At the table, a woman dressed in brocade robes stood with her back to him, her slender hands clasped behind her back. Hearing him enter, she spoke:

"What is it?"

Jin Jiande bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Jiande has been praised today."

The woman said calmly, "Oh? Is that so? Then you did a good job."

Jin Jiande looked at the woman's back, his burning gaze falling on her slender fingers, and said with a faint smile, "As a subject, it is naturally my duty to share His Majesty's burdens."

As he spoke, he stepped forward and reached out to grasp the woman's hand.

The woman trembled slightly, but did not say a word.

The next moment.

With a "bang".

Jin Jiande's face flushed red, and he abruptly pushed the woman onto the bed, shouting angrily:

"Idiot! You should have said 'Insolence!'"

How can we remain unmoved!

The woman was pushed down by the force of the shove and fell to the side of the bed. She trembled with fear when she heard Jin Jiande's roar and turned her head to look at him.

The woman had a beautiful face and bore a striking resemblance to the current Empress Jin Fengluan, but her eyes and brows revealed an overwhelming fear.

"Your Highness, this servant knows she was wrong..." the woman said in a trembling voice.

Jin Jiande was furious and pointed at the woman, cursing:

"You're such a waste of your looks, you can't even fake it! You idiot!"

Jin Jiande grew angrier as he spoke, and with a twist of his body, he took a thin, long vine from the wall and began to whip the woman with it.

The woman was slapped several times and immediately burst into tears, begging for mercy.

"Please stop hitting me, Your Highness. I know I was wrong. Next time, I will definitely speak according to your instructions..."

Jin Jiande's face was contorted with rage, veins bulging on his neck, as he continued to lash out at the woman, cursing under his breath.

"You came from a brothel, didn't they teach you how to serve people?"

"You idiot! You won't learn your lesson unless I beat you!"

Seeing the woman crying so hard, Jin Jiande abruptly stopped. He took his whip, walked over, and suddenly knelt down at the woman's feet, saying in a trembling voice:

"Your Majesty! Jiande has made a mistake; I was presumptuous. Please punish me!"

As he spoke, he lowered his head and handed the rattan cane to the woman.

Tears streamed down the woman's face. Although she was in pain, she knew that the next act was about to begin when he handed her the cane.

She bit her lip, struggled to sit up, took the rattan cane, and lashed it at Jin Jiande.

"Jin Jiande! How dare you commit insubordination! What is your punishment?"

Jin Jiande lowered his head, his eyes burning with desire, and his body trembled, whether from pain or excitement, he couldn't tell.

Then, he uttered a sound that was hard to tell whether it was pain or joy: "Jiande knows he was wrong! Jiande knows he was wrong!"

The whipping of the rattan did not stop; it continued to fall.

Jin Jiande's shouts grew louder and louder...

Not far from the room, Prince Qing stood with his arms crossed, listening to the sounds coming from inside. Then he stroked his beard and left expressionlessly.

He turned and walked toward the fish pond in the back garden.

When he arrived at the fish pond, he took out a plate of fish food from the artificial hill beside the pond.

He casually tossed in a few fish pellets and squinted as he watched the koi carp in the pond scrambling for them.

A group of small carp followed the large, colorful carp, vying for the food. But the large carp would immediately flick its tail, and the small fish would scatter. However, even after scattering, they would quickly swim back, waiting for an opportunity to devour the bait.

The big carp only picked out the largest baits to eat, and didn't seem to care that the smaller fish would fight over the scraps.

After the large baits were eaten, the big carp swam to the surface, opening and closing its mouth as if it were begging for food.

Upon seeing this, Prince Qing pursed his lips slightly and chuckled softly:

"So what if we take it from each other? Whether we give more or less, it's all up to me."

"Even if you're powerful enough, you're still my pet. If you jump out and eat what's in my hand, then you've really grown up...hehe."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a clear, crisp voice rang out: "Father."