Chapter 673 - 673. Teaching

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation 1 Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

The speakers were hushedly discussing the royal family, their words laced with criticism and rumors.

“Sigh, what a shame. He devoted herself to educating the prince, only to have his efforts benefit others. I heard he was so upset by it all that it led to his death,” one of the diners lamented.

“Really? Who are you talking about?” the other inquired.

“It’s about the changes in the royal family. They replaced the Grand Tutor without any reason. Seems a bit harsh, doesn’t it?” the first diner replied.

“I also heard that the women’s hospital has been abducting pregnant women off the streets due to a lack of patients. They take them to the hospital, perform horrifying procedures on them, and even force a pregnant woman’s mother-in-law to witness the gruesome scene. The poor woman fainted from shock,” the second person added.

“The Empress forbids the Emperor from taking concubines. In the past, such behavior was seen as jealousy, and meddling in state affairs was utterly unacceptable. But the Emperor, blinded by infatuation, ignores the repercussions. Now, his reputation is suffering,” the first person commented.

As Su Qing listened, her expression turned frosty. These people were blatantly slandering the royal family, negatively painting her, the Empress.

“Keep an eye on those two,” she instructed the head guard, subtly gesturing towards the gossipers at the next table.

Their lavish meal, replete with delicacies and fine wine, seemed inconsistent with their apparent status, hinting at a hidden agenda to spread malicious rumors.

Su Qing was not inclined to act hastily, she wanted to trace the rumors back to their source. They appeared to have encouraged someone to create unrest in the recent days of tranquility.

The waiter went to ask the shopkeeper for instructions. The shopkeeper glanced at Su Qing and the guards with golden sabers. He had sharp eyes and could tell at a glance that these were not ordinary people.

“Pick the best dishes and tell the kitchen to make them well. Also, send over the good tea in our shop. Don’t disregard it.”

“Yes.”

With the shopkeeper’s orders, the waiter immediately went to the kitchen to announce the names of the dishes. He chose all the dishes that the restaurant’s master was good at and ordered them. He also brewed five pots of good tea and sent them over.

The shopkeeper personally served tea to Su Qing’s table. It could be seen that all five tables followed her lead. She must be the leader of these people.

“Miss, this is Longjing tea after the rain. Please enjoy.”

Su Qing glanced at him and hummed coldly.

The shopkeeper didn’t mind. He was used to it since people in high positions were usually like this.

“I heard that the Empress had cast a spell on the Emperor. Otherwise, how could he be so devoted to her?”

“I’ve also heard about it. It’s too terrifying. She poisoned the ruler of a country?”

“I wonder if the emperor knows?”

The more they talked, the more excited they became. Someone in the restaurant had already noticed and went over to ask.

Everyone liked to listen to gossip, especially gossip about the royal family. The restaurant was the best place to spread rumors. These people were doing it on purpose.

The innkeeper was so close that his face turned pale when he heard what they said. He hurriedly walked over.

Dear guests, please be careful with your words. This shop is doing a proper business. We don’t want to provoke any official trouble.”

“What are you afraid of? The Emperor is in the palace and doesn’t have time to come to your little shop.”

“That won’t do. I respect the Emperor and Empress. Without them, there wouldn’t be peace and prosperity. If you don’t want to live, don’t implicate me. Don t come here again. I won’t do business with you.”

The shopkeeper was annoyed when he saw that they did not listen to his advice. He ordered the waiter to give the bill and chase these people away. Su Qing looked deeply at the shopkeeper and continued drinking her tea.

Ziqi’s eyes were filled with anger. Her tiny fists were tightly clenched, and her small mouth was tightly pursed. She had already heard clearly that those bad people were talking about her mother and father.

“Mother, they are talking about you.”

Yun’ er also heard it and complained to Su Qing with a pout.

“Yes.”

Su Qing nodded and rubbed his daughter’s head. She was worried about Yun’ er afraid she would rush to deal with those people and not pay attention to Ziqi. ’ Those people were still arguing with the shopkeeper.

“Why are you chasing us away? It’s not like we won’t give you money for our meals.”

“I won’t take your money. Hurry up and leave.”

When the shopkeeper finished speaking, he saw the little boy on the table walk over. No one took this child to heart.

Unexpectedly, the child took out a small dagger and stabbed it into the calf of the man who insulted Su Qing.

“Ah, little bastard, you dare to stab me?”

The man who had been stabbed bent down to grab Ziqi, but when he met the child’s cold eyes, he was so scared that he did not dare to make a move. This child had such a strong aura.

Fortunately, he did not make a move. Otherwise, he would have been cut into eight pieces. Ziqi’s guards came to protect him.

Seeing that there were so many of them, the man whom the knife had stabbed became timid. He grinned and hissed in pain, but he did not dare to mention hitting Ziqi. Not only did he not dare to mention it, he even had to apologize.

“It’s all my fault. I disturbed Little Lord’s meal. I’ll leave now.”

Su Qing had a whole new level of respect for her son. She didn’t expect him to be so hot-blooded. When he heard that his mother was slandered, he didn’t hesitate to go over and teach the other party a lesson. He wasn’t afraid even if the other party was stronger than him.

This was her son!

Su Qing was even more convinced that changing the Grand Tutor was the right decision. Otherwise, if He Yulin continued to teach him, the child would become a marionette.

The few men who spread the rumors paid for the meal and left in a sorry state, leaving a pool of blood on the ground. The man who had his calf stabbed dragged his injured leg as he walked. Every step he took was heart-wrenching.

Su Qing ordered the guards who followed him out,

“How dare they talk about the royal family behind their backs? Beat their teeth out. There’s no need to follow them anymore. Capture them and interrogate them.”

These two guards had always been by Su Qing’s side. They admired her from the bottom of their hearts. Those kids dared to slander their idol. They had to teach them a lesson.

Su Qing only ordered them to knock out the teeth of these brats. They decided to feed these brats feces soup and wash their stinky mouths.

Ziqi returned to the table with the bloody dagger. He looked at Su Qing uneasily, worried his mother would scold him.

“Ziqi did well. You have the guts of a man.”

Su Qing smiled when she saw her son’s nervousness and praised him gently.

“Brother is so awesome.”

Yun’ er looked at her brother with admiration. She did not have a dagger, or else she would stab him. No, she would ask her mother to give her a dagger later.

Zhang Qirui also looked at Ziqi with admiration. He wanted to learn from his brother.

Ziqi asked Su Qing in disbelief,

“Mother…Did I do anything wrong?”

“That’s right. If you don’t dare to say anything when others scold your mother and father, then you don’t have the blood of a man at all. You’re not worthy of being the ruler of a country. Remember, you must use kindness and power to govern, not just kindness. If you’re kind, you can’t control the army. If you’re not ruthless, you can’t be a ruler.”

Su Qing took the opportunity to teach her son. To be a qualified ruler of a country, he had to be ruthless. If the officials in the court were only merciful, he would think he was weak and easily bullied.

Yes, mother. Your child will remember.”

Ziqi’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Su Qing. He knew what his mother meant and suddenly understood. In the past, what the Grand Tutor taught him was pedantic. He only taught him to be a benevolent ruler, to love the people like their children, and to have a tolerant heart.

It was still Mother who taught him well. When he should be ruthless, he should be ruthless and not blindly merciful.

The people in the restaurant looked at Ziqi with fear in their eyes. Wasn’t this child too ruthless?

Su Qing took everyone to the restaurant for a meal before returning to the Imperial Palace. The first thing she did when she returned to the Imperial Palace was to look for Xiao Zeyu and ask him what had happened in court..