Time Travel: Pampered by the Aloof Prince
Chapter 306: Another word, and I’ll beat you up too

Chapter 306: Chapter 306: Another word, and I’ll beat you up too

At her command, the surrounding eunuchs and palace maids swarmed forward, walking towards Shi Zhou and surrounding her in the middle.

Shi Zhou knitted her brows.

This scene seemed somewhat tricky.

Although she was not incapable of fighting these palace attendants who had the strength of chickens, just as Qi Yu had said, in the Imperial Palace, no matter how you explain it, even with ten mouths you wouldn’t be able to clear your name if you struck someone.

Moreover, if she hadn’t misheard, the person in the palanquin had claimed to be the Princess herself.

Shi Zhou remembered that Qi Yu had mentioned there were only a few princesses in the palace, but the most spoiled was the Empress’s biological daughter, Princess Jiahe Li Huaixi.

"Why aren’t you taking action quickly? What are you dawdling for?" Li Huaixi, seeing the palace attendants were all hesitant and, although surrounding the person, not a single one dared to rush forward, couldn’t help but grow a bit impatient.

She had never encountered a servant in the palace who dared to block her path, and if she didn’t teach this wretched servant a lesson, she wouldn’t be able to swallow her anger.

Urged by her, a few palace maids showed willingness to rush forward.

But Shi Zhou merely raised her eyes slightly, and as her cool, slender, peach blossom eyes swept over their faces, she scared them into a chill.

As a martial artist, she carried a year-round aura of solemnity about her.

To those martial arts experts, Shi Zhou’s aura, tinged with coldness, wasn’t frightening.

But it was enough to scare a few Palace Maids and eunuchs.

Seeing the palace attendants shrink away, Li Huaixi grew impatient. She stepped down from her palanquin, waved off the people who tried to help her, and strode forward aggressively, raising her hand, aiming to slap the palace maid to teach her a lesson for being so ignorant.

Shi Zhou swiftly stopped her movement, with a slight frown on her brow, and her cold eyes sharp as knives; she caught Li Huaixi’s wrist and effortlessly pushed her aside.

This certainly wasn’t her starting the fight.

When Li Huaixi fell to the ground, she was a bit stunned, but after she snapped back to reality, she scolded the Palace Maids standing there dumbstruck: "You worthless slaves, what are you standing there for? Come and help the Princess up!"

The palace attendants then hurried over, helping her up and gently patting the dirt off her skirt, asking hastily, "Princess, are you alright?"

Everyone’s faces showed panic, knowing if the Empress found out the Princess had fallen under their watch, she definitely wouldn’t spare them.

"Get away!" Li Huaixi kicked a Palace Maid who was kneeling and straightening her skirt, glaring furiously at the person who stood her ground, "How dare you, having the audacity to push the Princess down!"

Shi Zhou gave her a glance, her already irritable mood growing worse.

This time, Li Huaixi didn’t dare rashly charge forward and start a fight. Not only was this lowly maid bold, but she also knew some martial arts.

The fall just now had been a complete loss of face for her.

"Just you wait, someone, seize this wretched maid!" Li Huaixi shouted loudly.

The palace attendants immediately moved to restrain Shi Zhou.

But before they could even touch her, they were swiftly brought down by Shi Zhou’s moves.

Li Huaixi, looking at the Palace Maids scattered on the ground, her expression both shocked and frightened, pointed at Shi Zhou, her voice faltering, "You... you dare to attack the Princess’s people!"

Shi Zhou glanced at her coldly, her tone indifferent, "Talk nonsense again, and I’ll beat you as well."

She had grown up in a bandit’s lair from a young age and never learned what rules were.

Besides, if someone didn’t offend me, I wouldn’t offend them; if Li Huaixi hadn’t been so arrogant as to send people to attack her, she wouldn’t have bothered to make a move.

Li Huaixi, having spent so many years in the Imperial Palace, had never experienced someone speaking to her with such a tone.

And this servant dares to say to strike her as well?

"Wretch! You have some nerve!" Li Huaixi raged, the veins on her forehead throbbing faintly, betraying her fury.

Shi Zhou still watched her rave with a cold gaze, recycling the same few sentences, showing no manners whatsoever.

Do you call this thing a princess?

Sorry to say, even the bandits in Tuyun Village aren’t this unreasonable.

Seeing the servant still daring to look at her with such a disdainful gaze, Li Huaixi’s anger grew even more intense.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a team of guards approaching and hurriedly shouted to the leader, Zhou Hong, "Guard Commander Zhou!"

The moment Zhou Hong heard Li Huaixi’s voice, his scalp went numb, knowing that her summoning him never boded well.

It was either to tear down some concubine’s palace or drag some insolent servant away to be beaten to death.

But who made him the duty officer for the day, with such bad luck?

Zhou Hong sighed silently in his heart and, leading a dozen guards, stepped forward and said with a salute, "What are your orders, Princess?"

Seeing him, Shi Zhou subtly raised an eyebrow.

With support at her side, Li Huaixi’s lips curled into a smirk of triumph, pointing at Shi Zhou, she said to Zhou Hong, "Guard Commander Zhou, this wretch has been blocking my way the whole time, and she has even injured my palace attendant. What do you say we should do about it?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Hong immediately furrowed his brows, intending to see who dared to cause trouble within the Imperial Palace; but turning his head, he was caught off-guard by a pair of eyes carrying a mix of three parts cold sneer and seven parts mockery.

It was as if his head was about to explode.

Isn’t this the daughter of the village chief Shi?

With an awkward look, he faced Shi Zhou, momentarily at a loss for words.

But Shi Zhou greeted him casually and gracefully, "Guard Commander Zhou."

After all, they knew each other, and he was personally escorted into the palace by the Princess Consort of Prince Qi, so Zhou Hong saluted her formally, "Miss Shi."

"What? You know each other!" Li Huaixi had been waiting for Zhou Hong to break the legs of the disobedient wretch, but instead, she was faced with the spectacle of their friendly exchange.

"Who... who exactly are you?" Li Huaixi’s eyes widened slightly as she pointed at Shi Zhou, asking with a face full of indignation.

Shi Zhou couldn’t be bothered to engage with her, standing with her arms folded, not uttering a word.

Zhou Hong cursed his terrible luck a thousand times in his heart before turning his head and saying calmly to Li Huaixi, "Miss Shi is an old acquaintance of the Princess Consort of Prince Qi, and would certainly not intentionally obstruct Her Highness the Princess."

It’s always the Princess Consort of Prince Qi!

Hearing these words made Li Huaixi even angrier; Qi Yu’s mockery was one thing, but now she was being ignored by someone Qi Yu brought into the palace.

Moreover, Zhou Hong’s words seemed to be protecting the wretched servant at every turn. Li Huaixi snorted discontentedly and said to him, "What now? Does Guard Commander Zhou think that I am falsely accusing her?"

Zhou Hong’s scalp tingled, knowing he couldn’t say the right thing under these circumstances.

Both sides were people he could neither afford nor dare to offend.

He had no doubt that if he arrested Shi Zhou in the palace today, tomorrow, the Princess Consort of Prince Qi and Shen Xiheng would chop him to pieces.

"Princess, I mean no disrespect," Zhou Hong cautiously began after some thought, "It’s just that Miss Shi has never been in the palace before, and surely she didn’t intend to block your way."

Li Huaixi bit her lip, then pointed at the palace maid kneeling on the ground, questioning, "Then what about her injuring someone in my retinue? How should that be accounted for?"