Chapter 149

......

Suddenly, the cicadas' song outside grew louder and clearer.

When Heir Apparent Han was slapped, he felt his ears ringing, and all the sounds from outside seemed louder than usual.

It was as if something inside his ear had shattered, allowing sound to penetrate directly.

The noise made his head ache.

His face hurt too.

He watched as Qin threw the huge black ant far away.

The guards had watched helplessly as Heir Apparent Han received a slap.

They hadn't even had time to react.

Then they heard Qin exclaim in surprise: "It's swollen! Young lord, I didn't mean to, I was really just swatting the ant. You don't know, but last time in our county, a cripple was bitten by ants and died. You're lucky to be alive."

As Qin spoke, her large hand gently patted her daughter, producing a soft sound.

Jiang Mianmian came to her senses and let out a loud "Wah!" as she burst into tears.

When her father came over, she cried even harder.

She was gasping for air between sobs.

Her father asked what happened.

She cried and hiccupped as she tattled.

"Uncle wanted to see the ant, I showed uncle the ant, uncle threw me away, wuwuwu, uncle also hit the ant, wuwuwu..."

Jiang Changtian held his wailing daughter and looked at Heir Apparent Han, whose face was swollen on one side. Surprisingly, he smiled at Heir Apparent Han.

He comforted Mianmian: "It's nothing, it's nothing, don't cry. Uncle just isn't used to holding children, it was an accident."

Jiang Mianmian thought about how she could have really been dropped, and cried for real.

Although jumping down from trees didn't hurt her, and even her mother's punishments weren't as painful.

But having found someone to complain to, her tears flowed uncontrollably.

She rested her chin on her father's shoulder and continued to wail.

Hearing his young daughter cry, Jiang Changtian felt her body tremble slightly as he held her.

Jiang Changtian already disliked this Heir Apparent Han, and the way he looked at Sister Xia made him want to add a vertical line to the window sill.

This Heir Apparent Han behaved poorly in the capital, yet he was always protected by the emperor. No matter how outrageous he was, the emperor seemed to turn a blind eye.

In fact, Heir Apparent Han had grasped the emperor's heart in certain ways. His misdeeds and troublemaking made the emperor feel as if he represented the emperor's dark side. If it were the emperor himself, he actually had a bad side too, but he suppressed it, and no one dared to speak of it.

The emperor viewed Heir Apparent Han as if he were the embodiment of his own evil thoughts.

The Jiang Family Army was also expanding at an unusually rapid rate.

Their numbers were actually the largest among the rebel factions, but because they included many elderly, weak, sick, and disabled, they hadn't attracted attention from above. Instead, people thought Jiang Er had become foolish from too much studying, too benevolent. They believed a scholar's rebellion wouldn't succeed in ten years.

In contrast, the righteous man Tang's group was much more valiant.

Their momentum was almost surpassing Zi Lu's. At first, they had just been followers, but now they seemed to be on equal footing.

They were the most opposed to accepting amnesty.

Jiang Changtian felt that the righteous man Tang was also not of humble origins.

With such strong troops and horses, what ordinary people could afford to raise good horses?

When people couldn't even feed themselves, how could there be food for livestock?

For some reason, Jiang Changtian always suspected that group was connected to the Seventh Prince.

Although he had heard the Seventh Prince had been badly beaten.

Thinking about it made him sigh. A group of people rebelling, and they all had backgrounds, only he was truly of humble birth.

Ah, he still needed to work hard.

Otherwise, even a dog like Heir Apparent Han would dare to covet his family members.

Jiang Changtian smiled. In the past, his health had been very poor, his constitution basically ruined. Even without illness or disaster, he was not destined for longevity.

He had the appearance of one who would die young.

He naturally gave off the air of a sickly beauty.

Even though his health had improved now, that aura of frailty hadn't disappeared.

Jiang Changtian is currently just a minor official, still feeding horses for General Zi.

He concernedly asks if Heir Apparent Han's face hurts.

"Heir Apparent, you should know that I used to work in the Medicine Preparation Department, so I have some medical knowledge. For a swollen face, it's best to find bear droppings, mix them with honey, and apply a thick layer to your face. It will heal in a day. This is a folk remedy that's very effective. You can try it, though bear droppings are hard to find. Cow dung might work as a substitute, but it may not be as effective."

Heir Apparent Han tries to speak but can't make a sound for a moment.

He feels like his face is crooked, and when he opens his mouth, he can only make hissing sounds.

The child is still wailing, giving him a headache.

He has seen women in his uncle's harem being slapped before, and often those women could still cry beautifully afterward, looking like "pear blossoms in the rain," earning his uncle's sympathy.

But now, after being slapped once, he feels dizzy and unsteady.

Looking at Qin again, her face is filled with panic: "My lord, I was just trying to swat a bug for Heir Apparent Han. I didn't expect his face to swell up like this. My lord, it's all my fault. I used too much force."

Heir Apparent Han feels like his brain might have been shattered. He struggles to speak, trying for a long time without success. Suddenly, he blurts out, "Not hard at all. Sister-in-law, your strength isn't great at all. I'm just not used to being hit."

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