Donghua brought Bai Fengjiu back to Qingqiu. Upon landing, Fengjiu happily said to Emperor Donghua, "Emperor, thank you for coming to my rescue today, or I really would have been swallowed by that giant White Tiger. Since you're already here, Emperor, why don't you come into our Fox Den for a cup of tea? Fengjiu will prepare a generous gift to express my gratitude for saving my life."
Donghua had originally come here with the intention of testing whether Qingqiu was colluding with the Demon Lord, so he did not refuse Fengjiu's invitation and followed her into the Fox Den.
As soon as the two entered the cave, they were greeted by a striking scene: God Bai Yi (who was none other than Fengjiu's father), holding a bamboo switch with an expression of fury, stood alongside a tutor who was shaking his head helplessly. Seeing this, Donghua was somewhat baffled, but Fengjiu understood all too well. Every time she skipped class, the tutor would come to her father to complain after class, and her father would subject her to family discipline. Remembering every beating she had suffered in the past, Fengjiu completely forgot about repaying her debt of gratitude and turned around to run.
Unfortunately, it was too late. The moment she saw her father, God Bai Yi had naturally seen her as well. For a brief moment, God Bai Yi did not even register who the purple-robed, silver-haired exalted figure standing beside Fengjiu was, and instead roared furiously, "You still want to run?! Bai Fengjiu! Do you understand who you are? You are the Princess of Qingqiu, and in the future, you will be the Female Monarch of Qingqiu. You should set an example for your subjects and your peers. But look at you! Instead of studying properly, you're almost at the bottom of every class, and you skip school every other day. Tell me, how many times have I disciplined you? How can you still dare to do this? Was the last beating not painful enough, so you don't remember the lesson? Fine! Today we're going to try something different. Let's see if you can remember this lesson and if you'll ever dare to skip class again!"
Donghua was completely stunned. From God Bai Yi's words, it wasn't hard to tell that the Princess of Qingqiu truly ran off to play every other day. Judging by the setup, it seemed her father had been waiting for Fengjiu's return to punish her all along. Today's incident might genuinely have been the result of Fengjiu stumbling into trouble by pure coincidence. He suppressed his suspicions, though he couldn't let his guard down entirely—he would still need to have the Heavenly Palace keep a close eye on Qingqiu's movements in the future.
Fengjiu felt a wave of terror at her father's roar, but when she looked at the thin, slender bamboo switch, she figured it surely wouldn't hurt as much as those heavy clubs from the past. A wave of relief washed over her, and she obediently knelt before God Bai Yi to accept her punishment. "Father, I was wrong. I will never dare to do it again. I accept my punishment—go ahead and hit me."
Bai Yi was somewhat taken aback. Every time this daughter of his admitted her mistakes eagerly yet stubbornly refused to change, she would always beg for mercy or try to act spoiled when facing punishment. Never before had she accepted her punishment so readily. Perhaps she truly knew she was in the wrong. Seeing her covered in dust and dirt, a soft spot stirred in his heart as he wondered if she had been bullied out there. His tone softened. "Fine. Considering you've sincerely admitted your fault, I was originally going to give you fifty blows, but now I'll only give you twenty."
A flicker of joy crossed Fengjiu's mind. Only twenty blows! That little stick didn't look painful at all; it should feel just like an itch being scratched.
At this moment, God Bai Yi finally noticed the person standing beside Fengjiu. He was startled. Why would Emperor Donghua be together with Fengjiu? He bowed respectfully to Emperor Donghua and asked, "I was unaware of Your Majesty's arrival and failed to welcome you properly. May I ask what brings the Emperor here?"
Donghua replied, "Nothing much. This lord merely happened to encounter the little Princess of Qingqiu in distress outside, casually rescued her, and brought her back along the way. I shall return to Taichen Palace now and won't delay God Bai Yi in handling family matters."
Seeing that the Emperor was about to leave, Fengjiu anxiously rushed to stop him. "Emperor, Fengjiu hasn't thanked you yet for saving my life. Please sit for a while, and Fengjiu will go prepare a gift of gratitude right now."
Knowing that Emperor Donghua had saved his daughter today, God Bai Yi hurriedly urged the Emperor to stay, offering to accompany Fengjiu in preparing the gift.
Donghua truly didn't care about such things. His trip to Qingqiu was solely driven by the fear that Qingqiu might be colluding with the Demon Lord, and he had come purely for the peace of the six realms. By this point, he had temporarily concluded that Fengjiu's intrusion into the Demon Tribe Forbidden Land must have been a pure accident. Without lingering on the thought, he prepared to leave immediately.
Since Bai Yi and Fengjiu could not persuade him to stay, God Bai Yi later personally took a gift of gratitude up to Taichen Palace in the Nine Heavens to thank the Emperor once again for saving Fengjiu's life—not only from the jaws of the White Tiger, but also from the hands of the Red Demon Lord. After the Emperor left, Fengjiu had truthfully told Bai Yi everything that happened that day. Fengjiu was still young and didn't understand the gravity of the situation, but Bai Yi knew deeply that this matter was of utmost consequence. Emperor Donghua protecting Fengjiu from the Red Demon Lord was a profound act of grace toward Qingqiu.
Regarding Fengjiu's intrusion into the place where the Demon Lord was imprisoned, coupled with Donghua personally escorting Fengjiu back to Qingqiu, Bai Yi reflected deeply and realized that the Emperor might have personally come to investigate out of suspicion that Qingqiu was colluding with the Demon Lord. While presenting the gift, Bai Yi repeatedly expressed Qingqiu's stance, hoping for peace across the three realms and that the people could live and work in contentment, swearing that they would never collude with the Demon Lord. This gesture further dispelled any lingering doubts in Donghua's mind.
After Donghua left, however, it was finally Fengjiu's turn to face her misfortune. God Bai Yi meant what he said: twenty blows meant twenty blows.
Before the beating, Fengjiu still wore an indifferent expression, thinking it would feel no different than being scratched a few times.
Until the bamboo switch landed for the very first time...
Fengjiu: "Ouch! It hurts!"
For the first thirty thousand years of her life, the pitiful Little Princess experienced the true might of a bamboo switch for the very first time.
Over the next few days, everyone in Qingqiu could see their Little Princess eating and studying with swollen, puffy hands resembling Doraemon's. Many Qingqiu subjects used this as a cautionary tale to teach their own children that skipping class was strictly forbidden.
From a certain perspective, the Little Princess of Qingqiu had indeed set an example for her subjects.