I just want to be a princess, no, you want to be a queen

Chapter 111 Recognizing the King and Father

"Miao'er doesn't care, Miao'er just feels sorry for Brother Zheng!" As she said that, she scooped up a spoonful of bird's nest porridge and fed it to his mouth.

Chu Mingzheng held her hand and asked, "You're already in mourning for me, and you still call me Brother Zheng?"

Qin Miao shyly called out, "Husband."

After swallowing the bird's nest porridge, Chu Mingzheng grabbed Qin Miao's hand and placed it on his chest. "Miao'er, if I were no longer the King of Ningyuan, would you be willing to spend the rest of my life with me, living a simple life?"

"I am willing!"

Qin Miao gently lay on his broad chest, her heart pounding. At this moment, she didn't know whether it was true or false. The handsome eyebrows and eyes of the man in front of her made her fall.

Thinking back to the time when he rescued her from bandits, even though she knew it was fake, she was still captivated by his hand around her waist, so strong and wanting to get closer.

She wanted to be the queen, but she also firmly believed that only by being his queen could she achieve the greatest fulfillment in her life.

At this moment, she couldn't help but kiss the man's cheek.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Chu Mingzheng suddenly turned his head and started coughing violently.

Lips brushed against his cheek, Qin Miao put away her lost gaze and patted his back gently, "Brother Zheng, how are you?"

"It's okay!" Chu Mingzheng propped himself up and leaned against the head of the bed. Seeing that it was getting late, he urged her to go back.

Qin Miao said, "Brother Zheng, I will accompany you to the temple to light a long-burning lamp for... our father."

Chu Mingzheng asked: "Aren't you afraid?"

"I'm not afraid!" Qin Miao stepped forward, leaned into Chu Mingzheng's arms, and said firmly: "For Brother Zheng, I'm not afraid of anything!"

Chu Mingzheng smiled and nodded: "Okay, let's go light the eternal lamp!"

"I have come specially to check His Highness's pulse!"

A violent voice was heard, and Leng Lingfeng stood at the door with a dark face and eyes that looked like they could kill someone.

Chu Mingzheng pushed Qin Miao away and said gently, "Miao'er, go back first!"

"Yes!" Qin Miaoying bowed. As she walked out the door, she glanced sideways at Leng Lingfeng. This was the doctor Lu Mingyang had found for Brother Zheng. If she could find one, why couldn't she?

Leng Lingfeng walked towards the bed, slammed the medicine box on Chu Mingzheng, and shouted angrily, "You dare to hit her!"

"What does it have to do with you!"

Seeing his anxious look, Chu Mingzheng felt uncomfortable. He pushed him away in disgust and got up to get dressed.

Leng Lingfeng chased after him, not intending to let him go: "Do you think that the emperor wants to re-elect the Marquis of Chengyang and that Miss Lu has no use for you, and you treat her like this?"

Chu Mingzheng was also angry, "What did I do to her?"

"What did you do to her?" Leng Lingfeng thought of Lu Mingyang's swollen eyes from crying, and his heart ached. He sank down on the couch and said angrily, "She's a good girl. Even if you don't like her, please treat her well."

"You care about her that much?"

"She, she is my friend." Leng Lingfeng suddenly raised his voice.

This girl, how come she's friends with everyone? Chu Mingzheng suppressed the strange feeling in his heart, washed up, sat down, and explained: "I was sorry for her. I used her to play a trick. The emperor knew that my illness could be cured."

"What?" Leng Lingfeng asked anxiously, "Didn't I tell you to be careful?"

"Last time, Concubine Zhou didn't get away with the fake assassination attempt, and now the whole capital is full of rumors that I was faking illness. I was worried that she would let your uncle-master expose me, so I specifically asked Zi Zhao to keep an eye on me. Unexpectedly, your uncle-master arrived in the capital three days ago."

At this point, Chu Mingzheng laughed at himself: "So, I have been waiting for an opportunity, and I got it yesterday."

Leng Lingfeng's heart skipped a beat. He naturally knew that the opportunity he was talking about was his father's death.

"What about you yesterday?"

"I was pretending! Only if I pretended not to care about the identity he gave me would he believe that I was not faking illness." A pale smile froze on his face, like a frozen zombie.

Chu Mingzheng twitched his lips slightly. "He died for me in his lifetime, and even after his death, I wanted to use him. Tell me, how could I be worthy of him doing so much for me?"

Leng Lingfeng watched with a pity. The man before him always pretended to be cold-blooded and heartless. But he knew he wasn't. At least when he fed him the pill, he hadn't thought of using his biological father as a pretext.

"Then you can't hit Miss Lu!" Leng Lingfeng wanted to pull him out of his sad mood and quickly changed the subject.

Chu Mingzheng thought of the girl who had rushed over to save him, and a trace of bitterness flashed through his heart: "I can't let Concubine Zhou think that she is in cahoots with me!"

"Now, will the emperor let you go?" Leng Lingfeng asked.

"Just accept it!" No matter what the punishment is, it is to satisfy the emperor's selfish desires, which is better than letting him think that he intends to seize the throne.

He does not have the ability to compete with the emperor now, so he can only endure it.

The emperor ordered the Ministry of Rites to investigate the Ningyuan prince's crimes of breaking off the engagement without authorization and speaking disrespectfully in the ceremony hall. The officials knew the emperor's intentions and made the punishment more severe.

Chu Mingzheng stood in the courtyard of the new palace, looking at the willow tree with new buds. The branches cast mottled shadows, reflecting his father's smile. Gradually, his father's smile turned into the emperor's angry eyes.

Pei Mian led a group of soldiers into the palace.

Chu Mingzheng looked at his murderous expression and asked calmly, "What's the matter?"

Pei Mian knelt down with his sword in hand, the hilt clanging. "I, your subordinate, swear to escort Your Highness back to Jinyang at the cost of my life!"

The soldiers behind him knelt down and shouted in unison: "We swear to protect His Highness until our death."

These were the soldiers who had fought with him on the battlefield. They had long since been scattered, and Pei Mian had gradually transferred them from the Kyoto Guard Battalion to the Yueqi Battalion under his command. There weren't many of them, just a few hundred.

Chu Mingzheng frowned and asked sternly, "What happened?"

Pei Mian's face flushed red. "The crime the Ministry of Rites has proposed against Your Highness is disrespect. The proposed punishment is the tonsure of the head."

The punishment of shaving one's head was not harmful to the body, but the hair and skin were given by one's parents, so how could they be damaged? The degree of humiliation was no less than stripping a woman naked and parading her through the streets.

In those days, Emperor Taizu sentenced several officials to the punishment of shaving their heads. After being punished, several officials committed suicide by jumping into the river the next day.

The majesty of the emperor must not be compromised. How could someone subjected to such humiliation be considered a crown prince and inherit the throne in the future?

It was a good plan that humiliated him and eliminated his threat at the same time.

"The Empress Dowager will not agree." Chu Mingzheng curled up his hands tightly at his sides.

Pei Mian said anxiously, "The reason given by the Minister of Rites for sentencing is: shaving one's head to be reborn, and recognizing one's king and father again."

What a wonderful way to shave your head and be reborn, to recognize your emperor as your father. If he didn't shave, it would be telling everyone in the world that he didn't recognize the emperor as his father. Chu Mingzheng looked up at the white sky and sneered.

"How dare you secretly communicate with the Ministry of Rites!" Chu Mingzheng looked at Pei Mian angrily, "Take your people and get out."