My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

"Oh dear, my good child, please stop crying, or you'll ruin your eyes."

Empress Zhangsun quickly took out a silk handkerchief from her sleeve and tenderly wiped away the tears from the corners of Jiang Liyue's eyes.

As she wiped, she looked up.

Those originally kind phoenix eyes instantly turned sharp and piercing when they looked at Li Chen.

"Chen'er! What mischief are you up to now!"

Empress Zhangsun was furious and began to bombard Li Chen with questions.

"I've only been away from checking on things for half a day, and you're already bullying Li Yue in the manor? Have you no manners whatsoever as a prince?!"

Li Chen was completely stunned.

He pointed to his own nose, then to Jiang Liyue, who was hiding in Empress Zhangsun's arms pretending to be pitiful, his face full of disbelief.

"No... Mother!"

Li Chen shouted that he was innocent, "Which eye of yours saw me bullying her? She clearly ran over and snatched my grapes, and then called me a lecher!"

"besides!"

Li Chen suddenly realized what was happening and pointed at Jiang Liyue, loudly questioning her.

"What's wrong with you, woman? Why are you calling me 'Mother' too?!"

Li Chen glared at him. "This is my mother! What kind of relatives are you claiming to be?"

Hearing Li Chen's question.

Jiang Liyue shrank back in Empress Zhangsun's arms, as if she had been greatly frightened, and her tears fell even more fiercely.

Upon seeing this, Empress Zhangsun's anger flared up instantly.

She stepped forward and slapped Li Chen's outstretched hand across the back of his hand.

A crisp "snap" sound.

"What are you yelling about!"

Empress Zhangsun glared fiercely at Li Chen.

"It was I who told Liyue to call me that!"

Empress Zhangsun protected Jiang Liyue with both hands, her chin slightly raised, her tone carrying an undeniable domineering air.

"Liyue is a clever and kind-hearted child. I took an instant liking to her."

"I've adopted her as my goddaughter and asked her to call me 'Mother.' What's wrong with that?"

Empress Zhangsun sneered, her phoenix eyes narrowing slightly.

"What? Your Highness, are you getting all powerful now? You even want to interfere with my decision to acknowledge a daughter? Do you not even respect me, your mother?"

A huge label of "unfilial piety" was slapped on him.

Li Chen immediately deflated like a punctured balloon, completely losing his temper.

"Your subject dares not..."

Li Chen shrank his neck and muttered something under his breath.

"If you don't dare, then shut up!"

Empress Zhangsun snorted coldly, took Jiang Liyue's hand, and walked to the stone table in the courtyard to sit down.

Seeing this, Qin Wan'er quickly and obediently brewed another pot of the finest immortal tea and respectfully stepped aside.

Empress Zhangsun took a sip of tea to moisten her throat.

then.

The "criticism session" targeting Li Chen has officially begun.

"Chen'er, it's not that your mother is criticizing you."

Empress Zhangsun put down her teacup, speaking earnestly yet with words that were sharp as knives.

"The girls from Liyue and Qingxue left their homes and traveled thousands of miles to come to our Great Tang Dynasty."

"They are helpless and alone. As a prince of the Tang Dynasty and the one who brought them back, you should take good care of them and treat them with courtesy."

"But what about you?"

Empress Zhangsun pointed at Li Chen, her voice filled with disappointment and frustration.

"You idle away your days, never striving for anything, and yet you have the heart to bully a weak woman!"

"Look how wronged Liyue was just now! Where did you get your heart of stone from?"

Li Chen stood to the side, head bowed, looking like he was humbly accepting instruction.

But the grievances he felt were even more unjust than those of Dou E.

Weak woman?

This is a female sword immortal in the Golden Core stage who can split half a mountain with a single sword strike!

Just as Li Chen lowered his head and silently endured his mother's barrage of lectures,

Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of Jiang Liyue sitting behind Empress Zhangsun.

At this moment, Empress Zhangsun had her back to Jiang Liyue and was intently listing Li Chen's faults.

Meanwhile, Jiang Liyue was hiding in the back.

That pretty face, which had been streaked with tears and looked pitiful, underwent a complete 180-degree reversal in an instant!

She sat on the stone bench.

She arrogantly raised her fair and delicate chin towards Li Chen.

Followed by.

Jiang Liyue stretched out two slender fingers and pulled down her lower eyelids.

At the same time, she stuck out her pink little tongue as far as it could and made a very exaggerated funny face!

"Hehehe~"

Jiang Liyue even silently mouthed the words.

The mouth movements clearly said, "Serves you right, you lecher!"

Looking at Jiang Liyue's smug, arrogant, and provocative appearance.

The string in Li Chen's mind snapped completely with a "bang".

Holy crap!

Li Chen was so angry he almost jumped up on the spot, and he pointed at Jiang Liyue and roared.

"Mother! Look back!"

Li Chen was so anxious that he was jumping up and down, and his voice was trembling.

"Look at her now! She was faking it all!"

"She's making faces at me behind your back right now! And she's even yelling at me!"

Hearing Li Chen's exclamation.

Empress Zhangsun frowned and subconsciously turned her head to look behind her.

however.

In the very 0.01 seconds that Empress Zhangsun turned her head.

Jiang Liyue displayed the amazing skill of "Sichuan Opera face-changing" that left Li Chen in awe.

The arrogant ghost face vanished instantly.

What Empress Zhangsun saw when she turned around.

She was a pitiful girl with her head down, her hands nervously twisting the hem of her clothes, and tears falling like broken beads.

Jiang Liyue even shrank back in fear, and secretly glanced at Li Chen with a look full of fear and grievance.

"Waaah... Liyue didn't... Liyue wouldn't dare..."

Jiang Liyue covered her face and cried so heartbreakingly that it moved anyone who heard it to tears.

Empress Zhangsun's heart was once again gripped with intense pain.

She turned around abruptly.

This time, the rage in Empress Zhangsun's eyes was enough to burn through the roof of the Prince of Qin's residence.

"Li Chen!!!"

Empress Zhangsun slammed her hand on the stone table, making the teacups on it jump.

"You have utterly disappointed me!"

Empress Zhangsun shouted angrily.

"It's one thing for you to bully others, but now, right in front of me, you dare to frame them!"

"Liyue is so upset she's about to cry herself to sleep, and you're saying she's making faces at you? Do you think I'm senile and blind?!"

Li Chen's eardrums ached from the sudden roar.

His eyes widened, utterly speechless.

"No...Mother! I really didn't lie to you!"

Li Chen was almost in tears, "She really made a face just now! Not only did she make a face, she even rolled her eyes at me!"

"shut up!"

Empress Zhangsun completely ignored his explanation.

"From this moment on, you are not allowed to speak! Stand there and reflect on your actions!"

Empress Zhangsun took a deep breath and began her stern lecture to Li Chen once again.

From the demeanor of a Tang Dynasty prince to the sense of responsibility of a man; from the loneliness of leaving one's homeland to the condemnation of one's conscience.

Empress Zhangsun quoted extensively from classical texts and spoke eloquently.

They gave Li Chen a thorough dressing-down, leaving him utterly humiliated.

Just as Empress Zhangsun was speaking vehemently and launching a full-scale attack...

Li Chen saw this with grief and indignation.

Jiang Liyue, sitting behind Empress Zhangsun.

Once again... they changed their tune!