli, as if accusing an unforgivable person, "In order to destroy the body, she even let the crazy horse go!"

"That's not the case, Your Highness!"

Jiang Tong couldn't bear to listen any longer. She ran to kneel in front of Shen Ke and defended Ming Li, saying, "Ms. Ming has always been mild-tempered. If Zang Ying hadn't done something mean first, she would never have done it."

Zang Ying said with a smile: "Gentle temper? Miss Jiang, please stop lying! If Mingli has a gentle temper? Then there would be no people with bad tempers in the world!"

Jiang Tong ignored her and continued, "Your Highness, Zang Ying didn't want to compete properly from the beginning. She kept hitting Mingli's horse. If she didn't fight back, I'm afraid both the horse and the rider would die!"

Shen Ke looked at Jiang Tong for a while and asked, "Which family are you from?"

Jiang Tong said, "Your Highness, my father is the Left Counselor of the Censorate, Jiang Huaizhi." "Oh, so she is the daughter of Lord Jiang." Shen Ke understood, and said with a smile, "Lord Jiang is loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and is a pillar of the court. I didn't expect that his daughter is also a righteous and chivalrous person. The Jiang family is full of loyal and brave people, which is a blessing for our Great Qi!"

Upon hearing this praise, Madam Jiang hurried over and knelt down to thank him: "My daughter is clumsy and stupid, but I am so lucky to receive your praise. My Jiang family is honored by this!"

Shen Ke raised his hand and motioned for the two to stand up.

He turned to look at Ming Li and asked, "Second Miss Ming, what do you think?"

The main reason for making this trip today was to meet the second daughter of the Ming family whom Zhang Zhi always praised.

Shen Ke had an inexplicable feeling from her actions after she divorced and returned to the Ming family. If this girl could be used properly, perhaps she could become a great help to him in the near future.

Mingli walked forward and met Shen Ke's gaze. She said, "Since today's competition is horseback archery, the winner will be determined by who hits the target."

Shen Ke looked at her for a moment. He felt that this look was somewhat familiar, yet mixed with strangeness.

"The winner is determined by the target?" Zang Bei subconsciously refuted after hearing this: "Second Miss Ming is really calculating. My daughter was kicked twice by you and she even dropped her quiver in panic! Now you say that the winner will be determined by the number of targets hit? You are really mean."

"Lord Zang."

Mingli turned sideways and looked at Zang Bei steadily. Her expression was cold and indifferent: "I endured it, but you forced me to do it."

She had endured it again and again, but she could no longer endure it and finally she didn't need to endure it anymore.

Zang Bei was confused: "What?"

"what--"

Before Zang Bei could finish his words, Mingli had already thrown a punch.

The fist landed on his left cheek. Mingli had been swinging two discus in his hands every day to fully draw the bow, and he had already trained his strength.

This angry punch knocked out half of Zang Bei's teeth.

He opened his mouth and spat out blood mixed with broken teeth, which frightened Madam Zang and Zang Ying. Shen Ke was really shocked when he saw this. He wanted to laugh, but because of his status, he could only hold back.

Madam Meng on the other side was even more horrified. Beating an official of the imperial court in public! Oh my God, what kind of crime is this!
Zhang Zhi and Jiang Tong were happy to see this, this was Mingli's character. He would take revenge when there was a grudge, and he would never be vague or forbearing.

Zang Bei was beaten so hard that he was disoriented. He covered his left face and grabbed Madam Zang with one hand to barely stand up. He said angrily, "Be polite! I want to report you! I want to report you in front of His Majesty! I...
"Master Zang," Shen Ke said coldly, interrupting Zang Bei's words, "Originally I didn't want to say anything to you, but you old man really didn't want to show your respect. Today is not a day off for all officials, but you are not helping with official business at the City Gate Department, but instead you are showing off at the horse farm. What's the matter? Is there too little work at the City Gate Department?"

Zang Bei could only kneel down and kowtow. Half of his teeth were missing, and his words were not clear. "Yes, I admit my guilt."

"That's enough. I don't like your words." Shen Ke thought about the scene of Ming Li throwing a punch and felt very happy. He said, "The result of today's competition is out. Miss Ming won! Everyone, go your separate ways!"

"Your Highness, wait a minute. I have something else to say."

(End of this chapter)